It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "New York Community Bancorp replaced its CEO, reported a fourth-quarter loss that was more than 10 times what it previously stated and disclosed faults in its financial reporting in filings on Thursday that sent its shares tumbling. The bank said it revised its fourth-quarter loss to $2.7 billion. NYCB on Thursday, in another filing, said it carried out a review in which 'management identified material weaknesses in the company's internal controls.' The faults 'related to internal loan review, resulting from ineffective oversight, risk assessment and monitoring activities,' it said. The lender will delay the publication of its annual report because its internal controls over financial reporting were 'not effective' when its books were closed in 2023, the filing showed."

"Home sales in the valley hit record highs in 2021 during the pandemic, when more than 50,000 units were sold. That number dropped to around 35,000 in 2022 and just under 30,000 last year, which was the worst year for sales in the valley since 2008. Tim Kelly Kiernan, branch manager of Realty One Group’s Summerlin office, said this appears to be the new reality not only for valley real estate but across the nation. 'You know joking around when I talk to other Realtors, we say everything is in half right now, half the amount of listings, half amount of closing, everything is about 40 to 50 percent less than what it used to be.'"

"Concerning news if you're a condo owner in Southwest Florida. The market is being flooded with condos going up for sale because many people can no longer afford to keep them. Linda Quimby has lived in Southwest Florida for 29 years and said the rate increases she is facing are unlike anything she has ever experienced. 'My insurance condo renewal just came up, and it has gone up about $800 over last year, so it was over a 50% rate increase,' Quimby said. Then there are her HOA fees, which have soared as well. Many people can't pay the assessment, forcing condo associations to place liens on those condos. 'I am very worried this time. I'm thinking about a second job because it's just getting hard to pay on your own income,' she said."

"The influx is causing condo prices to fall statewide, and Mario Dormayer, who has been involved in realtor/broker in downtown Fort Myers for over 20 years, warns the cost of owning a condominium has increased drastically for some people. 'We have a lot of working-class families and owners their budget is much tighter because their income is not keeping up with the rate of owning a condo or single-family home,' Dormayer said."

"'2023 was not friendly to the San Antonio apartment market, and the fourth quarter was particularly unkind,' the analysis firm Austin Investor Interests said in its most recent report. In the fourth quarter, the local sector continued 'the free-fall that has been the theme of 2023,' the report said."

"Vestiges of the worldwide pandemic continue to grip the office market, and four years later, hopes are fading for a return to normal. In a state where higher-than-average vacancy rates are accepted as the cost of doing business and build, build, build is the norm, a Texas-sized threat now looms over three of its largest metros. Millions of square feet of expiring leases and dozens of new projects threaten to twist the knife, according to data provided exclusively to Bisnow. What comes next is sparking concern across the Texas Triangle. 'We are not necessarily overdeveloped,' said Brooke Armstrong, CBRE’s president of advisory services for Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. 'We are under-demolished.'"

"Record-high office vacancy rates coupled with growing housing demand in Northern California are pushing developers to transform unused work environments into living spaces. The world's largest commercial real estate firm CBRE Group recently reported offices in cities like Sacramento are continuing to face an uncertain future in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. 'There is too much office product, and some of the [assets] are cost-prohibitive to bring back to life as office buildings given projected office lease rates and the unpredictable demand,' said CBRE Senior Vice President Tony Whittaker told ABC10. 'A logical solution is to repurpose as residential as we know that demand is high.'"

"Last week, there were 374 new (property) listings in the Kelowna area. There were 130 sales, 85 were canceled and 42 expired. There were also 104 price reductions and three price increases. The market could be shifting to be more balanced, but I still consider it a 'buyers’ market' for now. The real estate market can be a rough ride. Homeowners often find themselves grappling with the challenge of selling their properties during a stagnant or falling market. Consider that, in a falling market, there might be three homes listed for every one sold. Highly motivated sellers, such as those getting divorced, moving for work or those who simply can’t afford to pay a higher mortgage, will lower their price to get to the front of the line. After a few of those sales, buyers will see similar properties they are interested in selling at that price level and will be more aggressive for a better deal."

"They may have lots of places to pick from so if you want your home to sell, pricing becomes key. Don’t fall into the trap of chasing the market if you want to sell. Being every buyer’s fifth choice won’t make it easy."

"Earlier this week, The Australian Financial Review reported that top NSW formwork subcontractor Dalma was under investigation by the Tax Office over what could be the country’s biggest corporate tax fraud. 'This may be our last year,' the engineering contractor says, after decades in business. The frustration among subcontractors in the building industry is reaching a boiling point. Following the revelation of alleged large-scale pay-as-you-go (PAYG) tax fraud by major subcontractors in the sector, with some cases left undetected for up to 15 years, they are convinced that tax dodging is endemic in the industry. The alleged fraud is believed to have enabled some subcontractors to bid lower prices for big government and commercial projects, knocking out legitimate contractors in the process. And it appears to have only gotten worse."

"One formwork subbie, speaking anonymously because the person did not want to upset potential clients, says they are 'sick of what is happening to our industry.' 'They [subcontractors] undercut everyone on price and leverage the ATO to make a living. The tier-one builders turn a blind eye because it all comes down to price. The true cost of the Sydney Metro developments, the new hospitals and schools should factor in the unpaid taxes. The taxpayer is being screwed.' John Winter, CEO of the Australian Restructuring Insolvency and Turnaround Association (ARITA), says tax avoidance was 'endemic' in construction and many viewed getting caught as 'the cost of doing business.'"

"'Your return on investment for dodging out of it is so high,' he says. 'Unfortunately, so many have allowed that to be the business model and so everybody else goes, ‘Well, if you can’t beat ’em, you join ’em.’ He believes the behaviour is getting worse as trading circumstances turn desperate in the sector. One liquidator, speaking anonymously, said the insolvency sector meant that 'the more honest you are, the less work you get.'"

"The number of home-backed non-performing loans referred for public auctions nearly quadrupled last year, due to sustained high borrowing rates brought on by rapid monetary tightening after the pandemic, data showed Thursday. The deterioration of non-performing loans is particularly rapid for apartment-collateralized cases, as evidenced by the total figure surging to 1,485, up from 400 in 2022. Most of them are the so-called 'gap investors' seeking gains under the country’s jeonse system, the official said. The home renting system unique to Korea is one whereby tenants pay a lump sum refundable deposit for the term of the contract instead of monthly rent. The gap investors can thus purchase homes while having only a small amount of money in hand as the 'gap' between the home prices and jeonse deposit can be small. For example, if they can get an 80 million won jeonse deposit from a tenant while the home is sold at 100 million won, they only need to fund 20 million won to register the home as theirs."

"'An increasing number of similar cases will pour in, mostly involving borrowers in their 20s and 30s who will not be able to handle soaring interest costs,' the official added."