A report from WGRZ on New York. “David Cohen says his catering business was basically shut down due to the pandemic, so he was counting on the three apartments he rents out, including one over his North Tonawanda business, to generate some income. However, he says one tenant has only paid partial rent for several months and nothing at all in recent months. Cohen says, ‘I’m not getting rent. And with the moratorium going to be extended until May, by the time evictions can start, we’re looking June, going to be over $13,000 I’m owed.’”
The Star Advertiser in Hawaii. “Lisa and Jed Stevens, who own Koloa Kai Vacation Rentals & Management on Kauai, had seen their income stream dry up from the end of March through October as travel demand plunged from fear of COVID-19 and government restrictions. They were just getting back on track in November, when Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami announced that as of Dec. 2 the island was temporarily opting out of Safe Travels.”
“‘Occupancy had ticked up to 60% for December. We usually run about 85% or 90% in December, but we were headed back to a sustainable level,’ Lisa Stevens said. ‘Then the rug got pulled out from under us. We had to reach out to all our guests and let them know that we couldn’t host them anymore and we didn’t know when we might host them again. We estimate that we could go another month without additional relief.’”
From Forbes on California. “Yesterday the news was of Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch finally selling for $22 million, all the way down from its original $100 million price tag. Today there’s another $80 million price drop to report, this time in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles. This 34,000-square foot home, built as a flip house by plastic surgeon Raj Kanodia, listed two years ago for $180 million.”
“There was avid interest from local media when the home went on the market, but no serious buyers made it all the way through the purchase. Eventually the owner tried taking it off the market and listing it as a rental for $1.5 million per month, saying at the time it was most likely the most expensive rental in the country. But now he has put this nine-bed, 20-bath house back on the market with an ask of $99 million, along with a new team of listing agents.”
The Globe and Mail in Canada. “New buyers are seeing condo prices come within reach in downtown areas awash with vacant high rises. Prospective buyers who may be under the impression that real estate prices only go up should consider the plight of those who bought condos in Toronto before prices fell this year, cautioned Hilliard MacBeth, an investment adviser and author of When the Bubble Bursts: Surviving the Canadian Real Estate Crash.”
“While prices may be coming down for city condos, Mr. MacBeth said maintenance fees, insurance and taxes can still make them far from affordable compared to rentals. Plus, he says, young buyers could find they don’t have the equity to move up in a few years, if prices fall more. ‘A whole bunch of first-time buyers from five years ago, and three years ago and two years ago, that bought these condos in the centre of Toronto – now they’re stuck,’ Mr. MacBeth said.”
From Bloomberg on the UK. “On the edge of London’s Canary Wharf district, the tallest residential skyscraper in western Europe was due to open this year. The Spire London’s hype gushed about the possibility of drones delivering food to residents in between their visits to the tower’s cinema and swimming pool. Instead, all that’s rising from the board-up site owned by Chinese developer Greenland Holdings Corp is weeds.”
“Some projects would have struggled regardless because developers read the market wrongly or didn’t pick the right location, according to Peter Rees, Professor of Places & City Planning at University College London. ‘Brexit and Covid-19 are being used as convenient excuses for the failure of ill-conceived development projects,’ he said.”
The Majorca Daily Bulletin. “Rental prices in the Balearic Islands fell 7.3% to 11.7 euros per m2 in 2020, which is the biggest price drop in the country in the last 12 months, according to idealista’s pricing report. Prices dropped by 6.2% to 11.2 euros per m2 in Palma but the biggest fall in Mallorca was 11.8% in Manacor, followed by the Island of Ibiza with a 10.3% drop in Santa Eulalia del Río and 10% in Ibiza Town.”
“2020 has been a difficult year for the rental market and the biggest declines were in five of the most dynamic markets before the pandemic. Prices fell by 9.4% in Barcelona, 7.3% in Madrid, 6.2% in Palma, 5.6% in Malaga and 5.2% in Seville.”
From Biz News on South Africa. “A designer Clifton home boasting some of the best views in Cape Town is on the market for R200m. The luxury villa is located on Nettleton Road, SA’s most expensive street with selling prices averaging between R150m-R200m. According to Jo Lombard, Seeff Atlantic Seaboard luxury market specialist, the property is marketed as ‘price on application’. However, the seller is looking to get around R200m for the property. ‘Whether this can be achieved in the current market remains to be seen. If R200m is achieved, it would be the most expensive Clifton home ever sold,’ says Jo Lombard.”
“According to Propstats data, the last highest price paid for property was 3 Nettleton Road – which sold for R120m in 2017. ‘Clifton villa sold for R120m. One of most expensive properties in South Africa., yet less than half of that spent on Nkandla compound upgrade,’ said Peter Mansfield.”
“Lombard says the busiest price bands in the luxury areas are Fresnaye and Bantry Bay for houses below R10 million. ‘The rand depreciation, coupled with approximately 20% property prices declines since 2019 has encouraged bargain hunting from foreign investors.’”
The Thai Examiner. “Bangkok has a property glut with up to 300,000 unsold properties as foreign buyers, mostly Chinese, are still trapped behind their own borders. Phairach Sakwit, a senior Vice President with Bangkok Bank estimated that there could be up to 300,000 unsold property units in the Greater Bangkok area alone between unsold condos and low rise residential property units.”
“Since the end of 2018, Bangkok property developers have been cutting back on lower value condo developments and focusing more on low rise residential property which is now where a new glut has developed. ‘Developers should think twice when they want to launch a low-rise project as the number of low-rise supply spikes,’ Mr Phairach said. ‘Today seeking a land plot for condo development is easier than for low-rise houses, as many developers have shifted from the condo to the low-rise market.’”
“This September, Dr Apha Atboonwong, who is President of the Thai Condominium Association in an interview with Channel 3 TV revealed that the closure of the country to Chinese buyers was having a devastating effect on the local condo market. She said that 98% of foreign buyers, in more recent times, were from China and indicated that unclosed sales on up to 10,000 condos existed after Chinese buyers halted stage payments.”
The Sydney Morning Herald in Australia. “Hundreds of Sydney apartment owners are facing an uncertain future after the collapse of a company linked to the builder of the Opal Tower, with allegations that it collectively owes them $30 million to repair seven defective builds across the city. The revelations come as another high-profile construction group, Ganellen, placed one of its companies into administration last week, midway through a court battle over defects and only days after it was fined over the worksite death of a young apprentice.”
“At a recent creditors’ meeting it was revealed that the former of the companies is being chased over alleged defects in apartments it built at Rosebery, Waterloo, Hurstville, Bondi, Lane Cove, Greenwich and Five Dock. The most substantial of those is a $20 million claim from the owners of the Otto apartments at Rosebery. The building made headlines last year when it was revealed that owners had been told it was unsafe to have more than three people standing on their balconies.”
“Administrator’s documents reveal GDC Group has current court action against it that has now been left in limbo. David Oliver was stunned when his lawyers informed him the company was being wound up, three days before Christmas. Mr Oliver is a member of an owners’ corporation that has been pursuing GDC Group through the courts since 2017 for over a million dollars’ worth of alleged defects in a North Shore apartment block.”
“‘We were meant to be heading to a settlement conference with them in February,’ he said. It is likely that the compensation claim will now be directed to the developer, Defence Housing Australia, which subcontracted Ganellen to build the block. ‘Now they’re left holding the baby – which is effectively the public purse,’ Mr Oliver said. ‘We’re lucky Defence Housing isn’t going anywhere.’”