"it seems unfortunate" is a correct and usable phrase in written English.
You can use it to express that something appears to be unfortunate or unfortunate circumstances are at play. It is often used to express a sense of regret or disappointment. Example: It seems unfortunate that the concert was cancelled due to the storm. Many people were looking forward to it and had already bought tickets.
It seems unfortunate that he even needs to hold a "special" speech to discuss race at all.
(7/10) BG Rio Ferdinand It seems unfortunate to talk about a disputed territory when England play Argentina, but Rio was no less than the Rock of Gibraltar.
The risk of ill health and injury resulting from its staff and visitors standing in and walking through a lot of porcelain dust is obviously a great deal higher, and it seems unfortunate that no one foresaw this danger.
If it seems unfortunate that children are not frolicking in the streets anymore, playing stickball and double dutch, Samantha Rudin, a fifth-generation executive in her family's real estate empire, points out that has not been the case for some time.
So it seems unfortunate — or perhaps simply typical, given the unforgiving nature of the Middle East — that a film trying to bridge the region's bitter divides has been blocked from film festivals in the Arab world and become the focus of a rancorous dispute at home.
It seems unfortunate that the novel, like a complacent nonvoter, never mentions a national or even local event (except for a tornado, which serves exclusively to highlight various family relationships) and pays no attention to anyone outside the family's immediate purview.
It seemed unfortunate for the Rams that their first home game on "Monday Night Football" since 2006 would coincide with a World Series game that involved the hometown Cardinals.
With such a compelling second half, it just seems unfortunate that Ann Rule left it so long getting to the meat and potatoes.
The play's apparent moral, however - that lying about past indiscretions is acceptable if it benefits one's family unit - seems unfortunate for a culture currently wracked by the exposition of decades of institutional deceit over clerical sex abuse.
It should be noted that Humphreys' definitions make simulation out to be a success term, and that seems unfortunate.
A couple of defenders down seems unfortunate.
