A report from Spectrum News on Massachusetts. "While a monthly payment for the typical home is still more than $100 higher this week than a year ago, George Bosnakis, executive vice president at Drew Mortgage in Shrewsbury, says low interest rates give people more wiggle room. 'You can actually afford to bid and to overbid on houses because rates are so low and these are fixed rates,' Bosnakis said."

From Fox 5 Vegas in Nevada. "Brian Bonnenfant of UNR's Center for Regional Studies has been analyzing data to help Northern Nevadans figure out what is affordable and what they can purchase. 'The millennials that now reached that age to buy a house basically need six figures to get a detached product, either a new or an existing home,' Bonnenfant said."

"John Restrepo of RCG Economics came up with similar data for Southern Nevada. 'It is a growing concern, in terms of, there's a mismatch between housing prices, rents and incomes,' Restrepo said, stating that the effects of Southern Nevada's lack of economic diversity is now hurting affordability. 'The only answer is greater income and greater wealth,' he said, stating that many Southern Nevadans may need to retrain in new jobs or new careers with higher wages to afford living here."

The Estes Park Trail Gazette in Colorado. "Denver metro new listings rose 24% to a little more than 7,000 single-family units, while statewide the increase was 20% to just over 12,000 homes. 'We are starting to see a slowdown in terms of showings, offers received, and we are actually seeing price reductions on homes that haven’t sold,' said Boulder/Broomfield-area REALTOR® Kelly Moye. 'This is typical for July and into August so the real question of whether the market is changing will be determined in the fall. Buyers have an opportunity now to take advantage of the price reductions and slower pace and still get into the market.'"

From Westword in Colorado. "For the second consecutive year, the number-one spot of best places to live in this country went to Boulder. But Boulder's second win of the top slot is plenty controversial, as evidenced by more than a thousand comments. Explains Gary: 'Boulder is beautiful. It ends there. It’s full of rich pretentious college kids, with no respect for anyone or anything. On the other hand, you have the true Boulderites who don’t wash their hair or shower, and look down on you for eating anything that came from an animal.'"

"Notes Melanie: 'I smell the peanut butter and patchouli from here.' Suggests Emily: 'Boulder is the most miserable white elite establishment Dem hellhole imaginable. Couldn't get out of there fast enough. If you put Richard Branson, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos on the same spaceship along with the makings for a kombucha taproom,and told them to colonize the moon, they would build Boulder.'"

"But then there's this from Craig: 'Everyone saying Boulder sucks won't have a problem, then, staying out of Boulder. This might be a newsflash, but there is a diverse population in Boulder from a wide variety of backgrounds. Not everyone in Boulder is white, leftist, 'liberal,' Democrat, or 'rich.' Some of us have been here a pretty long time and have seen Boulder change, almost purely from out-of-state transplants. Some of us bought our homes way before the economy and housing market became overinflated.'"

The Epoch Times. "The housing market in Orange County, Calif., is finally starting to normalize. According to Steven Thomas, author of The Orange County Housing Report, demand to purchase a home 'has been dropping, shedding 10 percent in the past four weeks.' The law of supply is also at work. According to Thomas, 'The active listing inventory … now sits at 2,528 homes [in Orange County], its highest level since January. In the past four weeks, it has grown by 14 percent.'"

From NBC San Diego in California. "'Walking through America’s Finest City shouldn’t feel like you’re in the Walking Dead,' says Aislinn Fava. The sidewalk outside her building is as far as the 31-year-old has made it outside her apartment alone since she was attacked three weeks ago. Fava was walking along Broadway in the middle of the afternoon when a homeless man ran up from behind her and punched her in the back of the head, slamming her into the ground. She said he punched her a second time and tried to steal her purse before police arrested him. Giovanni Moore, 31, is now in jail and facing criminal charges for battery and robbery."

"'The thing that really freaks me out the most is that there really wasn’t anything I could do to prevent it,' Fava said. 'I couldn’t have seen in coming. I didn’t exchange words with this guy. Nothing. It was so bizarre, so random, that’s kind of the freakiest part.'"

"Fava shared her experience on social media and the comments came flooding in. Below are just a few examples: '…East village is a war zone for women. I had an incident near Albertsons last year. I pepper sprayed him to get him off of me…' '…I work on India St and I have seen so much aggressive behavior from them such as dancing with a knife and wielding it at people…' '…I had a homeless woman charge at me, screaming obscenities...'"

"The same week of Fava's attack, a City Heights surveillance camera captured the moment a homeless man struck another man from behind with a skateboard. Police say the suspect did it again to another random victim just minutes later. Fava just hopes to see changes soon - saying for many living downtown, dodging human feces while walking your dog or constantly fearing an attack from a stranger is now a daily routine. 'This dysfunction has become the norm and it’s really unacceptable,' Fava said."

The Federal Way Mirror in Washington. "Passions boiled over at Thursday night’s town hall as the discussion focused on some attendees’ opposition to the potential of King County’s Health Through Housing program coming to Federal Way. Federal Way Police Chief Andy Hwang said homicide rates in King County are sparking with a 36% increase in the first three months of the year. The department has nine officer vacancies. 'It’s been a really challenging year for us in law enforcement,' he said. 'It’s also been a very violent year for us in 2020.'"

"Federal Way is averaging about 50 reported burglaries a month, he said. Later this month, new police reform laws go into effect and will change operations. Going forward, Hwang said, there will be a decline in police pursuits unless probable cause of a particular violent crime is developed. Physical force will no longer be used on shoplifting suspects without probable cause, he said for example."

"In terms of felony drug possessions, a person caught with drugs will be given two warnings before action is taken, Hwang said. There is no statewide warning database, he said, so an individual could receive two warnings in several different cities without getting a third strike for drug use or possession. Leo Flor, King County Director Department of Community and Human Services, said prior to the pandemic, there were an estimated 12,000 homeless individuals with 6,000 of them living outside. 'We have every reason to believe that number has increased dramatically over the last year,' Flor said."

"Flor listed the contributing factors found to cause homelessness, such as housing that is too expensive or people don’t make enough money. But crowd members cut him off with murmurs of 'drugs.' Another speaker, Marita Rosales, said she lives four houses away from the Extended Stay hotel and often walks to work. In recent months, her children have warned against her walking alone in Federal Way, she said. One speaker said they see the Health Through Housing hotels as re-branded safe injection sites."

From CBC News. "Canadian real estate prices have started to come down from the record highs seen in March. The Canadian Real Estate Association said home sales have now fallen for three months in a row after setting an all-time high in March 2021. 'While there is still a lot of activity in many housing markets across Canada, things have noticeably calmed down in the last few months,' CREA chair Cliff Stevenson said. 'There remains a shortage of supply in many parts of the country, but at least there isn't the same level of competition among buyers we were seeing a few months ago.'"

"Dawn Granley said she loves the Cochrane area and would like to buy something similar to her existing bungalow, but with a bit more garage space. She's thinking of selling but is worried about what might happen if she does. She has friends who sold and weren't able to buy back in. She's heard other stories of houses selling sight unseen, so she's reluctant to dive in until things calm down."

"'It's a double-edged sword,' she said. 'Yes we'll get more money for our house but at the same time ... it's like we're gambling to sell this house. We may not be able to find anything comparable to live in for even the same price, which makes no sense to my brain.'"

The Globe and Mail. "Lumber prices have crashed in a short time span, taking only eight weeks to tumble 70 per cent from record highs as the party ends for forestry companies. 'The deep slide from record-shattering levels extended to an eighth week, with triple-digit price drops common across all framing lumber species,' Random Lengths said in its newsletter. 'Despite the growing threat from wildfires in Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest, any sight of a bottom remained elusive for many producers.'"

"On the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, prices for lumber futures for September delivery have fallen by two-thirds since reaching a record high on May 10. The lumber craze has quickly dissipated since mid-May. Instead of wood shortages, the scene has changed to one of ample supply amid softening demand. 'Western Canadian sawmills slashed their prices again this week as apathetic buyers continued to generate tepid demand at best,' said Madison’s Lumber Reporter, a Vancouver-based industry newsletter."