A report from Mortgage Broker News in Canada. "Readers will be all too familiar with the pitch from realtors who specialize in pre-construction condo sales: Put down your deposit, sit back and watch as that piece of paper appreciates faster than any completed condo unit in the city. But those days are over. Pre-construction investors considering this classic, once tidy speculation strategy need to understand that assigning a condo unit to a second buyer is no longer the slam dunk it once was."

"The reason is simple enough. 'The bank’s not going to finance it at the appraised value,' says Anthony Venuto of InTouch Mortgage Solutions. 'They’re going to finance at the original purchase price – and not a dollar more. They began asking, ‘What exactly is the collateral here? The condo corporation has not registered. All you really have here is a piece of paper, and our mortgage is really not registered against anything, so we can’t do these anymore,' Trail says."

"Lending on assignments becomes even less attractive in an environment where condo inventory is increasing and values are softening, a novel situation most condo investors didn’t see coming. 'Is it going to last two weeks? Is it going to last six months? Is it going to last two years? We don’t know,' Trail says. 'All of a sudden, we have an asset class that’s no longer appreciating. The assignment sale problem is just going to increase if the values continue to come down.'"

From CBC News in Canada. "Condo owners at Fort McMurray's Hillview Park complex are finally moving back home, four years after they were burned out in the Horse River wildfire. The homeowners say they're happy to be home, but the threat of bankruptcy still looms and there are some issues with the homes. Robert Coppard bought his Hillview Park unit in 2008. Eric Rosina has the keys to his unit but isn't in his home yet. His property doesn't have a dishwasher, refrigerator or stove. 'I consider myself extremely fortunate to be in the position I'm in right now, but I'm teetering,' he said. 'If things don't start improving … I'll probably be another one to hand in the keys.'"

"Shelley Paulin moved back home and, in an emotional interview, said she's grateful to be home. 'I'm definitely going to struggle,' she said. 'I look across the street and a next-door neighbour that actually babysat me as a kid, he's not coming back home. He walked away from his place.'"

From The Scotsman. "The plans from the Government could see Airbnb owners who operate without a licence fined up to £50,000 and would see safety requirements brought into line with the rules around private tenancies. Following a poll of 1,000 ASSC members, one-in-three Airbnb operators said they faced become 'unviable' due to the plans, while half said they would leave the industry altogether. Of those, a third said they would leave their properties empty or convert them into private use if unable to operate them as Airbnbs."

"ASSC chief executive Fiona Campbell said: 'Our members are rightly concerned by the potential impact of this ill-timed and ham-fisted licensing scheme. At this time of uncertainty and chaos, the Scottish Government should pause, reflect, and further consider the negative consequences of further impediments to our sector doing what we do best.'"

From Arabian Business. "Out of the total 104.9 million sq ft of office stock in Dubai, nearly 25.2 million sq ft is vacant, with the volume of vacant stock gradually increasing over the last five years. The Dubai Market Update for Q3 also said that Dubai saw nearly 21,500 residential units come to market so far in 2020, bringing total residential stock to 571,500 units. There are over 10,500 units expected to be handed over in Q4, taking the total 2020 deliveries to 32,000 units - albeit significantly lower than the initial conservative forecast of 49,000 units at the beginning of the year."

"The weakest performing apartment areas were Dubai Sports City (-20 percent), Dubailand (-18 percent), The Greens and Views (-15 percent), and JLT (-14 percent). The villa communities witnessing the sharpest year-on-year declines are Reem-Mira and The Villa in Dubailand (-21 percent) followed by The Springs and The Meadows (-13 percent) and Jumeirah Village Circle (-12 percent)."

"With many districts transacting nearly 35 percent lower than their 2014 peaks, sales prices remain at a cyclical low and investor buyer interest remains strong, particularly for competitively priced ready units."

From Smart Property Investment on Australia. "Domain’s Q3 2020 Rental Report has sparked concern for some unit owners, with prices in Australia’s two largest property markets – Sydney and Melbourne – dropping to some of the lowest points seen in recent times. 'This is the deepest fall over two consecutive quarters and steepest annual fall since the start of Domain’s Rent Report in 2004,' said Domain senior research analyst Dr Nicola Powell. 'Unit rents have now fallen $55 a week from peak prices in 2017 and are now the lowest in six years. Since March, house and unit asking rents in the city and east region have had the largest decline in Sydney – by $125 and $80 a week, respectively. This is followed by a $70 a week reduction to unit asking rents in the lower north shore. Tenants are now paying the same price they were in 2013.'"

From Domain News in Australia. "A Lidcombe house bought at the height of the property market in 2017 sold at a loss under the hammer on Saturday. The successful buyers were an inner-west couple who bought the property as an investment for their children for $1.61 million, outbidding a developer."

"'The owner was very happy because he could no longer hold onto it. He said, ‘Look, I’ve paid enough interest and haven’t seen the gain in it,' said selling agent George Lattouf."

"Selling agent Gill Somers said while the lack of stock was buoying prices, some vendors were preparing to list homes before they were forced to sell. 'We have got it starting to show its face … we definitely know they can’t keep doing what they’re doing so they’re starting to clear some debts,' Mr Somers said."

The South China Morning Post. "China Evergrande, the world’s most indebted developer, failed to offload leftover units at its The Emerald Bay Phase 2 project in Hong Kong on Friday. It had sold just seven out of 262 units as of 7pm local time, which agents attributed to an oversupply of new flats in the district. Several projects, such as New World Development and MTR Corporation’s The Pavilia Farm in Tai Wai, have diverted buyers’ attention."

"'The purchasing power [for such flats] has dried up,' Patrick Yu, district sales manager at Centaline Property Agency, said, adding that such small flats were new when the project was first launched in October last year and its first two launches were fully sold out."

"Friday’s dismal sales follow a share sale by Evergrande, which is trying to raise funds to reduce its gearing amid suspected cash-flow issues, that failed to deliver the goods. Even though Evergrande was able to entice several big-name buyers, the share sale – priced at a steep discount on the previous close – ended up raising about half the targeted amount."

From Asia One. "A year after splashing out $73.8 million on Singapore's most expensive penthouse, James Dyson, 73, is selling the property for $62 million at a loss. At 21,108 sq ft, the super penthouse is reported to be the largest non-landed residence in the country."