A report from KELO in South Dakota. "The housing market the past few years has been a fast-paced affair. 'In late 2022, however, interest rates began to rise once more. “That same buyer who was pre-qualifies at $450k — they lost a lot of affordability,' Maggie Miller with Hegg Realtors explained. 'Now you can really only afford $350k.' This not only impacted buyers, but also sellers, whose properties now sat on the market for longer periods as offers once again fell below asking price. Buyers are able to come in and negotiate — I see people offering lower than asking price, and on top of that, they’re asking sellers to contribute some dollars for their closing costs,' Miller said."

From WKRC. "Retired teacher Karen Conn and her retired dentist husband Randy bought a condo in the 96-unit complex Morgan’s Trace about seven years ago. She's a member of the home owners association (HOA) board there and was stunned to find out the complex was losing its insurance late last year. 'We have contacted so many companies, so many different combinations and we're told the same thing - we're pulling away from insuring condos. Your condo is too old and we cannot insure you,' Conn told Local 12. 'I want a conversation started around in Kentucky especially, but around the country about condo owners. We're not the only ones going through this. My husband is in the later stages of dementia. And what do I do on teacher's retirement with $2,000 or $,2,100 a month.'"

From WPEC. "Florida's condo market faces a significant challenge as rising insurance costs create a ripple effect, impacting both homeowners and the overall market. The skyrocketing prices plus a rise in HOA fees, has forced some owners to sell their condos due to unaffordability. 'I’m putting one on the market today, where the landlord said, I'm barely breaking even and what's the point of all this so now I'm just going to list it for sale and just cash out,' said Douglas Elliman real estate agent, Alex Kaplan."

The Philadelphia Inquirer in Pennsylvania. "The former Kensington National Bank building at Frankford and Girard Avenues is being turned into a large retail space and apartments, by the same developers that built the Avant, the new apartment building that wraps around it. Now, as a gut rehabilitation of the Frank Furness-designed building takes place, adding 6,100 square feet of commercial space and five apartments, the Avant is being leased as market-rate apartments after a deal with short-term rental company Sonder was called off. 'This was intended to be a Sonder building, but Sonder has 11 locations in Philadelphia, which is a lot,' said Henry Sullivan, principal with HK Partners. 'I think they were just kind of feeling that crunch.'"

KUT in Texas. "Ben Schwertner won't pay next month's rent. The 28-year-old from Lubbock isn't forgoing payment out of protest or because he can't afford it. He's not paying because he doesn’t have to. When Schwertner signed a lease for a one-bedroom apartment near the Austin airport earlier this year, the management company extended him a sweet deal: one month rent free. It’s a tactic used by companies to fill apartments when they sit empty. Austin has something it hasn’t had for years: a glut of new apartments. 'Demand is a gazelle and supply is an elephant,' said Jake Wegmann, professor of real estate at UT Austin. 'Decisions made years ago are only now coming to fruition with apartment buildings opening up.'"

The Real Deal on California. "Veritas is selling 23 buildings tied to a nearly $300-million loan from Greystone Servicing Company. Greystone originated the $291.4 million loan in May 2021, backed by multifamily buildings across the city that were purchased by Veritas in 2014 and 2015, according to loan documents and public records. The seven-story, 1927-built complex known as Lombard Place is familiar to anyone in the city’s multifamily market, said Compass’ commercial agent Allison Chapleau, who called it 'arguably one of the best properties in San Francisco.' She said she did not blame Veritas for letting the properties go if the big picture on the loan no longer made sense. 'Everyone is trying to right their ships from the really quick changes in the last 24 months,' Chapleau said. 'Everyone is doing the shuffle. It’s not unique.'"

The Globe and Mail in Canada. "Buying pre-construction condominiums can be an expensive and drawn-out process, but one part of the exercise is causing more stress than ever before. The so-called 'occupancy period' – the length of time between when the buyer of a new condo is given the keys and when the buyer takes actual ownership of the unit – is growing longer and more expensive. This gap leaves the new owners in possession of the unit and liable for costs, but with no legal status as owners. The problem is particularly acute for investor buyers looking to rent out the units, since developers often won’t allow rentals during the interim occupancy period."

"'It’s killing some of my clients,' said lawyer David Feld. 'They can’t handle the big cheques that are $5,000 a month.' Mr. Feld’s company, Feld Kalia Professional Corp., works with condo buyers and the condo assignment market. 'It starts draining their savings. It makes it harder for them to close and complete the transaction.' A developer cancelling a pre-construction sale because of a financial default from the buyer during the occupancy period was once rare. But not so rare any more, according to Mr. Feld. 'More and more deals are not closing,' he said."

The Helsinki Times in Finland. "In a notable shift in the Finnish real estate market, prices for old condominiums across the country saw a significant decrease of 5.6% in January compared to the same month last year, with a 2.9% drop from December alone. Statistics Finland's Senior Statistician, Anu Rämö, highlighted a slight stabilization in the rate of decline. The downturn was more pronounced in the capital region and other major cities, where old condominium prices fell by 6.7% year-on-year, compared to a 3.6% decrease in other parts of the country."

"'Outside the major urban areas, the price drop has been more moderate, following a faster price increase in cities until the summer of 2022. However, from 2020, prices have decreased by about 6-7% across large cities, the capital region, and the rest of the country alike,' Rämö stated. Tampere and Vantaa experienced the steepest declines in old condominium prices, dropping by 10.5% and 9.6% respectively. Helsinki saw a 7.0% decrease. Price reductions in January were observed across the board, with apartment prices in multi-story buildings down by 5.7% and row house prices by 5.5% year-on-year, signaling a cautious period for both sellers and buyers in the Finnish housing market."

Free Press Journal in India. "A growing number of developers in the Mumbai real estate market are reintroducing ‘buy now, pay later’ schemes, which allow buyers to pay only 10 per cent or 20 per cent of the price upfront, and the rest on possession. These schemes, prevalent during the real estate slowdown between 2015 and 2019, aim to boost buyer sentiment. Experts say primary sales in the Mumbai real estate market have softened in recent months and an increase in launches over the past two years has led to an oversupply of inventory, prompting developers to push sales via such schemes. 'Listed players do this because they have to show their pre-sales number every quarter to investors. For cash flows, developers either rely on banks or sell at a lower price by giving innovative offers. Commitments received from homebuyers (who make the initial payment) also act as collateral for developers, and help raise loans from the banks,' said Ravi Kewalramani, Director at RK Mumbai Realtors. According to the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA), the number of units launched in Mumbai city limits increased from 25,404 in 2020, to 52,771 in 2023."

The Bangkok Post in Thailand. "Housing prices this year will remain flat as the market is forecast to be unfavourable, with an overwhelming number of unsold units and many developers seeking to cash in. Tritecha Tangmatitham, managing director of SET-listed developer Supalai Plc, said construction prices this year would not change after experiencing significant increases over the past two years. According to Apichart Kasemkulsiri, L.P.N.'s chief executive, it has around 5,000 completed condo units remaining unsold, worth 11 billion baht, with a carrying cost of 4% per year. That meant it had room to offer discounts of up to 4% for those units, though it might lead to a lower gross profit margin. 'A significant portion of our condo inventory resulted from the rejection rate, which reached 40% last year due to increases in interest rates,' said Mr Apichart. 'Another reason was that our products might be less attractive compared to those of our competitors.'"