It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “California’s $5.2 billion pandemic rental relief fund is running out of money. ‘Many owners have received no rent for months. They cannot pay their taxes, mortgages and other expenses if the rent continues to go unpaid,’ said Debra Carlton, executive vice president of the California Apartment Association.”
“City Solicitor Michael Traynor said it was his understanding that the attorneys seeking to shut down Boston’s moratorium were also seeking for those communities to stop as well. ‘I don’t see anything in this proposal that is balanced that way,’ said Councilor-at-Large Morris Bergman, adding that District 5 Councilor Etel Haxhiaj’s order ‘leans hard’ toward the tenant side of the argument, while making landlords whole appeared to be included as ‘wishful thinking.’”
“Frustrations are growing among some Connecticut landlords who say they are waiting for months to get paid through the state’s rental assistance program. Oz Pariser, a landlord with 56 units, said he has pending applications from August and September that haven’t been paid. ‘It kind of in spirit, in theory, it’s a good idea, providing all this funding for people to pay their rent, but in reality, it’s not effective,’ Pariser said. ‘It’s a nightmare. I’ve had to cut back personally. If it continues this way, it will cut into the bills and we will have to find different ways to support the property.’”
“Teresa Giudice doesn’t seem to have any luck when it comes to selling the longtime marital home she shared with her ex, Joe Giudice. The ‘Real Housewives of New Jersey’ star has slashed the price of her Montville, New Jersey home once again. Giudice is ‘desperate to unload the property,’ an insider revealed.”
“The Old South home of a disgraced London financial adviser charged with fraud and facing multiple lawsuits has hit the market at a price sure to raise eyebrows. The high-end home at 152 Elmwood Ave., just east of Wortley Road, has sat vacant for more than a year after legal troubles first surfaced for Chanrith Yin, 41, who is accused of defrauding investors out of $1.5 million.”
“TD Bank is selling the house, and offers will be accepted on Jan. 24, the agent said. Property records show Yin took out a mortgage from TD Bank for $1.74 million in 2018. He also took out another $1.1 million in mortgages from private lenders, including a $300,000 loan from the wife of an alleged Hells Angels member. TD is suing Yin for $1 million, alleging he defaulted on mortgages on the two units.”
“More construction companies will fold this year as lock-in contracts leave builders unable to pass on the rising cost of labour and supplies, the Master Builders Association warns. Two Queensland firms, Privium and BA Murphy, went into liquidation just before Christmas, with customers and subcontractors waiting to find out how much, if anything, they will get from the wash up. BA Murphy also had 50 unfinished building projects across Australia, including 21 in Queensland, 18 in Victoria and about 11 in New South Wales. Meanwhile, the final amount owed by Privium is likely to be more. The company has 831 unfinished contracts around Australia and records show a $28m dollar loss in the 2020 financial year.”
“House prices will fall further than expected this year, ANZ economists say. The bank has downgraded its outlook to a 7 per cent decline in prices, from its earlier forecast of a 3 per cent fall. Higher mortgage rates, affordability constraints, and tighter credit conditions, suggested more moderation was to come, ANZ chief economist Sharon Zollner said. ‘At this stage, we’d still classify our price outlook as a soft landing. A severe contraction in prices would require a significant household income shock, forcing the sale of properties. That’s always a possibility, but it’s not our central forecast. Supply continuing to outstrip new demand limits the likelihood that prices will get wind in their sails again any time soon.’”
“In Yanjiao, a town about 40 km east of downtown Beijing, David Wu has found a novel way to deal with the 13,000 yuan ($2837)-a-month mortgage he can no longer afford. Instead of listing his three-bedroom apartment for rent or sale, the 32-year-old office worker, who makes 7000 yuan a month, has offered to give it away to anyone willing to shoulder the cost.”
“Four years after bought the apartment for 3.9 million yuan and later leased it out for 2500 yuan a month, the property is worth less than 1.5 million yuan and rents have not budged. ‘I thought I could make a fortune from the investment,’ he said. ‘It ended up being a nightmare.’”
“Wu is one of many property owners in Yanjiao, once an investment hotspot thanks to its proximity to the capital, who were tripped up by the town’s decision in 2017 to adopt some of the nation’s toughest purchase restrictions to curb property speculation.”
“New housing sales in Yanjiao, by floor space, increased 150 per cent from 2014 to 2016, according to E-House China, a Shanghai-based real estate consultancy. ‘Everyone thought the housing binge would last and the only direction for property prices was up,’ said Wu.”
“While some distressed homeowners, such as Wu, are offering their flats for free to anyone willing to take on the mortgage, others have had to default. A local bankruptcy court judge, who asked not to be named, said he was struggling to keep up with the resulting workload. ‘I have stopped giving free tours of the foreclosed houses,’ the judge said. ‘There are too many of them.’”