A report from Community Impact in Texas. "There is a trend seen between Southwest Austin, Austin and Travis County that holds true for all three—median home prices are down, new listings are down and pending sales are down. Additionally, active listings have gone up while monthly housing inventory has also increased. Compared to 2022, those trends are as follows: Southwest Austin: Median home price: $595,000, down 19.3%. Active listings: 798, up 126%. City of Austin: Median home price: $467,500, down 15%. Active listings: 2,574, up 144%. Travis County: Median home price: $537,000, down 17.4%. Active listings: 4,296, up 125.4%. 'Last month’s housing market activity demonstrates not only a stable market, but one where optimism for the months ahead continues to grow,' said Ashley Jackson, 2023 ABoR president."

From Market Place. "Rising mortgage rates have hit different parts of the country differently. Seattle prices are down 12.4% from last year — the largest dip among the 20 metro areas Case-Shiller tracks. But Seattle real estate agent Sharon O’Mahony said it’s important to remember how hot the market was in early 2022. 'I had a house sell down the street from me last year, which went $600,000 over list price, which was insane,' she said. 'So when they talk about the property prices coming down, yeah, you’re coming down from that.'"

The Union Tribune in California. "There were 2,887 homes for sale in San Diego County in May, said Redfin. Here’s how the different home types fared in May: Resale single-family: Median of $910,000 with 1,627 sales, up from $900,000 last month. Down from its peak of $950,000 in April 2022. Newly built: Median of $724,250 with 149 sales, down from $798,000 last month. This figure combines single-family homes, townhouses and condos. It is down from the peak of $890,500 in August 2022."

"Here’s a look at the median prices across Southern California in May: Los Angeles County: Unchanged month-to-month with a median of $800,000; down 6.3 percent for the year. Orange County: Monthly rise of 1.2 percent for a median of $1 million; down 4.8 percent for the year. Riverside County: Monthly rise of 1.4 percent for a median of $556,500; down 3.6 percent for the year. San Diego County: Monthly rise of 0.9 percent for a median of $812,250; down 3.3 percent for the year."

Bisnow Southern California. "Online real estate investing platform PeerStreet filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after its mortgage-origination business essentially evaporated and with less than half of its loan portfolio current on payments. So far in 2023, the company has originated just $5.4M in mortgages, bankruptcy documents say, compared with $385M last year and $696M in 2021. As of this week, about $205M of the unsecured mortgage payment-dependent notes PeerStreet holds were outstanding, according to an affidavit filed in the bankruptcy proceedings. Those notes are associated with roughly $220.2M of underlying loans, less than $93M of which were performing."

"PeerStreet, based in El Segundo, California, filed for bankruptcy in a Delaware court on Monday. Its trouble seems to stem from the near-universal drop in commercial real estate deal-making that has occurred as interest rates have climbed in the last 18 months. Venture capital, 'one of PeerStreet’s historic sources of funding,' has also dried up, according to the affidavit. PeerStreet users invest in loans on offices, multifamily properties or strip malls. Investors in the platform must be accredited, but the threshold is low: Just $1K can get an investor in the door."

The Nevada Appeal. "Northern Nevada’s multifamily apartment market has seen few sales transactions in 2023 as investors balk at taking out high-interest-rate loans and sellers eschew some significant price valuations for their properties. An example of how interest rates have changed property values: Ken Blomsterberg, senior managing director of investments with Marcus & Millichap highlighted a property owner who received an unsolicited letter of intent about a year-and-a-half ago but declined to sell. That same owner currently is in contract to dispose of the same property, but for approximately a 21 percent reduction in price. High interest rates aside, multifamily developers remain bullish on Northern Nevada with more than 5,000 apartment units currently under construction in the Truckee Meadows and surrounding communities."

The Real Deal. "Adam Verner’s Springhouse Partners sold an apartment building near Union Square for 45 percent less than it paid for the property seven years ago — one of just four mid-market commercial transactions to hit New York City records last week. After paying $55.5 million for the mixed-use building at 51 Irving Place in 2016, Verner told The Real Deal that the building was of a quality and in a location that was hard to replicate, making it a prime opportunity for renovation. In the end, it sold this month for just $30.7 million."

The Commercial Observer. "Properties and mortgage notes securing nearly $600 million in outstanding CMBS debt were auctioned from January through mid-June 2023, based on CRED iQ’s observations of impending losses for investors.Of the 16 REO properties that were auctioned, the average holding period between title acquisition and auction date was approximately 1.5 years. The most protracted distressed sale was a March auction of Square 95, a 155,309-square-foot big-box retail outparcel of the Potomac Mills Mall in Woodbridge, Va. The special servicer acquired the title on behalf of the CMBS trust in June 2018. The high bid was roughly $15.2 million, equal to $98 a square foot, which was approximately 22 percent less than the property’s most recently reported appraisal value of $19.5 million. Outstanding debt on the property was roughly $22 million."

"One of the most severe discounts from appraisal to final bid — equal to minus 49 percent — was the Crystal Mall in Waterford, Conn. The 518,480-square-foot property had been REO since October 2022 and was sold for $9.25 million, equal to $18 a square foot. The final bid was approximately half of the property’s most recently reported appraisal value of $18 million and 94 percent lower than the mall’s appraisal from April 2012, when its $95 million mortgage was originated."

CBS Colorado. "In an RTD lot next to an open power outlet, they made their home. Kari Vernon and her boyfriend were living by a power box near a light pole in the green grass. There was a pile of things including suitcases and clothes, covered by a loose tarp. But it hadn't been raining. 'Missed the bus that last three days because only three buses that leave here in the morning and three that come here in the afternoon. So if you miss them three buses, you're stuck here,' she said. They had come to Evergreen to get away from the city. 'Denver, I will never stay down there,' she said. 'It's like once the sun goes down, it's crazy.' On the morning after talking about their situation at the Evergreen Park and Ride lot Kari Vernon and her boyfriend slept in, unwilling to come out of their enclosure to talk. The 7:40 bus came and went. They were still there."

From Storeys in Canada. "The Supreme Court of British Columbia has set a foreclosure date for more properties owned by Coromandel Properties, this time for the lands associated with a project planned for a site one block away from Nanaimo Station in Vancouver. The project, referred to as 'AC Nanaimo,' is one of the 16 ongoing projects listed in Coromandel Properties’ petition to the Supreme Court seeking creditor protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) earlier this year. In early May, the BC Supreme Court also set the foreclosure date for a six-parcel assembly near Oakridge Centre that Coromandel Properties had planned to redevelop into two 18-storey residential buildings. The final redemption date for those properties was set at June 30."

From Yahoo News. "A homeowner has revealed her mortgage has gone up by £480 in the last month after interest rates hit a new 15-year high. Mum-of-one Leanne Kearey, 33, described her new monthly house payment as 'horrific' following the Bank of England’s decision to raise interest rates by 0.5% to 5% last week. Kearey’s monthly payments have been hiked from £1,120 to £1,600 after she got a new two-year fixed deal for her home in Chadderton, Oldham, when her current one ended. Kearey, who lives with her husband and young daughter, said: 'We were mortified when we found out, it's horrific - how are people meant to live? It’s devastating to see, and I know others are really struggling financially, it feels like things are only going to get worse.'"

The Telegraph. "Germany’s central bank may need a bailout to cover losses on the debt it hoovered up as part of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) massive bond-buying programme, the country’s federal auditor has warned. The Bundesrechnungshof said losses faced by the Bundesbank on more than €650bn (£570bn) of bond purchases were “substantial” and 'could necessitate a recapitalisation with budgetary funds.' Economists have blamed bond-buying programmes for stoking inflation amid a series of negative supply shocks that have increased the risk of economies overheating."

"Steep rate hikes by the ECB meant that the Bundesbank suffered a €1bn hit to its bond holdings last year alone. This is because the central bank is now paying more in interest to commercial banks on deposits at the Bundesbank than the interest it earns on its stockpile of bonds. The ECB started reducing the size of its balance sheet this spring. The losses are similar to those seen in the UK, where the Bank of England has estimated that transfers between the Treasury and the Bank will amount to around £30bn annually over the next three years alone."

"All sectors of the German economy suffered a decline, according to the survey, which noted that in manufacturing 'the business climate deteriorated substantially.' It added: 'Hardly any industry has been left untouched by this development.' Carsten Brzeski at ING said the collapse in activity suggested that 'the rebound of the German economy has ended before it ever really began.' He added: 'Today’s disappointing Ifo index reading suggests that the hoped-for rebound of the German economy is nothing more than hope.'"

From WA Today. "A Perth couple with six children say they will have no roof over their head come October after their landlord did not renew the lease on the property they rent while they wait for their new home to be finished. Zoe-marie Masters and her husband Joel signed a preliminary works agreement with Commodore Homes, owned by Western Australia’s largest builder, BGC, in December 2020. Fast-forward to June 2023, and their home in Mandogalup’s Apsley Estate is yet to be complete."

"'We are now down and out financially, having spent in excess of $48,000 in rent and mortgage interest since our slab went down,' Masters said. She said the family was forfeiting heating their house on cold winter days, as well as non-urgent medical care, to try and make ends meet. Masters feared they would not be unable to afford their mortgage when their house was complete in the wake of 12 interest rate rises and further rate pain flagged by the Reserve Bank. 'We are broke and scared and feeling helpless,' she said. 'Our story is but one of thousands.'"

"With Perth in the grips of a rental crisis, Masters feared their children still living at home – aged two, four, 10, 12 and 16 – would be homeless until BGC finished their home. She blamed the delays on the company signing up more clients than it could handle. In a letter sent on Tuesday to a BGC Housing Group executive, Masters said they had endured the most 'soul-crushing experience' building a family home with the company. 'A company of such economic importance to Western Australia has held the lives of us all in the lowest regard,' she wrote. 'You and others at BGC Housing Group all have your heads in the sand in regard to the real life destruction your business decisions have caused.'"

"Brett Martin and his fiance Jaime Fitton are building in the same estate. He said it was frustrating to see other new homes completed more quickly. 'It’s beyond a joke,' Martin said. 'The whole process is absolutely crushing both mentally and financially from having to pay both rent and mortgage along with top up payments for trades.' Earlier this month, about 70 BGC clients protested outside a display home which they claimed was being given priority for completion while they waited years for their own builds to be finished."