A report from the Idaho Statesman. "Borrowers struggling with a low credit score, history of bankruptcy or limited savings who may not be eligible for a conventional loan are taking advantage of Federal Housing Administration loans instead, said Jared Olsen, a mortgage loan officer with Zions Bank in Boise. The loans are issued by private lenders and insured by the FHA. This year, FHA loan limits increased by about 24% in Ada County, allowing buyers to shop around with a much larger budget. The limit was $472,000 in 2022. Now it’s $586,500. The federal government also lowered required mortgage insurance premiums by 30 basis points, or three-tenths of 1%. 'It’s helping a lot more people qualify for a mortgage and afford a home,' Olsen told the Statesman."

The Idaho Press. "At times, it can feel as though the oxygen around housing challenges is taken up by the Treasure Valley’s rapidly growing cities. The vast majority of Idaho is rural and those residents are also feeling the pressure. In Clearwater County, there was virtually no income growth over the past 10 years while home values went up by 55% in that time, the report said. In Owyhee County, its residents are directly feeling the impact of the nearby cities’ growth, according to County Commissioner Kelly Aberasturi. Those who come from the cities are usually able to sell their homes for a high price, which squeezes the communities they move into. Aberasturi has lived in the county for nearly his entire life. He bought his 6 acres and house for $80,000. Today, it’s appraised recently at around $750,000, he said."

"'It’s not worth 10 times that, but that’s what the values went up to,' Aberasturi said. 'Who’s going to come over and buy my house on an income that’s in my area? Nobody.'"

The Miami Herald in Florida. "FOR SALE: One dozen choice, lush lots in the highly desirable real estate market of Coconut Grove. Only qualified buyers may bid at an upcoming auction, and better be ready to beat the opening bid of $16.5 million. As for the people who put down deposits and signed purchase contracts for eight of the 12 lots and the new homes that were supposed to be built on them — they can kiss their dream houses goodbye. Those buyers, who have been waiting on a Grove developer who never delivered and is now accused of fraud, will likely watch the Sept. 15 auction and see their properties sold, unless they can muster the money to bid on the entire portfolio."

"'One of these bank accounts had negative $14 in it,' Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Bailey said at a recent hearing. 'We need to get some cash so everyone can set upon it like ravenous dogs and try to get their fair share. There are no funds left and a lot of people with pitchforks,' she said. 'From lenders to depositors seeking their money back — and there may be a lawn care guy who will come forward, too, who knows?'"

In Maricopa in Arizona. "Over the last year, housing prices have taken quite a ride. By the end of 2022, prices were down 17%. They’ve rebounded about 7% this year so far, but that means for anyone who bought a home in the spring of 2022 and is now experiencing a job loss, a divorce or any other kind of dramatic life event, they could be underwater on the home they just bought."

"For example, a home purchased for $440,000, the average price in April 2022, would likely sell for around $390,000 now. Most homes are purchased with less than a 20 percent down payment, meaning that the proceeds on such a home right now may not cover the loan amount. In this situation, a seller must ask the lender for a short sale. If you think you may need to do a short sale, consult with both a Realtor and legal professional to see what options are best for your situation, and whether you may be responsible for repaying any deficiency that the lender writes off."

The Center Square. "The latest report from the Seattle Office of Economic and Revenue Forecasts indicates that the city’s real estate market is slowing down this year. The office revealed that projected revenue generated from the Washington state real estate excise tax has gone from $55,020 in April, to $50,680 in its August forecast. That is a 44% drop from $91,420 collected last year. 'Higher interest rates generally mean lower housing prices, and a lot of folks who own homes and are enjoying low mortgage rates are not anxious to sell, because they would have to be giving up their mortgage,' said Director of the Seattle Office of Economic and Revenue Forecasts Ben Noble. 'There’s almost no volume on the residential side.'"

The American Statesman in Texas. "As struggling urban developer StoryBuilt seeks to avoid financial collapse, a group of former sales and marketing employees are launching a new agency. Homer Agency, composed of 11 previous StoryBuilt executives and employees, will work with real estate developers to oversee branding, marketing, and presale and resale of properties. 'I spoke with (former StoryBuilt CEO Anthony Siela) and told him we were going to bifurcate,' said Homer co-founder Roka Music, who served as chief marketing officer at StoryBuilt. 'It seems like the natural choice to make in comparison to the team being let go. I wanted to go down swinging.'"

The Real Deal on Texas. "Sound the alarms in Houston, because a wave of office distress is starting to ripple through the city amid historically low demand for office space. As of July 25, nearly 1,300 commercial properties in the Houston area were backed with CMBS loans totalling $5.9 billion, all of which are set to mature within 18 months, the Houston Business Journal reported. Just 68 office properties in the region accounted for $2 billion of that debt. Houston has some of the largest loan balances in the country, and distress continues to snowball."

"Years of poor performance in the office sector has formed a ticking time bomb that’s ready to explode. If the aftermath in Houston looks like other cities that are already knee deep in distress, like Chicago, landlords could be forced to hand the keys back to their lenders, sell their holdings at steep losses or face foreclosure litigation. The 31-story One City Centre has a loan balance of $100 million, which was also transferred to a special servicer in late June due to concerns of 'imminent default,' the outlet reported. The owner, Florida-based Accesso Partners, lost its largest tenant in 2020, and the building’s occupancy rate plummeted to 25 percent last year."

The Mercury News in California. "A San Jose building seized through foreclosure has landed on the sales block, a potential deal that may provide clues about the strength — or weakness — of the office market. The development, located just south of downtown San Jose, was never completed and toppled into a loan default and eventual foreclosure, raising questions about the prominent property’s future. The developer was a group led by San Jose-based real estate executive Adeel Mahmood, according to the property records. Meacham Oppenheimer, a commercial real estate firm, is attempting to sell the office and retail complex on behalf of its current owner, the lender for the property. In partner David Taxin's view, Mahmood was offering the office and retail building at too high a price for the market."

"The economic woes unleashed by the coronavirus complicated sales efforts for the property because office or retail buildings are now generally perceived as less valuable than before the outbreak of the deadly bug. 'The prior owner was probably attempting to sell it for $500 to $600 a square foot,' Taxin said. 'We want to sell it for about $350 to $375 a square foot.' That could work out to a decline of roughly 25% to 42% in the value of the property."

From Reuters. "Australian developer Lendlease Group has paused work on an A$1.9 billion ($1.23 billion) office and apartment complex in San Francisco in the troubled West Coast real estate market, it said on Monday, after reporting a drop in annual core profit. California's commercial real estate market is one of the hardest hit globally as home working culls demand for office space just as rising rates crunch property values and lift debt servicing costs. Office entry in San Francisco was 58% below the pre-pandemic baseline, the lowest globally, according to a May report by Jones Lang LaSalle."

"Lendlease paused the 47-story Hayes Point project in central San Francisco, its largest investment in the Americas, earlier this year, looking to line up tenants or find a co-investor, Global Chief Executive Tony Lombardo told reporters on a call following full year earnings. 'We've got A$260 million currently invested in the project. It was a decision over the last couple of months to pause but with really making sure we de-risk it appropriately before we're prepared to put further capital into that,' Lombardo said. Lendlease owns, invests in or manages real estate globally, including an A$33 billion office portfolio."

CBC News in Canada. "Real estate broker Alex Cygal knows how tough it is for divorcing couples to find new housing. She's been through the process herself and is familiar with the options in areas north and west of Toronto — including Brampton, Caledon and Orangeville, Ont., where she works with clients. A townhouse suitable for a single parent and their children in these areas could cost $3,000 a month to rent — and frequently north of $1 million to buy. Either way, it's a hefty price tag for a single individual to shoulder on their own."

"Amid these costs, Cygal said some people in these situations are having to look at moving in with family or friends, or even co-habitate with their soon-to-be-exes, as they figure things out. That comes on top of the general stresses of dealing with the dissolution of a marriage. 'It's very challenging these days,' said Cygal, who lived with her former spouse for two years as their separation unfolded. 'Families stay together unhappily because of the financial strain,' said Joanna Seidel, clinical director of Toronto Family Therapy and Mediation."

"'It was much easier when interest rates were lower … for one party to buy the other party out and the other party to go to buy another place, because the cost to borrow was far less,' said Barry Nussbaum, senior lawyer and owner of Nussbaum Family Law, a firm with locations in Toronto, Vaughan and Brampton. 'So, now, we're finding that couples, even when they're in a very tough divorce, that they tend to both stay in the house because economically, it's impossible to leave.'"

The Telegraph in the UK. "The modest price declines mask churn beneath the surface. Homeowners coming to the end of fixed-rate deals are increasingly opting to sell long before they are forced to, seeing the writing on the wall from higher mortgage rates. First-time buyers who purchased using the Help to Buy equity loan scheme are at the sharp end. 'Help to Buy encouraged people to buy property they couldn’t actually afford. A lot of these people are now looking to remortgage and they are totally failing affordability tests,' says Ranald Mitchell, of Charwin Private Clients. 'Since buying, they have added two cars, two kids, loans and credit cards to their lives, and on top of this the Help to Buy interest payments are kicking in.'"

"Darryl Dhoffer, of The Mortgage Expert Group, knows of one young couple with two children who are selling up and moving back in with family after seeing costs soar. The young family purchased a three-bedroom home in the South East for £300,000 with a 20pc Help to Buy equity loan and took out a mortgage five years ago at a rate of about 2pc. Monthly payments were going to increase from £712 to £1,085. On top of this, they had to start paying nearly £100 per month in interest on their equity loan. 'It just wasn’t possible for them,' says Dhoffer."

"Samuel Mather-Holgate, of Mather Murray Financial brokers, says: 'Over the last three months, we’ve spoken to a dozen clients who are now actively looking at selling their properties, just because they can’t afford the repayments. I have had several clients in tears. It is a really big portion of the market and if you were to class these sellers in the repossession figures, it would set alarm bells ringing.'"

The Daily Telegraph in Australia. "The executors of the late interior decorator Garth Barnett’s estate are seeking tenants for both their Opal Tower, Sydney Olympic Park investment apartments. The high-rise investments were bought in early 2021, some two years after the tower’s cracking calamity. There’s been just one sale this year, with the sale of a 22nd-floor, three-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment. There’s been no price disclosure but last month the vendor was seeking $1,075,000, having paid $1.61m off the plan in 2014, likely ranking as the biggest price drop yet in the infamous building."

"Last December saw another big loss. A three-bedroom, two-bathroom 23rd-floor apartment fetched $1m, well down on its $1.48m off-the-plan sale in 2014. The 87sq m unit had been on the market for nearly a year."

From Reuters. "Country Garden, China's largest private developer, is seeking to delay payment on a private onshore bond for the first time, a source said, after suspending trading in 11 onshore bonds, sending its shares plunging to a record low on Monday. Once considered a more financially sound developer, Country Garden shares dived 18.4% to HK$0.8 on Monday, dragging down the Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index which dropped 3.7%. The stock has lost 50% so far this month."

"Its woes are adding to spillover concerns across a property market already grappling with weak buyer demand. 'The problems in the sector have been brewing for a long time, it wiped off the wealth effect among investors and no one wanted to buy property now,' said Dickie Wong, executive director at Kingston Securities."