NATIONAL

Office Buildings Aren't Selling, Not Even As Distressed Assets
BisNow
Even though consensus has formed that the office sector has lost billions, if not trillions, of dollars in value, a distressed-sale market has yet to materialize. Only $5M worth of office buildings were sold out of foreclosure in the first five months of this year, a microscopic figure compared to the $236M in foreclosure sales conducted last year.

Dallas firm expects to hand back keys to 19 hotels, including two in Plano
Dallas Morning News
Dallas-based Ashford Hospitality Trust Inc. expects to return 19 hotels to lenders in cities including Plano, Las Vegas and Atlanta, declining to pour more cash into the properties, which are part of a $982 million mortgage pool that missed a repayment deadline in June.

Tight warehouse demand eased slightly in Q2, Cushman & Wakefield says
DC Velocity
Industrial vacancy rates for warehouses and other buildings rose slightly in the second quarter, revealing the first softening in years of vice-like demand for inventory storage space in a tight market. The news is in line with various measures showing a gradual slowing of the economy—such as the Logistics Managers Index (LMI)—as the Federal Reserve continues to keep interest rates high to fight overheated inflation.

Commercial real estate values are set to crater as much as 40% by 2025 in these 6 cities
Markets Insider
Commercial real estate is in for hefty price declines across six top US cities. The research firm highlighted cities it dubbed "major markets": San Francisco, Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, Boston, and Washington, DC. San Francisco is expected to suffer the largest decline, with commercial property values in the city plummeting 40%-45% from 2023-2025.

Rents Aren't Rising as Fast. 2 Big Reasons Why.
Barrons
Increases in rent prices have settled down since their rapid rise earlier in the pandemic, thanks to more choices on the market and less demand. It's a trend that will stick around for a while. Two measures of growth, collected by ApartmentList and Zillow Z +0.55% , show that asking rents continued to cool in June, compared with year-ago levels.

FLORIDA

Flooding will cause Deltona residents to see an increase in property taxes
WFTV
Starting next year, Deltona residents will see a 25% increase in special charges on their property tax bill. The hike would improve stormwater and drainage systems following last year's hurricanes. Roughly 250 homes were damaged due to flooding in Deltona, costing the city millions of dollars. That was the residents' biggest concern.

Florida Appeals Court Decides Dispute In Hillsborough County Seaport, Airport Taxes
Tampa Free Press
A state appeals court Friday backed the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser in a dispute about whether a shipyard should be required to pay property taxes, but it said properties owned by the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority should be exempt.

GEORGIA

Corrected tax assessments being mailed in Douglas County
11alive.com
Douglas County is remailing tax assessment notices to about 25,000 property owners after last month's software glitch caused an error to be reflected on thousands of them. This impacted many homeowners who are eligible for the homestead exemption. In a news release, the county explained how the error occurred. Douglas County officials said it is using a new vendor and new computer-based appraisal system. 

ILLINOIS

Chicago has 2nd-highest commercial property taxes in U.S.
Illinois Policy
Chicago has the second-highest commercial property taxes in the nation at 3.78% – more than double the U.S. average for the largest cities in each state, a study found. Only Detroit has higher commercial property taxes at 4.21%, according to the study by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and Minnesota Center for Fiscal Excellence. 

NEVADA

Tesla deal frustrated lawmakers, but little will change at economic development agency
Nevada Current
Despite many lawmakers starting off this year's legislative session with the bad taste of Tesla in their mouths, efforts to rein in the executive branch agency that currently has the power to unilaterally approve hundreds of millions of dollars worth of tax abatements without input from elected officials fell short. 

TEXAS

Harrison County Appraisal District retains attorney to investigate chief appraiser complaints
marshallnewsmessenger.com
In response to several grievances made against newly appointed chief appraiser Mark Alexander, the Harrison Central Appraisal District Board decided Wednesday to hire attorney Joe Tooley to investigate the allegations. The decision was made Wednesday as the board convened for the second time to discuss complaints made by current and former employees of the appraisal district against the new chief appraiser, who was promoted to the position in January. 

New Texas law reforms tax breaks for not-so-affordable housing
Houston Chronicle
A new Texas law reforms a controversial tool meant to create affordable housing. The tool, which prompted an uproar in the Tanglewood area this winter, allows housing authorities and other groups to exempt apartment complexes from all property taxes in exchange for making a portion of their units affordable.

Office market slows even as Fort Worth continues growth
Fort Worth Report
To drive through Fort Worth and see construction underway at the Texas A&M campus, the Crescent Fort Worth project and other developments, it is hard to imagine any economic worries. But plenty of real estate and business leaders are still concerned about a slowdown in the office market. Real estate observers point to the impact of higher interest rates and the continuing effects of the pandemic in the slowdown in office leasing and new office construction.