A report from the Tribeca Tribune in New York. "The Downtown Alliance has put numbers to what we see around us: the pandemic’s heavy commercial toll on Lower Manhattan. The Alliance provides data behind a year of reversals to Downtown vitality, from Murray Street to the Battery. (Much of Tribeca is not included in the study.) The city’s initial shutdown, as well as the relocation of an estimated 40% of residents, a remote office workforce, and a shattered tourist industry have all given rise to what Alliance president Jessica Lappin calls a 'deep and troubling' blow to the district."

"Median rents dropped to about $3,300, a fall of 18% compared to 2019. That’s the lowest average rent since 2011. There was a 21% price drop in the median sales of co-ops and condos. The median apartment price was $1,617,750."

From WCBS. "A new report from StreetEasy found about 96% of the listed apartment in New York City are unaffordable to the city’s essential workers. According to economist Nancy Wu, rents have fallen 15% from January 2020 – the largest year over year drop since 2010. Wu says the best deals can be found in Manhattan, especially the Upper East Side, where there were just six $1,400 apartments available in 2019, and now there are over 400."

The New York Times. "Airbnb hosts trace many of their issues with the company to March 14. That was when Airbnb enacted an 'extenuating circumstances policy.' The change angered many rental operators, who had previously chosen their own cancellation policies, including a nonrefundable option. The new policy allowed guests to cancel with a full refund, overriding some hosts’ preferences. Many saw their livelihoods disappear overnight."

"Darik Eaton, who managed 50 properties in Seattle, laid off 10 employees after the change and has reconfigured his company to run 'leaner,' including dropping some of the properties he managed, he said. 'I watched $77,000 disappear from my bank account in one day,' Mr. Eaton said."

"In July, Elizabeth Goldreich, an Airbnb host in Aspen, Colo., lost $11,500 after a guest canceled a three-week stay at her vacation home at the last minute. Ms. Goldreich, 55, said the reservation, made after the pandemic began, should not have qualified for a refund. The situation broke her trust in the platform. 'I was a true loyal fan, until I got thrown under the bus,' she said."

The Moorpark Acorn in California. "A housing project bit the dust in Moorpark last week. Approved by the City Council in 2017, the Spring Road Townhomes project was expected to bring 95 townhomes to two lots. Financing issues, though, caused the project to stall before falling through this year. 'The residential project has not commenced construction and an independent review for the pro forma (financing) for the project has determined that it is infeasible and likely will not be built,' said Karen Vaughn, community development director."

From Discover Estevan in Canada. "If your plan was to purchase a home sometime in the near future, you've got the market on your side, according to one local real estate agent. If you're planning on selling a home, however, there may be some tough conversations in your future. Real estate agents are having to work hard on both sides of the aisle as the good news for sellers has been at times devastating news for buyers."

"'On the seller's side, I'm not going to lie, it's become a fairly heartbreaking job,' said Josh LeBlanc, a real estate agent. 'You're having to have these very difficult, tough conversations that are realistic. It crushes some dreams at times, but when your market is going through something like this, there's no time for hopes, it's what the reality is and we have to adjust to that reality'."

The Shropshire Star in the UK. "A former Shrewsbury couple who tried to raffle their luxury home to enable them to move to Yorkshire failed to sell half the tickets they needed. Martin and Sue Stephenson had hoped to sell 330,000 tickets at £3 each for their converted chapel in Snowdonia, which was valued at £695,000. The deadline has now passed, however, with just 140,965 tickets sold, so the property is still theirs."

"With promotion and other costs deducted, it means that a cash prize of £200,000 is being offered instead – the draw will be made on March 1 – and a donation of £42,806 will go to the Alzheimer’s Society. Meanwhile Capel Jerusalem, which was being offered fully furnished, is back on the open market again. 'If the winner of the £200,000 has set their heart on moving to the property they will have the option of putting their winnings towards buying Capel Jerusalem, Jerusalem Vestry, or both,' said Martin."

From Philenews. "The coronavirus pandemic has struck a blow to the market of holiday homes all across the world and Cyprus is no exception, according to Panos Danos, CEO of Danos & Partners Real Estate. Rental prices this year are expected to drop even further than in 2020 during which those were low enough compared to the year before, he told Philenews."

"Rental prices of beach houses in the district of Famagusta will be between €8 – €14 per sq.m. from € 10-€ 12 per sq.m. in 2020 and €18-€ 2 per sq.m. in 2019. This means a 36.36% price drop. In coastal Larnaca, rental prices of beach houses are expected to be €6 to €10 per sq.m. from €8 to €10 per sq.m. in 2020. The difference is big in comparison with 2019 when rental prices were between €15 and € 20 per sq.m."

"In coastal Limassol, rental prices for holiday homes per square meter are expected to be €16 to €35 per sq.m. from €20 to €40 which was the case in 2020. The price drop is 12.5%. In coastal Paphos, rental prices of seaside houses are expected to be between €8 and €14 per sq. m. from €10 to €12 per sq.m. in 2020. The fall in rentals is estimated at 16.6%."

The Vietnam Express. "Serviced apartment rents in HCMC fell by 21 percent last year to $22 per square meter per month, property consultancy Savills said in a note. Some 2,000 of the 6,500 serviced apartments in the city remained unoccupied, the lowest occupancy rate since 2016. Savills said the market was severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. One grade B and five grade C properties pulled out of the market and became office buildings. Serviced apartments, to attract tenants, have been offering discounts or free utilities."

"The rental apartment market, a competitor, also experienced a drop in rents. A survey by VnExpress found apartment rents fell by an average of 20-30 percent. HCMC will have around 41,000 new apartments entering the market in 2021, according to real estate Colliers International Vietnam. These units would pose a strong competition to grade B and grade C serviced apartments, it said. Another competitor, vacation rental market place Airbnb, is going through a slump after tenants canceled bookings due to the fear of coronavirus."

From Skynews in Australia. "REA Group Chief Economist Nerida Conisbee has told Sky News the Melbourne CBD will experience long-lasting effects from the Andrews government's multiple lockdowns, including on the property market. 'I think one of the long-lasting effects for that city will definitely be the Melbourne CBD,' she said."

"'On one hand, we can certainly see sales activity coming back - we’ve got very strong buyer activity if you go somewhere like Mornington Peninsula. But the Melbourne CBD, it does continue to dominate in terms of very high-levels of vacant apartments. They’ve got problems in the office sector. People aren’t returning to the CBD to the same level that they did prior to the pandemic.'"

From Live Mint in India. "A 250-billion-rupee ($3.5 billion) fund set up by India’s government to complete stalled housing projects is set to deliver its first finished apartments in 2021, offering a template for a problem that has washed out savings of thousands of home buyers and bankrupted developers. At the time, India had an estimated $63 billion of such stalled projects as an economic slowdown and a credit crisis cascaded through the sector. Builders were unable to service their loans, forcing banks to write off the debts and worsen what was already one of the world’s biggest bad-loan piles. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government created the fund as one measure to unclog the financing pipes."