A report from the Seattle Times in Washington. “The result of the slower market for buyers who are still trying to make a deal? They are no longer ‘making a faster decision on buying a house than you would [when buying] a pair of shoes,’ said Windermere agent Cristina Ross. And for sellers? They ‘have to work with those buyers,’ said Tacoma-based Ross. Nearly five times as many King County homes were still listed for sale at the end of December as during the same time in 2021. Throughout King County, the slowdown is showing up more in some areas than others: The median home price dropped 15% year-over-year on the Eastside.”
The Waco Tribune Herald in Texas. “Real estate agents who spoke with the Tribune-Herald acknowledged the frenzy they faced most of 2021 and early in 2022 has dissipated. Not as many listings attract multiple offers. Few homes, if any, are selling above the asking price. No longer do out-of-state investors buy sight unseen. ‘What I would call the average homebuyer has more buying power than six or seven months ago,’ Bentwood Realty broker Kim Galvan said. ‘Sellers are willing to make concessions. They didn’t have to last year.’”
“In December, a home selling in Greater Waco carried an average sales price of $295,976, down from $303,659 in December 2021, according to the Waco MLS. But the December dip does not reflect a yearlong pattern. For all 2022, the average home sales price reached $318,576. ‘As to whether prices are trending downward, I would say perhaps slightly,’ Galvan said. ‘There have been more price adjustments in the last three or four months than in the past two or three years. We are talking about the frenzied market of 2021 and early 2022, when there was less inventory, more buyers, and people were buying above asking price right and left.’”
“Pam Hanson, with Coldwell Banker Apex Realtors in Waco said a neighbor expressed disappointment at falling prices. ‘Three weeks ago, he told me he got this much for his house, and he didn’t like it. I said, ‘Well, you missed it,’ referencing housing’s bull market.”
W42ST in New York. “In Hell’s Kitchen, W42ST found numerous properties to support the citywide trend of apartments taking months to sell and owners cutting prices, including: StreetEasy listings that had been on sale for as long as 274 days, including this $730k one-bedroom condo on W42nd Street in the Atelier building which is discounted $50k. As much as $260k slashed from a sparkling, three-bedroom, three-bath $6.6M condo on W57th Street with panoramic Central Park and Hudson River view.”
“A 57th floor apartment at 322 W57th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues which has been cut twice in price, from $7,995,000 in September to $6,690,000 now. The three-bedroom, three-bathroom property shows that the so-called Billionaires Row is affected by the trend. At 310 W52nd Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues, this four-bedroom townhouse in The Link building was first listed last April for $4.3 million and is now on the market at $3,498,000.”
The Bangor Daily News in Maine. “A home in Lewiston closed on Thursday for $15,000 under the asking price and the buyer got $4,000 from the seller toward closing costs. ‘That’s the first under the asking price with a closing-cost concession that I closed since 2018,’ Faith Morse, a broker with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate in Auburn, said. It is something she and other real estate agents expect will happen more in Maine, where it had become common in the hot real estate market of the past four years to waive inspections and pay tens of thousands of dollars over asking price.”
“A previous buyer’s offer fell through because rising mortgage rates made the home unaffordable. That made the buyer more motivated and willing to make concessions to Morse’s buyer. ‘The mentality now is sellers worry they missed the top of the market and it is going down,’ she said. ‘They want to get out.’ Hot markets including Yarmouth and Cape Elizabeth aren’t seeing the concessions yet, but they are happening at home sales in Portland, said Erin Oldham, associate broker at Portside Real Estate in Portland. ‘I think it’s going to be a little more enjoyable to do house shopping over the next couple years because you get to negotiate the price down rather than up,’ she said.”
The Orange County Register in California. “Homebuying’s slump in Riverside and San Bernardino counties pushed sales down 45% in November from a year earlier as house payments jumped 54% or more. In Riverside County, the $543,750 median was down 0.2% in a month and 2% higher in a year. That’s 9% off the $598,500 record high of May 2022. San Bernardino County had a $466,000 median — down 4.9% in a month and 1% higher in a year. That’s 11% off the $523,000 peak set in May 2022.”
Bisnow San Francisco in California. “Nearly a third of San Francisco’s office space is available for lease, according to new data from Savills, highlighting the ongoing struggle for a market that three years ago was a juggernaut, commanding huge rents as companies clamored for space. ‘When will we see the end of this? I don’t think anyone knows,’ Savills Senior Director and Head of Office Research Michael Soto said.’Because there’s a lot of different things going on with San Francisco, as you know, right now. You know, the market is in the middle of a tech correction.’”
“‘In terms of the office market, LA is probably about three times bigger than San Francisco, yet San Francisco has almost as much sublease space as LA,’ he said. ‘The issue isn’t oversupply. It’s underdemand.’”
Global News in Canada. “Just 280 homes changed hands in Waterloo Region in December 2022. ‘The number of homes sold in December was lower than any single month in well over a decade, marking an end to a turbulent year for home sales in Waterloo Region,’ WRAR president Megan Bell stated. The average cost of buying a home in Kitchener-Waterloo peaked in February at $1,007,109 and has been steadily declining ever since. In December, the realtors’ monthly report says that on average, a home sold for $720,596.”
CBC News in Canada. “In March, the average price of a home in Windsor-Essex hit a record high of $723,739. Within that month, sales for the year also peaked at 698. But in December, the average price for a home in Windsor plummeted to $473,642 — about $250,000 less than what houses were selling for at their peak in the springtime.”
CTV News in Canada. “The number of people and businesses struggling with insolvency in British Columbia increased substantially in November, according to recently released data from the federal government. Grant Bazian, a licensed insolvency trustee, told CTV News he expects filings to continue to grow in the coming months as costs remain high and economists forecast a recession. ‘There’s a different tipping point for different people,’ Bazian said. ‘Interest rates have increased over the last little while, and I think every time there’s an interest rate increase or a reduction in government subsidy, that pushes more people over the edge and they come to see us.’”
From SBS News. “The Reserve Bank of Australia’s aggressive rate-hiking cycle has triggered the housing market’s biggest decline in more than four decades. The 8.4 per cent drop between May 2022 and January 2023 is the deepest peak-to-trough fall on CoreLogic’s records, which go back to 1980. It surpasses the previous record-breaking slide between 2017 and 2019, as well as the downturn prompted by the Global Financial Crisis in 2008. Sydney home values led this latest nosedive, falling 13 per cent from their highest point. Brisbane prices plummeted 10 per cent while Melbourne dwelling values tanked 8.6 per cent from peak to trough.”
From News.com.au. “An Australian influencer has divided TikTok users over a rant about the drastic spike in her investment property’s interest rate. Amber Paul posted the insight complaining that payments had more than doubled in less than a year. ‘Can I just vent for a second?’ Ms Paul asked before launching into her complaints. ‘So last month the interest on my investment property was $2700 a month. Just seven months ago in May it was less than half that at $1300 a month.’”
“However, despite the young mother’s apparent financial woes other users were quick to point out they were in far more dire situations. ‘I don’t have food in my fridge, Amber,’ one person wrote. ‘It’s almost like an investment can be a gamble,’ added another. ‘Sell it then … it’s an investment property. I don’t pity you.’”
“Others were more sympathetic, adding they could relate to the rising housing payments. ‘Same! Now I’m unsure if we should sell,’ one homeowner wrote. ‘We are forking out another $3000 a month on top of the tenants’ rent just to keep it.’ Paul said she also considered that option but would have to sell the house at less than what she bought it for five years ago.”