A report from Realtor.com. "Buyers might want to focus on the housing market breakthrough that's been four years in the making. 'Last week saw the highest number of homes for sale since August 2020, a significant milestone,' says Realtor.com senior economic research analyst Hannah Jones in her latest analysis. 'The recent strength in listing activity means buyers are seeing more homes for sale than they have seen in almost four years.'"

From Newsweek. "A recent report from Realtor.com using February data found that the cost of buying a starter home—which considers monthly mortgage payments—in every one of the country's 50 largest metropolitan areas was $1,027 (60.1 percent) higher than renting an apartment in these same cities. A year earlier, in February 2023, buying a home was $865 (50.4 percent) higher than renting—which means that the convenience of renting over buying is increasing. In cities like Austin and Seattle, buying a starter home was more than twice as expensive as renting, while in Phoenix and Los Angeles it was nearly twice as much. In Austin, the median monthly rent payment in February was $1,530, while the monthly mortgage payment (including property taxes, insurance and HOA dues) was $3,695. That means that buying a starter home cost 141.5 percent more than renting one."

Naples Daily News. "Though Florida's median rent is $2,117, it's actually decreasing the most yearly. The year-over-year change in Florida's rent is -8.80% ― the most drastic in the country. Following Florida's lead is Oregon with a -5.38% year-over-year change. In January, data showed the state's rent decreased 9.21% year over year. Believe it or not, the rent in Naples is decreasing annually based on data from Rent.com. The annual change in rent for a one bedroom has decreased 9% and the cost for a two bedroom has decreased 2%."

The New York Times. "Either by choice or by being priced out of the market, many people have decided that renting forever is their best — or only — option. 'This is very much my life,' said Berna Anat, who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. 'I don’t see homeowning in my future.' When someone says she’s throwing away money on renting, she thinks of friends who have homes. 'They’re like, ‘Oh, we can’t go on vacation for two years, because termites have eaten the foundation of our bathroom,’ or like, ‘Yeah, we actually can’t hang out this weekend because we are on our hands and knees tiling the grout of our decrepit sunroom,’ she said. 'Forever renting is very much a movement. It’s a lifestyle.'"

The Mercury News in California. "Cranes are coming down in Oakland and across the Bay Area as developers contend with an unfortunate intersection of high interest rates and stagnant rents, which have made lenders wary of funding projects around the region. 'The capital markets are incredibly constrained,' said developer Andy Ball. 'It’s basically shut down construction.' The problem is that the costs to develop are increasing, but rent mostly hasn’t. As a result, the value of apartment buildings is going down. 'The good news is, we’re delivering $500 million of apartments this year,' said Drew Hudacek, chief investment officer of Sares Regis, a major developer in the region. 'The bad news is, it’s costing us $750 million to develop them.'"

Business Insider on Texas. "With fewer prospective buyers in the market for homes, home prices are now declining in several cities across the US. The reason homes are getting a bit cheaper is because demand has slowed, real-estate agents in Austin and New Braunfels told Business Insider. Austin real-estate broker Nicole Marburger told Business Insider that the city's real estate market is finally coming down to earth. As homes linger on the market, sellers are reducing their prices to draw buyers, she added. Marburger said she recently worked with a client who purchased a home initially listed for $1.25 million for just $850,000 — it even came with a concession, which is when a home seller offers a buyer additional incentives."

"As homebuyers become more choosy, she said more sellers have to adjust their expectations. 'Sellers who are holding out for peak market prices may unfortunately find that, unless their property truly stands out, today's reality does not align with their aspirations,' she said. New Braunfels is experiencing a similar shift in its housing market. Broker Mercy Boatright told Business Insider that New Braunfels' homebuyers now have the upper hand. 'It's definitely a buyers' market right now,' Boatright said. 'Prices are going back to the norm. Homes are no longer being appraised at sky-high prices.'"

"Boatright said that homes in New Braunfels with higher price tags are struggling to attract offers. Sellers who resist reducing their listing prices are learning their lesson, she added. 'Homes aren't selling unless the seller's price goes down,' Boatright said. On the other side of the closing table, Boatright said she encourages her buyer clients to consider submitting offers on homes even if they're beyond their budget — a seemingly modest bid could still potentially secure a sale. 'I'm like, 'Hey, if it's the house you want, let's make an offer. I don't care if it's $30,000 off,' she said. 'We try it, and I've been getting them every time.'"

From Skift. "In 2021, Jennifer Meyer spent most of her life savings on a house she planned to list on Airbnb. The 3-bedroom, 1-bath ranch in Fairview Heights, Illinois, sits in a residential neighborhood that caters mostly to working families and retirees. Before buying, Meyer, a paralegal by training, says she did her due diligence. After closing on the property, Meyer, 39, quit her job with the state of Illinois, walked away from her pension, and started on renovations. Meyer was thrilled; her neighbors, not so much. After the city council met on the issue, Fairview Heights enacted an ordinance requiring a 30-day minimum stay for renters, essentially banning short-term rentals. 'It really broke my heart, truly, when all of this happened,' Meyer says. 'I really love that house.'"

"Jennifer Meyer’s situation is far from unique. Short-term rental hosts and their neighbors are feuding at a resounding rate. A homeowner in Southern California, Mrs. F, who requested anonymity, is one such Airbnb neighbor. She told Skift that her community dramatically deteriorated after an influx of short-term rentals. When the house next door was sold, it was immediately turned into a short-term rental. In June 2023, there was the SWAT stand-off in her neighborhood involving an Airbnb host that left one man dead. 'That was absolute insanity,' she said. 'Nothing like waking up to the sound of a flash bang. I myself don’t always feel as safe in my home as I used to.'"

"On host-centered message boards, it’s common to see posts asking for advice on neighbors who are allegedly trying to sabotage guest stays by causing bad reviews, repeatedly calling the police and lodging complaints every time a new car pulls into the driveway. One host in Florida, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of further neighbor retaliation, said the people who live behind her STR run their lawn mower next to a shared fence for hours at a time hoping to annoy her guests and cause a bad review. In a Facebook Group called the 'Rants of Airbnb Neighbors,' guerilla tactics are openly suggested. 'Flood the place with lights, harbor bay wind chimes, bucket of chicken fat, fish guts will get rancid and may attract buzzards,' one member writes. 'You need the guest to feel unwelcome and leave bad reviews.'"

Domain News in Australia. "More family-friendly sized apartments in Melbourne’s inner suburbs are needed to open up the housing market for first home buyers and help keep growing families in their local communities, experts say. Less than 10 per cent of apartments sold across five of Melbourne’s inner local government areas have three bedrooms, Domain data for the 12 months to March has revealed. 'We have a glut of one-bedroom apartments … these don’t generally meet the needs of most people who want to live in inner-city environments,' said Professor of Housing and Social Policy at Swinburne University, Wendy Stone."

From Reuters. "Shares of Chinese developers wobbled on Monday as investors fretted that China's 'historic' steps to stabilise its crisis-hit property sector fell short of what is required to foster a sustainable turnaround in demand and confidence. Analysts compared the latest 300 billion relending facility to another 100 billion yuan facility introduced in January 2023 for eight pilot cities to purchase inventory for subsidized rental housing. So far, only around 2 billion yuan have been drawn down by January this year, official data showed, highlighting the lack of incentives and participations from the market."

"Local governments, already some $9 trillion in debt, may be reluctant to expand their social housing projects which provide low returns, and banks would also be hesitant to lend to potentially loss-making businesses. Analysts said the central government's decision to step in as a buyer marked an important step but noted that the size of financing on offer pales in comparison to the estimated trillions of yuan worth of housing inventory across the country."

From Bloomberg. "China’s latest housing initiative is aimed at vacant properties, a major pain point in a crisis that’s dragged on for almost three years. But analysts say the package of measures is still too small to end the rout. The decline in China’s sales of new homes accelerated in recent months, with households increasingly preferring to buy in the secondary market. That’s pushed up the stock of unsold homes and empty land to the highest level in years, discouraging new construction and threatening more defaults by developers — including large state-owned firms."

"'Any game-changing housing easing measures (including those for housing destocking) would likely require significantly more funding than available thus far,' Goldman Sachs Group Inc. economists led by Lisheng Wang wrote in a note, citing earlier research that getting outstanding housing inventory back to 2018 levels would require 7.7 trillion yuan."

"Bloomberg Economics Says: 'Assuming the purchases were made at a 30% discount to market prices, this would allow the government to buy close to 2% of the new homes for sale or in the construction pipeline. An intervention of this size is not big enough by itself to make a dent in housing supply, but could help lift confidence and stabilize the market … Implementation will not be easy. Fiscal resources are limited and misaligned objectives between the central and local governments could also get in the way.'"