The Denver Metro housing market just logged one of its worst months in nearly two decades. Only 1,919 homes sold in January, putting it among the slowest months since the 2008 financial crisis.

Other comparable months? January 2010 and January 2011, when the economy was still reeling from the crash.

This isn’t a collapse. It’s the result of three years of exhaustion.

Since the post-COVID reset in 2023, the market has been stuck in neutral with prices flat, sales stagnant, and everyone waiting for something to give.

Buyers are tired of high rates and scarce inventory. Sellers are tired of sitting. And the result is a market that’s just tired.

But January also delivered unexpected momentum, according to the Denver Metro Association of Realtors’ monthly report.

Early activity picks up

New listings surged about 153% from December, as sellers relisted homes that they had pulled off the market during the holidays.

Buyer activity followed, with pending sales jumping 48% for detached homes and 44% for attached homes compared to December.

While some of that activity is seasonal bounce-back, the timing is earlier than usual, likely thanks to unseasonably warm, dry weather that got both buyers and sellers off the sidelines sooner than expected.

Still, prices remained soft.

The median sale price for detached homes is down about 4% year-over-year, and attached homes are off 2%.

Buyers are also negotiating harder—the close-to-list ratio dropped to 97.9%, down from 98.5% a year ago, as sellers give ground.

Inventory grows, buyers benefit

Active listings hit 8,228 in January, up 8% from December and 7% from a year ago.

That’s unusual for this time of year, when inventory typically shrinks. More choice means more negotiating power, and buyers are starting to use it.

“The Denver metro typically has very predictable seasonality,” said Amanda Snitker, chair of the DMAR Market Trends Committee.

“Even though the last three years have been essentially flat in both home sales and the median sale price, seasonality is still apparent.”

Her advice? Don’t wait for some dramatic market shift.

“The best advantage in 2026 will come from acting when personal timing and financial readiness align.”

Luxury market tells two stories

The million-dollar-plus segment usually doesn’t wake up until mid-February. This year, it came out swinging in January—at least on the detached side.

Detached luxury listings nearly tripled from December, with 594 homes hitting the market. Buyer interest followed: pending sales jumped 58% month over month, with 325 detached homes going under contract.

But the attached luxury market? It’s struggling. Only 12 condos and townhomes priced over $1 million went under contract in January—down 25% from December and nearly 30% from last year.

Attached homes priced between $1 million and $2 million have nearly 8 months of inventory. Above $2 million? A staggering 26 months. That’s more than two years’ worth of supply.

Ontario’s solicitor general — the minister responsible for policing in the province — is declining to speak about the arrest of multiple officers during an organized crime investigation that is rocking law enforcement in and around Toronto.

A York Regional Police investigation into organized crime led to the arrest of seven Toronto police officers and has now spread to neighbouring Peel Regional Police, where three officers have been suspended.

Claims against the Toronto cops related to alleged corruption, leaking information to an organized crime group and bribery. The charges have not been proven in court.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said Friday if the officers are guilty, they “deserve to be thrown in jail.” Premier Doug Ford said “bad actors” would be “held accountable.”

The man responsible for Ontario’s policing, however, has declined to comment on the scandal.

Global News approached Solicitor General Michael Kerzner’s office for a statement on Thursday and an interview on Friday. On both occasions, his staff declined, offering no comment on the police scandal.

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“Unfortunately, we are unable to accommodate this interview. The Premier was asked a number of questions about the matter this morning, and yesterday. Those comments stand as response from our government,” a spokesperson said in a brief statement.

They said questions should be directed to local police.

2:07
Ford, Chow weigh in on shocking Toronto police corruption investigation

As solicitor general, Kerzner is responsible for public security, law enforcement and policing in Ontario. His ministry enacted a major overhaul of police rules last year, including allowing for some officers to be suspended without pay.

Ontario Liberal MPP Karen McCrimmon said that Kerzner should come out and take questions on the arrests, addressing the organized crime investigation to reinforce public confidence.

“This is serious, this cuts right to the heart of the relationships between the people and the police,” she said.

“It’s his job to address these kinds of serious issues; otherwise, why bother having it? I think we need full transparency, full acouuntability and we need to start rebuilding that trust.”

McCrimmon is calling for a judicial inquiry to independently establish how seven Toronto police officers were allegedly corrupted.

Ford, however, suggested he didn’t believe there was a broader problem to investigate.

“I love our police,” he told reporters. “Do we have a few bad actors? Yeah, they’re bad actors, they’re going to be held accountable, sure as I’m standing here. It’s an ongoing police investigation.”

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Some American-made alcohol will be returning to SAQ shelves next week, but only temporarily.

The Quebec government has directed the province’s liquor board to sell off select U.S. products nearing their expiration dates.

Most of the items being liquidated are alcoholic creams and liqueurs and will be marked down by 15 per cent, beginning Feb. 12, according to a release from the SAQ.

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Officials estimate the sales will generate about $9 million, with all proceeds donated to Food Banks of Quebec.

The ban on importing new American alcohol products, introduced last year, remains in effect.

Quebec ordered the SAQ to stop selling and importing American alcohol in early March 2025 as a retaliatory measure against U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods, according to the government of Quebec.

2:30
Impact of Canadian bans of U.S. liquors being felt

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RCMP in New Brunswick are warning about a rise in youth radicalization, which they believe is fuelled by extremist online spaces.

Just this week, police said they arrested a youth late last year for the facilitation of a terrorist activity. That youth is now under a terrorism peace bond, which is a first for the province.

“A terrorism peace bond can be used when investigators fear that a terrorist offence may be carried out, enabling the use of robust monitoring and de-escalation tools,” RCMP said in a release.

“This case is part of a broader trend observed by the (Eastern Region’s National Security Enforcement Section) in New Brunswick involving youth radicalization driven by exposure to extremist online spaces and peer-to-peer networks.”

A spokesperson for the RCMP wouldn’t say which extremist network, if any, the youth was a part of.

“The youth is subject to very strict conditions as a result of entering into this peace bond. Police services across (New Brunswick) are aware of this peace bond and will, as they do every day, work diligently to keep our communities safe,” wrote Insp. Aaron Glode in an email.

0:42
Canada lists 4 new terrorist entities, including online extremist groups

David Hofmann, the director of the Criminology and Criminal Justice Program at the University of New Brunswick, said youth extremism is a problem seen nationwide.

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“This is the next big thing security-wise. The government and security agencies are focused on the fact that there are young people who, typically through the internet but also through face-to-face interaction are becoming more radical,” he said.

Hofmann said he believes the New Brunswick case could potentially be related to nihilist violent extremism groups, such as the 764 network, or possibly a far-right extremist group.

The 764 network is known to target children and youth by manipulating them into recording and sharing intimate images or taking part in acts of self-harm, violence and animal cruelty.

“Whether this is neo-Nazi far-right content, whether this nihilistic violent extremism, it’s the heinousness. It’s the awfulness of the act,” he said.

764 added to list of terrorist entities

Last December, Canada added 764 to its list of terrorist entities.

In total, four new groups were added under the Criminal Code, including three transnational online networks that promote ideologically motivated violent extremism (IMVE).

The move marked the first time any country had 764 as a terrorist organization, a statement from Public Safety Canada said.

In Nova Scotia, Halifax Regional Police alleged a 16-year-old  charged in January with child pornography-related and inciting hatred charges was affiliated with the 764 network.

1:55
Halifax teen allegedly part of online extremist group has 4 of 5 charges dropped

The Crown has since dropped four of five charges against that teen, who is scheduled to return to court Feb. 26, because there was “no realistic prospect of conviction on those four counts” after reviewing the evidence.

Meanwhile, Hofmann said extremism can be very challenging to identify and police, especially if ideologies are spread globally.

“It’s incredibly difficult to police this sort of thing, as the internet is ubiquitous … it’s like finding a needle in a haystack,” he said.

RCMP are asking the public to remain vigilant and inform police of any suspicious activities.

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The University of Guelph says its campus safety office has completed an investigation into a pub night that saw students wear T-shirts with hate symbols and discriminatory slurs and language.

The Student Federation of the Ontario Agricultural College posted on Facebook that the January event in question was an Aggie Pub night. The theme was graffiti night, where students wore white shirts and other students painted graffiti on their shirts.

Last month, the University of Guelph said in an email to staff, faculty and students that it was investigating “a deeply troubling” on-campus event.

On Friday, the university confirmed to CBC News that investigation is “now complete” but it cannot share what, if any, consequences the students may have faced.

“Students alleged to have participated in behaviour that violates university policy have been referred to the Office of Student Accountability. Decisions regarding individual student responsibility for alleged breaches of policy, and any resulting sanctions, will be made in accordance with the resolution processes outlined in the student rights and responsibilities policy,” the university said in a statement.

“This process is currently underway. The university cannot comment on the specific outcomes for individual students.”

The Guelph Police Service said at the time that officers were also investigating the pub night, but spokesperson Scott Tracey said Friday officers were assisting the university’s safety office and the “investigation was entirely undertaken” by the school.

“Any punishment deemed appropriate by school officials would be handled internally, and there is no ongoing involvement by police,” Tracey said.

The Student Federation of the Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) said in a Facebook post on Jan. 20 that the pub night had taken place during the previous week and “there was a deeply troubling incident involving the use of racist, antisemitic, anti-Black, and homophobic language, and the appearance of hate symbols.”

“These actions are unacceptable and do not reflect the values of our college,” the post went on to say.

“As a student community, we all share responsibility for upholding respect, accountability, and inclusion. We encourage students to speak up, support one another, and choose empathy in their actions. OAC must remain a welcoming and inclusive place for all.”

A southeastern Manitoba multicultural festival is bringing communities together to showcase their traditions.

Culturama at the Pat Porter Active Living Centre in Steinbach has grown into a six-day festival since it began six years ago.

Pat Porter executive director Audrey Harder said the event originally was three days long and featured prominent cultures in the city, including the Filipino and Ukrainian communities.

“We are such a diverse community, and I don’t think people realize it,” Harder said on Thursday. “My goal was to see community gather and accept and understand and just grow.”

Since then, other cultural groups have reached out to participate. This year, attendees could visit Ukraine, the Philippines, South Korea, Nigeria, Brazil, India and Cuba without leaving Steinbach.

This is Ruth Olorunfemi’s second year volunteering with the Nigerian group. She moved from Nigeria to Steinbach in 2023 because she has cousins and a sibling here.

“Since we are from different parts of the world, we come to be in Canada here just to express our own nationality, how our traditions work,” Olorunfemi said while setting up a floral display. “That’s what Culturama is all about.”

Olorunfemi says Steinbach is like home already because of the friendly environment.

Last year, she enjoyed learning about Fijian customs and tasting their food.

“It’s a unique way to let them know how you were brought up, how you can teach them where you are from, how they can learn from you … and try to learn from their culture also,” Olorunfemi said.

Olorunfemi would love to see the festival continue growing to include even more cultural groups.

Folklorama is inspiring to Harder, but not everyone is able to make it to Winnipeg to get that experience.

Cultural understanding is a personal thing, she said.

“I see it as an opportunity for the community to unite and become one. No matter where you’re from, who you are, you love your neighbour,” Harder said.

“At the end of the day, that understanding is there, that love is there, and we become one as a community.”

Program co-ordinator Carla Walker says the groups that present often bring cultural clothing for Harder and her to wear during the evening.

On Wednesday, Walker was helped into a hanbok, an article of traditional Korean clothing. The hanbok had been worn by one of the participants for her wedding.

“It was quite an honour to be able to do that,” Walker said. “I thanked her and said what an honour it was. She had said to me, ‘It was quite an honour for us, for you to do that.'”

Walker hopes those who attend the festival feel like they’ve stepped into the country they’re learning about.

“It’s been a really beautiful response from the community each night,” Walker said. “We’ve been just packed in our gym, and I’ve been really excited about that.”

Walker and Harder say tickets have sold out almost every night.

All money from ticket sales go back to the participating groups to cover costs of things like food. Remaining funds are rolled over to support the festival next year.

The final night of Culturama takes place Saturday, with a glimpse into Cuba.

Reform UK will face a police investigation in Gorton and Denton after admitting that it sent out letters from a “concerned neighbour” which did not state that they had been distributed and funded by the party.

Greater Manchester police confirmed it had received a report about the breach of electoral law and said it would investigate. The Electoral Commission said the omission was a matter for the police, stressing that failing “to include an imprint in candidate election material is an offence.”

Dozens of voters in Gorton and Denton constituency reported receiving letters from a pensioner written in a handwriting-style printed font on Friday. The letters do not contain an imprint saying who they have been funded and distributed by, as required by electoral law.

The author of the letter, Patricia Clegg, describes herself in the mail outs only as a “local pensioner, 74 years old”.

When contacted by the Guardian, Clegg confirmed she was a member of Reform UK and had been asked to write the letter by the party.

“I was asked to support reform, would I be willing to do a letter and put my name to it? And I said, Yeah, and I left the rest to them,” she said when asked if she had written the letter.

Asked if she was aware that the letter did not have the legally necessary imprint saying it was backed by the party, she said no one had talked to her about that issue.

A Reform spokesperson said the campaign had commissioned the letter which was given to its print contractor “with the full and correct legal imprint, fully compliant with election law” but “an error occurred during the printing process”. Subsequently the legal imprint was “inadvertently removed at the point of printing” without the party’s knowledge.

“At no stage did the campaign know about, authorise or intend the distribution of material without a legal imprint.,” said a spokesperson. Hardings Print Solutions Ltd in Middlesex, which printed the letter, said it “took full responsibility” for the error.

A spokesperson for Greater Manchester police confirmed that it had received a report about the breach of electoral law on Friday evening. “We will be investigating this,” they said.

The Electoral Commission said all printed material promoting a candidate at an election is required to include an imprint identifying the promoter and printer. “Failing to include an imprint in candidate election material is an offence. Enforcement of imprint requirements for candidate material is a matter for the police,” a spokesperson said.

Dozens of voters reported receiving the letter, which stated in printed letter-writing script that the author had previously “voted Labour because Keir Starmer told us things would change for the better. They haven’t.” It added that tax rises “have cost pensioners like me an extra £160 that we cannot afford”.

The author also says they “understand why some neighbours have had enough of Keir Starmer and are thinking of voting Green”.

“But I do not believe the Greens have answers to our problems,” the letter says. “They have extreme policies like legalising drugs and letting men use women’s changing rooms. What good would that do people like us?”

Several copies for the letter were posted on local Facebook and WhatsApp groups, with people saying they received them on Friday morning.

One voter, who said they are not affiliated to any party, said they had reported the matter to the Manchester city council’s elections office.

The byelection is expected to be tightly fought between Labour, the Greens and Reform, with all three claiming they are on course to win.

On Friday a spokesperson for the Green party accused Reform of “playing dirty”.

“With Reform raking in millions from crypto billionaires and fossil fuel giants, you’d think they’d be able to afford to follow the law,” they said. “But instead they’re playing dirty — because they know Greens are coming for them in Gorton and Denton.

“The only way to stop Reform’s politics of division and hate is to vote for Hannah Spencer – to elect a Green MP who will fight to lower bills, protect the NHS and rebuild our public services.”

Labour’s campaign political lead Andrew Western MP said: “Campaigns are responsible for what they put through people’s doors. Blaming a printer doesn’t remove that responsibility or excuse the failure to meet basic legal requirements. Reform should concentrate on getting the basics right.”

President Donald Trump shared on his social media platform late Thursday night a video that included a racist animation of former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama depicted with the bodies of apes.

After backlash, the White House at about noon Friday said the post had been taken down from the president’s page.

The roughly minutelong video, shared by Trump at 11:44 p.m. ET on Thursday, largely focused on debunked claims about the 2020 election.

At the end of the video, the Obamas’ faces appear abruptly and without explanation for seconds with the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” playing over it. The video then ends back on similar imagery of the conspiracy video footage. 

The Obamas had no comment when ABC News reached out to their representatives for a response.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, when first asked for comment early Friday, had said, “This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King. Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”

Though later Friday afternoon, a White House official told ABC News that a “staffer erroneously made the post.”

The video reposted by Trump overnight included only imagery of the Obamas.

The meme video referenced by Leavitt was shared in October by the Hardin County Republican Party of Kentucky on Facebook, which led the chairman to issue an apology and deleted the post after swift backlash noting the long history of racist tropes depicting Black people as apes or monkeys — a tool of slave traders and segregationists to dehumanize them.

Trump’s overnight repost was condemned by lawmakers on Capitol Hill, some of whom had called for it to be taken down and for the president to apologize.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the first Black leader of a party in Congress, wrote on X: “President Obama and Michelle Obama are brilliant, compassionate and patriotic Americans. They represent the best of this country. Donald Trump is a vile, unhinged and malignant bottom feeder.”

“Every single Republican must immediately denounce Donald Trump’s disgusting bigotry,” Jeffries wrote.

Republican Sen. Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate and also the head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, posted on X: “Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House. The President should remove it.”

Republican Sen. Roger Wicker wrote in a post: “This is totally unacceptable. The president should take it down and apologize.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, wrote in a post: “Racist. Vile. Abhorrent. This is dangerous and degrades our country — where are Senate Republicans? The President must immediately delete the post and apologize to Barack and Michelle Obama, two great Americans who make Donald Trump look like a small, envious man.” 

Leading tech companies experienced a massive selloff over the last several weeks, with more than one trillion dollars erased from their combined market valuations as investors expressed concern over ballooning AI expenditures.

CNBC reports that the tech sector faced significant turbulence as six of the industry’s largest companies saw their stock prices decline sharply throughout the week ending Thursday. Microsoft, Nvidia, Oracle, Meta, Amazon, and Google collectively lost $1.35 trillion in market capitalization, according to data compiled by FactSet. The dramatic selloff was triggered by investor anxiety surrounding the enormous capital expenditure commitments these companies have made to AI infrastructure.

The decline followed a series of earnings reports that revealed continued massive spending plans by these technology giants, often referred to as hyperscalers in the industry. Plans announced by Big Tech companies to invest $660 billion into artificial intelligence initiatives this year alone have raised eyebrows across the investment community. This figure exceeds the entire gross domestic product of several nations, including the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, and Israel, as reported by the Financial Times.

Amazon emerged as one of the companies announcing the most aggressive capital expenditure plans during this earnings season. The e-commerce and cloud computing giant revealed intentions to spend $200 billion, representing a 56 percent increase compared to the previous year. This figure surpassed market expectations and stands as the highest among the hyperscaler companies.

Amazon shares experienced particularly steep losses, falling eight percent in morning trading on Friday. Other big tech giants have taken similar or even larger hits. Microsoft shares fell about 10 percent after its earnings release last week, a $350 billion haircut in investor value.

The market reaction reflects a fundamental shift in investor sentiment toward artificial intelligence investments. While investors once suffered from “fear of missing out” or FOMO, now they expect big tech to demonstrate a pathway to profitability based on massive AI spending.