It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "As the years have gone by, it appears that some have lost their enchantment with Austin, to the point where companies and founders are also leaving or looking to leave the city. People who moved here for affordability reasons quickly realized the city was not as inexpensive as they expected — especially when it came to housing. Austin’s housing market went berserk in 2020 and 2021. As recently reported by Newsweek, 'by mid-2022, prices were more than 75 percent higher in the city compared to before the pandemic.' What went up is now coming back down, with the same publication reporting that 'prices in Austin are dropping 10 times faster than the national average.'"

"A downtown San Jose housing tower built by a China-based real estate firm whose top boss has been linked to a Bay Area fraud case may face foreclosure proceedings due to delinquent homeowners dues. The property involved in the delinquencies is the two-tower residential complex at 188 West St. James Street in downtown San Jose. The delinquencies have arisen from unpaid dues to the homeowners association for unsold condos in the western tower, county real estate records show. 'It is absolutely mind-boggling that Z&L can’t resolve the HOA payments,' said Bob Staedler, principal executive with Silicon Valley Synergy, a land-use consultancy. Subcontractors have filed several mechanic’s liens against the property. If unresolved, the subcontractors could potentially move towards a foreclosure effort."

"For the past four months, the median price of a single-family home in Redmond has hovered around the $500,000 mark, indicating a market that is stabilizing, according to a monthly housing report. In Bend, however, the story is a bit different. Since July, the median single-family home sales price in Bend has gone from a high of $800,000 to a low of $730,000 in November."

"Many Toronto-area homeowners with a property for sale are facing a dilemma as 2023 winds down: Do I cut my price now or hold out for the potential of a market rebound in the spring? Christopher Bibby, broker with Re/Max Hallmark Bibby Group Realty, says swelling inventory is the metric he is watching most closely. Buyers have more leverage now that total transactions are down by approximately 40 per cent from the springtime in the central market, he adds. Sellers who don’t recognize that dynamics have changed will be disappointed and unsuccessful, Mr. Bibby says. 'I think sometimes people are chasing a market that’s long gone.'"

"Some highly coveted neighbourhoods are seeing listings sit as buyers hesitate. The family-friendly Bedford Park area, for example, had 11 detached houses for sale with asking prices between $3.5-million and $5.5-million at the end of November. Andre Kutyan, broker with Harvey Kalles Real Estate Ltd., says builders are in a tough spot after buying the land and materials, then spending more than one year on construction, only to face a declining market upon completion. If they needed to sell above $5-million to make a solid profit, he understands their reluctance to sell for substantially less. 'At $4.5-million a lot of these guys are losing their shirts,' Mr. Kutyan says. But many will end up selling far below even their discounted asking prices, he believes."

"Nancy Paine's short-term rental business is dead in the water. As CEO of Victoria-based Superhost, Paine said she had been at the forefront of the Airbnb revolution for seven years. But Paine said that will all come to an end next spring when British Columbia enacts a law restricting short-term rentals to a homeowner's principal residence. It's among new housing regulations being rolled out over two years, with the government saying it wants to stop short-term rentals 'taking away homes people need.' 'I expect business volumes to really plummet as of January and then, basically, I won’t have a business as of May 1,' said Paine."

"Short-term rental managers like Paine across B.C. are lamenting the demise of their business model, while real estate agents say owners of investment properties are being forced to sell at a loss or risk being unable to pay their mortgage. Orion Rodgers, another short-term rental property manager in Victoria, manages about 30 properties. He said he also worried his business will be 'erased' under the new law. 'People will face heavy losses … and the people that are going to buy them are not there. No one's there yet because the interest rates are so high and the bar for entry to purchase is so high,' said Rodgers."

"In Kelowna, Amanda Van Der Lee's company, How to Host Property Management and Design, manages properties for short-term rental hosts. She said most of her clients purchased condos in Kelowna to get into the real estate market and if forced to convert them to long-term rentals, they would have no or negative cash flow. 'For someone's mortgage to go up $1,000 to $1,500 a month and not be able to get the amount of rental income on a monthly basis, if they go long term … it would force a sale and properties aren’t selling right now,' said Van Der Lee. 'There are so many properties that are hitting the market. God forbid people buy a vacation home in Kelowna and they're able to subsidize some of the costs of that home by renting it out. Like, when did that become such a crime?' asked Van Der Lee."

"A Nottinghamshire homeowner has shared his regret after moving into a 'horror' estate at a former brewery. Mike Freeman, 35, who moved into the old Hardys & Hansons brewery in Kimberley seven years ago as it was converted into a new housing development, has warned others to stay away from the project. 'I've been here seven years and it is still not finished. I have been in touch with them this last week because they installed my roof incorrectly - loads of people have had leaks in their roofs over the last few weeks due to the weather. I wish I had never moved here. No one should ever go near Fairgrove.'"

"A real estate survey has revealed a declining number of agents are seeing house price increases in their locations. The New Zealand Home Loans Property Report gathered the views of those in the industry on the current residential housing market conditions. Respondents revealed FOMO (fear of missing out) had also declined - down to 28 percent from 33 and 40 percent in the previous two months. Overall, the FOMO indicator 'allows us to comfortably say that there is no frenzy underway in the residential real estate market on average throughout New Zealand,' the report said."

"Korea's housing bubble is anticipated to ease gradually in 2024 after years of surging house prices, according to analysts, Friday. Speculation was backed by house price-linked stats, a diminished wealth gap between the rich and the poor, a downturn in Seoul's house prices for the first time in six months and high interest rates. 'I would not say house prices will plummet, but one thing I can say for sure is that the housing bubble will shrink by a significant level by the beginning of the second half in 2024,' said Kwon Dae-jung, a real estate professor at Sogang University."

"Lee Sang-ho, head of the economic policy team at the Korea Economic Research Institute, said high interest rates will also cause the housing bubble to shrink in 2024. 'The high key interest rate is likely to remain unchanged in the first six months of 2024, as the drastic rate cut, compared to a drastic rate hike, can have a more negative effect on people’s livelihoods and the economy,' Lee said. 'Would-be homeowners are likely to wait and see for the rate to fall, and such an approach will contribute to the gradual easing of the housing bubble.'"