My Valley News reports from California. "There’s a flipside to the housing affordability 'crisis' in communities across California: rising values in the Inland Empire are giving many homeowners a reason to tap into their equity and spend money, according to local data released by the California Credit Union League. Some Inland Empire-based credit unions are experiencing this trend firsthand as homeowners were increasingly heading into Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOCs), home equity loans (second mortgages) and cash-out refinance mortgages in second-quarter 2016 compared to the same period a year ago (and prior years before)."

"'The local surge in home-equity lending and cash-out refis reflects a strong national trend in homeowners increasingly remodeling their homes and enhancing their properties,' said Dwight Johnston, chief economist for the California Credit Union League. He said many neighborhoods across the Inland Empire have enjoyed rapid price appreciation, but some areas still have a relatively large percentage of homes that are underwater or have little equity."

"'As more of these homeowners see the light of day with values rising, we’ll see more of this remodeling trend,' Johnston said. 'Pulling out home equity seems to have legs and is here to stay.'"

The Real Deal on Florida. "The market giveth, and the market taketh away. After a relatively steady August, Miami-Dade County’s condo market fell into a deep slump last week, with sales volume halved from the week before and only four condos breaking the $1 million price barrier. Miami-Dade’s sales volume took a heavy hit last week, with only 75 units trading for a total of $24.4 million. For comparison, the previous week saw 195 units sell for $55 million. Average prices were $325,362 per unit and $266 per square foot."

KTNV on Nevada. "Struggling homeowners fighting to save their homes got ripped off by the very people who were supposed to help. So says a scathing federal audit which found widespread abuse in Nevada's Hardest Hit housing program. Contact 13 Chief Investigator Darcy Spears tells us how many millions were squandered. It's a big figure and a bitter pill to swallow. $8.2 million in waste and abuse while support for homeowners essentially evaporated."

"People like Cheryl Barber. 'I jumped through all the hoops.' Cheryl applied for help from the Hardest Hit Fund but got nothing because they claimed they couldn't give her enough to bring her loan current. 'It's my home! It's all I have. I lost my son two and a half years ago and that's been a battle.' There were country club lunches, employee bonuses, meals, gift cards, entertainment and travel--even a disc jockey--all while the number of homeowners who got help plummeted."

"'To see the crooks behind this and taking the money for parties and bonuses and a Mercedes Benz--it's... I'm just flat out appalled. Flabbergasted,' said Cheryl Barber."

Bloomberg on Connecticut. "Barry Sternlicht, chairman and chief executive officer of Greenwich, Connecticut-based Starwood Capital Group, said the town may be the worst housing market in the U.S., and that he now officially lives in Florida. 'You can’t give away a house in Greenwich,' Sternlicht said Tuesday."

"The town -- about 30 miles northeast of midtown Manhattan and home to some of the country’s largest hedge funds -- is seeing a pile-up of houses on the market and prices that are faltering as properties linger. Home sales in the second quarter fell 18 percent from a year earlier to 169 deals, according to appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate. At the same time, new listings surged 27 percent."

"In Greenwich, the median home price fell 7.5 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier to $1.76 million, Miller Samuel and Douglas Elliman said. It remains among the costliest housing markets in the country. In June 2008, Sternlicht tried to sell his 5.8-acre Greenwich property, a gated estate with tennis and shuffleboard courts and a swimming pool. After multiple price cuts and one increase, the home was no longer listed for sale by early 2010."