A report from NBC 2. "The housing market has slowed considerably this winter, a time when sales increase in Southwest Florida. It seems to have gone from a seller's market to a buyer's market almost overnight. Currently, in Lee County alone, there are more than 6,000 properties up for sale and many of the property owners have had to slash their prices in order to sell. Dan Durham of North Fort Myers had his home built in 2006. Seventeen years later, he decided to sell it after his home and flood insurance combined have more than doubled to nearly $7,000 a year. That is a likely reason that few people are biting on it in the 55+ community in North Fort Myers. 'It's been on the market for almost a solid year. We've had quite a few people look at it, but no one has made an offer,' Durham said."

"Durham and his wife even dropped the original asking price on the home, which sustained very little damage during Hurricane Ian. 'We're making the decision to leave because of the situation with the hurricane. The insurance is going up,' Durham said. More than 50 of his neighbors are selling their homes in the community, too. Realtor Claudia Springgay represents many of them. 'I advertise properties all over the country. But even then, it's become very difficult to find buyers,' Springgay said. Zillow reports nearly 30% of homes listed in Naples cut prices, while 27% of homes selling in Cape Coral dropped prices. 'There are a lot of homes for sale. If you need to sell it quick you need to be more aggressive on the price,' Springgay said. Something Durham may have to consider if his home doesn't sell soon. 'We're just looking for someone to come by, make us an offer and maybe negotiate or whatever,' Durham concluded."

WINK in Florida. "Is a condo overlooking downtown Fort Myers worth $1,300 a month in HOA fees? Dennis Adams thinks so. Many Condo owners, like Adams, are having difficulty selling their units. 'It’s a premium unit,' Adams said. 'It used to be one of the models, and I’ve upgraded it tremendously.' He, and other condo owners at High Point Place, are having a hard time convincing buyers. 'The condo fees like any complex in the tri-county area,' Adams said. 'They’re too high.'"

"'Fees went up two times almost,' said DeeDee Adams, owner of a Commodore II condo. High Point’s monthly fees went from $830 in 2021 to $1,300 in 2023. Commodore II condos’ fees increased from $488 to $799 each month. Some can’t afford it anymore. 'The snowbirds can’t afford the fee,' said Dennis. 'They’re selling their unit, and a lot of them are selling it just to get out.' Although they’re trying, people are also having a hard time selling. 'I’ve had open houses,' Dennis said. “We’ve advertised, but no traffic.' 'No one wants to write a contract,' said DeeDee. 'They get hung up because of the fees that have to be paid here.'

From Unilad. "A New York landlord has found his property torched by squatters after moving his tenants out to carry out renovations. Landlord Zafar Iqbal, who works for the Metropolitan Transport Authority, bought the Dyker Heights property for $1.1 million back in 2017. He has claimed he's now paying $6,000 a month in mortgage and struggling financially because the home invaders 'keep coming back'. In New York squatters can claim residence in a property after occupying it for 30 days. After this they can no longer be prosecuted for trespassing and the matter is dealt with in civil courts."

"Back in November Iqbal was notified that the property had caught fire, telling the New York Post: 'I got a call from the fire department that the house is burnt out. Somebody got in there and torched my house. That’s when I found out it was a squatter living there. The squatters have more rights than the homeowners. I’m the owner of the house. How much more can I do? I need help. I don’t make that type of money and I’m paying all that money out of my pocket,' Iqbal admitted. 'This is costing me. It’s not right.'"

NBC on California. "San Diego is known for its million-dollar views of the Pacific Ocean, and while it's pretty to look, at some Ocean Beach residents say they’re worried coastal erosion could seriously impact their condo complex. 'When I moved in, the bluff was eroding right in front of our complex,' said Russ Rasmussen, a resident of Oceanus in OB. For the past four months, residents say, they’ve been trying to address the erosion that backs up to the edge of their street. 'Our seawall is holding the bluff just fine, but the property next to our property, the city property at the end of Bermuda, is eroding to the tune of 60, 70 feet of dirt, of earth,' Rasmussen said."

"City officials, however, maintain that coastal bluff erosion isn’t causing issues for any currently maintained public improvements. However, it is affecting Oceanus next door. They say the property was assessed in January, and there were no hazards to the complex, a determination the condo owners disagree with. In the meantime, Rasmussen and other owners at the complex said they’re frustrated and want the city to help pay for the fix, and fast. 'Our building can’t fall into the ocean,' Rasmussen said. 'I don’t know what else to say except: Help.'"

CBS on California. "San Francisco has been having a rough time adjusting to its post-pandemic reality. The rise of remote and hybrid work has emptied out parts of downtown, and it's having a ripple effect across the city. Sajj Mediterranean has been at the corner of Pine and Belden in the Financial District since 2018. Manager Nancy Madrigal says when they first snagged this location, they were ecstatic. 'This was store number four, so it was pretty busy,' said Madrigal. Nancy said they would have lines out the door during the weekday lunch rush. But then, of course, the pandemic hit. Even all these years later since the peak of COVID the crowds just aren't coming back. 'Out of the five days we might have two good days,' said Madrigal."

"Sajj isn't alone. Many businesses continue to struggle, especially those downtown. The trend towards remote work has gutted many high-rises in the area, taking away a huge chunk of these restaurants' clientele."

The Real Deal on Illinois. "A luxury St. Regis condo sale turned out to be a loss for the seller. Buyers whose identities have not been disclosed paid $7 million for the 6,100-square-foot condo spanning the entire 78th floor of the St. Regis tower, at 363 East Wacker Drive, Crain’s reported. The condo underwent several price chops, most recently getting lowered to $7.6 million in November. The couple also tried to rent out the space in 2022, seeking $50,000 a month. Even though buyers at this level rarely use mortgages to buy property, opting for all-cash deals, the city’s luxury condo market has also been stymied by reduced vibrancy in the downtown area since the pandemic. Despite luxury Chicago condos often selling for less than when they last changed hands, there’s been several notable high-end deals to start the year."

The Boston Globe in Massachusetts. "As the market scrambles to prepare for changes in the way most residential real estate is bought and sold, people who served in the military, earning the right to a low-cost Veterans’ Affairs loan, may have to forgo the protection of a real estate agent’s representation. They prohibit buyers from paying their agents or rolling agent fees into the loan. 'A VA loan, just like an FHA loan, is what is needed for a lot of first-time home buyers because they’re just starting out and don’t have deep pockets,' said Paul J. Cervone, a Lamacchia Realty agent who specializes in working with veterans. 'They don’t have an extra $10,000 or more for a down payment. They can’t wrap my fee into the loan. They can’t take a closing-cost contribution from a seller and use that to pay a buyer’s agent.'"

Fox 10 in Arizona. "No one was hurt when a large fire broke out overnight in southwest Phoenix at a neighborhood under construction. The flames sparked just before 11:30 p.m. on April 7 near 59th Avenue and Baseline Road. When firefighters arrived, they found multiple apartments under construction burning. At least 15 units under construction were wiped out. 'That number could go to 20, so we’re out here looking at is there multiple ignition sources? Was it man caused? Was this an accident?' said Cpt. Rob McDade with the Phoenix Fire Department. 'We had our accelerant detecting dog out here, Sunny, looking for any hits. We’ll collect that information, they’ll bring it down to the lab to be analyzed.' We asked whether any utilities were hooked up at the site, and Cpt. McDade said there were no utilities that were running, and there was no natural gas in the area."

Kelowna Now in Canada. "Hmmmm….The Kelowna housing market was supposed to be on an early-spring tear. However, the latest data shows home prices in the city slipped in March. Last month, the benchmark selling price of a typical single-family home dipped below $1 million again -- $986,600 to be exact -- down from $1,009,100 in February. The record-high benchmark was $1,131,800 in April 2022 as the market boomed post-pandemic before runaway inflation, higher mortgage interest rates and jittery consumers forced a downturn in housing sales and prices."

"For townhouses, there were 60 sales in the Central Okanagan in March, up from 41 in February. However, the benchmark price didn't follow that hike with the typically selling price for a townhouse at $719,600 last month, down from $754,900 in February. The townhouse benchmark peaked at $829,000 in May 2022. Speaking of record-highs, for typical condos that was $557,700 in April 2022. Since then, the benchmark has slid and juttered and was $496,000 last month, down from $508,600 in February."

Soo Today in Canada. "The insolvent out-of-town landlords affiliated with SID Developments have been asked to produce information on properties directly or indirectly owned by them as part of ongoing insolvency proceedings as they continue to restructure their business operations in the face of a multi-million dollar debt. KSV Restructuring Inc. — the court-appointed monitor overseeing the insolvency of 11 SID-affiliated corporations under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) — has expressed 'significant concerns' in recent court filings about the potential for dissipation of assets that may have been acquired with funds borrowed by nearly a dozen corporations helmed by Dylan Suitor, Aruba Butt and Ryan Molony."

"That concern was exacerbated when the monitor learned through a SooToday article that Butt is currently trying to sell off four properties in Sault Ste. Marie acquired by Zack Files Real Estate, a corporation named after the sci-fi television series starring SID Developments founder and chief executive officer Robert ‘Robby’ Clark. Most notably, 134 Gore Street — which was overrun by squatters and without running water for weeks during the summer of 2022 due to people entering the building and stripping it of its copper piping — has dropped in price from $1.1 million to $799,000."

"As first reported by SooToday, the directors behind 11 insolvent corporations — Butt, Molony and Suitor — filed for protection from creditors in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in late January, claiming they owe approximately $147 million in unpaid loans and have less than $100,000 in the bank amid rising interest rates and falling home prices."

The Daily Express. "The 10 worst places to buy a property in Europe have been revealed and it is not good news for France and Germany. According to the House Price Index, an indicator by Eurostat, eight countries in Europe reported falling house prices for the final three months of 2023. As per the data, house prices in Germany saw a drop of 7.1 percent while Finland saw a fall of 4.4 percent. Similarly, house prices in France saw a drop of 2.7 percent, while Latvia's prices slid 2.5 percent. But one of the countries that witnessed the hardest hit is Luxembourg where the house prices slumped 14.4 percent."

From ABC News. "It's a battle of good versus evil: the builder versus the Sydney establishment. This is the truth – according to Jean Nassif. Sitting in an upmarket Beirut restaurant, Australia's most notorious developer says he's been hunted from his home. In unsubstantiated claims, he blames a collective of high-profile, powerful Sydney identities who he says campaigned to destroy his empire and harassed him. He also alleges that Lebanese gang members tried to extort him. 'I'm the number one developer builder on the face of the Earth. I made it on my own and I did become number one. They didn't like it,' Nassif says."

"It's been more than a year since Nassif left Australia for Lebanon, just as his Toplace development and construction empire came crashing down. In 2022, the building licences for Nassif and Toplace were revoked after a series of serious issues were found at the developer's Atmosphere and Skyview apartments in Castle Hill and the Vicinity apartments in Canterbury. In June 2023, NSW Police issued an arrest warrant for Nassif over an alleged 'large-scale' fraud. And the next month, Toplace was placed into administration, with its debts now estimated to be more than $600 million."

"Michael and Jenna Jones have an expansive view over the Cooks River and the park below from their apartment at Nassif's Vicinity development in Canterbury. It was the first home they'd ever bought, and they moved in just before Jenna gave birth to the first of their two children. Michael and Jenna say they're now in a state of despair – they fear they've lost their life savings and in the meantime they're struggling to keep up with the cost of remedial works at the building. He says many owners will simply not be able to pay for the full rectification works that are estimated to cost up to $50 million. 'A lot of these owners here, they're already doing two, three jobs just to keep on top of all the strata fees and levies. So the idea that everybody is going to be able to front these bills. Absolutely impossible. There's going to be people that are going to default on their loans,' he says."

The Strait Times. "Unsold units at The Residences at W Singapore Sentosa Cove will be up for sale at more than 40 per cent off their initial launch price in 2010. Cityview Place Holdings – an associate of City Developments (CDL), which is the developer of the 228-unit upscale condominium – will be releasing 58 units for sale on April 15, with prices starting from $1,648 per square foot (psf). The 99-year leasehold condominium, which is part of the W hotel brand, was launched for sale during the property peak in 2010. Back then, its two- to four-bedroom units and penthouses, with sizes from 1,227 sq ft to 6,297 sq ft, were priced from $2,500 psf to $3,000 psf. But sales of condo units in Sentosa were hit by a series of property cooling measures introduced from 2010."

"Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) data showed only 20 caveated transactions for the development to date – all in 2010 – with just five units resold from 2012 to 2023. Prices of condos in Sentosa Cove – aimed at the ultra-rich with its resort-living lifestyle – tumbled by about 40 per cent from 2010 to a median price of $1,394 psf in 2020. Ms Tricia Song, CBRE head of research for Singapore and South-east Asia, expects transaction volumes in the Singapore luxury residential market to remain subdued in the first half of 2024. She attributed the continued softening of sentiment to economic uncertainties, cooling measures and ongoing money laundering investigations. 'In addition, despite stable rental yields, some owners may be compelled to put up their properties for sale due to the rise in property tax bills for high-value properties,' said Ms Song."