A report from Motley Fool. “Redfin said that ‘demand for second homes fell 21% year over year in July, the second consecutive month of annual declines in mortgage-purchase locks.’”
From Reston Now in Virginia. “Sure, a lot of homes in this area are going for over asking price, but that doesn’t mean others aren’t seeing a price cut. In the past 30 days, 51 Reston homes were reduced in price, according to Homesnap.”
The Journal Inquirer on Connecticut. “Two more companies contracted to work with Calamar Construction Management on projects in East Windsor and Manchester have filed lawsuits against the company, this time asking for foreclosure liens on the properties being worked on. East Windsor First Selectman Jason E. Bowsza said he is concerned that Calamar continues to accept deposits from would-be tenants.”
“‘What I hear from people who have made a deposit is that Calamar has made representations that they will be move-in ready three months from now. And it’s always three months from now regardless of when now is. There is no way that building can be move-in ready three months from now,’ he said. Bowsza said there have not been any rough inspections by his building department. ‘They appear many months away from being finished,’ he said.”
The Puget Sound Business Journal in Washington. “A newer high-end apartment building, 80 Main, on Seattle’s waterfront sold this week for $17.55 million, or nearly 13% less than what the sellers had paid for the property five years prior. Unico Investments bought the 6-year-old, 45-unit building named for its address from a pair of of limited liability companies.”
“Tim McKay, senior vice president at Colliers, which had the listing, said portions of the seven-story building in the Pioneer Square neighborhood were leased to short-term rental companies, but both went bankrupt last summer as the pandemic’s grip on the city tightened. By the end of September, the two companies vacated all of their units.”
“By the fall, rents were falling. Neighborhood storefronts went dark as their customers — office workers and tourists — stayed home. ‘It was a ghost town except for the people who were living on the street,’ said McKay. The sellers ‘were just fed up,’ he said. ‘They were saying, ‘Let’s cut our losses. Just get us as much as you can for this.’”
From KSNV. “The on-going CDC eviction moratorium is causing further strain on landlords here in the Las Vegas valley. Specifically our ‘mom and pop’ landlords. A recent report by Nevada REALTORS and the Nevada State Apartment Association reveals that 56% of mom and pop landlords are not being paid by renters.”
“Susy Vasquez with NVSAA said many landlords don’t qualify for forbearance because they are rental income properties. Leaving many landlords with limited options. ‘They often have a lower number of savings set aside because they do depend on a significant portion of the rent their collecting to pay the mortgage. So many of them have exhausted all savings and all options,’ Vasquez said. ‘I hear that some are putting their properties up for sale and unfortunately having to sell their properties in order to avoid foreclosure.’”
The Real Deal on New York. “Thor Equities’ 470 Broadway in SoHo may have Joe Sitt saying, ‘Oh, no.’ The 6,600-square-foot building’s value has plummeted from $29.2 million to $5.6 million in the past nine years, according to Trepp. Even a year ago the property was appraised at $11.2 million. The retail building backs $17.5 million in CMBS debt — a loan delinquent since May 2020, when it was transferred to special servicing.”
“The two-story building is fully leased to Aldo, but the shoe retailer filed for bankruptcy in May of last year and has previously defaulted on rent at the address, according to commentary from Trepp. Aldo’s lease expires in October 2023. It isn’t the only Thor building in Manhattan that’s struggling. In November, the developer fell behind on a $105 million loan at 597 Fifth Avenue. At 17 West 125th Street in Harlem, Thor is delinquent on three loans totaling about $20 million.”
The Palm Beach Post in Florida. “Three separate lawsuits have been filed against Toll Brothers, a Pennsylvania-based homebuilder, for alleged construction defects at Jupiter Country Club. The Toll Brothers development consists of 407 single-family homes and 149 condominium units. Some of the homes at the country club sell for more than $2 million. At issue is the condition of the community after the homebuilder relinquished control of the development in January 2019.”
“The HOA, in one lawsuit, and two condominium associations, in a separate lawsuit, have alleged that ‘large sums of money’ will have to be spent to remedy the defects. They want Toll Brothers to address the issues. And FedNat Insurance Company has filed a third lawsuit blaming the builder for a pipe burst inside a wall of a single-family home in the development causing $126,000 worth of damage. The insurer alleges that Toll Brothers failed to properly install a water supply line, causing a flood throughout the residence. FedNat paid the claim and now wants Toll Brothers to reimburse it.”
“Also alleged is that Toll Brothers failed to properly manage the development when the homebuilder controlled the HOA and that a required audit was never provided at the time of turnover. ‘(Toll Brothers) squandered association funds to pay for financial obligations unrelated to the operation of Jupiter Country Club,’ according to the HOA lawsuit.”
The Grand Journal Sentinel in Colorado. “There were more active listings for homes in Mesa County in July than there have been all year, but the housing inventory is still low and prices are still up, according to the Bray Report. In July, there were 356 active listings, which was better than June’s 293 active listings, but still lower than where the county needs to be. The higher prices aren’t keeping buyers away, either. Overall sales were up 9% compared to this time last year, said Bray Real Estate Realtor Westin Pease.”
“‘The main reason for that is there’s just a lot of demand for housing right now, and with the low interest rates there are a lot of buyers out there that can qualify for prices that maybe they couldn’t have qualified for before,’ Pease said. While the market is still hot, Pease said there is some evidence it may be leveling off. He pointed to a recent increase in the number of homes dropping their prices as evidence.”
“‘The market has started to level off a little bit from how crazy it was in the spring,’ Pease said. ‘For instance, we’ve had 156 price drops in the last two weeks in Mesa County. That directly indicates that the market is leveling off a bit, but also keep in mind if your home is priced correctly in the beginning, there would be no need for a price drop.’”
“Overall median sale price is now $325,000 and that’s up 18% year-to-date from July 2020,’ Pease said. New building permits are also up, with 585 building permits, which is more new permits year-to-date than in any year since 2008, according to the Bray Report. ‘Builders are doing everything they can to keep up with demand, building homes as fast as they can, basically,’ Pease said.”