A report from Market Place. "The housing market was going gangbusters during the first part of the pandemic. It was a time of all-cash offers and bidding wars. 'People were doing crazy things,' recalled real estate broker Helen Jeong. 'People would say, ‘Whatever your highest offer is, I’m going to offer $10,000 more.’ Jeong is a real estate agent in Lake Elsinore, California. Jeong said during the early pandemic, the housing market was extremely hot, but as interest rates rose, it went very cold. 'The housing market, it’s rough,' she said. 'You listen to the builders talk, you listen to the realtors that are trying to sell the houses. Everyone is having a little rough time.' Jeong said it went from all-cash offers and bidding wars to crickets, because as soon as would-be home buyers did the math, they realized how high their mortgage payments would be."

The Wall Street Journal. "The entire U.S. housing market has been transformed by the 40%-plus rise in home prices since the onset of Covid. Many who own their homes have built up lots of equity, even if they struggle to pay the monthly mortgage or their place is in bad condition. House flippers are figuring out how to make that math work in their favor. Driving through Compton, Calif., past rows of modest one-story houses, Janely Sandoval consulted a list of 38 addresses where owners had missed mortgage payments and were at risk of losing their homes. At each stop, she hoped to make a pitch: Don’t let this ruin your life. Let me buy the house instead. 'There’s always a way out,' she tells people. 'It may not be the way you want, but there is a way out.'"

Tribune News Service. "A landmark agreement from the National Association of Realtors paved the way for a new set of rules that will likely shake up the entire industry. The most pivotal rule change pertains to how buyers’ agents are paid. The added expense might seem pricy, but Michael Copeland, a real estate agent in Palm Springs, said the final numbers might ultimately shake out the same under the new rules. 'Buyers were often told by their agents that they didn’t have to pay anything and that services were free,' Copeland said. 'But that’s not necessarily true.'"

"So if the new rules leave less guaranteed money on the table for buyers’ agents, those agents might try to switch sides and only represent sellers. Or if they’re not able to make enough money representing buyers, they might exit the industry altogether — a trend that’s already taking place in Southern California’s cold post-pandemic real estate market."

From Alabama.com. "Some sources say future Birmingham homebuyers could save thousands as the result of a recent settlement made by the National Association of Realtors. But local realtors question whether the settlement could actually make the early stages of purchasing a home more difficult. 'This could cause challenges for buyers who are cash strapped and have a hard time coming up with down payments and closing costs already,' said Christine Prichard, a local real estate agent. Bennie Waller, a faculty fellow in the Culverhouse College of Business at the University of Alabama, agreed with Prichard’s assessment. 'I think it [the settlement] is going to have the most impact on middle- and lower-income buyers in a negative way,' he said. 'Coming up with a down payment is one of the most prohibitive obstacles to home ownership, this will only exacerbate the problem.'"

Florida Today. "If you're looking to buy a home in Brevard County, you have lots of options to choose from. There was a 5.6-month supply of townhomes and condos for sale in February. That's up from 5.4-month supply in January and a 3.1-month supply in February 2023.The supply data in Brevard, however, is not as high as the statewide figures for February, compiled by Florida Realtors — a 6.3-month supply for existing townhomes and condos, and a 3.9-month supply for existing single-family homes. 'While the demand side of the equation is little-changed from last year, on the supply side, we are seeing significantly more new listings than a year ago,' Florida Realtors Chief Economist Brad O’Connor noted in his analysis. 'So far this year, while you could still characterize new listings of single-family homes as being in their normal pre-pandemic range, they were at the high end of that range in February.'"

"O'Connor said condo and townhouse property new listings statewide so far in 2024 are higher than the previous 'normal range,' which he attributed partly to increases in insurance rates and condo fees. 'It will take a lot more inventory to put a significant dent in home prices, but at current levels, inventory is now high enough that it should continue to slow home price growth and present buyers with a lot more options than they had two or three years ago,' O'Connor said."

From Buzzfeed. "We asked homeowners to get real with us about the regretful moments that made them reminisce over their renting days, and their insights were equal parts surprising and helpful. Here's what they had to say. 'I own a condo in Miami. Everything was good for a few years, with special assessments here and there, but they were doable. My maintenance fees are currently $529 for a one-bed, one-bath. Here’s the kicker: Because of that condo that fell, some housing laws have become extremely strict. Our building's 40-year recertification is coming up, and I have been slapped with a $1,500 special assessment and an extra $150 special assessment due to increased insurance costs. So, imagine going from paying $529 in maintenance fees to $2,279 per month, not to mention that’s on top of my mortgage. But get this: When we met with the project manager, he said he doesn’t think this $3 million budget will cut it. So, you know, that means another special assessment is on its way."

From Newsweek. "Squatter Sang Kim has barred landlord Jaskaran Singh from his $2 million Washington home after refusing to pay rent for two years. Singh, a Bellevue landlord, is holding a second protest rally on Saturday after two years of Kim living in his rental property without paying rent. The rally will call for Kim to leave the property immediately. The fundraiser says it hopes to support Singh as he faces thousands of dollars in lost rent and legal fees. 'All the neighbors, all the mom and pop landlords are invited to join and raise a voice that this should stop,' Singh told local station KOMO. 'I have suffered an $80,000 loss. This should stop. This is a fight against injustice.'"

"Alan Chang, the president of Vested Title & Escrow, said stories like the one in Bellevue, Washington have been occurring all over the country in recent years. Chang said he believes states that lean liberal enforce tenant protection over 'basic fairness of unjust enrichment,' which can be seen in Washington, an overwhelmingly Democrat state. 'The generalization is that landlords are a faceless corporation that is out for profit, but there are thousands of mom-and-pop real estate investors that are getting hit hard and losing their principal income streams due to these more known tactics now,' Chang said."

CBC News in Canada. "When Zahid Mahmood bought a house in Oshawa, Ont., in 2021, he hoped rental income would help him and his wife save money to pay for post-secondary education for their three children. Walking into the house last month, Mahmood says he was faced with piles of trash, bottles of urine, rodents and dog feces — the mess left behind by former tenants. Mahmood says the tenants moved into the house in May 2022 and stopped paying rent a year later. After waiting months for a hearing, the LTB issued an order last month to terminate the tenancy. According to the order, the total unpaid rent owing exceeds $24,000. 'Going through all this [caused] stress and mental torture and financial crisis as we had to pay the mortgage during this whole 10 month period,' Mahmood said."

The Globe and Mail in Canada. "A new report has found that owners of multiple properties remain the drivers of real estate purchasing in Ontario, as first-time buyers and people moving house slowed down their purchases in 2023. The story over the past decade-plus has been a surge in the number of homes purchased by multiple-property owners, according to Teranet Inc. In 2011, multiple-property owners accounted for 15.3 per cent of home purchases, but by 2022 their share of the market reached 25.2 per cent of all homes sold in the province. According to Teranet, the multiowner share of the market slipped in 2023 to 23.7 per cent, but that’s still enough to keep the leading market share, having surpassed the next largest group – first-time home buyers – in 2021."

"Teranet has found signs of weakness within the category of multiproperty owners, particularly when you start to look at who owns what. While 55 per cent of those who own more than one property own only two, in 2023 some 7.6 per cent of multiowners owned 11 or more homes. The two areas with the most multiowners are Toronto and Muskoka, which were just above the average with 24.8 and 25.4 per cent of the properties respectively."

"'I have listed three condos for this one client – these are investments they’ve owned – because all of the sudden the rates don’t make sense,' said Andre Kutyan, broker with Harvey Kalles Real Estate. Mr. Kutyan said he is also hearing from other clients who are looking to deleverage a property portfolio where rents don’t always cover the costs of mortgages. 'We’re not seeing capital appreciation, so let’s list them [they say.] They want to off-load it.'"

"'That [multiowner percentage] seems like an undercount. I’d suspect the number would have been much higher,' said Christopher Bibby broker with Re/Max Hallmark Bibby Group Realty, who works primarily in the condo market in Toronto. Teranet’s data was focused on those who own the property under their own name, and not a corporation, but Mr. Bibby said he has seen all manner of corporate and naming structures by investors with property portfolios that could muddy up Teranet’s data. 'Let’s say the home they live in might be in their name and everything else might be a holding company or they are buying properties in kids names,' he said."

"He’s also said the decline in investor-buyer interest has continued so far in 2024. 'All the resale work I’m doing right now is end users. We did eight deals [before March break], all end-users; no investors. It’s fascinating, how much it has changed,' Mr. Bibby said."

"Mr. Kutyan is seeing increasing interest from developers to sell leftover inventory on recently completed condo projects, and is currently marketing seven units from the prestige address of 1 Yorkville – a 58-storey Bazis International and Plaza Corp. building that was finished in 2021. The softness in the market has meant that these units could end up selling at a loss compared to their preconstruction selling price. 'I think it’s been very humbling,' said Mr. Bibby of multi-property owners who call him looking to sell. 'I’m fielding calls from buyers who say ‘I know I’m going to lose money but I have to sell,’ or ‘I’m one of those people who bought at the peak but I have to sell.’"

Estonian Public Broadcasting. "Keen real estate watchers will have noticed the number of apartments on sale has increased significantly, Friday's 'Aktuaalne kaamera' reported. 'Year-on-year, the number of rental apartments has increased by about a third, or 30 percent. There have never been so many rental apartments on the market. In the last four or five years, professional rental market providers have come to the market, perhaps this is the moment when the price is looking for the right level,' said KV.ee portal manager Tarvo Teslon."

"Martin Vahter, 1Partner Kinnisvara CEO, said: 'There has been more supply because there has not been as much demand. The market is no longer dominated by Ukrainians. In addition, some new developments have been completed and bought for renting. Increased supply and reduced demand have left a small oversupply.'"

"The economic downturn has also reduced demand. Real estate analyst Risto Vähi said: 'There have been redundancies from manufacturing to the IT sector, which means that internal migration within Estonia, which needs rental accommodation, has decreased, and labor migration from abroad to Estonia, which concerns Tallinn, has also decreased slightly in the IT sector. This will certainly have an impact on more expensive apartments.'"

"Vahter said, while higher-priced apartments were hit a year ago, the impact is now also being felt in cheaper dwellings. 'Landlords felt that every time a new tenant came in, they had to add 25 to 50 [euros] to the price. There is no such feeling today, and it would be better to lower it,' said Vahter. Some of the existing rental apartments have already been sold. 'What we have seen is that apartments have come up for sale that have basic furniture but have not actually been lived in. It can be seen that it is meant to be a rental apartment, but now that lending conditions have gone high and yields low, this business plan is simply not going to work,' Vähi said."