A report from Market Watch. "Dear Big Move, I’m struggling with the idea of selling a rental property that has both a high monthly maintenance fee and a high mortgage rate. The costs to keep this house are currently higher than the monthly income it generates. I recently refinanced in order to pull out $100,000, so now I owe $420,000 on the property, which is worth approximately $750,000. My recent refinancing increased my mortgage rate from 5.14% to 7.9%, essentially eating up all my cash flow. I’m on the fence. Should I sell, or should I refinance for a better rate to free up cash flow? Losing Money Fast."

"Dear Losing, The fact that you’re bleeding money from this rental is not good. You need to either bring down your interest rate or raise rents so you can turn a profit in order to make it a worthwhile investment. But keep in mind that many people are sitting on the sidelines waiting for interest rates to fall, so you might not get your desired price if you decide to sell. The bottom line: You need to think like a real-estate investor and leave emotion out of this decision. If the property is not making money or it’s not going to at least break even at some point, you have your answer. But keep in mind that the real-estate market can surprise on the upside and that once you sell the home, you will not be able to take back that decision."

The Real Deal. "New York’s luxury market lost some of its shine last year. Despite an uptick across the globe, luxury home prices in the city dropped in 2023 and sales fell by even more, according to Douglas Elliman and Knight Frank’s annual Wealth Report. Prices in New York fell 2 percent, ending the year 8 percent below their peak, according to the report, which measures price performance across 100 destinations worldwide. The downward swing in prices may be an opportunity for buyers, the report noted. (Brokerages tend to portray almost any set of circumstances as a rationale to buy.) Taken together, sales in New York, London, Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong and Sydney declined 37 percent last year."

The Mountain Democrat in California. "Our real estate market is stuck in neutral. It isn’t going anywhere. If the Federal Reserve had lowered interest rates as anticipated, that would have jumped the market into first gear but that’s now unlikely. One-third of current listings have reduced their original listing price one or more times. That percentage will grow as more sellers lower their price expectations. Sellers who are stuck in neutral with few showings and no offers on their home have been gearing down their prices. Without more traction from buyers, home prices are slipping. The median selling price for a El Dorado County home during the last two months of last year was $620,000. That’s slipped to $600,000 this year."

WLOS in North Carolina. "New data just released shows Asheville’s tourism industry has seen a slower-than-usual January. 'The number of hotels and Airbnbs continues to increase year over year,' said Brian Methvin, who retired in Asheville and serves as vice chair for Asheville’s Affordable Housing Committee. 'The fact the occupancy rates go down is more a question of, are those business owners making the right economic decision to continue expansion?' Jay Smilanic, who owns WNC Photo Tours Company, said he’s seen a slight dip in his January bookings compared to past Januarys, even though the month is typically one of his slowest months for tours. 'It’s usually this time of year that we see our spring bookings come in, and I really haven’t seen any bookings -- outside bookings -- for one of the new offerings we do,' he said. 'Our standard custom half-day tour is usually booked by tourists. It’s a pretty good indicator of what tourism is going to be like, and, so far, those bookings definitely have not been coming in.'"

The Houston Chronicle in Texas. "There are 300 entirely empty office buildings in Houston. These zombie offices, tallied by real estate data company CoStar, aren’t just a problem for their owners: As the values of office properties plummet, the losses also affect real estate investors, pension funds invested in real estate and a city budget that relies on them to bolster its tax base. But office conversions won’t solve a chronic oversupply of outdated office space exacerbated by hybrid work. The problem is no one knows what will. 'At the end of the day, conversions can help in very tiny projects, but generally, that is not a needle-mover,' said Steve Triolet, senior vice president at Houston-based real estate company Partners. 'Is it going to turn the market around and help alleviate our chronic vacancy? There’s no way.'"

Bloomberg on Illinois. "Chicago, like many other cities in the US, has struggled to recover from the pandemic, but its problems have been compounded by high-profile defections of large corporations, violent crime and disagreements between the city’s politicians and business community. Vacancy rates in the central business district climbed to a record in the fourth quarter, according to real estate broker Jones Lang LaSalle. Few office buildings have sold, but those that traded did so at deep discounts. A 41-story tower on 150 North Michigan Avenue exchanged hands this year for about half of the price it sold for more than six years ago."

"'Buildings are trading at generational low values,' said Prime Real Estate Group’s Michael Reschke. 'I’ve been in the business over 40 years and I’ve never seen such quality office assets being marketed at such low valuations. I think it’s a phenomenal time to invest.'"

The Globe and Mail in Canada. "An Ontario mortgage broker who arranged tens of millions of dollars in funding for a financially troubled real estate enterprise run by a former child actor is now facing nine lawsuits from lenders, including one of her employees. The lawsuits target Claire Drage, a mortgage broker with the Windrose Group who helped arrange funding for a real estate empire run by former child actor Robby Clark. Mr. Clark filed for court protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) in January as his network of companies, which owns 405 rental properties in Northern Ontario, struggled to pay off debts of $144-million."

"So-called 'prom notes' are not mortgages, and while they can look like simple loans between parties they are treated as securities – like stocks or bonds – under Canadian law. According to the CCAA filings, Mr. Clark’s companies were typically contracted to pay their lenders between 15 per cent and 20 per cent interest monthly. Unlike a first or second mortgage, these debts were not registered or secured against any of the homes. Lawyers for Mr. Clark’s secured lenders have warned the amount of debt his companies racked up before going insolvent could leave little room for repayment of unsecured debts, such as the promissory notes."

"On Feb. 9, Ms. Drage sent her investors an e-mail that said she had to 'pause redemptions and interest payments' for the notes, because 45 per cent of them are no longer paying interest, a result of them being tied up in Mr. Clark’s insolvency. The message concluded by asking lenders to give her 'breathing room.' The e-mail kicked off a series of demand letters and legal claims. 'It is becoming increasingly difficult to hold it together and stay focused on this with all the external ‘noise’ that is occurring. Even me writing this e-mail is against the wishes of my lawyer, in fear it gets shared with the media and then misconstrued,' Ms. Drage wrote in the e-mail. 'All this negative news and reporters targeting Lion’s Share specifically is only going to encourage borrowers NOT to repay us at all if they think they can get away with it.'"

From Le Monde. "Paris and the Ile-de-France region are no exception. The significant fall in real estate prices, already observed in the Paris region since the fall of 2022, is now seen throughout France. According to the Notaires-INSEE index published on Thursday, February 29, existing property prices nationwide fell by 4% year-on-year at the end of 2023, whereas 6 months earlier they were still rising by 0.5%. Between 2021 and 2023, the annual volume of transactions collapsed by 26% in France, from nearly 1.2 million to 870,000 sales. While prices fall across the board, the intensity of the drop varies from region to region. In Paris, the decline is more severe: Square meter prices stood at €9,770 in the fourth quarter of 2023, down by almost 7% in one year. 'And it's not over yet,' said the notaries, based on their leading indicators. According to pre-contracts, the square meter price in Paris is set to fall to €9,410 in April, a drop of 8% in one year, and even more than 13% from the November 2020."

Star Weekly in Australia. "Jess Rodriguez thought her dream was coming true when she purchased a home and land package to build in Ironbark Way, Doreen. She had saved hard to put down a deposit to be able to have somewhere nice and new for her and her nine-year-old daughter. Her mum had purchased land next door. Slowly, Ms Rodriguez’s dream came crashing down. Her chosen builder, Montego Homes, went into voluntary administration in January and was placed in liquidation last month. Ms Rodriguez also soon found out that even when the property is settled, she won’t be able to build. Ms Rodriguez and her mother intially believed that Montego Homes had taken out insurance policies as required of builders, but said they’ve since found out they are not covered. 'Mum and I paid $30,000 each,' she said. 'It’s not like they didn’t expect it to happen. They [the government] knew the policies weren’t in line with obligations before the scheme ended. Everyday gets worse.'"

The Print in India. "Desolate streets, vast tracts of vacant farmland, partially built structures, and rows of abandoned multi-storeyed apartments as far as the eye can see. These sights greet one entering Amaravati, which not too long ago was touted and being developed as the capital city of Andhra Pradesh. Once bustling with aspiration and frenzied real estate activity, Amaravati is now struggling to find takers. A thick air of despondency looms over the mofussil city located on the south bank of river Krishna in Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur district. Many projects taken up in 2016 including development of trunk infrastructure such as drainage, roads and power lines have either not begun or were abandoned midway."

"'There is nothing to do here today, no employment, nothing. Earlier, all of us had land where we used to cultivate. But we gave our land willingly hoping that development of the capital here would usher in overall prosperity in the area. There will be economic activity around the place, new employment avenues will be generated. But all our hopes lie shattered today,' 35-year-old Narendra Karumanchi, a resident of Velagapudi village in Amaravati, told ThePrint."

South China Morning Post. "Amid a sluggish second-hand home market where supply consistently outweighs demand and prices are slumping to fresh lows, many homeowners in China are taking to social media to sell their property in the hopes of finding a buyer more quickly and securing a better deal. The practice of bypassing the property agent is not exactly new. Another user on Xiaohongshu, named Zhang, listed two properties on the platform - one, which underwent renovation work, in Shanghai, and the other on the outskirts of nearby Kunshan city - and managed to sell them both last March. The Shanghai home took three months to sell, while the other one found a buyer after six months."

"'The benefit of selling on social media is that if your renovation matches people's tastes, then it's easier to find a buyer,' said Zhang, who also declined to provide his full name out of privacy concerns. 'Market conditions were quite OK around that time, but if I had tried to sell my house this year, or even in the second half of last year, I wouldn't know if I could succeed, because there are too many listings on the market, and not enough buyers.'"