Arizona State

A new report identifies the best housing market for buyers in Arizona, pointing buyers toward where conditions are most favorable in the state. The ranking highlights relative affordability and buyer leverage in a market that has otherwise remained competitive, and is drawing attention from prospective homebuyers and real estate watchers across the region.

Voters in more than a dozen US states face a Monday deadline to register ahead of the midterm elections. States listed include Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas. Residents who miss the cutoff will not be able to vote in November, so officials and civic groups are urging people to check and update their registration now.

Arizona's housing market is normalizing after years of extreme seller advantage, and buyers are once again making professional inspections a standard part of sale negotiations. With fewer bidding wars and more inventory, sellers are increasingly accepting inspection contingencies and repair requests that they would have rejected during the market's peak. The shift signals a broader rebalancing of negotiating power between buyers and sellers across the state.

Taiwan's foreign minister traveled to the United States to attend the opening of Taiwan's new office in Arizona, according to Reuters. The visit underscores the deepening of unofficial ties between Taipei and US state governments, a relationship Washington maintains without formal diplomatic recognition. Any high-level Taiwanese contact with American officials tends to draw attention given China's objections to such engagements.