In 2020, You Didn’t Even Have To Vacuum, And Your House Would Sell For $50,000 Over Price

A report from Click Orlando in Florida. “When Susan Boshers tried to sell her condo in the Hidden Village complex, she thought it would be simple. She had a buyer lined up, the paperwork ready — but the deal collapsed. The reason? Her condo was on a federal ‘blacklist’ that blocks certain types of mortgage approvals. When the buyer applied for a mortgage, they were denied — not because of their credit, but because the Hidden Village complex is on Fannie Mae’s ineligible list. That means buyers can’t use FHA or VA loans — leaving only cash buyers or those with large down payments as viable options. Realtor Sheena Tapia, who’s helping Susan sell the condo, says she’s lost 10 deals this year alone due to this issue. ‘Rejected, rejected, rejected,’ Tapia said, showing a list of unapproved condo complexes in Seminole County. ‘It’s heartbreaking.'”

“It’s not just Hidden Village. Tapia says 88 communities in Seminole County are affected — and only four are currently approved for FHA or VA lending. The reasons vary: structural issues, poor maintenance, or — in Hidden Village’s case — concerns about reserve funding. Even though the complex has strong financials, its 2025 budget includes using reserve funds for a project — a move that violates federal guidelines. ‘I feel stuck,’ Susan said. ‘We’re in a situation we can’t do anything about.'”

From WTOP. “Home sales in the D.C. region’s market have slowed this spring and summer, and so have annual price gains. ‘The most active buyers in the market right now are higher-income buyers,’ said Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at listing service Bright MLS. ‘Because they are more active in the market, they are actually skewing that median sold price, making it look like the overall market is seeing price gains. But it is really about the middle of homes being sold.’ The luxury market also appears to be more isolated from federal government spending and job cuts in the D.C. region than the overall market, though Sturtevant said that may change. ‘The threshold for the luxury market is $1.8 million,’ she said. ‘That is an expensive home. But it is also a home that people who work in the federal government could potentially afford to purchase. We are going to see more impact on the housing market from the federal government cuts this fall, and I think that could rise up into the luxury segment of the market.'”

Culture Map on Texas. “For the eighth consecutive months, the number of homes for sale in Houston rose. It’s currently sitting at over 44,000, which is a 31-percent year-over-year increase from the 34,000 homes for sale in July 2024. In addition, prices are falling. The average transaction price dipped 2.9 percent — about $10,000 — from July 2024 to July 2025. It’s the biggest decline since May 2023 when prices dipped 3.5 percent year-over-year. Overall, Houston ranks first nationally with the most homes listed. That’s a trend that’s common across the Sunbelt, with Raleigh, NC, Miami, and Las Vegas showing the highest growth by percentage.”

“The condo market is seeing a similar shift, with 1,725 units listed in July, a 49.2 percent increase. A median transaction price of $175,000 is down by 17.5 percent, the largest drop since September 2018. ‘The housing market in Houston is slowly, but surely, shifting in favor of buyers,’ Itziar Aguirre, senior director of market analytics for CoStar and Homes.com, tells CultureMap. ‘Listings are at an all-time high and prices are falling, giving buyers more negotiating power.'”

KLAS in Nevada. “There are more luxury homes for sale in the Las Vegas valley than ever before. According to realtor.com, million-dollar home listings jumped more than 40% since last year. However, with so many options, some sellers may be forced into lowering their asking price. One buyer told 8 News Now it is good news for his family, as it allows them to be more particular while shopping and have greater negotiating power. ‘We’ve noticed that there’s plenty to choose from. That is the big difference between here and Hawaii,’ Quintan Brassfield, who recently moved to the valley from Oahu with his wife said. ‘You had this pressure on you to buy a home as soon as you possibly can because you are competing with so many people funneling into the island at once. I don’t feel that same pressure here.'”

“Las Vegas realtor Lance Sherman attributes the current trend to market balancing. ‘About a year ago, homes were selling in a week, in all price points. Today, homes are taking a little longer,’ Sherman said. ‘Your average-sales priced homes are selling in about 30 to 45 days. These luxury homes might take four to six months.'”

From KREM in Idaho. “Is this summer home-buying season a bust? You might’ve heard financial reporters say that. But local experts say, while that might be the case nationally, locally, it’s a different story. ‘I’ve been kind of jokingly saying we’re in a seller’s market, but it feels like a buyer’s market,’ said Elizabeth Hume, President of Boise Regional Realtors. ‘Because, in 2020, you didn’t even have to vacuum, and your house would sell for $50,000 over price, right?’ It’s a different story in Canyon and Twin Falls Counties, with home sales down more than 6% and 9%. Builders and lenders are offering all sorts of incentives that can essentially lower your interest rate and your payment to make this seller’s market feel more like a buyer’s market. ‘People aren’t seeing prices go down, so that’s why they think that we’re still in a seller’s market,’ said Hume. ‘But the way we are negotiating and the way the market is working, there are definitely incentives and gives and pulls and all the things that happen in a buyer’s market.'”

The Columbus Dispatch. “Nationwide is being sued for allegedly withholding insurance payouts to victims of the Eaton Fire in southern California. The lawsuit alleges that Columbus-based Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company refused to pay certain benefits to a family whose home was contaminated by toxins from the January fire, forcing them to find temporary housing and shoulder the costs themselves, according to a copy of the court complaint obtained by The Dispatch. Singleton Schreiber LLP filed the lawsuit on behalf of husband and wife Tony and Mayra Greer, also parents to two young children. The complaint says though the Greer’s home was spared from total destruction, the fire covered the property in toxic contaminants that made it unlivable. The complaint says the family had not received payments from Nationwide by the end of February, forcing them to move into a rental property while continuing to pay their mortgage.”

“Over the next several months, the Greer family ‘underwent a battle royale’ with Nationwide while trying to receive payouts, while the company ‘bent over backwards’ to avoid paying, the complaint alleges. On March 25, Nationwide sent a letter to the Greer family, offering to pay them roughly $4,600 for remediating their home, after collecting the family’s $1,500 deductible. According to the complaint, this payment ‘fell woefully short’ of what was needed for repairs. Eventually the company agreed to pay an extra $27,540 for remediation and additional living expenses, according to the complaint. The payment was issued at the end of July, though the complaint says the amount was still insufficient to fully cover remediation or temporary housing, and Nationwide continues to deny any payments for costs of damaged personal property. According to the complaint, Nationwide ‘invented excuses’ for withholding payments to the Greers, treating them like ‘adversaries’ instead of policyholders and putting additional hurdles in their path.”

Cambridge Today in Canada. “Officials are pointing the finger at a challenging market and high-costs for builders, particularly for mid-rise and high-rise projects, as the reason thousands of approved housing units remain unbuilt in Cambridge. After going through what is often a lengthy public process to seek zoning and official plan amendment approvals, why aren’t these developments going ahead? A spokesperson for Build Urban, a collection of urban developers with a goal of getting shovels in the ground across Waterloo Region, said this problem isn’t unique to Cambridge and isn’t simply a matter of developers being unwilling to build. Melissa Durrell, Build Urban spokesperson, noted some planning approvals are not held by builders but by land speculators who are seeking to increase the land value for sale rather than to build.”

“‘Often, the designs used to secure approvals aren’t based on real development experience and don’t reflect what is financially viable to build,’ she said. ‘When actual builders look at purchasing these sites, they find the numbers don’t work.’ At a groundbreaking ceremony for a townhouse development in east Galt earlier this month, Reid’s Heritage Home president Ron McMillan said high-rise and mid-rise projects are too expensive to build right now if someone is looking to make any kind of profit out of it. McMillan also noted a lot of investors came in from outside the industry looking to upzone properties by increasing the density intending to increase profits. ‘That only worked for 2022 when prices were going through the roof and everybody was paying that,’ he said. ‘Those poor guys that paid that for those sites, now it’s sitting there while the revenues drop, costs have gone up. They can’t make it work anymore.'”

One Roof in New Zealand. “A leasehold apartment in a leaky building in central Auckland has sold under the hammer for just $34,700, with the owners deciding to quit their property rather than risk being slapped with a hefty increase in their ground rent. Ray White agent Steve Kirk said his vendors were among many in the Scene One complexes on Beach Road who have decided to sell before the next ground rent review, which is expected this month. His clients purchased the one-bedroom apartment off the plan 21 years ago when there was a 15-year ‘holiday’ on ground rent payments, but ever since the ‘holiday’ period came to an end, they have struggled with the ever-increasing fees. ‘They were liquidating what they could out of it so they could move on,’ he said, noting that they had taken a $200,000 hit on the property.”

“Kirk told OneRoof that the sale price of $34,700 was in line with what other apartments in the complex were selling for. In addition to being leasehold, Scene One is currently being remediated for weather-tightness issues. Kirk said the ground rent review occurs every seven years and increases are based on the value of the land. However, the last review, conducted in 2018, saw owners hit with a 133% increase. Many of his buyers were older people who could not get bank loans, but instead used their KiwiSaver to fund their purchases. They liked the security of owning rather than renting, he said. There have been about 20 sales in Scene One in the last 12 months, with prices ranging from $7000 to $55,000.”

“City Sales sales manager Scott Dunn said sales in the complexes peaked about six to 12 months ago when people started to worry about the ground rent increase and decided to get ahead of it. ‘The ground rent review is imminent. We would absolutely expect to see many owners anxious about this.’ The impending ground rent review affects all the apartments built on Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Whai Rawa land, including the Scene complexes, The Docks, Hudson Brown, The Landings, Parnell Terraces, The Mirage, Railway Campus, and buildings on Cotesmore Way, Sudbury Terrace, and Dove Dale Place. ‘There would be thousands of apartment owners that could be impacted by this.'”