A report from City News 1130 in Canada. "The bubble that’s been ballooning for years in Vancouver’s housing market is finally showing signs of bursting. With the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reporting sales fell 43.5 per cent in September compared to the same month last year, James Brander with UBC’s Sauder School of Business says it’s no surprise year-over-year sales have dropped more than 40 per cent."

"'Sooner or later, you know, bubbles do burst. Certainly, my sense is that we have hit the peak. I’m not predicting we’re going to have a big decline, but I would expect relative stability instead of just prices continuing up,' Brander says."

"'Vancouver was basically in a real estate boom. People were buying because they thought prices would keep going up. A lot of speculative purchasers and right now, they’re getting nervous,' he says, adding sales have also cooled down thanks to mortgage qualification rules now being more strict."

"Al Krueger, a realtor with the 604 New Home Team, admits it is taking longer to sell a home. 'Each week there’s more product coming out. Should we buy something now or wait? Next week, they’ll be more affordable?' he says. 'We’ve been having people take looks and people coming back for a second look, but the act of actually putting pen to paper, that is slower to take place.'"

The Epoch Times on China. "China Vanke Group, one of China’s biggest homebuilders, announced that it will slash by about half the price of its new townhouses in Xiamen, a city in the southeastern province of Fujian."

"While price cuts to stimulate sales are common, the deep discount has created widespread furor amid the decreasing viability of the real-estate industry in China and a possible collapse of the property bubble."

"The price tag for the townhouses has been slashed to 2.78 million yuan (about $404,700) from the original asking price of about 5 million yuan (about $730,000). They are sized at around 100 square meters, or roughly 1,000 square feet, with lots that measure about 300 square meters (3,200 square feet)."

"According to Vanke Chairman Yu Liang, the company is bracing for dim market prospects. He said in a speech last month that Vanke’s target was 'survival' and that the Chinese real-estate market is at a 'turning point' with a 'decreasing future.' At the end of September, Vanke organized an autumn conference in Shenzhen, southern China, where the theme was 'survival,' the mainland-based The Paper reported."

"Xu Jiayin, founder of Evergrande Group, China’s second-largest property developer by sales, delivered a speech on Sept. 13 expressing his loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), saying, 'I and everything that belongs to Evergrande were given by the CCP.' His statements suggested desperate hope that the regime would protect Evergrande in the event of economic downturn."

"On Sept. 26, a new development in Xi’an, northwest China, couldn’t find any buyers at the asking price. In other second-tier cities, such as Nancheng and Hefei, real-estate developers offered 25 to 35 percent discounts, with only mediocre results."

From Newshub New Zealand. "A flood of new property listings has experts calling an end to a 'flat market' period. Realestate.co.nz released new figures showing 10,372 new listings across the country in September - that's an 11.7 percent increase on the same month last year. But Auckland listings blow that number out of the water - up 31.9 percent."

"Southland is also seeing a major upsurge of 21.2 percent, followed by Northland and Wellington, with each region up more than 13 percent. And last month also recorded an all-time high national average asking price - standing at $690,733, up from $659,309."

"Property commentator Olly Newland is not optimistic. 'I think it's not as good a sign as you think. I think some people are panicking the market is slipping a little bit, and they want to put it on the market,' he said. 'The question will be: will there be the demand to match it? I suspect it'll not be as hot a market as you think.'"

"'With this influx of supply, vendors will have to be realistic about their pricing and ensuring that they are meeting the market and what buyers are willing to pay,' says Realestate.co.nz spokeswoman Vanessa Taylor.. As it moves from a sellers' to a buyers' market, only the coming months will tell whether there's the demand to meet the supply."