A holiday topic starting with News Corp Australia. "The Block stars Leah and Ash are not going to get a house sale for Christmas, and an update to the home’s listing will come as quite an kick in the teeth. When Lean and Ash’s house failed to sell, the pair have now been forced to drop the price, which has now reduced from $3.2m to $3.125m in a bid to offload it to a buyer in the New Year. 'No, it has not sold yet,' Leah confirmed to the channel last week."

Daily Mail Australia. "A construction company ran by the son-in-law of a prominent developer has collapsed. W3D Constructions Pty Ltd, which operates out of Surfers Paradise and is owned by Ross Wolbers, entered liquidation on December 7. W3D Constructions owes $1.278million to almost 50 creditors including $275,000 owed to NAB, according to a report by liquidator. Mr Wolbers' wife Louise is the daughter of property developing magnate Norm Rix who is one of Queensland's richest people. Subcontracted tradies were told to get there tools and leave work sites as projects abruptly ground to a halt. 'We didn't deserve that, especially at Christmas time,' one told the Courier Mail."

CTV News in Canada. "Damage is estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and two people are displaced after a 'suspicious' fire at a downtown residence on Friday night. According to the Windsor Police Service (WPS), at approximately 7:30 p.m. on Friday officers responded to an active house fire in the 800-block of Brant Street. In an update from Windsor fire posted to social media, Friday’s blaze was 'determined to be an incendiary fire with multiple areas of fire origin.' This is the second blaze in the 800-block of Brant Street within the last four days. Anyone with information is asked to call the WPS Arson Unit."

The Staten Island Advance in New York. "It's been one year since Pete Davidson placed his expansive St. George condo on the market, listing the 1,592-square-foot high-rise-style dwelling for $1.3 million. But did the pricey two-bedroom unit ever sell? Not according to real estate records. Guess even the 'King of Staten Island' is not immune to tough market conditions. Davidson purchased the condo in 2021 for $1.2 million. After marketing the condo for about four months, the Realtor dropped the price to $1.1 million. But after 176 days on the market, it was officially taken down from the Multiple Listing Service."

CNBC on Texas. "For the 12 months ending in November, home sale prices in the metro Austin area dropped by 6.2%, with homes selling for a median of $424,990. The median sales price has fallen for five consecutive months, too. Median rent prices in Austin have decreased by 5.4% for the year ending in November 2023, the second-largest decline among the 50 largest cities, per another Redfin study. Austin is emblematic of the low-interest house-buying frenzy of the pandemic, and how quickly the real estate market can switch from undervalued to overpriced."

"In January 2019, the median price home in Austin was $295,000, slightly less than the U.S. median at the time, which was $298,800, according to Redfin data. At its peak in April 2022, median home sale prices in the Austin metro area reached $555,000 — an 88% increase from 2019. Prices have since cooled, and are now at a median of $424,990 — still well above the national median of $408,732. For homebuyers, Austin is no longer the bargain that it once was."

The Ahwatukee Foothills News in Arizona. "Phoenix REALTORS said the outgoing year was the pits for the Valley housing market – and data for two of Ahwatukee’s three ZIP codes bears that out. 'The residential real estate market was the worst in 2023 since the Great Recession in 2009,' it said in a release. 'It’s a good year to put behind …and prepare for a better 2024.' 'Motivated home buyers and home builders are offering greater concessions this year than typically seen,' said Butch Lieber, outgoing Phoenix REALTORS president. 'Usually, there’s an average of $4,500 in concessions on a home, but this year, we’re seeing concessions worth $10,000 and more, including interest buydowns.'"

The Commercial Observer. "Sorry to be a Grinch and ruin the holiday good times, but there was some bad news we had to report last week. Most notably, a new paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that 14 percent of the $2.7 trillion commercial real estate loan market currently have outstanding balances higher than property values and are at risk of immediate default. That includes 44 percent of office loans."

"And it’s clear that some owners are already feeling the pain. Savanna handed the keys to its 12-story Harlem office building back to its lender to avoid foreclosure. Signa Holding put its 50 percent stake in the Chrysler Building up for sale as the bankrupt Austrian company tries to wind down its vast commercial enterprise. The impact on the office market has been driving down valuations all across the country, especially in California’s Orange County. Several properties have sold at a loss in the area recently, including 3 Hutton Centre Drive, which Tireco bought for $28.9 million, a drop from the $50.5 million that Harbert Corporation and Cypress Office Properties paid in 2016."

The Real Deal on California. "Z&L Properties, with nearly 200 delinquencies for unpaid homeowner dues on unsold condos in Downtown San Jose, has moved closer to default. The Foster City-based developer, owned by disgraced Chinese developer Zhang Li, faces foreclosure for failing to pay homeowner association dues for 190 unsold units at the twin towers at 188 West St. James Street, the San Jose Mercury News reported. The twin towers contain 320 condominiums each, with the delinquencies in the western highrise. A Z&L Properties affiliate that owns the unsold condominiums in the west tower owes unpaid assessments of more than $1.3 million, according to county records.The 188 West St. James Owners Association filed the delinquent liens, warning it might force a 'private sale' of condos to satisfy the unpaid dues and other expenses."

Edhat in California. "An executive at a San Luis Obispo-based real estate development company who was previously charged with paying a county supervisor nearly $100,000 in bribes has been named in a superseding indictment that alleges a scheme to defraud investors in a Texas real estate project, the Justice Department announced this week. Ryan Wright, 37, a.k.a. 'Ryan Petetit,' of Grover Beach, was named in a superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury Wednesday afternoon. The new indictment adds 14 counts of wire fraud, three counts of attempted bank fraud and one count of access device fraud."

"The fraud scheme alleged in the superseding indictment relates to a proposal to develop luxury homes in Dripping Springs, Texas. Over the course of two years – from October 2021 through October 2023, when Wright knew he was under investigation in the alleged corruption scheme – Wright allegedly solicited funds for the real estate development and diverted investors’ money to pay for criminal defense attorneys retained in connection with the bribery investigation, as well as for personal expenses, including a luxury condominium in Beverly Hills, reports the Department of Justice (DOJ). The indictment alleges that Wright continued to solicit investor funds even after the real estate deal collapsed in August 2022. Wright is currently in custody after being ordered detained after his arrest in late October."

The San Gabriel Valley Tribune. "A developer that accepted millions of dollars from a massive program to house the homeless is under investigation by the state for failing to live up to its contractual obligations and stiffing subcontractors who rehabbed facilities in the Inland Empire, Thousand Oaks and other California communities. Pablo Espinoza, a spokesman for the California Department of Housing and Community Development, confirmed in an email that the agency is investigating Shangri-La Industries of Los Angeles and has asked the Attorney General's Office for assistance."

"Gov. Gavin Newsom launched Project Homekey in June 2020 to protect the homeless from the threat of the coronavirus pandemic. To date, the state has allocated more than $3 billion to cities and counties to purchase motels, hotels, vacant apartment buildings and other properties to provide permanent housing to the homeless. Among the subcontractors left holding the bag on the Redlands project was Safeway Electric, which did electrical work at the former Good Nite Inn during renovations. 'I think that Andy Meyers should probably be in jail,' said Melissa Miller, senior account specialist at Safeway Electric in Riverside. 'I think this is awful that it's been allowed to get this far.'"

"Subcontractor Adolfo Gomringer said Shangri-La still owes him $93,000 for the work his company did at the former All Star Lodge. Gomringer, 34, of Los Angeles said he worked on the Step Up in San Bernardino project, off and on, from March 2021 through December 2022, doing demolition and installing metal framing, drywall and flooring. Gomringer said he's been trying for the past year to get Shangri-La to pay up. 'I have $100,000 in credit card debt because of this,' he said, noting that he was forced to use credit cards to cover expenses such as materials and employee pay."

The Daily Breeze. "California's economy could use some holiday cheer. Let me offer an economic gift list for California. Below are 12 business needs for the coming year — complete with a sprinkling of trusty spreadsheet input on why each one comes with challenges ahead. More arrivals: 1.2% of California residents in 2022 were relocations from other states — the worst attraction rate in the nation. California's population is at 2016 levels. Until somebody creates a 'move here' mentality, the state's body count will wither. Deeper discounts: 3.2% increase in California consumer prices in the year ended in October, according to the state Department of Finance. That's far below the 8.3% inflation of June 2022, but it's not the 2.7% average of 2015-2019. California living was unaffordable enough until the latest inflation outburst made budget-balancing even tricker. Dare one wish for housing price cuts?"

"Shopping sprees: 1.6% fewer retail sales in California, minus inflation, for the year ended in August — a drop we have seen in 15 of the past 16 months. That's what you get when high inflation and small raises collide and shrink consumer buying power. It's a key reason optimism is low. More workers: 18.5 million Californians say thev're got a job — the same staffing level as five years ago. It's not clear why growth has halted. Is it a wave of retirements? Or workers exiting the state? Or have some Californians see work as a poor financial option when considering the cost of commuting, childcare, clothing, etc.?"

The Los Coast Outpost in California. "The origin of Christmas is really a long story in itself. I don’t mean the event it is supposed to commemorate, I mean the journey from the event to the holiday in December as we know it. But in the Humboldt area early on, none of that was known and the day ! no such significance to anyone. It was only with the coming of the white settlers — with their traditions — that Christmas was noted on the local calendar. The first year that naming occurred was in 1849, or so we are told by L.K. Wood."

"Wood was part of the Josiah Gregg party, a group of more determined than prudent explorers who sought a quicker way to supply the miners inland. They ended on a plateau above the marshy area north of Humboldt Bay, close to what is today the location of the Arcata Plaza. Tired, hungry and with dark coming, some set up camp while others went to hunt food. Elk were sighted and shots were fired, but the men came back to camp empty-handed for their Christmas Eve dinner. On Christmas Day, with the morning light, a dead elk was found in the brush. Wood said they roasted the head in the ashes for their Christmas feast. They were so hungry that the simple fare was enjoyed, Wood wrote."

"The 1850 housing of early pioneer Frank S. Duff was in the burned out base of a redwood tree near what is now Ryan’s Slough. In an interview in a local newspaper, Duff remembered that Christmas dinner that year consisted of three wild geese killed with boat paddles in the slough, plus bread and coffee. He said he missed the vegetables, the sound of Christmas bells, letters from home, and entertainments of the past. It seems that Christmas as a season or a day is when memories and expectations come up against reality. Wood and Duff found the reality lacking when stacked up against the memories, but acceptable to the expectations they had."

"Life then was not just a struggle to make a living —to provide food and shelter in an area isolated from supplies and amenities offered by cities. The settling of the West and the politics of the East caused struggles of another sort. The proximity in the newspaper of the information about a bill passed to allow the organization of local companies of men into military units to protect the frontier to the editorial decrying the lack of interest in the holidays may help to explain the editorial comment."

"The December 24, 1859 Humboldt Times editorial said: We do not remember, at any time of our life, to have seen so little interest manifested at the approach of Christmas as at present. In fact, people, both old and young, don’t appear to regard tomorrow as commemorative of any great event. We don’t believe that one half the children in town know that tomorrow will be Christmas. We haven’t seen a bunch of firecrackers, a makebelieve cannon or wooden-sword exhibited in a show window yet. We haven’t heard Santa Claus mentioned by 'little posterity,' and unless his advent is announced soon we fear the shopkeepers will find dull sale for peanuts, candies and tin whistles. Why don’t you tell the little people Christmas is coming?"