It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Wu Xiaohui was shopping in New York. For buildings. 'He didn’t really care — he’d point out the window and say, ’That one!’ recalls a real estate executive. These days Wu is in jail in China. Anbang, meanwhile, is under the control of the Chinese government and looking to unload U.S. properties worth billions of dollars. 'It’s like a tsunami that came rushing in and then the waters went back out to the sea,' one developer says."

"It is being felt by the developers of several luxury towers sitting empty on the fringe of New York’s Central Park. A New York real estate lawyer recently disclosed that he was unwinding a multibillion-dollar U.S. property fund bankrolled by a Chinese fund. 'We’re in the process of giving the keys back,' the lawyer says. 'There’s no money coming out of China.'"

"Dragged down by sluggish markets in Alameda and Santa Clara counties, Bay Area median home prices in May took their greatest swoon in more than seven years in a retreat from record-setting prices. Transactions in tech-heavy and high-priced San Mateo and Santa Clara counties dropped 10 percent and 6 percent, respectively."

"And growing inventory has sellers making some concessions they didn’t have to make last year. 'They’re having to be a little more receptive to it,' said agent Matt Rubenstein."

"For 10 years, greater downtown Detroit has been on a dramatic rising trajectory. New workers have filled up half-empty skyscrapers and new residents have snapped up renovated and newly built apartments and condos. Perhaps it’s inevitable that such a robust economic boom would slow down to catch its breath. 'I think the big, big boom is pretty much behind us,' said Bernard White, founder of the White Construction firm."

"In another sign that old sociopolitical boundaries are vanishing, our old friends at Stratus Properties announced that the next round of 350 or so homes at Barton Creek are going to be smaller than the modern mansions that typify Austin's western fringe. 'We just don't see market demand for some of the larger homes that have been traditional Barton Creek homes,' Stratus CEO Beau Armstrong told the Statesman."

"But what about those mansions in the hills? It's still more delightful than despicable to think and read about aging boomers who can't unload their dream homes, whether here or around the nation, but this is going to be a real public policy problem someday, isn't it? Who makes up the future resale market for 6,000-square-foot piles of Spanish-style grandeur at Barton Creek? What are we going to do with the vacant homes and the land under them?"

"Around three million Canadians are saddled with HELOCs.
A quarter of HELOC holders carry a six-figure balance, the report said. 'With prices going down on homes, we’ve found that clients are having less access to less equity in their homes, [which] means that they have to start making changes and they have to start paying off their debts,' Greg Norris of the Credit Counselling Society said."

"Linda Paul, a licensed insolvency trustee with MNP, says about 25 per cent of those with a HELOC do not have a proper plan, meaning their timeline for paying off their debt ranges from 'five years to never.'"

"One of the problems facing the Ho Chi Minh City market stems from legal difficulties in selling projects, Le Hoang Chau, chairman of HCMC Real Estate Association, told local press. In fact, there is a lot of supply, but many fail to meet regulatory standards required to begin selling, he said. These are major bottlenecks for investors, who just want to sell their inventory as soon as possible to recover capital, said Chau."

"Buyers from mainland China are slowing their condo purchases in Bangkok because of the strong baht, overpriced units and a supply glut. 'Chinese buyers were unhappy when they found that developers sold units to later customers with lower prices than the presale prices they paid a few years ago, as developers wanted to clear their stock,' said Simon Lee, president of Angel Real Estate Consultancy Co."

"Hong Kong developers on Thursday launched projects at prices that undercut rivals by up to 20 percent, hoping to attract buyers who have adopted a cautious approach. Wing Tai Properties said it would sell flats at OMA OMA in Tuen Mun at an average price of HK$12,463 per square foot, some 20 per cent lower than Sun Hung Kai Properties’ Mount Regency phase two, which is also in the same area."

"The cost to unit owners in the troubled Mascot Towers is set to reach new heights. A number of owners are considering declaring bankruptcy as they are left with few options. John Higgins, a unit owner and real estate agent, told news.com.au a fellow owner he knows has been forced to take two days stress leave because of the increasingly burdensome situation."

"'She needs (her apartment) rented out,' Mr Higgins told news.com.au. 'She can’t hold on another month. It’s not fair.'"

"NAB chief economist Alan Oster said units were still over-built, and a lack of price recovery could spill over into the market for houses. 'The big downside risk in Brisbane is the apartment market,' he said. 'People say it’s going up, but our response is: 'It’s still four times over-built.'"

"A lackluster real estate market seems to have hit the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) with two plots in its G block failing to attract any bidder since March. 'Many builders want to sell the land parcels they have. Developers themselves are facing trouble to complete the projects that they have undertaken. Then why will they buy new plots? This is not the time when developers would invest in plots,' said Pankaj Kapoor, managing director of Liases Foras, a real estate research firm."

"Another housing expert says that the reserve price quoted by MMRDA was way higher than the existing market rate because of which the developers didn't turn up or participate in the auction. Dr Sanjay Chaturvedi, a housing expert, said, 'Firstly there's not much money in the market. The developers are burdened with the loans they have taken at high interest and are struggling to repay them. Secondly, the rate at which the plots were being auctioned by MMRDA was too high, that's why no one came forward.'"