It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "An Upper West Side property that was originally listed at $4.25 million sold in April for $2.2 million, a 48.2% discount. In Brooklyn, a Fort Greene home sold in June for $1.45 million, 38.3% off its listing price of $2.35 million. 'The biggest [discounts] for both Manhattan and Brooklyn properties were mainly concentrated in the higher price points,' according to John Walkup, COO of UrbanDigs. 'Also of interest was the difference between Manhattan and Brooklyn: The median of the largest 20 discounts in Manhattan was 35%, compared to 22% in Brooklyn.'"

"According to a complaint filed in Miami-Dade circuit court, Francisco Mendez, owner of the Miami-based Pioneer Inter-Development real estate developer, overpaid the contractors working on several homes, then demanded they return the extra money to him as a kickback. 'There is more of this kind of fraud than people would like to believe,' said John Criste, an attorney representing the plaintiffs. The filing calls the defendants a 'band of thieves' that helped Mendez carry out his moneymaking plan by providing doctored or inflated invoices."

"A Dallas real estate developer is facing federal bribery charges for his involvement with members of the Dallas City Council. Sherman Roberts is charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and bribery involving a local government. 'Right now, you and me are making money' from the real estate dealings, Roberts allegedly told Council Member A, who was then serving as a leader of Dallas’ Housing Committee, in spring 2015."

"The Aspen Club & Spa is going to foreclosure sale Jan. 6, and the new owner will be responsible for paying approximately $80 million in debt attached to the property. The other case was a lawsuit filed in November 2017 and led by Denver-based PCL Construction — the general contractor for the project — and dozens of subcontractors for unpaid bills.The construction firms are owed more than $25 million combined. Fifteen of the site’s townhomes are between 60% and 80% complete, six condominiums are 30% complete, and the commercial component is 30% complete, according to filings in the bankruptcy case."

"About 35% to 40% of people are in forbearance in the Southern California area, according to Santa Clarita Realtor and foreclosure prevention advocate Richard Szerman. 'If you want to apply for a loan modification then we have to take you out of the forbearance,' Szerman said. The downside of this is that if the person does not receive the loan modification then they cannot go back to forbearance because it is one per customer. 'If I am drowning and I have this life preserver and I think there’s a boat over there: do I swim for it?' Szerman said."

"Michael Jackson’s onetime Neverland ranch has sold for $22 million. Amid financial struggles, Mr. Jackson had defaulted on a loan backed by the ranch and Colony bought the note in 2008. The property, located about 40 miles from Santa Barbara, had been on and off the market for years, first listing for $100 million in 2015 and undergoing several price cuts. It was listed for $31 million last year. Mr. Jackson originally paid about $19.5 million for the ranch in 1987."

"The state of the rental market in Toronto and the rest of the GTA, the region has seen a solid year of steadily declining rent prices. With a glut of condos flooding the market in recent months, investors have been scrambling to sell them off and sales prices have diminished when they manage to do so."

"A perfect storm is closing in on the prices of housing for rent in Barcelona . And about the rest of Spain. Another factor explains the collapse in prices. The offer has increased as a result of restrictions on economic activity, especially tourism. This has led to the departure of tourist flats to the conventional rental housing market, which means increasing the total housing stock by 20%. On the other hand, demand is still weak, since many student or shared flats are not being occupied, which also pushes down the price."

"'2020 has been a very difficult year globally and more difficult for the property market. Going forward, I don’t think 2021 is going to be better. We still have a glut and the market is going to be very challenging,' said Hussain Sajwani, chairman of Damac Properties, Dubai’s largest private property developer. 'I hope big developers don’t start dumping more supply just because they can sell 200 villas or apartments more.'"

"The owner of the former, Multilinks headquarter building on Adeola Odeku Street, Victoria Island, Suleiman Lawani has asked a new generation bank (name withheld), to vacate his property over nonpayment of three-year rents totalling N21 million and a breach of trust. Lamenting his frustration during a press conference, Lawani explained: ' I made it known to the Receiver/Manager that I have made a loss of N5million. In 2018, the new bank refused rental payments. When I requested for payments they told their Receiver/Manager that there is no money and when they have, they will effect payments. Then, I requested for return of the space, they refused. This is the third year running of their absurdity.’"

"After 5 years since completion, thousands of resettlement apartments in Thu Thiem area in District 2 of Ho Chi Minh Cit are still mostly vacant. In 2020, the city has to allocate a large sum of money for the maintenance and operation of these apartment buildings, which is obviously a waste of budget and human resources. The management unit reveal that there has been a loss of over VND100 million (approx. US$4,300) in the first 6 months this year on overhead cost. Around these buildings, weeds are happily grown."

"A 715-sq-ft flat at the blue-chip housing estate was rented for HK$25,000 per month, or HK$35 per sq ft, after HK$6,000 was cut from the original asking rent. And a 499-sq-ft flat at Grand Promenade in Sai Wan Ho changed hands for HK$11.23 million, or HK$22,505 per sq ft, after HK$570,000 was cut from the initial asking price. In Pak Shek Kok, a homebuyer forfeited a deposit of HK$596,100 after cancelling the purchase of a 403-sq-ft flat at Centra Horizon, which was offered at HK$5.96 million, or HK$14,792 per sq ft."

"Louise Elliot and her husband have three houses — one of which is listed on short-stay accommodation site Airbnb. She's disappointed the Hobart City Council has voted to look into whether and how it can stop more Airbnbs popping up in the city. 'I'm also not going to sugar-coat it. This is one of those properties where it used to be tenanted and it could be again — but this is a property that we own, so we should be able to make the decisions on how it's used,' she said. 'This is my job. This is my income.'"

"She believes putting a cap on Airbnbs would leave many people who've bought properties for the purposes of turning them into short-stay accommodation in a serious financial predicament. 'I suspect the vast majority would find themselves in big financial trouble if they've bought a property specifically to Airbnb,' she said. 'To have something that's available and people have purchased with that in mind to then remove it would be crippling.'"