A report from Jackson Hole News and Guide in Wyoming. "'Everyone’s saying it feels slow. It’s slow, it’s slow. It’s slow,' said Kurt Harland, a Berkshire Hathaway agent. 'If you look at the numbers, it’s not. It’s normal. ... It just feels weird because we’ve been on this rocket ride the last couple years. Sellers are cautious that they may have missed the peak, and they don’t want to lower their price. Buyers are also hesitant or cautious. They think the market is going to drop some more.'"

"Andrew Ellett, managing broker of Engel and Volkers, said he’s feeling optimistic that sellers understand that the appreciation rates during COVID were unsustainable. 'I’m actually encouraged by the conversations that I’ve had with sellers for the last year,' he said. 'I feel like they kind of get it, and that was not the case in the last recession.'"

KITV 4 in Hawaii. "The number of homes and condos sold on Oahu is still down from a year ago, according to the Honolulu Board of Realtors.The median sales prices for homes and condos is also down. 'You’re lucky to get one or two offers–a lot of times, it's just one offer–because of the higher interest rate,' said principal broker for OahuRe, Bryn Kaufman."

The Orange County Register in California. "My trusty spreadsheet reviewed the National Association of Realtors’ quarterly report on 221 housing markets. A dash of good news for house hunters is that prices fell in 95% of the metros when comparing the first three months of 2023 vs. last year’s spring quarter. And 27% of those drops were double-digit declines. The biggest nine-month price drops were in Austin (off 24%), San Francisco and Champaign, Illinois, (off 23%), Kankakee, Illinois, (off 22%) and Provo, Utah (off 18%). Nationally, prices were down 10% in the nine months. By region, Western states’ prices were down 13%, the Midwest fell 11%, the Northeast was off 10%, and the South dropped 8%."

"Los Angeles County: A 9.6% nine-month dip (156th best of the 221 metros) includes a 9.9% loss in the first quarter (No. 218). In 2020-22, a 26% gain (No. 118). Orange County: 8% nine-month loss (No. 129) after a 5.6% gain in the first quarter (No. 9). In 2020-22, a 37% gain (No. 38). Inland Empire: 6% nine-month drop (No. 85) after a 1.9% gain in the first quarter (No. 36). In 2020-22, a 34% gain (No. 57). San Diego County: 8.9% nine-month fall (No. 145) after a 2.7% gain in the first quarter (No. 26). In 2020-22, a 28% gain (No. 97). Ventura County: 9.2% nine-month decline (No. 153) after 0.6% loss in the first quarter (No. 80). In 2020-22, a 26% gain (No. 116)."

The Miami Herald in Florida. "For years, real estate developer Doug Cox has kept buyers locked out of the homes they bought in Coconut Grove. Now his lender is foreclosing on the properties, demanding to take control of two dozen ready-to-move-in houses and prime vacant lots because Cox has failed to repay a $43 million debt. But the buyers got a lifeline Tuesday when Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Bailey appointed a receiver to oversee a tangled web of lawsuits, purchase contracts and fraud accusations."

"'They have been fighting so long to keep everything secret, but their game is finally over,' said Coconut Avenue townhouse buyer Kevin Ware. 'We hope the receiver can get into the weeds and find forensic evidence showing if Doug and Nicole misappropriated funds. We hope innocent families will not be wiped out by what all signs point to as a Ponzi scheme falling apart.'"

Patch New Jersey. "A real estate agent defrauded investors out of as much as $4.7 million over five years through an elaborate Ponzi scheme, according to authorities. Chander Singh, the owner of a 'distressed property' renovation company, was just sentenced to eight years in prison for perpetrating an investment and mortgage fraud scheme in which he promised investors double-digit returns, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said."

"A 2020 investigation revealed that Singh had solicited money from approximately 30 investors through a web of entities under the umbrella of SC Capital Investors. He had operated the scheme since at least 2014, at which time he had rolled losses from FC Investments, another failed distressed property 'flipping' company, into his newer firm, the prosecutor's office said. The Teaneck man had pleaded guilty on March 16 to first-degree money laundering in exchange for the state to recommend a sentence in the second-degree range. On Friday, he was sentenced to eight years in New Jersey State Prison, with a 3-year period of parole ineligibility, prosecutors said."

CTV News in Canada. "Saskatchewan's consumer watchdog is seeking to hold two Saskatoon women responsible for the collapse of their real estate company that left investors with millions of dollars in losses. Last year a court-ordered investigation found that $211.9 million dollars invested in the company by multiple investors was mostly gone. The meltdown of Epic Alliance resulted in significant financial losses for more than 120 investors, mainly from British Columbia and Ontario. Last year, a Saskatoon attorney representing some of the investors said the pair were 'using new money to pay old money.'"

"Last January, Laflamme and Thompson hosted a Zoom meeting to inform investors of the company's imminent demise. According to a transcript of the call included in a court filing, the company's financial situation was described as a 's--t sandwich.' 'Unfortunately, anybody who had any unsecured debts ... it's all gone. Everything is gone. There is no business left and that's what it is,' the transcription said."

The Globe and Mail in Canada. "A fourth lender has demanded repayment of millions in loans from troubled Toronto-area land developer StateView Homes. StateView’s lenders have asserted in various court filings that StateView has in recent months missed interest payments, tax payments and municipal fee deadlines and appears to have a cash crisis and no liquidity. On May 5, KSV sent a notice to hopeful buyers who hold agreement of purchase and sale contracts (APS) with StateView warning them that their deposits were gone."

"Court filings suggest there are dozens, if not hundreds, of buyers who have already paid more than $100,000 in deposits to StateView companies. 'I couldn’t sleep for two nights. … I literally feel like crying,' said one buyer in BEA who spoke to The Globe. The Globe is not sharing the buyer’s name because she has not yet informed her husband that for the second time in recent years a preconstruction condo the couple invested in has fallen into receivership. 'It is very stressful, another builder did the same and held our money for four years,' she said. 'They get rich and they don’t care about people like me who give them $80,000. I had to cut my daughter’s gymnastic class to afford it. It’s been hard. Who is going to compensate us for that?'"

The Ross-shire Journal in the UK. "Devestated customers say they have lost their life savings after the collapse of a Highland housebuilder saw their home ownership dream turn into a nightmare. Ptarmigan Homes Ltd, which was based in Inverness and specialised in self-build housing, went into liquidation last week owing hundreds of thousands of pounds to its creditors and leaving an unknown number of customers high and dry in the middle of their plans for a new home. And reaction has been heartbreaking, with numerous affected customers and traders taking to social media in response to the bitter blow."

"Mag Campbell said: 'Took our life savings and left us with a shell – not even wind and watertight.' Another person affected was Lisa Williams, from Nairn, who said her and her husband were months into the design process, have lost their deposit and will now have to start all over from scratch. 'Sadly we were eight months in with our design stage with Ptarmigan Homes,' she said. 'We are left with no drawings, no building warrant (that they claimed had been applied for, and we had paid on account for). We have lost our deposit and having to start all over again with a different architect and company.'"

"Another customer, Sean Johnston, added: 'Unfortunately we have been affected by this too but not as bad as some people. More than happy to keep taking people's money up until the bitter end.'"

Urban Developer in Australia. "Brisbane-based Property Solutions Holdings and associated companies are being liquidated as another high-profile property player is laid low. Property Solutions, which was behind a number of landmark developments in south-east Queensland including The Barracks at Petrie Terrace, and Centro on James Street, Fortitude Valley, entered voluntary liquidation on May 4. The planned $500-million Queen Street Village in the Southport CBD on the Gold Coast being developed by Property Solutions’ Nerang Street Pty Ltd failed in September last year. It was reported at the time that Nerang Street Pty Ltd went under owing creditors—including two of Queensland’s biggest builders—more than $80 million."

"Data also released last month indicated insolvencies in the sector are trending to surpass 2000 for the 12 months to the end of June—the highest in more than a decade. 'I'd say that the vast majority of builders and construction businesses in Australia are probably borderline insolvent—technically, that is,' Building Industry Credit Bureau chief executive Wayne Clark, told The Urban Developer’s Phil Bartsch."

The Guardian. "Another month of slumping New Zealand house prices will do little to bolster the hopes of first home buyers under strain from sharp increases in living costs and interest rates, analysts say. The national average home value was 13.3% lower in April than in the same month of 2022 and sits at NZ$902,501, according to figures from the valuation company QV. New Zealand’s runaway property market has for years created a crisis of inequality and deprivation – while proving an investor’s paradise that some thought would yield ever-increasing returns. At the peak of the boom, houses cost 10 times the median income, with a 43% increase during the first two years of the pandemic."

"The abrupt reversal of prices and rates has left New Zealand’s housing market more over-leveraged than in many comparable countries, prompting analysts to declare the country a 'canary in the coalmine' for a property crash. 'Right now the talk about negative equity, where people are going to owe more to the bank than their homes could be sold for, is limited to those who bought right at the peak,' said Michael Rehm, a senior lecturer in property at the University of Auckland. 'But if things continue for much further, the net that’s catching people in negative equity is going to grow.'"

From Reuters. "For many of China's manufacturers of baby and children's products, painful reverberations from last year's historic decline in the country's population are already upon them. Domestic sales are shrinking and the scramble is on to develop new streams of revenue, whether that be diversifying into products for adults or boosting offerings in overseas markets with younger populations like Southeast Asia and India."

"Hong Kong-listed Health and Happiness (H&H), which gains nearly half of its revenue from baby products such as infant formula, food and diapers, is one such company. Revenue for its Dodie diaper brand slid 12% in mainland China last year as a fresh decline in the birth rate to a record low exacerbated oversupply and caused prices to drop, says interim Chief Executive Akash Bedi. Fujian-based Hengan International Group Company, a maker of sanitary napkins, diapers and tissues, saw its overall diaper sales fall 1.4% last year as products at the cheaper end of its baby diaper range lost favour. Adult diaper revenue, however, shot up 13% - highlighting how China's rapidly ageing population is prompting shifts in consumer spending."