A report from the Review Journal in Nevada. “Las Vegas’ housing market is defying logic. It has heated up with fast sales and a monthslong streak of record prices despite the bleak economy, raising the question locals often ask: Is the market in a bubble?”
“Las Vegas’ unemployment rate, nearly 15 percent as of September, is the highest in the nation among large metro areas, and yet house prices have never been higher. ‘It makes no sense,’ Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices agent Christina Cova-Simmons said. ‘I think about this daily.’”
From Vegas Slots in Nevada. “Local developer Michael Ochoa has bought a stretch of land near the Las Vegas Strip at an unexpectedly low price. The sellers of the 12.1-acre piece of land set the price of the property at $42.3 million in 2017 but finally sold it this year at only $12.5 million. Listing agent Mark Anthony Rua added that his clients wanted to unload the land this year. ‘That was the best price they could get with a buyer that would close this year,’ he said. The sale closed last month and the sellers were Chinese investors.”
“Ironically, the land is near a property that sold last year for a hefty amount of money. The owners of Southern California real estate firm 3D investments, the Daneshgar family, purchased close to 60 acres of mostly vacant real estate in the area for $130 million.”
From The Oregonian. “Carl and Mitsy Dunlap invested their savings into purchasing a fourplex in Southeast Portland in 2008. They bought a triplex nearby four years later. They hoped the modest rental income from the seven units would enable them to live comfortably in their retirement. Instead, they’ve lived in a state of anxiety for the last eight months. The residential eviction moratorium has been extended twice and now runs through the end of the year. Similar moratoriums are in place at the federal and local levels.”
“‘We’re just trying to keep our heads above water,’ said Carl Dunlap, 83.”
From Real Estate Weekly on New York. “5,641 new leases were signed in Manhattan in October – a 33.2 percent increase on the same time last year. They were listed at a discount that was more than double that offered in October 2019. With just over 60 percent of all leases signed with concessions, the result was a drop in net effective media rent to $2,868 compared to $3,409 at this time last year. Despite a 15 percent drop in year-on-year rents, the Queens rental market remains in a slump, according to the report.”
“According to appraiser Jonathan Miller, ‘Northwest Queens is one subway stop away from Midtown – but it’s not seeing the uptick in new leases yet like Manhattan is. The lack of activity shows that pricing likely has to adjust more before more renters are pulled in.’ Last month, Elliman reported that first-time buyers drove the new development market in Manhattan as discount there rose to. The average $3.6 million asking price for a new Manhattan condo ultimately closed at $2.37 million.”
The DCist on Washington DC. “Apartment rents are down more than 11% in the District compared to last year, according to Zillow. Ashley, the buyer in Deanwood, didn’t plan on purchasing a house right now, but the pandemic changed her plans. She attended a virtual event for first-time homebuyers with a friend and discovered buying was doable. Low-interest rates helped spur her decision, too. ‘It still hasn’t sunk in that I’ve bought a house in a pandemic,’ she said. ‘I hope I don’t lose my job or anything!’”
From Patch Maryland. “Tom Clancy’s penthouse is headed for auction. The author of died in 2013, and while his Chesapeake Bay estate sold for less than $5 million in August, Realtor.com reports this has been on the market since 2015. Initially it was listed for $12 million, but now the Ritz-Carlton mega condo — which is three penthouses combined — has dropped in price and is listed for $5.9 million. An auction with no reserve is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 5. Created over the course of two years at a cost of over $15 million dollars, three penthouses were successfully combined to reflect exquisite tastes and quality craftsmanship.”
The Miami Herald in Florida. “Since the pandemic, locals have been trading sky-high living for sprawling space. To keep them from leaving, landlords have been lowering rents. And rents may go even lower. Median rents decreased for two-bedroom units between January and September in 11 cities in South Florida, according to the recently published Apartment List suburban rent rebound report. On the list are Coconut Creek, Davie, Doral, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Miami Beach, Miami, North Miami Beach, Pembroke Pines, Plantation and Pompano Beach.”
“‘Since the pandemic, there has been less demand for city living,’ said Chris Salviati, Apartment List housing economist. ‘When you have people leaving, landlords are going to lower the rent to draw more people.’”
From Houston Public Media in Texas. “Average monthly rent at downtown apartments, for instance, has fallen by more than 14% in the past six months. Another factor is new apartment construction. ‘Construction in the Inner Loop, it’s just a double whammy,’ said Bruce McClenny, president of the Houston-based data firm. ‘You’ve got a lot of construction, very little absorption.’”
The Dallas Morning News in Texas. “Now that the holidays are approaching, sellers are more motivated and ready to deal, according to Allie Beth Allman & Associates. The firm believes that November is a good time to buy your next home. Here are four properties with recently reduced prices.”
The Los Angeles Times in California. “There’s indoor-outdoor living, and then there’s the Holt House by Hal Levitt. The architect to the stars built this Midcentury gem in the 1960s. Location: 1163 Calle Vista Drive, Beverly Hills, 90210. Asking price: $26 million. About the area: In the 90210 ZIP Code, based on 30 sales, the median price for single-family homes in September was $4.518 million, down 27.1% year over year, according to CoreLogic.”
From The Guardian. “Record numbers of residents have been leaving California in recent years, but in 2020 the growth of remote work, the lure of cheaper housing and a summer of unprecedented wildfires has accelerated the trend. As a result, the moving business in San Francisco’s Bay Area is booming. Even at U-Haul stores – the rental truck retailer with the largest fleet across the US – trucks are in short supply. With so many trucks departing the Bay Area, the exodus has left an imbalance of returning vehicles. The shortage has sharply driven up truck prices for one-way trips out of town.”
“‘Two households are moving out of California for every one moving in,’ says Mark Perry, a professor of economics and finance at the University of Michigan who has been studying the US migration market over the past few years.”
The Huffington Post on Canada. “Add yet another to the many imbalances in Canada’s pandemic economy: Renters are catching big breaks as rental rates drop, while condo owners ― particularly investors ― are looking at potentially rough times ahead. In fact, for condo owners, just about everything that could go wrong ― from bad construction and rising insurance costs, to rental rates that can’t cover mortgage payments ― is going wrong.”
“Toronto led the decline, with one-bedroom apartments down 17.3 per cent in a year, to an average of $1,922. Two-bedroom apartments fell by 14 per cent, to $2,531. Rent rates are now down from a year ago in most major cities, including Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa. ‘We continue to see an increase in listings nationally, which tells us that supply is outpacing demand,’ said Matt Danison, CEO of Rentals.ca.”
“Add to that the many apartments for sale and rental markets when Airbnb busted out, and record high numbers of new condos headed for the Toronto and Vancouver markets in the next few years, and you have a recipe for falling condo prices ― something real estate agency Re/Max warned is headed for Toronto. That piles on the bad news for condo owners. Many, especially in more expensive cities like Toronto and Vancouver, weren’t able to break even renting out their condos even before the pandemic, and falling rental rates will make matters worse.”
The Georgian Straight in Canada. “A Vancouver mansion sold not only below its 2020 B.C. Assessment value. The South Granville luxury home also absorbed nearly a $3 million price reduction before the deal got sealed. The residence at 5811 Churchill sold on November 5 for $8,152,381. Luxmore Realty listed the five-bedroom-plus-den and seven-bath house on October 8 for $10,990,000. The listing was terminated on the same day, and new one came up also on the day for a reduced price of $9,980,000. Compared to its original tag of $10,990,000, the final selling price for the property represents a $2,837,619 reduction.”
The Daily Mail on the UK. “Homeowners are having tens of thousands of pounds cut from the value of their properties by lenders. The average asking price of a home soared to £323,530 in October as sellers cashed in on unprecedented demand during the stamp duty holiday. But almost half are now being told their property is worth less than they had asked, according to estimates. A struggle is now emerging between sellers egged on by eager estate agents and lenders wary of economic uncertainty. Agents have been accused of hyping the market so they earn bigger fees.”
“James Chisnall, director of City Finance Brokers, said the value of one property in Canary Wharf, east London, was cut by nearly 25 per cent from £595,000 to £455,000. He said valuers are nervous banks will pursue them for costs if the homeowner defaults on their mortgage payments. Buying agent Henry Pryor said he would expect the devaluation rate to be between 10-15 per cent in a normal market.”
“‘The housing market is out of sync,’ he added. ‘It is not behaving rationally given that we are in the middle of a recession. Some valuers are being overly-cautious, but I would go with their view over that of an over-excited seller.’”
From Stuff New Zealand. “Two months ago, not a single person was showing up to open homes for Auckland apartments. Most apartments are purpose built investment properties, designed to house international students and temporary workers for short periods of time. The pandemic pulled a handbrake on those markets but it appears to be easing off as Kiwi city-dwellers seek out any and all remaining pockets of affordable housing.”
“Some investors are keen to offload inner-city flats but first-home buyers are no better placed to grab a studio-sized foothold on the ladder because banks require much larger deposits for them. ‘There is a big difference between the central business district and the city fringe apartment prices we are seeing right now and that difference is who owns them,’ said John Bolton, chief executive of Squirrel Mortgages.”
“While residential auctions broke records and the average house price in Auckland was poised to pass $1 million, Auckland City branch manager for Barfoot & Thompson Sandra Forrester had no-one showing up to open homes. Real Estate Institute of NZ (REINZ) data shows the median price of a one-bedroom apartment in Auckland City decreased from $470,000 in July to $376,000 in August, reflecting the second lockdown – although the average price of two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments continued to climb.”
“The median price of one-bedroom apartments in Wellington City has almost halved, plummeting from $650,000 in July to $410,000 in August. It remained steady in September before falling to $355,000 in October. Inner-city apartment prices fell sharply and city fringe apartment prices ‘flat lined,’ Forrester said. But that is starting to change as the second lockdown fades into collective memory. ‘What happened in the wake of Covid was a big oversupply of rental property stock because we lost the international students, the tourists, and Airbnb – some investors decided it was time to get out.’”
“If you are considering getting into an apartment, Bolton’s advice is to take advantage of their ‘weak’ position in the market right now, leave the 40-50sqm shoebox units behind and mine the affordable gems on the city fringes. ‘Buy something that you can love. If you don’t love it, then no-one else will either,’ he said. ‘Leave the horrible apartments to investors.’”