A report from Radar Online. "Toni Braxton’s sister Towanda has lost her Georgia mansion to foreclosure as part of her Chapter 7 bankruptcy. According to court documents obtained by Radar, a federal court judge granted a motion brought by Rushmore Loan Management. The company asked to seize Braxton’s home to sell it off to the highest bidder. In their motion, Rushmore accused Braxton of failing to make the required payments on her Snellville, Georgia property."

"Back in 2018, the reality star purchased the 5-bedroom, 4.5-bathroom, 5,797 sq. ft. pad for $422,200. To buy the home, she took out a loan in the amount of $420,090. A year later, Braxton filed for bankruptcy listing $277,650 in assets but $547,056.39 in liabilities. In court documents, Rushmore said Braxton owed a total of $460,229.52 as of January 4, 2021. They accused her of failing to make 19 payments that were due on the note. The company estimates the home in question is worth $275,000."

The Bronx Times in New York. "A new study has spelled out bad news for Bronx homeowners. According to a report from PropertyShark, in 2019 Bronx homes sold at an inflation adjusted $17,000 or seven-percent less than they did a decade earlier in 2009. 'That decline in home prices was fueled by price contractions in low to mid-range properties. More precisely, homes priced $250,000 to $500,000 changed owners for 4-percent less in 2019 than they did in 2009, while those priced $100,000 to $250,000 fetched 9-percent less,' the study stated."

The Real Deal on New York. "Real estate investors who say they’ve been scammed out of millions in escrow funds from attorney Mitchell Kossoff’s law firm now want to push the firm into bankruptcy. A group of four investors filed a petition for involuntary bankruptcy Tuesday against Kossoff PLLC, listing slightly more than $8 million in 'misappropriated' escrow funds, filings with New York’s Southern District bankruptcy court show. The company has taken down its website since The Real Deal first reported last week that founder Mitchell Kossoff seemed to have disappeared, leaving several of the city’s biggest multifamily landlords concerned about what happened to their escrow funds. Tuesday’s lawsuit also contends he has not been located."

From Seattle PI in Washington. "After months of sluggishness, the spring season brought renewed interest in Seattle’s condominium market. Downtown, Northeast Seattle and West Seattle realized a drop in their median selling prices for the month. Seattle remains steadfast in a seller’s market. However, Seattle is comprised of neighborhood micro-markets and conditions will vary. Downtown, for example, remains the most challenging with its abundant supply and work-from-home opportunities presented to many downtown office workers."

The San Francisco Chronicle in California. "Even as rent has hit a historic decline in San Francisco, I'm here to remind you that the median two-bedroom rent is still more than double the national average. Welcome to the series we're calling, 'Guess how much this rents for in San Francisco.' This three-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment down the block from Alamo Square park is for rent. The listing is offering eight weeks free for a 'limited time' and there's also only a $1,000 security deposit. It goes for … drumroll … $4,995 a month!"

The Midland Reporter Telegram in Texas. "The average price of an apartment in Midland fell by 26.8 percent year over year in Midland, according to the April Apartment List Rent Report. The percentage drop is one of the largest in the nation. Odessa’s is greater (30.7 percent, compared to April 2020). What that means to the person looking for an apartment is the lowest average apartment rates in the region and state. A one-bedroom apartment in Midland is renting for $680. In Odessa, that average rent is $490. The rent for a two-bedroom apartment is 672 in Odessa and $830 in Midland."

From Bisnow. "The legal system is the unsung hero of the commercial real estate industry, especially in times of strife. Landlord-tenant disputes, foreclosures, contract disputes, tax appeals, partnership settlements — the everyday procedure of the way capital moves through the U.S. real estate industry relies on a functioning judiciary. But just as the coronavirus pandemic has upended the way much of society functions, it has wreaked havoc on the courts."

"'When they get to the end of this Covid period, which, knock on wood, there will be an end sometime in 2021, landlords are going to be wanting to go back to full rent,' said Joshua Bowman, a partner who heads up the hospitality practice at Boston-based law firm Sherin and Logden. 'I think landlords and tenants have been kicking the can down the road, knowingly. Even the lenders have been kicking the can down the road.'"

"Landlords who might otherwise pursue lawsuits might also be more willing to settle now, knowing that not only would a trial take longer than normal, but their tenants are in worse financial shape. 'If you want to play hardball, now you’re just going to have an empty storefront because there is not someone to replace it,' said Bruce Percelay, the chairman of Boston-based real estate investor Mount Vernon Co. 'The problem is you can’t get blood from a stone.'"

From CBC News in Canada. "Fort McMurray's housing market is surging as the region saw its highest sales quarter since 2014, according to the Fort McMurray Real Estate Board. Katie Ekroth, president of the Fort McMurray Real Estate Board, said Fort McMurray is leaning toward a seller's market, but only because inventory is low. 'We've got so many people that are not in a position to be able to sell because they bought during the high boom time, they owe more than what they could sell it for today,' she said."

The Evening Standard in the UK. "Some renters have the chance to trade up to the luxury neighbourhoods of central London. This window of opportunity comes after rents in the capital’s most exclusive areas have fallen 17.8 per cent over the course of the pandemic. The exodus of tenants from the capital during the early phase of the coronavirus outbreak has created a gaping supply-demand imbalance, according to a study by LonRes, forcing landlords to accept low offers. A reversal of the Airbnb phenomenon has contributed, too, explains Rokstone’s head of lettings Olivia McSweeney. 'With no tourists, we saw Airbnb hosts flip their one- and two-bedroom properties into rental homes which flooded the market,' she says."

"Diane Wrightson moved from a small basement flat in Bayswater this January to a pristine apartment in Notting Hill, which had been recently renovated. Originally priced at £530 per week, Wrightson agreed a 22 per cent discount on her one-bedroom apartment in a white, converted townhouse on Pembridge Crescent and now pays £410 per week."

"'It’s a steal and I wouldn’t have gone for it at the original price. The lettings agent thought my offer was too low but due to the global pandemic I thought it was worth a try,' says Wrightson. 'Rents in Notting Hill are generally outrageous but this flat has been redone to a really high spec with a super king-size bed. It feels like living in a hotel but you’re surrounded by your own things.'"

The Sydney Morning Herald in Australia. "Landlords now face a crisis of another kind: Many property investors holding apartments in inner-city Melbourne and Sydney are being forced to slash their rents. Some are asking up to 25 per cent less to let their properties than a decade ago. For many, declining prices have dashed hopes of cashing in their property investments for a profit, and may have given tenants an upper hand to be in a position to negotiate rent reductions. Among the hardest hit areas are apartments in Melbourne’s CBD, Docklands, Southbank and Carlton, where rental yields have been crushed."

"Analysis of SQM Research data for The Australian Financial Review reveals that the average rent in the Melbourne CBD fell more than 34 per cent to $393 a week in the year to March 4. Average comparable rentals were fetching $491 a week in March, 2011. Docklands apartment rents fell 33 per cent to an average of $420 a week – 25 per cent less than landlords were charging in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis."

"It is currently a renter’s market and good tenants are becoming acutely aware of their worth, says Shannyn Laird, head of customer experience at online property management platform Different. 'Greater access to market insights like how much a property [type] is being rented for, or even details like the number of people who have enquiries or viewed a specific property, means renters can use this information to negotiate,' Laird says."

The Malaysian Sun Daily. "Experts are calling for Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and banks to set up a department to look into why borrowers are defaulting on their payments. The recent case of M. Moganah, who had her home in Seri Kembangan, Selangor auctioned by a bank, highlights the need for such a department, they said. The 38-year-old tailor had been living with her husband and two children in the flat for 17 years. She found herself in the predicament when her bank purportedly raised the interest rate on her loan without notifying her."

"The bank is said to have blamed it on her failure to update her contact details and home address, a claim which Moganah has refuted. Malaysian Chapter of the International Real Estate Federation former president Yeow Thit Sang said members of the B40 group are often in situations such as Moganah, not by choice but as victims of circumstances."

"He said factors such as poor education and lack of opportunities, on top of the Covid-19 situation, have led to a drop in their earnings. 'The poor chap who signs on the dotted line with a bank is always at the losing end when it comes to default in payment of a loan.'"