A report from Bloomberg. "Welcome news for America’s renters could be unhelpful for the Federal Reserve. A 42-year high in the number of apartment buildings under construction points to an impending surge in supply that portends a moderation in the cost of shelter, which in June capped the biggest 12-month jump in almost a decade. Any cooling in the most pronounced driver of inflation means the Fed will have to wait even longer to reach their 2 percent price target -- a prerequisite for some policy makers to raising interest rates."

"Costs for shelter accounted for 63.9 percent of the run-up in the consumer price index excluding food and fuel in the 12 months ended June, the most since 2007 and almost four times the contribution of medical care, the next-biggest source of upward pressure, according to the Labor Department. That boost will be difficult to repeat."

"Ben Weixlmann, who recently relocated to Washington, saw seven apartments over two months before moving with his girlfriend into a new development in Arlington. For a few hundred dollars more, they snagged a two-bedroom place instead of having to settle for a one-bedroom. 'We found somewhere we’re both quite pleased with,' said the 28-year-old, who works for an aerospace company. What helped cinch the deal: a 14-month lease for 12 months of rent."

The Naples Herald in Florida. "Naples Area Board of Realtors Mike Hughes was somewhat subdued as he announced the latest data for the real estate market in Collier County. NABOR’s second quarter market report showed double-digit declines in pending and closed sales. It’s provided for a splash of cold water after a torrid 2015. 'We’re facing some headwinds,' Hughes conceded. 'We have a nasty presidential election, and I don’t care who you’re for, it’s going to continue to be nasty until the election takes place. So that’s one thing that’s affecting consumer confidence.'"

"Pending sales dropped by 11 percent over the same period a year ago, with closed sales falling by 14 percent. Median closed price, which rose by double digits in 2015, has remained virtually flat, growing by 2.0 percent to $325,000. Meanwhile inventory on the market rose by 35 percent over this time last year. '[T]he days of impressively peaking values and expecting a price over market value are in the past,' said Kathy Zorn, of Florida Home Realty."

From Greenwich Times in Connecticut. "Second-quarter home sales in Fairfield County reached their highest level in a decade, according to a new report from Douglas Elliman. But not everything went up. The median sales price was $360,000, a decrease of 16.5 percent from the same quarter last year, and the luxury median sales price, at the top 10 percent of the market, fell 26.4 percent to $1,815,700. 'What’s happening in Greenwich is what we’re seeing across the region,' said Jonathan Miller, president and CEO of Miller Samuel Inc. 'The market is softer at the top and firmer in the middle and at entry-level.'"

"In Greenwich, with its pricey real estate market, housing price trends and sales fell short of the levels from last year. Both the sales of single-family home and condos declined; the median sales price for the former fell 7.5 percent to $1,757,000 while it declined by 26.5 percent to $680,000 for the latter. Luxury-market prices followed the overall trends of the market."

The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin in California. "The townhomes sit half-finished — or half-unfinished depending on your perspective — and the city of Claremont has had enough of what officials and residents are calling blight. So this week, city officials will be meeting with Newport Beach-based William Lyons Homes to discuss the status of a 95-unit townhome project near the 210 Freeway, Mayor Sam Pedroza said. The development has not been, well, developing for some time, said Pedroza, who, along with other city officials, is calling for the project to either get moving again or be sold to another builder who will finish it."

"'I think we’ll continue pushing to make sure that either the developer moves forward with something or they figure out a way to unload it to someone else. From a city perspective we’re not going to ignore it,' Pedroza said. 'Not only is it a blighting type of situation, but the community gets upset when they see nothing is happening as well.'"

"Claremont Community Development Director Brian Desatnik said the city is working to find options that would complete the project. 'We don’t like any project sitting half-completed, so the site as it currently sits is a blight on the neighborhood,' Desatnik said. 'It is not acceptable to us.'"

"The Claremont City Council in February was informed that construction was halted. Desatnik said William Lyon Homes, which has 19 other projects currently for sale in Southern California, indicated it needed 60 days to reassess the market. 'They did not believe the market was in a place where they needed it to be in order to proceed with the project,' he said."