It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "'I'm scared,' Georgie Pratt said. 'I'm just going to say it outright. I'm scared.' Pratt has owned her one-bedroom condo at Winter Park Woods in northern Orange County since 2006. 'My mortgage is a percentage of what these fees are,' Pratt said. 'My mortgage is about $300 a month, and my fees are now $2,100.' Legislation passed in response to the Surfside collapse requires condo associations to adequately fund their reserves for repairs. 'Many of these homeowners are retirees or working families on fixed incomes, and they just simply can't afford that kind of financial shock,' Orlando-based realtor Tony Galarza said. 'Newer buildings are holding steady, but older ones, especially coastal or built prior to 1990, they're tanking in value, but buyer demand has also dropped sharply.' Calling it a heartbreaking situation for her and her neighbors, Pratt said the only option for some owners was to sell their condos to investors who already own other units in the complex."

"Could condos be the U.S. housing market’s canary in the coal mine? A record 68.4% of condos sold for less than their original asking price in February 2025, up from 63.3% a year ago, according to Redfin. This marks the highest share in the month of February in five years. Nowhere is the shift more dramatic than in Florida, where economic pressures are accelerating the condo market’s downturn. In the Orlando metro area, a staggering 84.8% of condos sold below their original asking price in February. The median sale price was nearly 10% below list, with a sale-to-list ratio of 90.8%, down from 94.1% the previous year."

"Tim Harper, a Redfin Premier agent based in Orlando, said the Florida condo market is in uncharted territory. 'We’re seeing a massive influx of condo inventory because a lot of senior citizens on fixed incomes can no longer afford their monthly payments, and a lot of other condo owners just want to move because they’re tired of dealing with rising HOA fees and special assessments,' Harper said. Beyond Florida, other cities are also experiencing sharp downturns in condo pricing. Denver saw the largest jump in condos selling below list price, increasing 17.2 percentage points year-over-year to 77.2%. Virginia Beach and Charlotte followed with 16.2- and 15.3-point increases, respectively."

"Dallas-Fort Worth home builders got a slower start to 2025 as buyer demand slowed and firms worked to deplete a stockpile of inventory. The price of a newly built home in Dallas-Fort Worth is up $103,000 since the beginning of 2020, according to Zillow. As of January, the median new-build home sold for $460,319 in the region. Finished vacant inventory remains elevated in North Texas. At the end of March, there were 11,574 finished vacant homes, up 4.3% from year’s end. The rise in unfinished inventory has triggered price discounts and further buyer incentives, cutting builders’ profits. 'Our builder clients tell us they’ve had to ‘scratch and claw’ to hit their sales targets,' said Ted Wilson, principal for Residential Strategies. 'The combination of elevated mortgage rates, sluggish job growth, and an accumulation of unsold speculative inventory has led to a more cautious home start approach among builders.'"

"Because home starts are down, the labor market is softer. Roofers, framers, masons and painters are all eager to work, and they are willing to do so at a reduced price, Steve Langridge of Taft Homes said. 'Daily, I get calls from brickers and painters and even some trades that you otherwise wouldn’t hear from, who are all trying to replace what is going to be a down year. All those guys want to work,' he said. 'An oversupply of labor bodes well for us for the balance of this year.'"

"Leaving their Bowie, Maryland, home and moving to another state is something Daniel and Monica Gardner figured was going to happen once they hit retirement age. Now, they might not wait at all. In fact, they’re eying up jobs in other parts of the country, with their situation made even more dire by Daniels’ recent layoff from the federal government. 'It’s far from family, it’s far from everyone,' Daniel admitted. 'But we’re almost California-level of cost of living here.' It’s an anxious feeling, shared by families all over the D.C.-area. Even those that do everything right still might struggle. But no matter what your income is, oftentimes, families don’t have the best plan in play. 'Most people don’t have budgets,' said John Bell, the owner and lead financial planner at Free State Financial Planning in Maryland. 'Where housing is more expensive than other areas in the country, you might spend more than the recommended amount.'"

"The median price in March for a home in Palo Alto was nearly $3.3 million, with a median sale price of about $3.96 million. Locally, areas with heightened wildfire risk includes more rural and hilly communities such as Woodside, Portola Valley, Los Altos Hills and parts of Redwood City. 'The cost and availability of homeowners insurance has become a huge issue,' said Elyse Barca, a Realtor in the Menlo Park office of Compass real estate . 'For some, it will be extremely difficult to even get insurance.' So far this spring, Realtor Jasmine Lee is not yet convinced that that it will be the robust, vigorous market other Realtors are predicting. The Midpeninsula’s high prices make some prospective buyers who work in the area think twice before becoming homeowners, she said. 'I don’t see buyers being as aggressive as in past years,' said Lee, a Realtor in the Menlo Park office of Coldwell Banker Realty. 'I had one recent client who would have had a mortgage payment more than twice the amount of his monthly rent.'"

"Lee noted in late March, more single-family homes were sitting on the market than in recent years — just over 1,000 in Santa Clara County alone, with about 600 under contract; compared to 720 on the market at the same time last year, with 561 under contract."

"Phil Briddon is living the Palm Springs dream. 'The swimming pool is 10 feet away, the pickle ball court is 30 feet away, it’s 89 degrees Fahrenheit, I’m looking at the mountains, my chocolate Lab is snoozing on the grass, and my wife Linda is on a lounger,' said Briddon, 66, a retired mortgage and investment specialist from Salmon Arm. That’s all about to end. At the end of the month, Briddon plans to pack up his personal effects, return to Canada and start thinking about other places to go next year: Mexico, Costa Rica, Portugal, Ibiza."

"Briddon and his wife have called Palm Springs their winter home since 2008. They’re among the Canadians that winter in Palm Springs every year, popping down for all or part of a snowbird season that runs from January to April. Now they have decided to call it quits. 'At some point you realize you’ve got to do your part,' said Briddon. 'We don’t want to spend money in a country that doesn’t respect us and acts with dishonesty.' Canadians own seven per cent of second homes in the valley, far more than any other country outside the U.S. Palm Springs realtor Paul Kaplan said he has fielded 'a few' calls from Canadians inquiring about selling their local homes, and rental realtors have reported to him that some aren’t renewing their leases for next season."

"Briddon and his wife have a group of friends in Palm Springs as tight as family: 'They all said we understand if you choose not to come back.' 'Our friends are all very upset, they are embarrassed and (ticked) off in the extreme about what this (U.S.) government is doing,' said Briddon. Briddon feels that economically Palm Springs will weather the storm: 'Palm Springs is an extremely affluent part of the United States. They will be fine.' One bright side? 'It’s easier to get a place down here right now,' said Briddon."

"A judge will soon decide if a group of low-income tenants and Allegheny County officials can be part of an ongoing foreclosure case against the owner of a group of troubled properties. The case, before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Christine Ward, is a mortgage foreclosure case brought by an Indiana-based bank against the owners of Mon View Heights apartments, a troubled West-Mifflin affordable housing complex. After NB’s owners pleaded guilty to federal mortgage fraud charges last year, Merchants Bank of Indiana filed for foreclosure against the NB Affordable-related LLC that owns Mon View Heights, as well as Palisades Apartments in Rankin, Valley Royal Court Apartments in New Kensington, and Gallatin Apartments in Uniontown. (Mon View is also at the center of a separate, criminal case brought by Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr.) The bank asked the court to appoint a receiver to oversee the properties."

"1 Neighbourhood Lane, No. 502, Toronto. Asking price: $499,900 (February, 2025). Previous asking prices: $519,900 (November, 2024); $529,900 (September, 2024); $539,900 (July, 2024). Selling price: $485,000 (February, 2025). Previous selling prices: $515,000 (September, 2021); $292,362 (October, 2020). Property days on market: 202. It took almost seven months to find a buyer for this 525-square-foot condo in a five-year-old building near the Humber River and the Queensway. In the end, the seller accepted an offer that was $30,000 below what they paid in 2021. There were numerous walk-through visitors when the unit was put on the market in July, 2024 with an asking price of $539,900, but no one was willing to make an offer, even after successive price cuts."

"'We priced it high, but we wanted to see what happened, and drop the price as we needed,' said agent Jenelle Cameron. 'During the time we were listed, one [other unit in the building] sold that had been on the market for one year and another sold shortly after it, after being on the market for nine months. I knew our time was coming and it would just take some time.' Once the asking price slid below $500,000, one offer came in, but soon fizzled out. A second offer came in at $485,000 and was accepted. 'The seller might make less here, but they’re going to buy for less,' Ms. Cameron said. 'If you’re not buying in the same market, then it’s tough to swallow.'"

"Finland’s apartment prices remain at low levels. The housing market has slowed, with no significant price increases recorded in major cities. Economic pressures and uncertainty in the labour market are among the main causes. SKVL’s 2025 forecast indicated that buyer confidence is low, with only a 2–3% projected increase in transactions for older apartments. Prices for newer detached homes show limited growth, but most urban areas report flat or falling values. Buyers in Helsinki are cautious. Demand is mainly limited to well-maintained properties. Older apartments without modern features or energy efficiency are not attracting interest. While interest rates have stabilised, they have not spurred increased borrowing or sales activity."

"Finland does not offer broad green incentives for residential properties. Government policy focuses instead on affordability. Unlike Denmark, there are no national tax breaks or subsidies for sustainable housing. The housing sector has not seen comparable public investment. Finland also continues to face a housing oversupply. According to Helsinki Times, the excess of unsold apartments is taking longer to resolve than expected, further suppressing prices. Finland’s economic uncertainty and lack of targeted housing policies have left the market in a fragile position. Despite similar interest rate conditions, the absence of fiscal incentives and buyer caution has held prices down."

"The city’s 'unpredictable business climate' has slowed down a bit the selling of real estate for residential and commercial use. Diosdado Mahipus Sr., CREBA Davao Chapter chair, said some real estate prices declined due to the 'declining business climate which is not happening exclusively in Davao City, but in most areas in the world.' 'Political conflict is not the problem, the entire world is experiencing an economic crash… We are not immune to that,' he told reporters. He explained that the real estate market in the city, particularly renting and selling of condominiums, is already saturated."

"The sales of condominiums also slowed down due to the earthquake scare among residents, affecting several high-rise and mid-rise buildings in 2023, particularly Verdon Parc in Barangay Maa. 'Davao is expensive because it is a commercial hub, all businesses are here. We cannot really avoid an increase in prices, but still we notice lately that air BNBs have become cheaper because of competition,' he said. He said that from as high as P3,500 per day one can now rent a studio-type room in a condominium for as low as P1,000 to P1,500 per day due to the saturated market."