A report from Our Windsor in Canada. "Toronto’s towering condo buildings have become almost as synonymous with the city as its red and white TTC streetcars. For the first time since a year over year dip following the financial downturn in late 2008 and early 2009, real estate experts say there is a softening in the condo sector. Realtors say the flood of condo listings can be linked to COVID-19. Immigration that was expected to grow the region by about 100,000 people a year has essentially stopped. Ian Serota of Right at Home Realty says he’s had some high-end condos sitting on the rental market for the last five months."

"One near King St. and Spadina Ave. was originally offered at $2,800. It’s down to $2,550. Owner-occupied and smartly furnished, it has never been rented on the short-term market. 'I can barely get a showing,' he said."

"Bosley Real Estate agent David Fleming cited a condo that recently leased for $2,100 a month. Last year, the unit rented for $2,400. The seller is fine with the lower rent because it’s a long-term investment. 'You’d have to be a pretty poor investor to have to sell a unit because you’re getting $300 a month less,' he said. 'The other side of the coin is that you say, 'I can’t afford $300 a month.’ Then you’re going to get $30,000 less for it than you might have in February.'"

The Shields Gazette in the UK. "Andrew McLean insists it is ‘sell, sell, sell’ – with top prices being hit and little room for buyers to negotiate downwards. But he warns the super-fast upturn may be a short-lived bubble – with potential Covid-related job losses a cloud on an otherwise sunny horizon. And he fears mortgage lenders may be starting to ask for higher deposits to safeguard themselves should negative equity strike amid a price slump."

"Mr McLean, who has operated his business for 41 years, added: 'I am also getting hints that some potential buyers have been asked for a larger deposit, with some even having their offer of a mortgage withdrawn. Lenders appear to be worried that house prices may drop and buyers will fall into negative equity, but if they don’t lend then people can’t buy. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.'"

The Mumbai Mirror in India. "Prashant Gandhi, who owns two flats in Ghatkopar and Borival said he’s already cut the amount by 20 per cent for prospective tenants. The climb-down isn’t restricted to landlords. Brokers—often accused of being ruthless in charging as much as a month’s rent as their service fee—are also willing to take lower ‘cuts’ just to ensure that deals don’t fall through."

"It’s the change in the demeanour of property owners and brokers while house-hunting that took Jojo Jose by surprise. 'I’ve lived in several rental homes, but never found owners this willing to negotiate on the rents. Some of them even called me back several times with offers lower than what they initially quoted. I’m going to make the most of this scenario as long as it lasts.'"

The Guardian Australia. "In city centres across Australia, where rents have kept rising for years, thousands of apartments lie vacant. Over the past 12 months rents have dropped 19.6% in the Sydney CBD and 17.5% in the Melbourne CBD, according to data from Suburbtrends. In Melbourne under stage four restrictions, where in-person inspections are banned but moving house is permitted, inner-city vacancies have skyrocketed. Vacancies rose 20% between July and August, and a huge 140% compared with August last year, according to data from Corelogic."

"The apartment on Sydney’s Castlereagh St was a good find: on the corner of the park and surprisingly easy to get. The agent told Swetha, a 24-year-old account manager, that she had been approved the day after she applied, quicker than she was really ready for. In Sydney, Swetha’s new apartment was advertised in December at $890 a week. In July she and her housemate got it for $650."

"'There were tonnes of apartments that were available,' she told Guardian Australia. 'This apartment in particular is next to Hyde Park, two bedrooms, one bathroom, a car space. It’s a corner apartment with a full city view. It used to be an Airbnb. They were really keen to get long[-term] tenants. The place was vacant for months and months … The apartment block is still quite empty.'"

"Also in Melbourne, Sarah Hartree and her partner, William Sweet, negotiated a rent reduction in April when Sweet lost his job at the height of the pandemic’s first wave. His pay was cut by 80% before being made redundant later. Their real estate agency, Nelson Alexander in Fitzroy, approved a request for a 20% reduction for one month, with no need to pay it back. Since then Sweet has luckily found a new job and the pair have continued to see prices in the rental market dropping."

"Renters in Sydney are also on the hunt for reductions. 'Everyone I know is getting rent reductions – all my friends, my old house. They got a rent reduction,' Swetha says. 'Another friend of mine … was in Wolli Creek and his landlord wouldn’t reduce his rent, so he just moved out to an apartment in the same building three levels down.'"