A report from the Idaho Statesman. "In 2023, home sales in Ada and Canyon counties fell to their lowest point since 2009. 'The past year was a needed correction in the market,' said Mike Pennington of John L. Scott Real Estate in Boise. 'The market was overheated in 2020 and 2021.'"

The Plain Dealer in Ohio. "'So we’re in a strange market right now,' said DeChella Woodruff, a Cleveland-based real estate agent with Century 21. 'Now the average home sits on the market for about 60 to 90 days, which this is considered a healthy market, but previously it was a few days. Right now we’re in a market correction. It’s not really a seller’s market and it’s not a buyer’s market. It’s like we’re right in the middle right now.'"

KGUN in Arizona. "'Bridgett Baldwin is an Associate Real Estate Broker with The Tucson Agents and says that here in Tucson it is currently a buyer’s market. She explained that right now sellers have to be more competitive with their pricing. 'When rates drop you can refinance so right now is a great time for buyers because there’s a larger amount of inventory and they aren’t having to give up things like inspections, appraisals and cash out of pocket just to get the house,' Baldwin said."

The Santa Barbara Independent in California. "There’s a seeming contradiction in the local housing market right now: Prices overall are not dropping when looking at the market as a whole, but home buyers are noticing price reductions on a good number of individual listings. What’s up with that? Median selling price for the year 2023 was $2,100,000, compared to $2,150,000 in 2022. That’s only a 2.3 percent difference for all homes on the South Coast of Santa Barbara County, which is Goleta through Carpinteria. We are coming off several years of rapidly increasing sales prices, so it’s understandable that home sellers price their homes correspondingly — higher than the last sale. But this isn’t working anymore. Homes that are overpriced for today’s market are lingering on the market, getting price drop after price drop. Homes that are 10 percent or more overpriced are often being passed over by buyers who are mindful of not overpaying."

"Keep in mind that median price reflects the mix of homes sold as well as price appreciation. More homes selling at the higher end will bring the median up, which we saw in 2020 and 2021. Relatively more homes selling at the lower end will skew that median lower, which we are starting to see now. If you look at Carpinteria/Summerland, it looks like it’s a buyer’s market with 17 months of inventory. More than six months of inventory strongly favors buyers. However, if you dive deeper, you’ll see that most of these listings are expensive homes. It’s a buyer’s market for those looking to spend more than $10 million in Carpinteria."

The San Francisco Chronicle in California. "The Bay Area real estate listing that went viral for what appeared to be a very sad office-to-housing conversion last summer has sold. The 'live/work' opportunity in San Rafael was listed for $520,000 in May 2023, reduced in price in late July to $480,000 and ultimately sold for $440,000 in November. At just over 1,000 square feet, the unit has a washer and dryer, a bathroom converted to include a shower, and a new kitchen. The Zillow listing came under some playful TikTok scrutiny for its 'soul-crushing' office feel, with its drab gray carpet and stained commercial ceiling tiles. But Joe McCallum, an associate at commercial real estate firm Newmark who co-listed the property, said while 'everyone had a good laugh,' the video didn’t accurately represent the property. 'It was never supposed to be an apartment,' McCallum said."

"He's heard one of the two units will become a massage studio; the other's use is still being decided. These types of flexible options may become more common as the Bay Area continues to reassess its need for typical office space, he said. 'The market is in a weird place,' he said. 'I wouldn't say there’s desperation, but you need to be able to understand the upsides. It’s a ‘what are our options mindset.'"

WFAA in Texas. "Lenders plan to foreclose on a newly built apartment complex just east of downtown Dallas anchored by a ground-floor Tom Thumb grocery store. The 2-acre property at the intersection of Live Oak and Texas streets that includes the Gabriella apartments, just north of Deep Ellum, has been scheduled for a foreclosure sale on Feb. 6, according to Dallas County documents. The lender, an entity tied to the New York offices of Ares Commercial Real Estate Management LLC, has requested foreclosure over a $127 million loan for the property originated by an affiliate of owner and developer Greystar in January 2022."

"Despite being a newer complex with a great location and amenities, the high number of new apartments being constructed has forced this complex, like many others, to lower asking rents, according to Steve Triolet, a real estate analyst for Partners. For five of the past six quarters, according to Triolet, the property has had negative rent growth. 'With increasing debt costs due to high interest rates, many apartment complexes are in for a great deal of short-term distress as near-record supply outpaces household formation for the current time period,' Triolet said."

"Aaron Amuchastegui, CEO of Roddy's Foreclosure Listing Service, said that capitalization rates used by appraisers for new loans and refinance appraisals have fallen in recent years in the face of rising interest rates, and multifamily properties are now appraising for 20% to 30% less than they were two years ago. 'Unfortunately, we are starting to see a lot of multifamily foreclosures being posted, even though most of them have been operating as expected,' Amuchastegui said. 'I am surprised to see this one being posted for foreclosure so soon after completion, and of the many postings we have seen over the last 12 months, this is one of the largest properties.'"

Bisnow Washington DC. "It’s not easy to watch $64M evaporate. But that’s what Doug Donatelli did last month when he and his partners decided that selling a downtown D.C. office building for $36M that they had bought for $100M was the smarter decision than putting more money into the asset. 'We would love to have seen a signal from the market telling us it made more sense to make the investment than to bail, but that signal was never there,' said Donatelli, co-founder of DSC Partners. The sudden disappearance of nearly two-thirds of the building’s value was difficult for Donatelli, the former CEO of First Potomac Realty Trust and a 35-year veteran of D.C.’s office market. He had seen a clear path to adding value when he bought it in 2018, but his firm is far from alone in mistiming the market."

"A string of investors has been wiped out in recent months by the most dramatic disruption to the city’s office market most commercial real estate professionals have ever seen. This wave of deals shows that owners have capitulated — accepting that many of their buildings are worth no more than the value of the dirt they sit on — and they are deciding to cut their losses. The properties sold in recent weeks have all traded for less than 40% of their previous sale prices, and there is concern that values have further to fall."

"Several of the deals have come from lenders selling properties after foreclosing on buildings where owners defaulted on their loans. MRP Realty Associate Vice President Nick Gordon said most lenders aren’t set up to hold large amounts of office assets on their books and have immediately initiated sale proceedings, a trend he expects to continue this year. 'If you’re forced to take these back and you can’t handle them, you have to sell for whatever the market gives, and that’s just creating this situation where they’re taking what they can get,' he said."

The Globe and Mail in Canada. "The pace of the Toronto-area real estate market feels slightly more energetic in January as some aspiring buyers take tentative steps away from the sidelines. Prices softened over the fall, and sellers willing to price their house or condo realistically were able to strike deals during December and early January, says Christopher Bibby, broker with Re/Max Hallmark Bibby Group Realty. 'The sooner we come to terms with the fact prices have come down, the sooner we’ll see more transactions,' says Mr. Bibby."

"At 138 Princess St., Mr. Bibby set an asking price of $949,900 for a two-bedroom penthouse in the building’s south-west corner. The unit sold for $915,000. 'People are being budget-conscious in the market and don’t want to overpay,' Mr. Bibby says. 'It’s very important for buyers to feel they’re getting just a little bit off.' Jimmy Molloy, real estate agent with Chestnut Park Real Estate Ltd., notes that last year the GTA tallied its worst year in sales since 2000. The decrease in prices in the GTA since the peak in February, 2022 follows a strong run-up during the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic. 'A lot of that COVID premium has been taken out of the market.'"

"But that dip also discourages homeowners who are thinking about listing, he adds. 'There are sellers for sure who think this is not the time to give away their property.' As more listings arrive with the start of the spring market, buyers will become more engaged, he says. 'Inventory gets people’s attention.'"

The Sun in the UK. "A block of flats has been dubbed worthless after apartment owners claimed they can feel the building shake when a lorry goes past. Dan Bruce, 40, is frightened that his entire building will fall apart if nothing is done to fix the endless problems. Located in Camden, Dan thought he was starting an exciting new chapter when he purchased the top-floor apartment at the Agar Grove complex in March 2019. Dan said: 'I’ve got a house, it’s meant to be a home, that I paid a lot of money for, £800,000, and it’s worth zero. And there’s absolutely nothing I can do about it. And so that makes me absolutely f***ing enraged.'"

Daily Mail Australia. "A building firm has collapsed owing more than $6million to creditors. Insignia Homes, which is based on the Gold Coast, has stopped all work on its sites after going into liquidation on Monday. This leaves a confirmed eight Insignia sites to languish despite the homes being near to completion in the Queensland cities of Toowoomba and Logan. However, a contractor told the Gold Coast Bulletin there are many other builds stalled at earlier construction stages. The company's sole director Kevin Ross said it's 'a sad time for everyone involved' but declined to answer further."

"A subcontractor who claims to be owed more than $100,000 said the carnage in the building industry has left them repeatedly out of pocket. 'Obviously it sucks because that money comes straight off the profit line,' the person said. 'We've paid for everything upfront.' Also on Thursday it was reported a major construction company that built houses across Melbourne had collapsed, owing up to $3.5million. Alpha Building Group Pty Ltd fell into liquidation last Thursday, with all staff sacked and 10 clients now left with unfinished homes."

From Bloomberg. "No stationery at government meetings, a ban on flashy buildings and inspectors to watch for wasted food at official functions. These are some of the measures that local governments across China are taking in accordance with an order from Beijing that they 'get used to belt-tightening,' an edict laid down last month by top leaders at the Central Economic Work Conference. The order’s use of the term xiguan, meaning 'get used to,' is particularly significant. It’s the first time top officials have used the word in such a context, suggesting that despite Xi’s yearslong campaign to crack down on ostensible displays of wealth and corruption, many parts of the bureaucracy are still lagging behind."

"The term xiguan is 'foreseeing that the financial situation is unlikely to fundamentally improve for a considerable period in the future,' said Lu Xi, an assistant professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore who specializes in China’s economy. 'The central government is unlikely to provide financial assistance to local governments.' The corruption watchdog said in an editorial last week that xiguan 'emphasizes that living on a tight budget is not a requirement or a solution just for the time being.' It also warned that some local governments are asking for more money than they deserve from the Beijing."