A report from the Globe and Mail in Canada. “When he was offered a job in British Columbia, Todd Kemper figured a potential loss on the sale of his house might be the price he had to pay to leave the Alberta market. ‘I looked into my crystal ball and thought Alberta’s a one-trick pony – it always has been – and I do not see it performing well in the near- to mid-term,’ Mr. Kemper said. ‘I thought if you can get out of this market now, do it. … It’s inevitable that intelligent people can read the tea leaves and decide to get out.’”
“Thanks to more than a decade of volatility in Edmonton’s real-estate market, which started in 2009 with a housing-price correction and has continued with long periods of oil price fluctuations, Mr. Kemper’s house had not gained value over his seven years of ownership. He didn’t see that changing. He left Alberta in January, after he sold his Edmonton bungalow for the same price he bought it for in 2013. He considers himself lucky.”
“Position cuts led Carol Fenton, a medical health officer, to look elsewhere for work. In late March, she accepted a job in B.C. Dr. Fenton said she first attempted to rent her Calgary duplex, purchased in 2018, but could not find tenants at a rent that covered her costs. Dr. Fenton then listed the property for $5,000 less than she bought it for. ‘We had, like, nothing – like, no action,’ she said.”
“Dr. Fenton has now dropped the price by $30,000 but has yet to sell. ‘I’ve had two showings.’ She’s currently carrying both places and said she can drop the price further or rent for less than she pays on the mortgage. ‘Either way, I’m losing. But do I want an ongoing loss, or a one-time loss?’”
“Joyce Byrne, a magazine professional who recently moved back to Toronto. She arrived in Alberta in 2005, bought her one-bedroom Edmonton condo in 2007, near the height of the 2006-07 housing bubble. She has rented out the property since 2014 when she took a job in Calgary. Ms. Byrne bought her condominium for $250,000. Thirteen years later, units in her building are currently listed for $170,000, and not selling, she said. Compounding things, Ms. Byrne is currently between jobs.”
“Ms. Byrne said she struggled with the decision but she has now relocated to Toronto. ‘I spent quite a bit of time thinking about whether I could stay in Alberta,’ Ms. Byrne said. ‘The rent [I collect] is lower than I pay for it every month. My tenant is like everybody else – ‘Am I going to have a job?’ I just decided, I have to do something, and I can’t be tied there any longer because of that condo. I have my fingers crossed I can continue to carry it.’”
The Times of Oman. “As the COVID-19 pandemic and global fall in oil prices start to impact the economy, Oman could soon feel the adverse impact of more than 160,000 expat workers leaving the country this year. A manager at a real-estate firm in Oman said his company was feeling the pinch because so many people had been unable to pay their rents before leaving.”
“‘Many of our customers have asked for a reduction in rent right now, but we can only reduce it a little bit,’ he said. ‘We have not been able to fill a lot of the apartments that are now vacant, so our income has greatly reduced. This means we cannot pay our staff on time and have to reduce their salaries. It also means that we might need to cut costs on the maintenance of our current buildings.’”
The South China Morning Post. “The Hong Kong residential market has lost one of its most steady sources of tenants – mainland Chinese students – this summer, after most of the city’s universities moved to online teaching for the coming semester amid the coronavirus pandemic. Rents in some areas close to universities have dropped by about a third year on year. In Sha Tin, which usually caters to students of Chinese University, Baptist University and City University, mainland Chinese renters accounted for 20 per cent to 30 per cent of deals, said Derek Chan, head of research at Ricacorp Properties.”
“‘In previous years, mainland students started looking for flats as early as May or June, because demand would be really high. But they are not coming this year,’ he said.”
“Guo Sitian, a student from Chongqing in southwest China, who was admitted to a master’s programme at the University of Hong Kong, paid two months’ rent as deposit for a room in a flat in Sai Ying Pun in July. But when she learned that the university was switching to remote learning, Guo decided to stay at home and found another HKU student to take over her lease.”
“‘I know some friends [from the mainland] who had also rented flats and then decided not to come to Hong Kong. But some of them can’t find other tenants to sublet to,’ she said.”
The Sydney Morning Herald in Australia. “The Sydney-based, yacht-loving son of a wealthy Chinese businessman has been accused of having more than $200 million flow through his Australian property development company without any records to show for it. Richard Minfeng Gu headed up the AXF Group and its property, mining and mineral water empire until this year when Malcolm Howell was appointed by courts to liquidate the business which collapsed under debts of more than $200 million.”
“‘Nothing adds up,’ said Mr Howell. ‘It’s a real mystery to us as to how he has used $200 million of creditors’ funds.’”
“It’s been a bad year for the controversial property developer, 37, with his yacht ‘Fat Fish’ impounded, his fleet of luxury cars repossessed, fending off bankruptcy and having Mr Howell appointed by the court to liquidate his empire.”
“Mr Gu found himself the centre of embarrassing publicity this year when, for the third time, he failed to close on a high-end Sydney real estate deal. The first was in 2016 when he forfeited his million-dollar deposit when he failed to complete the $19.8 million purchase of actress Cate Blanchett’s house in Hunters Hill. That was followed by AXF Group’s defaulting on the deal to buy the Potts Point apartment of well-known architect Deece Giles in December 2016 for $3.9 million. Mr Gu said at the time the property was too small.”
“Mr Gu reneged on his agreement to pay $19 million for a Point Piper mansion this year. He said it was a ‘misunderstanding’ as the deposit was really two years’ rent and he had decided he didn’t like the house.”
“However, the repossessors have not been able to locate a 2009 Range Rover. Mr Howell told creditors Mr Gu also had five Mercedes he had failed to include in his list of assets. Mr Gu said those cars were owned by him personally and not by the company. Mr Gu was at the wheel of one of his Mercedes when he was caught drink-driving in Sydney’s CBD in 2015 not long after he had moved from Melbourne to Sydney.”
“According to reports at the time, on the night he was charged he launched into a tirade against police, saying: ‘I will kill you. I drank drove, who gives a f–k … charge me, who cares? I earn millions of dollars. I don’t care.’”