A report from CNBC. "'I think it's painful. I think it's ugly,' Matthew Graham, chief operating officer at Mortgage News Daily, said on CNBC. 'I don't think anybody in my community of mortgage originators would disagree that in many ways, this is worse than the great financial crisis in terms of volume and activity.'"

From Florida Today. "Ah, September. The start of fall when things begin to cool — like the Brevard housing market. 'Things are slow,' said Greg Zimmerman with One Sotheby's International. Zimmerman said that the days of 'Oh my neighbor listed their house and sold it in two days' are pretty much gone. 'There is movement,' he said. 'We're selling one or two a week. The inventory is building up and all the signs are there that we're getting to a normal level of sales.' September saw a 35% increase in the number of homes available on the market to a 2.7-month supply."

The Arizona Republic. "Several of metro Phoenix’s most affordable neighborhoods posted the biggest drops in home sales during the third quarter. Most of Maryvale, parts of west and south Phoenix, southeast Mesa, southwest Chandler and El Mirage saw sales drop by 35% or more during the three months ending Sept. 30 compared to a year ago, according to the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service. Prices also fell during this year’s third quarter in most of the neighborhoods with big drops in the number of sales. 'Interest rates are taking more of a toll on some Phoenix-area neighborhoods than others,' said Tina Tamboer, senior housing analyst with The Cromford Report."

"As compared to a year ago, about 90 Valley ZIP codes saw median home prices fall during the three months that ended in September. Almost 50 areas posted higher median prices, according to ARMLS. The Carefree ZIP 85377, which led the Valley with an almost 33% drop in its median price. The median sales price there in the third quarter was down to $797,523."

The Park Record in Utah. "Leigh Ann Gray was supposed to be living in a townhome with her family by now. At least she thought she would when she signed a new construction real estate contract for a deed-restricted home with the Discovery Ridge subdivision back in April 2020. Little did she know at the time, but construction wouldn’t commence until March 2022, and even then there would be more delays. It remains little more than a foundation, and though the developer says construction is now underway, Leigh is skeptical of any predicted completion dates she hears. She’s skeptical construction will be resumed at all. Yet, according to developer Michael Milner, the numerous delays and extensions were not due to ill intent, but to necessity. 'COVID came in,' he said. 'It had repercussions well beyond just the period of the pandemic.'"

"The development agreement he had entered with Summit County before building Discovery Ridge required that he had to complete a ratio of 1.5 to 1 market rate houses to affordable by certain snapshots, and though projects were built to meet the required number, Gray’s building — Building 2 — was pushed to the side. It specifically was going to cost the company a loss it couldn’t afford at the time, according to Milner. He predicted that Building 2 is going to cost the development a significant loss for each of the project’s five units. 'I feel badly for the people. They’ve been under contract for a long time,' he said. 'We’re sorry for the delays, but literally they’re getting a $900,000 townhome for about $350,000.'"

The Bakersfield Californian. "Bakersfield home prices slid along with demand as the off-season kicked in last month, reinforcing what a leading observer of local housing conditions saw as greater balance in the market. 'The trend toward a balanced market is reflected in the price decline,' appraiser Gary Crabtree wrote in his closely watched monthly market report. 'The relatively high interest rates and inflation continue to price the entry level buyer out of the market.' Crabtree observed that Bakersfield properties that have been kept in good condition continue to receive multiple offers. But he noted that homes with deferred maintenance 'are staying on the market for extended exposure times, leading to canceled or expired listings.'"

"President Jennifer Branchini of the California Association of Realtors noted in a press release that the state's single-family home market is less competitive and so there are more opportunities for people who want to buy and can still qualify at the higher interest rates. 'More sellers are making concessions as homes are taking longer to sell, fewer homes are selling above asking price, and there are more homes to choose from,' she stated."

CBS 8 in California. "If you’re frustrated by ADU’s popping up where you are around San Diego, you have a chance to help shape the city’s ADU policy. People CBS 8 spoke with who live in the College East Area are actually looking to move out because of how ADUs have changed their neighborhood. You may have heard of the term Granny Flat, but neighbors here say these ADUs popping up are more like apartment buildings. Dave Nicolai, who lives in the area, is unhappy with the state of the neighborhood for years. 'I've been frustrated for 2 years. Developers are gaming the system,' he said."

"CBS 8 recently saw a NextDoor post Nicolai made about a property off Saranac and 70th Street. It now has 4 units on it. One of the units has 6 college students living in it. One of them told CBS 8 they pay $6,900 a month for a 2,500 square foot place. The trash bins were overflowing when CBS 8 was at the address. 'This is like a disease,' Nicolai said. 'It’s one, then another. Somebody else sells because they don’t want to live next to a dump like this. It’s easier to nose into a single family neighborhood than it is for developers to build where they should, which is transit corridors.'"

The American Statesman in Texas. "Struggling Austin real estate developer StoryBuilt may have used funds it raised for certain projects and funneled the money toward other projects. That's according to a report from court-appointed receiver Stapleton Group, which said in a filing that StoryBuilt did not follow 'typical accounting practices.' StoryBuilt, one of Austin’s most active urban developers, agreed to enter a voluntary receivership in July as it said it was addressing deep financial issues. On Oct. 9, StoryBuilt said it was putting 28 commercial and residential properties up for sale. 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."

The Dallas Morning News. "North Texas apartment leasing remained strong in the most recent quarter. But even substantial leasing volume wasn’t enough to keep up with the thousands of new units opening in Dallas-Fort Worth. 'What we’re seeing in D-FW’s apartment market right now mirrors what’s happening in most of the country,' said Jay Parsons, chief economist at Richardson-based RealPage. “'There’s a lot of demand for apartments, but even more supply of new apartments.' During the third quarter, net apartment leasing in North Texas totaled 7,247 units — the best of any U.S. market. But that fell short of the 8,170 apartments completed in the same period, according to RealPage. More than 25,000 new rental units are expected to hit the D-FW market this year."

"With higher construction financing costs and softening rents, builders in D-FW and nationwide are cutting back. Even so, more than 72,000 apartments remain under construction in North Texas. The current building peak is what Parsons sees as 'a generational high akin to the 1970s and not something we will see again for decades.'"

Bisnow New York. "CIM Group and Australian pension fund QSuper appear on the verge of handing over the keys to a Midtown Manhattan office building where WeWork is the largest tenant. The investors took out a $399M single-asset, single-borrower CMBS loan in 2021 to refinance the 25-story, 740K SF office building at 1440 Broadway. The loan has been transferred to a special servicer, which wrote in commentary this month that the 'borrower will be deeding the property back to the Lender,' according to the Morningstar Credit database. CIM acquired the office tower on the corner of Broadway and 41st Street with QSuper in 2017."

"CIM Group is far from the only office landlord to look at handing the keys back. RXR defaulted on a loan at 61 Broadway earlier this year and last month entered into a deed-in-lieu-of-foreclosure agreement with its lender. Blackstone handed back the keys at 1740 Broadway last year. 'If you want to put new money in, you need to reset the deck to do so,' RXR CEO Scott Rechler told the Financial Times in February. 'And if we can’t, we may have to hand back the keys.'"

The Globe and Mail. "The One, a luxury condo development in Toronto co-owned by real-estate developer Sam Mizrahi and road paving magnate Jenny Coco, is in receivership after its senior lender asked an Ontario judge to put a third party in control of the project. Under development since 2015 at the corner of Yonge and Bloor streets, The One was marketed as Canada’s tallest condo building, with 85 storeys of condos, hotel and retail. However, the project is years behind schedule, owes $1.6-billion to its lenders and faces a growing number of lawsuits. Existing litigation includes a dispute between Mr. Mizrahi and Ms. Coco, who each own 50 per cent of The One."

"In its receivership application, KEB Hana Bank, a commercial bank based in South Korea, said The One’s senior lenders were not prepared to advance more money without the appointment of an outside group to manage the project and oversee its development. At the moment, the interest accrued on KEB’s debt alone amounts to $166-million annually. KEB said the senior lenders 'have gone to great lengths to accommodate the borrower … nonetheless, the project has been materially delayed, is significantly over budget and has been fraught with difficulties.' KEB argued that a receiver would bring 'much-needed stability to the project.' As of Oct. 4, 2023, 'concrete columns and walls had only been poured up to the 40th floor.'"

"As of the end of August, 346 condos, or 83 per cent of available units, had been sold. It is unknown what will happen to the condos that have been purchased. While the receiver will carry on with The One’s development, selling the remaining units could be challenging. 'The world has changed for our industry,' said Scott McLellan, the chief operating officer of Plazacorp, a major condo developer in Toronto. Residential building costs are up 55 per cent since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and mortgage rates have more than doubled over the same period. The One is also entangled in a number of lawsuits."

Daily Mail Australia. "A luxury Melbourne building company has gone into liquidation informing its customers by a letter. PFK Melbourne has been appointed as the liquidator after Dome Building was unable to negotiate payment terms with a former director and shareholder. The South Melbourne company had suffered major losses and directors Andrew Crellin and Jeremy Brockman called the situation 'heartbreaking', the Herald Sun reported. 'You may or may not be aware of a situation last year with a former director and shareholder leaving the Dome business,' the letter said. 'As a result, Dome has annual payment obligations to this former director.' Dome had recently expanded to working in the ritzy NSW north coast town of Byron Bay, but now all work has stopped."

The China Project. "Country Garden’s former office branch was in Wing On Centre, a faded mall on Nathan Road, the main transportation artery running down the Kowloon Peninsula. On October 10, the 9th floor office’s interior was in the process of being demolished. A contractor was blaring mandopop as he wielded a sledgehammer among the bare cinder block walls and gutted ceilings. 'I just got here,' he said. 'I don’t know when they moved out.' A major factor in the economic pall hanging over mainland China is the bursting of a property bubble. With some limited interruptions, over the past twenty years there has been a widespread belief that property prices 'only go up.' As with all economic impossibilities, it was only a matter of time before this assumption was proven wrong."

"An analyst from Mainland China who wished to remain anonymous told The China Project that smaller cities saw a property 'bull cycle' from 2015–-2020, which ended when the government set strict limits on the amount of debt property developers could take on ('the three red lines policy'). The analyst’s relatively small hometown was one of many places that saw rapid urbanization and speculative homebuying over this period. However, the analyst said that lower tier city home prices have already declined 40% from their peak in 2019."

"Back in Hong Kong, as The China Project left the former office of Country Garden the doorman spoke up. 'They moved out a week or two ago,' he said with a smile. 'They’re having some problems. Weren’t you here yesterday?' I told him I was not. 'Someone just like you came by.' 'What, a foreigner?' 'Yeah. Someone just like you was here yesterday trying to talk to them.' I thanked the man and walked out onto Nathan Road. Cars zoomed by, the sky was gray, and I reflected that someone, somewhere, had lost a lot of money."

From Reuters. "Hiroshi Watanabe, Japan's former top currency diplomat, recalls how Chinese policymakers eagerly studied ways to avert a Japan-style burst of an asset bubble that led to prolonged deflation and economic stagnation - until around 2015. 'Then they stopped. In the past seven to eight years, they seem to be ignoring everything they learned,' said Watanabe, who retains close ties with incumbent policymakers. 'Under the Xi administration, China probably shifted its attention away from economics,' he told Reuters. Now, China may be paying the price. Inflation is stalling and its deepening real estate crisis was identified as among the biggest risks to global growth during the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meeting being held in Marrakech Oct. 9-15."