It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "This June, Golden Gate Estates-based contractor Metro Home Builders filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Out of the 64 paused home construction projects from Washington State to Marco Island, 29 are Naples-based. 'It’s going to take all the cash that my wife and I can come up with to finish this (home). We’re going to be, in a way, broke,' said Bill Christ, a Naples resident who purchased a home with the contractor about two years ago. Christ said that he spent nearly $400,000 on the home along Greenway Road. Currently, the house sits about 75% finished, still missing things like power, water, and air conditioning. It is not currently livable. 'Primarily, I think I believed them because I hoped the thing would get done,' Christ said."

"'I’m mad. But now I’m just heartbroken. I just can’t believe a human can do that to people.' Connie Becker and her husband Mark say they paid $87K in February to a construction company called DADU Homes, to build a small apartment called an ADU. However, the unit is unfinished and now the couple says they are receiving bills from unpaid contractors. Including a lien on their property for $18k. 'It’s like someone stole from you. And so betrayed. I feel betrayed. You know, I’ve worked hard all my life and, you know, somebody is just going to walk away with my money.' DADU Homes’ owner Ken Miller has been politically active in Tacoma and Pierce County government for decades."

"Court documents from the Becker’s and another DADU customer, Rick Kane, say they are accusing Miller of fraud. 'He should do time. I mean, I emptied my family’s savings account. I emptied my mom’s savings account for this home that we’re sitting in that’s unfinished.' Attorney Russell Knight represents Jennifer Catino, another one of Miller’s customers who paid him $120k. He did zero work. 'He took the money, had no intention whatsoever of doing the work, did no work, and refused to refund her money,' says Knight."

"Philip Broussard was one of DADU Homes project managers. He says one of his issues was dealing with contractors demanding payment. 'I was getting calls almost daily from angry subcontractors, angry suppliers, angry homeowners, people that were just absolutely furious about projects that weren’t being done. They’re $30,000 in the hole. And four months goes by, five months goes by, six months goes by. And they’re calling me, you know, I can’t afford to do this. You know, this is the stuff that puts us out of business,' says Broussard."

"Zachary Taylor Holt promised his clients a fully custom barndominium that gave them the space and freedom they wanted in the rural lot location of their dreams. Only he left a huge, expensive mess behind when took thousands of dollars and abandoned his projects, leaving property owners without a home. However, the law has finally caught up to Holt, who was arrested in Collin County on warrants for property theft between $30,000 and $150,000 from Titus County. Titus County is located east of Dallas County with the county seat in Mt. Pleasant. Several of Holt’s barndominium projects are located in."

"A Star-Telegram investigation found examples throughout the state of people left with half-built steel structures, drained bank accounts and no way to recover the money they spent. The Star-Telegram spoke with nine customers of three Texas-based builders; their efforts to find legal remedies show that, in Texas, justice is the customer’s responsibility. 'As with any fad, anybody who thinks they can actually do it is going to take advantage of the marketplace,' said Sean McDonald, a construction attorney representing a Holt client."

"Most of the victims from other jurisdictions appear to have been told their only recourse for Holt’s actions is to pursue damages through civil means,' the Titus County Sheriff’s Office told CBS 19 (KYTX). 'It is our belief that the repetitive and frequent nature of Holt’s actions rose to the level of proving Holt’s intent to defraud.'"

"Colorado rental homeowners may be getting hit with heavier taxes if a state bill passes in the next few months, and it could leave a lasting mark on the housing market. The legislation would classify short term rental properties as 'commercial' and therefore institute a higher tax rate on the homeowners. Tens of people showed up to express their fears around the tax hike. 'We need to have this home available to short-term rental guests to pass this legacy onto our kids,' said resident Eric Richards, as reported by The Colorado Sun. If the extra tax becomes law, many say they will have to sell their properties. 'We cannot live with all these types of restrictions … this will, in my humble opinion, kill the short-term rental economy in Colorado,' said property management company owner Hillary Skye at this week's hearing."

"Lendlease Group and Alphabet's Google are mutually ending development services deals for four master-planned districts worth $15 billion in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Australian company said on Friday, as developers continue to exit California's real estate market. Lendlease bagged the contract from Google in 2019 to develop the residential and retail space in Sunnyvale, San Jose and Mountain View, which could ultimately bring around 15,000 new housing units to the region. Earlier this year, Lendlease also paused its 47-storey Hayes Point project in central San Francisco, its largest investment in the Americas, looking to line up tenants or find a co-investor. Lendlease said it will remove the San Francisco Bay project, which was expected to commence construction in fiscal 2026, from its development pipeline. 'While market expectations for the project had deflated over the past ~12-18 months, the change is negative for medium term (FY26-28) earnings,' analysts at UBS said."

"A jury in Missouri found Tuesday that the National Association of Realtors and others colluded to keep real estate agent commissions high. Agents say they’re being unfairly targeted. Aaron Kirman, chief executive officer of his own Los Angeles-based team at Christie’s International Real Estate, said there’s already plenty of transparency and flexibility around commissions, which in LA have already fallen to 2% to 2.5% for each side of a deal in higher-priced transactions. 'Every single day, I negotiate my commission — not something that I love to do, but it’s just part of the business,' Kirman said. 'The industry is under attack at a time when we’re in an all-time difficult market.'"

"In a report released ahead of the verdict, Ryan Tomasello, a real-estate industry analyst with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, predicted that the lawsuits could lead to a 30% reduction in the $100 billion that Americans pay in real-estate commissions every year and push well over half of the almost 1.6 million agents out of the industry. 'I have a hard time believing that this could be the verdict and there’s no material changes,' said Anthony Lamacchia, whose brokerage Lamacchia Realty has more than 500 agents in six states. 'It’s just what, and when, and what does it lead to?'"

"Troubling headwinds continue to persist in the preconstruction real estate industry as homebuyers unable to close their transactions are walking away from sizable deposits, some worth as much as $320,000. It’s a new phenomenon, industry experts say, particularly in lowrise homes in the GTA suburbs where prices ran up quickly during the pandemic and have fallen drastically. As closing dates near, buyers are unable to close as appraisals fall short or they’re unable to qualify for a mortgage. Some of the buyers walking away are end-users and some are trying to off-load an assignment sale — a legal transaction in which the original pre-construction condo buyer transfers the rights and obligations of the purchase agreement to another buyer."

"'It’s unusual activity, but predictable given the current real estate environment,' said Daniel Foch, director of economic research at RARE Real Estate Inc. 'It’s still pretty rare to see people walking away from such large deposits, but it’s becoming increasingly more common. This is just the beginning.' Property values have fallen most for single detached homes in cities between Toronto and Barrie, such as King City and East Gwillimbury, said Mark Morris, a lawyer at real estate law firm Legalclosing.ca. During the February 2022 price peak, the average home price in King City was $3.2 million and dropped to $2 million in September 2023 — a decline of almost 40 per cent, according to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board."

"'We’re seeing it happen the most in cities that are an hour or two outside of Toronto, where people paid $1 million for a property and are now getting appraisals of $600,000,' Morris said. 'They’d rather face the builders’ wrath and walk away, than close on that transaction.'"

"A resident of a new housing estate in Winsford has shared his anger over the state of the site. Craig Dentith moved to Florence Way on the Wharton Green estate last December with his partner Sarah and their one-year-old daughter Emelia. However, a lack of street lighting, unfinished roads and an ever-growing pool of water have left him 'appalled'. The 27-year-old said: “The estate is hampered by inadequate street lighting with only a very small amount of them that actually work. I have also raised concerns about the unfinished park which is currently blocked off and the state of our roads and footpaths which desperately need resurfacing and are starting to cause damage to peoples’ cars. Next to the park is a huge ditch filled with deep water, obviously this has worsened due to the recent weather."

"'Not only is this an eye-sore but it’s extremely dangerous and poses a huge risk to young children who may try and explore the area as it’s only fenced off by metal fencing' Craig added. 'Equans departed the estate in mid-summer and has been relishing the headlines of a ‘completed’ estate, unfortunately for my family and many others this isn’t the case and has caused a huge amount of misery. There is no sign that the estate is going to be completed any time soon and the state it has been left in is completely appalling. The fact we have been left with an estate which barely has any street lighting, unfinished roads in a shocking condition and a park that will soon only be suitable for fishing is disastrous and I and many others are starting to have regrets about moving to the estate.'"

"An independent Western Australian building company attached to a major national construction franchise has collapsed into liquidation. On Thursday afternoon, RPH Australia Pty Ltd appointed Robert Brauer and Linda Smith of insolvency firm McGrath Nicol as voluntary liquidators. RPH Australia Pty Ltd was trading under the name GJ Gardner Perth West as it was part of the GJ Gardner network, a major building franchisor which has nearly 100 independent building companies and offices dotted around Australia. One customer told news.com.au he had been waiting three years for his house and there was 'no end in sight.'"

"The man, who wanted to remain anonymous, signed a contract in March 2020 and his build is still not complete. The customer claims the company 'lied constantly to me with false finish dates and progress updates. My build has been a disaster since the first day I signed the contract,' he lamented. 'I also think that GJ Gardner need to take responsibility for this outcome,' he said, adding that 'at no point' did the master franchisor inform customers of the financial difficulties its Perth West branch was facing."

"A five-bedroom house at 55 Cliff Rd, above the elegant Auckland suburb of St Heliers, was this week listed for mortgagee sale by Barfoot & Thompson. Tenders close on Friday at midday. Auckland Council assigned the house a rateable value of $9.9m last year, with a hefty rates bills to match: $19,628 this year. It's the home of Tommy Xianzhen Huang, the owner of property development company Treasure Plus Ltd. As well as Huang's home, the Treasure Plus receivers are trying to sell a $9.2m site in Mission Bay and a $4.5m empty lot in Māngere Bridge and they have written to buyers who have pre-purchased apartments in the 82-unit Dawn Park development in Te Atatū."

"Buyers were already worried about progress on Dawn Park. One young couple told Newshub last year they were worried their life savings were gone. They had purchased one of the apartments off the plans in July 2021, expecting to have keys in hand a year later. But they had watched as materials were removed and the building site was stripped down to bare timber framing. 'We feel absolutely stupid,' they said. 'We haven't had any proper response from them since May, so half a year. We feel powerless.'"

"In its financial stability report yesterday, the Reserve Bank warned that more borrowers are under pressure on their debt obligations. For now, rates of non-performing mortgages and the number of mortgagee sales remain low – but they've been increasing in recent months. 'We expect an increasing share of borrowers will face significant debt servicing stress,' the report says. Early-stage mortgage arrears have increased over the past six months and have now surpassed the levels seen at the start of the pandemic."