A report from Business in Vancouver in Canada. "Metro Vancouver’s condominium rental market – which involves approximately 69,000 units owned by investors is riding out the pandemic well, but tenants are increasingly taking over the driver’s seat. 'The condo rental market has definitely come off. It is down 10% to 20% [in rents], and we are seeing higher vacancies,' said Birds Nest Properties company director Michael Leung. About 5% of Birds Nest properties are currently vacant, partially due, he said, to some owners holding out for higher rents. All of Birds Nest clients are condo investors who hold one to four rental units in Vancouver, Burnaby or Richmond."

From Leedsville Live in the UK. "Owners of the county's fanciest homes have been slashing their prices to attract buyers. YorkshireLive has found a selection of the county's most expensive properties on sale with significant price reductions. We've found a mansion – with a helipad, no less – on the market with almost a third of the price knocked off. And we've discovered another stunning country retreat where its owners have shaved £700,000 from the previous price."

"When we featured this six-bedroom 1860s mansion, near Bradford, in January 2019 it was on the market for £1,450,000. Now there's a discount of almost a third up for grabs."

From Hungary Today. "Both the government and the Municipality of Budapest plan to restrict short-term house rentals in the capital, which could completely transform the downtown real estate market. According to Ádám Ribarics, head of a company that deals with the rentalof nearly two hundred Airbnb apartments in Budapest, the plans would ruin the Budapest Airbnb market, as the necessary profit could not be made in 120 days. In this way, everyone would rent out their apartments for medium and long term, which would cause a serious oversupply and would revitalize the grey economy."

"The average rent of apartments in Budapest decreased by 10 percent compared to the pre-pandemic period, but there are places where the decrease even reached 20 percent."

The Times of Malta. "Increased affordability is what property buyers and renters have to look forward to in the coming months, according to a survey released by Belair Property together with Anchovy/Onest Data. 'This survey clearly shows a general – and justified – perception that especially in certain segments, the real estate market was overheated pre-COVID-19,' Ian Casolani, managing director of Belair Property, notes."

"'The market needed to be more realistic, and we were, in fact, already seeing price corrections before the pandemic hit. What we’ll see now is the market continuing to settle,' Casolani said. 'In certain sectors, property prices will continue to level out and become more affordable. An optimistic view would be that COVID-19 is correcting property prices, bringing them closer to a property’s real value.'"

"The survey shows that a large portion (over 50 per cent) of respondents would need to see a price drop of between 15 and 30 per cent to be tempted to buy property, and 74 per cent of landlords fear for the future of the rental market in Malta."

The Business Standard in India. "'Today developers are ready to sell at Rs 40,000 a square foot. Last year, they were selling at Rs 50,000 sq ft,' says Sudha Kumari, a real estate broker in Dadar, Mumbai. That is a 20 per cent lower than last year’s prices. 'Developers are worried about their loans. They want to sell but buyers are in no mood to buy now,' Kumari said, indicating the desperation of developers."

"Kumari is bang on. Sunil Solanki, a real estate investor in the same area, says he will buy properties when prices come down to 30 per cent. 'There are good opportunities to buy now but I feel prices will correct further,' he says."

"Property developers are resorting to price cuts across Mumbai’s main residential markets. Mumbai’s property markets, where prices earlier crossed Rs 1 lakh a sq ft, are seeing a 20-25 per cent markdown today from last year’s level, say some local brokers that Business Standard spoke to. This is probably the biggest decline in the past decade."

"If central Mumbai developers are stressed for funds, in markets such as Thane, it is the oversupply which is forcing developers to slash prices, local brokers said. Local brokers already see the prices crashing. Says Vinit Matlani, a prominent broker in the region: 'In Thane, prices are easily down by 20-25 per cent. All developers have cut prices. If you make full payment, there will be further discounts,' Vinit Matlani said."

"He said all reputed developers such as Lodha, Kalpataru, Piramal Realty and so on are offering discounts. 'No one will make buyers unhappy on the price front,' he said."

"Many say the price cuts are desperate attempts by developers to generate sales which were subdued for the past five to six years due to inflated prices. 'This is a buyer’s market. Developers are ready to do anything. There is a complete deadlock. There are no sales, no transactions, no registrations,' said Rajesh Mehta, a prominent consultant in Western suburbs of Mumbai. 'The situation is worsening. Nobody knows what is happening,' he says."

The Australian Financial Review. "The median auction price for Sydney houses has fallen by 1.5 per cent since February, while units dropped 4 per cent, pointing to a further slide in the June quarter. The median auction price for houses across Melbourne has dropped 5 per cent since February, while the auction price for units tumbled 4 per cent. AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver said the robust improvement in clearance rates hid the underlying weakness in the housing market."

"'There was a recovery in the sense that there's more property transactions occurring, but I don't think it was a recovery in the underlying conditions as reflected in prices,' Dr Oliver said. 'The whole market has been distorted by the lockdown initially, which led to a collapse in sales and auction clearance rate. So when you see sales and clearance rates going up, that looks like a recovery, but in reality, it was just a recovery from the distortion. It's not an actual recovery in the property market per se.'"

"Dr Oliver said the uptick in virus cases in Melbourne would further weaken the market and add downward pressure to housing prices. 'The lockdown poses a renewed threat to the economy, which ultimately is a negative for the property market,' he said. 'I was looking for around 10 per cent price drops in Melbourne and Sydney. With the virus outbreak, the risk of a 20 per cent house price fall has emerged again. The market is in a pretty precarious situation at the moment.'"