A report from the Ahwatukee Foothills News in Arizona. "The Valley housing market is steadily becoming more favorable to buyers as it enters the final quarter of 2023, according to a leading analyst of the local real estate scene. 'We can also see that the market is becoming more favorable to buyers at an accelerating rate,' the Cromford Report said. The Cromford Report singled out Maricopa, Mesa and Gilbert as three of the five weakest sellers markets. The report also suggested that days a home is on the market offer no reliable indicator of whether the market favors buyers or sellers. 'The market stopped improving back in June and is getting increasingly difficult as inventory starts to build and demand withers in the face of affordability pressures,' it said."

"'In the last 20 years, the average days on market can be seen to respond to market changes, but it is usually two to four months behind the times. This makes it worse than useless. It is positively misleading,' the Cromford Report said. Conceding it still shows periodically a chart about days on the market because 'so many people are familiar with the measure and want to know what it is, it flatly dismissed its value.' 'But we attach no credibility to any signals that it might send out. All the signals are out of date by the time they are received.'"

The American Statesman in Texas. "More than two dozen real estate projects being built by embattled Austin developer StoryBuilt are up for sale. The 28 commercial and residential properties in Austin, Dallas, Denver and Seattle are now on the market in a receiver sale by A&G Real Estate Partners and Onyx Asset Advisors. The properties owned by StoryBuilt and its joint venture partners span 17 projects in Austin, five in Seattle, three in Dallas and three in Denver. They are for sale in their entirety or separately. On July 31, StoryBuilt said it had agreed to enter a voluntary receivership as it addressed deep financial issues. A receivership is a court-appointed tool that can assist creditors in recovering funds in default and can help troubled companies avoid bankruptcy."

"The receivership came after a previous letter StoryBuilt sent to shareholders announcing a major reorganization, which included the departure of top executives and furloughing most of its staff. In the weeks that followed, the firm laid off dozens of employees, many of whom are now seeking back pay and other financial compensation from StoryBuilt. In the letter, StoryBuilt co-founder and former CEO Anthony Siela said: 'As you are aware, StoryBuilt has recently struggled with focused growth, reporting/financial controls and liquidity. This has materially affected our performance as a business and our partners.'"

The Aspen Daily News in Colorado. "In recent months I’ve been starting to see an increase in inventory for raw land in the non-luxury market sector and areas west of Glenwood Springs. Anyone who purchased land in the last few years that did not pay cash typically got a two- to five-year loan with a balloon payment that has come due or is coming due soon. They’re faced with a situation where they can either pay off the loan or refinance, except that rates have more than doubled since they bought their land, and they may not have enough cash to pay off their loan. If they do refinance, they’re holding onto vacant land that has no way to generate income and pay for itself. On top of that, the cost to build is too high and the completed home value if they build will likely be worth less than what it costs them to build the home (at the moment). Unless they refinance and take on much higher payments for land that is not income producing, they are likely considering selling."

"With interest rates being high, we may see an increase in distressed sellers for raw land. For example, there are currently 31 total listings for single family lots in Lakota Canyon Ranch, a golf community in New Castle. There were 19 of these lots listed in Lakota in January. Of the 31 currently listed, only two are under contract and their average asking price is $87,000. We’re starting to see more price reductions on these lots. Out of the sellers that already sold in 2023, they came down an average of 8% from their original list price to be able to sell. Even with higher interest rates, the two lots currently under contract have both come down on average 26% to be able to find a buyer. It's important to remember we just came out of our busiest selling season and Lakota Canyon Ranch still has 50% more inventory of vacant land than they did in January. Prices peaked in 2022, but now we’re seeing more and more price reductions in these types of markets in order to sell."

"Now that we have higher inventory of raw land west of Glenwood that continues to grow, it will likely drive prices down further as long as interest rates and building costs remain high. Let me put it this way: You can get a kick-ass lot on a golf course in New Castle for under $100,000 right now. How long do you think that is that is going to last? While it’s not a luxury market, it’s still a wonderful community that is an hour from Aspen."

From Go Banking Rates. "Here are four U.S. cities you should avoid if you’re searching for your next place to call home this fall. Pasadena Hills, Florida: The housing market in Pasadena Hills is very competitive, with homes selling after an average of only 18 days on the market. However, prices are already starting to go down. The median sale price of a home in Pasadena Hills is $374,000, down 15.5% since last year, per Redfin."

NBC 7 in California. "Like most metropolitan areas across the United States, San Diego is vulnerable to the impact of higher interest rates. The higher interest rates are causing a reduction in real estate transactions. In the meantime, there are opportunities, according to many Realtors. 'Right now, it actually might be a good idea to get your foot in the door, literally,' Realtor Destiny Roxas told NBC 7. 'I say that because many sellers are aware of what’s happening in the market, they know that interest rates are high so therefore some of them are willing to give concessions to help incentivize buyers.'"

The Real Deal on New York. "Gary Barnett is letting go of a development site in Midtown. His Extell Development has agreed to sell 1710 Broadway, at the southeast corner of West 54th Street, for $173 million, records show. In 2017, Extell paid $268 million for it."

From Market Place. "Unsurprisingly, higher rates are hitting banks’ loan businesses. In fact, as interest rates have risen over the last 18 months, the market for mortgages has pretty much collapsed. 'It’s just simply unaffordable to get a loan,' said Susan Wachter, a professor of real estate and finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She points out the collapse has already affected banks’ balance sheets. 'For many banks, this has been historically a profit center,' she said. 'But it’s not a profit center any longer. This is a loss maker.'"

"Wachter said banks have reacted by cutting staff. But the collapse is even more painful at non-bank lenders, which actually issue the majority of mortgages. 'They’re all fighting over a smaller pie,' said Ben Elliott, a consumer financials analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence. 'So what you’ve seen in the industry is relatively large-scale layoffs.' Merrill J. Reynolds, a banking industry consultant based in Texas, said banks he works with are seeing less demand and borrowers are having a harder time making payments. 'We’re starting to see delinquencies starting to pick up,' Reynolds said. 'And I think they’re going to continue to grow over the next six, 12, 18 months.'"

The Globe and Mail. "The recent surge in the yields of long-term bonds has pushed borrowing costs to levels not seen since before the 2008 financial crisis, squeezing homeowners, businesses and governments and reducing the odds of a soft landing for the Canadian economy.The payment shocks implied by today’s bond market pricing could act as a significant drag on the Canadian economy, James Orlando, senior economist at Toronto-Dominion Bank, explained in an interview. 'If you’re spending more money on just paying your housing bills, what are you going to do? Where are you going to cut?' he said."

"Real estate activity is cooling rapidly as mortgage rates rise. Home sales have become much less frequent in major markets such as Toronto and Vancouver in recent months, and prices have started to fall. Mr. Orlando said this could feed through into home construction. 'We know there’s a huge pipeline of needed housing … but when house prices are going down, it’s hard to incentivize building,' he said."

I News in the UK. "When I called Sandy Thomas to discuss her mortgage, she was crying about her burnt toast. It was her last piece of bread and she can’t afford petrol to get to the closest food bank for more. In the past year her interest-only mortgage on her three-bedroom home in The Wirral has tripled to £1,030 leaving her with nothing to spare. She has downsized her car and spent the money left behind after the death of her mother. She has run out of savings and is now having to cash in her pension early and sell beloved items, simply to pay the bills."

"Thomas, 61, has worked since she was 15 and since 1990 has been a family support worker for the local authority. She’s never missed a payment on the mortgage she’s held for 27 years but now she’s reached breaking point and is going to lose her home. 'I’ve got nothing left,' she says. 'I can’t even buy a winter coat, I can’t afford to put petrol in my car, I can’t afford Christmas or birthday presents for my granddaughter.'"

"In 1996, Thomas took out a repayment mortgage with GE Mortgages on the home she raised her two daughters in. Then in 2008 she was forced to switch to an interest-only mortgage. 'We had two little children and it was wiping out the whole of my wage. I reduced the payments.' Her payments were reduced to £367 per month, which she was paying for 14 years, up until 2022. In the last year, after 14 successive Bank of England rate rises, her monthly rate reached £1,030. In August she was paying a rate of 7.4 per cent, up from the base rate of 5.25 per cent. But she is still only paying off the interest – not the loan itself."

"Due to her age, Thomas only has four years left before she owes £161,000 – the same that she owed in 2008. After visiting charities, contacting her local MP and still receiving no help, Thomas is desperate and has considered reaching out to high-profile celebrities for a loan. 'I’ve been in this house 27 years, I’ll be homeless,' she says. 'There’s no support for working families that can’t access benefits.'"

The Wall Street Journal. "Chinese property giant Country Garden failed to make an international debt payment after its apartment sales plunged in September, succumbing to a liquidity crisis that worsened over the past few months. The 31-year-old developer said it wasn’t able to repay a $60 million loan denominated in Hong Kong dollars that was due. Country Garden said it also doesn’t expect to meet all its U.S. dollar bond and other offshore debt obligations when they come due, or within grace periods—effectively saying that it expects to default. The company has hired financial advisers and plans to hold talks with its offshore creditors."

"Country Garden said its sales have come under 'remarkable pressure,' which worsened its problems. The developer’s contracted sales in the first three quarters of this year dropped 44% from a year earlier to the equivalent of about $21 billion. The drop was particularly steep in September, when Country Garden’s sales plummeted 81% to just $846 million, it said in a regulatory filing. On Monday, some of Evergrande’s international creditors expressed dismay at the recent cancellation of the developer’s $35 billion offshore debt-restructuring deal, and warned that it could lead to an 'uncontrollable collapse' of the group and potentially catastrophic effects."