A report from the Spokesman Review in Washington. "After climbing steadily for most of the year, homes sale prices in Spokane County appear to be leveling off. The average price for homes with sales closing in August was $260,800 – nearly unchanged from $259,300 in July, and down from a peak of $268,830 in June, according to the Spokane Association of Realtors. But the same conditions that triggered a $40,000 increase of the average sales price in Spokane County since January are expected to linger into 2019, local agents say."

"When Diana Humphrey and her husband decided to sell their house and buy a bigger one, the Spokane couple also thought strategically about the market. 'Houses were going so quick,' Diana Humphrey said. 'We got the new listings every morning. By the time we got out to look at them in the evening, about half of the inventory had disappeared.'"

"After about two months of searching, they bought a 1921 Craftsman-style house in the Logan neighborhood. They had noticed the house – priced at $196,000 – had been on the market for a while, which allowed them to negotiate a lower price with the owners. The Humphreys owned two homes – their family home and a rental. The couple waited until they had purchased a new home before putting their rental on the market. 'We weren’t being forced to move,' Diana Humphrey said. That took some of the pressure out of house-hunting in a competitive market, she said."

From Common Wealth Magazine on Massachusetts. "A new report from a Washington-based liberal think tank raises concerns about the proliferation of luxury condominiums in Boston and urges policymakers to identify who all the new owners are and impose new taxes on them. The administration of Boston Mayor Marty Walsh has largely welcomed the jobs and investment associated with the luxury construction. Officials say the strong demand for the new luxury housing is easing pressure on existing units elsewhere in the city and helping to stabilize or drive down rents. The officials also note that luxury housing developers are required to subsidize the creation of affordable housing in the city."

"The new report from the Institute for Policy Studies, entitled 'Towering Excess: The perils of the luxury real estate boom for Bostonians,' paints a much darker picture of the luxury housing boom, suggesting the expensive high-rises are driving up land and housing costs and contributing to the city’s affordable housing crisis. The report describes the luxury high-rises as 'vertical gated communities' that contribute to income inequality in Boston and are 'part of a global hidden wealth infrastructure.'"

"The report says thousands of high-priced luxury units are in the pipeline in Boston. The institute said 35 percent of the units at the 12 buildings are owned by shell corporations or trusts that conceal the identity of the true owner. The report also said 64 percent of the owners do not claim a residential exemption on their property taxes, suggesting their units may not be their full-time residence."

"Currently, the report said, it is far too easy to conceal the identify of property owners, raising the possibility that some of the owners may be hiding their wealth, dodging taxes, or possibly laundering money. It identified a number of condo purchases in Boston made with cash by shell corporations. 'It is harder to get a library card at the Boston Public Library than to create an anonymous shell corporation and purchase a luxury real estate unit,' the report said."

From Boston 25 News in Massachusetts. "Boston has some of the highest rent prices in the country, but for the first time in nearly a decade, prices are beginning to plateau and fall in East Boston. Real estate broker James Bowen from the ERA Russell Realty Group believes the end of the rising prices is near. 'There's a lot of supply hitting the market right now,' Bowen said."

"Bowen said the average time a rental is on the market has gone from 60 days to six months, and he has seen prices drop for the first time since the 2007 real estate crash. 'This is the first season, the summer season, I have seen it reverse almost 10 percent in three months,' Bowen said. 'We are done, in my professional opinion, with the rise in multi-family tenements for rent.'"

"Bowen said new luxury apartment buildings are drawing people from the traditional housing stock with deals and amenities. 'Inside washer and dryer, it has all the amenities,' Ayan Choudhury from East Boston said. 'Two-bed, two-bath, it's cheaper than what I had in the South End.'"

The Mortgage Reports. "It seems like the red-hot housing market might finally be cooling off. According to a new survey, almost half of all homeowners think home buying has gotten less competitive in the last year. Even more think the ever-pricy California and Colorado markets have slowed down. According to the latest Modern Homebuyer Survey from ValueInsured, many homeowners — 'who are typically more informed and aware of the latest market conditions in their neighborhood' — think the housing market has turned a corner."

"Almost half of all those surveyed — 48 percent — have noticed a less competitive home buying market in their area and lighter open house traffic since spring 2017. In Colorado specifically, 56 percent of homeowners think home buying has slowed. Many California and New York homeowner have noticed the same in their states, with 54 percent and 53 percent reporting a slow-down in the area."

"The survey’s results fall in line with what many experts are predicting: that the housing market will soon shift from the sellers’ favor to the buyers’ — and maybe quicker than expected. According to CNBC, 14 percent of all home listings saw a price cut in June. In half of the country’s biggest metros, home price growth has finally stalled."

From Curbed Hamptons in New York. "The stunning newly built home at 20 Hook Pond Lane in East Hampton has reduced its asking price after coming on the market in May for $17.5 million. Four months later, the price of this beauty is $14,995,000."

From Mansion Global on New York. "Manhattan’s luxury housing market saw the best post-Labor Day week in over a decade, according to the weekly Olshan Report. The most expensive unit to find a buyer was a penthouse at the Sterling Mason building in Tribeca, asking $15 million. Developers of the warehouse lofts have chopped $5 million off the price of the unit since it first hit the market in 2013, a sign that sellers have had to adjust the price expectations amid a cooled luxury market."