A report from Fortune. "Sales of existing homes last year hit the lowest level since 1995, according to the National Association of REALTORS. Yep, the annual pace of U.S. existing home sales hasn’t been this soft since Microsoft launched Windows 95. Would you want to swap a sub-5% mortgage for a rate closer to 7%? That’s where the average 30-year mortgage rate has been stuck for months. 'We’re in that trap ourselves,' says California-based real estate agent Victor Currie. 'Our mortgage is under 2%, and it’s hard to justify giving that up until we decide to downsize or leave California and use the built-up equity to buy the next property in cash.'"

Market Watch. "The number of newly built homes for sale on the market is at the highest level since 2009. Home builders are having a hard time finding buyers, and they’re upping discounts and perks in an attempt to sell more. Even with unusually high inventory levels of newly-built homes, a boon to the residential real-estate market as resale homes are in short supply, few are buying. Builders acknowledge that high home prices are a pain point for buyers. Lennar, one of the biggest builders, recently said it would look to lower prices — a strategy that is anathema to the industry — to move inventory. About 30% of builders cut home prices in January, the National Association of Home Builders reported based on a survey. The average price reduction was 5%. But with swollen inventory levels and the resale market seeing listings rise, sales incentives may not be enough this year. Inventory of resale homes was up 16.2% from a year ago, offering buyers more options."

The Columbus Dispatch in Ohio. "Julie Wolfe and her wife, Katie, found another way to avoid a 7% rate when they were looking for an upgrade from their 1,800-square-foot Dublin home. The couple didn't find quite what they wanted and were leaning toward building a home when they discovered that Pulte Homes was ready to sell its model in a Powell community for $840,000. 'Nothing compared to this house. All we had to do was wait a few months for Pulte to move,' Julie said. As an added bonus, Pulte, like many homebuilders, offers discounted mortgage rates, allowing the couple to lock in at 5.5%. 'We hadn't had a mortgage in several years,' Julie said. 'We thought, 'We don't want to pay 7 or 8%.'"

The Assembly. "Hospitality is more than a job for Lindsay Levine: It’s a vocation. The Woodfin resident has spent two decades in the industry, now as a server at the upscale Edison sports bar in Asheville’s Omni Grove Park Inn. When she and her husband, Jay Levine, himself a 30-year industry veteran, decided to move to Western North Carolina in 2017. The two built a new house with a walkout basement unit that they operated as a short-term rental through Airbnb. Hurricane Helene’s arrival in late September threw that future into doubt. Several thousand dollars in fall bookings canceled within days of the storm. At the same time, the Grove Park Inn and many other hospitality businesses closed their doors for weeks. 'We got a double whammy with the loss of income,' Lindsay Levine said."

"Stories like the Levines’ have been playing out for short-term rental operators across Western North Carolina. AirDNA, a rental industry data firm, estimates that 85,000 short-term rental room nights in Asheville were canceled in the first three weeks of October alone, up sevenfold from the area’s usual cancellation rate. Those projections line up with the experiences of Chip Craig. The owner of Greybeard Realty, the region’s largest manager of short-term rentals, he oversees roughly 240 properties across Western North Carolina. His company’s October bookings were down 84 percent compared with 2023; January remained 40 percent below last year’s benchmark. 'It’s going to be a long haul,' he said."

"Many Greybeard clients, said Craig, plan on retiring to their vacation homes and rely on the rental income for now to pay off their mortgages. Others, like West Asheville resident Brooke Hendrickson, count on their rentals to make ends meet while living in one of North Carolina’s most expensive cities. 'You have to cobble a lot of things together to make it work here, and when one of those things gets knocked out of the equation, it just puts so much more pressure on those other income sources,' said Hendrickson, who also has gigs as a health insurance agent and writer. She estimated that a third of her household’s income normally comes from the short-term rental; in the months since the storm, that revenue has decreased by at least half."

From WEAR News. "Florida realtors are sounding the alarm on a growing issue: condo sales. A new report from the Florida Realtors Association finds condo sales in the state had their worst decline in 15 years. A realtor tells WEAR News it's the high prices that are steering buyers in another direction. Joshua Scott, known around the coast as the 'crazy suit realtor', said 'I've seen a special assessment range from $1,000 to $150,000 for owners of the complex. When you run into that, you have more people who need to sell their units because they don't have $150,000 in their savings account.' In December, a WEAR News sister station in West Palm Beach reported some condo owners were subjected to a $3,000 monthly rate hike after an inspection found the property was in need of repairs."

Bradenton Herald in Florida. "It was cheaper to buy a house in Manatee County in 2024 compared to 2023, a report said. Sarasota County single-family median sale prices fell $10,000 to $505,000 in 2024. The monthly supply of inventory increased 25% year-over-year to 5.5 months. Sarasota County townhome and condo closed sales fell 19.5% in December year-over-year. The median sale price dropped 18.1% to $384,250. The monthly supply increased from 5.2 months to 6.9 months."

The Los Angeles Times. "Shovel in hand, Hendrena Martin dug through the ruins of the home her father had built more than 60 years ago, searching for any surviving link to the past. But how, she wondered, could she afford to rebuild? 'How can a whole city just go up in flames in one night, and you lose everything that you struggled to hold on to?' said Martin, 64. Martin’s annual insurance premium under the California FAIR Plan more than doubled last year to nearly $1,700. But even with that payment, she learned after the fire that her property was underinsured: what she qualifies for as reimbursement is far less than what it will take to rebuild."

The Globe and Mail in Canada. "Some Toronto-area condo sellers are starting the year at a brisk pace as they weigh the benefit of hammering out a deal now against the prospect of a spring rebound that is far from guaranteed. Christopher Bibby, broker with Re/Max Hallmark Bibby Group Realty, sold a handful of condo units in the first three weeks of January. But looking farther into the spring, Mr. Bibby cautions that one question is looming: 'My concern is, how much supply is coming?'"

"Mr. Bibby has noticed a change in mood from potential sellers who have called him in 2025: most have come to terms with the shift to a more balanced market from the strong seller’s market that prevailed for many years. 'There seems to be an appetite to get the deal done,' he said. In December, Mr. Bibby notes, many sellers in the condo segment cancelled their listings after failing to find a buyer, yet data show inventory was still 33 per cent higher than in December, 2023. This dynamic concerns him, because the recent spurt of buying could be swamped by new supply in the coming weeks. 'We’ve had all these units come off and we’re still up 33 per cent. Where did these units disappear to and when do they come back on?'"

"Many sellers are feeling the same unease, he senses, but they are reacting by tying up a sale more quickly.
Sellers are being a lot more reasonable so far this year, he says. Some are agreeing to offers 1 or 2 per cent below what they were hoping for. They are weighing the risks of waiting for a stronger price versus accepting the one on the table. 'No sellers think the market’s going to be up significantly in the next few months because of all the uncertainty.' Another group feels pressure to sell for financial reasons. Those who purchased during the market mania of 2021 and 2022 will likely only break even or sell at a loss, he says. 'The ones who have to sell are at the mercy of the marketplace.'"

From Econostrum. "The Australian housing market is showing signs of a significant shift, with home values slipping in key cities and buyers regaining leverage. Sydney, Melbourne, and now Brisbane are seeing declines in property prices, as rising stock levels and weakening demand tip the balance in favor of buyers. While seasonal trends usually dictate a slow start to the year, CoreLogic’s Eliza Owen warns that this downturn runs deeper. 'There’s less appetite from buyers, but more sellers are coming into the market, which could indicate rising mortgage stress,' Owen said. With interest rates remaining high and signs of a loosening labor market, more sellers may be forced to drop asking prices to secure deals."

"Buyer’s agent Zoran Solano sees the shift as a win for buyers, noting that many sellers are struggling to meet price expectations. 'For me as a buyer’s agent, it’s a positive sign that the power has shifted back a little bit towards buyers.' AMP chief economist Shane Oliver predicts that Brisbane could be next in line for price declines, following Sydney and Melbourne’s trajectory. 'Brisbane looks to me like a really soggy market, and I wouldn’t be surprised if house prices go negative in the next couple of months.'"