A report from News Center Maine. "Dozens of existing homeowners in rural Maine are facing foreclosure, according to court documents. The recent series of foreclosure filings is related to what are known as Section 502 loans, issued by the US Department of Agriculture. When Jennifer Cyr took out a home loan through the USDA, she believed she’d finally found long-term stability. But that dream is unraveling. 'So again, I'm just waiting to get kicked out of my house,' she said. She began struggling to make payments in 2014, after a layoff. For nearly a decade, she claims she tried contacting the USDA for help—with no response. 'I couldn't speak to nobody… it was like they just fell off the face of the earth,' Cyr said. Now, many of these families are finding themselves in a financial crisis. In one instance, one homeowner who took out a $87,000 loan in 2006 defaulted in 2017. According to court filings, they now owe close to $200,000, with $12 in daily interest accumulating."

News 5 Cleveland in Ohio. "Akron is on a mission to fight blight. Since the start of the year, the city has demolished dozens of eyesore properties, and another house is scheduled to meet a wrecking ball on Monday. A house on Aqueduct Street is next on the list. It has overgrown bushes and windows knocked out. 'It's just ugly,' said De'Aiere Palmer, who lives across the street. 'It's just beat up, run down. It's pretty gross.' It will also bring a sigh of relief to real estate agent Antonio Goodwin, who has been trying to sell a house next door for several months. 'This just one home, that one bad apple can ruin the whole tree,' Goodwin said. 'We're listed at $170,000, but if I pay $170,000 for a home, I don't want to come home every day, or come out of my house every day, and look at this.'"

Gulf Coast News in Florida. "After Hurricane Ian barreled through the Gulf Coast in 2022, Carla Dickey was among the hundreds of thousands of people who filed insurance claims for storm damage. But she had concerns with her insurance company from the beginning. So, she hired Francisco Chaparro, the owner of All Elements Public Adjusters, to help her. She signed a contract agreeing to pay him 10% of her claim payout. Then, last summer, Dickey was stunned to discover that Chaparro had been arrested. He was charged with three felonies after state investigators said he failed to forward another homeowner more than $100,000 he received from her insurance company. 'You just don't do this to somebody. You don't steal from people like this,' Dickey said. 'Completely betrayed, lied to, stolen from,' Dickey described feeling at the time. 'I don't need the money for my personal self. I need the money to fix my house.'"

Chinook Observer in Washington. "Pacific County house sales slowed in April and the south county condo market stalled as economic uncertainties and persistently high mortgage rates put the brakes on the real estate market. The slowdown was particularly noticeable in the peninsula-Chinook-Naselle area, according to statistics from Northwest Multiple Listing Service. Nineteen house sales were finalized at a median price — half sold for more and half for less — of $380,000, a 13% decline from April 2024. Fifty-nine new south county house listings brought the total available inventory to 169, 72% more than a year earlier. At the current rate of sales, there are nine months of available invention, well into the range of a buyers market. Elsewhere in the county, seven houses sold in Raymond, up from two in April 2024. The median selling price of $225,000 was a year-over-year drop of 26%."

Silicon Valley in California. "An East Coast buyer has emerged for two landmark San Jose housing towers that had teetered on the brink of foreclosure, becoming a high-profile example of a neglectful and absent owner. The two residential towers at 188 West St. James Street in downtown San Jose, have been bought by New York City-based Machine Investment Group, the real estate firm said. China-based Z&L Properties, through an affiliate, had owned and developed the 188 West St. James towers. After numerous construction blunders, only one tower was fully completed and became home to an unknown number of occupants. The second tower remains incomplete and unoccupied. In October 2024, the 188 West St. James towers went into default on the $264 million construction loan for the tower. A subsidiary of Claros Mortgage Trust scheduled many public auctions of the towers, during which the lender could have seized the highrises through a foreclosure or sold them to the highest bidder.The lender postponed every trustee sale it had scheduled for the two towers — until last week."

CBC News in Canada. "A north Edmonton condo evacuated nearly two years ago over fears the building could collapse has been sold. The long-awaited sale will offer some financial reprieve to previous residents of Castledowns Pointe, which has sat vacant since September 2023. Condo board president Susan Strebchuk said the sale is a welcome sign of closure for its former residents but added there's still a long road ahead. The sale proceeds will take months to be distributed, with owners not likely to see anything until October or November, Strebchuk said. And their share will be a 'drop in the bucket' against the mounting costs they've paid for repairs, condo fees and mortgage payments on homes that were no longer habitable, Strebchuk said. 'The damage that's been done to either your financial standing — or even your ability to move on from this — is not going to be recovered through whatever funds you will get,' Strebchuk said. As Strebchuk reflects on the loss of her home, there is a pang of anger and disbelief. 'We all wish that this never happens to anybody else,' she said. 'But, through all of this, we haven't seen anything that has changed that would protect owners. And that's a little bit of a bitter pill for us to swallow.'"

This Is Money. "While many estate agents continue to talk the market up, data suggests prime London property is struggling. Several central London boroughs have seen prices fall by more than 20 per cent within the last four years, with one borough seeing its house prices plummet 25 per cent in just two years. In parts of Belgravia, Knightsbridge and Chelsea, it's taking 201 days to sell a home on average - almost two and half times longer than the national average. Meanwhile, close to half all homes listed in Pimlico undergo at least one price reduction, according to TwentyCi. That compares to 37 per cent of homes across the UK. In the City of Westminster, average house prices have fallen 25 per cent since they peaked in January 2023 and are still below 2014 prices. The average home is selling for £920,000, based on latest Land Registry data, down from a high of £1,225,000. In Kensington and Chelsea, average house prices are down 28.5 per cent since they peaked in October 2021 and still remain below 2014 levels. The average home is selling for £1,183,000, down from a high £1,653,000."

"'There's something strange happening to the top end of the London market but nobody wants to talk about it,' says Henry Pryor, a professional buying agent. 'Some estate agents worry that if they voice it, then it will make it true, but ignoring it just prolongs the agony. However, if you're buying or selling you need to hear this. The market isn't as strong as it was. What most people aren't being told is that while sellers of £1million plus homes think that it's 2021, but most buyers think it's 2015. The froth has come off the market and privately most estate agents will admit it's a buyers market. It's not because of Liz Truss or Brexit or non-doms fleeing the country. It's not because of interest rates, Ukraine or what's happening in The White House. It's because people will no longer pay whatever it takes.'"

Scoop Business. "Lower home values and easing interest rates are creating a rare opportunity for first-home buyers to enter the New Zealand housing market, particularly in hard to access main centres like Auckland and Wellington. QV senior consultant, David Cornford said: 'Buyers have plenty of options currently and are not afraid to walk away from a property. Economic and employment uncertainty continues and we are seeing this reflected in a relatively soft market where buyers are taking a cautious approach.' QV Property Consultant, Craig Russel said 'In the Tasman and Nelson markets, demand for homes within the $500,000 to $800,000 price range is still strong, with multiple offers being a common occurrence. Pricing remains a key determinate, with accurate pricing required to avoid properties languishing on the market for an extended period, and with multiple price reductions.'"