A report from the Orange County Register in California. "Even with the happiest place on earth just a stone’s throw away, Realtors are feeling more like Disney’s Grumpy than Happy these days. 'When I look at the statistics, we are not happy,' Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors told his membership Tuesday, Nov. 14, in Anaheim. A doubling of payments led to a 32% drop in existing home sales over the past two years, curbing income for the vast majority of agents."

The Wall Street Journal. "Realtors across the country are rethinking their jobs, and some are backpedaling from the profession, fearing that the heyday of their business is over. A court verdict last month stands to radically alter the way real-estate agents are paid for their work, and could result in far lower pay for the 1.6 million men and women who sell homes as their main job or as a side hustle. Nicole Noles Collins, a 51-year-old acupuncturist in Port Charlotte, Fla., got her license in 2020. Noles Collins says lower commissions from the homes she sells in Florida, which are priced between $100,000 and $350,000, wouldn’t be worth her time, especially now that business at her acupuncture studio is back to pre-Covid levels. 'It’s completely negating the reason to be an agent in the first place,' she says. While she had toyed with exiting, now 'my goal is to completely transition out of real estate at the end of next year.'"

"Realtors are asking their bosses what the fallout could be for their industry as answers from management have been scarce. Josh Meacham, an associate broker in Show Low, Ariz., says there were more questions than answers flying at a recent talk with his team. 'Does this mean we’re not going to have a job? Does this mean we’re not going to be able to do listings? Does this mean we’re not gonna make as much money?' he says agents asked. And, ultimately: 'Should we start looking at getting a different job?'"

The Washington Post. "Chicken in the freezer. Mortgage payments put off until the last minute. Cash stashed away to save for a Thanksgiving meal. Far from Capitol Hill, federal workers across the United States are facing yet another government shutdown. Jessica LaPointe, 44, Madison, Wis. Salary: $84,000. Number of weeks of savings: less than a month. Household size: 4. Biggest expense: $1,500 for one month of day care, $1,900 for mortgage. The single mother of four, who has three kids at home, knows some payments won’t go through if she isn’t getting paid. 'If I’m not getting income, then there’s no blood from a stone there,' she said. The idea of going into the holiday season without a paycheck is scary, she said: 'Most of us live paycheck to paycheck.'"

"Allison Buettner, 29. Baltimore. Salary: $97,000. Number of weeks of savings: less than 4. Household size: 3, plus 'the zoo': three dogs, one bird, two lizards and a tortoise. Biggest expense: $1,300 mortgage, $250 per month in student loans, plus electricity, internet, groceries. If a shutdown kicks in, she knows she’ll have to wait until the last possible day to pay her family’s mortgage. If she misses an entire paycheck, she would have to call her mortgage company and ask to delay her payment. That could mean late fees, putting her 'at the mercy of the creditors,' she said."

The Globe and Mail. "True North Commercial REIT, the publicly traded owner of largely Class B office towers across Canada, is halting its monthly distribution, sending the real estate investment trust’s units tumbling 15 per cent. True North, which predominantly operates in Ottawa and the Greater Toronto Area, previously slashed its payout by 50 per cent in mid-March, but management announced Tuesday that it would halt the distribution altogether 'for approximately six months or earlier if appropriate.' Earlier this year, Slate Office REIT, which owns office properties in Canada and the United States but derives half of its operating income from the Greater Toronto Area and Atlantic Canada, slashed its own monthly payout by 70 per cent."

The Week UK. "One in three house sellers are falling victim to a frustrating property market trend: 'gazundering.' In the past six months, 31% of vendors have been gazundered, which is when a buyer reduces their accepted offer just before contracts are signed and exchanged, according to research by House Buyer Bureau. Gazundering has seen a 97% increase in internet search interest since the start of the year, said estate agent comparison website GetAgent.co.uk, noting that cooling house prices mean the power is now 'very much in the hands of the nation's homebuyers.' Now it is a 'buyer's market' with less competition, and so sellers have little choice when their purchaser drastically reduces their offer at the last minute."

"Securing a buyer is therefore 'a task in itself,' Chris Hodgkinson, managing director of House Buyer Bureau, told Metro. As a gazundered seller, 'there's really nothing you can do other than to accept the lower offer, or pull out of the sale completely.' Ultimately, 'there is something seriously wrong with the way that we buy and sell houses,' wrote The Sunday Times money editor Johanna Noble last December. Legislation is needed, he said. Valuing a property amounts to 'pretty much guesswork,' and having an offer accepted 'is no guarantee' of a sale. 'It’s like the Wild West out there.'"

From Reuters. "Troubled Swedish property group SBB reported on Monday that its losses widened in the third quarter and said it was ready to take a bondholder to court over payment demands. SSB is at the epicentre of a property crash that threatens to engulf the Swedish economy, having racked up vast debt by buying public property, including social housing, government offices, schools and hospitals. On Monday, the landlord said it was looking for equity partners to help reduce its debt after it reported a pre-tax loss of 3.13 billion Swedish crowns ($287 million) for continuing operations in the third quarter, compared to a revised loss of 2.56 billion a year earlier. SBB has slashed the value of its property portfolio by nearly 9% since the start of the year, it said. This came after analysts had warned property values could continue to see pressure from high interest rates."

From CNBC. "Germany's Olaf Scholz once set the goal of building 400,000 new homes a year, even before he become chancellor. Fast forward two years, and German housebuilding looks like it's collapsing, putting pressure on both his hard-to-reach goal, but also the overall economy of the country. Over 22% of companies surveyed reported the cancellation of residential construction projects in Germany in October, a new record high. Meanwhile, 48.7% said there was a lack of orders — which compares to 46.6% in the previous month, and 18.7% a year earlier. Expectations for the residential construction industry fell to what the Ifo described as an 'exceptional low.' And this isn't the only set of data that is raising concerns among onlookers."

"The latest construction PMI survey for Germany by the Hamburg Commercial Bank fell to its lowest level in three and a half years at 38.3, which also marked a decline compared to September. 'Things continue to go from bad to worse in Germany's construction sector. The housing sector is the epicentre of the downturn, nosediving at a breakneck speed,' said Cyrus de la Rubia, chief economist at Hamburg Commercial Bank."

News.com.au in Australia. "A recorded conversation with a mortgage broker forced to drive an Uber part-time because his business is 'dead quiet' points to darkening economic storm clouds. Financial market strategist Jessica Amir last night shared the stark exchange she had with a Sydney ride-share driver named Tim. The man operates his own mortgage brokerage but has been forced to supplement his income because he’s 'turning people away' who apply for home loans they can no longer service."

"Retail mortgage interest rates are currently sitting at about six per cent thanks to 13 hikes by the Reserve Bank in almost past 18 months. As a result, when someone applies for a home loan, they’ll be assessed on whether they can make repayments with interest of at least nine per cent. 'I have so many borrowers come to me, they’re saving up money, and [saying], ‘OK, let’s go borrow some money’ but they can’t service it,' Tim tells Ms Amir in the video. 'Their borrowing capacity has dropped down really badly. I’m telling you, most of the lending institutions at the moment are looking at [an interest rate] of nine per cent – minimum.'"

"And as Ms Amir pointed out, the RBA and major lenders believe the full impact of rising interest rates is still yet to be felt. The RBA’s rapid run of rate rises has put extraordinary pressure on household budgets, with average mortgage repayments rising from $2570 in April 2022 to a staggering $4151, according to financial comparison website Canstar. That equates to an additional $1581 per month on average or an eye-watering $18,972 more per year. 'Rising costs across the board have made homeownership even more of a dream for many,' Graham Cooke, head of consumer research at Finder, said. 'The threat to those with a mortgage is particularly acute – nearly two-in-five are struggling to pay. It’s no wonder that most Aussies don’t think now is the time to buy.'"

From CNBC. "The size of unfinished, pre-sold homes in China is about 20 times the size of property developer Country Garden as of the end of 2022, according to a Nomura report on Wednesday. 'We estimate that there are around 20 million units of unconstructed and delayed pre-sold homes,' said Nomura's Chief China Economist Ting Lu and a team. About 3.2 trillion yuan ($440 billion) is needed to complete those remaining units, according to the analysts' estimates. Apartments in China are typically sold ahead of completion. Ensuring construction of the homes has been a government priority since delays make people less willing to buy new apartments."

"'In our view, amid the collapsing property sector and widespread credit fallout among property developers, home buyers might get increasingly impatient while waiting for the delivery of their purchased new homes,' the Nomura report said. Last year, many homebuyers in China decided not to pay their mortgages on property purchases due to long delays in construction. Developers have faced a financing crunch since Beijing's crackdown in 2020 on their high reliance on debt. Covid-19 restrictions last year also made construction difficult."

"'Assuming 20% volume growth in new home completions for the current year, developers will only manage to deliver 48% of the homes pre-sold between 2015 and 2020, leaving 52% still subject to delays,' the Nomura analysts said."