A report from the Marin Independent Journal. "The median price of a detached home in Marin has declined nearly 7% over the past year. The median figure for last month was $1.65 million, down from $1.77 million in September 2022, according to new data released by the county assessor's office. The Marin median remains well below the $2 million threshold it broke in April and May of last year. In the overall Bay Area, the median price for a detached home last month was $1.3 million, a year-over-year increase of 6.6%, the California Association of Realtors reported. Napa County had the steepest decline, falling nearly 11% to a median of $890,000. San Francisco's median declined 4.2%, to $1.58 million. Sellers complain that despite prices rebounding in recent months, they haven't been able to fetch the high prices seen when interest rates were lower, said Ana Mernik Bohra, an agent with Christie's International Real Estate Sereno in Santa Clara County. 'Both the buyers and sellers feel like they're getting the short end of the stick,' she said."

The Journal Record. "The average home sale price in the Oklahoma City metro area dropped $22,000 in the third quarter from $308,508 in July to $286,529 in September. 'This tells us sellers are more likely to reduce sale prices or accept lower bids because high interest rates are keeping many willing buyers from the market,' said Angelena Harris, MLSOK board president-elect. 'We have more inventory on the market, so some of it is a supply-and-demand issue.' The cost of property has grown along with the cost of building on it. 'I don’t know how builders are making money, honestly,' Harris said, noting many are offering incentives to buyers."

Loop North News in Illinois. "Attorneys for a group of Chinese investors still awaiting the return of $27.5 million they had lent to a pair of real estate developers – who had sought to build a still-born 60-story high-rise on Chicago’s Near North Side – are demanding the failed developers be held in contempt of federal court orders. Filing on behalf of the Chinese investors, attorney Glen J. Dunn, Jr. presented significant evidence the developers, Jeffrey Laytin and Jason Ding, continue to own revenue-producing assets and continue to move money around among their corporate entities. The investors had originally lent the pair their money through the federal EB-5 visa program. Each investor lent $550,000 to fund construction of what would have been known as Carillon Tower. A total of 89 Chinese real estate investors lent Laytin and Ding a total of $50 million. For most of those participating in EB-5 projects, their investment is a substantial portion of their life’s savings and were they to stay in China, that country does not have a social security program."

The Houston Chronicle in Texas. "Construction of a 33-story co-living apartment project in the Museum District has stopped, leaving the project, called X Houston, partially complete and dormant with no clear indication of when work will continue. X Houston was expected to be one of the city’s first co-living projects built from the ground up. X Co., its Chicago-based developer, did not respond to multiple requests for comment about why the 750,000-square-foot project between La Branch and Crawford north of Binz has paused. Neighbors say construction activity at the site stopped two to three weeks ago."

"The general contractor for X Houston, Hoar Construction, did not say when construction might resume. The project, estimated to cost $107 million in state permit filings, was expected to open in late 2024. This week a crane was still suspended over the high-rise, which reaches several stories into the air. On Thursday, a security car could be seen parked outside the construction site, where a handful of workers appeared to be removing a concrete pump. X Co. has built co-living projects in Chicago and Denver, and earlier this year had about 5,300 co-living units in its pipeline. Plans for X Houston included 646 beds in 475 units, including studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom units."

CBC News in Canada. "Laurie Thompson admits she needed to sell her townhouse in Smithville, Ont., fast. The pandemic had done a number on her finances — the bar where she worked had shut down, twice — and rising interest rates meant her monthly mortgage payments of $2,000 were going to almost double last January. Thompson was facing foreclosure. Thompson had seen street signs and posters in her neighbourhood — companies offering to pay quick cash for houses. She hit the internet and found a company with positive reviews and attractive promises called Honest Home Buyers Incorporated (HHBI), based in nearby Hamilton. The whole transaction took about half an hour. Thompson says it likely cost her tens of thousands of dollars in profit, if not more."

"Thompson knew $575,000 was below market value, but says she figured it was worth the trade-off of getting cash fast, without the hassle of numerous open houses. The next day, though, Chow cancelled the contract and renegotiated for $550,000. Thompson balked but says she again felt pressured to sign. She says she's speaking out to let others know they should think twice before contacting a 'cash for houses' company — no matter how desperate their situation. 'I jumped in with two feet too fast, but I felt like I had to,' she said. 'I just feel I was taken advantage of.'"

The Guardian in the UK. "In a new-build housing estate on the edge of Peterborough, where rows of identical redbrick homes march along a freshly tarmacked street, Orlando Murphy stands outside a house wielding a long telescopic pole with a camera on the end. A few doors down, builders in hi-vis vests look on with expressions of concern, as he casts his camera across the roof and points it towards the gutters, like a metal detectorist looking for treasure. The bounty he is seeking is not golden coins, but evidence of bodging. 'Cracked tiles, guttering on the wonk, pooling water, dodgy fascia boards,' Murphy says, reeling off the common issues. 'The things they get away with are absolutely shocking.'"

"Murphy is part of New Home Quality Control (NHQC), a professional snagging company dedicated to pursuing cowboy builders up and down the land. Murphy and his fellow inspectors know exactly what to look for – because they used to be forced to cover up this kind of slapdash work themselves. Cooper quit. 'I decided I had to make a change in the industry,' he says. 'We need to highlight the dreadful things that are happening and begin to change builders’ mindsets. There’s just no pride in the job any more. It’s all about shortcuts to get everything done as quickly as possible.'"

The Cyprus Mail. "Expatriate owners at the infamous – and now derelict – St Nicolas complex in Chlorakas say they are stunned by their lack of recourse in the aftermath of the much-publicised violence in August after asylum seekers were evicted, and the events that preceded them. These include the cutting of water and electricity, riots, breaches of contract and ongoing looting, which turned their once-pleasant properties into an apocalyptic wasteland. Adding insult to injury, the managing company, Alpha Panareti Public Ltd, has been uncontactable and continues to act with impunity in flagrant disregard of property laws, distraught owners told the Cyprus Mail."

"'We just don’t know what to do, we don’t know whom to turn to,' 79-year-old Janet (a pseudonym), said, speaking from the UK with evident distress in her voice. 'Reading the news, it’s extremely upsetting…you’d think the apartments are simply abandoned, but they are not! There are at least 50 of us owners who have been left in the lurch.' Many of the owners live abroad, some are in later stages of life, and few know each other personally as most apartments had been bought as an overseas investment to be rented out. Moreover, owners are hamstrung by the slow pace of justice in Cyprus and understandably squeamish about incurring massive legal bills on top of ordeals they have already suffered. 'It’s been a 20-year-long nightmare, we have cried so much about it. We just don’t know where to go from here,' one couple confided."

News.com.au in Australia. "It’s been revealed that a building company that collapsed earlier this year had just $17.80 left in its bank account. In July, news.com.au reported that Melbourne-based bespoke building company Avra Group (Aust) Pty Ltd had entered into liquidation. A report prepared by Philip Newman of insolvency firm PCI Partners, the appointed liquidator, showed that the company owes around $1.2 million to around 37 unsecured creditors. Avra Group owes staff around $24,000 in unpaid entitlements. David Favretto, 45, and his family, have been in limbo all year as they waited for Avra Group to uphold their end of the building contract."

"Throughout the process, Mr Favretto says his family have been living in a 'horrid rental' while they wait for their home to be built. 'We’re renting nearby at extortionate rates having forfeited the luxury of a dishwasher, have three possums in the roof and walls, mushrooms growing from seven places in the bathroom, worms and slugs coming out of the drain almost daily, you have to switch off the heater if you want to use the toaster … and three boys crammed into a small bedroom.' This year alone, news.com.au has reported on dozens of major builders that have collapsed. In one week in July, news.com.au reported on a new builder going into external administration every day."

The Investor. "The Vietnamese real estate market began to record more bright spots in the third quarter of 2023, with transactions improving month-on-month and quarter-on-quarter, according to the Vietnam Association of Realtors (VARS). Although the market does not have enough strength to 'overcome the slope,' it has partly escaped the risk of 'losing the brakes,' the association said. However, in the nine months, the number of new transactions was only about 50% compared to the same period in 2022."

"'The economy has not yet recovered, with weak purchasing power. Liquidity in different segments is still limited, while supply is low, leading to an unreasonable decrease in selling prices,' said Prof. Dr. Hoang Van Cuong, vice rector of the National Economics University, adding that despite many interest rate cuts and increasing credit, the market's absorption capacity is still low. 'As the economy is unable to make breakthroughs, we should not expect the real estate market to immediately have a breakthrough recovery.'"

"In HCMC, the lowest price of new projects was VND30 million ($1,222) per square meter and the highest was up to VND185.5 million ($7,560). Among localities on the outskirts of HCMC, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province saw relatively high selling prices for new projects, with the lowest being VND47.3 million ($1,927) per square meter and the highest VND51.3 million ($2,090)."

Channel News Asia on Malaysia. "While the retail industry has seen mixed results in recent times, with abandoned and derelict malls littered across the city’s landscape, observers added that Johor Bahru continues to be a key retail destination, leveraging on its close proximity with Singapore to attract footfall. But observers pointed out that while Johor Bahru’s retail scene is promising for consumers and investors, it is also plagued by issues relating to strata title ownership and an oversupply situation. CNA recently visited the site of JB Waterfront City Mall, which overlooks the Straits of Johor. The property was in a dilapidated condition - with peeling walls, graffiti splashed across the pillars and glass shattered all over the ground."

"Johor Bahru resident Dennis Wong, who cycles past JB Waterfront City Mall weekly for exercise, told CNA that he has noticed groups of young people gathering in the abandoned space especially at night. 'I think it's unsafe to have these abandoned buildings lying around, it invites crime. I hope they can be demolished and repurposed as soon as possible,' he added."

Macau Business. "The predicament of the former Chairman of China Evergrande Group, Xu Jiayin (or Hui Ka Yan in Cantonese), who was put under 'residential surveillance' in September 2023, signaled not only the fall of the red capitalist after years of his prominent emergence, but also tremendous loopholes in the management of Chinese real estate market, the banking-business relations, and the incomplete reforms embedded in the mixed socialist-capitalistic economy of China. The rise and fall of Xu Jiayin deserve our attention and deeper analyses because of his 'red capitalist' nature in a socialist regime."

"As of mid-October 2023, it was reported that about 800,000 of 1.2 million pre-sold properties were not yet completed. The internal supervision over building contractors appeared to be lax, while Evergrande’s business empire was overstretched to other areas, including the automobile industry and sports – a bridge too far for an overambitious real estate corporation where internal mismanagement in wealth, reinvestment and contracting-out projects became acute."

"The fall of Xu and the financial and managerial problems associated with Evergrande raised a serious question about the effectiveness of auditing in China’s real estate market. A healthy company must have external and internal auditing, which serves as an essential checks and balance mechanism for good corporate governance. A neglected lesson for China is how the auditing process and requirements for all private corporations, especially land developers, can be reformed and enforced annually and rigorously. A chief economist of Evergrande, Ren Zeping, joined the company in 2017, but he complained that any internal call for the need to reduce debt ratio was criticized in his meetings with top executives – an indication that corporate governance within Evergrande lacked sufficient and healthy checks and balances."

"In the final analysis, the mixed economy of China remains partial in its reforms, including the long overdue supervision over the relations between state-owned banks and land developers, the excessive loans offered by banks, the internal mismanagement and overstretched expansion of any land developer into other areas that could easily be undermined as a result of chain reactions (like the incomplete Guangzhou football stadium that was eventually taken over by the mainland government)."

"The socialist regime in the mainland has a fast-developing mixed economy in which the capitalistic and marketized aspects have clearly 'corrupted' the relations between the executives of the banking industry and the elites of the real estate market, while the socialist aspects have demanded immediate and effective governmental controls over corporate misgovernance, which can have detrimental impacts on the mainland’s social and economic security."