It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Realtors Jera Banks and Adam Bailey said virtually every part of the Phoenix area is seeing the high demand. This demand is something we have never seen before, according to experts. But the Valley did see similar demand in the early 2000s. During that time, the price per square foot peaked in 2006 at $184.56 before falling to $86.79 in 2009, according to the Cromford Report. 'That's completely different than the circumstances of the last bubble, where you way overbuilt, and then the economy crashed,' said Elliott Pollack, the CEO of Elliott D. Pollack & Co.. 'Now you can't possibly keep up, and the economy is going to be strong. So I don't see this as a bubble.'"

"As far as when we’ll see an end to this current rush on housing, Pollack said it’s years away. 'Shortages lead to gluts and gluts lead to shortages,' Pollack proclaimed. 'So at some point, this shortage will lead to a glut of housing, but it's a decade away.'"

"Clearwater, St. Petersburg and some other nearby towns have a zombie problem. Not The Walking Dead kind, but the foreclosure kind. That’s because Pinellas County, according to Attom Data Solutions, had the fourth-highest rate of so-called zombie foreclosures among large counties nationwide in the second fiscal quarter. Out of all its foreclosures, Pinellas has an 11.3% rate of zombies — properties in foreclosure but abandoned. Ahead of Pinellas are counties covering Cleveland, Binghamton, New York and Baltimore."

"According to Attom’s second-quarter 2021 Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report, some 1.4 million residential properties are vacant in the United States."

"It only took 13 years! A billionaire fashion mogul is finally in contract to sell his ginormous-sized suite at the Plaza Hotel — at an even bigger loss. Jürgen Friedrich and his wife bought the residence, known as the Astor Suite, for $25.49 million in 2007. A year later, the couple tried to flip the unit for $55 million. But the stately residence was last asking $19.95 million. The buyer is a New York-based finance family, who is paying close to ask, sources said."

"Cristiano Ronaldo listed the five-bedroom, three-story brick house on Monday for £3.25 million (US$4.1 million). The Portuguese footballer is set to take a £600,000 loss if it sells for that asking price. Mr. Ronaldo purchased the house for £3.895 million over a decade ago, according to a title document filed with the Land Registry in 2007. This is the second time the Portuguese footballer has marketed his former English home. The property first hit the market in 2013 for £3.75 million, according to an old listing for the home."

"The average resale price of a London-area home dropped for the first time in more than a year in May, the first sign of a possible cooldown in the red-hot market, an area realtor group says. It’s the first such drop since April 2020, when the average price slipped to $423,000 from $447,000 in March as the COVID-19 pandemic’s first wave and Ontario’s first lockdown slowed home sales to a crawl. After that, prices climbed by about 52 per cent before this latest drop."

"Some homes have stayed on the market more than two weeks or past their offer date, 'which was very unusual in our previous market,' said Linds Modrzynski, an agent with RE/MAX Centre City Realty Inc., adding, 'Houses that I thought would sell, we were left scratching our heads.'"

"In May, the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (FVREB) received the second-highest volume of new listings ever. From North Delta to Abbotsford and Mission, there were 3,926 new listings in May, an increase of 78 per cent compared to last year. 'Demand hasn’t changed,' FVREB president Larry Anderson said. 'What’s changed is supply. In the last three months, buyers have 40 per cent more inventory to look at in the Fraser Valley and it’s allowed them to take back a little control.'"

"The risk of a sharp correction in the housing market is rising, with an explosion in supply likely to coincide with a fall in demand, BNZ economists warn. The bank's economists note that weaker population growth, coupled with a drop in investor demand and home ownership now viewed as out of reach by many, will see demand come under pressure. Meanwhile, supply of new houses was soaring, with 42,848 consents issued for new dwellings in the year to April."

"'On a per capita basis, this is now surpassing the 2004 building boom. And, yet, there is no sign of this coming to an end anytime soon,' said the economists' research note. 'Accordingly, we think we are entering a multi-year period when the marginal supply exceeds the marginal demand which, in turn, should put downward pressure on house prices.'"

"The BNZ economists said they were not predicting a price slump, but would not rule one out either. 'Even if prices fell 20 percent, it would only take them back to where they were a year ago.'"