A report from WFMY in North Carolina. "'It's like Wal-Mart on Black Friday and TVs are on sale and we're all waiting at the door to get in. That is the housing market right now,' said Ashauna Harris, owner of Empire Realty Group."

From Mass Live. "Redfin found the number of homes newly listed for sale surpassed 2019 levels during the four weeks that ended July 4. That’s the the first time this year that’s happened. Homebuying demand has also recently — somewhat — tapered off, according to pending sales data, Redfin’s Homebuyer Demand Index and Mortgage Bankers Association’s survey of number of mortgage applications. Realtor.com found similar indications in its June housing market report."

"'It seems that we’re at a turning point in the housing market, where prices have gone up so much that buyers are backing off and home sales are starting to get sluggish,' said Daryl Fairweather. 'Sellers are noticing this and are wanting to sell at the top — they feel like this is as good as it gets.'"

"It’s being observed nationally but, Fairweather said, pandemic-trendy metros — rural or suburban areas that people moved to to get out of dense cities — could be the first places to see home prices level off. Areas in rural Pennsylvania, for example, are already past their housing-price peak, Fairweather said."

The Easy Valley Tribune in Arizona. "Has the time come for sellers to get nervous? After months of riding the wave of low inventory, big demand and quick turnovers, sellers may be headed for a rude awakening, according the Cromford Report, which closely tracks the housing market in Maricopa and Pinal counties. It noted that more homes are coming on the market and that its own index for measuring the markets in Phoenix and 16 other nearby communities is trending away from a sellers’ market."

"'The number of active listings is increasing by roughly 300 per week,' Cromford said. 'The number of showings is in decline and the number of contracts getting signed is getting smaller as each week goes by. All this makes sense,' it continued. 'When prices leap by over 35 percent, demand is suppressed and supply stimulated.'"

"Cromford said that while questions may arise as to when this downward trend will level out, 'the honest answer is that no-one knows. Buyers are more cautious now than they were in 2005. Sellers’ normal first reaction will be denial. Some will blame their agent,' it added, predicting: 'These sellers will probably be complaining that they are not getting the viewings and offers their house deserves. This is because they have so quickly become accustomed to a frenzied market. They will now need to get re-adjusted.'"

From WPRI. "If the state’s housing market has been less than kind to you recently, the Rhode Island Association of Realtors has some encouraging news The state’s housing inventory nearly doubled from May to June, though President Leann D’Ettore cautioned it’s too soon to tell whether that trend will continue. 'We were looking at around 800 to 850 listings available on the market in May, and in June, we were looking at about 1,500 listings,' D’Ettore said."

"Right now, D’Ettore said the median price for a single-family home in Rhode Island is $385,000, which is the highest number the organization has seen since it started recording data. What stands out most to D’Ettore is the number of homes that sold for a million dollars or more, which saw growth of 242% in June 2021 compared to June 2020. 'It’s the highest percentage of that increase that we’ve ever seen,' D’Ettore said."

From CNBC. "The revived New York City real estate market is seeing strong demand and attractive prices relative to recent history, a top broker told CNBC. Christopher Kromer said potential buyers can still find reasonable opportunities, after real estate prices in the city were depressed during the height of the Covid pandemic. 'For the most part, if you’re buying today, it’s probably less expensive than it would have been three or four years ago,' he said."

"Kromer said he believes the recent record median sales price is likely impacted by dynamics in the luxury market. 'I think it’s probably tilted with a lot of high-end closings. The luxury market has been booming lately with a lot of discounts.' The recent activity in the luxury market has not wiped away the city’s high inventory levels created by the pandemic, Kromer said. 'What’s driving this are more realistic sellers and softer prices,' the broker said. 'We still are at near-record levels of inventory. So, the sellers are going down to meet the buyers at their prices. The buyers have options.'"

From The Real Deal. "The West Hollywood Edition may soon be up for grabs, The Real Deal has learned. The trendy 190-key hotel at 9040 Sunset Boulevard, owned and developed by the Witkoff Group and Howard Lorber’s New Valley, is being marketed for auction through a Uniform Commercial Code foreclosure, according to marketing documents seen by TRD. The development also includes 20 luxury residential units — not included in the foreclosure."

"Motcomb Estates, an investment vehicle for billionaire brothers Simon and David Reuben, is pursuing the UCC foreclosure against the property on behalf of Brentwood-based Ascendant Capital and the Reuben brothers, a spokesperson for the Reubens said. Ascendant could not be reached for comment. The brothers are major real estate investors in the U.K. who have made recent moves in the U.S., including a $275 million mezzanine loan for Michael Rosenfeld’s Century Plaza and a $170 million deal to buy a New York retail property from SL Green Realty. They helped Ascendant finance a mezzanine loan on the Edition, the spokesperson added."

"Over the past year, lenders have sought to take advantage of distress in the market by initiating more of these foreclosures in an attempt to take control of properties. The Reuben brothers are no stranger to pursuing foreclosures. In March, they sued to foreclose on 15 unsold units at One Thousand Museum, a luxury condo tower in downtown Miami. The developers of the property called the lawsuit 'completely unexpected.'"

The Morning Consult. "Tech-savvy millennials fled to the suburbs during the coronavirus pandemic, fueling a hot housing market that enabled nonbank and fintech mortgage companies to grab a big piece of the growing market share, churning out loans at a faster pace than more traditional bank lenders."

"That booming market has so far shielded a vulnerability. Homeowners had multiple options to buoy their finances, from refinancing opportunities to extra unemployment insurance and stimulus checks. As those programs come to a close this year, most homeowners that took advantage of coronavirus-era policies to delay their loans have now exited forbearance, staving off a widespread, 2008-style foreclosure crisis that many feared at the start of the pandemic."

"The risk is especially high for servicers of Ginnie Mae securities, where nonbanks dominate — roughly 75 percent as of the end of June, according to the mortgage analytics company Recursion. Ginnie Mae guarantees securities backed by loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs’ Home Loan Program for Veterans, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Housing Programs and a Housing and Urban Development Office of Public and Indian Housing program."

"The cost of servicing a delinquent loan is also more expensive than it was in 2008 due to CFPB regulations, said Richard Koss, chief research officer at Recursion and a former economist at Fannie Mae, putting pressure on this newly powerful crop of servicers. 'During the financial crisis, there were all of these horror stories about people at servicers just not answering their phone calls, and people lost their homes because they just didn’t know what their options were,' Koss said. 'Servicing is a money-making machine in a boring market, but if things turn bad and people stop paying, it’s not so fun anymore.'"

The Globe and Mail in Canada. "The Toronto-area real estate market appears to be taking a bit of a breather in July. June marked the third consecutive month in which sales declined in the Greater Toronto Area. 'Things are kind of trodding along,' says Davelle Morrison, a real estate agent with Bosley Real Estate Ltd. 'It feels like it’s slow.'"

"Ms. Morrison listed a one-bedroom-plus-den unit at 76 Shuter Street with an asking price of $640,000 – and instead of setting a date for submitting bids, she’s accepting offers any time. Potential buyers are booking showings, she says. But so far, the unit hasn’t sold, despite the fact that it’s close to the Eaton Centre’s shopping and dining."

"She also listed a condo in the Yorkville area for $1.25-million, but it did not sell when she put it on the market in May. And when she compared her listing with others on the market at the same time, only two of 16 had sold, she says. Ms. Morrison plans to bring the listing back out in the coming weeks at a lower price of $1.15-million. Meanwhile, the west end is loaded with the huge developments at Cityplace and Liberty Village, among other projects."

The Daily Record in the UK. "94% of people who had purchased a home since March 2020 said they had felt under pressure to buy quickly, typically taking just 46 minutes to view their property, Aviva found. Around nine in 10 (92%) pandemic buyers had found problems that they had not noticed during the viewing. Shockingly some 50% of people who had agreed on a purchase during the pandemic said they now regret the price they agreed to."

"The insurer interviewed 2,200 UK home owners, including 500 who had agreed a purchase between March 2020 and June 2021. Nearly a quarter (23%) of those who bought between March 2020 and June 2021 said they agreed a figure over the asking price. A third (34%) of people buying during the pandemic said they were spurred on by the stamp duty holiday and 32% did not want to miss out on homes selling fast. A similar number (30%) said they had lost out on other properties because they had not made an offer quickly enough."

"Owen Morris, managing director, personal lines, Aviva said: 'Our research reveals many people are finding problems with their properties only when it's too late. These range from more minor irritations, such as the need to decorate, to more worrying problems such as crumbling brickwork or a risk of flooding. It can be easy to fall in love with a home on first viewing, but we'd urge people to do their homework and proceed with caution when making one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives.'"