It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "After months of mayhem in the real estate market, data shows homebuyers may finally be taking a breather, with real estate agents reporting slowdown in showings and bidding wars. Kyle Hioki said he paid near asking price for his two-bedroom house and put an offer in less than 24 hours after it hit the market. Hioki said he had been worried about his investment. 'You buy when the market’s [higher] than it has been in a while,' he said. 'It’s always like, what goes up must come down.'"

"About 300 homes are about to hit the inventory-starved Tampa Bay real estate market. That’s thanks to federal government efforts to recover money lost by hundreds of elderly investors in what it contends was a Ponzi scheme. 'That’s a lot of houses coming on the market at once,' said Lance Williams, a Tampa Realtor."

"Data from the Denver Metro Association of Realtors suggests the potential for prices starting to plateau. The number of new listings for detached homes in June actually exceeded the May total: 5,663 to 4,543. The number of active listings at the end of June (2,137) was also higher than at the end of May (1,336). 'For the first time in what feels like a long time, buyers have to compete with less competition, and therefore, the extreme bidding wars have drastically decreased,' says Andrew Abrams, chair of the DMAR market trends committee."

"Homebuyers may find some good news in the latest report from Northwest Multiple Listing Service. The number of active listings at the end of June, 6,358, reached the highest level since November. Dick Beeson, managing broker at RE/MAX Northwest, Tacoma-Gig Harbor, said it reflects a 'slight turn of the wheel. Sellers are still in control, but their expectations need a slight readjustment. Instead of 20 offers, there may only be five or fewer. Maybe even only one.'"

"According to the Las Vegas Realtors, the median price for a single-family home in Southern Nevada rose $10,000 from May to June, reaching a new record high of $395,000. Loan officer Casey Smith has a warning for buyers tempted to mortgage up to the appraised value, then put a pile of cash on top to meet the seller’s asking price. 'Be wary of basically entering into an agreement in your contract, and purchasing a home when you're already underwater,' Smith said."

"Robert Meers and Miriam Kelly, just sold their Madison Square home for $3.75 million, according to property records. That is less than the $3.86 million they bought it for back in 2009. The three-bedroom, three-bathroom condo at 15 E. 26th St. first went on the market for $4.99 million in 2018."

"After many years, and several lawsuits, a property overlooking Beverly Hills and owned by real-estate developer Mohamed Hadid is going on the market with an asking price of $100 million. The bankruptcy court documents show that in 2019, the entities through which Mr. Hadid owns the site defaulted on a loan for up to $25 million, and last year, creditors began foreclosure proceedings. That led to the development entities filing for bankruptcy in January 2021."

"Greater Vancouver real estate prices have been on a tear, but that may be coming to an end. In parts of the City of Vancouver, home prices have seen 5-figure drops in just one month. Greater Vancouver real estate prices are up a lot from last year, but the gains are slowing. Monthly increases have abruptly decided that they were no longer booming. It doesn’t even resemble the same market seen just a few months ago. City of Vancouver home prices have been rising very fast, which is what people are talking about. The narrative is a little too focused though, failing to compare other timelines. Over the past three years, many of these segments have seen much smaller price growth. If you bought last year, congrats. If you bought a few years ago, you may not have made any money yet."

"A drop in the expatriate population in Oman is likely to put further pressure on the sultanate’s residential real estate sector, according to Savills. According to the Oman census 2020, there are currently around 80,000 vacant residential units – around 20 percent of the total residential supply – in Muscat. With the vast majority of Omanis being owner-occupiers, it is estimated that a significant proportion of the vacant units are likely to be investment properties for the rental market."

"The Federal Government on Thursday lamented the increasing number of empty houses in the country. 'There are housing deficits in urban areas no doubt but there are empty houses in the rural areas and even in the urban centres where there is a deficit. There are many empty houses across the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Onitsha, Asaba. There are empty houses all over the major urban centres of Nigeria,' Minister of Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola said."

"Expat rents are down across Asia with noticeable declines recorded in Bangkok, Hanoi and Singapore last year. 'Rental prices have dropped in many locations across Asia over the past year, but this has been especially notable in locations which are heavily reliant on overseas visitors and residents, such as Thailand and Vietnam,' said Lee Quane, Regional Director – Asia at ECA International explained. He continued, 'The rental market in these locations is heavily tied to the fortunes of the tourism industry, and landlords who previously rented out accommodation on a short-term basis, have since converted these to long-term leases – thus increasing supply and reducing market rents further.'"

"The pandemic-driven Sydney property boom has been a blessing in disguise for some first-home buyers — provided they aren’t set on a standalone house. The glut of apartments and bad press around new developments also slowed unit price growth. 'There’s definitely an oversupply of apartments, and I think apartments have had a bad wrap with Opal Towers, so apartment prices have come back a bit, and that makes them a bit more affordable,' says Belle Property Annandale associate director Simone Azzi."

"The loftiest of home prices are upon us. Like the 17th-century tulip mania, everybody has got to get on the road to homeownership. Now, even first-time buyers without a down payment can get in on the action. That means no skin in the game — just like the good old Great Mortgage Meltdown days. No down-payment loans are available for up to $1.25 million so long as the primary wage earner has at least a 700 middle FICO credit score."

"Should you not show enough income from your day job or your self-employment income to qualify, you can document your income with bank statements, averaging the most recent 24 months of personal bank statement deposits. The only significant differences between this current crop of exotic zero-down mortgages to yesteryear’s so-called no-down subprime category are today’s mortgages ban balloon payments and prepayment penalties."

"But remember, the race to the bottom prior to the Great Recession. It was always about competing mortgage lenders undercutting that other guys’ or gals’ underwriting standards. Take that to the department of foreclosure prevention."

"How about some more memory lane craziness? Can you fog a mirror? Of course you can. Fog-the-mirror mortgages are available now with just 20% down on a purchase and 25% equity on a refinance for loan amounts to $3 million. No income or job listed whatsoever? No tax returns? No pay stubs? No averaging bank deposits over 12 or 24 months to calculate income?"

"You will need just page one of your bank account statement to source your down payment funds, provided you are not receiving 100% gift funds. Do not you worry about the lender seeing those bounced checks or other financial difficulties on page two of your bank statement. Rates start at 4%. How about investors instruments? Believe it or not, fog-the-mirror type mortgages start even lower for loans on investment properties than for primary residence mortgages."

"If you are considering one of these mortgages because you cannot qualify for a traditionally cheaper Fannie or Freddie mortgage, first let’s get real. Think through this. Home prices are peaking. Unless you are triple sure you can handle the higher house payments, have a family lifeline to rely on, have lots and lots of cash reserves and have the stomach to ride out the eventual property value downturn, then don’t do it."