It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Housing inventory in the Austin-Round Rock Metropolitan Statistical Area hit the highest levels in more than eight years in September, according to the Austin Board of Realtors. In addition to high inventory, data shows that year-over-year home sales and median home prices dropped across the MSA—by 18.2% and 4.3%, respectively—while active listings increased by 7.8%. Ashley Jackson, 2023 ABoR president, added that it is important for buyers and sellers to understand that the housing market of today is 'no longer the housing market of the past few years.'"

"Federal agents in New Jersey arrested the longtime business partner of popular radio host DJ Envy in connection to an alleged fraudulent real estate venture. Cesar Pina, often promoted on radio host DJ Envy's syndicated show was arrested Wednesday on wire fraud. The federal complaint against Pina, 45, claims the man engaged in a Ponzi-like scheme to defraud dozens of victims. Investors have said Pina promised he would rehab and flip a property, with a return of 30% of the profits within months. Dozens of his alleged victims have now filed lawsuits saying they never got their money back. In a number of cases, Pina is accused of getting multiple unwitting investors to buy into one property that generated him a profit of several millions dollars. Pina pleaded not guilty to the fraud charge, and was released on a $1 million bond and electronic monitoring. He is not allowed to leave the state."

"A New York developer's long-stalled quest to erect the Southeast’s tallest residential tower on a prime parcel in Midtown Atlanta appears to be coming to an ignominious end. Miami-based Benmark Capital has filed to foreclose on the Midtown site where Olympia Heights Management had planned the tower, No2 Opus Place. Benmark plans to auction off the $40M loan Nov. 7 on the Fulton County Courthouse steps, according to a foreclosure notice published this week. Olympia Heights bought the 4-acre parcel across from the Four Seasons in 2014 for $22M, but the landlord, run by Shaya Boymelgreen, a New York developer who was banned from selling condos in his home state, increased the debt load since then on the site at 98 14th St. with a string of short-term refinancing deals."

"Olympia Heights promised luxury and lifestyle typically found in New York, Tokyo, Miami or Los Angeles, including access to a resort-style pool, high-end restaurants, a spa, a wine-tasting and storage room, an Imax theater and 24-hour concierge services. Units on top floors would have had sweeping views of Midtown and Downtown Atlanta. Despite many projected start dates and claims of pre-sale activity, Olympia Heights never began work on the proposed project, other than digging up the site and making pretensions of starting work by bringing in steel beams. 'I can’t believe that they kept that alive this long,' Engel & Völkers Atlanta CEO Christa Huffstickler told Bisnow. 'If you look at Midtown, it’s like this piece of the puzzle that’s been sitting there doing nothing. It’s been nothing but an eyesore.'"

"Months after Pollock Financial defaulted on a loan tied to a South Beach office building, appraisers have cut the value of the building by 84 percent. The roughly 32,000-square-foot building at 340 Bryant Street is now valued at $8.2 million, or $131 per square foot, according to Trepp. The property was previously valued at $52 million, or more than $830 a square foot. Pollock Financial declared it could not pay off $30.7 million across two commercial mortgage-backed securities loans last year. The building’s financial issues stem from WeWork — the co-working firm signed a 10-year lease in 2019, but stopped paying rent in December 2020, according to servicer commentary. Elsewhere in San Francisco, landlords Kennedy Wilson and Takenada have sued WeWork for allegedly breaching its lease at 430 California Street and owing more than $250 million in unpaid rent. 'The borrower has communicated that they would like to transition title to the lender,' the commentary added."

"The fall market in Ontario’s cottage country often brings a flurry of deals. Jeff Strano, a real estate agent with Re/Max Professionals North says the gap between the expectations of sellers and buyers sometimes presents a challenge in the current market. 'We do have a lot of sellers who have sour grapes because they’re really sorry they missed the peak,' he says. 'On the other hand, you have buyers who think the market’s crashing and they want a deal.'"

"Alexis Victor, real estate agent with Royal LePage Signature Realty, says the market in Orillia on Lake Couchiching and towns along the east side of Lake Simcoe has become more balanced after a deep slump in 2022. 'Last year was like literally standing in quicksand,' she says of sinking sales and prices. Ms. Victor says cottage prices had soared so dramatically during the early part of the pandemic that some people began to think that flipping a cottage after a few months or a year was a quick way to make money."

"She points to an example near Brechin, Ont., where Ms. Victor helped buyers reach a deal for the private purchase of a small, vintage cottage in April, 2021. The clients paid $750,000 for the two-bedroom house that backs onto a river leading into Lake Simcoe. Those clients renovated the cottage and sold it in August for $921,000. Eight months later, in April, 2022, the purchasers listed the cottage at 1295 Furniss Dr. with an asking price just below $1.08-million. After a series of price cuts, the property was taken off the market for a while, then relisted in May, 2023 with an asking price of $795,000. It sold at the end of June for $790,000."

"A three-bedroom cottage on Peninsula Lake near Huntsville, Ont. was listed with an asking price just below $4.3-million in June, 2022. The asking price was cut to $3.75-million in November and Ms. Victor helped her clients to purchase the property at 1021 Sawmill Lane in April for $3-million. Gradually sellers have realized the market has shifted and become more realistic with their prices, says Ms. Victor."

"China's troubled property market is showing little signs of a recovery in the short term despite a series of government stimulus measures to help revive activity in the sector which makes up a quarter of the nation's economic output. Homebuyers, wary of the uncertain economic outlook, have remained on the sidelines, while property developers and agents said sales were still soft following a short-lived burst of activity in major cities like Beijing and Shenzhen. Beijing resident Daniel Song, who was given 3 million yuan ($410,043) by his parents in the beginning of the year to buy an apartment, recently gave up on the idea, concerned about his income security. 'I am not sure about my career future in today's economic situation,' said the 28 year-old computer programmer."

"An official at a developer who has projects in major cities said its sales during the Golden Week was 20% lower than a year ago, though better than September. The person, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to media, added that sales have dropped again after the holiday ended. 'In the beginning of the year, the industry expected a bad first-half but a better second-half. But the reality is, it's a bad first-half and an even worse second-half.'"