A report from the Naples Daily News in Florida. "In November the Naples area saw a year-over-year drop in the median price paid for home resales — the first time that's happened all year. In November the median price for single-family homes fell 7 percent to $397,000, down from $426,000 a year ago. In the condominium market, there was a 3 percent drop to $251,000 — from $258,000 last year. More sellers entered the Naples market in November, with home inventory increasing 40 percent over last year. There were 5,733 properties listed, compared to 4,095 last year. From October to November, another 300 properties hit the market."

"There is now a more than eight-month supply of existing homes available. A year ago, there was a little more than a fourth-month supply, said Cindy Carroll with Carroll & Carroll Inc., a Naples-based real estate consultant and appraisal firm. 'Rising inventories require properties to be appropriately and competitively priced in order to achieve a sale,' she said. 'Overpriced properties tend to languish on the market, contributing to an oversupply condition.'"

"One obstacle continues to be what broker analysts describe as 'irrational legacy pricing behaviors,' with some sellers asking too much for their homes when buyers have plenty of other more affordable options to choose from. 'The number of properties selling in under 30 days is increasing, while those in the 30- to 90-day and 90-day-and-up segments are stagnant,' said Jeff Jones, managing broker at the Naples-Park Shore office of Coldwell Banker. 'This tells me that there are still properties improperly priced out there.'"

The New York Times. "Things are getting choppy in New York’s once-rocketing residential real estate market. Last week, the developers of what was planned as the city’s tallest tower outside of Manhattan gave up and sold their site next to the historic clock tower building in Queens Plaza to the Durst Organization for $173.5 million. The developers, Kevin Maloney and Kamran Hakim, spent nearly three years buying land in Long Island City for the $750 million skyscraper. But, Mr. Maloney said in an interview this week, 'we didn’t have the horsepower to get it done.'"

"Mr. Maloney, who sold the Queens clock tower site, is completing another, 45-story building in Queens Plaza. But his acquisition loan was coming due on the clock tower project. And he was unable to get a construction loan after spending almost $160 million unless he put in more equity, so he decided it was best to sell. 'There’s no denying the high-end market has slowed down,' he said. 'The good news is that land prices should start coming down.'"

From Property Wire on California. "The first interest rate rise in the United States for a year could hit the housing market in California where there are already signs of the real estate sector cooling, new research suggests. The property market in California have been regarded as overheating for a while with house prices falling in some locations such as San Jose which has seen values fall for the first time since 2011. According to the latest analysis report from real estate firm Clear Capital San Jose, one of the nation’s previously top performing housing markets, is reporting negative quarterly price growth for the first time in five years."

"And there could be further cooling as, although it is only the second interest rate rise since the downturn in 2008, the US Federal Reserve has indicated that three more rate rises can be expected in 2017, meaning home loans are set to become more expensive. If the market climate of San Jose is any indication of what is in store for other high priced Californian markets, more cities may dip into the red during 2017, according to Alex Villacorta, Clear Capital vice president of research and analytics."

"'San Jose going negative over the last quarter is a huge deal, although no surprise given that growth in this market, and the Bay Area region as a whole, has greatly slowed over the last couple of years,’ said Villacorta. ‘Rapid price growth combined with lagging, sticky income levels quickly pushed home prices out of the affordable range for a majority of home buyers.'"

The Portland Tribune in Oregon. "Rents have gone down more than half a percentage point in Portland since last year, after flattening out in the past few months, according to a report released by Apartment List this month, showing rents fell for three straight months in 55 of the top 100 cities. Apartment List calculates rent growth on a same-unit basis. 'What that means is for a unit that is available during this time period last year, and the time period this year, the rent they're asking for is actually less than what they were asking last year,' said Andrew Woo, Apartment List's director of growth and data science."

"The rule of thumb says people should spend 30 percent or less of their income on housing. People who spend more than that are considered 'cost-burdened,' because at that level it's difficult to afford healthcare or put money into savings. 'Nationwide, this has gone up in recent years,' Woo said. 'In Portland, it actually went down from 2014-2015.'"

"In 2014, 54 percent of renters in Portland were cost-burdened. In 2015, it dropped to 50 percent. 'It's a significant drop. That compares to a nationwide average of right around 50.6 percent,' Woo said. 'But it's a nice little drop, from slightly below the nationwide average from the year before.'"