A report from Fox 54 in Alabama. “‘It’s a good time to buy,’ Lore Hislop, president of the Huntsville Area Association of Realtors shares. ‘You know, the old buyer-seller’s market is a very common term. You hear all over the news and we say market because our inventory is leveling out. We are seeing a lot more inventory in that, an attainability range we like to call it. And so, we’re really excited. We are seeing 45% of the homes currently selling, at least it’s all in hindsight, below list price and then around 17% above list price.’”

The Citrus County Chronicle. “The median price of an existing single-family home in Citrus County dropped for the first time in recent memory, according to the Florida Realtors’ April market report. More homes are remaining unsold at their original list prices, leading sellers to lower their prices in order to attract buyers in a highly competitive market. In April, the inventory rose at a faster rate than in previous years, with a 47 percent increase for single-family homes. That marks the 32nd consecutive monthly increase. Kevin Cunningham, broker-owner of RE/MAX Realty One, said more housing options on the market are leading to increased competitiveness, causing price drops. ‘This is an event that hasn’t occurred in quite some time,’ he said. ‘Each instance of cause-and-effect brings hope to buyers, signaling a more balanced real estate market.’”

The American Statesman. “Austin has ended up on a new top 10 list, and this time it’s not on one of those ‘best of’ ones. In its fourth annual report on U.S. moving trends, PODS Enterprises — the moving and storage company known for its portable containers — ranks Austin No. 5 among the top 10 locations people are leaving this year. In the past couple of years, apartment leasing declined in Central Texas due to slower migration and slower job growth, coupled with a supply of rental units that exceeds demand, local real estate experts have said. Austin’s tech sector has seen layoffs, which experts say have contributed to slower apartment leasing and fewer people moving in.”

“Los Angeles, Northern California, South Florida’s Miami metro and Long Island, N.Y., continue to see the largest population exoduses, the report said. ‘While the draw to natural surroundings is a driving force, skyrocketing costs of living have proven equally influential in this lifestyle pivot,’ the report said. ‘Exorbitant housing costs, overcrowding, and hefty tax burdens have become, for some, insurmountable challenges in these urban centers.’”

From Newsweek. “Some of the major cities in California saw rental prices plunge amid declining demand as the areas saw population losses, according to Zumper. Oakland saw rent plunge more than 9 percent in May, followed by Sacramento, which recorded an 8 percent drop compared to the same time a year ago. Overall, seven of the 11 California cities that Zumper looked showed a drop in May. Crystal Chen, a spokesperson at Zumper, added that drop in demand may have been due to the Bay Area and the Los Angeles metro area witnessing some of the largest population losses in the last few years. ‘The demand for housing has, you know, has lessened. And therefore that’s where prices have gone down annually in, in a lot of these big cities,’ she said. ‘The California economy isn’t doing the best right now and I think in the short term this trend will continue to happen where people are moving out of California since it’s so expensive to live here.’”

“Zumper also pointed out that some California cities are struggling to recover the jobs they lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. Los Angeles has 60,000 fewer jobs right now than it did before the coronavirus hit and led to strict lockdowns that forced businesses to lay off employees. San Francisco has 45,000 fewer jobs than before the COVID-induced economic crisis. Meanwhile, California’s 5.3 percent unemployment rate is 1 percentage point higher than the national rate, contributing to a struggling rental market in the state, according to Zumper.”

From Bisnow. “Restaurants that took the U.S. by storm 30 to 40 years ago are beginning to drop like flies after a whirlwind past few years that forced rapid innovation in response to evolving consumer demands. At least 12 of the nation’s biggest casual chains plan to scale back their portfolios this year, and while reasons behind the reductions vary, the potential real estate impacts grow more layered as closures bloom. In less desirable markets, the empty carcasses of once-beloved chain restaurants will be harder to reckon with. ‘The casual market has slowly tailored back over the last 10 years,’ said Jill Battilega Rowe, partner at Venable and an attorney specializing in real estate litigation. ‘The pandemic expedited everything, but the real estate is still there.’ When a company files for bankruptcy, it is given the freedom to walk away from lease obligations, leaving affected landlords holding the bag, Rowe explained.”

The Wall Street Journal on Illinois. “Chicago gave birth to the skyscraper in the late 19th century. Now, local developers and politicians are trying to keep many of today’s office towers from dying off. The city is going beyond any other in providing public subsidies to convert obsolete office space into apartments and hotels, despite enormous budgetary challenges. Chicago’s office-vacancy rate has soared to 16.3% from 11.9% in early 2020, and it is notably higher than the U.S. average of 13.8%, according to data firm CoStar Group. Some downtown office buildings have sold for less than one-quarter of what they were valued at a few years ago.”

The Globe and Mail. “Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government aims to make housing more affordable for younger Canadians without bringing down home prices for existing homeowners. Cutting shelter costs while ensuring that homeowners’ property values remain high could be viewed as contradictory, but Mr. Trudeau was adamant that property owners would not lose out. ‘Housing needs to retain its value,’ Mr. Trudeau told The Globe and Mail’s City Space podcast. ‘It’s a huge part of people’s potential for retirement and future nest egg.’ Although the typical home price is down about 10 per cent from the height of the pandemic’s real estate boom in early 2022, values are still 37 per cent higher than in 2019, according to data from the Canadian Real Estate Association.”

Toronto.com in Canada. “A bright burst of flames lights up the inside of a darkened home. Seconds later a person dressed in dark clothing and bright white sneakers bolts out the front door. All of this was captured by a video camera set up in a new Brampton subdivision where the home that went up in flames was among many still under construction. Peel Regional Police said the video shows just one of several arsons committed between 1:30 a.m. and 3 a.m. at home building sites in the area, during a three-week span in July 2023. That same year, there were dozens of what police deemed suspicious fires across central and southern Ontario. All of them at homes under construction that were torched in the middle of the night.”

“Blazes burned at housing construction sites from Bradford to Burlington and from Vaughan to The Blue Mountains, leaving a trail of destruction and many unanswered questions. In some cases, these fires destroyed three or four homes. But, in one instance, an inferno in Vaughan last November ravaged at least 30 townhouses and a fire truck. It’s happening outside the GTA, too. A spokesperson for Northbridge Insurance, a Toronto-based company that provides coverage to home builders, says they’ve seen a dramatic rise in the number of claims. ‘We’ve seen 10 times more suspicious fires in the residential homebuilding space than we’ve seen in the last five years combined,’ the spokesperson said.”

“An alert sent to its clients in December, Northbridge Insurance noted a ‘quick and noticeable increase in suspicious fires affecting home builders, which may be being exacerbated by current financial and property market conditions.’ The alert listed a number of preventive measures builders can take, including enhancing security, conducting end-of-day inspections and engaging ‘with purchasers four-to-six months prior to closing to see if there is any risk of the inability to obtain financing and close on their unit(s).’ The company also recommended builders conduct a home appraisal to determine if the appraised value of the unit is less than the original purchase price. That’s as close as anyone we’ve spoken with has come to trying to pinpoint a reason.”

CBC News in Canada. “Bankruptcy proceedings for disgraced Victoria mortgage broker Greg Martel found he was operating a ‘massive’ Ponzi scheme that helped fund a lavish lifestyle. Documents from receiver and trustee PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) say an analysis of money from investors that flowed into and out of Martel’s company My Mortgage Auction Corp. (MMAC) — also known as Shop Your Own Mortgage — indicated none of it was used to fund real estate bridge loans, as was advertised. PwC found that the bridge loans Martel was selling never existed. Instead, money given to Martel was used to pay off earlier investors, channeled into his other companies, or used to cover significant operating expenses in a five-year period from 2018 to 2023. PwC also says Martel contributed to his bankruptcy in part through ‘unjustifiable extravagance in living.’”

“Martel attracted investors by promising sky-high rates of return, sometimes as high as 100 per cent on an annualized basis. MMAC collapsed last year amid a flurry of lawsuits by investors claiming they were owed money. In total, Martel brought in $270 million from his investors, according to PwC. Bruce Smid of Edmonton said he invested twice with Martel in 2018, but became suspicious and took his money out. ‘I was an early investor and when it started to look a little [iffy] I tried to pull it out,’ he said. ‘It took so long to just get one [investment out] and then even longer to get the second.’ Smid said Martel kept promising higher and higher rates of return. ‘I was thinking, ‘Man… this is too good to be true. I gotta get out before it gets bad,’ said Smid.”

ABC News in Australia. “When Sarah and Nick Wilms found out they were expecting a second child, they decided they would sell the parcel of land they had planned to build their dream home on. They had been living in North Wonthaggi since 2020 and purchased a separate block of land within the same housing estate the following year. But the couple has been left in limbo after both blocks were put under an Environmental Audit Overlay (EAO) by the Victorian government, which has brought down the value of sites in the area. The EAO affects about 250 properties in the Wonthaggi North East Precinct and has been applied to land that may be at ‘high or medium risk of potential contamination.’”

“Liam Martin was one of the first residents in the area to find out about the overlay when his builder notified him of the need to conduct an environmental assessment, which could cost up to $80,000, prior to building on his land. ‘I was devastated. I’d put all my life savings into this land. It couldn’t have come at a worse time,’ he said. Opposition spokesperson for planning James Newbury urged residents to make complaints to their local member of parliament. ‘They’ve literally stolen $150,000 out of your pocket,’ he said.”

The Malaysia Star. “Several housebuyers of a housing project in Taman Fadason, which had stalled more than a decade ago, want the authorities to intervene. Launched in 2012, the project in Kepong, Kuala Lumpur, comprised three-storey linked units. The housebuyers said it was a joint venture between a private developer and Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL). They paid a 10% deposit to the developer for the units, which were estimated to cost between RM1.2mil and RM2mil.”

“Some 20 purchasers gathered for a press conference to voice their concerns and demand that DBKL resolve the issue. Among them was Carrie Chin, 44, who said she paid a RM159,000 deposit to secure her unit.She said several years ago, she and other housebuyers demanded a refund after the developer failed to start work on the project. ‘The developer agreed to our request and began paying us in monthly instalments. I received seven instalments totalling RM70,000 but then the payments stopped,’ said Chin.”

“Local community activist Yee Poh Ping, who is helping the housebuyers, said several meetings had been held with DBKL. ‘We learnt that DBKL, which is the project’s landowner, had in 2014, cancelled the joint venture after the developer failed to fulfil its obligations. However, the housebuyers were left in limbo. We urge DBKL to step in and defend their rights,’ said Yee. When StarMetro visited the site, the team found an abandoned show unit. The area was filled with rubbish and stagnant water. There were also many vehicles parked there.”