A report from WTBW in South Carolina. “An off-campus student apartment complex near Coastal Carolina University could be foreclosed on after a bank accused it of owing more than $24 million. One of the newer off-campus housing options is The Provincial, which is right across South Carolina Highway 544 from Coastal. The 440-unit comple now faces foreclosure. Court documents filed Tuesday say U.S. Bank is taking legal action against Coastal 544 Ventures, which is the company that owns The Provincial.”
“U.S. Bank claims the owners haven’t made $24,201,193.50 in loan payments and interest. U.S. Bank is asking the15th circuit court to allow the bank to take over The Provincial and sell it. The owners were loaned $23.6 million in 2013, back when The Provincial was called Monarch 544. The suit also claims the owners haven’t paid county taxes this year.”
“In August 2018, The Buffalo News reported DHD Ventures, the parent company that owns The Provincial, has also faced foreclosure on student housing complexes in Buffalo, New York, and Johnson City, Tennessee. The Buffalo complex was Monarch 716, which is located near SUNY at Buffalo and SUNY Buffalo State College. The Johnson City complex was Monarch 815, located near East Tennessee State University.”
“When the phone number for The Provincial was called Wednesday afternoon, the person who answered hung up the phone immediately when asked to speak to someone about the possible foreclosure.”
From Indiana Public Media. “As someone who has lived or worked in Bloomington for the last 50 years, Kevin Burdeshaw has seen the city change a lot. And he isn’t loving what he’s seeing. He asked City Limits to look into the issue. Where did these large student complexes come from? And what is the city hoping to accomplish with them?”
“‘Certainly, I don’t think there’s any question that we’ve seen explosion in multifamily housing,’ says Tina Peterson, the CEO of the nonprofit organization Regional Opportunity Initiatives. ‘And that the vast majority of multifamily housing would probably fall under the category of student housing.’”
“Bloomington’s Senior Zoning Planner Eric Greulich says developers just went where the money was. ‘If this is what people are buying, this is what people are gonna build,’ he says. ‘So, high-end students, there was a market, there was a demand for that. The developers said, ‘Hey, we’re selling apartments like hot cakes here. We’ve got 95 percent occupancy rates. This is where the money is, so we’re gonna keep building that.’”
From Senior Housing News. “A continuing care retirement community (CCRC) owned by senior living nonprofit Lifespace Communities has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The 283-unit community, The Stayton at Museum Way in Fort Worth, Texas, defaulted on liabilities related to bonds issued in the amount of $109.7 million, including interest, according to a bankruptcy notice filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas.”
“Delays in construction coupled with poor move-in sales led to a ‘ripple effect’ that imperiled the community’s ability to honor its long-term debt obligations, according to the court filings. SQLC ended a previous management agreement with Greystone in 2017 and tapped Seniority, Inc., to take over and implement cost-cutting measures shortly thereafter — but those measures failed due to pressure from other industry competitors in the Fort Worth market.”
“An influx of new senior housing supply has hit various markets hard in recent years, and Dallas-Fort Worth has been among those to see a high percentage of construction compared to existing inventory, according to data from the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care. Another Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the industry to occur this year was of Dallas-based developer The LaSalle Group, which cited competition in its home market as a contributing pressure.”
From WREX in Illinois. “In Winnebago County around 23 million dollars is owed from roughly 4,300 properties. One property in her neighborhood, a four-tenant apartment at 4217 Eastridge Drive has been vacant for roughly 7 years. It has boarded up windows, tall grass, uncut bushes and more. ‘It all affects the value of your house and the retail value of your house,’ said Eric Setter, the coordinator of the Northern Illinois Land Bank. ‘The most important thing people own.’”
From Habitat Mag in New York. “Habitat spoke recently with Daniel J. Wollman, chief executive of Gumley Haft Real Estate. You took over management of a condominium that had recently been converted from a rental. What sorts of problems awaited you?”
“It was a prewar rental building on the Upper East Side that was converted to a condominium in 2014. When we took over in August 2018, it had a significant amount of unpaid bills and almost no cash. The firm that was retained by the sponsor prior to and during the conversion was managing the building.”
From The Record in California. “Stockton made it into the Top 5 hottest housing markets in the nation based upon its median change in asking prices during the past month, according to the first ever RealtyHop Market Health Index. Stockton was ranked third for seeing only a -1.56 percent change in listing prices — or an average $4,999 drop — before a house is sold or delisted.”
“RealtyHop’s Shane Lee said it’s simply that ‘in Stockton, the demand is meeting the supply. Essentially, when sellers put their home on the market and they don’t see any interest, they have to lower the price. More millennials are seeing Stockton as an option. And that is why you are seeing a smaller price drop.’”
“In contrast to Stockton, San Francisco — the most expensive housing market in the nation — was among the Bottom 5 coldest housing markets, according to RealtyHop, based upon its median price drop of 5.63 percent per listing. With a median home price of $1,398,000, San Francisco’s median price drop for November is $90,000, representing a softening of the market from the highs seen earlier this year.”
From CNBC. “Competition in the fall housing market is falling. Just 10% of offers written by Redfin agents for their clients in October faced a bidding war, down from 39% a ear ago, according to the Seattle-based real estate brokerage.”
“‘Although the number of homes for sale is dwindling and prices are rising, homebuyers don’t yet feel the pressure to engage in bidding wars,’ said Daryl Fairweather, Redfin’s chief economist. ‘There are still homes on the market where sellers are willing to accept offers below list price, so buyers figure why get involved in a price escalation when there are still deals out there to be found.’”