A report from Motley Fool. "By mid-2022, when my good friend had started to look for a house to buy, mortgage rates were already much higher. Not only did she have cash in a savings account to put toward a home purchase, but she was able to liquidate some investments to free up additional cash. She figured that by making a cash offer, she'd not only avoid having to pay a higher mortgage rate, but also, give herself an edge over the competition at a time when inventory was very limited. After losing out on more than one home as a cash buyer, my friend was eventually successful in purchasing a home. And she did, indeed, pay for that home in cash. But that's a decision she now regrets."

"She spent the majority of her savings on her home purchase. At the time she became a homeowner, she still had an emergency fund with enough money to cover almost six months of bills. The problem, though, is that her bills began to rise immediately after she moved into her house. First, the air conditioning stopped working. Next, she discovered some issues with her plumbing. When winter rolled around, she realized her heating system needed a major overhaul, to the point where replacing it became her best bet. And she's faced countless additional problems due to having bought an older home."

"All told, my friend has been in her home for less than 18 months, and she's already pretty much drained her savings. If something major were to go wrong at this point, she'd be looking at having to borrow money to cover the cost. And that's a cruddy situation to be in, because chances are, if she does have to borrow, she'll be looking at a much higher interest rate than the interest rate she would've paid on a mortgage signed in mid-2022."

The Montpelier Bridge in Vermont. "Six months after the July 2023 flood, several Montpelier homeowners are still living in limbo with substantially damaged homes, repairs on the order of $300,000 (sometimes on a home valued at less than that), and no information about if or when they might qualify for a Federal Emergency Management Administration buyout, or if they are required to raise their homes above flood levels (which could cost $100,000 or more). A nature educator, special education teacher, and single mom, Mary Zentara thought long and hard about buying a house at 189 State Street, next to U.S. Route 2 and the Winooski River. She decided to buy the house, built in 1850, and hope for the best until her daughter’s graduation from Montpelier High School, even if the mortgage did require flood insurance that cost $3,000 per year with a $10,000 deductible."

"Zentara followed protocol and removed everything in the home including the walls, floors, furnace, and sheetrock from four-feet down, and it now awaits an expensive repair. Meanwhile, she is paying on a mortgage and flood insurance for a home she can’t occupy and still doesn’t know if she qualifies for a FEMA buy-out. Believing she had no other options, Zentara tried to sell the house for $220,000, as did another flood victim at 120 Elm St. 'Without a buyout or financial assistance to elevate the house, I would have to finish paying the mortgage, lose all the value of my house, and then I would have to pay to demolish my house and move it away,' Zentara said. 'That is a possibility. How can that be a possibility? How can that be?'"

"Edson Neveu bought the home in 2017, in part because of its proximity to the school, and it came with a separate rental unit for added income. 'I made a really logical decision. I work in Waterbury. My parents live 40 minutes from here. I wanted my kids in a good school system. I knew I couldn’t afford a single family home without a rental. I bought this house for $220,000 in 2017 because it was a smart financial decision … I knew I was going to pay a small fortune in flood insurance … I went into this with my eyes wide open.'"

"She doesn’t want a buyout. 'The only thing (a buyout) does is make the bank whole,' she said. 'What they’ve told us for fair market value, if I am lucky it will cover my mortgage. … they will leave us with no home, with no money, with nothing … the house would have to be knocked down. It stays green in perpetuity.' After seven months of filling out forms and waiting for help, Edson Neveu said 'I feel so betrayed by the system. I bought all the insurance. I paid all the fees. How is it possible that I am in a system and will be left with nothing?'"

NBC Los Angeles in California. "Piles of trash and loud noise at all hours of the night -- these are some of the things neighbors tell the NBC4 I-Team they have experienced because tourists are taking over their communities. And with no regulations on short-term rentals in unincorporated cities of Los Angeles County, they say they feel stuck. 'Our street has become a de facto hotel because we're dealing with a lot of short-term rentals, which is affecting pretty much the quality of life,' said Luz Loza, who has lived in the City Terrace neighborhood of East LA for three decades."

"Sonia Roman has lived in the same community for more than a decade. Both women shared their concerns about short-term rentals. 'They party, they smoke. It's just trash is being disposed in our containers,' Loza said. 'Having these vacationers, tourists coming to these short-term rentals has really disrupted our weekdays. We can't sleep because at all hours, they're either partying or making noise,' Roman added. Loza says she has counted up to seven short-term rentals on her street alone."

The Ojai Valley News in California. "According to the agent for the property owners of 1450 Maricopa Highway a 14.1-acre vacant parcel across from Nordhoff Junior and Senior High School, an escrow agreement was canceled Nov. 16, resulting in a proposal for 2,506 housing units being quashed. The proposal was submitted to the city by the buyer-developer. Ojai-based real estate broker Ted Moore, who confirmed he represents the property owners, Carty Ojai LLC, spoke with the Ojai Valley News on Jan. 12. Moore said, 'Escrow is canceled. There is no deal, it’s terminated. … There is no project.'"

From CBS News. "Despite some large companies calling for a return to the office following the pandemic, remote work has taken root with a large segment of the workforce, leaving office spaces empty and real estate executives reeling. But it's not just the real estate industry that is impacted. The effects of vacant office space could ripple through the economy because many buildings are financed through short-term loans from banks. If real estate firms are unable to make rent money from commercial tenants, they may default on their loans, increasing the risk for banks."

"That's what led real estate company RXR to default on a $240 million bank loan at 61 Broadway in New York City. With half his office tower sitting vacant, RXR chief executive Scott Rechler says it was 'time to face reality.' 'This post-COVID world of higher interest rates, the changing nature of how people work and live, we're not going back to where we were,' Rechler said. 'And it's going to be turbulent.' Whether the trouble with offices ends in a simple pricing correction or becomes a systemic crisis, likely there's pain coming for building owners, banks and for cities themselves."

"'In the long run, property taxes on those buildings will also fall by 40%. And these commercial property tax revenues are an important component of the budget of local governments, which means less money for police departments, public safety, less money for sanitation, trash collection,' said Columbia Business School real estate professor Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh. 'And some people are going to decide that, you know, the quality of life has deteriorated too much and they want out. And, in fact, that's what we've seen.'"

The Globe and Mail in Canada. "In a boutique building in midtown Toronto near private De La Salle College, this 1,780-square-foot unit has older finishes and obstructed sightlines. But the deal-breaker for the first buyer to make an offer was a status certificate that revealed that the terrace off the kitchen was not the unit’s private space, but a common element of the building since it was also accessible from the stairwell. 'Unfortunately, my clients purchased this years ago under the premise it was a private terrace,' said agent Andre Kutyan."

"For another buyer, arriving after the seller had dropped their price for the third time, the matter was a minor trade-off to get such a large, central property for $1.02-million – $379,000 less than the asking price just four months previously. 'It’s a buyer’s market to begin with, and when you’ve got something like this where it’s not a straightforward sale and there are some issues, buyers are in control,' said Mr. Kutyan."

The Telegraph in the UK. "Bargain-hunting home buyers have caused a spike in 'gazundering,' a tactic when a buyer makes a lower offer at the eleventh hour to force the seller to cut a property’s price. In November, 39pc of properties sold by the house buying company Quick Move Now were subject to gazundering, up from 13pc in October and at a level not seen since 2008. In December, traditionally a quiet month for the property market, gazundering affected a quarter of sales. Those who gazunder are taking advantage of a weak property market, by gambling that the seller is so far into the process that they will have no choice but to accept. The gambit is often made just before exchanging contracts to force the hand of the vendor."

"There are certainly some good deals to be had. Will Watson, of property finders The Buying Solution, helped two clients buy properties in December at discounts of 10pc to 15pc compared with similar homes sold a year earlier. Meanwhile, Nigel Bishop, of the buying agency Recoco Property Search, found his client a property in Cornwall which was on the market for £2.1m but they managed to get the seller to accept a price of £1.85m."

"As well as bargaining on price, buyers are negotiating very hard from the outset on other factors. The buyer of a house being sold recently by Josephine Ashby, of John Bray Estates in north Cornwall, was 'incredibly demanding', and asked for 'a huge amount of extras to be included in the sale, from furniture right down to the family’s Hunter wellies.' She added: 'The sellers were exasperated, but it made sense to take a deep breath and see the sale through.'"

From Vietnam Plus. "The number of high-end condominium units accounted for 75% in Hanoi and 84% in Ho Chi Minh City in 2023’s total new launches. On the other hand, the mid-point segment, with selling prices more budget-friendly to the majority of the population, accounted for only a small proportion, while the affordable segment has completely disappeared in both markets in the past few years. Vo Huynh Tuan Kiet, Associate Director of CBRE Vietnam's Housing Project Marketing, said at the end of 2023, real estate companies had many policies on reducing selling prices, with a condition that buyers must implement faster payment to receive the house. This was a business strategy and the decreasing trend was only for some projects in HCM City."

"In terms of absorption rate, Hanoi and HCM City recorded more than 22,000 residential units sold (including both condominiums and landed properties) in 2023, but representing only half of the units sold in 2022. However, there was an improvement in the absorption rate in the second half of 2023, thanks to the proactive efforts of developers. These efforts included implementing preferential sales policies such as extended payment schedules and offering discounts of up to 40% for early payment."

South China Morning Post. "Distressed Chinese developer Logan Group has pledged to trim its debt level to align with the size of its business, after winning approval from some offshore creditors and its controlling owner to reorganise almost US$8 billion of debts. The Shenzhen-based developer aims to reduce its leverage by US$2.6 billion to US$3 billion over its offshore restructuring period, according to a stock exchange filing. The firm had 227 billion yuan (U$32 billion) of total liabilities at the end of June last year, according to its latest financial accounts."

"'This suggests that the company will need to adjust its balance sheet to a reasonable level to achieve a sustainable capital structure,' it added. 'The group has made significant efforts to maintain stable operations, ensure the delivery of units to homebuyers, and preserve its resources, including both onshore and offshore assets and cash for the purpose of restructuring.' Logan's shares, halted in Hong Kong on January 12 for the restructuring update, will resume trading on Monday. They have dropped 1.6 per cent this month to HK$0.60, after tumbling 51 per cent in 2023. The stock has crashed nearly 96 per cent from a high in June 2020, wiping out HK$81.5 billion (US$10.4 billion) in market capitalisation. Chinese developers have muddled through the past three years under financial distress, triggering more than US$100 billion of debt defaults."