A report from ABC News in Australia. "Owners of units in Sydney's Opal Tower have launched legal action against the NSW Government after discovering more than 500 new defects in the beleaguered building. Apartment owner Andrew Neverly said he had bought the unit as part of his retirement plan, but now it's worth nothing. 'It's emotionally been a real rollercoaster, when we bought into this we thought we were buying into the Australian dream,' he said."

The Sydney Morning Herald. "'We have suffered incomprehensible loss and disruption to our lives. Unfortunately, we have now discovered that our losses are much greater,' said Owners corporation chairman Shady Eskander. 'It's time to put an end to the concrete slums that are going up and the defects that are burying us owners in the ground.'"

From Domain News. "For those in the market for a good opportunity, where should you be looking? Here are some sellers willing to negotiate on price. The China-based vendor bought the two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment off the plan for about $1.5 million more than a decade ago. Now, the fully furnished pad with world-class views is listed for urgent sale with a negotiable price tag of $1.175 million."

"Since it was first listed two months ago, the price of this three-bedroom brick home on Phillip Island has dropped three times. The vendors are now asking $519,000. The couple selling the home are looking to relocate to Queensland, and are motivated to secure a deal."

The Herald Sun. "Units in some of Melbourne’s blue-chip suburbs are cheaper than they were five years ago — but experts warn they may not be the bargain they seem. Carlton’s median unit price fell 24.4 per cent to $340,000 in the five years to May 31, according to realestate.com.au data. Other poor performers were Toorak and Armadale, where the average unit dropped 20.8 per cent in value to $950,000 and 15.4 per cent to $660,000 respectively."

"The inner ring dominated the worst-performing suburbs, with Abbotsford, North Melbourne and Travancore also recording falls of more than 10 per cent. Propertyology head of research Simon Pressley said 'abysmal' quality control and oversupply of similar products meant units around inner Melbourne remained poor price performers."

"'I wouldn’t touch it if you gave one to me,' Mr Pressley said of inner-city apartments. 'In a nutshell, inner-city and high-rise apartments are bloody horrible investments.'"

"Compounding those price woes, the CBD vacancy rate last month skyrocketed to a 15-year high of 9.3 per cent, according to SQM research. Mr Pressley said the high vacancy rate was indicative of 'the really high volume of gullible investors that didn’t do the research or didn’t listen to the warnings.' Collings Northcote director Christian Gravias said high vacancy rates in the inner city had also seen rental prices plummet during the pandemic."

"'It’s literally a race to the bottom,' Mr Gravias said. 'The cheapest ones are the only ones that are getting rented.'"

From Nine News. "There are currently more vacancies in Sydney's rental market than ever before, according to new data obtained by 9News. More than 30,000 homes and apartments are currently empty. The collapse of short-term rentals, combined with a drastic drop in students seeking accommodation, is driving the vacancies. 'There's really no sign that we are going to see an easing in new supply or an increase in new demand that will soak up these numbers,' Dr Andrew Wilson, chief economist with My Housing Market, said."

From Seven News. "Australians who rent and want to save a bit of cash are being urged to look for a new home or renegotiate their lease. It comes amid fears Australia’s apartment market could be on the brink of collapse due to the coronavirus crisis, with inner-city rental listings skyrocketing as tenants move out. A whopping 16.2 per cent of inner city properties in Sydney are currently empty, with Brisbane CBD close behind at 13.3 per cent. 9.3 per cent of inner Melbourne properties are collecting dust, 7.8 per cent in Adelaide, 7.7 per cent in Canberra and 6 per cent in Perth."

"Anna Porter from property advisory company Suburbanite added that landlords need to be 'realistic' about the rental market if they want to stem their financial losses over the next 12 months. 'Landlords might need to start getting creative by looking at incentives, like a few weeks rent-free, a free internet connection or local gym membership to differentiate themselves from the rest,' she said. 'Tenants are the big winners from all of this.'"

From Perth Now. "Many parts of the Australian property market are feeling the effects of the pandemic. Mandurah dwelling values were 38 per cent below their 2006 peak at the end of May this year and the renewed downwards pressure comes just after the Perth market was beginning to see a long-awaited growth phase at the start of 2020."

"Head of research Eliza Owen said the area’s continued decline was surprising. 'Payroll data analysis from the ABS suggests that payroll job losses across Mandurah has been 6.0 per cent between mid-march and the end of May,' she said. 'This is not especially severe when it comes to job loss across Perth regions, nor would Mandurah have been particularly susceptible to a demand shock from a decline in overseas migration. However, the decline in dwelling values is off the back of a longer-term downward trend, suggesting demand conditions were already fragile across the region.'"

"Ms Owen said the area had recently been almost entirely dependent on net overseas migration for new housing demand. 'As the wider economic downturn drags on housing demand, mild price declines are likely to spread, resulting in a more broad-based downturn in the next 12 months,' she said."