It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “So-called iBuyers purchased a total of 70,402 homes in 2021, more than doubling the number purchased in 2019, according to Zillow. The shopping spree led to Zillow’s implosion and a lot of red ink on Opendoor’s books. Zillow notably lost so much money through its headfirst dive into iBuying – $881 million – that it shelved the program in November. Opendoor, however, managed to exceed Zillow’s overall net loss in 2021, recording a $662 million loss of its own. Not analyzed in the report was Redfin, which reported a $110 million loss in 2021 due to ramping up its iBuying program.”
“What a Hamptons headache Peloton founder John Foley and his wife must be having! The couple are quietly shopping their sprawling East Hampton oceanfront estate at a loss. Is it a case of buyers’ remorse? They had bought the 4-acre spread, at 442 Further Lane, last December — for $55 million, which was $2.5 million over the home’s asking price.”
“A Bel Air mega-mansion marketed as the most expensive home in America was sold at auction Thursday, for less than half the asking price, and less than a quarter of the intended value. The roperty, dubbed ‘The One’ by its developer Niales Niami, sold for a record-setting price of $126 million.”
“A group of local landlords filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday seeking to overturn Oakland and Alameda County’s current eviction bans. According to the lawsuit, Oakland landlord John Williams, one of the plaintiffs, stopped receiving $1,500 in monthly rent from a tenant in a West Oakland duplex he owns after the moratoriums were approved. Williams had trouble paying his mortgage, and according to the lawsuit, he unsuccessfully tried to sell the building. He moved into the duplex’s upper unit because of his own financial difficulties.”
“Last October, Williams was ‘so riddled with stress caused by his non-paying renter and the very real possibility of losing 1109 32nd Street to foreclosure, he was hospitalized and, to date, remains disabled as a result.’ ‘Small mom-and-pop property owners have endured two years of not receiving rental payments. As a result, they are now on the brink of foreclosure and bankruptcy,’ said Joe Arellano, spokesperson for the Oakland-based nonprofit Housing Providers of America.”
“If you’re purchasing a home in Bristol, you can expect to sign a form notifying buyers of the stench coming from the Bristol, Virginia Landfill. But several homeowners in Bristol have purchased their homes since the landfill smell started getting worse. Mike Dean purchased his Bristol, Tenn. home last Spring, just as the stench started intensifying. ‘I would’ve like to have known about this situation,’ Dean said. ‘I probably would not have chosen this place to live. Don’t buy it unseen. Take a visit. Get a real whiff of the toxic gases.’”
“Last weekend was Sydney’s biggest auction weekend of 2022 so far. Australia’s sporting capital has witnessed unprecedented levels of auctions in the last fortnight, with listings triple what they were this time last year. On Saturday Melbourne recorded a clearance rate of 74.3 per cent from a whopping 1112 listings. But, last weekend showed the supply may have already exceeded the number of buyers in the market, with a final clearance rate of 68 per cent from 1261 listings being recorded. That’s a 6.3 per cent drop week-on-week, and what the oversupply may be doing is allowing buyers in Melbourne to be more patient and astute when buying a home.”
“‘Sellers have entered the market earlier this year, which has provided four weeks of strong levels of new listings,’ Dr Nicola Powell, Domain’s chief of research and economics, said. ‘This means buyers can approach the Autumn selling season knowing they have greater choice and can act with less haste than this time last year.’”
“Landlord Matthew Ryan came under fire in December when he said the housing market had turned and prices could fall 20 per cent, but he says the evidence is mounting, and he’s dropping asking prices to match. Ryan said he would drop the price of one of his Kāpiti Coast properties by $100,000, and accepts he may make a loss when he sells. It was a reality investors and home-sellers alike would have to accept, Ryan said.”
“Ryan first listed the property in Raumati Beach in early November for offers over $799,000, according to CoreLogic. The wording on one of the listings, as recorded by the property data firm, reflected Ryan’s confidence of a sale: ‘Fancy appearing on Crimewatch? At this price, you will literally steal this extraordinarily meticulously renovated home,’ it read. At that time, a buyer offered $750,000, and Ryan said no. ‘Now I’d be jumping as fast as I could on them,’ he said. ‘It’s amazing how your sentiment can change, depending on where everyone is at.”
“Ryan predicted more price falls to come, and maintains he believes the market could drop up to 20 per cent. ‘People seem to get a bit wound up, and I’ve had people say to me ‘it’s ridiculous – you never see drops like that’ – but it does happen a lot more with property than people realise.’ Ryan regularly attends auctions to get a gauge for how the market was tracking and said he had seen many examples of recently-purchased properties failing to reach previous sale prices.”