A report from CBS Bay Area in California. "Oakland is one of the last cities in the Bay Area hanging on to its eviction moratorium. Many mom-and-pop landlords claim their tenants are taking advantage of the policy, leaving them at risk of losing their livelihoods. 'I'm back due some rent ... $56,000 over the last three years from my tenant,' said John Williams, as he read a sign he plans to bring to Oakland City Hall Tuesday. Williams currently lives in the top unit of the duplex he's owned for nearly 20 years. It is his only home. Renting it out was supposed to secure his retirement. But at the end of this month, he's facing foreclosure."

Bisnow Los Angeles in California. "British billionaire siblings David and Simon Reuben, newly at the helm of a large stake in the Century City condo and hotel development Century Plaza, are working out a way to get repaid for loans they made to the project developer that have defaulted. The Reuben brothers said on their website they foreclosed on the Fairmont Century Plaza and more than 100 condos, plus retail space."

The Record Chronicle in Texas. "Median home prices in Denton were up by $25,000 compared to the January low, but still down 5.8% from the same time last year. Average home prices in Denton slid a bit further in March, leaving them down 13% from the spring euphoria of March 2022. New construction home sales made up 44% of the total Denton sales in March and a third of the pending contracts. That’s something you certainly don’t see in a normal market."

The Denver Gazette. "On the steps of the Capitol beside banners reading 'A Home for Every Colorado Budget,' Gov. Jared Polis proposed a sweeping land-use bill three weeks ago that would enact massive changes to neighborhood zoning controls. At its core, the proposal seeks to allow more density. But residents of the largely single-family neighborhoods that wrap metro Denver and other Front Range cities were quick to express their surprise at the idea, as did the real estate agents and the builders that are drivers in how new homes are sized and built."

"Regardless of the legislation's fate, real estate broker Deviree Vallejo is already seeing an exodus out of Denver because developers can't make the economics work. 'Developers are already leaving the city and the metro area. They’re not going to build in Denver because they can’t make their proformas work,' Vallejo said."

Honolulu Civil Beat in Hawaii. "Real estate developers and construction unions are pushing Honolulu city officials to be allowed to build housing units without some windows, which they say will spur construction of affordable housing. Bill 21, which would allow builders to substitute artificial lighting and ventilation for fresh air and sunshine, has unanimously passed its first reading before the Honolulu City Council and is awaiting further action by the city’s zoning committee. The idea is being broached now as a means to encourage inexpensive adaptive reuse of office buildings. But the law as written would also apply to new construction."

"Housing experts on the mainland who reviewed the proposed legislation called the concept a terrible idea, almost inhumane, and a disaster and a recipe for creating buildings that are unfit for human habitation. 'Basically what they are saying is that you can build a windowless box,' said real estate strategist Bill Browning, a partner in Terrapin Bright Green, a green-building research and consulting firm with offices in Washington, D.C., and New York City."

Bisnow New York. "We hear from two of New York's most prolific brokers to talk over what has been a tumultuous start to 2023 for investment sales and commercial real estate market amid ongoing rate hikes, a banking crisis that closed down a major multifamily lender in New York and growing questions about the values of buildings. Walker & Dunlop's Aaron Appel, who heads up the New York Capital Markets team, said the 'can kicking' from lenders is now coming to an end, which will lead to more defaults, workouts and forced sales this year. 'We’re starting to see some breaks in the market with assets either going back or sponsors unable to market debt service payments,' Appel said. 'Typically when that happens, credit providers will either look to move the position or they will look to find an alternative solution.'"

From Bloomberg. "Brookfield Corp. funds have defaulted on a $161.4 million mortgage for a dozen office buildings, mostly around Washington, DC, as rising vacancies hit property values. The loan transferred to a special servicer who is working with 'the borrower to execute a pre-negotiation agreement and to determine the path forward,' according to a filing on the commercial mortgage-backed security. Brookfield, a major office owner, previously defaulted on debt tied to two Los Angeles buildings, the Gas Company Tower and the 777 Tower. Landlords including Columbia Property Trust, owned by funds managed by Pacific Investment Management Co., and a venture started by WeWork Inc. and Rhone Group have also defaulted on office debt."

"Another Brookfield office property in Los Angeles, 725 South Figueroa St., was transferred to a special servicer and placed on watch by Kroll Bond Rating Agency, according to a note Tuesday. Trends have weighed on values, with prices on high-quality office properties falling about 25% in the past year, according to Green Street. About 4.8% of office properties with CMBS were managed by special servicers in March, up from 3.2% a year ago, according to Trepp. In the Washington metro area, office property values have plunged 36% through March from a year earlier, on par with declines nationwide, according to the Green Street index."

From Forbes. "The current top-ranked football team in England's Premier League has an owner who is ready to sell his lakefront Florida mansion in Boca Raton, Florida. Billionaire John Henry purchased the lot in 1991 for $650,000 and had the custom-made house completed in 1995. Henry first listed the property for sale last fall for $25 million, but lowered the price for the first time last week. To reduce a price by nearly half the first time out for a price reduction is often the sign of a motivated seller so this is a pad that could end up being a great deal for $15 million."

The Globe and Mail. "Canada’s banking regulator is scrutinizing the risks that spiking monthly payments could pose to some borrowers who have variable-rate mortgages and considering whether banks should hold more capital against those loans to absorb possible losses from defaults. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions cited the possibility of a housing market downturn as the top risk it is watching in the year ahead in its annual outlook, released Tuesday."

"In particular, OSFI is focusing on variable-rate mortgages that have fixed payments over multiyear terms. Those loans were popular among borrowers in recent years, but as interest rates have jumped higher and payments stayed fixed, the amortization periods to pay off those loans have stretched longer – many of them beyond 30 years. 'I think the banks are acutely aware that mortgages that are not getting paid down, they’re not amortizing down, is not a sustainable situation over the long term,' said Bank of Canada senior deputy governor Carolyn Rogers. 'But as we understand it, they’re working closely with these borrowers.'"

The Telegraph. "Australia’s major cities have seen dramatic falls in house prices over the past year, marking the country’s second-largest collapse in 43 years. Sydney property values have fallen over 11pc year-on-year, while Melbourne and Brisbane are down 9pc, according to analysts CoreLogic. Analysts in Britain now think Australia’s recent house price collapse could be a sign of things to come back home, with some experts predicting negative wage growth makes the outlook for UK homes even worse."

"In London and the South East, house price falls are expected to be worse. This is largely because this is where mortgage costs are highest. Capital Economics anticipates house prices in these areas to fall by a greater 15pc. 'There are big pockets of risk in the buy-to-let sector in these areas, where more investors hold interest-only mortgages. Their monthly payments are prone to go up further than others,'  says Andrew Wishart, of Capital Economics. 'In the second half of the year, we anticipate 20-30pc of landlords to see mortgage payments rise above their mortgage income, which will mean more selling up and lead to greater price declines.'"

From CNBC. "The Swedish government is now predicting a deeper than expected GDP contraction in 2023, according to data released Monday, worsening an already gloomy outlook for the country's economy. Swedish house prices have long been some of the strongest in Europe, but Stefan Ingves, who headed the country's central bank from 2006 to 2022, has previously warned the country will face its 'day of reckoning' thanks to a 'dysfunctional' system. Danske Bank recently revised its previous estimate of a 20% drop in real house prices, peak to trough, to a 25% drop. Prices are currently down by 12% from the peak recorded in February 2022, according to Danske, leaving prices 'still only half-way to the bottom.'"

Stuff New Zealand. "The housing market is in the low phase of the cycle, with prices in Wellington and Auckland down over 20% from their late 2021 peaks, the Real Estate Institute says. Nationally, the median price was down 12.9% annually to $775,000 in March, from $890,000 at the same time last year, according to the institute’s latest figures. Canterbury’s median price was down 2.9% annually to $680,000, the index had the region’s prices down 8.7% from the peak. Christchurch’s median was down 4.2% annually to $680,000."

"Real Estate Institute chief executive Jen Baird said there was no denying the current economy was influencing market activity, with median prices easing and properties taking longer to sell. 'While we have seen activity pick up last month, this year’s summer season has been muted. Buyers are taking their time, they are negotiating, and some are waiting to see if prices ease further.'"

The Australian Financial Review. "Business collapses hit a 3½-year high last month, to jump back above pre-pandemic trends for the first time, as rising interest rates and a cooling economy hurt corporate Australia. Insolvency lawyers say the end of the cheap money era, banks becoming less forgiving of distressed corporate borrowers and the Australian Taxation Office cracking down on company directors for unpaid tax debt are driving more businesses to the wall."

"Company failures have now risen sharply in construction (1601 administrations), accommodation and food services (808), retail trade (373) and manufacturing (347) so far this financial year. These four industries combined made up about half the 5689 corporate collapses recorded in the first nine months to March 31, according to an analysis of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission data."

"Alinta Kemeny, a restructuring partner at law firm Ashurst, said the momentum was definitely picking up in insolvency and restructuring activity across most industries. 'I think we’re going to continue to see an increasing amount of distress,' she said. 'It’s going to be much more than a correction back to pre-COVID levels and go beyond just dealing with zombie companies. It’s businesses enduring the hangover of the excess of the past decade where money’s been free and underperformance was being cured relatively easily without fundamental changes.'"

The Australian Associated Press. "The Victorian government ignored a warning about insolvencies in the residential construction sector months before the Porter Davis collapse, the state opposition says. The briefing was revealed in documents obtained by the opposition through Freedom of Information laws. 'As a consequence of this mismanagement, potentially hundreds of hard-working Victorians are trapped with half-built homes or have lost their deposits and won't have the insurance they are entitled to,' said opposition spokeswoman for home ownership Jess Wilson said."

"Porter Davis homebuyers are asking why they weren't insured as required by law, including Richard Williams, who lost his $40,000 deposit when the company went under. Despite legislation in place to ensure he was insured, domestic building insurance was not taken out on his behalf, meaning there is no legal recourse to recoup his money. It would have cost Porter Davis less than $1000 to insure his build. It is estimated 800 families have lost on average between $30,000 and $50,000 simply because they were not insured."