A report from Sarasota Magazine in Florida. "'Lots of sellers are over-asking and still aiming for the numbers they saw right after the pandemic,' says Bernadette Caswell, of Michael Saunders & Company. 'But that was a blip and it’s over. Sellers need to get more realistic. The public will tell you what your home is worth. If you have 30 showings, and it doesn’t sell, then you have your answer.' The effects of panic buying are showing. Brian Tresidder, 2023 Real Association of Sarasota-Manatee president cited a national survey that indicated some buyer’s remorse. 'In a market that’s not in a frenzy, buyers take more days and maybe look at 10 homes. In the last few years, if you wanted [to buy], you didn’t have that time. People say they picked the best option at the time but would have liked to have more options. It’s tying into that rising inventory now.'"

The Denver Post in Colorado. "Thomas James Homes will wind down its Denver operations by next fall and exit the state after finding a tougher-than-expected market. 'We did decide to phase out of the market,' confirmed Steve Kalmbach, president and COO of the California-based homebuilder. 'Relative to our other locations, Denver wasn’t as robust.' Kalmbach said the company’s business model relies on a 'resilient pricing structure' for consumers. Translated, the company needed to see its new homes sell for what it expected them to sell for before construction started. The company often found it had to carry homes in Denver to the final stage, which resulted in prices getting squeezed."

From Newsweek. "Austin, Texas, the fastest-growing large metro area at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, is set to see house prices plummet as sellers look to come to terms with buyers who are interested in purchasing homes but struggle to contend with elevated prices, analysts told Newsweek. 'If you are a homeowner in Austin, you were really happy when house prices were going up so sharply because of the added demand,' said Brad Case, chief economist at real estate developer Middleburg Communities. 'Then the new supply came in, and now you're looking at the possibility of having to take, not necessarily a lower price than you paid when you bought, but certainly a lower price than if you had sold a year ago. So, there is an oversupply problem in Austin.'"

The Texas Tribune. "Federal authorities on Wednesday sued Houston-area developer Colony Ridge, accusing it of luring Latino home buyers into seller-financed mortgages and setting them up to default and face foreclosure.Colony Ridge entities developed a collection of subdivisions that cover about 33,000 acres of land 30 miles north of Houston. Those neighborhoods drew the attention of Gov. Greg Abbott and the Republican-controlled Legislature after right-wing publications claimed they are a magnet for undocumented immigrants and overrun by crime. Federal authorities outlined the general workings of an alleged scheme that began with videos and ads in Spanish aimed at drawing Latino customers to visit Colony Ridge’s properties — often featuring the national flags of Latin American countries and admission into contests for gifts like a free tractor. Once a person visited the property, the developer allegedly used high-pressure sales tactics, required minimal down payments and then extended loans without assessing a buyer’s ability to repay or verifying their gross income."

From Post Online. "As borrowing costs remained elevated, California's existing home sales registered the biggest monthly decline last month over the past year and dropped to the lowest level since the Great Recession, the California Association of Realtors reported. The state has experienced steeper price drops than the rest in the nation over the past year. In San Francisco, one of the most expensive urban areas in the country, average home values dropped to 1.2 million dollars in November since reaching a peak of nearly 1.5 million dollars in May 2022, according to the Zillow."

"'Washington, D.C., could be the new ground zero for office distress,' Trepp Research Director Stephen Buschbom told Bloomberg. The proportion of loans defined as criticized has nearly doubled in less than a year. It sat at 38.4% at the end of 2022. The figure not only reflects the impacts of the pandemic but also long-term weaknesses in the region's office market. In 2019, 12.1% of office loans were criticized in the D.C. area. That figure was 1% in San Francisco and 6.1% in New York City."

Arlington Now in Virginia. "Question: Do you think that the newly announced stadium for the Capitals and Wizards will cause home values to increase in Potomac Yard and the surrounding neighborhoods? Answer: I think that many residents/future residents will find that the cost of the congestion far exceeds the benefit of marginal improvements to local entertainment and retail. If enough homeowners consider the new arena to be a net negative for themselves, the logical conclusion is that demand in and around Potomac Yard will fall, which means a new arena will have a negative effect on the value of homes in the congestion area. I think this is a terrible deal not just for the people who live nearby the proposed stadium but for Virginians and the entire DMV."

"The entire DMV suffers because access to the stadium becomes more difficult for a majority of fans (think about people coming from the Maryland suburbs), the teams leave their home city, and downtown D.C. gets crippled by the loss of sporting events. A strong, vibrant D.C. core is important for the entire DMV and this is a crushing blow to an already fragile downtown."

Bisnow on Georgia. "There are a few words to describe Atlanta’s commercial real estate scene in 2023: Transitional. Challenging. Sobering. But perhaps the most representative word for the year that was, above all, defined by the highest interest rates in decades? Purgatory, said RADCO Cos. founder Norm Radow. 'Sellers know they’re going to hell, but they’re grabbing on and delaying what will happen. No matter how fast [the Federal Reserve cuts rates], the fact is we overshot ourselves in values in 2020 and 2021, and the piper has to be paid.' The pullback has been concentrated in Atlanta’s technology sector, a sector that is under pressure due to skyrocketing interest rates and a decline in venture capital funding, said John Boyd, the principal of corporate site selection consulting firm The Boyd Co."

"'Technology companies, until this economic slowdown, have been flush with cash,' Boyd said. 'When these guys are in cost-cutting mode, it has ripple effects.' Windsor Stevens Holdings Managing Member Rod Mullice, who is developing an apartment project not far from Microsoft's stalled campus, said the failure of Silicon Valley Bank has especially impacted Atlanta’s tech industry, cutting off a prominent source of funding. 'The VC community is reeling right now,' Mullice said. 'The startup community is in bad shape. We have a bunch of zombie technology companies.'"

"K.C. Conway, principal at economic research firm Red Shoe Economics, said that migration into Georgia is now happening from Florida in great part because the cost of operating and owning real estate has jumped. 'What's the No. 1 reason that they're moving out of Florida? It's not because it's a nice place or sunny and all that kind of stuff. The No. 1 [reason is the] expense side, and it's out of control: property insurance,' Conway said. 'Businesses are saying, ‘You know, we can't make it work.’ Homeowners can't make it work. Their property and their monthly property insurance premium exceeds their mortgage.'"

From CP 24. "Buyers are in the 'driver’s seat' in almost all of Ontario’s real estate markets and the 'sluggish' conditions are likely to persist into 2024, a recent report from RBC suggests. In the report the bank said that the MLS home price index in Toronto was down 1.7 per cent in November and has now been declining since August amid 'softening demand-supply conditions' brought about by the Bank of Canada’s aggressive interest rate hiking campaign. New listings are significantly outpacing sales. A similar phenomenon is also being observed across parts of British Columbia, RBC said."

"The average price of a home across all property types in the GTA peaked at $1,334,062 in February 2022, prior to the Bank of Canada’s first interest hike. Average prices eventually dropped to a low of $1,037,542 but rebounded in the spring amid temporary declines in fixed-mortgage rates. In its report, RBC said that home resales have now declined 13 per cent since June 'reversing almost entirely the spring rebound.' It said that it expects the downturn to linger in to 2024 as 'elevated ownership costs remain a deterrent for homebuyers.' 'Property values are coming under increasing downward pressure across large parts of Canada. This is particularly the case in Ontario,' the bank said."

The Timmins Daily Press in Canada. "Police are investigating another potential arson at a residence in Garson. It’s the second time in less than six weeks that a blaze at the Orell Street building has struck responders as suspicious. 'The fire was extinguished prior to the arrival of fire services,' said Greater Sudbury Police. 'However, firefighters determined the fire to be suspicious.' There was minimal damage to the residence and no injuries were reported. Back on Nov. 13, crews responded around 5 a.m. to a fire at the same address. While no-one was injured, the building sustained damage and the blaze was deemed suspicious. 'Prior to the residents being alerted to the fire by the fire alarms inside the residence, an unknown suspicious person dressed in dark clothing was seen in the vicinity of the building,' police said at the time."

The Meath Chronicle in Ireland. "Angry would be buyers of homes in Rathmoylon say they are 'devastated' at facing another Christmas locked out of their dream houses. In October, Receivers were appointed to Meathamatic Ltd, the company behind Ringfort, a development consisting of 16 three- and four-bedroom semi-detached homes sold off the plans aimed at first time buyers. Prospective buyer signed contracts and paid up to €30,000 in deposits some as far back as 2020 but now fear the project will never be completed after solicitors acting on behalf of receivers advised that matters between all parties 'had come to an end.'"

"Another buyer who signed a contract to buy a house worth €275,00 used a Help to Buy deposit of €27,500 and paid a €5000 holding deposit in cash in 2020. 'I had €15000 worth of extras sitting in that house, that cash is gone. I’m up at a figure of about €50,000 so far.' she said."

From ABC News. "The South Australian government will spend three times what was initially forecast to finish building essential infrastructure at a housing development in Adelaide's south that was left in limbo following the collapse of a building company. The state government announced in August that it would build a road and other essential infrastructure at a housing estate in O'Halloran Hill, where 20 homebuyers were left with half-built properties after the builder, Felmeri Homes, went into liquidation in July."

"Homebuyer Edward Gilmore said according to the most recent timeline, he should be able to move into his property in May while the road was expected to be finished by July. 'We really hope that is the time frame and it doesn't blow out beyond that,' he said. 'The biggest struggle we've had … is trying to plan our lives really,' he said. Mr Gilmore, who now has a new builder, said he had signed the initial contract expecting to move in by Christmas 2021. 'This will be our fourth Christmas since we signed,' he said."