A report from Nine News in Australia. "Airbnb bookings have been decimated in popular Australian locations, threatening to send overleveraged investors who made a lucrative living from the platform into financial peril. The seismic shock that hit Airbnb will reverberate through the wider Australian property market, some market experts predict, spelling good news for residential renters who have been pushed out from areas like Bondi, Byron Bay and inner-city pockets in Sydney and Melbourne."

"The flipside is Airbnb super landlords and mum and dad investors who now find themselves over exposed and facing savage cuts to their expected rental income. 'This is a real problem,' My Housing Market chief economist Dr Andrew Wilson said. Dr Wilson said many Australians had 'taken advantage of higher rentals and become enterprise Airbnb landlords' in what had evolved into a very lucrative venture in recent years. 'It's a question of how those Airbnb landlords survive this,' he said."

"Chris Pettit, a professor of urban science at UNSW's City Futures Research Centre, said the sudden Airbnb downturn would likely impact Australia's broader property investment market. Prof Pettit said the 200,000 Australian listings on Airbnb equated to roughly four per cent of the nation's total housing market. He said UNSW research indicated around 80 per cent of the 200,000 Australian listings were investment properties - not traditional holiday lettings."

"'That is about six to eight per cent of Australia's total investment market, which is a fairly reasonable exposure,' he said."

"Dr Wilson said the property market had been softening already before the coronavirus, and rental prices would likely drop further in the coming months. 'What looked like a nice little side-earner for those who bought apartments to convert into Airbnb investments … is just gone and it's finished.' With international tourism 'likely on hold for years,' Dr Wilson predicted Airbnb bookings to remain 'subdued if not empty' for some time."

The Australian Financial Review. "'I am definitely not very optimistic at the moment, the economic shock is coming. It won't bypass us,' Financial Review Rich Lister Tim Gurner said as part of a property webinar. If cities such as Melbourne wanted to bring back people to their CBDs, Mr Gurner said, they needed Chinese students back. 'They contribute $40 billion a year and we've just let them go. We didn't support them. We told them to go home. It's just the most insane thing I've ever seen in my career without a doubt,' he said."

"An exodus of students drove a tripling of residential vacancy rates in the inner city of Melbourne in April, according to new figures published by the Melbourne City Council. 'The rental market had taken a massive hit. It's my biggest concern,' Mr Gurner said. He said rents had fallen between 10 and 30 per cent, which if sustained would impact residential values. 'We've just completed 140 apartments with 100 of them in the letting pool. We'd normally lease them all in two hours with one inspection. We've leased half of them in six weeks,' he said."

"Fund manager Shane Quinn added that a fall in office values would create buying opportunities. 'There is pain and suffering coming for those who bought B Grade office buildings at $20,000 a square metre. They need to demonstrate to the banks they can hold rents, but they can't. It will be like trying to catch a falling knife.'"

The Sydney Morning Herald. "Sydney landlords have been forced to slash rent by 25 per cent in some suburbs as tenants seek to renegotiate their lease or move out for a better deal. SQM Research founder Louis Christopher, who has been covering residential property markets in Australia for 20 years, described the situation as 'the biggest renters' market I've seen in my career. It's probably a very good time to do an upgrade on a rental property, because from what we can see in the data, it's actually been the upper end of the market that's been hit the hardest.'"

"Mr Christopher said the rental reductions were largest in the inner ring of Sydney, within 10 kilometres of the central business district. For example, compared with 12 months ago, the average rent for a house was 17 per cent cheaper in Randwick, 19.6 per cent in Surry Hills, and 24.7 per cent in Neutral Bay. Mr Christopher said the falls were precipitated by a huge number of migrants leaving the country, young people returning home to live with their parents and former Airbnb rentals being let long term."

From 7 News. "Rental prices have fallen to 2013 levels in some areas of Sydney, meaning tenants could save up to $25,000 a year if they can lock in a 12-month lease. The more wealthy the area, the more likely rents have fallen. Louis Christopher, CEO of SQM Research, expects the rental depression will continue for some time. 'These are some of the largest rental declines we have seen since we have started our records,' Christopher said. Overall Sydney rents are now back to the same figures as when they were in 2013. There’s no rush to go out and rush to lock in rents, the depression will be with us for some time yet.'"

"The most dramatic fall has occurred in the Sydney City area, where rents have fallen by 20-25 per cent in the past quarter. In January, a three-bedroom house in the Sydney City area cost, on average, $1542 a week to rent. That price is now $1037 - a whopping $25,260 annual saving if you can lock in a 12-month lease."

The Daily Telegraph. "Sydney socialite Tiffany Tilley has sold her Paddington terrace for a small loss, signalling the emerging impact of the pandemic on property prices. Tilley bought the Victorian era terrace two years ago for $4.2 million. The four-bedroom terrace was listed last month with buyer interest reportedly in the $4 million to $4.5 million range. However it fetched $3.9 million this week through Ray White."

"She seemingly won’t be the only pandemic loss taker as there are dismal price hopes for the Leckie family who have listed a redundant Woollahra investment. The Queen St apartment was bought in 2016 for $1.2 million. There’s a $990,000 guide for its June 6 auction from its listing agents."