A report from the Philadelphia Inquirer in Pennsylvania. "Student loan payments resume this month, and millions of borrowers across the region are rearranging their budgets. Kenneth Blair Jr. is increasingly anxious as his payment due date approaches. 'My payments are the equivalent of a mortgage,' Blair said. (He and his wife also have a mortgage payment, monthly car and insurance payments, and two children to support.) 'I don’t think the numbers the loan servicers are coming up with are realistic. At the current rate, I’m going to be very honest with you, I don’t know how I can make that payment.' Though his wife has less student loan debt, she will also see her payments resume at the end of the month. She is waiting, too, for word on whether she can qualify for lower payments. 'We’re living from check to check. … We are looking at maybe $300 to $400 left after we pay our bills,' said Blair."

From Vail Daily. "Price appreciation has certainly elevated values and combined with higher interest rates hovering in the 7% range, it’s become increasingly challenging for buyers seeking financing to purchase a home in Eagle County. The good news is that inventory levels are seasonally appropriate (though the market needs much more) and buyers are facing less competition for homes. Scott Marino, a broker associate with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Colorado Properties and a Down Valley market specialist, says that the single-family home under $1.5 million is still lagging behind. 'Buyers have proven they are not going to overpay for a home outside fair market value, particularly with the higher interest rates,' Marino said. 'I am seeing some seller hesitancy about listing their property and having to pay more for a new home. But it works both ways. If prices drop, sellers will typically get less for their home.'"

The New York Post. "A Soho loft owned by art consultant and former Chelsea gallerist Sara Tecchia is back on the market for $11.6 million — a 50% price slash from its original $23.25 million in 2015. Tecchia bought the three-bedroom, 3½-bath home at 50 Wooster St. for $7.45 million in 2010."

KTVU in California. "The San Francisco home that appeared in 'The Princess Diaries' movie just dropped its price. It was originally being offered for nearly $9 million, and now it's going for $6.5 million, the San Francisco Chronicle first reported. The house was staged as the high school of the main character, who was played by Anne Hathaway. The 100-year-old home is located on the edge of the Presidio, and features four bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms."

Bisnow on California. "ACORE Capital is the new owner of a five-building Orange County office complex purchased at a foreclosure auction. The nearly 500K SF Aliso Viejo property traded hands for $70M, a steep discount from the $157M Boston-based Rockpoint paid for it in 2018, the Orange County Business Journal reported. The latest sale works out to about $143 per SF for the property. ACORE provided the financing for Rockpoint’s purchase five years ago. Lenders often have an advantage in auctions where they have foreclosed because outstanding debt on a property can be used as credit on their bid, The Real Deal reported. There was nearly $132M of unpaid debt tied to the property when ACORE foreclosed, the OCBJ reported."

Floor Daily. "Last year, the U.S. flooring industry posted 3% growth for a total of $28.195 billion at mill sell, according to Market Insights LLC. Strong activity in the commercial market helped offset losses from the second half of the year in the residential market. Business began to slow significantly in the second quarter and continued to decline for the balance of the year, with both residential remodel and single-family builder business tailing off. Supply chain constraints coupled with heavy demand in 2021 led to a frenzy of import orders. In categories like laminate, engineered wood and area rugs, people were ordering anything that resembled a flooring product. Then supply chains started to clear and product began to flow through the ports and across the country-just as demand dried up-leaving flooring businesses, saddled with huge volumes of product and too few customers to buy it all, distressed and vulnerable."

"Hardwood business, which is primarily residential, was down about 10% last year. Activity was high at the beginning of the year, but supply chain issues caused bottlenecks. And as demand quickly cooled, oversupply from 2021 hit the market, including from imported engineered woods that had been stuck in transit. That oversupply of engineered wood imports impacted demand for domestic production and also led to a plunge in imports last year of about 21%."

CTV News in Canada. "A new mortgage phenomenon is popping up across the country and in Windsor-Essex that sees homeowners facing extended mortgage terms of 50, 60 or even 70 years. Rasha Ingratta, a mortgage advisor with Mortgage Intelligence in Windsor, says about 10 per cent of the calls she is receiving are tied to this issue. 'With the calls that I’m getting, I just want people to not panic,' Ingratta told CTV News. 'The best option is to either increase your payment if you can [or] refinance if you can.'"

"The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) has received similar reports of negative amortization, but is downplaying their significance. The OSFI is an independent federal agency regulating and supervising 400 federally regulated financial institutions like banks and credit unions. OSFI declined an interview request from CTV News and instead pointed to a recent statement on the matter. 'These kinds of projected amortizations are not realistic and do not represent what borrower’s actual repayment period will be,' reads part of the statement. 'In most circumstances lenders will restore borrowers to their contractual amortization period.' The OSFI statement also characterizes these renewal term extensions as 'hypothetical' and goes on to say in some cases 'an infinite amortization period' could be produced by the repayment calculation."

"Ingratta has been working in the mortgage lending industry since 1999 and said this a new problem arising from rising interest rates, spurred by the Bank of Canada’s attempt to get inflation inline with its two per cent mandate. 'We haven’t really seen this before,' said Ingratta. While the issue is popping up in Windsor, many of the calls Ingratta receives are from outside of the region. The dour financial picture is leading many of her clients to pursue alternate housing arrangements, including multi-family homes. 'I’ve seen situations where people have moved in together,' said Ingratta. 'We are going to see that.'"

The Canadian Press. "Toronto-based realtor Davelle Morrison with Bosley Real Estate Ltd. said that with high-interest rates, 'people are really feeling the pinch.' 'You just don't have as many people in the market right now looking,' she said. 'For the people who are in the market and looking, it's a great opportunity for them, simply because they have less competition.' BMO Capital Markets economist Robert Kavcic said demand is struggling a bit under the pressure of higher mortgage rates. 'Back in the spring, we had a bit of a bounce in prices because listings were really being held back and that's just not the case now,' Kavcic said. 'So the market balance is kind of tilting and I think there's probably some downward pressure on prices across a few markets.'"

"He said many potential buyers held off earlier this year due to weak market conditions, but that could change heading into 2024. 'Now you're getting to the point where if you have to move properties, or if you have to move jobs or locations, or if you're an investor holding multiple properties, you can only kind of sit there so long and wait.'"

"Morrison said the downward price trend in the Toronto region has also provided opportunities for some to buy properties that would have otherwise been unaffordable in recent years. For a first-time buyer client looking to buy a condo with two bedrooms on a $1-million budget, Morrison said she was able to find a house instead. 'They were contemplating whether they should buy or not buy because interest rates are high, but when we were looking at the fact that some of the houses now are available below $1 million, they realized that this is actually an opportunity,' she said. 'They can get a 'deal' on a house in Toronto now because prices are slightly lower than they used to be.'"

The Telegraph in the UK. "Neil Webster, who is in his 70s and trying to downsize to Gloucestershire to be closer to his children and grandchildren, said stamp duty was the least of his worries. His four-bedroom house in Preston has been on the market for 10 weeks, and still has not attracted any offers. 'The house is ideal for a family but we’ve had to reduce the price by £20,000,' he says. 'The market is flat as a pancake, I know homes that have been on the market for 18 months. If and when we get a reasonable offer, we will take it. But we are competing against the new builds. In this area there are fields of them, and I just think: this house isn’t going anywhere.'"