A report from the Journal Star in Illinois. "While the Peoria housing market is definitely still competitive, it’s not as bad as it was just last year, said Peoria real estate agent Nick Schauble. 'The market has really cooled off. It’s not a buyer's market or a seller's market – it really is a balanced market more than anything, which is very rare,' said Schauble. 'The multiple offer craze, while it still happens, is moving back towards what I would consider to be normal. If you have that really shiny apple in the bowl, you know, everyone wants it. But if just a normal house gets listed, is it going to have four to five offers on it if it’s priced appropriately? Maybe, but maybe not. A year ago, I would tell you it’s a sure thing that you were going to see multiple offers,' said Schauble. While some people are worried that rising home prices are the symptom of a housing bubble that will soon pop, Schauble believes that this is the new normal. 'People have gotten so used to paying double for a loaf of bread, but they just need to accept the fact that real estate is not in a bubble,' he said."

NBC Miami in Florida. "Hundreds of Pembroke Pines condo owners showed up to a community meeting Wednesday hoping to get an explanation about a monthly fee increase, but the situation got out of control before some could even make it inside. An email from Century Village to residents announces unit owners will be paying an additional $100-$200 per month due to 'skyrocketing insurance premiums.' The email states they may also have a special assessment. 'So now we are over $700 a month that we are paying just in HOA fees, and they’re going to kick it up to $1,000 a month,' resident Joe Hutchinson said. 'We have no choice we have to sell. As a matter of fact, I just put my house on the market 10 minutes ago.'"

Texas Public Radio. "During the height of SpaceX fever in Brownsville, city officials rephrased the city's motto, 'On the border, by the sea,' by adding, 'and beyond.' Brownsville claimed it was on its way to becoming the new 'Silicon Valley of Space.' Officials publicized the arrival of space industry startups and venture capital funds. However, a recent compliance audit conducted by the city suggested that few of the companies publicized by officials remain today. A few months after the rezoning, Astreia announced that it would break ground on the 25 acres with homes move-in ready by early 2023. In May 2022, Astreia’s founder and CEO Natalie Rens rented a warehouse space from the airport, which she announced in a tweet, to develop the homes, a source told TPR. Astreia is not currently listed as a tenant in the airport. None of the planned 125 homes appear to have been developed, even after Rens sold at least one home to a UTRGV student."

"The property, which borders the Brownsville South Padre Island International Airport and curves along a resaca, sits vacant. The land is for sale now. The property’s broker, Mark Johnson, told TPR that Rens walked away from the project after she couldn’t secure investors or afford the property’s increasing interest rates."

From Mansion Global. "Luxury home buyers in the U.S. are looking at an opportunity this fall in popular cities from Tampa, Florida, to Provo, Utah, as markets continue to slow down as a result of heightened interest rates and economic uncertainty. Looking at properties listed at over $1 million and analyzing the 95th percentile price and how that’s moved over time, 'there were a few markets that really stood out, including Austin, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; Provo, Utah; and Cape Coral and Tampa, both in Florida,' said Hannah Jones, economic data analyst with Realtor.com. 'They are seeing inventory build up, time on market expand and prices start to settle a little bit, suggesting that this fall may continue those trends and there may be some opportunities for buyers,' Jones said."

"The greatest price drop in the luxury market this year can be seen in San Francisco, where the median sale price of luxury homes fell a record 12.7% year over year, and prices are continuing to fall faster than anywhere else in the country. However, buyers looking for a return might want to avoid it. 'It just depends on if the market has fallen out of favor and whether it’s going to come back in vogue or it’s just completely fallen off,' said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin. 'I don’t think Miami’s going to fall off forever, but I think it’s maybe a little bit overpriced now, same with Austin, but San Francisco I think is more on a longer-term slowdown than those other places.'"

"Across the U.S. active listings of luxury properties rose the most in Austin in the first seven months of the year, at 53.2%, followed by Nashville at 28.4% and Tampa at 21.5%—handing affluent buyers a lot more to choose from. As interest rates stabilize, 'I do think overall there’s a bit more room to negotiate on the luxury market,' Fairweather said. 'The longer the home sits on the market, the more expensive it is for the current owner in terms of their mortgage or their property taxes or whatever it might be, so if you come in and say you’ll take it off the market right away you should be able to negotiate down a bit from the listed price. It usually doesn’t hurt to offer 5% less than what’s listed—maybe even a bit more if you have some justifiable reason to do it—because if there isn’t any other competing offer, then the seller is probably going to have to meet you on those terms.'"

Fox 5 in Nevada. "The owner who rented out her home as an Airbnb over the weekend says there were only supposed to be a few people there for a 20-year-old woman’s birthday party. That party turned into a wild shootout, with neighbors saying more than 50 bullets flew near Blue Diamond and Fort Apache. Home security video captured the gunfire around 2:30 Monday morning. Bullets hit Ty Rodriguez’s home. 'It’s just crazy to think that it could happen in your own neighborhood. And you know it could have easily went through the house and injured people that were most likely sleeping, animals, kids or anything,' said Rodriguez."

"One couple showed FOX5 a bullet that went through a wall and landed in their dining room. FOX5 saw at least five homes that were struck by bullets. At least two of them were hit multiple times. Some neighbors told FOX5 there have been several parties at the home, with some every other weekend."

The Telegraph. "Canadians have finally fallen out of love with Trudeau. The shine has come off a career that at times seemed to defy political gravity. Instead of Trudeaumania, the nation is suffering from Trudeau fatigue. The Liberal prime minister’s approval ratings have slumped below 30pc among voters aged 18 to 34, according to national polling group the Angus Reid Institute. This is the group whose enthusiasm helped get Trudeau elected in 2015, re-elected in 2019 and again – just about – in 2021. Disillusionment has been fuelled by economic factors, including soaring interest rates and a housing crisis."

"Mortgage costs on an average home in Canada now eat up 60pc of typical incomes, according to the National Bank. The figure is 90pc in Toronto and over 100pc in Vancouver. For first-time buyers, prices are simply unaffordable. Their rage is focused on the man they trusted with their votes, not once but thrice. Canadian voters have been slowly souring on their prime minister for a while. The cult of personality that has surrounded Trudeau, which was assiduously cultivated by him on social media, became a bad joke when historic photographs of the future PM in 'blackface' surfaced in 2019. Suddenly his wokery resembled hypocrisy and the idolisation of 'Social Justice Justin' gave way to mockery."

"The population has just passed the symbolic 40 million mark and is due to increase by another 1.5 million by 2025. After Russia, Canada has the world’s second largest landmass and so it seems to have plenty of room for more. Canada’s immigration policy is a cynical gamble, which has been described as 'human quantitative easing.' Last year its headcount rose by 700,000, just 200,000 fewer than the US – which has a population eight times as large. For ordinary Canadians, it is per capita GDP that matters – and this has shown practically no growth per capita during his administration."

"In major cities such as Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa and Montreal, house prices are unaffordablly high for anyone who is not already on the property ladder. The average house price in Canada is C$754,800 (£440,000) – more than 11 times the average household income after taxes."

The Journal. "One of the biggest stories of the week wasn’t actually news to anyone. Widely-publicised figures from Eurostat showed that Ireland is one of the worst performing countries in Europe when it comes to adults between the ages of 25 and 29 living in the family home, better only than Croatia, Slovakia, Greece and Italy. More than two-thirds of people in that age cohort still live with their parents which, as noted, will not be new information to those of us trying to convince ourselves we are real adult human beings while operating out of the same bedroom that we once decorated with – in my case at least – a framed poster of Scarface for some reason."

"There is no shortage of indignity associated with Ireland’s housing crisis, but this week’s figures tap into some new shame, a fresh realisation of embarrassment. The housing crisis makes us look like a bunch of mama’s boys. It makes us look like we need the crust cut off our sandwiches. A bunch of Milhouses. You cannot feel like a real person if your bedroom looks like it smells like Lynx Africa and FIFA 2003. This has been established in romcom after romcom. Do you think 90s Sandra Bullock would date a man who still lived with his parents? Never. What do you think the Sex and The City women would think of us? They’d hunt us for sport, and they’d be right to do it."

From ABC News. "Sarthak Kanwar thought his family would be one of the first to move into their new estate. They'd bought land in Melbourne's outer-west, with dreams to build their first family home in Australia. 'We thought, 'let's have a house of our own which we can decorate and which our child can cherish and have happy memories in,' Mr Kanwar says of he and his wife's decision to build. But while his family were one of the first to start building in their Tarneit estate, he still has no completion date in sight. The Kanwars are one of many families across Australia to be caught up in a builder collapse."

"It was more than five months after his builder Porter Davis collapsed, that Mr Kanwar took part in his first-ever protest. On a sunny winter day in Melbourne, he was one of about 30 protesters who held signs up on Collins Street — right at the top end of town — and shouted 'we want justice' as office workers hurried past on their lunch breaks. They weren't there to protest against their builders though — instead they were on the steps of the state's home building insurer — the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority (VMIA)."

"In Victoria, the VMIA covers up to 20 per cent of the contract price of an unfinished build which is designed to help affected families find a new builder to finish the job. Any faulty work from the original builder is also covered, but the total payout is capped at $300,000. At the Collins Street protest, home owners told similar stories. They'd lodged insurance claims months ago, but they still didn't know how much money the VMIA would pay them or when they would be paid. They couldn't afford to engage a new builder until they had that insurance payout, and while they waited the cost of delays were sending them broke."

"They are the same issues that led Mr Kanwar to the protest. It will now cost $100,000 more to finish his build, and he says he'll have to pay for faults out of his own pocket. He's borrowing money from friends and family and taking money out of his super to cover these bills, saying he has run out of savings and can no longer afford to keep waiting. 'It is like a situation where a ship has sunk and people are drowning but the VMIA is checking the quality of the lifeboats,' is his summary of his experience with his insurer. Instead of looking to the future, Mr Kanwar and his wife are simply trying to find a way through the mess they have found themselves in, through no fault of their own. He is emphatic when asked if he'd build a house in Australia again. 'No,' is his simple reply."

The Associated Press. "China’s government is trying to reassure jittery homebuyers after a major real estate developer missed a payment on its multibillion-dollar debt, reviving fears about the industry’s shaky finances and their impact on the struggling Chinese economy. On Thursday, a half-dozen homebuyers sat outside a Country Garden development under construction in Beijing beside a sign that said they have been 'fighting for their rights' for 97 days. The homebuyers, who sat under tent in 31 C (89 F) heat, declined to talk to a reporter but a security guard said their complaint stemmed from a Country Garden project in Malaysia."

"A weak real estate industry complicates efforts by Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s government to reverse a deepening economic slump after a rebound following the end of anti-virus controls fizzled out sooner than expected. The economy grew by a robust 2.2% over the previous quarter in the January-March period. But that fell to just 0.8% in the three months ending in June. That is equal to a 3.2% annual rate, which would be among China’s weakest in decades."

The Globe and Mail. "Chinese authorities announced a slew of measures Friday to address growing concerns over the state of the world’s second-largest economy. Government data in the past two weeks has revealed poor growth and weak consumer sentiment, which, combined with an escalating crisis in the housing market, have shaken investor confidence and sent stocks and bonds tumbling. Most Chinese households store their wealth in property, and fears that Evergrande’s collapse would leave people out of pocket or owning half-built apartments led to small-scale protests in several cities. Beijing refused to intervene to prop up the developer but did provide support to ensure some residential projects were completed."

"Robert Carnell, the Asia-Pacific head of research at ING, said this week that China was undergoing a painful transition to an economy more focused on consumer spending and less dependent on a highly leveraged property sector. Shehzad Qazi, the managing director of China Beige Book, agreed, saying 'popping a property bubble hurts.' 'It’s killing short-term numbers,' he said in a note, but Chinese President Xi Jinping 'sees that as necessary for any hope of long-term debt sustainability, with some social stability mixed in.'"

"As evidence, he pointed to the lack of major stimulus measures some analysts have been predicting for months, which would likely prop up the Chinese property market but do little to address its long-term problems. One issue likely causing far more headaches in Beijing, however, is growing youth unemployment. This week the country’s statistics bureau said it would no longer publish jobless data for 16-to-24-year-olds after it hit a record 21.3 per cent in June."