A report from ABC News in Australia. "The tide is turning on Australia’s $7.6-trillion property market. Home prices in more than four out of five council areas have reached their peak and are sliding towards an unknown nadir, according to CoreLogic. As the slump moves into its second year with little or no prospect of rebound, the downturn in capital city property markets threatens to drag down the rest of the economy."

"'If we look at Sydney, it’s falling pretty much across the board … The rate of the current decline is generally much faster than many of the other periods we’ve seen,' says Cameron Kusher, head of research for Australia at CoreLogic."

"For many property owners, the dream run has already ended. Mark and Samantha Burgess took a double hit from tougher lending conditions and falling property values when they bought a Sydney apartment off the plan in 2016."

"The couple were initially told they needed a 10 per cent deposit on a $1.6 million purchase. But when it came time to settle in August this year, the bank asked for a 20 per cent deposit on a property now valued at $300,000 less."

"'We were on the verge of losing the deposit and losing the property,' Mr Burgess says."

From Domain News in Australia. "The Sydney weekend auction clearance rate was 44.4 per cent from 331 reported results. A total of 733 auctions were scheduled on Saturday, but, of these, 155 were withdrawn from auction sale, typically because not enough buyers had shown interest in the listed homes."

"Buyer agent Peter Kelaher said he suspected constant commentary about falling prices was landing on deaf ears. 'You can only give the market so much of a hounding,' he said. 'But, in the worst cases, it has come off by 20 per cent: out west and down south is a nightmare, and that’s what is bringing the median price down.'"

From BC Local News in Canada. "Homes sales are dropping across Metro Vancouver, and the Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows market has not escaped the downturn. Sales of detached homes dropped almost in half, down 47.6 per cent according to the statistics from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver."

"Ralph Telep, a realtor for 43 years, said buyers should not be looking for the bottom to fall out of the market, based on the long-term growth it has seen. The proximity to Vancouver and the favourable climate in 'the California of Canada' mean Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows will always be desirable."

"'It’s not coming to an end. Maple Ridge was hotter than a pistol,' he said. 'It has cooled, but it’s not the end of the world. Nothing to worry about.'"

The Sunday Times in South Africa. "Balwin Properties, SA’s largest seller of sectional title property, has turned its focus to the rental market to cope with an oversupply of residential property aimed at the middle-income segment."

"Chareen Mota, Pam Golding Properties’ Hyde Park manager, agreed there is an oversupply of houses for sale. 'It is currently definitely a buyers’ market, with an oversupply of property stock in some places, giving buyers lots of choices, which in turn puts pressure on pricing,' she said."

From AFP on Lebanon. "Ghostly apartment blocks and half-built buildings dot Lebanon, as entrepreneurs and experts fear that the country's key real estate sector is on the brink of collapse. The small Mediterranean country's construction sector witnessed an unprecedented boom from 2008, fuelled in part by sales to wealthy Gulf Arabs and Lebanese expatriates."

"'Some 3,600 unsold apartments exist today in Beirut alone,' says Guillaume Boudisseau, an expert at the Ramco real estate consultancy firm."

"In front of Beirut's port, a building dubbed 'The Coast' is one of many luxurious apartment blocks desperately looking for buyers. A road back from the Beirut seafront, the construction of another tower grinded to a halt two years ago, with only the concrete outer shell completed."

"'We only sold a single apartment off plan,' its owner said, asking to remain anonymous. He reduced the price by 20 percent, 'but it didn't help,' he added."

"To make matters worse, at the start of the year, the central bank suspended a subsidy to real estate loans for less well-off Lebanese. Among them, 33-year-old bank employee Marwan, who signed a contract to buy a flat in January."

"'The next day, I learnt that the subsidised loans had been suspended,' he said, asking that his family name be withheld. Marwan paid 20 percent of the apartment's cost when he signed, but 'was counting on the loan to pay the rest,' he said. 'Now I risk losing the amount I already paid, without even getting a flat.'"

From Stuff New Zealand. "Investors say they should be given more time to adjust to changes that will limit their ability to claim tax breaks. At the moment, if a rental property costs more a year to own than it provides in rent, you can use the difference to reduce your other income."

"Many landlords use this as a way to help them hold properties long enough to benefit from capital gains, particularly when house prices are high compared to rents. But the bill would instead require that the losses were only claimed against future rental property income."

"Investor Nick Gentle said that was a problem. 'For whatever reason a lot of investors have negatively geared real estate. They've just had the rug pulled out from underneath them. With gradual rent increases and five years to put extra money into the mortgages, many people would have been able to make it work. Now they are faced with sell or suffer.'"