A report from ABC News in Australia. "There has been a dramatic increase in how long it is taking to sell properties over the past year. Pat and Shirley Tucker have put their four-bedroom home in Melbourne's eastern suburbs on the market. They want to sell so they can downsize for their retirement. 'We've had to temper our prices,' Ms Tucker told 7.30. ' We genuinely want to sell the place but we don't want to give it away.'"

"Their real estate agent David Fileccia said the Tuckers' home would have sold quickly for a premium in previous years. 'There's a lot of negativity. So buyers will buy into that, and sentiment and confidence is everything in real estate,' he said."

"Haig Abraham also knows the frustration of selling in a falling market. The house in Sydney's western suburbs has been on the market for six months and Mr Abraham has lowered the price significantly, but is still trying to find a buyer."

"'We've actually recently bought a property elsewhere. And we need to offload this one to just take a bit of the pressure off,' he said. He is still upbeat about finding a buyer soon, but does not want to get trapped if the market continues to fall."

"'I guess everyone's worried, especially people who are selling,' he said. 'We don't want to be caught up in that where, you're going to have the house for sale for another year or six months and then lose more.'"

The Australian Financial Review. "Sydney clocked up its highest number of scheduled weekend auctions so far this year at 795 but at the Saturday morning auction of a Lane Cove apartment in Sydney's north, the mood was flat. The owners of the 25/482 Pacific Highway apartment planned to sell for $700,000 when the property went on the market 33 days ago."

"But on Saturday morning their expectations had dropped. They were hoping for anything around $610,000. The auctioneer mustered a final 'hard sell' pitch before opening the bids. He asked for an opening bid, but no one took the bait. Pointing to a man on the balcony, he asked if he wanted to start at $600,000 who said he had to speak to his wife."

"Unlike the days of frenzied auctions a few years ago, this auction of a home - in this case just right for a first-home buyer - ended with a whimper even after the auctioneer gave buyers an upper hand with a vendor bid of $580,000."

"Private treaty sales are on the rise as nervous sellers fold quickly in the fear of flopping at auctions - a common occurrence in today's downturn market - and agents grab whatever they can get."

The Herald Sun. "Melbourne suburbs where house prices have plunged as much as $480,000 have been tipped to look like bargains in five years, making them prime targets for buyers now. The median house prices in St Kilda, Clayton and Mordialloc have already fallen between $162,750 and $479,500 over the past year, according to CoreLogic records — and they could slide further."

"Suburbanite director Anna Porter said a five-year timeline would suit many Melbourne families who shouldn’t be looking to get rich quick right now. 'These are suburbs I would just plain avoid if you are looking for a short-term gain,' Ms Porter said. 'It’s a short-term hit for long-term gain.'"

From Nine Finance. "As property prices rocketed toward the heady peak of Sydney's real-estate boom in 2017, the bulldozers came to Epping. Many units were sold off-the-plan to Chinese investors drawn by the location's reputation as a Chinese community hub and its highly-regarded schools."

"But prices are now in freefall, and the suburb is being refashioned once more, this time into the epicentre of a bust. As buyers disappear and miss settlement payments, some projects are sinking under their debts."

"Once the sales rates and pricing dropped, it just couldn't service all of its commitments,' said Philip Campbell-Wilson, who is liquidating one such new development, Gondon's Elysee Epping."