A report from the Dayton Daily News in Ohio. "The amount of homes sold in the Dayton area declined in 2023 compared to the previous year. The local housing market last year saw buyers making fast offers and then sometimes having 'a little bit of buyer's remorse' afterward because they felt so highly competitive with multiple offers on many properties, said Kelly McCormick, president of Dayton Realtors. She said the housing market tilts a bit toward a seller's market because of housing demand amid a lack of inventory. Austin Castro, a team leader at Coldwell Banker agreed, but added that the current home buying market is not as one-sided and 'reckless' as it was 18 months ago. 'We're still seeing multiple offers to some extent, but we're not seeing $50,000 over this price, no inspections, no appraisal. That's not here, so it's a much better environment to buy,' he said."

ABC 12 in Michigan. "Fourteen months after a fire heavily damaged a building at the Fairways at Woodfield apartment complex, internal repairs haven't started in earnest. For the condo co-owners, those completed repairs are still a long way off and they need help. The dues include a significantly increased insurance premium since the fire. 'We won't ever be whole from this situation. Like, it just keeps getting worse. When we think it can't get any worse, something else gets thrown at us,' said Amanda Adritsis, who used to live in the building."

"Adritsis, a mother of two, said she feels caught between a rock and a hard place. 'I need to figure out what I'm going to do -- if I'm just going to walk away from the property and let it be foreclosed on, if I'm going to have to file for bankruptcy,' she said. 'Like, there's no way I'll be able to afford long-term paying for two places to live and then paying that much for dues.' Andritsis said selling her unit isn't feasible at this point because those high fees on top of the mortgage would turn away most buyers."

The Philadelphia Inquirer in Pennsylvania. "June 5 marked the 10-year anniversary of one of Philadelphia’s deadliest mass casualty events, when a building being demolished on Market Street collapsed onto a Salvation Army thrift store next door. The catastrophe killed seven people, injured 12, and raised an outcry for reforms. But, in the years since, construction-related collapses — and fatalities — have continued. Cookie Hopkins, 65, lives in the two-story rowhouse her parents bought in 1947. The house adjoining hers had been deteriorating. In 2022, a developer removed the facade and left the front semi-exposed. This house was Hopkins’ retirement plan. Now, she worries that it could collapse. 'I’m like a sitting duck here,' she said. Her daughter wants her to sell and get out. 'It’s easier said than done when you’re older and you don’t have the money.'"

From CalMatters. "The fire-insurance premium for Bill King’s home has risen 145% since 2017 — from $399 to $979 — under the California FAIR Plan, the state’s last option for homeowners seeking fire insurance. Add that to the increase in his auto-insurance premium, and King, who lives in Running Springs in the San Bernardino Mountains, is worried. 'What do I do?' asked King, a retiree who will turn 70 years old this summer. “Do I move out of California? At some point I’m going to have to look at things… Will I be able to face future increases depending on how long I’ll live?' A former Orange County employee, he said he’s having a tough time wrapping his head around the situation: 'It’s hard when you’ve planned your retirement and your insurance company comes along and threatens your economic well-being.'"

The Los Angeles Times in California. "Two years ago, YouTube star Luan Palomera paid $1.5 million for a chic vacation home in Palm Springs. Today, he’d be lucky to get $1 million for it. As L.A. continues its crackdown on Airbnb, city officials can turn toward the desert for an example — perhaps a cautionary tale — of the potential side effects of curbing the short-term rental market. In Palm Springs, a cap on short-term rentals in specific high-demand neighborhoods has all but frozen the market in those communities. Sales are down. Homes languish on the market for months. And investors who bought up Palm Springs properties during the COVID-19 pandemic are facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses."

"Michael Slate, a local real estate agent, said most agents don’t even bother hosting open houses for listings in capped neighborhoods. 'No one shows up,' he said. 'Buyers are aware of the cap, and properties on the market in those neighborhoods don’t get a lot of activity.' Slate has one client who paid $1.1 million for a home and spent $300,000 on renovations. Then the cap kicked in. Now, she’s not sure she’d be able to sell it for $1 million."

"Real estate agent Tim Sarlund said some investors who bought homes during the pandemic are facing foreclosure. 'Homes that used to pull $1.2 million are struggling to get $800,000,' Sarlund said. 'My neighborhood has dropped 30% to 40% in value.' He’s currently representing a seller who paid $1.16 million for a house in the Gene Autry neighborhood with plans to put it on Airbnb, but they weren’t able to secure a permit before the ordinance kicked in. The house hit the market less than a year later asking $1.4 million. Five price cuts and 10 months later, it’s still waiting for a buyer at $875,000. More price cuts are probably on the way. 'They’re set up to lose a lot of money,' Sarlund said."

CTV News in Canada. "Home sales in some major markets in northeastern Ontario fell sharply last year, according to the Ontario Real Estate Association. The biggest drop was in Timmins, where sales were down 32.8 per cent compared to December 2022. 'Home sales were 44.4 per cent below the five-year average and 36.6 per cent below the 10-year average for the month of December,' the CREA said. The average price of homes sold in December 2023 was $250,988, a decrease of 8.3 per cent from a year earlier."

From Time Out in the UK. "At Time Out, we’re big fans of all things London – who knew? – but it’s no secret that this city’s housing market can be a waking nightmare. Rent prices in some postcodes skyrocketed last year, while property prices have fluctuated a whole lot too. But we can’t look at the city as just one place. Average house prices across the capital might’ve dropped by six percent overall, but there is massive disparity between different areas and boroughs. Some saw a rise of four percent, but others saw a drop of 28 percent, according to the Standard."

"For plenty of other areas in the city – particularly the wealthiest ones – things haven’t been looking quite so healthy. In fact, a study by Savills found that homes valued at £5 million fell by as much as 13 percent. The City of London, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster, three of London’s most expensive boroughs, have all seen prices drop the hardest. The average cost of a house in these areas has been reduced by 27.7, 17.6 and 14.6 percent respectively. But it’s not just these mega-pricey boroughs that have experienced drops. Lots of areas in the city’s outskirts have witnessed lower prices too. Ealing saw a 9.7 percent drop, and Croydon, widely considered one of London’s most affordable (though – apparently – depressing) boroughs, had a 7.9 percent drop. Hammersmith and Fulham were also down, with a drop of 6.8 percent."

News.com.au in Australia. "Another building company has collapsed, leaving homeowners, tradies and staff in limbo with debts of $3.5 million. News.com.au can reveal that last Thursday, Alpha Building Group Pty Ltd went into liquidation. All staff have been sacked and 10 homeowners across the Greater Melbourne area have been left with unfinished projects following the company’s demise. Blake*, a dad-of-three, has been left devastated by the news, with fears his plans for a $1.8 million dream home have gone up in smoke."

"'Me and my wife have been saving for six years, we’ve just started a new business, it’s really come at a terrible time,' the 39-year-old homeowner told news.com.au. To date, the family have paid $350,000 to Alpha by way of progress payments, causing him to lament 'all we have to show for it is a slab of concrete.' The young dad, with three kids under the age of nine, also said in the days leading up to the liquidation appointment, the company’s phone number became disconnected."

"A staggering 2349 construction firms have collapsed in the past year — with fears more may fall soon. Shamefully, in 96 per cent of cases where small and medium sized businesses go under, only between zero and 11 cents is recovered for every dollar owed to out-of-pocket creditors."

From Bloomberg. "The deep freeze in what was the world’s hottest property market is prompting a significant shift in strategy by homeowners in Hong Kong. With prices approaching a seven-year low and sales the fewest in nearly three decades, many owners are choosing to rent out second or third properties rather than sell, hoping that the downturn will end when borrowing costs fall and China’s economy improves. Even the government has suspended residential land sales for the first time in 14 years due to poor demand. These days, the market is only going in one direction, weighed down by a flood of distressed properties."

"Super luxury prices in Hong Kong have fallen by 25%-30% in the past 18 months and may decline a further 15%-20% over the next 12 months, Savills plc said in a November report. Chen’s house, like many others bought by Chinese real estate moguls, was seized last year by a creditor after he fell into financial difficulties amid China’s property market slump. 'Mainland clients who were key buyers in the last decade are now lying low,' said Landscope CEO Keng Shing Koh. 'The market may only go up again when the economy in the region recovers."

From Reuters. "Chinese Premier Li Qiang went to the World Economic Forum in Davos last week with a mission to present a positive image of the economy and schmooze financial elites: Investing in the Chinese market is not a risk, but an opportunity.' The message fell flat. As soon as Chinese markets reopened the next day, a years-long sell-off in stocks and other assets accelerated, even as official data confirmed Li's surprising early reveal that economic growth comfortably hit last year's target. 'The news was not the data. It was Li Qiang in Davos,' said Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief economist for Asia Pacific at Natixis. 'It was really underwhelming and bewildering. It doesn't show confidence. To just give a number that everybody was expecting … it’s bewildering. Was there anything else?'"

"The disconnect between the positive official messaging and the concerns that nervous investors and penny-pinching Chinese citizens are raising over the economy is growing. Alfred Wu, associate professor at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, says one of the root causes is the concentration of power in President Xi Jinping's third term, which creates hesitation at lower levels in making policy choices, as well as communicating with the public. 'The information flow through the system has become very slow in Xi’s third term. The market started to worry, but no policies came out. And when policies were announced, they were too late,' said Wu. 'As a market player, you have no idea what’s going to happen tomorrow. That’s a scary thing. At the end of the day, it’s confidence – people don’t believe the narrative.'"