A report from the Tampa Bay Times. "Last month, a federal jury in Missouri found that the National Association of Realtors and several large brokerages had conspired in a price fixing scheme that inflated the commissions agents earned from each sale. The suit centered around the group’s rules for commission sharing. 'The home sellers in this lawsuit said ‘you are forcing us to pay these artificially high fees because you have all the power,' said Lei Wedge, a professor of finance at the University of South Florida’s Muma College of Business. 'All Realtors look on the MLS for the listings. Most of the time, Realtors will only show homes that pay that 6% commission.'"

"Now that one of the National Association of Realtors’ rules has been deemed anti-competitive, it could lead to further scrutiny of the organization’s business practices. 'People are going to look more closely at what real estate agents do and what their value is,' said CB Williams, broker and owner of People’s Choice Realty Services LLC in Tampa. 'The truth is, most people don’t want to be a part of (the association) but it’s forced on them.' He noted that agents have to pay dues if they want access to crucial tools such as the MLS and a so-called digital master key that’s used to unlock homes before each showing."

"If the group loses its power as a gatekeeper, it could lead more people to forgo using a real estate agent, said Lei. 'Buyers and sellers can now connect more easily through the help of the internet,' she said. 'It’s like what happened with the old industry of travel agents. Now everyone just goes to Expedia or Travelocity.'"

The San Gabriel Valley Tribune. "Throw a steel lockbox in any direction at the Anaheim Convention Center last week and you were sure to hit a Realtor with an opinion about 'the verdict.' 'The amount of the verdict was outrageous,' Larry Hurley, an Arlington, Texas, broker, said before a case name was even mentioned. 'It’s a bogus claim,' added Yorba Linda broker George Castillo. 'There’s no collusion,' said Hawaii broker Kelly Liberatore. 'I don’t think the judge understood.' 'It was top of mind for everybody at the conference,' said Art Carter, chief executive for the California Regional Multiple Listing Service."

"'It will probably change the way real estate is done nationally,' said Erin Merritt, an agent with Realty One Group in Reno. 'If the buyers have to pay their own commission, it will lower their buying power.' 'We’ve used Realtors. They perform a useful service,' said Stephen Brobeck, a senior fellow at the Consumer Federation of America who has supported commission reform for decades. But, he said, '(the service) is overpriced.' The size of the jury verdict 'was huge,' Brobeck added. 'So, the jury was very convinced that the industry … has engaged in a conspiracy to set prices.'"

"One conference speaker, real estate trainer Lynn Madison of Schaumburg, Ill., said allegations of steering played a big role in the verdict and similar lawsuits pending against NAR. '(There) was evidence that there were agents who would call a listing office, and when the listing office said we’re not paying buyer-brokerage (commissions) or we’re only paying four cents and a chicken, the buyer’s agent said, ‘Well, I’ll just tell my buyer it sold,’ Madison said."

The Dallas Morning News in Texas. "The housing market in McKinney, similar to national trends, has seen a significant dip in affordable entry-level housing since 2011. However, McKinney-based Realtors serving the Collin County area say not to be discouraged, as the current market offers a unique opportunity for first-time buyers. 'Despite what it looks like on the outside, this is an excellent market for buyers wanting to start their journey of home ownership,' said Mike Danielson, a Realtor with Keller Williams in McKinney. 'Prices are still a bit inflated from the recent COVID craziness and the 2-3% interest rates we had the past few years, but even though we are seeing higher than normal prices sticking around, with the amount of time homes are sitting on the market, it gives good Realtors a real chance at negotiating a great deal for their clients.'"

"Looking for homes that have been on the market for longer periods of time can give your Realtor the opportunity to negotiate more when it comes to seller concessions, Danielson said, noting not to be afraid to come in with a lower offer price on such homes. 'Homes are sitting for so long nowadays, that lower offer prices are getting accepted much more frequently,' he said."

The Journal Sentinel in Wisconsin. "Claire Shanahan walks her dog past the vacant, boarded-up house on West Townsend Street every day. 'It’s embarrassing,' she said, to own a home down the block. Shanahan, 34, said she fears for her safety and the value of her home. Since VineBrook Homes Trust — a multibillion-dollar company whose executives are based in Texas — bought the house, Milwaukee building inspectors have fielded complaints of burst pipes and bullet holes. The house is one of more than 1,000 single-family homes in the Milwaukee area the company snapped up at a breakneck speed since 2019. In just three years, VineBrook quietly grew to be Milwaukee's largest single-family landlord."

"But as economic winds shift, VineBrook and others are retreating. VineBrook is under financial strain. In the first nine months of this year, the company lost $213.7 million, according to its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This year, VineBrook also sold off about 1,500 of its approximately 25,000 homes nationwide — including more than 200 homes in the Milwaukee market — and plans to sell more next year, its third-quarter SEC filings show. Some VineBrook tenants told reporters the company has neglected maintenance at its properties. Shanahan called to complain about the vacant house down the street, but VineBrook never returned her call, she said."

"VineBrook put the house near Shanahan's home up for sale more than 100 days ago. A VineBrook spokesperson said in an email that the property is secured, and some repairs were made in May. The spokesperson said VineBrook has sold homes in Milwaukee for 'many reasons,' including to shed unwanted properties it picked up in bulk purchases."

Blog TO in Canada. "Toronto's housing market has fallen from its red-hot glory, with sales numbers dropping by staggering amounts, homes sitting on the market for far longer and sellers letting things go for below asking price, a far cry from the bidding wars and quick sales of yore. Along with new condo developments being put on hold while investors back out to sit on the sidelines, another concerning trend has been identified in the latest report on the city's real estate downturn: an appallingly high number of terminated listings."

"As Strata.ca notes in its latest newsletter, this fall has been chillier than usual in the real estate world, with 20 per cent fewer home sales in the GTA this November than the same month in 2022, and average prices for some property types (condos, in this case), down as well. It seems that more and more sellers are deciding to terminate their listings. Some are even forced to re-list at a lower price as the city moves toward a buyer's market with a glut of options available to those with the funds."

"'While buyers may take advantage of cooling prices, sellers must readjust their expectations. Terminated listings continue to climb with 3,485 properties already pulled this month,' the real estate platform notes. 'Sellers are realizing buyers have many more listings to choose from. For instance, there are currently 9,025 condos for sale. The last time we had this much condo supply was in September 2020. As for houses, there are over 6,400 available; the highest freehold inventory in four years.'"

From Devon Live in the UK. "A South West construction company has left more than £4m in debts after going bust. Family-run Brady Construction Services Ltd owes money to more than 200 creditors across Devon and Cornwall including in Plymouth, Exeter and Torbay. The Bodmin-based firm, which also had offices in Plymouth, had been working on big projects across the region including the building of new luxury homes at the former Palace Hotel site in Torquay. It also took on the construction of two Paignton hotels after South West construction giant Midas Group Ltd ceased trading."

"The firm - which was set up in 2012 - called a meeting of creditors earlier this month and appointed liquidators last week. Documents filed at Companies House reveal a huge trail of debts. However, the company has left an estimated £3.74m in assets, including freehold land and property worth £1.6m and £1.8m in cash. This will go a long way towards paying the debts. But it is still estimated that unsecured creditors will still end up short of close to £1m. Brady Construction Services had been working on the Palace Hotel site in Torbay on behalf of the Singapore-based Fragrance Group. That site has now been shut down and the homes remain unfinished. All have been removed from the housing market."

The Daily Voice. "Owning a home is a huge achievement and milestone for many, but sometimes life becomes so financially challenging that one is forced to let go of the dream and the house. Research done by information provider Lightstone shows that struggling South African homeowners are being forced to sell properties they bought only two years ago. Lightstone says: 'This suggests that many buyers took advantage of the low interest rates as the market provided relief during Covid, only to find they could not afford mortgage repayments as interest rates normalised.'"

"Successive sizable rate hikes since then have pushed prime to 11.75 in May this year. On a R2.5 million bond, the amount is nearly R8 000 up. Lightstone notes that the 'exceptionally low interest rate environment from mid-2020 to the end of 2021 created an opportunity for new buyers to enter the market or for existing homeowners to buy up' – but it also created the possibility of too many buyers overstretching themselves. Lightstone looked at how many buyers were selling properties within two years to measure the level of 'distressed sales' and compared May 2022 with May 2023 – and found that 80 percent more of those who bought in the middle of the low-interest period, May 2021, were sellers by May 2023."

"For those who can afford to buy property, here are some tips from Renier Kriek, managing director of Sentinel Homes. Renier says: 'Buying a property that offers good value for money is not as easy as looking at its price, and this is the first mindset shift that buyers must make: value must not be confused with price. And just because you were able to negotiate a reduction in the asking price does not make it a bargain because the price was probably inflated to begin with.'"

South China Morning Post. "Zhongzhi Enterprise Group, one of mainland China's largest shadow banks, has warned investors that it is unable to repay its debts, setting off alarm bells in the trust sector which invests a large portion of investors' money in real estate projects. The Beijing-based wealth management company said late on Wednesday its total liabilities had mounted to between 420 billion yuan (US$59 billion) and 460 billion yuan, while its total tangible assets stood at just 200 billion yuan, implying a shortfall of as much as 260 billion yuan."

"'Initial results from the due diligence exercise show that the group is severely insolvent and facing high risks of sustaining normal operations,' Zhongzhi told investors in a letter obtained by the Post. 'In the near term, the amount of assets that can be used to repay investors is far below the total liabilities.' It added that the company is 'largely out of control' after the death of its founder Xie Zhikun in December, 2021 and subsequent resignations of several key executives. 'A series of attempts have been made to bail the troubled company out, but they all fell short of expectations,' the letter said. 'We sincerely apologise to all the investors.'"

"Zhongzhi, which at its peak controlled more than 1 trillion yuan of assets, displayed first signs of financial troubles in August, when its subsidiary Zhongrong International Trust failed to repay investors who had bought its high-yielding investment products. Defaults by Zhongzhi surfaced in sync with the mainland's intensifying property crisis which involved mainland China's biggest developers such as China Evergrande Group and Country Garden Holdings, as real-estate sales dived and cash flows dried up. Many trust products had invested heavily in real estate projects."

"'The finance sector's fortunes are closely related to the property sector due to the big developers' high gearing ratio,' said Ding Haifeng, a consultant at Shanghai financial advisory firm Integrity. 'A collapse of the real estate sector will absolutely lead to a wave of bad assets in banks, trust firms and insurers.'"