A report from the California Globe. "While driving down a few streets in the suburban Orange County city of Fullerton, an unusual by-product of the housing crisis presented itself. Rows and rows of large houses known as ‘McMansions’ built within the past 20 years lined the streets, many with ‘For Sale’ signs pounded into the front yard. A small stretch of street nearby the California State University – Fullerton campus brought a succession of three houses with signs out front."

"''There’s another,' said 'Mary Jo,' an Orange County realtor who did not want her name used, pointing at another of the large houses, this one advertising over 4,000 square feet. 'I had a showing there last week and some people left without walking out of the foyer.' 'Younger people just don’t want them,' she added, shaking her head as another large McMansion came into view. 'That’s why so many of these houses are empty.'"

"Many McMansions also have a stigma of being cheaply made. Mary Jo has been selling houses throughout Southern California for years and notes that older houses she sells come in much better condition."

"'I’ve shown houses, both in Orange and LA, where ten year old houses were literally crumbling apart,' remembered Mary Jo. 'A lot of these houses were built so quickly, or had unusual parts on them, that builders were often rushed or couldn’t make heads or tails of what to do next. So some buildings have cracks in them ten years later. Some don’t have insulation because it was simply forget. Odd angled walls are coming apart because the construction crew didn’t know how to handle it. High ceilings get mold or permanent stains because they couldn’t be reached. Cheap plaster, cheap wood. Thin walls. You name it and chances are at least a few houses I’ve seen like this have had it.'"

"All of this has spiraled to a large number of hard-to-sell homes that are overvalued, expensive, that the owners don’t want to take a loss on, and younger people don’t want to buy. It’s difficult to estimate the average number of unsold McMansions, but real estate agents have reported that McMansions are hard to turn around. So much so that some neighborhoods are estimated to have half of their McMansions unsold or in foreclosure."

"'Some of our buyers only hang on to them for a year,' said Mary Jo. 'It’s the crisis hitting us. People can’t afford these, raise the money for a decent down payment, but then after a job loss or plain can’t affording it do to other higher costs, they foreclose or they sell the house. I can’t say how many are unsold in California, especially since many of them go in and out of being sold or on the market. But in Orange County it’s at least 10 to 15 percent of McMansions in states of not being sold in some developments, like if it’s in foreclosure or escrow. But it depends, become some neighborhoods have a much higher rate,' Mary Jo explained, motioning to the row of houses with signs in front of them down the street."

From KTVZ on Oregon. "Bend's real estate market began the turn to fall in September as the median home sale price dropped $35,000 from its August record high, a monthly report from Redmond's Beacon Appraisal Group LLC said. Bend's new home building permits saw a noticeable drop, from 51 in August to just 25 in September, the lowest figure seen in recent years and well below the peak of 100 seen in October of last year."

"Redmond also saw a decline in its median home sale price, though not as steep as Bend, from the record $338,000 of August to $325,000 in September, as home sales fell from 104 in August to 88 in September."

From Mansion Global on New York. "Fourteen luxury homes in Manhattan went into contract in the seven days ending Sunday, a decent number given the Jewish New Year made it a three-day work week for many New Yorkers, according to a round-up from Olshan Realty. Nevertheless, it marked the 14th straight week that contracts for Manhattan homes asking $4 million or more fell below 20, the benchmark Olshan uses to signal a strong market."

"The most expensive home to find a buyer was a three-bedroom condo on the 67th floor of One57, the first supertall to grace the southern edge of Central Park, asking $22 million. It marks a significant loss for the seller, who bought the unit from developer, Extell, in 2015 for a little over $28 million, according to Olshan."