A report from Gulf Shore Business on Florida. "Homebuyers in the Naples area have more choices and slightly lower prices this summer, bucking the usual seasonal slowdown. Inventory rose 18.2% year over year in June to 5,885 homes, the highest summer inventory in the past decade, according to a Market Report from the Naples Area Board of Realtors. Local brokers emphasized that the Naples market is unique. Many sellers are not in financial distress and don’t carry mortgages, giving them more flexibility. Jeff Jones, broker at Keller Williams Naples, said, 'Sellers that pull their homes off the market during the summer are doing serious sellers a favor.' Adam Vellano, managing director of South and Southwest Florida at Compass Florida, pushed back against those characterizations. 'News stories that bundle Naples into the value erosion narrative are misleading,' Vellano said. 'Our report shows a market returning to normal.' Cindy Carroll of Carroll & Carroll Appraisers & Consultants said June’s 9.2-month supply of inventory is still within a healthy range, as she considers a balanced market in the Naples area to be a 12-month supply."

The Washington Post. "More than two months after the devastating flood swept through Westernport, its mark remains on the small town of about 1,800 residents. On Wednesday, the town suffered another hit. The Federal Emergency Management Agency denied a request for $15.8 million to make repairs across Allegany and Garrett counties. Many people in the area affected by the flood said they felt like the FEMA denial was politically motivated, because Maryland is a Democratic-run state. But Allegany County, which sustained the lion’s share of damage from the Georges Creek flood in May, is one of Maryland’s most conservative communities. 'This should be completely blind of what your party is, and the federal aid needs to come in and help these people,' Lonaconing Mayor Jack Coburn said. 'It’s their lives, their properties, and they’ll never be recovered without this funding.'"

From KTNV in Nevada. "More than 200 affordable homes are planned for a vacant lot in Las Vegas, with some nearby residents expressing concerns about the development's impact on their neighborhood. The empty plot of land along Cactus Avenue between Rainbow and Buffalo will soon be transformed into 210 new affordable homes aimed at first-time buyers. The homes will be sold to first-time buyers earning between $50,000 and $95,000 a year. After the homes are built, each qualified homeowner will purchase the home, and the county will maintain ownership of the land. The county said, 'The home must be resold at a below-market price to another income-qualified household, ensuring long-term affordability.' Scott Pingley, who recently purchased a home adjacent to the planned development also worries about potential financial impacts. 'What happens if it drops the values in the house? That's a big fear of mine,' Pingley said."

NBC Bay Area in California. "Some realtors say Santa Clara County is starting to look like a buyer's market. Realtors say the average single-family home in Silicon Valley is selling within three weeks and townhomes and condos are closing within a month. That's not much different from last year. What is different is the selling price. 'We are seeing a lot of price reductions,' San Jose realtor Clint Moore said. 'You may not sell your house for as much as you think you should, but you will also be buying at less than you think you will. And that saves money in a whole bunch of different ways.'"

From City Watch LA. "Raivo never imagined that the American dream of property ownership would become his worst and continuing nightmare. An immigrant who worked his way through the University of California system and built a portfolio of 68 rental units, he embodied the success story that California once promised. Today, he can’t wait to leave California. There was a house in the Valley—a distressed sale from an owner drowning in unpaid rent and mounting expenses. Ravio found out that the owner had been bleeding money for months. 'The guy just wanted out,' Raivo recalls. 'He was trapped and could not evict the occupants because of the moratorium, but he still had to pay all the carrying costs while getting nothing in return.' The driveway told the true story: Mercedes, Lexuses, and BMWs—luxury cars that indicated the tenants could easily afford rent but were choosing not to pay."

"Even after purchasing the house, Raivo couldn't immediately reclaim his property. The COVID moratorium made eviction nearly impossible, forcing him to wait months before filing based on the illegal subletting of the recreation room. This space had a certificate of occupancy for recreation, not as a dwelling unit. The tenants started their exit plan when the sheriff's department finally showed up with a five-day notice. Like a scene from a heist movie, furniture trucks arrived late at night, systematically taking everything of value from the house: appliances, chandeliers, light fixtures—anything that could be removed and sold."

"'They literally stole everything, and all that was left was an empty shell.' Raivo says. The financial toll was immense. The total amount of money lost on this property by two owners adds up to around $180,000+ in lost rent, legal fees, and repairs, not including property taxes and upkeep. Collection agencies laughed when he inquired about recovering the money. 'They told me California is heaven for thieves, and I'd just be throwing good money after bad.' For six months, everything appeared normal. Then the rent payments stopped. Raivo recalls, 'They claimed they had no money,' but neighbors reported seeing 10 to 14 people living there at various times, along with several large dogs—all lease agreement violations. Yet, the driveway was often double- and triple-parked with high-end luxury cars, including a white Rolls-Royce SUV that was frequently parked there. 'We're seriously considering leaving unless things drastically change. We pay massive taxes and get nothing in return—streets full of homelessness, rampant crime, and schools losing funding. I don't feel safe walking with my kids in Venice Beach or Third Street Promenade. When I go shopping, I am always looking over my shoulder, we no longer live in a society where we can trust people.'"

The Belleville News-Democrat. "The guilty plea of a prominent metro-east businessman on federal fraud charges last month came as a relief to some people concerned about Belleville’s derelict-housing crisis. That’s because Columbia contractor Gregg Crawford, 65, who formerly lived in Belleville, and his companies allegedly have been buying older properties in the city as part of a fraudulent-loan scheme, allowing some to sit vacant for years and fall into ruin. Crawford and his brother-in-law, Francis 'Frank' Eversman, 74, of Collinsville, a senior loan officer at the former Tempo Bank in Trenton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud on June 23 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois in East St. Louis."

"According to court documents, they worked together from 2011 to 2020 to falsify loan applications so that individual 'straw buyers' recruited by Crawford could get mortgage loans and pretend to purchase highly overvalued properties from his companies. St. Clair County parcel records show that Crawford and two of his Columbia-based companies have bought at least 15 homes in Belleville and on its Swansea border at low prices and sold them for 10 to 40 times more within days, weeks or months to people who got mortgage loans from Tempo Bank. Many of the buyers were 'financially disadvantaged' in that they had poor credit scores, payment delinquencies and incomes that wouldn’t support their mortgage loans. Crawford assured the buyers that bank loans in their names would improve their credit scores. Crawford obtained appraisals of the straw-purchased properties based on promises of future renovation and improvements."

The Wall Street Journal. "Home buyers and builders in Canada are in retreat, adding to the woes of an economy struggling under the weight of President Trump’s tariffs. 'It’s like the air is slowly coming out of the balloon without it popping,' Doug Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Markets said of the housing market’s loss of momentum. 'This could still carry on a little bit longer before things turned around.' For buyers, picking up a new home or moving up the ladder are particularly tough in the Toronto area, southwestern Ontario, and in Vancouver, British Columbia. 'Our industry is bleeding out, largely due to taxes, fees and levies on new housing,' Beau Jarvis, chief executive at Vancouver-based homebuilder Wesgroup Properties, said. 'We are delivering housing at a cost that people cannot afford to purchase.'"

"'To me we’re still in the early stages of this affordability adjustment,' said Scott Ingram, a Toronto real-estate agent. 'Buyers are taking their sweet time and being a lot more selective, as they enjoy a lot more choice and a lot less pressure in their buying process.'"

From Politiko. "The former president of the Kosovo Chamber of Commerce, Safet Gërxhaliu, has raised the alarm about a serious risk that is challenging the construction sector in Kosovo. According to him, the real estate market in Kosovo is being driven by speculative goals and not by the real need for housing. According to him, this sector is not supporting sustainable development, but is fueling an economic model where money is locked up in unused properties. 'If finance does not serve the real economy, then development is only a superficial illusion,' declared Gërxhaliu, adding that capital is being channeled towards property purchases for speculative purposes, rather than for housing or productive development. 'The growing demand for credit, especially mortgage credit, does not necessarily reflect an increase in well-being, but an attempt to quickly profit from rising prices in the housing market. Many of these properties are not used, but are stored in anticipation of further increases in value.'"

"According to the 2024 Population, Household and Housing Census, there are a total of 581,095 dwellings in Kosovo, of which 207,165, or 35.7%, are unoccupied. These include dwellings intended for sale, rent, or other uses, that are currently not occupied by anyone. In a country of about 1.6 million inhabitants, this figure raises serious questions about the real structure of the housing market. More than one in three homes is empty, while construction continues at a high rate. In the last 13 years, the number of homes has increased by 43 percent, a pace that exceeds the natural increase in population."

"Despite the high number of unoccupied apartments, prices in the housing market have not fallen — on the contrary, they are constantly increasing. In Pristina, according to data from real estate agencies, one square meter of housing currently costs between 1,200 and 2,500 euros, depending on the area and quality of the building. The most expensive areas remain the city center, the 'Arbëria' and 'Pejtoni' neighborhoods, where prices often exceed 2,000 euros per square meter. While in other areas such as Prishtina e Re or B and C streets, prices range from 1,200 to 1,700 euros per square meter. This phenomenon is occurring even though, according to the same official data, 96% of families in Kosovo own the homes they live in, which implies a saturation of the primary housing market."