A report from the Sydney Morning Herald in Australia. "Every day there are Melbourne and Sydney property owners who put houses and units up for sale in the hope they can quickly find a buyer and the dream of the new owner offering a high price. But in a sign of the downturn in both markets, more than 8000 of those who entered the market in March of last year are still waiting."

"Even though the number of new properties being put on the market has dropped by 18 per cent in Melbourne and by 22 per cent in Sydney, the 'for sale' signs on front lawns are multiplying."

"AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver suggests both cities will see values fall by 12.5 per cent this year. 'We had a price boom that fed on itself and now we’ve got a price correction that is also feeding on itself,' he says. 'We had the run up in housing construction that helped offset the impact of the end of the mining boom. This time it’s a lot more difficult to see what’s going to fill that hole.'"

From Business Insider Australia. "Almost half of all new units in Sydney and Melbourne that settled last month were worth less than what they were originally purchased for, according to a report from the Australian. Based on data from CoreLogic, 45% of new apartments in Sydney that settled had valuations below their off-the-plan purchase price, up from 18% one year ago. In Melbourne, the figure was even higher at 46%, ouble the level reported in February 2018."

"A recent report from Ernst and Young Australia said that Australian property developers were facing a downturn of the scale not seen in 30 years, warning that property developers should be taking measures to protect themselves."

"'Shrinking profit margins may prevent developers from recycling capital and profits into future existing projects which may put those projects in jeopardy,' the report said. 'This could lead to an increase in ‘fire sales’ which will re-set the market and cause further concern from a finance perspective.'"

The Australian Financial Review. "Melbourne lot prices suffered their biggest monthly fall in more than three years in January as developers battled subdued sales levels and competition from the 'Gumtree Index' – the secondary sales market."

"'Land price declines from six of the seven municipalities amongst Melbourne's growth regions resulting in one of the largest month-on-month median price declines in years,' said Red23 head of research Andrew Perkins. 'With Melbourne's entire property market becoming somewhat exhausted, it was only a matter of time for this kind of price drop to take place.'"

From Daily Mail Australia. "Apartment values in Australia's big cities are set to plunge with prices in one suburb to fall as much as 50 per cent, one industry observer predicts, as Chinese buyers abandon off-the-plan residential tower projects. 'We've got massive oversupply in those areas but you've just got no demand,' Digital Finance Analytics economist, Martin North told Daily Mail Australia."

"Chinese buyers have abandoned off-the-plan apartment projects in Sydney, causing residential projects to be stopped in some cases as developers struggle for finance. Mr North said off-the-plan buyers, who had paid a 10 per cent deposit two years ago, were now either struggling to get a bank mortgage or owed more than the promised value of their new apartment."

"'When it comes to time to complete the transaction and get the mortgage, they discover that they can no longer get the mortgage they thought they were going to get,' he said. 'Some of the overseas buyers who went through this process disappear back overseas and of course the developer has no way of following up.'"

From ABC News. "Adelaide construction company Tudor Homes has gone into liquidationand JML Home Constructions, which operates the Onkaparinga GJ Gardner franchise, has closed its doors. An application to wind up Cubic Homes, based in Kilburn, will be heard later this month. It follows the recent demise of a string of local companies, including ODM Group, OAS Group and Platinum Fine Homes."

"Roofer Justin Noble said he felt for building companies, even though the downturn had impacted subcontractors too. 'Everyone's going through tough times … it's affected me from November last year,' he said. '[I know] at least 50 people who are owed money. Just one company that's going under, they owe … I'm told, close to $700,000 across all trades.'"

"Mr Noble said he was slowly reclaiming outstanding payments totalling $140,000 but was selling his house to survive."