A report from the Gazette Journal. "This year is shaping up to be deja vu all over again for the Reno-Sparks new housing market, with stubbornly high mortgage rates and elevated prices for buyers. '2024 will be an ugly year,' said Brian Bonnenfant, project manager for the Center for Regional Studies. 'It will be just like 2023.' The low number of new homes sold during the first quarter of 2024 mirrored 2023, averaging a little over 100 a month, according to an analysis of Washoe County new housing data by the Center for Regional Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno. 'We saw demand fall apart last year in July,' Bonnenfant said. 'When mortgage rates went up, sellers locked down and buyers disappeared.'"

"The median sales price for a new single-family home in Reno-Sparks was $574,680 in March. Although not as high as last year and 2022, when some months topped $650,000. Last year also saw the highest median price ever recorded for new single-family homes Reno-Sparks — $676,434 in July. Construction costs are also a factor, Bonnenfant added. 'We’re seeing some impact from material price drops, which is what happens when the demand falls off,' Bonnenfant said. 'Prices start dropping too with it.'"

The Herald Tribune in Florida "A recent report from national real estate website Redfin spotlighted Sarasota for its surging number of homes for sale at the same time as sellers slash prices faster than anywhere else in the country. Sarasota metro led the country in the percentage of properties that saw a price cut, with 48% of sellers reducing their prices. There has been a spike in inventory of 64.6% over the past year, according to statistics maintained by the Realtors Association of Sarasota and Manatee. Rob Goldman, a Realtor with Michael Saunders & Co. who focuses on the Venice area, said price cuts have become increasingly common in the Sarasota real estate market. He attributes the increase to Realtors not being clear to their clients about shifting market conditions and appropriately pricing the property. 'Some sellers still think it's way up,' he said. 'But it's actually 5% to 10% lower (than peak price).'"

From Money. "The demand for vacation home mortgages has plunged to around an eight-year low, declining 65% since 2021, according to a new report from Redfin. In 2023, homebuyers took out 90,772 mortgages for second homes, which was a 40% decrease from 2022 and 65% lower than the 2021 level. The report notes that 2024 appears on track to be another slow year for vacation home purchases. The number of primary home mortgages also declined significantly from 2022 to 2023, but only by half as much as mortgages for secondary homes (a 20% decrease vs. 40%). 'People who would need a mortgage are still sitting on the sidelines, waiting for rates to come down–especially because rates are typically even higher for second homes than primary homes,' Heather Mahmood-Corley, a Redfin agent in Phoenix, said in the report."

The Olympian in Washington. "As the seasons move from winter and deeper into spring, the Thurston County housing market typically finds new life in the form of more sales. But that did not happen in April, according to new data released by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. Windermere Olympia owner Steve Garrett said the market hit a 'small lull' in April. 'We did not see the number of showings we normally see,' he said. Open houses were still pretty well attended and yet the offers did not materialize, Garrett added."

The New York Post. "Wendy Williams’ cherished Manhattan penthouse, once hailed as her dream abode, has been sold off by her guardian, The Post has learned. The transaction, which closed on May 10, occurred only several years after Williams acquired the Financial District property. The three-bedroom, three-bathroom penthouse traded hands for $3.75 million, marking a considerable decrease of $822,000 from its purchase price in July 2021."

Newsweek on California. "Worries over high housing costs have Los Angeles residents contemplating leaving the city, according to a survey from the Los Angeles Business Council. Eighty-seven percent said housing affordability was a serious problem in the city. Another voter said that they spend about 30 percent to 40 percent of their earnings on rent and lamented the high home prices. 'For me, the values of the cost of the houses aren't worth it,' they said, adding that their mother's home was worth $500,000. 'It's a very nice house, but here a $500,000 house, you live in the slums.'"

Hoodline in California. "A long-abandoned plot in downtown San Francisco, once poised for development, continues to gather dust. At the same time, a city-based homelessness nonprofit is hit with allegations of nepotism and swindling, further emphasizing urban struggles. The vacant lot located at 1125 Market St. has been an eyesore for residents for nearly 30 years, with no clear future despite passing through various owners and plans for development, according to The Standard. In sharp contrast to the inertia at the empty lot, Providence Foundation of San Francisco, a nonprofit working with the city's homeless, finds itself mired in scandal. The City Attorney’s Office has accused the Providence Foundation of submitting at least $105,000 in fake invoices for nonexistent work, and the organization has been barred from receiving further funding from the city. 'This nonprofit took over $100,000 of public money meant to benefit people experiencing homelessness. That cannot be tolerated,' City Attorney David Chiu stated in a press release obtained by The Standard."

From Bisnow. "A 359-unit apartment building on Bethesda’s Wisconsin Avenue corridor that delivered in 2016 has sold at a sizable discount from its first trade. AIR Communities purchased Flats 8300 at 8300 Wisconsin Ave. for $129.8M late last month, Montgomery County property records show. The Denver-based REIT announced the deal in a LinkedIn post. The seller, Invesco Real Estate, had paid $207M for the property in the summer of 2016, just months after delivery, Bisnow first reported. That deal set a record at the time for the priciest multifamily sale in Maryland. This latest sale price represents a 37% discount."

The Real Deal. "Days after multifamily lender Arbor Realty Trust reported a surge in delinquencies and a multi-billion-dollar effort to plug those holes, Ready Capital disclosed parallel pain points with a similar origin story: multifamily syndicators. In its first-quarter earnings release, Ready Capital, a go-to debt source for firms such as GVA and Tides Equities, reported 10 percent of its $6.6 billion bridge loan book — the short-term floating-rate debt favored by syndicators — was over 60 days delinquent. That’s a 284 percent increase from the same period last year."

"The sponsors behind much of that troubled debt are the value-add multifamily buyers that borrowed at floating rates, failed to finish planned renovations and now lack the revenue to pay their loans. Those borrowers often syndicate or pool equity from retail and institutional investors to buy property. Arbor in the first quarter modified nearly $2 billion in loans to keep the blood off its balance sheet. The firm pushed out due dates and offered temporary rate relief if sponsors agreed to pay down principal, purchase new rate caps or plump up reserves."

Storeys in Canada. "The start of May brought yet another instance of a housing provider filing for creditor’s protection, recent court documents show. According to an initial order filed with the Ontario courts on May 3, 2024, Clarkson Road Holdings et al. — owners of a residential development project located in Mississauga — have obtained protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), which essentially means that PwC Canada will be closely monitoring the financials of the company here on out. According to the May 3 order, Clarkson has been afforded 'stay protection' for a 10-day period, limited court-ordered charges, and $100,000 'to provide sufficient financing for necessary expenses and necessary relief during the initial stay period to pave the way for a sale process.'"

"The amount of the liabilities is quite hefty, mind you, coming in at approximately $54M. The project has accrued construction liens in the approximate total of $27M, and that sum is due to a secured lender known as CS Capital Limited. CS Capital is not a 'traditional mortgage lender' the court documents say. Rather, they are the ‘successor in interest to the original vendor, which is QRC Limited Partnership. QRC provided a vendor take-back mortgage in the principal amount of $20M when Eleven purchased shares and limited partnership units of the entities that own 111 Clarkson,' the court documents say, later adding that that vendor take-back mortgage is currently in default."

ABC News in Australia. "As Australia's tax season rolls around again, the national tax office has a familiar group in its sights: landlords. The Australian Tax Office (ATO) this week revealed Australians with rental properties were one of three groups under scrutiny, after findings that nine out of 10 landlords were making mistakes on their returns. So why are landlords falling foul of tax return rules so often? Brisbane-based landlord Merwyn Machado, who has sold two of his three rentals since 2022 and is considering selling his third, said many investors were struggling under higher mortgage rates, higher land taxes and higher council rates."

"He said it was only human to try and 'claw back' something from the government when times were tougher, but he did not believe landlords were intentionally trying to evade tax. 'We all want to make ends meet and we all have ups and downs like everyone else,' he said. He sold the first because it was losing money and nearby developments had caused prices to flatten. He said he sold the second because it would be unaffordable to keep in the higher interest rate environment, and the market was strong."

"Mr Machado made substantial capital gains on both properties, with both jumping from 70 to 100 per cent in price during the five to seven years he owned them. 'I think I speak for most of the investors, there might be a few who hold onto their properties, but most just want to sell because the rates are going up, the land tax is going up. All of the taxes on everything that the investment property is doing is going up. It doesn't make sense to be in for the long term.'"

From Yahoo News. "A frustrated grandmother living with four generations of family in her half-built home says she's out of pocket almost $1 million after the company she hired to construct the property went into liquidation. The mum said not only is her home incomplete, what has been built is subpar and even 'dangerous.' New Zealand woman Christina Ehret, from Whangaparoa, north of Auckland, said construction on her 'dream home' got off to a good start in 2018, but quickly stalled. Now, five years down the line, she's inhabiting the home despite it not being signed off as safe by council."

"'It’s draining,' Ehret told Stuff. 'The stress … has been extreme.' Ehret said she expected the build to take just months, but it was almost immediately plagued by issues. So far, having spent $930,000 (A$847,000), she's still got no idea when it will be finished. 'You shouldn't be able to look under the bathroom door and see the person sitting on the toilet,' Ehret said. 'I didn't pay to have a water feature in my lounge.'"

From Reuters. "When China's local governments began compiling a 'whitelist' of housing projects for loans earlier this year, troubled developers hoped it would open a spigot of credit for a sector that remains a major stumbling block to a broad economic revival. Those new loans were granted for fewer than a handful of projects and lending received so far was equivalent to hundreds of thousands of dollars per project, three of the people told Reuters. That's just a drop in the ocean given the vast stock of unfinished housing - a Reuters report in March estimated that the 'whitelist' programme covers projects that need fresh financing of 1.5 trillion yuan ($207.51 billion)."

"'We think it's a bad deal because financing incurs interest,' a senior executive at the developer told Reuters. 'Once we use the 'whitelist' loans we have to complete the construction. However, we're not able to sell all of the units under this bad market so it's only increasing costs for us.' 'For banks it's impossible to actively promote such loss-making business. If we did so, we would face the punishment of surging non-performing loans as well,' one banker said."

The Daily Mirror. "Their pledges of economic prosperity crumbled amidst the pandemic's global onslaught, leaving behind landscapes scarred by deserted buildings and dashed hopes. Malaysia’s Forest City and Cambodia’s Sihanoukville have suffered immensely from China’s property sector crisis. From the half-finished structures of Forest City in Johor, Malaysia, to the desolate shores of Sihanoukville, Cambodia, the narrative of China's real estate giants reflects unbridled ambition and dire consequences. Both locales are now labeled as ghost cities."

"The property bubble burst in late 2021, triggered by the default of China Evergrande Group, one of the nation’s largest property developers, on a debt totaling $340 billion by the end of 2022. In the same period, another major developer, Country Garden, defaulted on millions of dollars in interest payments linked to two offshore bonds, signaling further distress in the sector."

"These events reverberated onto foreign ventures. Forest City, once touted as Southeast Asia's housing pinnacle, now stands deserted. It serves as a haunting testament to the pitfalls of speculative investments and excessive urban planning. Envisioned as a bustling metropolis for hundreds of thousands, the project promised modernity and prosperity but instead yielded desolation and decay. With the burst of the Chinese property bubble, Forest City collapsed like a house of cards, leaving behind a landscape dotted with vacant skyscrapers and abandoned aspirations."

"Regrettably, Forest City is just one episode in the broader narrative of China's ghost cities. In Cambodia's Sihanoukville, the departure of Chinese real estate entities has left the coastal resort town strewn with numerous incomplete projects. Once dubbed the second Macao amidst the influx of Chinese capital, Sihanoukville now grapples with economic downturn and shattered dreams. Sihanoukville boasts numerous ghost structures. According to the city government, there are roughly 360 unfinished buildings and approximately 170 completed but unoccupied ones."