A report from the Idaho Statesman. "There were 373 total sales in Canyon County last month, 25% lower than they were this time last year. The median price of a single-family Canyon County home last month decreased 1% to $389,990, with existing homes at $370,000 and newly built homes at $406,390. A year ago, in April 2022, the cost of a single-family home in the county was over 22% higher at $476,500. Robert Spendlove, an economist at Zions Bank who studies housing trends, said people who locked in lower mortgage rates before the sharp hikes have been reluctant to move over the past year or so. But not everyone can stay put. Some people move for a new job, for personal reasons or to downsize in retirement. 'We’re going to start seeing that work its way back into the system again,' he said. 'People are resetting their expectations.'"

The American Statesman in Texas. "Austin-area home sales in April showed a decrease year-over-year compared to April 2022. Active listings in the City of Austin skyrocketed 216% to 2,357 listings this month as pending sales declined by 9.9% to 949. In Travis County, home sales decreased 28.6% to 1,167 sales last month, while the median price dipped 13.3% year over year to $537,500."

From Vail Daily. "According to Kyle Denton, associate broker with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Colorado Properties’ Vail Village office, buyers should find a growing number of opportunities, particularly as the peak summer selling season approaches. Denton notes that sellers are becoming more strategic with their pricing. 'There is some potential room for negotiation,' Denton said. 'While sellers might be hesitant to accept a below-list price offer as they might be perceived as being priced over the market, it doesn’t mean they aren’t open to negotiating. Valid and accurate analysis of the current market conditions relative to each property is paramount and could mean the difference between a successful sale and your property sitting on the market longer than anticipated.'"

From KSNV Las Vegas. "Home sales in Las Vegas continued to slow in April, according to an industry group, even as prices ticked up a bit from the previous month. The median price for an existing single-family home sold in Southern Nevada in April was $430,000, the group Las Vegas Realtors reported. That's up about 1.2% from March, when the median price was $425,000, but it's down 9.5% from April last year, when the median price was $475,000. Las Vegas Realtors reported a total of nearly 2,500 existing homes, townhomes and condos sold this April. For houses, that's down 34.6% from April a year ago, and for condos and townhomes that's down 31.1%. By the end of April, there were 3,737 single-family homes listed for sale without any offers, up 53.1% from the same time in 2022. The number of condos and townhomes available without an offer also jumped by nearly 90% from a year ago, up to 964."

The Orange County Register in California. "Home prices fell in the past year in roughly three of every five Orange County neighborhoods. Countywide, the median selling price was $990,000 in March – off 3% in a year, according to CoreLogic data. Sales totaled 2,109 existing and new homes – off 34% in a year. In 51 of 84 Orange County ZIP codes, prices have fallen since March 2022. That’s 61% of the county. And 71 ZIPs saw one-year sales declines or 85% of the county."

The San Jose Spotlight in California. "When Khanh Chung steps out of his barbershop, he wants to see dozens of San Jose workers and residents bustling down First Street, but instead it’s a ghost town. In his 18 months in business, he has seen many of his neighbors like Pizza Flora and Original Gravity close shop. 'I was hoping for cool businesses to stay open around me, something that will give people a reason to just walk around and browse a little bit,' Chung told San José Spotlight. 'People are still working from home and there are a lot of empty shops.' 'We used to have shops for suits, baby clothes, anything you could want,' said Nora Gonzalez, whose family has owned Acapulco Jewelers for the last 45 years. 'So we would have families walking around. But we haven’t had that in a long time. No one walks down here during the day.'"

Bisnow New York. "Almost 30% of the multifamily loans in NYC set to mature in the next 24 months, totaling $9.39B, are 'at-risk,' according to an April analysis of CMBS data published by Trepp. And while office is taking most of the heat as an at-risk asset class, nationally it accounts for just 17% of at-risk loans, Trepp found. Multifamily, by comparison, accounts for 43%. Some NYC owners will still be forced to sell in the coming months as they approach maturity dates for loans in order to keep the rest of their portfolio afloat, Compass Vice Chair Adelaide Polsinelli said. 'There's a come-to-Jesus moment. They either have to go to their lender with a check or the keys to the property,' she said. 'The result of this is you're going to see a lot of opportunity, you're going to see buyers coming out of the woodwork — as I'm seeing now.'"

The Real Deal on Illinois. "When LaSalle Investment Management started shopping the Woodview Apartments property in Deerfield, its broker touted that leases signed last year hiked rents more than 14 percent from the previous deals. It was likely because the previous rents were uncharacteristically low. That’s reflected by the 20 percent loss in property value that the Chicago-based firm endured with its $65 million sale this month of its 248-unit asset at 15 Parkway North Boulevard, according to a person familiar with the deal. The company also never took on debt against the property, including to fund its 2016 acquisition, another individual familiar with the property informed The Real Deal, which Lake County records confirm. That means the firm may have sold because it needed to raise cash. LaSalle has been an active seller elsewhere lately. In California, LaSalle took a 55 percent loss in value this year when it sold a 217,000-square-foot office building in Orange County for $25 million."

From CBC News in Canada. "The Victoria mortgage broker at the centre of a growing financial scandal says he's not running a Ponzi scheme even though gloomy investors heard details Friday that their missing money is likely gone for good. In a statement emailed to CBC, Greg Martel said his company My Mortgage Auction Corp. (MMAC) has '... the ability to enable all investors to recoup their investments.' 'As you know, on May 4, My Mortgage was placed into receivership,' he said. 'That is regrettable, but My Mortgage is not insolvent nor, as has been alleged, is it a Ponzi scheme.'"

"In one particularly distressing detail, PwC partner Neil Bunker disclosed that to date, investigators have not found any concrete information supporting the existence of $186 million in loans receivable MMAC listed as assets in its September 2022 financial statement. 'These are the loans investors thought they were investing in,' said Bunker. 'At this stage, the receiver has yet to locate any records that support the loans receivable balance. It would be ideal if Mr. Martel would provide us that information, but so far he's chosen not to do that.' Bunker was asked by investor Kalia Leslie if the investments were real or just a Ponzi scheme. 'If there are no records it certainly points to the concept that this was a Ponzi scheme,' he said."

The South China Morning Post. "When a mystery teenager posted a video of himself playing basketball at his home earlier this year, intrigued internet users were quick to notice he lived in Wanliu House, an ultra-luxury residence in downtown Beijing behind high walls that only a few had previously glimpsed. Sitting in the heart of the Haidian district, with prestigious schools nearby, homes in the super-luxury project are a rarity on the second-hand market. But now, 75 of them are available, as a bundle that will form the collateral for a bad debt sale."

"China Cinda Asset Management, one of the mainland's biggest bad loan managers, is now seeking to sell the 4.7 billion yuan (US$677 million) debt of Wanliu House's developer, Sinobo Land, with the 75 homes as collateral. That effectively makes the average price of each unit 62.6 million yuan, very much at the lower end of the market price range of 59 million yuan to 140 million yuan, according to high-end property agency Landz Realtors."

"Shanghai is another hot market for luxury property investors looking for bargains through foreclosures. Between February and April, 28 foreclosed properties valued at over 20 million yuan were sold, leaving only five on the market. The attractive prices come with risks. 'Buyers can find rare properties and save the hassle of negotiating with sellers,' said Rock Shi, chief risk officer at auctions specialist Shanghai Luxury Home. Challenges can include such things as conducting thorough due diligence and risk assessments and evicting current occupants. 'Ill-informed bidders can suffer enormous losses when issues are identified too late,' Shi said."