Real estate

Banks could shed as much as 20 million square feet of office space over the next five years as they shift many functions to high-tech operations centers in markets with cheaper rents.

While affordability remains a top challenge for homebuyers, rental costs are also soaring, which could bring even more house hunters to the market.

Vancouver's housing market showed continued signs of weakness in June, as affordability worries curb demand from buyers.

Of the 5,500 housing-unit building permits issued by the city between 2015 and 2017, only 98 were for apartments or houses that people with salaries in the minimum wage range or a little higher could afford.

Columbus, Ohio, had the nation's second-hottest real estate market during June, topped only by Midland, Texas, according to Realtor.com.

Toronto home sales jumped the most in more than a decade last month, a sign that Canada's biggest housing market is rebounding from the chill brought on by tighter lending regulations and higher borrowing costs in the past few months.

Homebuilders in the Twin Cities are having their best summer in more than a decade as permits to build single-family houses outpaced last year for the second month in a row.

Mortgage rates maintained their recent slide and have now declined in five of the past six weeks, according to Freddie Mac.

Housing demand is high, but few homeowners are interested in selling and the resulting inventory shortage continues to drive home prices higher.

Manhattan homebuyers are getting bolder these days, demanding bargains or walking away from deals in a market where inventory is swelling.