A report from the Business Observer Florida. “Commercial real estate professionals surveyed by PwC believe 2020 will be as robust as the previous year or few years, according to an annual litmus test of the industry. ‘What we’re not doing is re-inflating a bubble,’ says PwC Partner Mitch Roschelle and head of the consultant’s national real estate advisory practice, alluding to the cause of three of the past four economic recessions, when housing, credit and savings and loan recklessness melted growth down.”
The Kokomo Tribune in Indiana. “Scott Pitcher, a prominent local developer whose projects have in many instances received city incentives, says those incentives are needed to make the projects a reality and obtain bank support. ‘What people have to understand is: this represents $15 million worth of product, somewhere around there. It takes the city partnership, the developer partnership and the banking partnership. These banks are lending millions of dollars without doing due diligence work, without studying.’”
“A collection of nearly-completed and recently-started housing projects in downtown Kokomo has re-sparked questions about the number of apartments in the city, specifically its center, and whether the market has been overbuilt. Matt Johnson, an architectural designer with Fortune Companies, said the group fields calls nearly every day on its other, under-construction apartment projects ‘from people looking for these kind of products.’”
From Crain’s Cleveland Business in Ohio. “Plans to redevelop the expansive and vacant Star of the West property, and its looming grain towers, are underway, with early discussions of rehabbing the site into a mixture of restaurants, retail shops and housing. Kent City Council member Gwen Rosenberg said council has not identified specific parameters for what it would like to see go into the site, but the general consensus favored local business ownership over a chain and council would like any housing proposals to focus more on the empty-nester and/or the young professional market rather than student housing.”
“‘There was just a housing study that was done that (found) we are pretty well saturated, if not oversaturated, with student housing,’ she said.”
From Mansion Global. “Mansion Global looked at the top 10 most expensive condo sales last year, and how their tax bills would rise under the proposed changes. Among them, some trophy homes along Billionaires’ Row in Midtown Manhattan—an already softening segment of the city—would see tax bills more than quadruple. ‘It will wreak havoc,’ said Douglas Elliman agent Holly Parker. ‘It would just cause absolute pandemonium. You can’t change people’s obligations that dramatically, even with a phase-in period.’”
“Ms. Parker said two of her biggest clients, wealthy families from Thailand and the Middle East, have decided to stop doing business in the city because of an array of new regulatory and tax changes. She predicted a spike in property taxes would only drive other affluent investors out of the city. ‘If you’re sitting in the middle of an empty movie theater, do you then raise the price of a ticket?’ she said.”
From Curbed Los Angeles in California. “With home prices in Los Angeles just about as high as they’ve ever been, most buyers probably aren’t eager to get into a bidding war. Fortunately, a new report from Zillow shows that the number of homes sold above asking price declined significantly in 2019—at the same time as price growth tapered off. In the Los Angeles metropolitan area (which includes Orange County), the share of homes that sold for more than the listed price dropped from nearly 35 percent in 2018 to 28 percent in 2019. It was the first year since 2014 that the percentage of homes sold above asking price dropped below 30 percent.”
“Zillow points to a brief surge in inventory—or the total number of homes listed for sale—as a potential reason for the drop-off in below-asking-price sales. In the first half of 2019, buyers had more options to choose from, meaning some may have been less willing to go out on a limb to close deals. ‘There wasn’t quite as much competition last year,’ says Hattie Ramirez, a real estate agent with Keller Williams. ‘Instead of five or six offers on a good property, you might see three or four.’”
The Press Democrat in California. “In Sonoma County, the gap between the cost of buying and renting has narrowed significantly since 2017, according to a recent report by Realtor.com. During the fourth quarter of 2019, it was 25% more expensive countywide to buy than to rent — down from 39% more costly to buy in the same October-through-December quarter of 2017 based on monthly mortgage costs and rents. The softening and rebalancing local housing market has been good news for those who can afford to buy and have been sitting on the fence, as interest rates on mortgages decline and home prices plateau or decline.”
“‘I don’t see that many new buyers,’ said real estate agent Erika Rendino. ‘When interest rates come down, it might mean $100 or $200 less a month for the monthly mortgage payment, but there’s nothing out there for $300,000. Those people are out, it doesn’t matter if the interest rates are 2%.’”
“Cody Horvat, a spokesman for Realtor.com, said part of the reason is the share of income needed to buy a house also has declined. During the October-through-December quarter of 2017, the median-priced home in Sonoma County required 71% of the median income. That rate dropped to 57% during the fourth quarter of 2019. David Rendino of Re/Max Marketplace said he sympathizes with those who pray for the housing market to collapse. ‘We see a lot of people rooting for that. That’s really sad,’ Rendino said of the pricey local housing sector.”
“A.J. Ward, who works as a sales and marketing manager for Sonoma Canopy Tours, said he feels bad for hoping for a complete collapse of the local housing market. He knows that many homeowners would suffer. ‘I hate to be that guy that’s hoping for that to happen,’ he said. ‘But at the same time it’s my only way out. It’s the only way that I can have a family here.’”
The Houston Chronicle in Texas. “While most of the nation saw home foreclosures decrease, demonstrating a housing market recovery, Texas saw a spike in bank-owned properties. Some of these are concentrated in Houston’s suburbs, where vast square footage meets desirable school districts. Take a look at some bank-owned homes for sale south of town: 2959 Buffalo Springs Lane / list price: $472,000 / size: 4,492 square feet: Built in 2014, this five-bedroom house has been sitting on the market for roughly three months. Priced at $105 per foot, the Hidden Lakes property also includes a summer kitchen and expansive backyard.”
“576 Southampton Lane / list price: $324,900 / size: 3,203 square feet: This Westover Park home features recent upgrades and an expansive, modern kitchen. 411 Creekside Drive / list price:$449,900 / size: 4,125 square feet: This 1994 foreclosure has potential but will need a lot of remodeling to get it back in top shape. The gated five-bedroom house has a swimming pool, three-car garage, study, media space and oversized lot. Outside, the pool with stone water feature and slide will need to be cleaned up, since it’s been neglected while under bank ownership.”
“2578 Costa Mesa Circle / list price: $377,900 size: 4,805 square feet: This waterfront home has six bedrooms, master suite with fireplace, media room and a three-car garage with an attached porte-cochere. While it’s in dire need of reno work, the 2003 house could be a good deal for those in the market to flip a great suburban property.”