A report from the Daily Republic in California. "The Solano County home market continues to be challenged by the lack of inventory – creating a sellers market that the president of the Northern Solano County Association of Realtors said has some interesting twists. Patty Hopkins, president of the Realtors association, said she has had to tell many of her clients that their original asking prices, despite the lack of inventory, have been too high for the buyers’ market view."

"'I think sellers were coming in too aggressive on their price, that they have wanted too much,' Hopkins said."

The Post and Courier in South Carolina. "An antebellum manor on the Charleston peninsula fetched less than half its original $12.95 million asking price in the fall. An over-the-water mansion sold in March for more than $10 million below the original list price when it went on the market a decade ago. A century-old home overlooking The Battery recently changed hands at a $1.5 million reduction."

"The Charleston area is awash in pricey properties. And many are selling — at reduced prices. On Kiawah Island, luxury real estate agent Pam Harrington pointed to nearly five dozen houses above $2.5 million that are on the market. 'All of these big houses got built, and now they want smaller houses,' she said. 'They built for their family and their extended family, and it appears millennials don’t want big houses.'"

From The Real Deal on New York. "Westchester developer Michael D’Alessio was sentenced to six years in prison on Friday morning after pleading guilty in November to defrauding investors in his New York development projects."

"D’Alessio, the former CEO and president of Michael Paul Enterprises, was accused of funneling more than $58 million of his investors’ money to shell accounts under his control and using these funds to pay off gambling debts, cash out early investors and cover other debts."

"D’Alessio broke down in tears while delivering a brief statement to the court saying he stood before the judge as 'a broken man.' Scott DeCarolis, a victim of D’Alessio’s Ponzi scheme, spoke at the sentencing as well. He asked Furman to remember the financial hardships D’Alessio’s decisions put his investors through, noting that the losses he suffered almost caused him to file for personal bankruptcy. 'I’ll be suffering the rest of my life for this,' he said."

"Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amanda Kramer and Daniel Nessim acknowledged D’Alessio’s gambling addiction as well but said that this was not enough to excuse his actions, especially from the perspective of his investors. 'They were confident in these investments,' Nessim said, 'and they paid the price.'"

From Miami Agent Magazine in Florida. "Miami has been a boon for homebuyers lately, as more developers work to move new homes and condos off the market in the wake of a yearslong building boom. To make it happen, price cuts have become common across the board, according to a recent analysis from online listing service Knock."

"According to Knock’s nationwide report on price cuts, Miami ranked No. 1 in the country for the share of home listings sold at a discount early this year. A whopping 88 percent of Miami-area home sales in Q1 sold below asking price, with an average discount of 7.15 percent. This was also the largest average price cut among the metro areas surveyed by Knock."

"Nationally, Knock found around 73 percent of Q1 2019 home sales came in below asking price, with an average discount of just over 4 percent. For comparison, at the same time last year, around 65 percent of home sales were under list price. Tampa, Jacksonville and Orlando also ranked in the top 10 for their rate of below-list-price sales, although they saw average discounts of closer to 5 percent."

"Still, according to Florida Realtors Chief Economist Brad O’Connor, this is a natural consequence of typical seasonality as well as growing inventory levels, the latter of which is ultimately bringing balance to the market statewide. 'Competition between buyers is clearly not as fierce as it was even a year ago. However, that doesn’t mean we’re quite in buyer’s market territory yet,' O’Connor said."

From Automotive News. "Five years ago this month, Toyota sprung a $1 billion surprise on the auto industry and economic development officials across the U.S.: The North American arm of one of the world's largest automakers would strike its historic tent in Southern California and move to a palace near Dallas."

"'I think life is a little bit easier for people here, and as a result, I think the work-life balance is much better,' said Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota Motor North America. 'I think people, as a result, have a lot more energy being here. If you live in Southern California, and you're driving 2 or 2.5 hours each way, you're leaving at 5 a.m. and you're getting home at 8 or 9 — that kind of wears on you.'"

"Asked if there was any part of the move that Toyota might have done differently, Lentz was calm and confident. 'Yes,' he said. 'We should have done it 10 years earlier.'"