A report from the Canadian Press. "One year ago, B.C. Finance Minister Carole James unveiled a set of tax measures designed to cool an overheated real estate market. She was vague about how to measure the success of her plan: 'Prices may be lower than they are currently,' she said at the time. 'I hope to see a moderation in the market.'"

"It seems she got her wish. As of January, Vancouver area home sales have plunged by 39 per cent from 12 months earlier. Over the past six months, the benchmark price for single family homes in Greater Vancouver has decreased by more than 8 per cent."

"Jock Finlayson, chief policy officer of the Business Council of B.C., said Ms. James should be bracing for greater losses ahead. 'If the NDP government wanted a cooler housing market, they must be quite satisfied with how things have developed,' he said. 'The market has tanked, notably in the lower Mainland, with big drops in sales and a downward trend in prices that seems to be gathering steam.'"

The South China Morning Post. "Hong Kong home builders could face greater pressure to slash ­prices as the number of completed but unsold new flats they held increased at the end of last year. Analysts said some home builders would offload stock by cutting prices by 5 per cent to 10 per cent from the current levels on completed unsold units, stepping up efforts to lower inventory as the government’s proposed vacancy tax looms."

"'The number of unsold homes could not drop amid the correction in the housing market in the second half of last year,' said Wong Leung-sing, senior associate director of research at Centaline. 'Quite a number of completed homes unsold will need to be cleared this year if developers want to avoid paying the extra [vacancy] tax.'"

From Domain News on Australia. "Home owners are relisting properties that earlier failed to sell, dropping their asking prices or making minor upgrades to attract buyers as Melbourne’s housing market weakens. Wendy Chamberlain from Chamberlain Property Advocates said vendors were finally catching up to the market, acknowledging they needed to be more realistic on prices and work on their homes to stand out from the crowd."

"'I’ve been seeing this for the past 12 to 18 months where an agent will have a property on the market and they’re trying to sell it for an unrealistic price because that’s what the vendor wants,' Ms Chamberlain said. 'They [over]cook the campaign and what the vendors do is blame the agent. '[Then they] change their agent – and put it back on the market for a more realistic price.'"

"Across Melbourne, total stock was up by 39 per cent in January compared to a year earlier even though new listings were down by 20 per cent over the same time period, as some listings languish for longer. Some regions are seeing even bigger jumps, with Melbourne’s north-east posting a 71 per cent lift in total stock on the market, while the Mornington Peninsula was up 57 per cent and the west up 46 per cent."

From TV New Zealand. "Economist Cameron Bagrie says the property market in Australia is being closely watched for signs of similar movement in New Zealand. Bagrie says: 'We are watching closely what's going on across the Tasman in regard to the Sydney property market, and Melbourne's. We are starting to see early signs that Auckland's starting to follow that lead, it's probably a bit of a lite version at this stage.'"

"He says affordability is an issue in over-inflated markets around the world. 'If you step back and look at the bigger picture around the globe, you are starting to see the property market cool off in some other what you call over-inflated pretty hot areas, such as Vancouver and London. Affordability is a bigger issue,' Bagrie told Corin Dann on the Q+A Business Podcast."

"He added that 'the Auckland property market is falling as we speak - let's not sugar coat this - people are out there saying the market is flat, the market is not flat. Auckland house prices are down 3% from their peak about 12 months ago and some wards are already down 5-6% but at this stage it is very orderly, it's very manageable'. Auckland property prices are up in excess of 120% since 2009, so dropping 3-10% is 'a bit of a drop in the bucket.'"

"He says the big issue is affordability first and foremost. 'People have said that the Auckland property market is not going to move backwards because we have got a housing shortage in Auckland - that's just baloney, because we've got a housing shortage and Auckland is the only region across the country where house prices are falling, that basically tells us affordability is the big game in town.'"

"'Banks are asking a lot more questions not about serviceability of the loan today where today's interest rates are going to be but it's about where interest rates could be on average over the next 5, 6, 7 years and that could be up around 5-6% so banks are a lot more focussed on serviceability and they're asking a lot more questions. This will be become a big story over the next few years as responsible lending rules start to bite.'"