A report from the Huffington Post on Canada. "Rental rates across Canada have fallen for three straight months and are down 7.8 per cent, on average, from before the pandemic, rental site Rentals.ca reported this week. Larger cities have been hit particularly hard. Rents per square foot have dropped steeply in Toronto since the pandemic and are now 9.5 per cent below their levels from a year ago. Some experts have warned that if this continues long enough, it could lead to forced selling in the housing market, driving up the supply and pushing down prices."

"'Tourism is likely to be slow for some time, and the possibility cannot be excluded that lodgings currently marketed to tourists on short-term-rental platforms such as Airbnb will be put up for sale for lack of revenue,' economists Matthieu Arseneau and Alexandra Ducharme wrote."

From CBC News in Canada. "The broad strokes of Calgary's challenges are now well known. The shock of the oil price collapse that first started in 2014 has never really subsided, leaving some downtown towers completely empty, and many more with high vacancy rates. That has caused overall property values in the core to plummet by around $14 billion. Now, with the pandemic and its economic gut punch, the city has to face the prospect of massive tax defaults, less revenue from service fees and a transit system that's bleeding money."

"The question of whether Calgary is shrinking, or whether it could, would have been laughable a few short years ago. Luxury cars parked in front of high-end restaurants were the norm. While those working outside the downtown towers scraped by, as costs continued to rise, there were big bonuses and big paycheques in the energy industry. But not many are laughing now."

The Wirral Globe in the UK. "If you've got an eye for a bargain, no matter what league you're shopping in, then feast your eyes on this grand Edwardian property in Caldy. Originally on the market for £2,000,000 it is now subject to a whopping 25% price reduction, making it available for offers over £1,500,000 today."

From CNBC TV 18 in India. "Mumbai’s luxury apartments, the abode of the rich and famous in the business world, have seen a sharp drop in the rentals. A survey of the top 10 luxury buildings shows that the rent expectations of the owners have come down by 10-15 percent with room to negotiate. In most cases, the final cut is as sharp as 20-25 percent. Most landlords want the tenants to stay even at a lower cost to get constant rental cash as once vacated it might be difficult to get an occupant with the ability to pay rent for a luxury apartment."

"A lot of it is defined by the demand and supply dynamics and cash conservation, by and large, owners choose to rent than sell at a distressed value. The drop in rentals also shows that overall property rates have dropped and distress sale cannot be ruled out."

From Stuff New Zealand. "Rents at some Queenstown rental properties have been slashed by half as landlords try to pay bills and entice tenants. Accommodation in the popular resort town had been among the most expensive in the country pre-Covid-19. Landlord Bob Tovey said five of his properties had sat empty since just before the country went into lockdown. Tovey had dropped rents 50 per cent for his two three-bedroom homes in Fernhill, a one-bedroom apartment in Fernhill, a five-bedroom house on Queenstown Hill and a three-ensuite bedroom waterfront property in the town centre used for Airbnb."

"'I have decreased rent to $410 per three-bedroom house from $800, so it's a bargain at the moment. It's cheaper than Cromwell rent,' he said. 'I have dropped Airbnb property prices by 50 per cent, so I am getting some bookings coming in there. It's a year of no profit, but the mortgages are covered.' He was offering six-month contracts and then would reassess to see what the rental market was doing, he said. 'This is not a sustainable business model obviously.'"

The Sydney Morning Herald in Australia. "Owners in Sydney's Opal Tower say they are struggling to pay for ongoing costs arising from cracks in the 36-storey building, after spending about $1 million over the past 18 months. The owners' corporation is considering a special levy to pay for fees for lawyers, engineers and other consultants, as well as $1.28 million in insurance premiums for the new financial year."

"Owners corporation chairman Shady Eskander said owners were lumbered through no fault of their own with the continued costs from the defects, which forced residents to evacuate the tower at Olympic Park on Christmas Eve 2018, and the high insurance premium. 'The owners corporation has no money to pay,' he said."

"Mr Eskander said some owners had lost their jobs due to the pandemic-induced recession, while others were struggling to pay mortgages after the loss of tenants. Owners will consider a special levy of up to $5000 on average per apartment at an extraordinary general meeting on July 1. Owner Andrew Neverly, 60, shut his tour and car rental business several months ago because it was reliant on foreign tourists. Mr Neverly said owners were livid at the prospect of having to fork out for a special levy at a time when they were struggling financially."

"'As far as we are concerned, it's throwing good money after bad. We can't sell it. Banks won't lend on the building,' he said. 'It is a hideous situation. Everyone is under loads of financial stress.'"

"Mr Neverly bought his two-bedroom apartment off the plan for $840,000 in 2014 and rented it out. To help offset the loss of income from his tour business, he has refinanced his home at Greenacre in Sydney's west. 'My business has gone down the drain. It is very difficult circumstances and my wife is not working either. We are under the hammer,' he said."