A report from Sarasota Magazine in Florida. "See ya later, panic-buying, bidding wars and forgone home inspections. The post-Covid buying rush is all but gone, and important housing market markers like inventory, and days on the market have increased substantially compared to 2022, according to the Realtor Association of Sarasota Manatee (RASM). 'There are many options for buyers to choose from right now,' says local realtor Jeremy Egglefield of Keller Williams Realty. 'I see a lot of price decreases on listings that aren’t selling right away. Some go ‘pending’ and then later to ‘back on market’ at a lower price until finally it sells. The bidding wars are long gone.'"

KOAA News 5. "Some home prices are falling in Colorado Springs. One local Realtor tells us that in the last seven days, there have been 186 home price reductions. 'The reason is, caused by the interest rate, mostly, and the optimism of people thinking we’re still back in 2020, and we’re not, and they put it on the market at a high number. Then they realize they’re not going to get showings, they’re not going to get feedback, and they go ahead and lower it,' said Joe Clement, Broker Owner of Remax Properties in Colorado Springs."

The Real Deal on California. "While San Francisco officials have pitched plans to upzone transit corridors to make way for thousands of homes, residents are shocked by the results. The reality of those blueprints are now sinking in for neighborhoods such as Lakeside, where the city proposes to allow 85-foot-tall apartment buildings next to single-family homes, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Resident Jim Hurlihy agrees that there are some sites where more density is appropriate. But he called the current rezoning plan 'sloppy, one-size-fits-all.' 'It’s a knee-jerk reaction to what is going on in Sacramento, a flawed process the consequences of which we are going to have to live with for decades,' Hurlihy, a Lakeside resident since 1987, told the Chronicle. 'How many other neighborhoods haven’t read the fine print and will be stuck with this kind of stealth upzoning?'"

WNEM in Michigan. "The rain and snow of the past week left a single mother with a severely flooded basement. It was her first home, and it may end up leaving her bankrupt. 'It breaks my heart. I mean, I bought this house for my kids and I worked really hard to get this house,' said Flint Township resident Jayla Beggs. When Beggs moved into her first home in Flint Township the day before Thanksgiving, she thought it was a dream come true. However, on Friday, Jan. 26, that dream turned into a nightmare. Two months after buying the home, she smelled smoke coming from her furnace. 'I came downstairs and my house was flooded. The basement and the other level above the basement was flooded,' she said. 'I do know it came in through the foundation.'"

"Beggs said the water came from rain and melting snow from her neighbors’ properties, which was information she said was not disclosed by the real estate agent, who also was the owner of the property. She said because she knew the seller personally, she didn’t have the home inspected, which is a decision she now regrets. 'The inspection process was something I should have done but didn’t because I trusted who I bought the house from,' she said. Beggs filed a claim with her insurance company but said it was denied because she did not have flood insurance, which is something she didn’t think was necessary for the area in which the home is located."

From Woodward News. "According to real estate experts in the region, the housing market in Woodward and Northwest Oklahoma may be more active in 2024. Veteran Woodward realtor, Ashley Lookingbill of Omni Realty believes overall the real estate market here will have some highs and lows through the year – with more volatility in this year than maybe is normally experienced. 'One thing causing dramatic turmoil are the effects of recent forbearance options offered by lenders,' Lookingbill said. 'These options have allowed people to delay their loan payments for six months. They have done this by adding an additional loan amount in what is most likely a bulk interest and payments, which is tacked onto the end of the buyer’s loan."

"On the face of it, the ability to take a break from a mortgage might seem like just what the doctored ordered. But she wonders if this will place additional pressure on the market as well as lenders through 2024. 'Now we have additional loan payoff amounts, plus lenders starting foreclosures on people they have forbearance agreements with and other complications that are making the process almost predatory instead of helpful,' Lookingbill added."

The Canadian Press. "One walk through a home tells Rachael Stafford what adjustments are needed to pique the interest of potential buyers. For Stafford, the founder and creative director of organizing and staging company Order in the House, changes can range from decluttering rooms to services like painting and repairs, or even bringing in furniture rentals. It's a service valued by homeowners, she said, especially in a hot market where sellers look to gain any advantage that can help drive up the price of their property. But as home sales throughout much of Canada have turned sluggish, home staging services have taken a hit as sellers rethink the cost of a thorough revamp, Stafford said."

"'We're still supplementing with some (furniture) rentals where rooms really need it,' she said. 'But I find that sellers are more so trying to scale back a little bit on the rentals, concerned about the initial investment and the ongoing monthly fees should the property not sell quickly.' Stafford, who is based in the Toronto area, said companies like hers have had to adapt in this high interest rate environment after a years-long housing boom. When interest rates were low coming out of the pandemic, 'realtors and homeowners were willing to put in that extra money and go that extra mile because they knew they were getting the [return on investment] on it,' she said."

The Evening Standard in the UK. "Thousands of homes under construction have been left abandoned at stalled 'ghost housing developments' across London as a result of last year’s sudden downturn in the property market, the Standard has learned. At the year end, construction work at 61 house-building sites where at least 20 homes are due to be completed had been halted with the gates padlocked. Together they accounted for just over 6,000 half-built homes at a time of severe housing shortages across London. Industry experts say the number of schemes on hold is unprecedented in recent history, apart from the early months of the first pandemic lockdown. By contrast, in the wake of the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009 only 10 schemes were put on hold."

"The boss of one London housebuilder told the Standard: 'I have never seen so many stopped building sites in London. The economics of these sites don’t make any sense. It’s not just the state of the market. There is so much regulatory uncertainty over issues such as second staircases and heat pumps. The whole system is clogged up.'"

Daily Mail Australia. "Reports emerged in 2018 that Jordan Springs East estate, in the western Sydney suburb of Llandilo, was sinking due to being placed on insufficiently stable landfill, causing large cracks to appear in houses, driveways and footpaths. Lendlease, the $4billion company that developed the estate, was forced to start a compensation scheme in 2020 and bought back 50 homes from people to either fix and put back on the market or knock down because they were 'unlivable'. Retired couple Robert and Veronika Borland bought one of the repaired properties on Private Circuit late last year for $820,000 after getting an engineer's report that it was sound - but are now shocked to learn the house next to theirs is being demolished."

"'If we'd have known that house was coming down, it was too badly damaged or not up to standard, we wouldn't have bought this property,' Ms Borland told Nine News. Mr Borland agreed. 'The heavy machinery is going to impact our property and we have no insurance,' he said. 'We're going to lose. We're not going to get what we paid for it and we're on a pension and retired so where do you go?' The Borlands have already spent around $30,000 on renovating their home. 'Everyone's gonna say 'well, it's your fault, you signed the document,' which we did,' Ms Borland told the ABC. 'But yeah, we just feel like we've been deceived, that the situation here in Jordan Springs isn't as secure as they make out.'"

The Telegraph. "After years of turbulence, Chinese property giant Evergrande was hit with a winding-up order by a judge in Hong Kong on Monday, setting up a multibillion-dollar battle between Western creditors and Chinese authorities. The decision wiped a fifth off its share price in Hong Kong before trading was halted, meaning Evergrande is now worth $275m (£216m) but has $328bn of debt. Given the scale of its borrowings, it is unclear what happens next. Will local authorities stiff them, further undermining China’s status as an international market? Or will they be minded to preserve China’s attractiveness to Wall Street and the City of London and pay investors back?"

"'If there’s a choice that needs to be made, I’m sure the Chinese Government will protect the domestic retail investor versus the foreign one,' said Natixis’ Hong Kong senior economist Gary Ng. For Western investors, the liquidation of Evergrande marks the end of a slow-motion car crash that started several years ago. Before China’s property crisis, when the so-called Golden Era was in full swing, Evergrande raised money by issuing IOUs in dollars rather than renminbi to lure international investors."

"Western fund managers like Ashmore, Amundi and Legal & General, as well as banks such as HSBC and UBS, lapped up so-called 'Kungfu bonds,' with Evergrande holding around $19bn worth of IOUs at its peak. However, as the company unravelled and ultimately defaulted, these bonds fell from being worth 95 cents in the dollar to just 20. They are now trading at around just 1.5 cents in the dollar."

"Xi Jinping is being pulled in two directions. 'There’s a bit of schizophrenia,' adds William Hurst, Chong Hua Professor of Chinese Development at the University of Cambridge. . 'On the one hand, there is huge domestic emphasis and a trepidation about too much international integration. On the other, there is an overriding imperative to try to bring global business back to China.' One bond investor says: adds: 'Xi is paranoid about a subprime crisis, which leaves him in a tough spot.'"