An editorial by Aaron Layman in the Denton Record Chronicle in Texas. "Home sales in Denton took a big dive in December. Some Denton-area home sellers have had to do something unusual during the past several months to get offers — lower their asking prices. As you go up the price bands, more listings are seeing price reductions."

"We are nearly a decade past the last major recession, and things are looking a bit sketchy once again. A number of real estate agents and housing pundits have been caught off guard with the recent downturn. Those who are surprised by recent developments with the housing market have likely been buying into the mainstream industry and media spin that this time is different. It is different in a sense — but not in a good way."

"The Federal Reserve, along with the coordinated efforts of other central banks, has spent the better part of 10 years reinflating asset prices to cover up the consequences of the last housing bust."

"Many Denton-area homeowners are likely wondering what comes next. The truth is that nobody really knows. The real estate market, including Denton, has become a warped, flipped, manipulated mess of financialization. There are no easy solutions to cure a patient who has become addicted to artificially low rates and trillions of dollars in central bank liquidity."

"The good news is that more-affordable markets like Denton will likely weather the next correction better than many DFW submarkets. Denton is still sitting on a small supply of homes. You can be thankful you aren’t one of the recent homeowners in Frisco, where average prices plummeted 12 percent in December amid a glut of luxury homes."

"If you are a prospective homebuyer or seller, be wary of pundits who claim that the softness in the housing market is just a temporary blip on a return to 'normal.' Normal was thrown out the window after the recession, and we have all been relegated to speculator status. As the Federal Reserve tries to 'normalize' its massive balance sheet and raise interest rates, the housing market could become even more volatile."

"One thing that should be crystal clear is that the Dallas-Fort Worth area is still dealing with artificially inflated real estate prices. The unfortunate reality is that much of the growth we saw in the DFW area during the last boom was not organic. This will likely become more evident as the longer market cycle plays out. If we learned anything from the last housing crisis, it’s that people tend to have short memories."

From Bloomberg. "In the years since the financial crisis, global cities like London, Hong Kong and New York appeared to defy housing-market cycles, thanks to a concentration of financial jobs and the self-fulfilling belief that they offered investors a safe haven. Now every release of data seems to turn those assumptions on their head."

"In Manhattan, the median condo price dipped below US$1 million for the first time in three years. Hong Kong home values endured their longest losing streak since 2008, while prices in outer London neighborhoods fell for the first time since 2011. Sydney home owners are grappling with the worst real estate slump since the 1980s."

"In the US, developers that focused on affluent buyers came out of the Great Recession with comparatively strong credit, said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin Corp. The result has been a glut of million-dollar condos accumulating in major markets, while scarce supply drove prices higher on more-modest homes. Now US markets are softening as buyers blink at high prices and rising interest rates and volatile equity markets exacerbate affordability concerns."

From Mansion Global. "The palatial Bel Air spec home that once reigned as the most expensive listing in the U.S. when it was asking a quarter of a billion dollars, will return to the market for a full $100 million less. The four-story glass block that developer Bruce Makowsky built and fitted with opulent flourishes, is now available for $150 million, the developer said in a statement on Monday."

"It’s the second time he’s cut the price on the spec home, marketed as the developer’s 'greatest masterpiece,' which was last asking $188 million."