It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "The median price per square foot in all but three of the 16 price groupings in Asheville was higher in 2018 than in 2017, per Mosaic. It ranges between $105 a square foot on listings below $100,000 — up almost 16 percent year-over-year — to $396 a square foot at listings north of $1.5 million, down almost 32 percent from 2017."

"'Sellers can’t price their house really high if they know the market is going to catch up to it. They need to be careful that prices are so high and they shouldn’t be disappointed with the prices they’re selling at, said Mike Figura, head of Mosaic Realty."

"Prices in the Dayton region have increased for the past years as homes have flown off the market within days. But the seller’s market is starting a slow but steady shift. Buyers looking for higher-end homes of $350,000 or more are already experiencing more options, said Springboro Realtor Herman Castro. Some of the more expensive listings are having to drop up to $100,000 of the listing price to attract interest."

"The developers behind Oceanwide Plaza, a massive $1 billion project that has ground to a halt in Downtown LA, owe more than $52 million to some of its contractors, according to a Curbed review of publicly available real estate records. 'Obviously it’s a lot of money, right?' said Webcor attorney William Eliopoulos. 'We’re out a lot of money on this.'"

"Prices of detached homes in central Toronto are down almost 13 per cent from December of 2017. Prices in Vancouver have contracted as much as 30 per cent for detached homes. 'Real estate markets across Canada are facing a headwind, says Brad Henderson, CEO of Sotheby’s International Realty Canada. 'Certainly there has been a significant decrease in activity everywhere.'"

"In the United States, data from the National Association of Realtors shows that purchases by Canadians are markedly down, Mr. Henderson notes. 'We’re in a holding pattern. Everybody’s in wait-and-see mode; nobody is panicking,' says Tom Locati, a partner at Russ Lyon/Sotheby’s International Realty in Phoenix. 'We don’t see people running for the doors.'"

"Home prices in the British capital's prime postcodes - which include Chelsea, Islington, Kensington and Mayfair - dropped 1.5 per cent in the final quarter of 2018, data compiled by broker Knight Frank showed. That extended the decline for the year to 4.6 per cent. Prices in the best areas around the edges of central London, where thousands of new apartments are being built, fell at a near identical pace to the prime areas and are now at a five-year low, the broker said."

"'Both pricing and sales volumes were on a downward trajectory in the second half of 2018,' said Tom Bill, Knight Frank's head of London residential research."

"A run of good fortune for the world’s top casino operators is coming to a halt as high-rollers feel the pinch from China’s economic slowdown. Sluggish Chinese economic growth and overhanging trade tensions with the U.S. have led wealthy gamblers who make up more than half of Macau’s wagers to moderate their betting habits."

"Several Chinese high-rollers in Macau late last month said times were tougher. An electronics-factory owner visiting MGM Resorts’ Macau property said he had cut his trips to Macau in half and reduced the size of his bets to 15,000 yuan ($2,224) from 40,000 yuan. 'There’s not as much money in the wallet,' he said."

"Home values in Australia’s two major property markets have fallen since the end of 2017, with the median price of a house in Sydney down 10.9 per cent year-on-year to $902,786, and 10.6 per cent to $740,425 in Melbourne, according to CoreLogic. At the same time, the number of homes advertised for sale has risen dramatically, with listings up 34 per cent in Melbourne compared to the same time last year, and 24 per cent in Sydney."

"For buyers that means one crucial thing: negotiating power. 'Heightened levels of homes available for purchase inevitably pushes more power back to the buyer,' CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless said. 'Buyers are now in a position where they can negotiate harder, take their time in making a purchase decision and be selective in finding a home that is right for their budget and lifestyle.'"

"In Flemington, five kilometres from Melbourne’s CBD, the median house price has plunged from $1.17 million in mid-2017 to $896,000 at the end of 2018, according to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria. In Melbourne’s hipster heartland of Brunswick, the median house price peaked at $1.28 million in the third quarter of 2017, and has since fallen to $1.025 million, while houses in Chadstone plummeted from a median of $1.23 million in mid-2017 to $916,000 at the end of 2018."

"Apartment hunters in Sydney can also take advantage of dramatic price plunges in Newtown, where the median apartment price fell by 19.88 per cent in 2018 to $665,000, and Paddington, where units have fallen by 20.37 per cent for a median value of $856,000, according to CoreLogic."

"In Roselands, 16 kilometres from Sydney’s CBD, the median house price fell by 14.08 per cent to $973,000 over the past year, while Redfern’s median house price plummeted by 18 per cent to $1.4 million."