A report from Realtor.com. "As more homes hit the market, sellers are being forced to make price reductions to compete. 'The percentage of homes with price reductions increased from 17.7% in September of last year to 18.6% this year,' says Realtor.com senior economist Ralph McLaughlin. 'Home price reductions signal to homebuyers that homes are not moving as quickly as sellers anticipated, and thus they reduce prices in order to drum up more interest from buyers. However, this doesn't mean buyers can get whatever they ask for and should be aware there is a fine line between respectable offers and insulting offers, the latter of which may cause a seller to not want to do business with a particular buyer.'"

WPTV in Florida. "Jamie Tracey’s Port Salerno home was one of several that suffered damage following the tornado outbreak earlier this month. The 71-year-old calls it an ‘insurance nightmare,' facing a $14,000 deductible to get her house fixed. Tracey estimates her home damages may cost $30,000. She adds paying a percentage of the building insured value, is something she was unaware of. 'I was just told I had a 5% deductible but I thought it was 5% of the damages,' shared Tracey. Tracey will now apply for a home equity loan but feels blind-sided by her insurance company. 'I feel like a lot of people are getting robbed,' shared Tracey. 'And they’re crooks, they really are.'"

Local 10 in Florida. "The president of a condo association accused of embezzling more than $1 million from residents could soon return to the building where the alleged theft occurred. Jail records show 62-year-old Gregori Arzumenov, president of the Turnberry on the Green condominium in Aventura since 2008, has posted bond and is awaiting release. 'It’s a shame, it’s a shame,' a resident told Local 10 News reporter Christian De La Rosa. Arzumenov was arrested earlier this month, as first reported by Local 10 News, after being accused of orchestrating a series of financial schemes to steal from the association. In total, detectives say Arzumenov pocketed $1.5 million, using some of the money to purchase artwork and dine out. 'Anything from buffalo chicken wings to going to buffets,' an official said."

Franchise Times. "Two former Anchored Tiny Homes executives filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection weeks after shutting down their company headquarters. Colton and Austin Paulhus, brothers and co-founders of the home builder franchise, filed bankruptcy petitions in California October 11 and September 30, respectively. The franchise abruptly closed its Fair Oaks, California, office in August and franchisees report rarely being able to reach the co-founders, if they can get in contact at all. In a LinkedIn message in September, the brand’s former eastern United States field business coach, Richard Howard, told Franchise Times 'the business has gone under. There are so many people hurt by the owners,' he wrote. 'It is so wrong on many levels.'"

Times of San Diego. "Not surprisingly, this year’s presidential campaign pitting Vice President Kamala Harris against former President Donald Trump includes a sharp conflict over whether California is a shining model of prosperity and inclusiveness to be emulated or a dystopian hellhole of crime, squalor and oppressive politics. During a weekend rally in Coachella, Trump ticked off the well-worn list of California’s supposed sins — its embrace of undocumented immigrants, its huge population of homeless people and its regulatory thicket that makes doing business difficult. However, it also has one of the nation’s highest unemployment rates, as well as its highest levels of poverty and homelessness, twin crises rooted in very high housing costs. Moreover, the California economy is growing slowly, has been losing population to other states and nearly six million students in its school system fare poorly vis-à-vis those in other states in academic achievement tests. Gov. Gavin Newsom often seems unwilling to concede that California’s critics have some valid points, however politically motivated they may be. Continued failures to deal with existential issues such as housing and educational shortcomings could result in California’s becoming the dystopia Trump and others portray."

The San Francisco Chronicle in California. "It’s been a tumultuous time for downtown San Francisco malls. Last week, in a surprising turn of events, it was reported that the jam-packed Metreon had been officially listed for sale. Now, the San Francisco Business Times reports that the fate of San Francisco’s former Westfield mall — now known as Emporium Centre San Francisco — is slated to be decided at a foreclosure auction on Nov. 14. Last month, the Japanese noodle chain Ajisen Ramen, permanently closed, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle. Emporium Centre San Francisco’s auction follows the 2023 decision by owners Brookfield Properties and Westfield to walk away from their debt, citing 'challenging operating conditions in downtown San Francisco.' This came after the departure of anchor tenant Nordstrom, which occupied nearly half of the mall’s space, and other major closures."

The Review Journal in Nevada. "Rental rates are dropping in the Las Vegas Valley from a glut of new supply coming on the market, according to Redfin. Many Sun Belt cities are starting to see large month-over-month rental rate drops, including Jacksonville, Florida, (-11.3 percent) Raleigh, North Carolina, (-10.6 percent) and San Diego (-10.4 percent). Las Vegas is currently adding a record number of apartment units to its total as a wave of pandemic-era financing kicked off a building boom in the city. Apartment complexes across the Las Vegas Valley are offering sizable concessions right now to entice renters, including multiple months of free rent as vacancy rates rise across the board."

"'Rents for new apartments will likely fall a little more this year, because there are still a ton of new buildings being completed,' said Redfin senior economist Sheharyar Bokhari. 'With new apartments popping up everywhere, owners are competing with one another to find tenants by reducing rents and offering concessions like free parking. If you’re a renter in a market like Dallas or Nashville, where construction has been booming, there are likely deals to be found.'"

Bisnow on Texas. "Houston multifamily investors are ready to put 'extend and pretend' behind them. Distressed sales and foreclosures are taking far longer to play out than anyone expected, FCP Vice President of Multifamily Acquisitions Cole Kellogg said. 'We really think 2025 will be the opportunity where a lot of this high-leverage, workforce housing assets that were purchased in ’21, ’22, really start to hit the market,' Kellogg said. Terri Clifton, managing partner at Better World Properties recalled once having to attend a Zoom interview to become the final candidate for a property purchase because so many buyers were interested. Then property values lowered by 25% to 30%, the cost of taxes and insurance spiked and floating rate debt got out of control, thinning out the buying pool and landing some investors in hot water. 'Now, people who purchased some of those deals are in trouble, and they're looking to get out,' Clifton said."

"Some syndicators put off accepting reality, so they raised more capital from investors to float their properties. A number of them ran up debt by not paying maintenance and other bills, and stressed out on-site staff, leading to turnover, Clifton said. 'We purchased something four, five months ago and got it at a killer deal,' she said. 'That’s because the seller, his loan was coming due and he was forced to sell. You’re going to see a lot of that happening here over the next year. We're actually getting ready to take one from a lender and bring it in-house, which means the poor investors lost all their equity,' she said. 'But my new investment group is going to win.'"

The Epoch Times. "The First National Bank of Lindsay was forced to cease operations after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) found the institution to be in a perilous financial position. The Oklahoma-based First National Bank of Lindsay was shut down on Oct. 18 after the OCC identified 'false and deceptive bank records and other information suggesting fraud that revealed depletion of the bank’s capital,' the agency said in an Oct. 18 statement. The OCC found the financial institution to be in an 'unsafe or unsound condition to transact business and that the bank’s assets were less than its obligations to its creditors and others,' according to the statement. A June 20 report from Klaros Group that analyzed the state of the U.S. banking industry for the first quarter said the sector 'continues to be under the same stresses that have triggered recent bank failures: higher rates and looming CRE credit issues.'"

CBC News in Canada."More than 100 people are out tens of thousands of dollars each, after the developer of a pre-construction home project in Clearview, Ont., entered receivership. Rayyan Shahid and his wife, who are expecting their first child next month, were looking forward to moving into their dream home next year at the Clearview site near Wasaga Beach, about 150 kilometres north of Toronto. But that won't be happening. The first-time homebuyer says that since December 2021, he's paid $100,000 of his life savings as a down payment on the home, which was supposed to have been built by Sunrise Acquisitions (Stayner) Inc. by April 2025."

"That Richmond Hill-based developer entered into receivership on the project in February. As a result, court documents show 117 homebuyers stand to lose about $4 million collectively, with some individuals losing as much as $130,000. Shahid's on the hook for about $15,000. 'It's really devastating,' he said. 'It's heartbreaking … One thing is not getting the house, then the other thing is losing the money also.' Shahid says his biggest question is where the money went — especially given there's been no construction of the homes people put down payments on. 'It's not like they started construction and they had to leave it in the middle,' Shahid said. 'It's still a barren land. So where did all the money go?'"

"Faran Haq is another homebuyer who says he spent $100,000 since 2022 as a downpayment toward a home in the Clearview project. He expected to move into the new home this summer with his wife, son and parents. He says he was shocked to learn that the company he paid a deposit to had gone into receivership under a different name in the past. He said he hoped there would have been better regulatory oversight to protect buyers like him. 'If someone's been stung once, let's make sure that … someone is not able to get stung again by the same person, right?'"

This Is Money in the UK. "The housing market continues to heat up with more people contacting estate agents hoping to buy or sell property, according to Rightmove. It also revealed the number of available homes for sale is 12 per cent higher than a year ago - and at the highest per estate agent since 2014. However, while people look keen to crack on with home moving plans, asking prices are being kept in check by the fact that buyers are spoilt for choice. Rightmove says the glut of homes on the market is intensifying competition between sellers, with buyer choice at levels not seen for ten years, putting downwards pressure on asking prices. Tim Bannister, property expert at Rightmove warned sellers need to price attractively to find a buyer, particularly with increasing numbers of people looking to sell."

"'This month's subdued price growth comes as buyer choice soars to a level not seen since 2014,' said Bannister. 'With the ball in the buyer's court and the pick of a big crop to choose from, sellers need to be pricing competitively to find a buyer, particularly with affordability still very stretched.' Competition for buyers is particularly intense at the top-end of the market, where the number of four-bedroom detached houses and five-bedroom-plus homes available for sale is 17 per cent ahead of last year."

Birmingham Mail. "UK tourists in Lanzarote and Tenerife have been ordered to 'go home' by locals. UK tourists in the European Union have been 'forced to flee' as 'Go Home Tourist!' signs are erected in Spain by the 'Canary Islands Have a Limit' group. Holidaymakers at Tenerife's Playa de las Americas and Troya beaches were met by demonstrators who chanted 'more tourists, more misery.' It comes as protests continue to sweep Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, La Palma, and El Hierro. 8,000 protesters took part in the Canaries. One woman was carrying a cardboard poster which said: 'Tourists, go f*g home.'"

Australian Financial Review. "Having peaked in 2021 amid a boom in commodity prices and low interest rates, the number of farmland transactions fell 18.7 per cent to a record low of 2966 between January and June, according to Rural Bank’s latest Australian Farmland Values Report. Danny Thomas, senior director at agency LAWD, said the Bureau of Meteorology’s forecast of an El Nino dry period in October last year led to a collapse of sheep and cattle prices and put a 'real dent in confidence as it relates to real estate transactions.' 'And so from the fourth quarter of 2023 and into the first half of 2024 things have been quite difficult. So deals are taking longer, there have been less buyers in the market,' he said."

"The sharpest falls in median prices over the first half of 2024 compared with the second half of 2023 occurred in WA (-12.1 per cent), SA (-11 per cent) and Victoria (-6.7) per cent. Weakest performing markets over the first half of 2024 included the NSW far west – down 56 per cent – and south Tasmania, where median prices fell 52 per cent."

From Worldcrunch. "You have to arrive at night in Shaoguan, a city of 3.3 million people in southeast China, to measure the real estate crisis that has hit the country. Around the high-speed train station, inaugurated in 2019, tower blocks of buildings have sprung up like mushrooms in recent years, creating a gigantic neighborhood. But when night falls, not a single light is on. That’s because Shaoguan is drowning in empty and unsold apartments. At the current sales pace, it will take more than 10 years to sell this stock, compared to an average of two years in China, according to estimates by the China Real Estate Information Corporation. This is a record in the country, which has 28,000 billion yuan ($3.96 billion) worth of available apartments, according to Barclays. 'There are so many apartments, you can buy whichever one you want,' Deng, a taxi driver, says jokingly."

"Still, developers on site are doing everything they can to convince potential buyers. Huge red billboards on the tops of the buildings under construction announce in large letters 'Buy this year, move in next year!' At the Light of the New City residence, by the developer Country Garden, the purchase of a large three-room apartment comes with an additional 96.8 square feet for free. Buyers are also entitled to a free range hood. But nothing seems to be working. On this Friday at the end of September, the residence’s showroom — complete with a gigantic model of the building complex — is empty. Two real estate agents are killing time. 'Country Garden has laid off half of its staff in Shaoguan,' one of them says. Further into the city, the showroom doors of the Baoli Metropolis residence, are closed with a large padlock."

"While real estate in Shanghai has remained stable (+0.8% in September), the price of new apartments fell by 8.3% in Shaoguan over the same period, according to real estate platform Anjuke. One square meter (10.7 square feet) is now worth only 5,590 yuan ($790) on average, while some apartments start at 4,000 yuan or 5,000 yuan per meter. 'It's really cheaper than 10 years ago,' says a real estate agent at the Junyue residence, which is owned by Evergrande."