It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "After a hefty price cut, Italian fashion scion Massimo Ferragamo has off-loaded his Manhattan apartment for $11 million, WWD has learned. Ferragamo found that his Manhattan duplex apartment had become surplus to requirements and put the 5,800-square-foot, 17-room home on the market for $18 million in 2018. With no takers at $18 million, the asking price was subsequently reduced several times. The property was last asking $12.8 million."

"Since March, rent prices in Boston have dropped 18.2 percent. That’s the third-largest price drop for a city in the United States, lagging behind only San Francisco and Seattle, which are down 24.5 percent and 19.1 percent, respectively. And paired with plummeting rents is an increase in vacancies. 'Boston is one of the examples of cities where we’re seeing rents move in one direction and vacancies move in the other,' said Rob Warnock, research associate at Apartment List. In addition to the aforementioned metros, this group includes New York and Washington, D.C.. 'At least to some degree, it’s people who are leaving, and it’s people who are not coming who are contributing to this excess vacancy.'"

"Housing experts are calling this a seismic shift in the rental market. Chances are, if you're a renter, you might've received emails from apartment complexes offering two or three months free rent, some are even offering free parking. Zillow experts say 49.4% of Seattle metro rental listings are offering a concession. That’s up from 21.5% this time last year. '2020 was the first time in recent memory that we've actually seen rents fall in the Seattle region. And, in fact, they were falling the fastest in the city of Seattle, where rents are down almost 9% since the pandemic began in March,' said Jeff Tucker, Senior Zillow Economist."

"LA’s real estate market is a little confounding right now. While the pandemic is forcing most people to hunker down, some are choosing to move to the suburbs or more affordable locations. Amid the pandemic, Paul Habibi, a lecturer on real estate at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, says he’s seen a shift away from dense housing regions like downtown. He believes that comes down to risks of virus transmission and the cost of luxury rentals and for-sale units. 'People don't necessarily need to be downtown at the moment,' he says. 'They're having trouble now with absorption and leasing of those units.'"

"Buyers and sellers in Ontario’s real estate market face uncertainty as 2020 winds down. Mark Weisleder of Real Estate Lawyers.ca LLP, has been spending a good chunk of his time helping owners navigate the complexities of selling a unit. The intensity of competition can also lead to buyer’s remorse, he adds. On occasion, the lawyer is hearing from buyers who fear they overpaid. Typically, a buyer who prevails in a bidding war will have 24 hours to provide the deposit they promised."

"Some believe that walking away from the deposit will get them out of the deal, but Mr. Weisleder stresses that a person who signs the sales agreement and then tries to walk away may very well be sued by the seller. If the seller has to sell for less to a second buyer, the initial buyer may be sued for the difference, he explains. When he represents sellers who haven’t been able to collect the deposit, Mr. Weisleder will send a letter on the client’s behalf. 'I would send a letter saying, ‘you’re in breach; if we put the property back on the market, and if we suffer a loss, we’re going to come after you.’"

"Areas like Vancouver have seen a steep dropoff in transactions from foreign buyers 'There are virtually no foreign investors,' said Jason Soprovich, a real estate agent with Royal LePage in West Vancouver. 'There are lots of inquiries, but as far as people following procedures to fly in, quarantine, then start looking, it’s very slim.' This comes on the heels of more than two years of price drops in the Vancouver area, a response to steep new taxes on purchases by foreign buyers."

"There are relative deals to be found where in the recent past bidding wars or all-cash buyers may have shut local buyers out. 'The demand has shifted,' said Kevin Hardy at Sotheby’s International Realty in Vancouver. 'If you’re a buyer in the over C$3 million (US$2.32 million) market right now, you’re in a good spot to not be competing and maybe write a lower offer which would not have been considered 12 months ago.'"

"Fuelled by rising concerns of unemployment and the scheduled end of the stamp duty holiday, signs indicate that house prices are set to fall sometime next year. In September, the Centre for Economics and Business Research already predicted that there will be a massive slump in UK house prices in 2021, by nearly as much as 14 per cent. Property experts have also weighed in on the future of British house prices, with many siding with the CEBR’s predictions. Rob Houghton, chief executive of reallymoving, said: 'It was never sustainable. House prices cannot continue to defy macroeconomic influences such as rising unemployment, shrinking economic growth and the prospect of a No Deal Brexit at the end of the year.’"

"A fairytale castle in Kenmare, Co Kerry that first went for sale at €15million at the height of the property boom in 2007 has been sold. An Culu, a 9,000 sq ft Gothic Revival style castle, has spent nearly 13 years on the market but Savills announced on Wednesday that the property has been sold 'at a price close to the asking figure of €4.5 million.' The castle had its price dropped to €10 million in 2010 and then again in 2018 to €4.5million."

"A new study by property portal Idealista reveals that Barcelona has seen the sharpest fall in rents with prices per square metre slumping 13 percent between May and November. The Catalan capital has seen a glut of short term holiday lets put on the open market as coronavirus restrictions drained the city of tourists. Likewise, the capital Madrid and tourist hotspot, Palma de Mallorca, saw average rents fall around by 8 percent. Sevilla and Valencia, both with large student populations meanwhile saw rents drop 6 percent to 7cent as classes shifted online."

"Rental prices fell 5.3% in the Balearic Islands in October according to Idealista. It was the biggest drop in the country and much more than the national average of 3.6%. Natalia Bueno, President of the Association of Real Estate Agents in the Balearics says a fall in demand and an increase in supply is behind the slump and that homes renting above the 900 euros a month threshold are the worst hit. 'The most expensive rents are the ones that are going down in price because there are fewer tenants who can prove solvency,' she said."

"'People are returning to their country of origin or moving to places with better job opportunities,' said Bueno who explains that owners who wanted to sell their properties have decided to rent them instead because it’s so difficult to find a buyer. On top of that homes and apartments that are usually rented to tourists have also been put on the market as long term rentals."

"Shoaib Khan had always viewed his flat in central Bengaluru as an investment. After having to relocate to Mysuru, he rented out the flat. But as COVID-19 struck, leading to job loss and pay cut, his tenant requested him to lower the rent, which he did by ₹6,000. However, as work from home continued, in September, the tenant decided to head back to his hometown in a neighbouring State. The flat has been vacant since then, though Mr. Khan has put out ads on real estate portals with a rent amount much lower than earlier."

"The sudden slump has also had an impact on the rent amounts, with demands for lower rents also being seen on social media platforms. In fact, owner postings that quote 'pre-COVID-19' rent amounts are attracting trolls. 'The number of enquiries has increased since a month or so. But now, the tenant-side scenario is that they are expecting a good deal. If they were paying ₹40,000 for a 2 BHK, they are now looking for a 3 BHK in the same budget,' explained Sunil Singh from the firm Realty Corp."

"'Some owners are now reducing the rent amount by around 20% because it is better than leaving it empty. For example, those who were charging ₹15,000 are reducing it to ₹10,000,' said G. Dinesh Poojary from S.R. Real Estate."

"Sydney’s top 10 postcodes with the highest mortgage delinquency rates fall almost entirely in Western Sydney, new data shows. Mortgage delinquency rates were also a reflection of economic conditions in the area, according to AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver, suggesting Western Sydney may show more weakness or vulnerability when it comes to unemployment rates and recovery from the recession. 'They’re probably the tip of the iceberg. There’s another group of people who are making their payments but are struggling,' Dr Oliver said. 'If anything changes slightly, they’ll be tipped over.'"

"Laing+Simmons Merrylands director George Lattouf said the apartment market was suffering more than houses. In one case, one investor owned seven properties with all rents reduced to retain or attract tenants. 'He is finding it hard. He is getting rent reductions galore,' Mr Lattouf said, adding that two of the vacant properties were finally leased at a 'dramatic loss of rent.'"

"Dream Design Property founder and buyer’s agent Zaki Ameer said some property owners were selling at a loss with the view that it could be worse in March. In one case, an investor had sold two apartments in the same building in Liverpool at a loss to offload their debt, according to Mr Ameer. 'The lady purchased it in 2017 during the Sydney peak for about $470,000 and then she sold it a week ago for $430,000,' Mr Ameer said. 'She just wanted to get rid of it and didn’t want to wait until next year and not find a buyer.'"