CBC News reports from Canada. "Edmonton renters on the move are cashing in on sweet end-of-summer deals. From hundreds of dollars in rent reductions to complimentary flat-screen TVs, a growing number of landlords are offering generous incentives to attract new tenants. A sluggish economy, combined with a glut of new properties, has forced property managers to sweeten deals, said Mark Hawkins, the owner of the apartment rental website RentFaster.ca."

"'There is a lot of inventory that is coming, and there is not a lot of people coming into Alberta these days,' Hawkins said. 'And that does have the potential to push up vacancy further. That's why some landlords are reacting now, and trying to secure tenants.'"

"Hawkins said apartment rents have dropped eight to 10 per cent since July 2014. However, high-end condos, premium apartments, and large rental buildings are being hit hardest, with rents dropping between 15 and 20 per cent during the same period. 'A lot of people that may have bought these investment condos to rent out, and have a number in mind, will really need to adjust that number. And with condos, they all become available at once, you have a lot of competition in your building, and people who want to compete will drop the price.'"

From CTV News Calgary. "New numbers from Calgary’s real estate board show a slow in demand for housing in the city and officials say the decrease in activity is in step with a decline in net migration levels. CREB’s chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie says rising unemployment and fewer people moving into the city are contributing to the weaker market."

"'It comes down to the economic conditions. So what we’ve seen is, first of all we started to see employment losses, I mean, we have to keep in mind that to date, in June, we’ve had 30,000 full-time job losses, this is obviously impacting housing demand. Next, we’re seeing, that’s contributing to that, is that lack of net migration so we actually saw the civic census come out, which showed people actually leaving the city, so all of that contributes to the weak demand environment that we’re currently seeing in the housing market,' said Lurie."

"'Buyers are expecting further declines in sold prices, and sellers are adjusting to softer demand with price decreases. When these expectations intersect, we're seeing sales activity in the market, but not at the level realized over the last several years,' said CREB president Cliff Stevenson."

The Financial Post. "Realtors and lawyers desperate to get in under the deadline filed a record-setting 15,000 property transfer applications on Thursday and Friday, the last business days before B.C.’s punishing new 15-per-cent tax on foreign property buyers went into effect. Now, as a new dawn breaks in Metro Vancouver’s real estate market, realty companies and real estate boards are reporting the first anecdotes of deals falling through as foreign buyers forfeited deposits on binding deals rather than pay the new tax. And they report evidence of local buyers withdrawing offers in expectation that the market will soften."

"Elton Ash, executive vice-president of Re/Max Western Region, said it is too early to accurately quantify how many deals fell apart, but he’s heard from realtors in some of the company’s 30 Metro Vancouver offices of cases where foreign buyers who couldn’t rearrange previously negotiated closing dates have already walked away. 'Our expectation is that there will be a percentage of transactions collapse due to the buyer basically defaulting on the contract,' Ash said."

The Georgia Straight. "If you're a regular reader of Vancouver newspapers, you probably believe that foreign investors, particularly those from China, are the primary force driving up housing prices in the Lower Mainland. For B.C. politicians looking toward the May 2017 provincial election, it doesn't matter if the public's views reflect reality or not. Elected officials aren't going to worry if a former federal politician like Garth Turner or a former federal candidate like Victor Wong say that foreign buyers only account for 10 percent of all home sales in the region."

"If an MLA wants to keep his or her job, the most important consideration is what the public thinks is true and then taking action to address those concerns. Meanwhile, people in the real-estate industry are expressing shock that their 'friends' in the B.C. Liberal government would impose a 15 percent tax on foreign buyers. They're bringing forth examples of hard-done-by foreign buyers whose lives are being severely disrupted by the new tax."

"They're getting about as much sympathy as former French king Louis XVI's courtiers received in the midst of the French Revolution. That's because the public loves the new tax (at least according to the Angus Reid Institute poll). This shouldn't come as a surprise. As critics of foreign buying were working nearly full-time on this issue for several years, the real-estate sector (with a few notable exceptions) ignored the rising level of alarm."