A report from Mansion Global on New York. "Manhattan’s luxury housing market weathered another frigid week, with only 12 contracts signed for homes priced at $4 million or more in the seven days through Sunday. It was the lowest activity during the third week of January since 2012, when the city’s real estate market was still in a post-recession slump, according to Olshan Realty."

"While the start of the year is usually a little slow, the dozen deals made over the past week are 'a depressing total even for this time of year,' wrote Donna Olshan, president of Olshan Realty and author of the report. And there’s more bad news. The average seller last week waited more than two years for a buyer to come along, slashing an average of 14% off their listing price along the way, according to Olshan’s analysis."

From GlobeSt on Florida. "It’s described as another ultra-luxury condo hotel development. But a new name here: Waldorf Astoria. But what some may wonder more about is the feasibility of financing another luxury condo in a city widely predicted to have a surplus, as one way of putting it, or a glut, as others say."

"BridgeInvest announcing their funding of a $33 million pre-development loan for the planned 98-story building. The non-recourse land financing loan was structured based on the underlying collateral value and development potential, despite no existing cash-flow or final approvals, the announcement said."

"BridgeInvest founder Alex Horn admits the term 'glut' is a very powerful word with negative connotations. 'But when you look at South Florida development over the years, there’s been predictions of 10 to 15 years inventories that ended up being assimilated in two to three years,' he says."

From Tucson News Now in Arizona. "This time of year is usually pretty good for real estate agents. 'After the holidays are past, we usually see a bit of an increase in sales and traffic,' said Cathy Chavez, a 25 year veteran of the Tucson real estate market. 'I haven’t seen that so much this year.'"

"Chavez is showing a three bedroom with a den on the Northwest side which sells for $230,000. It has been on the market for 72 days, which she says is a surprise to her. 'We’ve reduced the price on this house hoping to bring in more buyers,' she said. 'We’ve had a little bit more traffic but not like we expected.'"

The Los Angeles Times. "The oceanfront estate of late actor Jim Nabors, known for his role as television character Gomer Pyle, has sold in Hawaii for $12 million, or $2.888 million less than the asking price."

"An extravagant Bel-Air mega-mansion doubling as a monument to opulence just got a whole lot cheaper. The spec house, which listed for a quarter of a billion in 2017, is back on the market for $150 million. Once the nation’s priciest listing, the estate’s towering price tag has now been shaved twice. Developer Bruce Makowsky trimmed it last year to $188 million. With the latest price cut of $38 million, he’s just trying to be realistic."

"Dubbed Billionaire, the home has just about everything but a buyer. 'I don’t think anybody’s ready to spend $250 million on a house,' Makowsky said. 'At $150 million, it gets opened up to a much wider audience.'"

From The Real Deal on Illinois. "National experts predict Chicago will have the worst housing market in the country in 2019. But some local experts and industry observers say the situation is much more complicated than that. Chicago is not the only housing market that will experience pains this year. Nationally, home prices are expected to grow modestly, but sales figures will fall, said Danielle Hale, economist with Realtor.com."

"'It’s going to be good but not great,' Hale said. 'We had a record year in 2017, a bit of a slowdown in 2018 and we expect to see some further softening in 2019.'"

"'It’s not as dramatic here as its is on the coasts, but the market is slow,' said Steve Baird, president of Baird & Warner. 'But everyone looks at what it was the year before, and it’s off a little bit.'"

"After a number of strong years following the market crash, a downturn in the market was not a matter of 'if,' Baird said. 'We’re now 10 years into a cycle, he said. 'There’s going to be a downturn, the only question is when.'"

"In Chicago, much of the new supply is concentrated in Downtown-area condo projects, many of which are loaded with luxury units. The new inventory will be a good thing for buyers, who for years put up with bidding wars and homes flying off the market."

"Matt Laricy, one of the city’s top producing agents and a partner at Americorp Real Estate, said a return to a more even market could be a gift in disguise for the industry, especially after crash and post-crash years saw the market bounce from horrible to great."

"'We’re going to cool off, but it’s not the end of the world,' said Laricy. 'We just need to get to a normal market. I don’t think that buyers will feel that 24-hour gun-to-the-head' pressure, Laricy said. 'Buyers will be pickier. They’ll have more options.'"