A report from Realtor.com. “The past year has been the stuff of home sellers’ dreams. It seemed they could put whatever price tag they wished on their properties and buyers would still line up around the block, many with all-cash offers in hand. Up and up, was there any limit to how far they could go? As it turns out, there was. Sellers who ask for far too much are beginning to face the consequences: homes that stagnate on the market, unsold. Many buyers are simply hitting their financial limits. And that means that, while plenty of homes are still receiving multiple offers, others are undergoing price cuts.”
“‘Price cuts could signal a turning point in the market, but they may also just be a sign of sellers getting ahead of buyers in pricing,’ says Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. Prices continue to rise in some of Portland’s most popular neighborhoods, especially in the northern part of the city. Overall though, the market here is stabilizing, says Tim Saeland, an associate with Re/Max Equity Group in the city. This is largely due to sellers realizing they overpriced their homes and their expectations were too high. ‘I have seen more price reductions in the past month to month and a half than we have in a long time,’ Saeland says.”
From Forbes. “After months of mayhem, the housing market is finally cooling off a bit. Home prices are floating back to earth amid an increase in housing supply. ‘Competition has started to slow in the last three weeks,’ said Scott Mercer, a Redfin real estate agent in Sacramento, California. ‘Buyers are pushing back. We’re now seeing five to eight offers on homes instead of 25, and they’re coming in $5,000 to $10,000 above the listing price instead of $50,000 to $60,000. They’ve even started including appraisal contingencies again and making requests for repairs—things that were pretty much unheard of last year.’”
“‘People coming from San Francisco were like kids in a candy store here because home prices were so inexpensive in comparison,’ said Mercer. ‘But we’re no longer seeing as big of an influx of those folks.’”
From WCVB on Massachusetts. “This year has already brought incredible changes in real estate for the Greater Boston area, including prices going through the roof. When we first spoke with Denise Garzone in April, the housing market had reached a fever pitch with lines of buyers, dozens of offers on homes for prices well over asking prices and buyers waiving inspections. Now, she says things have changed again.”
“‘I think the frenzy of the spring, early summer market has tempered for sure,’ Garzone said. ‘Buyers were fatigued, just completely fatigued and frustrated, and they chose to step out of the market.’ Another sign the market has cooled ever-so-slightly is that the risky trend of buyers waiving all inspections and contingencies just to win a bidding war has largely ended.”
The Daily Herald. “A decade ago, it would have been laughable for someone selling a home in Utah Valley to say they were ‘only’ getting three or four offers. After the historically low inventory levels of recent months and the subsequent intensity of competition for homes, however, having only a few offers on homes is a sign of the market settling — at least a little bit. ‘Everything has been going so fast,’ said Andrew Ford of Highland, who is the 2021 president of the Utah Central Association of Realtors. ‘When we would have a listing go active, you would see 30 offers come up almost immediately. Now there might be multiple offers, but instead of 30, you might see three or four.’”
“‘I’ve had a lot of people ask the question if we are on a cliff that’s going to drop off and see prices go down,’ Ford said. ‘I don’t think that’s going to happen because we have a true inventory issue where we just don’t have enough housing. We could be as far out as 10 years before we really get balanced again.’”
The Chicago Tribune in Illinois. “The Chicago-area housing market has continued to boom through the spring and summer, new data shows — but it might be easing up somewhat. The frenzy of early 2021 might be dying down, said Dawn McKenna, of the Dawn McKenna Group at Coldwell Banker, who works in the city and suburbs. Buyers now are taking more time and being more methodical in their searches, she said. ‘It’s not a multiple-offer frenzy like it was at the beginning of the year,’ she said. ‘But I will say this: if the house looks good, and it’s well priced, and it’s (a type that is) scarce in the market, we’re still getting multiple offers.’”
From Inside Nova. “‘July buyer and seller activity had a slight cooling effect on Northern Virginia’s hot real-estate market,’ said Derrick Swaak, 2021 president of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors. ‘We began experiencing this moderation in activity ever since the July 4th weekend,’ Swaak said. ‘At this point, it’s not yet clear whether it is the result of both buyers and sellers taking a break and going on some much-needed vacation, or if the market change is more permanent and will continue into the fall.’”
From Miami’s Community News. “South Florida saw an influx of buyers from the New York City metro area and California, producing an incredible 27 percent increase in home values. The real question is where do we go from here and this is an article that you won’t read anywhere else. It is written by me and, as a Realtor, I can often sense things months in advance of the stories you read in the newspaper or online.”
“The simple fact is that what goes up, must come down. We have flown too high on borrowed wings. If something seems too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true. There are sayings like this for a reason. So why do some believe that this time is different?”
“I have been feeling this shift to a more normal market since the beginning of July. The long lines of people waiting to get into open houses has passed. The calls I used to receive from frantic buyer has turned to even more frantic calls from renters. The mortgage companies I speak to regularly tell me that refinancing is nearly 90 percent of their business. Inspection companies are available again with just a day or two of notice. And, most importantly, I am getting the calls from SELLERS who feel the end of the good times is near.”
The Denver Channel. “Debi Stobie remembers months of remodeling and work she proudly invested in her 24-unit apartment building before the pandemic. It’s one of three properties she and her husband own in the Denver Metro area. Now, 18 months later, a once-rewarding stream of income has turned into lingering uncertainty. Now, between mortgage payments, taxes, and day-to-day operations, Stobie says she’s barely able to break even on her monthly bills.”
“While Stobie isn’t in a financial hole just yet, Stephanie Graves, a property owner in Houston, Texas has a different story. ‘I have a property that has 14 units and there’s three residents that haven’t paid,’ said Graves. ‘Each have a balance of over $10,000.’ Graves says she’s now digging in her own savings to cover more than $30,000 in back rent payments, while apartment amenities suffer. ‘We can’t just go out and buy a $4,500 AC unit,’ she said. ‘We have to find somebody that will extend us credit so we can replace that for the resident. I don’t think we have the stamina to keep in the game. You know, I think we would seriously consider selling the building.’”
From Bisnow New York. “One of the most ubiquitous names on storefronts across New York City is up for sale. Winick Realty Group is seeking offers after founder and CEO Jeff Winick filed for personal bankruptcy last year. A 63% stake in the company has been listed on the website of Maltz Auctions, which is ‘seeking offers for immediate sale’ with a ‘willingness to discuss and explore creative structures to any potential sale.’”
“The sale is being executed through Winick’s bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, according to the listing. Winick filed for bankruptcy last fall after claiming to owe nearly $10M in back taxes against assets listed at $530K.”
“There has seldom been a more challenging time, place and type of real estate market than the past few years in New York City retail real estate. Property values have plummeted, resulting in billions in loses to major owners like Vornado, as availability has continued to rise and leasing activity hasn’t recovered. Even before the coronavirus pandemic, midsized brokerages had struggled, with some, like Eastern Consolidated, closing completely.”