“We also agreed to increase the one-time membership fee from $—- to $—-,” read the summary of a special finance committee meeting convened recently by one of the HOAs I belong to.

“However, due to current market conditions, the Board has agreed to temporarily lower this fee to $—- with the right to increase it again when the housing market improves,” the meeting minutes went on to say.

That’s a sign of the times. “Market conditions” are compelling HOAs to lower upfront neighborhood entry fees to avoid scaring away potential buyers even in relatively upscale communities.

The letter reminded me to check Redfin’s always informative, and often entertaining, news and analysis section. I say this all the time, and I’ll say it again here: I’ve rarely come across a resource as consistently useful as Redfin’s blog. It’s run almost entirely by just two people: Bloomberg veteran Lily Katz and Dana Anderson, a data journalist. They’re great at what they do.

In her latest update, Katz noted that nearly 60,000 contracts were canceled last month across the US housing market, equivalent to more than 15% of would’ve-been home sales.

As the figure shows, that’s the highest share for any July going back at least eight years.

There’s no mystery here: Houses are expensive. Still. And rates are elevated. Still.

In her piece, Katz quoted a Cleveland real estate agent who recounted a recent experience with a first-time buyer. Despite getting a good price on a “beautiful” property with “no inspection issues” (that’s not true by the way; anybody who’s ever purchased or sold a home knows there are always inspection issues, even if they’re trivial), the homeowner hopeful walked because “her neighbors convinced her that owning is too much of a hassle and she should rent instead.”

Of course, renting’s no walk in the park either. As Anderson put it in her latest, “struggling young renters” are “forgoing restaurants” and even “skipping meals” just to pay the rent. “Avocado toast no more,” she sighed.