A report from the Vancouver Courier in Canada. "The dramatic slowdown in the detached home resale market combined with the introduction of the speculation and vacancy tax and other demand-side measures have prompted a host of owners of pricey houses to rent their homes, according to the president of a property management company."

"'The speculation tax, as well as the collapse in the housing market, is definitely going to affect rental rates in the high-end rental market,' said Petr Vokoun, who co-owns Orca Realty. 'A $3 million house that would have rented for $5,000 a year ago will likely rent for around $4,000 a month today. What we’re seeing is that rental rates have decreased up to 20 per cent from the spring of 2017, and it’s getting even worse. And when you look at the ratios, if a person owns a $3 million property, to get $4,000 a month for it probably doesn’t make financial sense for them.'"

"He added, 'It’s getting to the point where there’s some desperation in the market, especially as now these owners also can’t sell these homes. It’s really spiking the rental inventory, in a way that I haven’t seen before in over a decade of property management.'"

"'The market can’t bear those kinds of prices, and it just takes time for owners to get educated,' said Nan Kumlin, property manager with Luxury Rental Suites. 'In the past couple of months I’ve seen huge price reductions. Those price reductions are to do with the recent freeze in the sales market, the empty homes tax and the Airbnb rules.'"

"Will there be a trickle-down effect that will reduce rents on less-expensive properties? 'Absolutely – it has to,' said Vokoun. 'The sales slowdown started with detached homes, but now also condos and townhomes are slowing down too, which in turn will spike rental inventory in the market and rental rates will go down. That’s what I’m seeing. And the speculation tax – as well as Vancouver’s empty homes tax – will exacerbate this effect.'"

From News.com.au in Australia. "Having one conversation right now could potentially save scores of Aussies up to $3120 every single year. That’s according to comparison site finder.com.au, which argues now is the perfect time to strike to negotiate a better rent rate, as the price of rent continues to drop across Sydney in particular."

"The statistics are convincing — recent CoreLogic rent data has revealed rent for apartments has fallen or stagnated in 38 per cent of Sydney suburbs, while 40 per cent of suburbs across the NSW capital have seen either flat or decreasing house rent prices."

"Finder.com.au money expert Bessie Hassan said while plummeting rent was welcome news to renters, it was a also a warning sign for residential property investors. 'Investors unfortunately will not fare as well as renters as cheaper rent means smaller returns,' she said. 'However, what landlords may lose in rental income, they could make up by negatively gearing the property as this reduces their overall taxable income.'"

From Mingtiandi on China. "China’s long-term rental housing market hits the headlines again a Yujian Apartment, a startup backed by Xiaomi founder Lei Jun this week received debt payment notices from a major bank, and is said to owe back rent to its landlords."

"Yujian, which operates a network of around 20,000 apartments nationally is the sixth major rental housing enterprise in China to fall into financial distress so far this year, following Yozook, Love Apartment, Cres & Asia, Dingjia and Hao Zu Hao Zhu."

"Privately-owned Huarui Bank issued a notice to Yujian, warning the rental housing operator to meet its commercial obligations, citing numerous complaints from owners of apartments from among Yujian’s network claiming that the residential startup had failed to pay rent on schedule."

"A Weibo user named Zhao Zilong Zhi Yun Kan Pan who identified himself as a homeowner who had leased his apartment to Yujian posted on the Twitter-like service on Monday that the rental housing operator had failed to pay its rent on time."

"Yujian has also made enemies on the tenant side with over 300 consumers having complained about Yujian Apartment failing to return rental deposits within the agreed 15 business days, according to data from the Shanghai Consumers Association, with the average time for rendering deposits said to reach three months."

"By the time that this article was published, Yujian Apartment’s website had become unreachable."

The South African. "Oh, how the tables are turning. Renting in Cape Town looks set to ease the strain on the bank balance of locals, as a leading housing expert predicts landlords will be unable to raise rental prices for the next two years."

"Speaking to Home Times, Matthew Taylor of Greef Rentals summarised what’s happening with the letting market in Cape Town’s properties. After years of spiralling costs, it would seem that a myriad of factors is aligning to make living in the Mother City affordable once more."

"Plenty of new apartment blocks have been built in the last few years, and are ready to go 'on stream' within the next 12 months. The market has become more competitive, and money talks. According to Taylor, many landlords will have to lower their rates in a bid to keep the money coming in."

From Gulf News on Dubai. "Dubai’s real estate market is getting set for the 'ready' wave — and it will have a telling impact on the city’s residential rents and even on how developers price their off-plan launches. Between 15,000 to 20,000 new homes will get delivered in Dubai this year, and in locations such as Al Furjan, Jumeirah Village Circle and Sports City, the new additions are being backed up by some eye-catching incentives."

"And that adds to the pressures on the rest of the rental marketplace. Rents in Sports City and JVC are down by 10-15 per cent on average since early 2017. A three-bedroom unit at both locations are in the range of Dh90,000-Dh100,000 a year.

"'Rents are falling across the board and that is due to a number of reasons, one of them being the fact there are now generous incentives given on ready properties,' said Sameer Lakhani, Managing Director at Global Capital Partners."