A report from the Star Advertiser in Hawaii. "High interest rates continue to subdue Oahu's housing market where prices pushed down this year could remain flat in 2024, according to a University of Hawaii analysis. The Honolulu Board of Realtors reported that the median sale price for single-family homes declined 10 % to $999,995 in April from $1,105, 000 in the same month a year ago while the condominium median sale price slipped 2% to $500,000 from $510,000 in the same period. The trade association also said in its report that the number of sales in April sank 43 % to 208 for single-family homes from 365 a year earlier, and dropped 38 % for condos to 420 from 672 in the same period. 'We continue to see the market settle following the spike in interest rates and rising inflation,' said Fran Villarmia-Kahawai, president of the Honolulu Board of Realtors."

The Dallas Morning News. "Dallas-Fort Worth home prices and sales held up better than in other Texas metro areas in the first three months of 2023. In the first quarter, 72,480 homes were sold throughout the state, a 17% decrease from the same quarter of 2022, according to a new report from Texas Realtors. Available home inventory in D-FW more than doubled year over year to 16,467 properties. D-FW home price growth has fallen to the lowest point in more than a decade, according to a separate report from the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index. Other markets, especially in Western states, have seen year-over-year price declines. San Francisco and Seattle prices have fallen by double digits. Five Texas metros saw year-over-year home-price declines, according to Texas Realtors. The biggest drop was in Texarkana (17.2%), followed by Austin (11.2%), Midland (1.4%), Lubbock (0.8%) and Houston (0.5%)."

The St George News. "When it comes to real estate, buying and selling in Southern Utah looks a lot different now than it did a year, or even six months, ago. The pandemic-fueled frenzy is over, and the market is gradually stabilizing. In late 2022, listing prices in Southern Utah were in the midst of a downward slide. Properties were selling for 8% to 12% less than during the peak of the pandemic, but those numbers have also stabilized in recent weeks. In terms of both available homes and pricing, broker Tammy Houchen said the market is starting to look more like 2019. 'We’re getting there. We’re headed in the right direction,' Houchen said."

The Motley Fool. "In March, 15% of homes for sale had a price drop. Here are the 10 cities with the biggest share of home price drops this year:North Port, Florida. Tampa, Florida. Cape Coral, Florida. Indianapolis, Indiana. San Antonio, Texas. Denver, Colorado. Phoenix, Arizona. Salt Lake City, Utah. Boise, Idaho. Austin, Texas. The Cape Coral housing market is somewhat competitive, but not competitive enough to lift month-to-month home prices. Redfin trends indicate that single-family home prices remain stable. Home prices here peaked at about $450,000, dipped in April 2022, and have hovered at around $400,000 since -- good news for prospective buyers."

From CNN. "'Generally speaking, home prices are lower in expensive markets and higher in affordable markets, implying greater mortgage rate sensitivity for high-priced homes,' said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. Cities in the West, like San Francisco and San Jose in California; and Reno, Nevada, saw home prices drop by at least 10% from a year ago."

The Real Deal on New York. "A 95-unit building at 234 East 46th Street traded for $69 million in 2014 and was valued at $125 million two years later. Now it’s been sold again — for a mere $13 million. The Turtle Bay property’s rise and fall reflects that of the startup that once owned it. Crowdfund investor Prodigy, which had a majority stake in the 20-story property, lost it through foreclosure after plans to redevelop it into a long-stay hotel with Korman Communities under its AKA brand never came to fruition and a $81 million refinance loan matured. The sale of the building, to an anonymous limited liability company, is among the final chapters for Prodigy. Its founder, the late Rodrigo Niño, pioneered crowdfunding in the U.S. after regulatory changes in 2013, raising some $690 million from individual investors for real estate properties in New York and Chicago."

From CalMatters. "When state and federal regulators spotted problems at Silicon Valley Bank, they didn’t do enough to make sure the bank acted quickly to fix them. That’s one of the key takeaways from a report published Tuesday by the California state department that shared responsibility for overseeing the bank, which failed in March. 'The Federal Reserve played the lead role (in overseeing Silicon Valley Bank) and, as we knew, did a negligent job of addressing problems in SVB that it identified,' wrote Ross Levine, a banking and finance professor at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, in an email to CalMatters. There were lots of federal and state regulators focused on Silicon Valley Bank, 'and yet they collectively did not understand the magnitude of the interest rate risk even though it was obvious. Each person seemed to do their job within the context of their little inspection box. Yet, collectively, they missed the big, obvious problem staring them all in the face.'"

The Toronto Star in Canada. "Mortgage delinquencies could rise by more than a third over current levels during the coming year, as pandemic-related support measures are largely over and living costs continue to soar, a recent RBC report warns. The bank forecasts the household debt-to-service ratio could rise more than a percentage point over the next year, to a historical high of 15.5 per cent by the fourth quarter of 2024. And, consumer insolvencies could increase by nearly 30 per cent over the next three years, returning to pre-pandemic levels and likely remaining on an upward trajectory."

"And there has been a noticeable increase of forced sales in the private lending space, but not with major banks where prospective home buyers are put through a stress test. 'So far, everything has held together pretty well,' said Philip Cross, a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and former chief economic analyst at Statistics Canada. 'But there is a lot of stress on households, and we’ve seen more stress on the banking system recently. At some point something has to give. We can’t continue on this trajectory forever.'"

Property 24 in South Africa. "While the most active price bands in Pretoria East are between R3 million and R5 million, buyers in higher price ranges are less sensitive to interest rates and are still willing to pay higher prices, whereas the East Rand has experienced an increase in sellers due to financial strain from higher interest rates. Neville Brits, Broker/Owner of RE/MAX Dazzle, explains that their markets have noticed the same shift. 'Our markets rely heavily on bond finance and therefore any adjustment in interest rate will slow down the sales rate. At present, almost 90% of our clients require some sort of finance and the more expensive money is to lend, the slower the sales rate will be. It also has increased the amount of sellers coming into the market because they cannot afford their bonds as a result of the higher rate. Many clients in our market have 85% to 95% loan-to-value so they feel the pinch much quicker than people who have more equity in their home loan or much lower loans,' says Brits."

"Brits explains that this means that buyers are spoilt for choice with so many homes on the market at the moment. 'This essentially means that they want to pay less and expect more from a house than they would have a year earlier.'"

From News.com.au. "A builder that specialises in educational facility upgrades and associated works has become the latest casualty in Australia’s construction industry crisis. Proclaimed 'industry-leading' Melbourne construction company Interface Constructions Victoria Pty Ltd has entered external administration after a string of credit inquiries last month. Since entering external administration, a number of Google reviews have emerged online from disgruntled contractors who allege they haven’t been paid by the company for their work."

"'[They] haven’t paid a contract painter for a job completed in February. Non-responsive to any communication. Notice of demand sent with no reply. A disgrace to the industry,' one comment read. A second added: 'Haven’t paid their subcontractor builders from the school project in Morwell, will be listed with CreditorWatch shortly affecting there credit rating. Pay your bloody contractors.'"

Stuff New Zealand. "A South Auckland developer is warning others to check their contracts carefully after he was charged $627,699 in fees for a loan he didn’t borrow. Mega Capital director Ajaypal Singh said he was 'under pressure,' paying $10,000 a day in late fees when he went searching for a non-bank, 'second-tier' lender. Singh comes from a hospitality background, running a chain of restaurants and two hotels, but he and his business partner decided to invest in property after attending a seminar."

"Singh has vowed to 'fight to the last breath' to raise awareness about the contracts which he views as 'predatory.' He is also considering going to the Court of Appeal. However, he said the experience had made him 'lose confidence' in property speculation. He’s put the land on the market along with a resource consent for over a hundred properties. 'If another lender pulls out, we’ll just go bankrupt, so I’ve decided it's time to get out.'"