A report from Business Insider. "Return-to-office mandates are forcing some people to choose between selling their home at a loss or losing their job,' Redfin said. Real estate agent Shauna Pendleton in Boise, Idaho, has clients selling their home after purchasing it just a year ago near the housing market peak because they have to move back to Seattle for in-person work. 'My sellers both work at the same company, which told them they have to be in the office three days a week or they'll lose their jobs. They have six months to make the move. They'll probably have to take a $100,000 loss on their home,' Pendleton said."

Houston Public Media in Texas. "In what has become a recurring theme, Houston home sales were down in August, the 17th consecutive month of declining sales. Experts say Houston is still firmly a buyer's market, the opposite of what it was a few years ago during the pandemic, when homes often had multiple offers and sold within days for thousands of dollars above the asking price. 'People are getting a little bit lower than list price right now, or at list price when not even a year ago, people were bidding $20,000, $30,000, $50,000 over asking price,' Houston Association of Realtors Chair-elect Thomas Mouton said."

From Fox 4 Now. "There have been a lot of changes in Florida's housing market, with much of it kick starting after the pandemic. Angie Cloutier, realtor with Cre8ive Realty, calls the market more reasonable as in prices, bidding and inventory. According to Zillow, there are 500 single-family homes on the market in Cape Coral. 'Houses are staying on the market much longer,' Cloutier said. 'People are being more picky.' She says in 2022, buyers were overbidding and paying all cash, creating a confusing situation for some realtors. 'You know, I don’t understand it,' Cloutier said. 'To me, when everybody’s frothing at the bit to buy something is when you really shouldn’t.'"

The Baltimore Sun in Maryland. "To James Weiskerger, co-owner of the W Home Group of Next Step Realty in Timonium, the housing market is feeling less competitive overall. Weiskerger said he’s seeing fewer bids on homes and occasional price reductions. The seller still has the upper hand, he said, but the market is becoming more balanced. 'You can just sense the entire market as a whole is cooling down,' Weiskerger said. 'There’s not as many shoppers out there.' Weiskerger said he feels confident about his business, describing it as a 'smaller, boutique brokerage,' but his agents are closing about 25% fewer sales than they were a year ago. This is consistent with the Bright MLS data, and Weiskerger said the slowdown in sales could be problematic for other real estate professionals. Bright MLS reported that sales closed on 2,903 homes in August, 22.1% fewer than a year earlier."

The Bellingham Herald in Washington. "Whatcom County’s median home sale price has fluctuated throughout 2023. The median home sale price reached an extreme high of $682,000 on Jan. 2, the highest price so far this year, according to Redfin. In August, Whatcom’s median home sale price fluctuated, rising to $624,000 on August 14, then dropping to $586,475 on August 28. In August, Bellingham’s median sale price was $643,000 according to Windermere Real Estate, a 2,4% decrease compared with July and a 5.4% decrease compared with August of last year."

The Philadelphia Tribune in Pennsylvania. "After a high-profile legislator announced an investigation this week into a real estate company’s alleged use of predatory practices on vulnerable Philadelphia homeowners, some of them talked to The Tribune and detailed their experience. Sen. Bob Casey is pushing a probe of MV Realty for allegedly using a high-pressure sales pitch that locks in future transactions and possibly drains thousands in home equity. Timothy Calhoun saw an ad for MV Realty while on his phone in January 2022. He called the number and an agent came to his home on North 23rd Street and offered him $640 for the representation rights to sell his home in the next four to five years."

"After attempting to undo the mortgage he never wanted on his house, Calhoun was ready to testify. 'I would’ve spoke in front of Satan about the property I worked hard for and paid off,' Calhoun said. 'I don’t feel like my house is paid for anymore. I feel like my house in somebody else’s house. This thing with MV Realty has grown into a real monster.'"

Bloomberg on New York. "The developer of a penthouse on Manhattan’s Billionaires’ Row once listed for a record $250 million appears to have slashed the price 22% after failing to sell the condo in its first year on the market. The roughly 17,500 square foot (1,626 square meter) condo atop Extell Development’s Central Park Tower on W. 57th St. is now priced at $195 million on listing brokerage Serhant’s website."

The Real Deal on California. "Sunbelt Rentals has paid $5 million for land in East San Jose once slated to contain some of the 800 homes proposed by a local developer accused of real estate fraud. The South Carolina-based tool rental company bought 2.4 acres between 2101 and 2149 Alum Rock Avenue, the San Jose Mercury News reported. The seller, presumably the lender of a $6.25 million unpaid mortgage tied to the property, was undisclosed. Other reports pegged the lender as Parkview Financial, based in Los Angeles. It’s not clear what Sunbelt Rentals wants to do with the property, approved for 796 homes and 28,700 square feet of shops and restaurants, according to Loopnet. It has been assessed at nearly $7 million."

"The foreclosed land at Alum Rock and Jose Figueres avenues was owned by an affiliate controlled by Sanjeev Acharya, which bought it in 2020 for $9 million. That year, Acharya and his SiliconSage Builders were accused by the Securities & Exchange Commission of defrauding hundreds of investors out of $119 million. The Sunnyvale-based company allegedly raised funds from 250 investors, many in the South Asian American community, by falsely claiming it was profitable and promising exorbitant returns."

From KPIX. "Homeowners insurance has become a hot button issue at the State Capitol as millions of California residents struggle to find affordable plans after some of the major insurers decided to stop selling new policies in the state. Livermore resident Sheri Ramsell told KPIX she was dropped by her insurance company after filing a water damage claim. She hasn't been able to find a new company to insure her home. 'The float on the back of the toilet stuck. I didn't even know that could happen. And it flooded everything in here,' she said. Last week, she got a letter from Mercury. 'It says notice of non-renewal,' Ramsell read."

"Ramsell said at first she was shocked when she read the letter. Then she got mad. She said she felt it was unfair to drop her after one claim when she'd paid premiums to Mercury for 17 years. 'We didn't realize how bad it was going to be. We thought, 'Ok, well, now we've got to find a new insurance company. But then when we started calling, we realized, 'Uh-oh, we're in trouble,' she said. Ramsell says she's done with California and is already packing up to move to Nevada to be closer to her daughter. 'This was kind of the last straw that made us want to go,' she said. But until she can get the house sold, she still has to find new insurance. 'We can't not have it, so we'll just keep calling until we find somebody,' Ramsell said."

The Globe and Mail in Canada. "Real estate industry watchers are growing increasingly nervous about the number of power-of-sale properties popping up on multiple listing services. 'I get tons of phone calls from people in these positions. I spoke with an [owner] yesterday; they paid $1.2-million for a house and it’s down $300,000 in value,' said Daniel Foch, director of economic research with RARE Real Estate Inc. The same owners have seen their monthly interest payments go from $2,000 to $6,000. Mr. Foch says many distressed owners are facing the prospect of losing their homes to lenders enforcing their power of sale in a foreclosure. 'I think it’s just a ticking clock: Most of the people I speak with on the phone I ask what’s their number and they’ll say like, ‘We can do this for another 6 months,’ he said. 'It’s really sad stuff to see. I’ve never felt as emotionally damaged by this industry.'"

"'A lot of what you’re seeing is overzealous flippers; people who bought into the BRRRR method,' said Jason Geall, a former private lender. The Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat model boomed in the low-interest rate environment pre-2022. 'It’s amazing that was a strategy that worked for quite a while, and at some point the music stops and you can’t get refinancing.' There are dozens of examples of properties such as those Mr. Geall describes: condos that were leased until recently and now sit empty; triplexes that are half-rented with a history of increasingly large asking-rents for remaining units before the power of sale; homes in mid-renovation that have had a half-dozen ever-falling price changes; finished renovations that once had high-end furniture staging but now feature just an exterior photo."

"One example is 86 Northdale Rd. in Toronto, which sold for $2.125-million in 2018. It underwent an extensive renovation, after which the new owners tried to sell it for $3.188-million in 2020. Now under power of sale, the lender recently listed it for $2.399-million. Cam Cassidy, a realtor with Right at Home Realty who advises investors in the Oshawa area, says that while not all flippers are flopping and not all investors are cash-flow negative he recently spoke to a firefighter who approached him for advice on how to deleverage his 11-home rental portfolio."

"'That was one of those eye-opening moments. Like, wow, how did you get 11 properties?' said Mr. Cassidy. He often sees rookie investors who bought properties where rents were unable to cover the costs of the loans when rates were low, let alone now. 'They would keep their properties if they were cash-flow neutral. The firefighter, he’s not firesale-ing everything: he’s trying to hang on and not admit ‘I messed up.’"

7 News in Australia. "Karen Scarlett had been eagerly waiting to move into her dream home that’s been under construction with Adelaide-based builder, Qattro, for three years. Now she faces the idea of giving it up all together to buy another home, which could cost her $150,000 more than the first house, or continue renting. 'When you’re on a fixed income (like) I’ve retired now, it’s not easy to find that money,' her husband Colin Scarlett said. The couple paid a $70,000 deposit before the COVID-19 pandemic for a home in Underdale that was meant to be completed within 12 months. Three years on, the home is three-quarters finished, and they’ve paid thousands extra on rent which they had not budgeted for when Colin retired."

"Developer Mark Johnson said his company selected Qattro for the housing development in Underdale because of the company’s good history of similar builds. The Underdale development was meant to be his last project to financially prepare him for retirement. Johnson said his company was now 'just hanging on' by a small thread because he will continue paying high-interest rates until the homes are complete. 'It’s quite dire. I feel a bit like (I’m) in quicksand. I’m just not sure, I’m just trying to hang on,' he said."

"Subcontractor Karim Hrynkiw has been working on Qattro’s Dock One development in Port Adelaide. His concerns about the builder’s finances grew over the past few months because they would at times be late for payments. 'When we contact them about the bills we’ve let go, no messages, no replies, nothing whatsoever, so we’ve been put out of pocket $60,000-80,000,' Hrynkiw said."

Vietnam Investment Review. "Tran Ha, investor of a project with nearly 200 condotel units in the central city of Danang, revealed that despite launching many preferential policies and great discounts of up to 25-40 per cent, fewer than 20 units have been sold this year. 'Liquidity is so slow that we are forced to tighten our budget, temporarily stop selling, and accepting inventory to reduce operating, brokerage, and advertising costs,' Ha said. Most resort real estate segments across the country are suffering, pushing inventory to alarming numbers over the past half-decade."

"According to property consultancy DKRA’s latest report, the cumulative condotel inventory as of July had jumped to more than 42,000 units, and condotel consumption was 78 per cent lower than the same period of last year. Meanwhile, the total inventory of coastal town house properties, including beach villas, increased to approximately 30,000 products. The market’s difficulties are also stifling individual investors. Nguyen Hoang, a private businessman who owns two condotels on Phu Quoc for lease, said that the revenues from the condotels this year has not been enough to cover expenses."

"'There are fewer tenants, while pressure from debt of more than $83,000 means I was forced to sell one apartment at a loss of 10 per cent compared to what I had paid. But no buyers have been found over the past six months,' Hoang said."

From Reuters. "As cash-strapped developer Country Garden battles to stave off default, its sprawling $100 billion development in Malaysia has come under scrutiny from creditors even as the Southeast Asian nation dangles financial incentives to lure investments. Billed as a paradise with turtles and white-sand beaches, Country Garden's Forest City development in the state of Johor next to Singapore aims to house 700,000 people across 7,000 acres on four reclaimed islands upon completion in 2035."

"Seven years in, Country Garden has invested 20 billion ringgit ($4.3 billion) in the project, Forest City said, a far cry from the initial $100 billion plan. Today, with development still in progress, it houses fewer than 10,000 people - about 1% of its target. Forest City has become emblematic of the risks Country Garden and some of its Chinese peers took on with their debt-fuelled building boom not just at home but also in offshore markets."

"Forest City said around 55,000 people visit its sales gallery each month and two hotels with 600 rooms combined, including a five-star golf resort, 'are always fully booked.' What Reuters saw on a recent trip appeared quite different. Empty palm tree-lined roads led to a mall where a karaoke lounge, a birds-nest museum and a herbal medicine shop were among the outlets shuttered. The four-storey mall had only around a dozen shops open, with cleaners outnumbering shoppers. One of the hotels was largely empty and the rooftop bar that sat atop it remained closed even though its owners told Reuters in February it would open in March."

"Several property agents said there was scant demand for units as potential buyers were worried about its low occupancy rate, environmental concerns and a lack of economic development. 'People don't want to buy into a block where there are just a few residents,' said one agent, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue. Another agent said his client was looking to sell a unit after three years as he was unhappy with the pace of development."