You’d Wake Up At Night And Suddenly It Would Hit You, You Had Lost This Money

A report from the Columbia Missourian. “John Curry, sales manager at Frontier Property Management, which leases and sells homes in central Missouri and St. Louis, said that some people may be loath to see home prices fall, especially those who purchased homes when prices were lower and have seen the equity in their home balloon. ‘They’ve kind of banked on that equity, so to speak,’ Curry said. ‘Not too long ago, their house was worth X, and now it’s worth nearly double that. People don’t want to see the purchase prices come down.’ ‘We’re starting to see houses sit on the market for 21 days, 30 days, which was absolutely unheard of over the last four years,’ said Tina Siebert, 2024 president of the St. Louis Realtors. ‘So it’s giving buyers a chance to get into the playing field.'”

From KVOA. “2025 could be a good year to buy a home in Arizona. Trevor Halpern, the CEO of Halpern Residential, believes that the market is slightly more balanced for buyers this year. Halpern said there are incentives for buyers right now because the inventory for housing is so high, and the demand has not kept up. He said in the Phoenix-based market there are over 21,000 homes for sale, which is over 4,000 more than what the area saw this time last year. ‘Buyers have a little bit of negotiating power… when they’re negotiating on a purchase and a lot of that comes down to incentives,’ Halpern added.”

KXAN in Texas. “‘We’re sitting at an over…13-year high in terms of months of inventory and of course that provides a big boost to buyers,’ Austin Board of Realtors (ABoR) housing economist Dr. Clare Knapp told KXAN in December. ‘They have more opportunities across the board in terms of what they’re looking for and a little bit more negotiating power when they’re working with sellers.’ Cooling migration to Austin will be a benefit to the local market as well, and may help with the metro’s affordability, Knapp said.”

Boston.com in Massachusetts. “The average sale price for a condo in Boston proper was 11.5 percent less in the third quarter of 2024 than in that same period the year before, according to a market report by Warren Residential.”

Sarasota Magazine in Florida. “The Sarasota real estate market shifted in 2024. According to the Zillow Home Value Index, Sarasota stood among the top three metro areas where prices softened the most—dropping 5.7 percent year-over-year, according to ResiClub data. Three prominent real estate professionals—Judie Berger of Sotheby’s International Realty and Robert Goldman—offer their insights. Goldman: ‘This was the first year in recent memory where we saw a softening in prices early on. Nationally, prices rose, but Sarasota saw a 10 percent decline, which brought values back to 2019 levels.’ How did hurricanes Helene and Milton impact the market? Berger: ‘There’s been a noticeable increase in demand for new construction. We’re also seeing more investor inquiries, but they’re often looking for rock-bottom pricing.'”

From WFLA. “Homeowners across the state are facing the same uncertainty in the wake of last year’s storms. Many still need help rebuilding, while others face shocking insurance premiums. State leaders in Tampa Bay and beyond are eyeing ways Florida can harden and rebound after the recent storms, while remaining cautious crafting legislation to address the issues caused by back-to-back hurricanes. ‘Some people are just leaving,’ said Eric Braun of Crystal Beach. ‘They don’t want to take the chance again and they can’t get the coverage.’ Stepping into the new year, concerns for residents along the coast still remain. ‘We probably won’t make it for this hurricane season and may have to go through this all over again,’ said Jill Grodin, another Crystal Beach resident.”

The Star Tribune in Minnesota. “High-profile plans for a large housing development centered by a mosque in Lino Lakes are on hold well into the new year, now that a federal judge has denied developer Faraaz Mohammed’s request for an early end to the city’s moratorium that stalled his proposed project. The developers have been squaring off with city leaders and officials in federal court over a lawsuit in which Mohammed accused them of Islamophobic discrimination. But critics of the proposal in this Anoka County community say the racial controversy swirling around Mohammed’s Madinah Lakes housing development has clouded legitimate concerns about the developer’s past legal troubles. Those include a lawsuit alleging he lied about being a licensed contractor and a past conviction for theft by swindle. ‘It has felt scammy to me from the beginning,’ Lino Lakes resident Melissa Schultz said in an interview, echoing a complaint aired frequently at the many public meetings held about the project throughout 2024.”

“Architect Dean Dovolis, who partnered with Mohammed on the project and is the founder of DJR Architecture, defended the developer and said the criticisms of Mohammed’s past are driven by opposition to a Muslim-focused development. ‘It was what I call premeditated murder of a project because they didn’t like the idea of an Islamic community,’ Dovolis said. David Schultz, a professor at Hamline University who previously worked as a director of planning, zoning and code enforcement for the city of Binghamton, N.Y., said a developer with a history of fraud allegations and a swindle conviction would have given him pause. ‘This would come under a very, very careful consideration in terms of: ‘Is this an overall feasible project?’ Schultz said.”

The Sacramento Bee in California. “A resort-style, Sacramento-area home with just one owner since it was built in 2001 recently sold for $5.25 million — a price point that may become more common at the upper end of the region’s housing market. Since 2020, the region has seen 13 residential sales on MLS at $5 million and above. Seven sales were in Loomis, three in Granite Bay, and the others in Davis, El Dorado Hills and Shingle Springs. The newly purchased Granite Bay home, located at 5940 Granite Glen Court, was on the market for 183 days, according to realtor.com. The Granite Glen Court home was originally listed in the middle of summer for $6.3 million before the asking price fell in September to $5.9 million, according to realtor.com. The closing price dropped another $650,000.”

“Among the 13 sales in the region above the $5 million mark, only one sold for more than the original price (barely, at $5,000 over), two sold at the original price, and 10 sold below, according to Ryan Lundquist, a Sacramento appraiser. The difference between the closed price and the original asking price has been between $225,000 and $2 million lower. ‘These unicorns are often priced above what the market will bear, and sometimes they need more significant price reductions before the right buyer pulls the trigger,’ Lundquist said. Less than 1% of all sales in 2024 have sold above $2 million in the four-county Sacramento region, Lundquist noted, and only 0.02% of all sales closed above $5 million in 2024, or four sales in all.”

NBC San Diego in California. “New year, new home? That’s what San Diego native Jaclyn Nerenberg hopes for. She says her search has been an uphill battle with plenty of obstacles. ‘I did overcome those, and I have, you know, the finances to get a home now,’ Nerenberg said. ‘But now, it’s like a whole new set of issues where it’s like, is it the home that I want?’ Real estate agent Melissa Sofia said there is a positive aspect to these numbers. ‘Think back to 2021, when it was like 10, 20 offers on every home. No one could get anything under like $100,000 over asking price. Now buyers are seeing opportunity,’ Sofia said.”

Soo Today in Canada. “A controversial real estate investor responsible for buying up numerous properties in Sault Ste. Marie is the target of a civil suit that’s currently playing out in a local courtroom. Both CPM Properties co-director Nels Moxness and 14085175 Canada Inc. are being sued by Olympia Trust for nearly $200,000 after allegedly failing to pay a mortgage on 216 Gloucester St. last year, according to a statement of claim filed in Ontario Superior Court in June 2024. The trust company, which filed the civil suit as the trustee for a retirement savings plan holder, is also seeking possession of the property, interest and court costs. As extensively reported by SooToday, Moxness — who is co-director of CPM Properties alongside his son, Mathew Moxness — used more than two dozen numbered companies to buy up at least 130 properties in Sault Ste. Marie, many of them in the city’s downtown core, as housing prices plunged during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“The Windrose Group may be familiar to some readers: It also provided the insolvent, out-of-town landlords behind SID Developments with a number of promissory notes — a way of getting loans without the aid of a financial institution — from lenders sourced by Windrose and its principal broker, Claire Drage, prior to entering into receivership last year. The Lion’s Share Group, another mortgage broker in southern Ontario founded by Drage, also entered into receivership last year after issuing hundreds of promissory notes to several real estate investors, including Moxness. Court documents related to the Lion’s Share receivership proceedings have revealed that Moxness has acted as guarantor for more than 600 promissory notes in the Sault alone.”

The Toronto Sun. “The Finance Department says mortgage fraud and money laundering are getting worse in Canada as delayed new laws are set to take effect on Oct. 1, 2025 affecting realtors and title insurers, reports Blacklock’s Reporter. ‘The Canadian real estate market has been identified as a sector highly vulnerable to money laundering,’ the department wrote in a Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement. ‘Fraud, a well-known predicate crime to money laundering, is on the rise in the real estate sector with increased reporting of criminals using title fraud to steal ownership of a home to benefit from its value.’ Realtors are already required to verify the identity of clients under 2020 regulations introduced after a 2019 report by the advocacy group Transparency International Canada complained of ‘dirty money’ in Vancouver and Greater Toronto Area real estate.”

From Extra. “Bank of Ireland kept lending to convicted thief Michael Lynn years after senior staff at the lender warned he should be reported to the Law Society. The bank later recovered the millions it lost to Lynn via an insurance claim. Details of the internal BOI warnings and the insurance claim will air tomorrow as part of a landmark RTÉ documentary – co-produced by Irish Mail on Sunday Investigations Editor Michael O’Farrell – into the hunt to bring Lynn to justice. Former solicitor Lynn was convicted in December 2023 of stealing almost €18m from various banks after a decades-long international manhunt and two marathon trials.He was later jailed for five and a half years. He is also the subject of an ongoing Garda money laundering probe. ‘‘He should be referred to the Law Society.,’ one BoI official wrote to her superiors in 2004, three years before Lynn absconded.”

“Despite the warning, BoI kept lending to Lynn. Years later, when Lynn’s activities first began to emerge in late 2007, another BoI official confirmed the previous warnings. ‘Back in 2004 we highlighted to you that the solicitor was not registering their ownership on the properties and also the bank’s mortgage was not being registered,’ he wrote. ‘I think we succeeded in getting out clean at that point and the debt was taken over by some other institution. Looks like a timely escape.’ It later transpired that BoI did not escape entirely and it lost millions to Lynn. However, it emerged during Lynn’s trial that the bank successfully claimed this money back via its insurance policy.”

“Tomorrow’s programme also features those who lost their life savings to Lynn. In addition to the money he stole from banks, Lynn’s companies took €12m from hundreds of everyday investors who paid deposits for never-built apartments abroad. ‘You’d wake up at night and suddenly it would hit you. That you had lost this money for your family,’ retired Dublin school teacher, Paul Ryan said. Mr Ryan lost €60,000 after paying for an apartment in Portugal. ‘I didn’t discuss it with my family or my daughters because I felt a terrible sense of guilt that I had lost all this money,’ he said. Like many victims, Mr Ryan and his wife used their SSIA (Special Savings Incentive Account) savings to fund their holiday-home dream at Lynn’s Costa de Cannas resort in the Algarve.”

Daily Mail Australia. “Skye Wheatley was left tearing her hair out on Sunday as she shared an update on how renovations are going at her lavish Gold Coast mansion. The I’m A Celebrity winner, 30, shared images of the luxury pool currently being built in her backyard, saying the tiling has been a disaster. The vent session began when Skye took to her Instagram Stories to start a Q&A with her followers about the ‘crazy’ pavement in her backyard. ‘There’s all this black/brown s*** through our crazy pave. Lachy [her partner] said ‘it’s natural’ when I asked about it, but I’ve never seen this before,’ she said. She then shared another angle of the area, saying: ‘The reno is actually causing so much stress and everyday I wake up so tired and don’t even want to get out of bed. Like, actually ready to sell at this point. We are way in over our heads with this project. It’s fkn massive and so draining.'”