A report from Spectrum News on North Carolina. "Realtors in the Triangle say an inventory crisis is making the market frustrating for buyers but a great time for people looking to sell. 'We know it sounds crazy to offer what we ask people to offer or to do some of things we ask them to do, and … once they do trust that, they can be in a really good position to win,' said Inhabit realtor Emily Jo Roberts."

From Minnesota Monthly. "Lines for open houses snaking around the block. Dozens of instantaneous offers, many soaring $50,000 over asking price. Rejection, rejection, rejection. Natalia Mendez and Joel Swenson were ready to give up. The first-time homebuyers had a 'come to Jesus moment' with their realtor, who instructed them to consider the $30,000 over asking price they’d need to offer within their budget of around $260,000. That meant waving goodbye to south Minneapolis. Then, after losing out on yet another house, their realtor texted asking if they still wanted the Cleveland property. The first deal had fallen through, so the couple swooped in on their 'perfect, weird, little Midcentury house.'"

"'I love Minneapolis, but I’ll be able to love Minneapolis more fully here,' Mendez says. 'I’m excited to not be completely surrounded by white people; I’m not the only brown person on my block, and that feels nice.'"

"So, will supply catch up to demand in the Twin Cities, and if so, when? 'I think we’ll soften up a little this year,' predicts Lydia Kauppi, a buyer’s agent with Pentz Homes of Keller Williams Realty. 'I feel it happening already.'"

From Patch California. "Orange County, which is reliant on tourism, had a higher percentage of job losses than the state as a whole during the COVID-19- induced recession, Chapman University economics experts said. The university's annual economic forecast showed the county had an 8.9% job loss last year compared to the state's 7.4% loss. The county's construction rate is 'over pre-recession levels,' Chapman President Emeritus James L. Doti said. 'We are now in a housing bubble.'"

"A 'V-shaped recovery' was powered by about $5 trillion in federal COVID-19 relief, Doti said. 'During the Great Recession it was chump change' in comparison of federal relief, Doti said. 'It was almost about $1 trillion.' The forecasters predict higher inflation by 2023 and higher interest rates."

The Austin Business Journal in Texas. "The white-hot market left many observers wondering: How long could this possibly last? Ryan Rodenbeck, owner of Spyglass Realty, said a confluence of factors are coming together to temper the unprecedented buyer demand the Austin market saw between December and May. 'Every week we’ve had a little tiny bit more inventory than the week before. As inventory comes on the market, it slows demand,' he said."

"Chris Watters, CEO of Watters International Realty, said skyrocketing prices are making it impossible for many Austin residents to qualify for traditional loans. As prices go up and income doesn’t follow, the debt-to-income ratio gets skewed away from the borrower’s favor. 'Pricing for the suburbs of Austin isn’t too far off from what you’d expect in the suburbs of Los Angeles,' Watters said. 'We’re getting close.'"

"Watters is far from the only person drawing comparisons to California’s mega-high housing prices. Amy Deane, a Realtor with Moreland Properties, said she had a buyer from California say that soon enough, Dripping Springs could be the new Orange County. Deane also said traditional ways Realtors have determined pricing, like looking at comparable sales to determine fair market value and pricing per square foot, have 'almost been thrown out the window.'"

"'We price things now based on what we think people are willing to pay,' Deane said. 'Comps are skewed so low, that it doesn’t really make sense.'"

"Watters said at the height of the buying frenzy, he was seeing properties get between 50 and 60 offers. Now, he’s seeing between five and 10 offers, if houses are priced appropriately. He said the drop off has happened in the past month or so. Part of the drop in intensity may be attributed to sellers’ expectations outpacing buyers’ abilities. Watters said he’s seen some houses hitting the market that are overpriced, so buyers aren’t jumping at the chance to bid."

"'People are hearing stories about getting $100,000 over asking, and they’re doing pie in the sky numbers based off homeowners’ goals that are unrelated to the market,' Watters said. 'Their expectations are too far out there. We’re starting to see fewer offers coming in.'"

The Denver Channel. "A Colorado Springs home dubbed as 'not for the faint of heart' has been listed in Colorado Springs. The dilapidated house features profane graffiti on almost every wall, soiled carpets from an illegal pet rescue run out of the residence and a broken refrigerator in the basement filled with rancid meat left more than a year earlier when the tenant was evicted. Even still, the house is listed for $590,000 cash."

"'We have an expression 'if it smells it wont sell,' said Mimi Foster, the listing agent with Falcon Property Company. 'I am putting that to the test.' Her listing, posted to Redfin, holds nothing back. In it, she calls the house 'every landlord’s nightmare' and says it could be 'your own little slice of hell.' The listing also points out that the back porch is falling off of the house and that the entire foundation sits in a 'pink' zone for geological landslides."

"Even with the extensive damage, rancid smells and excessive profanity on the walls, Foster says she has received 16 written cash offers in the first 24 hours of the house being on the market. Foster says she never intended to sell the house like this, but the national freeze on home foreclosures ends in July and the owner cannot afford to fix the vandalism caused by the most recent tenant. 'It was a happy place for decades,' she said. 'And somebody will come in and they will get rid of the anger and anguish that went on here.'"

From KEZI in Oregon. "Selpher Nandwa is currently renting out a property in Lane County. 'It’s been a nightmare sincerely,' Nandwa said. 'Just not getting any rent from the renter since I believe October or December of last year. I haven’t received that.' She said the manager of the property has tried filing for aid but hasn’t been successful. 'I have to juggle between jobs,' Nandwa said. 'My husband is trying to work overtime. I have looked for another job so that I can pay my mortgage and my house in Oregon so I don't lose it.'"

"However, even through all of this and with the eviction moratorium expiring at the end of the month, she said making ends meet is still going to be a struggle. 'Knowing that although it's coming to an end, I'm still not going to get anything until next year February when I can start asking for their money,' Nandwa said. 'I've used all my savings.' She said after she sells her house, she will never buy a rental property again."

The New Jersey Spotlight. "The New Jersey Apartment Association, a trade group for landlords, said Monday that many small landlords would go out of business if lawmakers approve amendments championed by what it called 'radical' groups including the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey and the Democratic Socialists of America."

"'While small landlords are literally watching their life savings evaporate, the state is failing to fulfill its obligation to get rental assistance to the people who need it,' said David Brogan, executive director of the apartment association. 'Now, some interest groups want to strip away the rights of small landlords to recover even a fraction of what is owed to them. They also want to institute statewide rent control, which would reduce property values, reduce capital improvements in apartment buildings, and drive up property taxes for homeowners.'"

The Globe and Mail in Canada. "House hunters from the centre of Toronto all the way up to cottage country are running out of steam. Patrick Rocca, broker with Bosley Real Estate Ltd., noticed an abrupt change around the Victoria Day Weekend in May. The market has become spotty, he says, with some properties only drawing one or two offers on offer night and some none at all. 'It’s definitely a sellers’ market but not like it was in February and March,' he says. 'The frenzy is not there.'"

"Another house in Leaside did not receive any bids on the night scheduled for reviewing offers. The following day, a buyer stepped up and the sellers accepted an offer below the asking price. 'They were very reasonable,' he says of the owners. 'It’s very different when you get a seller who is reasonable and understands the market has spoken.'"

"Real estate agent Alexis Victor of Royal LePage Signature Realty noticed the same slowdown happening outside the city at exactly the same time. Ms. Victor is seeing less demand for cottages and year-round homes in areas near Orillia, Ont., Lake Simcoe and Lake Couchiching. 'Prices are steady,' she says. 'We just don’t have those bloodthirsty buyers.'"

"Toronto-Dominion Bank chief economist Beata Caranci and senior economist James Orlando note that the amount that Canadians spend on their homes now makes up 32 per cent of total consumption, on average, over the past year. That marks the highest proportion of spending on housing in nearly 50 years. Ms. Caranci and Mr. Orlando expect the Bank of Canada will further reduce its Quantitative Easing program in the coming months and signal the start of the interest rate hiking cycle in 2022."

The Daily Mail Australia. "In the year to May, property prices at Macquarie Park in Sydney's north fell by 5.5 per cent, CoreLogic data showed. Macquarie Park would normally to be home to thousands of international students.
Apartment values and rents are falling despite a surge in Australian property prices as the border closure keeps out international students."

"With Australia's border closed to foreigners until at least mid-2022, a one-bedroom unit at Macquarie Park is available for as little as $510,000, a level well below Sydney's median apartment price of $781,708. Juwai IQI, which markets real estate to wealthy Chinese investors, said now was a bad time to sell, even though investors landlords are losing thousands of dollars a year in rental income."

"The group's executive chairman Georg Chmiel said investors were better off holding on, despite the loss of rental income, until international students were allowed back into Australia again. 'These assets have depressed values now, so it's a poor time to sell,' he said."

"In greater Melbourne, the plunge was even more severe with apartment rents falling 11 per cent to $363. But in the city centre, rents have fallen 20.1 per cent, equating to a $5,000 a year downturn in rental income. SQM managing director Louis Christopher said the loss of international students had mainly affected Sydney and Melbourne's inner-city apartment market, keeping vacancy rates at higher levels. 'Rates for Melbourne and Sydney CBDs remain elevated with the loss of international student tenants combined with apartment oversupply,' he said."