A report from the Rockland County Times in New York. “The housing market has truly exploded in Rockland County. Maria Kriesel, owner of Century 21 in New City, said she is also ‘…seeing some price adjustments which we would not even come close to seeing during the last four years…that tells us that not every house has ten buyers pouncing on it anymore.’ She encourages prospective buyers to go out and purchase homes at higher interest rates. Her reasoning behind taking the blow of the higher interest rates now was that ‘…when the interest rate goes down, you can refinance. Marry the house, date the rate.’”
Syracuse.com in New York. “Destiny USA could face foreclosure after the giant Syracuse shopping mall failed to obtain a one-year extension on more than $430 million in overdue mortgage loans. Kroll Bond Rating Agency reported that Destiny could not make a required $38.9 million payment this summer to lower the balance of the loans to qualify for another one-year extension. Kroll estimated the mall’s value at $710 million when the mortgage loans were made in 2014. Now it’s worth 9% of that.”
From NBC News. “Until now, home sellers traditionally had to pay commissions, who then split that fee with the buyer’s agent upon making a sale. ‘It’s the biggest change probably in the history of real estate,’ said Mike McCann, a realtor in Philadelphia. ‘It has created a lot of fear, a lot of anxiety’ within the industry, he said. ‘People are saving, they’re paying rent, they don’t have the money,’ McCann said of younger buyers looking for their first homes. ‘How are they going to pay the commission? That’s my biggest concern.’”
10 News in California. “‘If you’re a first-time home buyer, you already have down payments, closing costs, and everything else. Now there’s a conversation about paying your agent, and that’s a game changer. A lot of buyers don’t have the extra money to cover agent compensation along with down payment and closing costs,’ said Mike Safiedine, a broker and owner of several RE/MAX locations in San Diego County. As for what to expect in the future — ‘It all depends. If sellers start to view concessions or compensation to the buyer’s agent negatively and become less open-minded, that could hurt prices,’ Safiedine said.”
The San Francisco Chronicle in California. “A massive East Bay mansion, once home to the late real estate developer and former Seattle Seahawks owner Ken Behring, just sold at an auction for under half the asking price. The Behring estate, as the real estate agent’s website dubs it, was listed for about $25 million. After a year on the market with little interest, real estate brokerage Compass Concierge and agent Joujou Chawla held an auction for the property with bidding beginning June 28, the Mercury News reported. The buyer bought the estate in an all-cash deal for $10.8 million, according to county records.”
From KOIN. “As cities across the United States are seeing a homeless crisis, the mayor of San Francisco has issued a new directive to help relocate some people experiencing homelessness, with Oregon being among the top destinations. The city has been offering relocation services since 2005, when it offered bus tickets to help people facing homelessness or drug use disorders relocate to friends and family in other areas under the Journey Home program. Portland Public Safety Commissioner and mayoral candidate Rene Gonzalez shared The San Francisco Standard story and said it should put Oregonians ‘on notice.’ ‘San Francisco’s recent decision to expand its homeless bussing program, coupled with Governor Newsom’s order to clear unsanctioned camps should put all Oregonians on notice: if we stand still, more homeless people will come to Oregon,’ Gonzalez posted.”
The Boston Globe. “As Haitian migrants like sixteen-year-old Stanley Cesaire, stranded in Mexican cities across the border from Texas, anxiously await their turn to enter the United States, one hoped-for destination comes up, again and again: Boston. Many had heard from relatives and friends that Massachusetts was a place of opportunity and warm reception. They had not heard Governor Maura Healey’s plea that they should go somewhere else because Massachusetts, while sympathetic, is full. The administration has started buying airplane and bus tickets for migrants who choose to find housing outside of Massachusetts. It has even instituted a five-day limit on stays at overflow shelters in an effort to force families to find their own housing, though some were given a temporary reprieve from eviction last week.”
Honolulu Civil Beat in Hawaii. “Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi plans to double down on removing homeless people from the street. ‘I’m going to be very aggressive about that, and you’re just going to begin to see it now,’ he said. ‘Counties can determine how they want to enforce trespassing anywhere,’ he said. Blangiardi, just elected to a second four-year term, has high hopes. ‘We’re going to know every one of these people. We’re going to know where they are, where they’re being treated … That is, again, modernizing the city,’ he said. He emphasized that homelessness is an urgent issue in Honolulu, where he said a majority of residents feel unsafe walking by encampments spread out over portions of sidewalk and in parks. ‘Ninety-nine percent of people should not be subordinated the way they’ve been,’ Blangiardi said.”
WFAA in Texas. “DFW saw a 2.2% drop in median home sale prices over last year, with the median sales price dropping from $408,995 in July 2023 to $400,000 in July 2024 – the second-largest drop in the country. Bozeman, Montana saw the largest year-over-year drop in home prices in the country with the median sale price dropping 8.6% from $725,000 to $663,000, according to Remax. Raleigh, North Carolina saw the third-largest year-over-year drop in home prices in the country with the median sale price dropping 1.3% from $445,000 to $439,355.”
“‘We are definitely seeing a major shift in the marketplace where sellers no longer have the advantage that they once had for years. In fact, we are seeing a large number of transactions where buyers are making offers well below the asking price, and those offers are getting accepted,’ said Todd Luong of RE/MAX DFW Associates. ‘It has been a while since I have had multiple offers on my listings. These kinds of competitive situations just aren’t happening as much now in this market.’”
WCHS in West Virginia. “Trading in his designer Dolce & Gabbana T-shirt for a two-piece orange prisoner uniform complete with handcuffs shackled around the waist, a self-proclaimed millionaire and TikTok influencer listened Thursday as a federal prosecutor used his own words and social media videos to convince a judge he was a flight risk and danger to the community. Theodore ‘Teddy’ Miller, 34, of South Charleston, was arrested last Friday by federal authorities on a wire fraud charge. He is accused of claiming to own two Charleston properties he does not own and scamming a man out of $20,000 for an investment in the properties that never occurred.”
“His profanity-filled videos showcase his wealth and luxurious travels across the world as he solicits investors through his website, which redirects them to Miller’s real estate company, Bear Industries. According to its website, Bear Industries is a ‘real estate development company that operates throughout the United States that specializes in rebuilding abandoned and distressed properties into affordable, modern rental property to either be held or sold for a profit.’”
Global News in Canada. “After a devastating flood forced Ryan Handfield and Alex Peters from their Montreal condo 13 months ago, they were ecstatic to learn their home was finally ready for them to move back in. The young couple received the long-awaited call at 2 p.m. last Friday while they were out of town, just as tropical storm Debby’s remnants pounded the city with a record-smashing amount of rain. Five hours later, Handfield and Peters learned their newly renovated basement dwelling was already ruined. ‘No one hopes their first year of marriage will go this way,’ Peters said through tears, adding she was hoping to finally start their life as husband and wife.”
“Some of their fellow owners in the same condominium building allege the borough didn’t do enough — despite several requests for help ahead of Debby’s arrival. The couple had no choice but to move in with Handfield’s mother as they faced a series of hurdles to rebuild their home: insurance coverage, delayed construction and rising condo fees to help cover the costs to rebuild. Now, they are living the same nightmare as they did last summer. ‘The value of the property is next to nothing,’ Handfield said. ‘Who would want to live here?’”
The Globe and Mail. “There is no solving housing unaffordability in Canada until we are clear about when the housing market is healthy, and when it is not. Too often industry and media portray the housing market as ‘strong’ when prices rise, and ‘weak’ when they stall. Such descriptions only make sense if we view housing primarily as an investment, rather than a place to call home. But too many Canadians, especially younger folks, are unable to afford homes whether as owners or renters. So, we should be describing the housing market as strong when prices don’t rise, and weak when they do.”
“A quick review of this summer’s reporting reveals the problem. ‘Canada’s housing market saw some early signs of renewed life,’ reported the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) in July. Renewed life, because sales climbed 3.7 per cent and its home price index edged up 0.1 per cent month over month. By August, CREA reported ‘Fledgling Canadian housing market momentum hits pause’ because sales dipped, as did annual average prices. In other words, CREA thinks the housing market is healthy when prices rise. So long as Canada’s cultural addiction to investment in existing residential real estate drains investment from other industries, we can expect our GDP growth per capita to remain near the bottom of OECD countries.”
“So, let’s celebrate that 2023 was a relatively strong year for the housing system. CREA data show that average home prices fell nationally by 4 per cent, with average values now below what they were in 2021. That’s good news. In Ontario, provincial and Toronto real estate prices are now lower than they were in 2021.”
Radio New Zealand. “A neighbour to emergency housing in Rotorua says government plans to continue contracting motels for another year has thwarted the sale of her home. Carolyne Hall, of the lobby group Restore Rotorua, said the sale fell through after the buyer became aware of resource consent applications to extend emergency housing contracts at seven motels in the city. One of them is not far from Hall’s home, which she was selling to move closer to family. ‘We had a fairly good offer which we accepted and less than 24 hours before it was meant to go unconditional, we were handed a cancellation of agreement notice from our lawyer which came through the purchaser’s lawyer.’”
“The buyers did a U-turn when they noticed the resource consent application on the LIM report, Hall said. ‘They got a bit put off by that. Even though I said ‘the government is saying it’s only for a year’, they said ‘hey, they said that last time.’ Since Covid-19 lockdowns first prompted the government to move homeless people into motels to stop the spread of the virus, emergency housing had ballooned to a $1 million-a-day burden on taxpayers. Fenton Street – once dubbed the Golden Mile for its many motels – was now known as Misery Mile.”
“The high numbers in Rotorua resulted in an explosion in crime, police admitted last year, as well as a downturn in domestic tourism. Hall claimed people were being sent to Rotorua to live in the motels, including those with mental health and addiction problems. ‘When you start bringing vulnerable people together then you get people preying on that. It was like a honeypot for gangs at one point.’ There had been reports of deliberately-lit fires, wilful damage to cars, burglaries, a stabbing, littering and domestic disturbances linked to the motels. Hall said residents felt beaten down by the system, after believing emergency housing would be phased out of the city by the end of this year. ‘Their exit plan was to ask for an extension for another year. But how long does this go on for?’”
Channel News Asia. “At the Nancao railway station in China’s east-central city of Zhengzhou, time appears to stand still. It has all the facilities of a train station – escalators, security scanners and platforms. But one thing is missing: Passengers. All day, doors to the high-speed railway station stay shut. Cobwebs cling at corners. A parade square nearly the size of a football field remains vacant. Every half hour, the eerie silence is broken by the hiss of a train as it whizzes through at 350kmh. None of the trains – speeding along the Zhengzhou–Xinzheng Airport intercity railway – stop.”
“The next station Mengzhuang is also not in use, standing quiet and deserted. They are among 26 decommissioned high-speed stations scattered across China – most of which are concentrated in the northern and central parts of the country. Dubbed as ‘ghost’ stations, most were reportedly abandoned after just two years in operation due to their remote locations and low passenger volume.”
“Economist Dan Wang said it is important to first understand the role of the high-speed network in China’s early days of opening up. The high-speed rail was a poster child for China’s infrastructure and the so-called ‘Chinese miracle’, she said, adding the project played a major role in improving the local economy and the welfare of the average Chinese. However, at the height of infrastructure development and expansion, most cities and counties wanted to be part of the network, regardless they had the ability to support it or not. ‘(That) was clearly way above what the market can sustain. As a result, now we’re looking at a lot of wasted investments,’ she said.”
“In 2021, Chinese President Xi Jinping lauded the high-speed rail a success of ‘independent innovation’ and called for greater development. However, China’s economy experienced a downturn that same year on the back of the COVID-19 pandemic. New borrowing rules to prevent a housing market bubble from bursting led to a decline in China’s real estate market, which once accounted for 25 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product. In turn, other infrastructure projects including the high-speed rail network, which relied heavily on local government borrowing and subsidies, were affected.”