In July, the annual pace of multifamily-building starts was down 22% from the same month a year earlier, and down 41% from an April 2022 peak. Apartment starts fell to less than 61,000 units in the second quarter, the lowest level in the past decade.

Owning a home was a record 47% more expensive than renting for the 12 months ending in June.

Many landlords support eviction diversion program goals, especially when tied to rental assistance. They can often recover unpaid rent that is otherwise difficult to obtain in court.

Sales of previously owned homes in July rose 1.3% from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.95 million. That was the lowest level for any July since 2010. On an annual basis, existing-home sales, which make up most of the housing market, fell 2.5%.

Now, 8.5% of U.S. homes have an estimated value of $1 million or more, a record high. That is up from 7.6% a year ago and more than double the 4% recorded before the pandemic.

The average rate on the standard 30-year fixed mortgage dropped below 6.5% last week in the sharpest decline of the year. That was more than a percentage point lower than its peak last year of nearly 8%.

More than $40 billion of office loans were in distress at the end of the second quarter, which is around three times the value of distressed apartment loans. But the pool of apartment mortgages that could get into difficulty in the future is larger—$56.9 billion are at risk of distress, compared with $50.9 billion for offices.

Major department stores now occupy less than half of all anchor spaces at enclosed shopping malls, with roughly 500 vacant department-store spaces nationwide.

A July poll showed that voters rank housing as their second biggest concern when it comes to high prices—behind only groceries. That is a shift from a November 2021 poll, which found that housing was ranked below the cost of groceries, gas and utility bills.

Office is by far the most troubled property class. In the second quarter, the volume of office property seized in foreclosures and other actions was up about $5 billion from the second quarter of 2023. Apartment buildings, which have been hit hard by the increase in interest rates and the crush of new supply, had a $975 million increase during the same period.