It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “The fact some major forecasters now foresee sustained price declines — something that hasn’t happened in more than a decade — underscores just how quickly the housing market is changing. ‘It’s noteworthy,’ said Jordan Levine, chief economist at the California Assn. of Realtors. ‘Prices are going to go down.’”
“The trajectory of Fort Worth home prices is still upward. But trolling around the internet I noticed something rather interesting. Price cuts. And the cuts are not insubstantial. We’re talking $100K or more.”
“Rising mortgage interest rates continue to depress sales of existing homes in Florida, according to Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. Brad O’Connor. ‘This slowdown in the rate of sales was accompanied by an increase in the rate of homes listed for sale in May,’ he said. ‘The number of single-family homes actively listed for sale in Florida at the end of May was up over 23% compared to the end of April, and up 31.5% compared to a year ago.’”
“As Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather puts it, the market is ‘going into hibernation.’ ‘Everyone’s pulling back right now, because mortgage rates are higher,’ Fairweather explained. And that’s what Seattle experiencing right now, she said: a cold spell, at least compared to the hyper-competitive market that knocked out many buyers earlier this year.”
“Active listings for homes jumped 19% in June, the fastest annual pace since Realtor.com began tracking the metric five years ago. Some markets that saw the biggest surges in demand during the pandemic are now among those seeing the biggest gains in supply: Austin inventory was up close to 145% from a year ago, Phoenix was up 113% and Raleigh up nearly 112%.”
“U.S. mortgage lenders, refinancing companies and real-estate brokers may lay off thousands of employees in the coming months, industry sources said. JPMorgan Chase & Co, the largest U.S. lender, has started laying off employees in its mortgage arm, citing ‘cyclical changes in the mortgage market.’ Executives at mortgage firm loanDepot Inc said in an earnings call last month that they were expecting to cut headcount to manage costs as market volumes drop. A source at Ally Financial Inc said it was focusing on ‘prudent and essential hiring only.’ Both firms added about 1,000 employees last year.”
“‘There is almost no incentive to refinance. So that drop off in business, in addition to our view of slowing (home) sales, suggests there will need to be layoffs across the industry,’ Douglas Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae, said.”
“Bruce Gelb is in contract to sell his Upper East Side duplex — following a massive $45 million price slash. The home, at 1060 Fifth Ave., first hit the market for $65 million in 2016 and was last asking $20 million, following multiple broker swaps and dramatic price cuts.”
“Despite competition from another house on the same quiet crescent street in Ajax, about 50 kilometres east of Toronto, this four-bedroom home received four offers. The best offer was accepted, but fell through after the prospective buyer failed to provide a promised deposit cheque. ‘This is only the second time this has ever happened to me where the buyer didn’t come through with the deposit cheque,’ said agent Jenelle Cameron. ‘But things were starting to get weird in the market, and we were seeing things fall through all over the place.’”
“House price growth has slowed to almost zero, marking an end to Britain’s latest property boom. Nick Leeming, of Jackson-Stops estate agents, said: ‘I think we’ll look back and note the first quarter of 2022 as the absolute pinnacle of post-pandemic related property enthusiasm. It’s now apparent that April will be looked back on as an inflection point of the market. We are already seeing many over-ambitious sellers coming back down to the realms of reality.’”
“Vendors are pulling their properties from auction at the fastest rate since the onset of COVID-19 amid growing concerns about rising interest rates, falling prices and a slowing economy. Most of the properties being withdrawn are in Melbourne and Sydney, where one in four homes going to auction last weekend were cancelled, according to CoreLogic analysis. There is evidence the auction downturn is gaining momentum. Property prices on the northern beaches had a boom of almost 40 per cent last year, but have since fallen about 10 per cent in the past three months in areas such as Narrabeen and Collaroy.”
“Many buyers at the top end of the market have travelled to their local snow fields or warmer destinations overseas, according to Emma Bloom, a buyers agent in Melbourne’s multimillion-dollar south-eastern suburbs. ‘You’d be brave to start a sales campaign at this time,’ Ms Bloom said.”
“In late November, the state government declared that Penang has the second-highest number of unsold properties in Malaysia, with 4,683 completed housing units worth RM3.66bil. ‘If there are more houses on the way, the inventory will grow, making it more difficult to clear the glut,’ Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association immediate past chairman Tan Hun Beng told StarBiz. A large number of unsold units is perhaps an indication that we are building houses that are not in demand due to various factors.”
“Offering a coastal resort villa in Da Nang for sale, Pham Van Quynh, an investor from Hanoi, was very impatient. The villa he bought for nearly VND20 billion in 2018 now can bring a profit. Because of the pandemic and unprofitable business, he has had to sell the villa to get capital for business. Quynh has worked with many estate trading floors and brokers since early 2022 but he cannot sell the property. The financial pressure is stressful.”
“‘The property market is hot and real estate prices have been increasing everywhere, so I hope I can sell the villa quickly to pay debts. But this turns out to be not easy work,’ he said. ‘I have offered high commissions for brokers and accepted to cut prices.’ There are many ads on websites offering to sell resort villas in Da Nang. Many villa owners now accept to sell villas on Truong Sa, Vo Nguyen Giap and Ngo Quyen streets at a loss of VND200-300 million.”
“While sustainability is determined by fundamental drivers in the housing market, affordability is about where the cost of purchasing a house sits relative to the income of the home-buyer. ‘Unfortunately for many New Zealanders trying to buy a home, the current level of sustainable house prices – determined by market fundamentals – is still by no means affordable,’ said Reserve Bank Chief economist Paul Conway.”
“Housing market dynamics in future were unlikely to be the same as in the past and, given the importance of housing to the economy and the ‘national psyche,’ that would be a huge change, he said. ‘For several decades, we have traded houses among ourselves at ever-increasing prices in the belief that we were creating prosperity. But the tide may well have turned against housing being a one-way bet for a generation of Kiwis,’ he said.”
“Looking to buy a home in the Portland area? You’ll need to earn more than $130,000 to make that happen. That’s a problem for many would-be homebuyers in southern Maine, where the median household income is under $62,000. A decade ago, an income of just $58,000 was needed to buy a typical Portland home for around $230,000. The income required to buy a home in the Portland area jumped from $92,600 in April 2021 to $130,000 this year as median home prices went up 20 percent.”
“Over the past year, Beth Tembreull and her husband, Jarrod, have seen how high prices and stiff competition make it seem nearly impossible for first-time homebuyers to get into a home. The couple, who rent in Portland’s West End, started looking for a house in April 2021, after he finished his residency at Maine Medical Center and took a job as a physician in the Midcoast. ‘If we, as a physician and a teacher, can’t find a place to live, how will the influx of immigrants that are arriving in Portland ever find a home?’ she said.”