A report from Fortune. "In December 2023, existing home sales slipped 1% from November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.78 million, according to National Association of Realtors’ data released Friday. From the prior year, the rate of sales fell 6.2%. By this measure, current market conditions are seemingly even worse than when the housing bubble burst. 'Even during the 2008 housing bust, home sales weren’t as weak as they were in 2023,' Holden Lewis, a senior writer on mortgages at NerdWallet, said in a statement shared with Fortune."

Business Insider. "'The latest month's sales look to be the bottom before inevitably turning higher in the new year,' NAR economist Lawrence Yun said. 'Mortgage rates are meaningfully lower compared to just two months ago, and more inventory is expected to appear on the market in upcoming months. Obviously, the recent, rapid three-year rise in home prices is unsustainable. If price increases continue at the current pace, the country could accelerate into haves and have-nots. Creating a path towards homeownership for today's renters is essential.'"

From CNN. "Rachael Gambino and Garrett Mazzeo planned their financial life by the book: They went to college, paid down debt, saved aggressively, got married, bought a house, started a family. The dream. But sitting at the kitchen table of their suburban Pennsylvania home — an asset they feel both lucky to own and also somewhat trapped by — they say they wouldn’t do it all over again quite the same way. They also have a tenant: Rachael’s younger sister, Kristen Gambino, 26, moved in shortly after they bought the house in 2022, helping them pay the mortgage while saving herself from an increasingly unaffordable rental market."

"But the couple still feels like they’re on a knife’s edge. Their day-to-day lives are dictated by a spreadsheet where Garrett, 35, meticulously manages every dollar coming in and out. Between 2021 and 2022, home prices surged to record highs. Then, as inflation took root and interest rates rose, those too-good-to-miss 3% mortgages vanished. For Garrett and Rachael, missing the low-rate window was a painful blow. 'I don’t think anyone could have foreseen house prices going up 20% or 30% in a three-year period,' Garrett says. The couple says they’re now stuck with a monthly outlay that amounts to about 40% of their take-home income."

The Dallas Morning News. "Lenders are scheduling foreclosure for a luxury 14-story apartment tower just east of downtown Dallas. The 378-unit Gabriella high-rise is on Live Oak Street near Good-Latimer Expressway. It was developed by North Carolina-based Greystar Real Estate Partners and opened in 2020. The building is substantially leased with rents starting near $1,400 a month for the smallest units. The Gabriella is one of the largest potential property foreclosures in North Texas. Building owners have been challenged with rising interest rates and tighter lending requirements. Gabriella developer Greystar Real Estate is one of the country’s largest builders and operators of apartments. Greystar manages or owns more than 120 rental communities in the D-FW area. Greystar recently put up for sale its 23-story Ascent apartment tower in Victory Park northwest of downtown."

The Real Deal on California. "Neil Shekhter, the prominent Los Angeles landlord behind WS Communities, has lost about half of his firm’s portfolio to lenders. WS has signed deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure on 28 multifamily buildings and development sites across L.A. County, as a way to relieve itself of about $1.1 billion in unpaid debt, according to property records. The deeds are a massive blow to Shekhter and his firm, which owned about 2,200 units across L.A. County in 2020. The deeds-in-lieu are tied to more than 870 units, and the firm has sold about 200 units since then, leaving Shekhter with about 1,100 units."

"Deeds-in-lieu offer a faster alternative to a traditional foreclosure proceeding, though still a last resort for borrowers — other remedies, like extensions or a forbearance agreement, at least allow borrowers to keep ownership of their properties while working out debt issues. A source familiar with Shekhter’s deeds-in-lieu said most of the assets are not cash flowing, but the majority of his loans were floating-rate."

The Globe and Mail. "Immigration Minister Marc Miller made the media rounds on the weekend promising to think about – maybe, perhaps, possibly – capping the number of international students Canada accepts, and pinning the blame for an 'out of control' problem on others. Mr. Miller suggested the runaway growth in Canada’s foreign student population had been the fault of the provinces, who have failed to 'rein in those numbers,' as if Ottawa had not been complicit in the recent transformation of the country’s postsecondary education system into one addicted to foreign-student tuition fees."

"'International education makes a large and growing contribution to Canada’s prosperity,' notes a 2018 federal document outlining Ottawa’s 2019-24 International Education Strategy. 'Educational expenditures by international students have a greater impact on Canada’s economy than exports of auto parts, lumber or aircraft.'"

"The Liberals figured they had found a sweet spot that aligned with both their progressive politics and the desire of businesses to recruit more workers abroad and postsecondary institutions to offset shrinking government subsidies with foreign tuition fees. Instead, they ended up creating what National Bank economists Stéfane Marion and Alexandra Ducharme identify as the developed world’s only 'population trap.' That is a recipe for collective impoverishment."

"The worst part of it all is, this was entirely avoidable. Indeed, The Canadian Press reporter Nojoud Al Mallees recently obtained documents under an access to information request showing that the deputy minister of immigration was warned in 2022 by the department’s own bureaucrats about a 'misalignment' between population growth and housing supply."

"The fallout is now plain for all to see. 'Frankly, I’m surprised we screwed it up because we sit in such a privileged position in Canada,' Toronto-Dominion Bank chief economist Beata Caranci mused last week, noting that this country has not faced the same influx of economic migrants seeking asylum that the United States and Europe have been grappling with. 'We designed our own policy, we put it in place, we implemented it, and we still screwed it up.'"

The Nation. "Vivian Etuka, a Nigerian residing in Canada, has cautioned individuals considering migration to Canada to avoid the Ontario province. She said that many Nigerians who lacked proper research and information ended up on the streets upon their arrival in Canada. Etuka, who is the Founder and CEO of Bethel Outreach Community Services spoke in Abuja when she met with the Chairman and CEO of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM). She explained that lots of Nigerians end up in refugee camps as a result of not following the proper channels."

"She advised those considering migration to Canada to steer clear of the Ontario province, citing its overpopulation and high cost of living. She also highlighted the scarcity of housing in Ontario, with many Nigerians reportedly sleeping outdoors in the cold. She said: 'I’m not putting fear on anybody. I’m saying there are right and wrong ways to move to any country. When you’re coming to any country, please make sure you do your research. And make sure you go to like if you’re coming to Canada I speak on Canada because that’s my home. Go to other provinces that are less populated. I’ll tell you again stay away from Ontario. Housing is extremely expensive. I have four days ago, two immigrants that are sleeping outside passed away.'"

Estonian Public Broadcasting. "It isn't war fears causing foreign investors to pull out of Estonia and the Baltics, but rather the fact that Scandinavia's real estate market is in crisis, leading investors to focus on their home market, fund management company EfTEN Capital CEO Viljar Arakas said Friday. 'All of these have one common denominator – foreign investors are leaving,' he highlighted. 'But don't think that war or the threat of war are the issue. Of course it's easy to reduce it to fear of [Russian leader Vladimir] Putin, but fears of Putin aren't any smaller in Finland than in Estonia.'"

"The businessman said he believes 2024 will be a year of trend reversals. 'I believe the price correction on the market will be over in the second half of the year,' he said. There are currently a quarter more rental apartments on offer in Tallinn than a year and a half ago, meaning more choice for renters. 'It's landlords who once saw their financial freedom in a one-room apartment in Mustamäe District bought on massive leverage that are in trouble; they're definitely in trouble today,' the fund management company chief commented. 'But from the tenants' perspective, things are looking more good than bad right now.'"

Rudaw in Kurdistan. "Erbil’s already-struggling real estate sector has been further impacted by recent drone attacks by pro-Iran militia groups targeting United States troops based in the province. Lucrative residential properties located near the airport have witnessed a substantial decline in buyer interest. 'The drone attacks have mostly affected neighborhoods located near the airport and the coalition forces base. This has had a significant impact, discouraging many people from buying them,' Sardar Azad, owner of Amlak chain of real estate offices, told Rudaw English."

"'When suggesting these areas to our clients, they frequently reject the idea of purchasing due to concerns about drone attacks, unwilling to jeopardize their safety. The desire to buy properties in these neighborhoods has plummeted by approximately 70 percent, leading to a 10 percent decrease in prices,' he added."

"Sangar Osman, a realtor with Baghy Shaqlawa, believed that the drone attacks did damage to the real estate sector a few months ago but argued the impact has gradually faded away. 'When the first drone attack was conducted [in late October], many people were alarmed but when the attacks recurred, people got used to it and things returned to normal,' he said. Mahdi Salam, CEO of Haji Salam chain of real estate offices, agreed that the impact of drone attacks is 'temporary.'"

South China Morning Post. "Zeng Baobao, founder of distressed Chinese developer Fantasia Holdings, made a special wish on the last day of 2023: that the company she started in 1996, now beset by debt problems, would find itself on a rumoured 'white list' of developers that will be able to get financial support with the blessings of Chinese authorities. The fact that Zeng, the niece of China's former vice-president Zeng Qinghong, felt the need to post this wish on the company's WeChat account underscores how difficult 2023 was for Chinese home builders - and how precarious the situation remains for many."

"While the list has yet to surface, its supposed existence gives companies such as Fantasia a glimmer of hope that they may be able to escape from a crushing liquidity crisis. However, analysts warn that even the developers that make the list will find the coming years brutal. The landscape of the home-building business in China has been forever altered by the years-long liquidity crisis and a prolonged sales slump, analysts said."

"Yang Huiyan, chairwoman of the company and daughter of founder Yang Guoqiang, pledged at an internal conference in December that the founding family will save the company even if it has to 'smash iron pots and sell scrap.' Yang, China's former richest woman, added at a January meeting that the company will deliver 480,000 homes in 2024 after delivering 600,000 last year. A nationwide tally of unfinished pre-sold homes has bloated to 20 million, according to an analysis by Nomura. The cost to complete those units in 2024 would be 2.7 trillion yuan, even after considering 550 billion yuan the government has promised to help tackle the delivery backlog, the investment bank said."

"'Most developers probably need to accept the fact that the golden age of fast leverage and fast growth is over,' said Gary Ng, a senior economist with Natixis Corporate and Investment Bank. In the past, those entities raised capital easily through offshore bond markets, often at double-digit coupon rates, said Ricky Tsang, an analyst with S&P. 'The firms would take that money, buy land, pre-sell homes, and move on,' he said. 'But it was all based on a belief that land and housing prices could only go up. Now, as this model fades, so has the previous dominance of the private firms. The high-churn business and funding models previously favoured by private firms have become untenable.'"

"Defaulted and distressed developers are rushing to sell assets to generate revenue to pay their bills, rather than buying land and building new projects. For example, a month ago a land plot owned by Logan Group in Shenzhen failed to find a buyer at a forced auction despite a 24 per cent discount. 'Most developers, especially the private ones, will probably want to offload the units they have before they build new ones,' said Natixis's Ng."