You Don’t Know How Far Down Things Will Drop, So Sometimes It’s A Race To The Bottom

It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “‘A significant metric for sellers to note is that the median closed price in Naples decreased 10 percent in April 2025 compared to April 2024,’ said Ryan Bleggi, 2022 Naples Area Board of Realtors president. ‘There are many listings that have been on the market cumulatively for over 200 days,’ said Jeff Jones, broker at Keller Williams Naples. ‘These sellers are trying to get as much equity as possible as they hold onto the idea that values are still what they were in 2022. But the market has changed. We have over 7,000 properties for sale today, not 2,000 like we had in 2022. If a home has been on the market longer than our average days on market, which was 84 days in April, then it’s unlikely to sell unless the price is reduced enough to attract a buyer in today’s market environment.’ With 2,572 price decreases reported during April, this significant shift in the market indicates that sellers are more willing to lower prices to meet buyer demand.”

“The Cape Coral housing market is experiencing a shift, raising concerns as more than 1,600 homes face foreclosure this month. Experts emphasize that this is not a collapse, but rather a correction. They describe the market as stabilizing after several explosive years. Astrid Shover, a Cape Coral resident and realtor, has had her home on the market for over a month and has already lowered her price. ‘You have these builders that are coming from out of town, right from the east coast, that are building here on the west coast to really capitalize on the buyers that are moving to Cape Coral,’ said Shover. ‘If you have your house on the market, but you have the aesthetics from, you know, 2000, it’s not going to appeal to some of the newer construction builds.'”

“A family from Manassas, Virginia, has decided to leave the U.S. after a mother of four was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Claudia Alvarenga España was detained, flown to Guatemala and returned to the U.S. for an immigration hearing. Alvarenga España’s husband said in an interview with News4 sister station Telemundo44 that they no longer want to suffer. ‘We’ve made the decision that basically we all have to return to our country,’ Jhoan Mesen said in Spanish. Her husband said they made the decision to leave the U.S. after living in the country for 15 years. ‘I’ve already cleared out most of my belongings to prepare to sell the house and start over.’ Two weeks ago, Alvarenga España was raising four children with her husband and working at the Georgetown South Community Center to help pay the mortgage on the couple’s town home. ‘She bought a house here. She felt secure here. She came here to escape a nightmare, and she walked into another nightmare,’ Georgetown South Community manager Meg Carroll said.”

“The construction industry in South Texas is facing a critical juncture as recent ICE raids send ripples of fear through the workforce, leading to severe economic repercussions. This stagnation is already taking a toll on the economic landscape of the Rio Grande Valley. Contractors are particularly feeling the pinch, with one expressing the financial strain caused by inactive projects: ‘As a contractor, I have certain homes that are standing still. The problem is that I’m paying interest on them, or some of my clients are paying interest,’ they explained.”

“Short-term rental owners voiced their opposition to Steamboat Springs City Council’s vacancy tax proposal during public comment last week, saying the potential $3,100 per year tax would be ‘devastating’ for many STR owners. Mark Walker, the president of Resort Group, which manages a significant number of STRs locally, walked through the various ways short-term rentals are supporting the community already, most notably through the 9% tax on nightly stays that generated more than $15 million in 2024. ‘The short-term rental industry has been impacted enough,’ Walker said. ‘Adding a potential, additional $3,100 vacancy tax to STRs would be devastating. I hope that isn’t not this Council’s intent.'”

“May home sales in Pacific County continued the sluggish pattern of recent months, with 28 houses and one condo sold, 29% fewer than the year before, according to statistics from Northwest Multiple Listing Service. In south county — the peninsula, plus Chinook and Naselle — there were 21 house sales completed, 27.6% fewer than in May 2024. A single condo sale was down from four the year before. The median selling price of the houses was $349,000, a decline of 4.4%. Despite increased inventory, sales growth did not keep pace. ‘Relative to the previous month, the number of active listings increased by 3,851 (from 14,459 in April 2025), while the number of closed sales increased by only 580 (from 5,887 in April 2025),’ said Steven Bourassa, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research. ‘In other words, listings increased by nearly six and a half times the growth in the number of sales.'”

“As more market-rate housing proposals come to Downtown Santa Cruz, some residents fear the high rental prices will leave scores of apartments empty. Some residents have pointed to Anton Pacific, a 207-unit market-rate building on Pacific Avenue, as proof of a vacancy problem. This week, about one year after the apartments opened, 32 of 207 apartments were vacant. ‘I would really like to see the other market-rate housing in this area filled before we start building more housing,’ said Rush Inn owner Karen Madura at a June 5 Santa Cruz Planning Commission meeting. ‘We have so much that is currently sitting vacant because it’s too expensive for people to be able to live in it.’ Anton Pacific property managers are offering a promotion of $2,500 off first month’s rent, plus free rent for the second and third month—if prospective tenants sign a lease immediately after touring the building.”

“A former San Jose Greyhound bus terminal that has suffered from blight after hundreds of housing units were proposed but never developed now faces a foreclosure and auction, according to documents filed with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office. The property, with addresses of 60 South Almaden Blvd. and 70 South Almaden, is owned by an affiliate controlled by China-based Z&L Properties. The affiliate is in default on a $19.5 million loan that Shanghai Commercial Bank provided in 2019. At one time, Z&L Properties had investments in four downtown San Jose housing development sites and a south San Jose ranch. In January 2024, the Z&L affiliate sold the 3,654-acre Richmond Ranch in southeast San Jose for $16 million after paying $25 million for it in 2017. In May, a Z&L Properties affiliate lost ownership of 188 West St. James, a double-tower residential complex with about 600 units, through a streamlined foreclosure process that valued it at $181.9 million.”

“Condominium sales in Canada’s two major markets continue to fall, leading to increasing supply and the cancellation of dozens of condo projects. Sellers like Evelyn Contino don’t have a few years to hang onto properties. The GTA-based real estate lawyer has been trying to sell her condo in downtown Toronto since November and has received no offers. ‘My ex-partner and I have substantially reduced the price of this property and still nothing,’ she said. ‘It really is a tumultuous time in the real estate market.’ While purchase prices in major markets like Toronto and Vancouver have softened, would-be buyers appear willing to wait to see if prices drop even further.”

“836 15 Ave., S.W. No. 2002, Calgary. Asking price: $424,900 (Mid-March, 2025). Previous asking price: $449,900 (Early March, 2025). Selling price: $414,000 (May, 2025). Property days on market: 67. The owners of this two-bedroom condo a few blocks north of 17th Avenue hoped to sell it in the mid $400,000s, aware buyers would likely counter with a lower amount. Its appearance on the market in March seemed perfectly timed – it was the only unit available in the 21-year-old high-rise – until another property was put up for sale at an asking price $25,000 less than theirs. ‘We were the only listing in that building, then the day after, someone else listed a similar size unit for $424,900,’ said agent Kamil Lalji. ‘We dropped to $424,900 within a couple of days.'”

“Around the time this unit had its 10th visitor, a buyer came forward with an offer $10,900 lower than the revised asking price, and a deal was done. ‘At this point, we’re in a downward-moving market,’ the agent said. ‘Prices are dropping, and inventory is increasing. You don’t know how far down things will drop, so sometimes, it’s a race to the bottom.'”

“If anyone knows of a three-bedroom flat in west London going for under £500 a month, I’d love to hear about it. Otherwise, I’m looking at a future of house-sharing with the husband I’m desperate to divorce. He’s equally sick of me, but as it stands, we are trapped in our four-bed Victorian terrace together for the foreseeable. The situation is miserable for us, and I’m certain it’s equally stressful for our daughters. I’ve been married to Sam, who works in the music industry, for 11 years. We’ve been separated for nearly 18 months and, at 40 and 42, we’re young enough to start again. But I can’t imagine how I’d ever get a new relationship off the ground when my grumpy ex is cooking in the kitchen, or stomping about in the converted attic bedroom where he now sleeps.”

“Things came to a head post-pandemic. We were already struggling financially, and it wasn’t viable to pay for full-time childcare as I earned less than it would cost. Sam didn’t work during lockdown at all and, after that, Brexit badly affected the touring music industry and his income dropped. He wouldn’t even consider looking for another job, and we argued constantly about money and his immature attitude. Sam was going to move out to a nearby flat that the girls (who are now aged eight and 10) could visit regularly, but that dream died when we looked at rental prices. With our mortgage, there’s no spare money. If we divorce and sell the house, we’ll lose thousands in legal fees, and we’ll both be left struggling to afford two tiny flats. Plus, we have damp we’ve not been able to afford to fix so we’d have to drop the price. It’s much better for the girls to stay in their current home rather than live in a studio flat over a kebab shop.”

“State housing provider Kāinga Ora is halting hundreds of housing developments which would have delivered nearly 3500 homes, and selling a fifth of its vacant land. The agency’s chief executive Matt Crockett said on Thursday the ‘critical step’ in its reset plan would see it write down up to $220 million. It was decided 212 projects that would have delivered 3479 homes would not proceed because they did not stack up financially, or were in the wrong locations. ‘These reviews were essential to ensuring we only progress new housing projects that make commercial sense and that we sell land which is surplus to our requirements so we can get on a more financially sustainable footing,’ Crockett said. ‘We need to bite the bullet on this. There is often some short-term pain that comes with the resetting of past decisions, but it needs to be done.'”