A report from Realtor.com. "Basketball Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo just sold his condo in New York City. But after waiting much of the year for a buyer, he probably didn't get quite the win he wanted. In February, the three-bedroom unit landed on the market for $4 million. Mutombo whittled the price down a couple of times in April before landing at $3,495,000. But the place ultimately sold for $3.2 million. It spells a significant loss for the iconic hoopster, who bought the Upper West Side residence in 2013 for $4,950,000."

The New York Post. "In Los Angeles, a Bel-Air mansion at 10690 Somma Way has traded hands — raising eyebrows in the process. Dolcedo LLC, the investment group that owned the sprawling estate for the past five years, recently sold it for a $17 million. However, this sale marked a 24% drop from the $22.5 million the group shelled out for it in 2018. What makes this sale even more intriguing is the involvement of Purdue Pharma scion, David Sackler, in Dolcedo LLC, in which he has a non-controlling stake."

The Real Deal on Texas. "MF1 Capital has filed to foreclose on a Houston property, after the owner, apartment syndicator Rockstar Capital, defaulted on a $51 million loan. Rockstar is in default on a loan tied to 8900 Lakes at 610 Drive in Houston, a complex called Aspire at 610, according to a notice of trustee’s sale. The foreclosure is scheduled for Sept. 5. MF1 Capital provided the $51 million loan in March 2022, according to the notice and data from Morningstar, a commercial real estate analytics firm. MF1 then packaged the loan into a collateralized loan obligation, allowing investors to buy an interest in the debt."

"'The only way to not default would be to continue to write personal checks that would total millions a year or to call capital from investors into a deal that has a loan situation that is unworkable,' said Rockstar founder Robert Martinez, who calls himself 'The Apartment Rockstar.'"

"Rockstar had purchased a rate cap, which limits how much an interest rate on a loan can rise, of 5.65 percent. However, given how much interest rates have risen over the last year, Rockstar has been paying 5.65 percent in interest since last September. 'We unfortunately were not able to come to an agreement with our lender,' Martinez said, stressing it was Rockstar’s 'first ever lender issue.' Rockstar Capital currently owns about 4,800 units across Texas. 'We made multiple proposals to the lender, but they were not willing to make short-term accommodations to the interest payments for a deal to work,' he said."

The Toronto Star. "Toronto’s real estate market has come to a 'grinding halt' after the Bank of Canada’s recent rate hikes left buyers and sellers in the lurch — and conditions are unlikely ease up during the fall market. In Toronto, home prices dropped by almost $64,000 in July month over month, and there were fewer sales while new listings increased. It’s a trend, experts say, that will likely continue for the rest of the year. The uncertainty has put the real estate market in a 'catatonic state,' said Phil Soper, CEO of Royal LePage, which will remain 'tepid.' 'There was some promising recovery in the spring but that came to a grinding halt,' he said. 'We now have fewer homes changing hands, fewer people looking, and fewer new builds.'"

"More inventory is expected in the condo market from investors, said Toronto mortgage broker Mary Sialtsis, as some investors are over-leveraged with multiple properties. 'We’ll see some new listings coming from investors,' she said. 'We’ve already seen that in the market this summer and will continue to see it in the fall.'"

The National on the UK. "Landlords who plan to remortgage fixed-term loans face monthly payment increases of up to 80 per cent. New data from Dashly, which monitors more than £100 billion ($126 billion) of mortgages, shows that landlords in London renewing their mortgages this autumn and next spring will be an average £6,384 worse off each year. 'London landlords are nearing crisis point,' said Imran Khan, co-founder of lettings specialist PropertyLoop. 'In my 20 years working in property, I've never seen such a precarious landscape. One recent example involved a landlord with a 100-property portfolio who had to hand back keys due to untenable mortgage payments.'"

ABC News in Australia. "These houses in Adelaide's south may look abandoned, but in fact the group of 20 homes has never been lived in. The unfinished housing estate at O'Halloran Hill was left at a standstill following the collapse of Felmeri Homes in July. Further west, another homebuyer is in limbo after a separate builder went into liquidation. First home buyer Geoff Browne said he signed a contract for a townhouse at Plympton in December 2020 and the property was due to be completed a year later. But more than two years after he signed the contract, only the frames are up and work remains at a standstill after the builder went into liquidation last month."

"'This has turned into a nightmare,' Mr Browne said. 'It does leave us pretty much up shit creek without a boat.' He said he had been struggling to pay bills and rent for somewhere to live while work remains at a standstill on his townhouse — and without a clear way forward to pay to finish it. 'We've lost all our savings,' he said."

From AFP. "On the approach to Malaysia's $100-billion island megaproject backed by Chinese investment, a collapsed bridge forces drivers to detour before they reach an artificial city emerging from palm oil trees where condos, roads and shops lay empty. Aimed at middle-class Chinese buyers, Forest City has weathered scant sales, Chinese currency controls, a pandemic shutdown and public anger at China's growing influence in Malaysia. But its future is in doubt again because of the financial woes of Chinese property giant Country Garden."

"'I hope Country Garden can overcome their financial difficulties,' said 29-year-old Zhao Bojian from Chinese province Henan, who bought one of 26,000 Forest City apartments for around $430,000 five years ago. 'If nobody comes to Forest City, we cannot do business here.'"

"A three-hour drive from capital Kuala Lumpur, the city attracts visitors who want to catch a glimpse of the space-age towers or buy duty-free alcohol. 'Everyone comes here for the liquor,' said Singapore-based technician Denish Raj Ravindaran, 32. 'I will not stay here, it is a ghost town. The road is dark and dangerous and there are no street lights.'"

From Sky News. "Everywhere you look there are unfinished infrastructure projects; empty apartments, half-constructed tunnels, huge projects where, it seems, the money just ran out. The mighty Chinese economy, that once delivered seemingly miraculous growth of some 10% plus a year, is slowing. Cracks, driven by structural weaknesses that were once easy to pave over, have started to appear. In Zunyi, one road in particular speaks volumes about the troubles now plaguing parts of the system. Snaking over parts of the city, the Funxin Expressway is a multilane highway that cost 4bn yuan to build, but sections now lie incomplete and abandoned. On one side, a handful of cars occasionally drive by, the other is completely empty save for a few locals who now use it to take a stroll or walk their dogs."

"There is something almost eerie about walking along it - a sense that the area has been somewhat forgotten. A local woman, Mrs Chen, tells us the bridge has been like this for ten years. 'A lot of land was taken, many people had to move away,' she says. 'Why has the construction just stopped?' she asks, 'This is a government fund, I think they didn't use the money for anything. I think it's been wasted.'"

"There are just a few residents who have hung on here, including Shi Chunli who has lived here for 40 years. She claims to have given the authorities her property in exchange for a new apartment elsewhere. 'They said we would have a new apartment in three years' she says, 'it will be the fifth year this September, but everything is still the same.' And she has a pretty clear idea as to why her life is in this limbo. 'It's mainly that there is no money. The state does not have any money left.'"

"There are projects like this across China, but there is a particularly high concentration in Guizhou province, where Zunyi is located. In fact, Guizhou province, one of the poorest in the country, is also the most indebted with its debt pile over 135% of its GDP. This rural province leaned heavily into the Chinese growth model that for so long delivered such remarkable numbers: huge borrowing, massive investment and vast building - regardless of whether the projects were needed."

"Indeed, Guizhou has 11 airports, many quite close to each other, and nearly half of the world's 100 tallest bridges, according to state media outlet Economic Daily. It is a model that has been replicated throughout the country. Investment has made up an average of 44% of China's economy in recent years, for which experts say there is 'no remotely comparable historical precedent.' But while this model made sense when China was playing catch up, it has now become a major liability."

"Months of zero-COVID rules that saw whole cities plunged into sudden extreme lockdowns destroyed thousands of businesses and vastly depleted family savings. The net result is that people just don't have the money to spend, and what they do have they are reluctant to part with. These trends were clear in some of the smaller markets around Zunyi. 'Business is bad now,' one stall holder told us, 'it's getting worse year after year.' And why? 'The pandemic,' she says, 'the impact of the pandemic is too big.'"