A report from Bloomberg on Canada. "Toronto home prices dropped in April as the coronavirus pandemic froze real-estate activity across the country. Sales in and around Canada’s largest city fell 66 per cent to 2,347 from March on seasonally adjusted basis after open houses were canceled, according to Toronto Regional Real Estate Board. The average price dropped 12 per cent to $789,274."

From Blog TO in Canada. "The average price of a condominium apartment within the City of Toronto actually fell by 4 per cent last month compared against April of 2019, according to TRREB, landing at $612,300. Rents on condo apartments across the entire GTA were also down over the same period of time, by 2.7 per cent for one bedroom units (which are now renting for an average of $2,107) and 4.1 per cent for two bedroom units ($2,705). Detached home prices join condo prices in dropping over the past year. The average selling price for a detached home in Toronto last month was $1,249,730 — down 7.9 per cent since April of 2019. Who'd have ever thought?"

The Canadian Press. "In Vancouver, home sales hit their lowest levels in nearly 40 years in April, and experts say buyers can expect price declines to eventually follow. In Vancouver, the sales total of 1,109 homes was 62.7% below the 10-year average for April and the lowest total for the month since 1982 after a full month of Covid-19 restrictions."

"Supply could also eventually be affected as builders hold back, but the current level of record housing construction in the area will still have to be completed, said Steve Saretsky, a realtor at Oakwyn realty. 'That supply’s coming online regardless of whether the demand’s there to meet it.'"

"Foreclosures could also add to supplies, said CIBC economists Benjamin Tal and Katherine Judge in a note Friday. 'Forced sales will add to supply, and probably outweigh the offsetting impact of reduced supply of new units.'"

From CBC News in Canada. "'Our results underscore how vulnerable Canadian households are to income interruption. Over the next few months, we'll likely see an unfolding of two crises: the global pandemic and the bursting of the Canadian consumer debt bubble,' Grant Bazian, president at MNP, said in a statement. 'Those who were already saddled with a lot of debt are in economic survival mode.'"

"'It's 13 per cent of the entire population that's in dire straits,' said pollster John Wright. 'These are incredibly tragic and heartbreaking numbers to look at,' he said. 'If you ask them how much money you have … the answer is nothing, zero.'"

From Domain News in Australia. "Prices are falling and supply is increasing which creates more opportunities for bargains. 'The good thing now is that it is a buyers’ market and if vendors aren’t coming to the party on price, then they can walk away as there’ll be another property around the corner. A lot of people really want to sell now, whether investors wanting to get out of the market or people under financial pressure themselves, so there are good opportunities,' says Nerida Cole, managing director of Dixon Advisory."

"'Now is a good time to be ready to buy because there’s going to be a lot of property coming onto the market that people need to sell as they’ve lost jobs or are under financial strain and will be ready to make discounts. But my advice is always to sell before you buy, so you don’t end up one of those desperate sellers,' said Justin Doobov of Intelligent Finance."

The Herald Sun in Australia. "Finder insights manager Graham Cooke said house prices were likely to slide across Australia for the rest of 2020, as the unemployment rate moved towards 10 per cent amid continued economic uncertainty. 'While falling house prices is great news for potential buyers, it poses no relief for current owners who will not see their outstanding loan amounts drop,' Mr Cooke said. SQM managing director Louis Christopher reported a 'large fall in new listings' coinciding with a 'surge in older listings,' particularly for homes that had been on the market for 30-60 days."

"This indicated 'sellers struggled to sell their properties over April, and new sellers deferred listing' in a market that had 'clearly been weakened by coronavirus and the restrictions placed on the economy.'"

The Australian Financial Review. "Rental markets are leading the downturn in Sydney and Melbourne as hundreds of units, short-term holiday rentals and properties that vendors have withdrawn from sale and are attempting to rent out flood the markets, according to analysis of the nation’s residential property market by valuer Herron Todd White."

"Melbourne’s rental market is 'in limbo' because of apartment vacancies caused by international students remaining at home waiting for travel restrictions to ease, its analysis warns. Sydney's rental listings are up by 15 per cent over the past 12 months causing house rentals to fall by 6 per cent and units by 4 per cent in the four weeks to April 20, according to the analysis."

"HTW's report supports analysis by Morgan Stanley that sees the rental market to be a key channel of weakness. The investment bank expects forced selling of residential housing later in the year as government and banking support is eased. Sydney’s prestige market is under pressure with extended settlement periods being offered to encourage buyers, said Shaun Thomas, HTW's director of prestige residential property."

"'We are only at the beginning of the impact on the property market, so it is more difficult to see how long and how deep that impact might be,' he said."

"'For the broader market, locations and products heavily reliant upon investor markets are expected to experience the biggest downturns,' Brisbane-based director David Notley said. The Adelaide investor market has also been 'drastically affected' with expectations that the 'longer the lockdown, the longer the recovery,' according to the analysis."

"In Perth, confidence across the residential market has fallen due to growing uncertainty created by the pandemic. 'Agents in many markets have advised that inquiry rates have dropped with a higher number of offers being received below asking price,' the analysis says. The state’s prestige market is 'currently struggling' with a recent top-end sale well below the asking price."

"'Northern Territory, which was struggling before the COVID-19 crisis, has received a new knock, the analysis says. 'Buyers and sellers have postponed planning to later in the year,' it states."