A report from CBC News in Canada. "When the market was hot, people lined up overnight to get their hands on pre-sale condominiums. Now that the housing market in B.C.'s Lower Mainland has cooled, some buyers are trying to back out of their contracts — unable to obtain the financing they need. A Vancouver lawyer says clients are coming to him several times a week hoping he can help find loopholes to get out of buying units they signed onto several years ago."

"Kenneth Pazder says most people are having trouble obtaining mortgages high enough to pay off the developers for units they purchased when the value of the homes were higher. With pre-sale condos, a buyer puts down a deposit on a unit that has not yet been constructed. Once it's complete, the buyer must pay the developer the entire balance."

"The trouble occurs when the buyer goes to a bank to apply for a mortgage. A bank will only provide a mortgage based on the home's current value. Now that housing prices in the Lower Mainland are lower than in recent years, the buyer must now make up the balance to pay off the developer."

"Most clients, he says have watched their unit values drop since they agreed to purchase their units, as opposed to appreciate, which has been the case with pre-sale condominiums for the last decade. For a buyer closing on a home priced at $1 million, it could mean coming up with an additional $150,000 to pay the developer, he says."

"When it's compounded with the mortgage stress test, buyers need to come up with even more cash. 'That's quite a bit,' Pazder said."

The South China Morning Post. "A Hong Kong customer has backed out of buying a HK$251.23 million (US$32.11 million) luxury home in the Deep Water Bay neighbourhood, marking the second property default in nine days. The buyer, who is unidentified, failed to conclude the sales contract, forfeiting a HK$12.56 million initial payment made to the developer Nan Fung Development."

"'Buyers will be taking a critical look at their investments, especially for these super deluxe homes that used to set one price record after another,' said Vincent Cheung, managing director of Vincorn Consulting and Appraisal Agency."

"Vanke Property, the Hong Kong unit of China’s most valuable developer, paid the price last weekend, when it launched a 251-flat Grand Le Pont project in Tuen Mun, in defiance of the downbeat mood in the market. Only 30 of the flats were sold, according to sales agents."

"Tycoon Lee Shau-kee’s Henderson Land fared far worse. All 33 flats at Novum East in Quarry Bay went unsold as of 6pm, while only one of 13 was sold at Novum West in Sai Wan."

The Daily Telegraph in Australia. "Sydney’s current housing downturn has pulled the city property market into 'uncharted territory,', becoming longer and deeper than any other slump over the past 30 years. CoreLogic revealed median property values across the Harbour City have fallen 14.9 per cent since peaking in July 2017, which eclipsed falls recorded over other periods of market weakness."

"CoreLogic analyst Cameron Kusher said prior downturns in Australia’s big cities were generally shorter and not particularly deep. 'When downturns have occurred they are often small and values return to previous peaks fairly quickly,' Mr Kusher said. 'The current downturn for a number of regions is unprecedented in terms of the magnitude and length of declines."