We Have Sellers That Are Lost And Don’t Understand Why Their House Isn’t Selling

A report from Bisnow. “Three years after Harry Macklowe bought his first major South Florida development, the famed New York developer has offloaded it for less than two-thirds of what he paid. Macklowe Properties sold a 1.7-acre empty site sandwiched between the Dadeland Mall and the Dadeland North Metrorail Station for $20M to Miami-based Related Group, according to property records provided by Vizzda. The price is a 37% discount from the nearly $32M Macklowe paid in April 2022. Macklowe financed that purchase with a $39M loan from Fortress Investment Group. The lender moved to foreclose on that debt, alongside a loan on a Manhattan apartment building, last year, The Real Deal reported. Macklowe, who developed the Apple Cube on Fifth Avenue and the supertall condo 432 Park in Manhattan, has a history of tumultuous investments. He famously lost a $4B portfolio during the Great Recession that included the General Motors Building and the Apple Cube.”

“More recently, the billionaire converted the former Irving Bank tower at One Wall Street into a $2B condo and retail development. The more than 175K SF of retail at the building has performed well, but the luxury condos have struggled to meet the same standard. Sales for units began in 2021, but by November, only 112 out of the 566 residences had sold, the New York Post reported.”

The Denver Post in Colorado. “Home sellers in metro Denver pulled back in June, but not enough to keep the inventory of unsold properties from crossing the 14,000 mark, according to a monthly update from the Denver Metro Association of Realtors. At the current pace of sales, the supply of unsold homes would last 3.6 months, marking the most sluggish resale market the region has seen since 2011. Amanda Snitker, chairwoman of the DMAR Market Trends Committee described the Denver housing market at midyear as a study in ‘recalibration,’ adding that those stuck in what they think should be happening are contributing to ‘hesitation, missed opportunities and stalled deals.'”

Flagstaff Business News in Arizona. “We have sellers that are lost and don’t understand why their house isn’t selling and we have others who have received multiple offers just last week. How can this exist in the same market and timeframe? Nuance. The median price point of the Flagstaff MLS in May 2024 was $620,000 and the median price point then this last May 2025 was $744,740. At a quick glance, one may interpret that data to believe that the average house is $100K more expensive this year vs. last year. However, if we graphically represent the sold data, you can see that the median is very much influenced by far lower priced sales occurring in 2024. This may be an interesting phenomenon to watch in the coming years: where median price point continues to increase while general market prices remain flat or have moderate appreciation.”

“This doesn’t mean sellers have to give away the farm or that buyers need to come in guns blazing. This simply means that we’re moving tightly to amicable match ups. The historic chart simply adds to the clarity on why the absorption rate could get so high. If we start worlds apart, it’s going to take even more time for reality to set in and egos to simmer.”

From Redfin. “Fewer Canadians are searching for homes in the United States than they were at the start of 2025. ‘Normally I work with about five Canadian buyers each spring, mostly older folks looking for a second home. This year, there were none,’ said Heather Mahmood-Corley, a Redfin Premier agent in Phoenix. ‘I actually helped a Canadian sell their Phoenix home earlier this year. People from Canada are retreating from owning real estate in the U.S. because of political tensions; some of them are worried it will no longer be practical to travel back and forth between the two countries, and some don’t want their money tied up in the U.S. But also, we’re not seeing as many snowbird buyers in general; I’ve noticed older people are more concerned about their stock portfolios and 401Ks as the economy fluctuates.'”

“‘I haven’t worked with a Canadian buyer in at least a year,’ said Marsha McMahon-Jones, a Redfin Premier agent in Palm Springs. ‘I’m in touch with a few potential buyers, but they’re staying put in Canada for now with the idea of potentially making a move if and when Canada-U.S. relations improve. I haven’t heard of any Canadians who already live here part of the year listing their Palm Springs home, though.'”

From Bloomberg. “A portfolio of valuable California properties, including a hotel in the exclusive enclave of Laguna Beach, may be forced into liquidation at fire-sale prices because of a bitter court fight between the owners. Some of the properties were once valued at a collective $360 million and sales of these assets should cover debt put on them over the years, according to court filings. But a court-supervised sale process has fallen apart because of a fight for control of the company that manages the real estate. ‘Each is holding a gun to their own head and saying, ‘Do this, or I’ll shoot’, US Bankruptcy Court Judge Brendan Shannon said during a court hearing Monday in Wilmington, Delaware. ‘I am aware of the potential for value loss or destruction.'”

“The dispute shows the limits of using a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case to restructure hundreds of millions of dollars in debt when key participants are locked in a contentious battle. Because of the standoff, Shannon said he is likely to dismiss the case, which would set off a series of chaotic court battles that could drag down the value of the properties.”

The Austin Monitor in Texas. “Downtown Austin leaders are increasingly focused on residential development as a way to stabilize the city’s core, as office vacancy rates remain stubbornly high and some buildings struggle to find tenants at all, with more than one-fifth of downtown office space currently sitting vacant or available for near-term leases. The imbalance has more to do with oversupply than a collapse in demand. Developers created millions of square feet of premium office space over the past three years, betting on continued tech growth and the return of in-person work. Meanwhile, nearly 2.7 million square feet of additional office space remains under construction or in the development pipeline, according to data from Franklin Street’s Q1 2025 market report. Without a major uptick in tenant demand, much of that space could remain empty well into 2026.”

“‘Tech hiring has slowed down materially over the past 24 to 36 months and the pipeline of construction was already so robust over the past few years that you find yourself in a position where leasing velocity is down while deliveries of new space is up materially,’ said Alex Taghi, Franklin Street’s senior director and occupier services lead for Austin. ‘You get to a situation where vacancy skyrockets.'”

CBC News in Canada. “Home sales in the region ticked 2.4 per cent lower in June compared with a year earlier, as 6,243 properties changed hands, the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board said Friday. ‘January was actually good up until Trump got into office and started talking,’ said Vy Ngo, a sales representative with Big City Realty Inc. brokerage in the Toronto area. Despite hope for a turnaround, Ngo said many people are still ‘very scared to buy because you don’t know what’s going to happen next.’ She called it the ‘worst’ of her 12 years as a real estate agent, due to challenges navigating the uncertainties of the tariff situation. A total of 19,839 new properties were listed in the GTA last month, up 7.7 per cent compared with last year. TRREB president Elechia Barry-Sproule said with more listings available, buyers are ‘taking advantage of increased choice and negotiating discounts off asking prices.’ Active listings hit 31,603 last month, up 30.8 per cent from June 2024’s inventory of 24,169 homes.”

The Globe and Mail in Canada. “1140 Falcon Dr., No. 13, Coquitlam, B.C. Asking price: $1,150,000 (March 25). Selling price: $1,123,000 (March 25). Days on market: One. The 2,115-square-foot townhouse is in a 73-unit strata complex in a suburban neighbourhood near the SkyTrain and shops, popular with families. About 19 groups viewed the property and listing agent Cheryl Davie received the one offer on the same day. Homes not reasonably priced for the market aren’t moving. ‘Buyers, especially those who are first-time buyers, seem increasingly hesitant to enter the market these days,’ she said. ‘No one is acting with urgency. In speaking with colleagues, we hear similar experiences as to what [is going on with] our listings. They are well received at the outset, decent open house attendance and some showings, but no offers. Sellers are becoming disheartened and we are seeing prices soften. Surprisingly, this doesn’t seem to be spurring buyers into action.'”

The Associated Press. “A protest by hundreds against gentrification and mass tourism that began peacefully Friday in Mexico City neighborhoods popular with tourists turned violent when a small number of people began smashing storefronts and harassing foreigners. Masked protesters smashed through the windows and looted high-end businesses in the touristic areas of Condesa and Roma, and screamed at tourists in the area. Graffiti on glass shattered glass being smashed through with rocks read: ‘get out of Mexico.’ Protesters held signs reading ‘gringos, stop stealing our home’ and demanding local legislation to better regulate tourism levels and stricter housing laws.”

“Michelle Castro, a 19-year-old college student, was among the flocks of people protesting. She said that she’s from the city’s working class city center, and that she’s watched slowly as apartment buildings have been turned into housing for tourists. ‘Mexico City is going through a transformation,’ she said. ‘There are a lot of foreigners, namely Americans, coming to live here. Many say it’s xenophobia, but it’s not. It’s just that so many foreigners come here, rents are skyrocketing because of Airbnb. Rents are so high that some people can’t even pay anymore.’ The Mexico City protest follows others in European cities like Barcelona, Madrid, Paris and Rome against mass tourism.”

La Voz de Lanzarote. “After years of sustained increases in housing prices, the Bank of Spain has turned on the first warning lights. In its latest Financial Stability Report, the organization has indicated that some of its internal models are beginning to detect symptoms compatible with an incipient real estate bubble in the Spanish market. Although no restrictive measures have been activated for the moment, the regulator warns that it could intervene to limit mortgage credit if the situation deteriorates, with special attention to loans that exceed certain risk levels, such as a high loan to value (above 80%).”

“In this context, Iñaki Unsain, an expert in the real estate sector, points out that, unlike 2008, ‘we are not in a bubble because there is no speculative spiral, no easy credit, nor a generalized lack of control of the market.’ The general director of ACV Gestión Inmobiliaria points out that although we are not on the verge of a bubble, ‘what we do have is a structural supply crisis that has been worsening for years, especially in large cities.’ The expert insists that the market is much more contained than in 2008 and that, even if the Bank of Spain decides to activate macroprudential measures to limit access to credit, the effect would be a progressive cooling, not a sudden explosion. ‘Thinking that prices are going to fall in high-demand areas is naive. This is not a bubble inflated by greed, as in 2008, it is a system that is not producing enough, and until that changes, prices will remain under pressure,’ concludes Unsain.”