A report from Maui Now in Hawaii. "Blake Gray 'absolutely' thought about selling her Kīhei condominium last summer when she heard Maui County wanted to ban short-term rentals in apartment districts. Then a realtor convinced her not to take the chance. 'Nothing will sell at Maui Vista,' the realtor told her. In the year since Mayor Richard Bissen proposed a bill to phase out more than 7,000 short-term rentals, far more condos are going up for sale, and they’re selling for a lot less — if at all. The median price for Maui condos has dropped nearly 25%, from a whopping $962,500 in April 2024 to $727,000 in April of this year. And as of April, 910 condos were up for sale, a nearly 70% increase from the 536 condos on the market in April 2024, according to the latest data available from the Realtors Association of Maui."

"Gray, who lives on island, shifted to renting out her condo long term in July. She said it wasn’t because of the county’s proposal. It was just 'a real pain' to run the business of operating a short-term rental. She went from bringing in about $6,000 a month on vacation bookings to renting out her 588-square-foot, one-bedroom condo for $2,900, which is what she says she needs to break even. At Maui Vista, the maintenance fees alone are $1,000. 'So what’s going to end up happening is no one will be able to pay their property taxes or their maintenance fee and their mortgage if they can no longer rent it out,' said Gray, who formerly served as president of the Maui Vista homeowners’ association. Even if others made the change like she did, Gray said many units are like hers — small units with big bills that are not likely suited for one family. 'If our complex of 280 units becomes long-term rental only, there’s no way that anyone can afford the rent that it’s going to take in order to live in that unit,' Gray said. 'So it’s not affordable.'"

Fox 10 Phoenix. "A noticeable cool-down has home values in Arizona down 2.6% from last year. 'About a month ago, it really slowed down,' said Sherry Rampy, associate broker with Broker’s Hub Realty. Seller Erin O’Shea describes the past few weeks. 'Um… It’s been interesting, that’s for sure,' O’Shea said. 'We have seen the market shift,' said Meredith Lane, a Realtor with The Gillette Group for 21 years. Lane says this time of year is typically the busiest, but not this year. 'It’s not as busy. The open houses are emptier. The showings are quieter, and sellers are sort of wondering what is going on,' Lane said."

27 East in New York. "With Memorial Day weekend about to kick the Hamptons into high season, The Express News Group asked South Fork real estate professionals to assess the state of the market. Dana Trotter: Buyers are still active, but they’re much more discerning, and many are prioritizing long-term value over urgency. Sellers, in turn, are beginning to price more realistically. Well-priced homes, especially those with updated amenities and move-in readiness, are moving — while those priced above market expectations are sitting. There’s still good demand, but it’s much more measured than a frenzied buy up. With interest rates still elevated and inventory slowly climbing, buyers are definitely feeling like they have more leverage. Sellers are no longer in the dominant position — they’re expected to justify their prices, particularly if a property has been on the market for more than four or five months.'"

Candy's Dirt in Texas. "If only mortgage rates were lower because the D-FW housing market seems to be giving prospective homebuyers some serious wiggle room for the first time in years. An analysis of market data by M&D Real Estate found that at least one county in the Dallas metro area has officially entered buyer’s market territory, with surging inventory arming prospective homebuyers with leverage in negotiations. 'It’s a combination of more new inventory coming to the market alongside an increase in existing resale inventory,' said Danny Perez, M&D Real Estate’s managing director, speaking with CandysDirt.com. D-FW housing inventory came in 53% higher in April year over year, reaching roughly 123,000 listings after steadily rising since the start of 2025. All those homes hitting the market had a pronounced impact on buyers’ negotiating power. Zillow clocked a 60% increase in Dallas homes being sold below their listing price in March."

"Perez noted another important factor at play in the housing market is the number of transactions recorded, which he said were at 'anemic levels' for the area in April. 'So now that we’re seeing 30-40% increases in listings year over year, really since January, that’s just creating this huge inventory,' Perez said. 'And obviously it’s turning D-FW into a solid, balanced market, and in some counties, it’s a buyer’s market. That’s what we’re seeing.' Breaking down D-FW by county, Collin County by far and away plowed straight into market correction territory in April, clocking a 3.7% decline in median sales price with over 60% more homes on the market than in the same period last year."

Sarasota Magazine in Florida. "Buyers may be in the driver’s seat right now, but they’re still cautious. Sarasota County’s median sale price for single-family homes fell 13 percent year-over-year to $470,000. Condominium prices dropped 14.9 percent, bringing the median price to $339,500. In Manatee County, the median price of a single-family home declined 12.5 percent, to $464,000, while condos saw a 14.8 percent drop, to $300,220. In Sarasota County, the months’ supply of inventory for single-family homes increased to 7 months, indicating a continued shift toward a buyer’s market. Sarasota condos now represent the most saturated segment of the market, with 9.6 months of supply."

"'Statewide, second-home sales are down to one-third of pandemic levels, and that hits Sarasota especially hard,' says John Forberger, a local real estate agent with Douglas Elliman. 'As a prime destination, we’re feeling the immediate impact. That discretionary demand has evaporated, at least for now.' With rising supply and falling prices, pricing strategy is now critical. 'The ‘overpriced’ label is the kiss of death in this market,' Forberger says. The shift in leverage has reshaped negotiations. 'Forget FOMO,' Forberger says. 'The new fear in Sarasota’s real estate market is the fear of not selling at all. Sellers who cling to peak-pandemic pricing are going to be left behind.'"

Mansion Global. "Chinese investment in U.S. real estate slowed down in 2024, particularly at the higher end of the market—and the current trade environment means that isn’t likely to turn around. The biggest loser will likely be California, as the latest figures show the state attracts one-quarter of all international Chinese home purchases in the U.S. Chinese investment has slowed down in many of the California towns that have been popular among wealthy Chinese buyers, including Palo Alto and Cupertino in Silicon Valley; a stretch of the San Gabriel Valley near Los Angeles; and Palos Verdes in the South Bay area, according to brokers there. 'It was already slowing down, but with the tariffs and everything you’re definitely seeing a slowdown,' said Maggie Ding, a broker in Compass’s Torrance office in the South Bay. 'With all the uncertainty, it’s causing people to wonder if they should be investing in the U.S. at this point.'"

Storey's in Canada. "Despite the downturn, prices have only softened by about six per cent since 2022, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver. When Rennie Group publicly announced they’d be laying off 25% of their staff in response to the huge drop in condominium presales activity over the last two years, the real estate marketer made instant headlines. 'These are really tough times,' said Rennie Group president Greg Zayadi in an interview. 'The industry is changing. We’re having to pivot, and we all have to be realistic… I think transparency is key in today’s world….As construction stops and stalls, as developers can’t move projects forward, as companies like Rennie don’t have as much business as we once did.'"

"Up until recently, condominium towers relied on the pre-sale of at least 60% of the building to obtain financing to begin construction. Around half of those pre-sale buyers were investors, but government policies and a higher interest rate have chased those investors away, including foreign buyers. '[Foreign buyers] weren’t a major segment of the market, but they did buy, and they were part of that investor market,' said developer and real estate consultant Michael Geller. 'People wanted to ban short term rentals and ban speculators, and they succeeded.' Andy Yan, associate professor of professional practice in urban studies at Simon Fraser University, said the fact that townhouses are still marketable, while presale condos aren’t, is a sign that the market and resident needs are two different realities. 'They’re building Mini Coopers while people need station wagons,' said Yan."

CBC News in Canada. "Linda Mangalathu's problems began with an issue many homeowners in Toronto are familiar with: a minor basement flood. Now, a little more than three weeks later, she's had to move out of her Scarborough house, her front yard is a construction zone, and neither her contractor nor the city have yet discovered the source of the water that's leaking into her home. Adding to her problems: the city on Wednesday deemed the structure of the house unsafe, thanks to all the excavation in the front yard. Her bill so far stands at $30,000 and could climb past $50,000, she's been told by her contractor — not including any additional costs to repair the house's structure. 'Financially, emotionally, I'm stressed,' says Mangalathu, who's lived in the Morningside-Highway 401 area house for 26 years. 'I'm not able to sleep; it's heartbreaking. I don't know how much in debt I will be.'"

"Mangalathu herself pegs the figure closer to $70,000, only about $15,000 of which will be covered by her insurance company, she says. She says she'll also have to compensate her neighbours, who've seen their front yards covered with piles of asphalt, earth and pumping equipment. 'We feel abandoned and desperate,' Mangalathu told CBC Toronto. So desperate, she said earlier this week, she's considering moving — if she can find a buyer. 'Maybe someone else will be able to fix it,' she says. 'Come buy my house.'"

The Press in New Zealand. "A Christchurch couple is facing a third winter in a 'tiny' house with their young children while their new home remains unbuilt and paid for twice over. The pair engaged Shape Construction to build them a modular home made from shipping containers in 2019. The 300sqm, two-storey home in Mt Pleasant would offer stunning views of Christchurch, and the Avon-Heathcote Estuary. When the 14 containers were placed on site, 12 of them were rusty, bowed and dented. Some even had holes in them. The engineer deemed them structurally unfit and wouldn’t sign off on them. The couple say they eventually had to pay $35,000 to have 12 of them sent to a scrapyard. Now, they were engaging another builder and redesigning their home in timber. 'We will have to pay for it all again,' the woman said. 'It is now 2025 and we are still in a tiny house with two small children facing a third freezing, damp winter staring at an empty section. The stress has been unimaginable. We are in debt, stressed and in danger of losing everything with costs for lawyers, existing mortgage, and prospective new build mounting up.'"

"Now, the couple have civil court proceedings against Shape Construction to try and recover what they lost. The case will be next heard in July. They are just one of numerous Shape clients left stranded. Christchurch man JD Rayner engaged Shape Construction to build him a bach near Lyttelton in 2020 on a $490,000 fixed price contract. By March 2023, he said he had paid about $228,000. For that, he received only consented plans and shells of prefabricated modules which he claimed were worth about half what he had paid. 'From February 2024 until now, there has been no activity, only excuses and silence from Toby Van T Veen regarding progress to complete my project,' he said. 'At 73 years old. I’m having to lay awake worrying about how I can pay for the remainder of the build.'"

"Another customer, who did not want to be named, said she paid Shape Construction more than $400,000 to build a container home, with complete ground works, for her family in Auckland. Five years later, she had no resource consent and half a house. She said they were forced to pay another builder $350,000 to finish the job. While they had a good relationship with Van T Veen, she said, communication was always difficult. 'He would ghost us for a few months.' When the woman later contacted the planner who was lodging the resource consent application, they told her they were still waiting for payment from Shape Construction. The resource consent was never lodged. The planner was also waiting for an ecologist’s report. The woman followed up, and found out the ecologist had not been paid either. 'Where did all the money go that we paid him?'"