A report from Reuters. "Sales of new U.S. single-family homes fell to a seven-month low in June. For now, the housing market remains on the back foot. Data from the National Association of Realtors on Tuesday showing existing home sales slumping to a six-month low in June. The inventory of new homes increased in June to 475,000 from 472,000 units in May. At June's sales pace it would take 9.3 months to clear the supply of houses on the market up from 9.1 months in May."

From WCBI. "The median cost of a home in Mississippi is about $263,000, which is 1.7% higher than last year’s market. 'It is turning into a buyers’ market to where sellers are maybe not getting the prices they have been over the past couple of years, buyers can be more selective and certainly we see buyers being choosier about the homes that they really want. Those inventory levels are getting back to where we need them to be,' said said Jody Davis, Hometown Realty Broker/Owner in Columbus."

From Fox 4. "Trevor Caldwell, a Cape Coral Real Estate agent, says the market is starting to correct itself. 'There are as many price reductions as there are, you know, new listings,' said Caldwell. A Redfin study found median sales prices for homes in Cape Coral are down over 5% from last year. 'I think we needed a correction because it was pricing people out of homes. Affordable housing is a huge issue in southwest Florida,' said Caldwell. 'If you have two properties that are priced, the same ones brand new ones, you know, a little bit older and these may need some work or the roofs at the end of its useful life or something like that. Obviously, you know the new construction is going to win.'"

"For first-time home buyers, Caldwell says it's a difficult time, but there are homes available. 'What we tell people is you're going to marry the house and date the rate, so when you marry the house, you find the house that you want, and you buy it and then as interest rates come down, you can always refinance,' said Caldwell."

Honolulu Civil Beat in Hawaii. "Mayor Richard Bissen’s bold and controversial proposal to turn more than 7,000 short-term rentals into much needed long-term housing took a major step forward Tuesday night. Steve Baker, the board president of the Realtors Association of Maui, resigned via a letter to members in which he said he and the organization’s staff had been threatened in relation to its stance against the proposed bill. When Justin Kekiwi, a supporter of the proposal, was testifying about the comments online 'getting nasty,' economist Paul Brewbaker, who also was online in the virtual meeting, put up his middle finger. 'They are being bullies,' Kekiwi added. 'They’re trying to trick you guys with lawyers and fast action lawsuits. You guys have your own attorneys. … Don’t be scared.'"

From CBS News. "Jose Arzate once dreamed of a peaceful retirement in a quiet neighborhood in his hometown. A 24-year veteran of the county probation office, Arzate thought he had achieved the American Dream when he purchased a three-bedroom ranch house in Santa Maria, California, 20 years ago. But while he thought he was building a future for his family through equity in his home, a hidden financial nightmare was eating away at his dream. 'I woke up one morning to find sheriffs outside my door,' Arzate said. 'I had no idea this was coming. I was in bed, starting my day, and suddenly, I was being evicted.'  What Arzate was dealing with was a zombie mortgage. Arzate had modified his loan 13 years earlier, taking out a second mortgage to manage expenses. He assumed his monthly payments covered both mortgages. Unknown to him, he says, the second mortgage had been sold to a different servicer. Arzate said he never got a separate monthly statement for that second mortgage until it was too late."

"More than a decade later, that unpaid loan was resurrected with interest and late fees, inflating the debt from $65,526 to $139,211.  ' If you owe money on a credit card, they send you a bill every month,' Arzate said. 'They didn't do that. They just evicted me.'"

"After years of combat, Iraq War veteran Laverne Simmons found solace in her modest Inglewood, California, home. Yet, after more than a decade of timely mortgage payments, she was blindsided by a default notice.  Simmons took out a second mortgage in 2014 to help make ends meet. Just like Arzate, she believed her monthly payment covered both mortgages. She said she never received statements for the second loan. 'They just laid dormant until there was a time that I had enough equity, and then things started building over here, like the SoFi [Stadium], the Clippers [arena], and then that's when,' she believes, 'they were ready to strike, like a snake, just waiting for the right moment.'"

"'It's the mortgage you thought that was dead that has come back from the grave to come and haunt you,' said Rich Szerman, a Realtor in California. Szerman is also working with Los Angeles single mother Teresa (who asked that her last name not be used). 'Back in 2009, I had to modify my [mortgage] loan,' she said. 'I was going through a divorce. I had 2-year-old twins.' Teresa says she never received a monthly statement for her new second mortgage, and assumed it rolled into her primary loan payment. In January, she discovered she'd been mistaken, and learned her loan had been sold to a new servicer. 'I received a letter from Statebridge Company notifying me that I owed them over $180,000, with an initial payment due of over $50,000, and that I was behind by over 5,000 payments,' she said. 'It's beyond scary. To know that there might be a moment where we may have to move. And given the real estate prices and the rental prices in Southern California, I'm not looking at relocating to the house next door or to an apartment next door. I'm looking at — I can't afford to live in California anymore if I can't stay in my current home.'"

The Charlotte Observer in North Carolina. "The median rent price in the Charlotte metro area dropped by 5.2% from June of last year to this past June, according to the report. The city’s rents have declined the sixth most of any major metro in the country. Nancy Braun, owner of Charlotte-based Showcase Realty, said that apartment construction in Charlotte spiked during the pandemic and that you 'could hit almost any corner in Charlotte and see a new apartment building.' Now, most of those apartments and other rental sites are available, Braun said. This heightened supply creates competition among rental properties, forcing owners to lower their rents. 'They need tenants in there, otherwise they could default on their loans,' Braun said. 'So they’re probably offering a lot of good deals.'"

The Review Journal in Nevada. "Pandemic-era, variable rate financing is pushing some Las Vegas Valley apartment complex owners into tough financial situations, according to a several area commercial brokers. This is a nationwide issue that is hitting Sun Belt cities particularly hard, said Jeffrey Swinger, an executive vice president for multifamily investment sales with Colliers International in Las Vegas. 'What this really boils down to is interest rates and COVID,' he said. 'Particularly starting in 2021, a lot of the lenders (within the multifamily market) because interest rates were zero, were able to offer these short-term floating rate loans, and they were typically three years. If you fast forward to today, a lot of these loans are coming due at today’s interest rates and it’s crushing them.'"

"Swinger said some of the projects could be refinanced, however he could see scenarios where lenders take the properties back from investors at a loss and either manage them or try to sell them. 'But a lot of these lenders don’t want to take the loss,' he said. 'They don’t want to foreclose, so they’re kind of doing the extend and pretend thing.'"

The Globe and Mail in Canada. "Sellers in the Toronto-area real estate market are tussling with tough questions in a summer of slow sales. Deciding whether to slash their asking price is at the top of the list. Many homeowners start out with an asking price that allows room for negotiation if an interested buyer comes in with a lower offer. If they cut that price, they fear they’ll have to haggle down from there. In many cases, they’re right, agrees Andre Kutyan, broker with Harvey Kalles Real Estate. In today’s challenging market, he is encouraging them to do it anyway. 'I’ve been actively talking to sellers,' he says. 'After a certain amount of time, we should come down in price.'"

"Gillian Oxley, agent with Royal LePage RES Oxley Real Estate, says prices are an industry preoccupation these days. 'This is the conversation all the agents are having.' If a property has been sitting, 'I’m absolutely pushing for a price ‘improvement,’ which is the new lingo,' Ms. Oxley says. 'It’s frustrating for sellers right now because they look around and say, ‘what’s wrong with me?’"

"In the condo segment, swelling supply means sellers need to be especially sharp with their price or buyers won’t even be willing to book an appointment, Mr. Kutyan says. He recently listed a condo unit at 125 Redpath Ave. in the Yonge and Eglinton area with an asking price of $849,000, then trimmed that to $829,000. Currently, the asking price is $799,000 in an area with about 200 competing units. 'There’s a lot of choice,' says Mr. Kutyan. 'You have to be right on the money or even lower.'"

BBC News in the UK. "A man who says he felt trapped in an 'excessive' mortgage after Northern Rock's collapse is taking his fight to the High Court. David Riley, 76, from Yeovil in Somerset, sold his home at financial loss after being unable to keep up with mortgage repayments when his contract was taken over by TSB Whistletree. 'It's been a struggle. It was like being in a prison,' Mr Riley said. Mr Riley is one of 2,500 former customers fighting for compensation against TSB Whistletree. Their mortgages were sold to the bank after the 2007 collapse, when some claim they were 'stuck' with rates 10% higher."

The Sydney Morning Herald in Australia. "Three BGC Housing Group entities are at the centre of a $100 million class action being spearheaded on behalf of thousands of frustrated homeowners who entered building contracts with the trouble-plagued construction giant. BGC customer-turned-plaintiff James Buck alleged BGC’s conduct had left him and his family both financially and emotionally devastated. Zoe-marie Masters and her husband Joel signed a preliminary works agreement with Commodore Homes, owned by BGC, in December 2020. The family did not move into their new home in Mandogalup’s Apsley Estate until October 2023. Zoe said she was paying in excess of $5000 a month on rent and interest payments on her new build as well as around $7000 in cash payments to entice tradies to finish the house quicker. 'It seems like no one has the power to hold BGC accountable for what they have done to so many people building a home,' she said."