A report from Realtor.com. "Following a trade to the Lone Star State before the 2023 NFL season, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Trey Lance is ready to move on from his Morgan Hill, CA, mansion. The signal caller bought the place in the suburbs south of San Jose for $2.95 million in March 22, and he recently listed it for $2.8 million. So, he's willing to take a slight loss to put his Bay Area stint behind him."

The Real Deal. "TA Partners flew beneath the radar for most of its history. But that changed in early October when it defaulted on $200 million of debt tied to two multifamily projects near Irvine, California. It also has $2 billion in assets and 2,700 units on the way in the LA-area. But, the developer has struggled to move the needle on many of those apartment projects, raising questions about its ability to pull off such ambitious projects. In Irvine, TA is delinquent on payments totaling $11 million under two separate loans as of Oct. 1, according to two notices of default filed with Orange County. The loans are tied to two complexes at 18831 Von Karman Avenue and 17422 Derian Avenue."

"'They have no idea what they are doing,' said one industry insider familiar with TA Partners, adding the two Irvine projects are a 'total disaster.' To add a little mystery to the market, Blackstone Mortgage Trust downgraded two of its loans tied to office buildings in Silicon Valley. The unit of New York-based investment firm Blackstone downgraded the loans linked to two undisclosed office buildings in the South Bay, the San Francisco Chronicle reported."

The Fort Worth Report. "Did Dallas-Fort Worth home prices gradually fall in summer 2023? Yes. Between July and September, the median home in North Texas cost $400,000 — a 1.2% drop from the same time last year, according to a Texas Realtors report. Home prices decreased more steeply in Austin, where the median fell by 7.9% to $456,000. Trends in Houston, where home prices dropped by 1.1%, more closely match Dallas-Fort Worth. Dallas-Fort Worth led the state in home sales during the third quarter, though total transactions were down 9.3% in comparison to 2022. Housing affordability is declining in Texas cities, with incomes increasing at a slower pace than housing costs. Over the past decade, Dallas-Fort Worth incomes have risen 45% while the median home price has more than doubled, according to a Dallas Morning News analysis. This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one."

The Globe and Mail in Canada. "3600 15A St., S.W., No. 119, Calgary. Asking price: $289,000 (August, 2023). Selling price: $279,000 (August, 2023). Previous selling prices: $315,000 (July, 2015); $310,000 (March, 2007); $185,869 (May, 2004). Early last year, agent Bryon Howard discouraged his client from listing this two-bedroom, corner unit until market conditions improved. His stance changed this summer, having seen three units in the 18-year-old building sell for increasing amounts, including one for as much as $295,000. Setting their price lower at $289,000, the seller was pleased to negotiate a conditional deal with a buyer for $10,000 under asking."

"'Most people who bought in that building bought during the last [market] high, so they weren’t able to sell without losing money,' said Mr. Howard. 'There haven’t been a lot of sales in the building from 2016 to 2021. The seller was extremely happy selling the property for the price he got because it wasn’t that long ago, he would have been looking at selling for $230,000 or $240,000.'"

The Toronto Sun in Canada. "For those living through it, the recalibration of a real estate market can be painful. With home prices and property values in decline, GTA homeowners will almost invariably have seen the value of what is likely to their largest asset diminish from the market peak of 2022. Whether real (as in, the house was purchased around the peak and that homeowner now has a home worth less than they paid) or imagined (as in, the house was purchased long ago for a fraction of current value but would no longer fetch what it might have just 18 months ago), the impacts will be felt market-wide. Consequently, a frequent conversation I am having these days is what a homeowner might do to add value to their home and offset some of those losses."

"Simply put, the idea is to make a property appeal to the broadest swath of prospective buyers. The sellers taking haircuts right now are those with overpriced properties that are either unattractive, unremarkable, or seem like too much work. The properties that are selling offer a clear value proposition – good market or bad market, that will always be the case."

The Bolton News in the UK. "Mortgage approvals are down, houses are on the market at 'unrealistic' prices seen during the 'peak Covid-era' - but it is not all doom and gloom, according to one estate agent. David Warburton at Burton James told The Bolton News: 'This information is not to paint doom and gloom because houses are still selling, contrary to some negative reports. But now more than ever, your marketing has to stand out and you need to price according to this new market.' The estate agent said the number of unsold houses were ‘highly unlikely’ to sell if they not priced to reflect the current market, hence buyers seeing 'price reduced' a number of times. Prices have begun to decline in areas like Bolton and Bury, said David."

"He added: 'Between January 2020 and December 2022—often referred to as the 'Covid years'—official Land Registry data reveals a staggering 36 per cent price increase across Bolton. To contextualise this surge: between January 2010 and December 2019, prices in Bolton only rose by 24 per cent, averaging 2.4 per cent annually. This means that in just three years, prices escalated at five times the annual rate of the preceding decade. Therefore, the recent price reduction is better understood as a market correction rather than a crash, contrary to some media portrayals.'"

"David said: 'However, the landscape is shifting. With 14 consecutive interest rate hikes taking the current rate to 5.25 per cent, many homeowners who purchased properties in the last three years will soon face significantly higher repayments. While some will adjust or endure, others, unfortunately, will struggle and feel compelled to sell—sometimes at a loss.'"

This Is Money. "Cash buyers are swooping in amid the housing market downturn, new figures suggest. Bank of England data revealed mortgage borrowing for house purchases continued to fall in September, with activity down by more than a third compared with the same period in 2022. In some sense, now is a great time to be a cash buyer. Homes are sitting on the market for longer meaning some sellers may feel increasingly desperate and more willing to consider lower offers. Another sign of a struggling housing market is the fact that sellers are having to slash asking prices in order to find a buyer. According to Hamptons, 53 per cent of homes that sold last month had required the asking price to be slashed prior to sale."

"Stuart Cheetham, chief executive of MPowered Mortgages believes that if you're not embarrassed by your offer, it's probably not low enough. He says: 'Go in low, put in a cheeky offer, why not. Do your research on the property and area. Find out how long it has been on the market, find out the situation of the buyer, quiz your estate agent. They key is do your homework and don't be embarrassed with a 'cheeky' offer, in fact if you're not embarrassed you are probably too high.'"

The Irish News. "Despite falling costs, builders in the UK had one of their worst months in over three years in October, according to new data from a monthly survey. It is the second-worst month for the sector since May 2020, in the early days of the pandemic lockdown. Companies told the survey team that they were not getting enough new work to replace the projects that they had completed. The pessimism in the sector comes despite costs falling at their fastest rate since August 2009. 'House building decreased for the eleventh month running and once again saw a much steeper downturn than other parts of the construction sector,' said Tim Moore, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence."

From Bloomberg. "Sweden’s economy is set to continue shrinking next year as it is further tested by interest rates staying higher for longer, according to economists at SEB AB and Nordea Bank Abp. The Scandinavian country faces some of the bleakest prospects in the European Union with forecasters increasingly anticipating a two-year recession, even as the export-driven nation has withstood a rapid increase of borrowing costs better than many had expected. SEB’s Olle Holmgren said the downturn is mainly driven by residential investment and household consumption, as housing starts have plummeted by 70-75% from a peak in late 2021. As third-quarter reports from companies imply that the number of new dwellings started continued to drop in three months through September, 'residential construction risks coming to an almost complete standstill,' he said."

"The sharp downturn in home construction comes as developers and prospective buyers have seen credit become more expensive, and housing prices have dropped almost 15% from a peak in early 2022. Nordea believes the prices of apartments and houses will decline by another 5-10%."

From Reuters. "Germany's residential construction sector was again hit by a wave of cancellations in October, according to a survey published on Monday that showed a record number of firms reporting abandoned projects. In October, 22.2% percent of companies reported cancelled projects, up from 21.4% the previous month, the Ifo economic institute said. 'It's getting worse all the time, with more and more projects failing due to higher interest rates and elevated construction prices,' says Klaus Wohlrabe, Ifo head of surveys. 'In residential construction, new business remains very low and companies' order backlogs are diminishing.'"

"'Nearly half of all residential construction companies are now suffering from a lack of orders, and that number is growing every month,' said Wohlrabe. The real-estate sector was a bedrock of Germany's livelihood for years. Fuelled by low interest rates, billions were funnelled into property, which was viewed as stable and safe. Now a sharp rise in rates and building costs has put an end to the run, tipping developers into insolvency as bank financing dries up, deals freeze and prices fall."

Domain News in Australia. "Popular coastal towns that boomed during the lockdown years have recorded double-digit house price falls as buyers face interest rate rises and stretched affordability. But the pace of decline is starting to ease. House prices fell most in the regional council of Lismore, where unprecedented floods struck last year, declining 20.8 per cent to a median of $515,000 in the September quarter, the latest Domain House Price Report showed. The drop erased much of the gains recorded since 2018 when the median was $407,000. The next areas were Kiama, Byron and Ballina, falling 18.5 per cent, 16.5 per cent and 16.4 per cent, respectively."

From ABC News. "Nearly three years after he signed a contract, first home buyer Geoff Browne is still waiting for his townhouse to be finished. His builder entered liquidation a couple of months ago and Mr Browne could not move forward with the build because mandatory insurance had not been taken out on the property. But hope of progression has emerged after the South Australian government confirmed to the ABC that retrospective building indemnity insurance (BII) will be provided for customers 'who have been impacted by the collapse of Felmeri Homes and 7 Star Construction.'"

"While he welcomed the news of an insurance payout, Mr Browne – who signed a contract in December 2020, before construction costs skyrocketed – said he still faced an uncertain financial future. 'We're getting quotes now where they're looking at the build costs to be up to $350,000 and the insurance only covers $150,000,' he said. In Mr Browne's case, the local council said it was unaware work had started on the 10-townhouse development until it was contacted by a home owner in March – nearly two years after it said it had requested insurance details from the builder."

"'It's on Anzac Highway, it's not as if it's a hard place to find,' Mr Browne said. 'The council could have driven past and gone, 'Hey there's stuff there, we didn't know about this, let's ask questions.' The City of West Torrens said councils 'rely upon lodgement of building notifications as a means for the builder to communicate up-to-date stages of work. To council's knowledge, it was not clear that works had progressed,' it said. The council said once it was made aware, it re-requested the insurance details and received certificates for three townhouses and was advised five were operating as owner-builders and therefore did not need insurance. That left two townhouses, including Mr Browne's, without insurance."

"Mr Browne said South Australia's building indemnity insurance payout did not go far enough for consumers, given the current costs of construction. 'Even with the insurance, having to rent in the meantime, continue to pay the mortgage and then be slapped with even a $50,000 out of pocket expense at the end of this build that was a fixed price that should have been finished two years ago almost, it's still a bit of a kick in the guts,' he said."