A report from the Baltimore Sun. "A Trump administration plan to shutter one of the nation’s largest agricultural research centers in Prince George’s County has blindsided workers and residents. Several USDA facilities in Maryland and Washington, D.C. would close, including the 6,500-acre Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) in Beltsville. Sen. Chris Van Hollen told The Baltimore Sun, 'Shuttering them and disbanding the employees to other parts of the country would do serious harm because a lot of these experts are not going to just pack up their families and leave to other areas.' Federal workers echoed those sentiments, venting their outrage in angry Reddit posts. 'I’m at BARC and nobody is able to move to one of these hubs,' said one person. 'We all have homes, families and friends in the area. People take government positions in part for the stability and because of that build roots where they live.'"

People Newspapers in Texas. "The frenzy has gone out of the housing market, which may mean more time to think for Park Cities buyers. 'We’ve been in three years of gradual slowdowns,' said Cullum Clark, director of the George W. Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative. 'To find a time as soft as we are now, you’d have to go back probably to the mid-teens.' The supply of homes, both across the country and in the Dallas area, has also outpaced demand. Nationally, there are considerably more homes on the market per individual than there have been at any time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Clark said. Real estate professional Valerie Dillon with Perry-Miller Streiff Group said she is working to educate sellers on the importance of pricing their homes correctly and ensuring that their properties are move-in ready. 'I still think there are a lot of buyers out there, but I don’t think we have a ton of inventory that buyers are ready to pounce on, unless it’s priced right,' she said. Buyers should do their due diligence, and make sure they’re comfortable with any findings of inspection. 'Especially if a home’s been sitting on the market for a while, you’re not going into the multiple offer situation,' Dillon said."

From The Olympian. "The Thurston County home seller has been in the catbird seat a long time as the number of homes for sale sunk to new lows and median price continued to rise. But is that finally about to change? Well, at least in July it did because the total number of active listings rose nearly 50%, increasing to 872 units last month from 588 units in July 2024, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. 'Buyers are getting a little more leverage and it’s nice to see,' said Steve Garrett, the owner of Windermere Olympia. Some Western Washington housing markets have already achieved that balance between buyer and seller, according to the Northwest MLS data. Months of inventory was more than six months in Grays Harbor County, four months in Mason County and five months in Lewis County, the data show."

In Maricopa in Arizona. "Maricopa’s housing market is shifting more clearly into buyer’s territory as inventory rises, price drops multiply and distressed properties make a sharp comeback. The biggest shift, however, may be in seller behavior and market saturation. Although the real estate data company Altos says we’re close to a buyers’ market, I think we’re already in one. On an average day, I see 12 to 16 homes listed and only eight to 10 going under contract. That means inventory is growing — and sellers are reacting. More than 20 homes drop their asking price on a typical day. While not all reductions are significant, the steady volume indicates a widespread trend among sellers trying to stay competitive. The most eye-popping change: 20 short sales listed in Maricopa as of June 30 — a level not seen in nearly a decade. That number had not exceeded two since 2017."

"It’s especially concerning for people who bought during COVID at elevated prices. Many of them are now upside down on their mortgages. As of June 30, there were 665 single-family homes listed for sale in HOA neighborhoods across the city. Only one foreclosure is currently listed, but the number of distressed sales signals potential trouble ahead for vulnerable homeowners. New construction continues to play a major role, with 228 of the active listings identified as new builds — putting further pressure on resale homes. For homeowners trying to compete with builder incentives, high interest rates and buyer buydowns, the market is unforgiving."

The Daily Journal in California. "San Mateo County sellers have been increasingly active, with the last few months seeing the highest number of home listings since 2022 and the median price taking a slight dip from $2 million to $1.9 million. 'The most significant change that I’ve seen in the first half of 2025 has been the rise of inventory. Active homes listings have increased for six consecutive quarters before peaking in May,' Peter Gum, Realtor at Keller Williams Peninsula Estates, said. 'That peak hasn’t been seen since August 2022. There are big inventory increases. Many sellers are afraid to continue to wait, and they’re afraid they may be exposed to even more egregious market conditions, like higher interest rates or higher taxes. In spite of all the reasons you wouldn’t want to sell, you’re faced with a number of the concerns that maybe things are going to get worse.'"

"Median home sale prices in San Mateo County saw a slight decrease from $2 million last July for a single-family home to $1.9 million in July, according to MLS data. The July 2025 figure is also slightly lower than February median sale price of $2.1 million. Average days to sell also increased from 21 days to 25 days year over year. The condominium market continues taking a hit, with the median sales price dropping by 19% between June 2022 and June 2025. The year-over-year drop from June 2024 to 2025 has been about 12%, from $794,000 to $700,000, according to Redfin. 'Gen Z and millennials have reduced interest in ownership,' Gum said. 'The renters that I talk to — who would otherwise be in the market — are choosing not to do so. They are saying they have no immediate need to buy, their investments are growing, and they don’t want the burden and hassles of ownership.'"

From CTV News in Canada. "Jon Campbell didn’t expect to buy a house in Newmarket this year. He also didn’t expect to postpone his wedding in Japan after having to move out of his Yonge and Eglinton condo when his landlord decided to put it on the market, or negotiate a mortgage — all at the same time. But when his landlord gave notice about intentions to sell — Campbell and his fiancée, both in their early 30s finally made a decision. They weren’t going to rent again. They were going to buy — despite years of market frustration. 'We sat down and said ‘OK we’re going to buy… looks like there’s blood on the streets from the market.’ They found a freehold townhouse listed at $850,000, made an offer and had it accepted the same night they viewed it. 'We went to go see the property. Fell in love. We offered them $850K the same day… We closed at 12:30 a.m. Saturday night,' Campbell said. 'Someone on my street just sold for $880K. So we got a perfect deal, the perfect property. I didn’t think this existed. I didn’t want to get priced out of the market. It was just the right opportunity at the right time. We just got lucky.'"

"Other buyers who wrote to CTV News say the experience has changed dramatically from the peak of the market frenzy in 2021. Peter Amelunxen and his wife had rented near Toronto’s Mimico neighbourhood with their three children since returning to Canada in April 2020. After years of watching the market and walking away from 'blind bidding wars,' he says they finally found the right property this summer. The couple bid slightly over asking and got a fast acceptance. 'We gave the seller a couple hours to make up his mind, and he accepted the offer right away,' Amelunxen said. 'Our real estate agent… said about a year ago, when he would have shown the house, he would have had to sit in the car and make the offer right away, because he wouldn’t have had time to drive back to the office before another one came in. Now… houses are sitting for a week or two. It makes it a lot less stressful,' he added."

The Pattaya Mail. "The Thai Real Estate Research and Valuation Center at Agency for Real Estate Affairs (AREA) recently revealed an oversupply of housing in 15 key residential areas across Bangkok and its outskirts, including critical corridors near Pattaya. The glut of unsold homes and condos could take 3 to 4 years to clear if no new projects enter the market. Mr. Sophon Pornchokchai, Chairman of AREA, warned developers to avoid launching new projects in these saturated zones unless they offer better designs or greater value that can attract buyers. Failure to do so risks slow sales and potential project failures. The oversupply along Bang Na-Trat and Pak Nam corridors affects Pattaya’s broader property market by slowing demand and tempering price increases. Buyers remain cautious, weighing high inventory and pricing mismatches before committing. Mr. Sophon noted that the majority of oversupplied housing units are townhouses and condos priced under 3 million baht, located far from city centers. These prices and locations often do not match the purchasing power of local residents, leading to prolonged market absorption times."

One Roof in New Zealand. "Auckland’s housing market has shifted from under-supply to over-supply, ending the investor-led market. Ten years ago, the housing market was freaking people out, especially in Auckland. The headlines were relentless in stories of despair by first-home buyers shut out of the market, and that was before Covid became a household name and prices went higher still. Back in the Auckland of 2014, competition was already fierce in the auction rooms. Investors were falling over each other to buy and migrants were pouring into the country. When Covid arrived in 2020 prices shot off only to collapse again. Now, after a rollercoaster decade, some of the fundamentals underpinning the housing market are changing, says independent economist Tony Alexander. Prices have fallen but rates and insurances have risen, and rule changes are in the tenant’s favour, he says. 'I think what’s underway is a stripping away of the average mum and dad investors in the property market they’ve moved in in the last three decades because it seemed an easy way to grow one’s wealth - I think that dynamic has now changed.'"

"For Tom Rawson, Ray White Manukau co-owner, the big change in a decade has been access to finance, which has gone from relatively easy to much harder. Ten years ago an offer subject to finance had a high chance of going through but the same offer now was more of a 'coin flip.' Pricing was another big change – contrary to the myth prices don’t double every seven or 10 years, he says. In Otara, houses in 2014 were selling for $400,000, rising to over $1m during the Covid boom but now Otara had fallen to a $600,000/$700,000 suburb. The price crash had knocked people’s belief prices would continue to rise: 'We've seen several years of prices come back so people are a little uncertain whether they buy now it’ll be worth more in a month or less in a month, or even a year.'"

"Houses remain a huge household expense and Alexander told OneRoof affordability would never return to the early 1990s when the average house price was three times the average income, instead remaining at a new norm of around six or seven times the average income. Hugh Pavletich, however, unapologetically disagrees, predicting New Zealand will see a return to the magic three times average income multiple within the next decade. Pavletich was behind the Demographia surveys, which have run since 2005, comparing housing affordability in different countries, and has been outspoken about how unaffordable New Zealand prices have been. Auckland’s housing affordability sits around eight times the average income but Pavletich says Sydney’s number is 13.8 and Melbourne and Adelaide are around 10. 'We are well down the track of actually solving the problem in this country, on the road to restoring affordability in this country, in my view. There’s a massive push internationally to restore affordable housing.' Pavletich thinks within the next 10 years, Demographia will celebrate the return of affordability: 'I’m very confident of that. Excuse my optimism. I think I do know a little bit about what I’m talking about.'"