Last season, Jason Oppenheim, who founded the Oppenheim Group with his brother Brett, had a controversial relationship with employee Chrishell Stause (ex-wife of "This Is Us" actor Justin Hartley) that ended in a heartbreaking breakup. Meanwhile, fan favourite Christine Quinn was dramatically sacked.

Well, for starters, both Jason and Stause have new love partners in the premiere episode "I Wanna Hate You." Quinn was replaced in the cast by Bray Tiesi, who slipped into Oppenheim's office just six weeks after giving birth to a baby with her baby daddy/"best friend" rapper/TV host Nick Cannon.

How's that for an explosive debut season?

Believe it or not, amidst all these personal episodes, the cast also has time to visit some astoundingly beautiful real estate. But will these luxurious properties lead to successful sales? To find out, we found these listings and were surprised to discover that many are still on the market today.

What's the reason? The premiere made this abundantly clear when Brett and Jason brought their team together for a stern loving pep talk.

"We know it's a bit of a soft market," Brett said." Our interest rates are out of control, so we have to work twice as hard to make as much money. Get your heads in a good position."

Indeed, watching these brokers struggle makes it clear how much the market has changed since Selling the Sunset last aired. See what has happened to the homes they are trying to sell and learn about the new rules of luxury real estate today.

There was a time, not so long ago, when a hot celebrity name attached to a property could add millions to the price. But that's not necessarily the case today.

Oppenheim powerhouse Emma Hernan has a property that her client bought from Harry Styles, no one else.

"I bet he got a bit of 'watermelon candy' in here," Hernan jokes to Stause as they both bounce on the bed in his former primary suite.

As it turns out, the four-bedroom, six-bathroom, 4,401-square-foot house has been on the market since October 2022 for $7.995 million. Today, the price has been scaled back to $7,245,000.

Let's just say that the market is not exactly "what it was" a year ago.

If you want to buy a flat, whether it is a luxury home or not, remember that you will have to go a lot further to make even the smallest of changes than you would in a stand-alone home.

Even for a real estate mogul like Jason, renovating a flat is much more difficult. After his split from Stause, he wanted to keep busy, so he went all in on a penthouse conversion project that involved buying four units, combining them into two and completely reconfiguring them.

He reveals that it took over a year to complete them, due to the fact that he had to get permission from the homeowners' association as well as the city for every little thing, including changes to windows, terraces and even door handles.

Although the project begins at the end of 2021, two flats are still on the market. The penthouse on the west side is listed at $7,495,000 or for rent at $49,900 per month, while the penthouse on the east side is listed at $6,995,000.

No wonder these promising properties eventually led Jason to admit, "This is my last condo project".

Depending on the cost and location of the home, the insurance price can be almost as high as your mortgage payment. Hernan showed an example of this when she planned a broker's open house for a mansion she almost managed to sell.

"I had a great buyer that was locked in," she said." Then we found out about the fire insurance."

"We got a number of quotes and the lowest we could get was just under $200,000 a year," she concludes." That's a lot of money, even for a house of this size."

The situation at the top end of the property spectrum tends to set the trend for more normally priced properties.

The house Hernan is selling was last purchased by a developer in 2017 for $3.65 million. He transformed it into a five-bedroom, nine-bathroom modern masterpiece and put it on the market for $18.995 million.

In the programme, the house was listed at $18 million. However the price has since been reduced and it is now for sale for US$12,995,000.

This is a fatal discount and should encourage buyers of all levels to at least try to negotiate a lower price.