It’s Just Like In 2008 When The Market Tanked

A report from WINK News. “The Sunshine State faces a real estate slowdown that has hit some neighborhoods. ‘Unfortunately, the market is shifting,’ said Veronika Mykhaskiv, a real estate agent now trying to sell her home. ‘For Sale’ signs appear but moving boxes aren’t packed. Randall Burroughs, who lives next to a house listed since October 2024, wasn’t surprised by the situation. ‘You can already see the proof in the pudding, because you see houses dropping $30,000,’ said Burroughs. Burroughs attributed the trend to excessive building and a tight economy. Stephen Petty, a real estate agent with VIP Realty in Southwest Florida, noted that new developers are lowering prices, which is negatively impacting the market. ‘The new developers try to lower the prices, and then they kind of tank their market. So, people look elsewhere,’ said Petty. Petty pointed out that the high prices of 2021 are no longer. ‘There’s going to be some foreclosure short sales. I’ve already seen some short sales coming back,’ he said.”

My Fox 8 in North Carolina. “Some Greensboro condo owners said they’re paying their homeowners association fees, but their community’s conditions don’t reflect it. At Bramblegate Condominiums owners said they’ve been waiting years for basic maintenance. ‘It’s just hopeless complaining to them, because they don’t do nothing about it,’ said James Joyce, condo owner. At Bramblegate Condominiums, homeowners say their community has deteriorated, and their requests for help are going nowhere. Others, like Cindy Barnes, say years of trying to get help have led nowhere. Her condo was damaged in a 2021 fire. Barnes said insurance funds managed through the HOA are expected to help cover the costs. While she’s communicated with the HOA’s attorney, she said there is no clear path forward. ‘It gives all of the owners here a sense of anxiety. You can’t be as productive as you would like in life. Your home is your biggest asset. And if you’re an owner and this is all that you have, you know, to some people, this is all you have,’ said Cindy Barnes, homeowner.”

From InMaricopa in Arizona. “Homeowners in Rancho Mirage, a master-planned community on Maricopa’s East Side, say they are frustrated and anxious after learning that homebuilder K. Hovnanian Homes is halting construction and leaving remaining lots in the hands of an outside investor. An early Rancho Mirage buyer, who requested anonymity, said he first noticed trouble when a ‘Final Opportunities’ sign appeared at the sales office, despite dozens of empty lots in his neighborhood. Fellow Rancho Mirage developer Beazer Homes is also backing out of the neighborhood, according to local representatives. ‘They were listing these homes at over $600,000 when we bought. We paid $609,000. Now they’re closing out at $499,000,’ the homeowner told InMaricopa. ‘That’s a huge hit for those of us who bought early, and now we don’t even know what’s going to happen with the empty lots.'”

“A K. Hovnanian representative at Rancho Mirage explained the company’s limited role in the development, citing a ‘take down’ approach in which the builder buys land in phases rather than in larger swaths. They buy street-by-street. ‘We don’t own [the remaining lots],’ the employee said. ‘We buy one street at a time. The way the market is now, the builder didn’t want to buy more. So, it’s not like we sold it. We never owned it. An investor, a big company, owns it.’ They have five more homes to sell before an investor takes over the remaining lots. She wouldn’t say who that investor is. ‘It’s just like in 2008 when the market tanked: Builders didn’t finish their lots and they’d sell it to another builder,’ said the K. Hovnanian rep. ‘That’s usually what happens.'”

“For the Rancho Mirage homeowner, the uncertainty about this once master-planned community and what will become of these vacant lots has intensified fears about property values and neighborhood cohesion. ‘We feel abandoned,’ the homeowner said. ‘This was supposed to be a master-planned community, but now it feels like we’re just sitting with dirt lots between houses and no idea what’s coming next.'”

Bay Area Newsgroup in California. “The Bay Area has more homes on the market than during last summer, but buyers just aren’t biting. Sellers, getting desperate, are starting to lower their prices. In Contra Costa and Alameda counties, one in every three homes for sale saw a price drop in June. In San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, it was one in every two homes, according to Redfin data. ‘If you’re a seller and think the number your neighbor got in 2022 is what you’re going to get today, you’ll be disappointed,’ said Victoria Tseng, a real estate agent based in Berkeley. ‘Sellers are looking at where the market was a few years ago, and agents are warning them that the market isn’t there,’ said Jill Toler, a San Jose-based agent. ‘If we’re not getting offers, we need to put the home at a different price.'”

“For a buyer putting 20% down on the median Bay Area home, the 6.5% rate for a 30-year mortgage translates to a $7,439 monthly payment, versus $5,097 when rates were at just 3% during the pandemic. ‘Buyers are choosy — they want a home that’s move-in ready and cleaned up,’ Toler said. She advised buyers to be wary of the classic refrain used by real estate agents: ‘Marry the house, date the rate.’ ‘Buy the house you can afford,’ Toler said. ‘Don’t overspend.'”

The Ocean Beach Rag in California. “A year ago, after hearing countless stories about monstrous accessory dwelling units (ADUs), OB Rag staff wanted to find out how bad things were. So we launched a ‘Worst ADU in San Diego’ contest on August 9. One of the contest ‘dishonorables’ was back in the news this week. A two-story ADU, the largest in Crown Point, towers over the Promontory Street home of Cathie and Marc Umemoto. The sheer mass of the structure is bad enough. But a coastal zoning loophole allowed owner Heidi Martin, who had just bought the property, to build a large ADU just inches from her property line. The Umemotos were never notified that their home was about to be overshadowed by a giant bunker. ‘At the last second, the garage was torn down, and the foundation was jackhammered,’ said Marc. ‘We didn’t know what was happening until the yellow wall was pulled up into place.’ The ensuing war of attrition, covered by the Rag and the Union-Tribune, dragged on for a year until this week. The Union-Tribune reported July 29 that Martin’s crew figured out a way to finish off the remaining wall from the roof using a long pole with a roller paintbrush. So the war is over for now, or until Heidi Martin again needs to enter the next-door property for ADU repairs or maintenance. The Umemotos’ plight – living in perpetual shadow, their house devalued – has won them widespread sympathy.”

The Globe and Mail in Canada. “Address: 6 Dawnridge Tr., Brampton, Ont. Asking price: $1,399,000 (June, 2025). Previous asking price: $1,599,000 (May, 2025). Selling price: $1,365,000 (June, 2025). Between 2021 and 2023, Toronto-based agent Luke Dalinda would have priced this four-bedroom house at roughly $1.9-million. But this spring, the value was closer to $1.6-million for this property across the street from Conservation Drive Park in Brampton. The owners, disappointed only two buyers emerged over four days, cut their price by $200,000 and saw their guest list rise tenfold over the following week. ‘There’s intense pressure here, more so than Toronto, to lower prices, and it’s a bit concerning,’ said Mr. Dalinda. ‘Had [the sellers] put more time on the market at that higher price, they’d be facing the same decision in a month, but by then, they’d be burnt out and people know that.’ The buyer pushed for an additional discount, then another after completing a home inspection, despite already reviewing one provided by the owners. ‘People use a home inspection to push down the price, even by a few more thousand [dollars], so in this case, we did ours, and there was nothing wrong with the house,’ said Mr. Dalinda. ‘[The buyers] basically used that condition to get about $5,000 in extra savings.'”

From CBC News in Canada. “Residents in an Essex mobile home community say they feel ‘trapped’ living in the Hidden Creek mobile home community, after they say large increases to land lease and maintenance fees are scaring off potential buyers. Facing the loss of her home and inching toward bankruptcy, Sarah Battersby says she had to surrender her mobile home in McGregor to the bank after being unable to sell it since September. ‘Me and my kids, we built this home together and it feels strange not being able to just go in,’ she told CBC standing outside her former home, trying to withhold her tears. ‘It’s just really upsetting. It’s sad and has taken quite a toll on me.’ The single mother of two bought her modular home in April 2022, leasing the lot it is on for about $675 a month. Following health conditions and long-term disability, when Battersby went to sell last fall she said the lot rent went up to $895 and that potential mobile homeowners were looking at a new maintenance fee of $140 a month.”

“‘My realtor had people calling and just hanging up as soon as they heard the amount of land rent because no one can afford it,’ she said. Consequently, she lowered her asking price ‘several times’ from $219,900 to $149,000 before eventually surrendering it to the bank in July. Battersby and others CBC spoke with in the community say they feel the park is not properly maintained, with crooked pavement, potholes in the road and unkept grass, despite their maintenance fees. ‘Where is the money going? Because it doesn’t seem like they’re putting it back into the park where it should be going,’ Battersby said. Reg Major, who has lived there since 2018, said there are 240 deeded residents who own their land and 242 who, like him, lease their land. He said many of those 242 who have been trying to sell their mobile homes have been struggling with the lot rent increases. ‘I’m trapped. I can’t sell the place. It won’t sell,’ he said. ‘When we pass on and my daughter takes possession, she’s gonna be stuck with the hell, instead of being stuck with a benefit.'”

The Derbyshire Times in the UK. “Residents of a north Derbyshire housing development are up in arms over the unfinished state of the neighbourhood, with companies working on the estate appearing to have ceased work. When homeowners moved into the Williamthorpe Fields estate, in Holmewood, they were expecting to see the public realm around their houses well maintained – with a charge for upkeep included in mortgage agreements. But as time passed, residents feel they are entering an abandoned wasteland every time they step out the front door – and their complaints have gone unanswered in a tangled web of companies and councils which might be expected to take some responsibility.”

“Speaking anonymously, one mum-of-two who has lived in a £238,000 house on the development for more than two years said: ‘When we first looked at the site plan, it was something that really attracted us. There was plenty of open space, it wasn’t like a rabbit hutch. We’ve had no issues with the house itself, and last year it all looked lovely when the builders were still maintaining their areas and they were paying contractors to look after the green spaces. Then this year they all left site and that’s when the issues started. There’s an electrical box that’s just been left wide open, broken streetlights. It doesn’t feel safe to let the children out on their bikes. It’s a death- trap waiting to happen. It’s not so bad for us to look at because we’re tucked at the back in cul-de-sac, but other people are looking out their windows at five-foot weeds. We paid good money for this house and if we wanted to move into a dump we would’ve moved into a dump. It makes us feel like we don’t want to live here anymore.'”