A report from the Idaho Statesman. “Take a spin through Eagle and it’s easy enough to see a changing city. Fresh, new homes dot neighborhoods, while empty dirt and sand-filled lots promise more incoming growth in town. But building permits are slowing. ‘Developers) are still putting applications and permits in,’ Eagle Mayor Brad Pike said by phone. ‘(But) they’re kind of trickling in now.’ Building permits peaked in 2018 and have decreased every year since except 2021, said Nichoel Baird Spencer, director of long-range planning and projects for Eagle. ‘I know it feels like there’s a lot of growth going on, but building permit-wise we actually are trending downward,’ she said.”
Westword in Colorado. “Those looking to rent apartments or buy homes in Denver have dealt with a wild market the last few years, but new trends show that markets for buyers and renters alike could be getting better. Denver’s home-buying market is also leveling out after three years of what the industry has described as ‘unicorn years’ because they were so abnormal, notes Nancy Levine, a Denver real estate expert with LIV Sotheby’s. Levine says it’s a bit of a mystery why supply and demand aren’t working in the Denver real estate market right now, but cream-puff houses, which generally come with updated kitchens and bathrooms and little move-in work, could play a role. ‘I think it’s because the houses that are kind of perfect — what we refer to as ‘cream puffs’ — still have a lot of people wanting to buy them, so the prices are still staying strong on great houses, and that’s pushing up the median house price,’ she suggests.”
“Inventory is finally returning to a state of abundance in the Denver housing market, and the same can be said for rentals. According to the AAMD, 5,144 new apartments came online in the first quarter of 2024, with almost 15,000 units added in the last year. From March 2024 to April 2024 alone, the number of new listings jumped by over 21 percent. ‘It’s the first opportunity there’s been for buyers to have a pretty good shot at homes in the last few years,’ Levine says. ‘It’s still a seller’s market, but it’s the best opportunity there’s been for buyers in a long time. April, May and June are the key months for the most competition and the sellers to get the best prices. But this year, because of the huge increase in inventory, it’s a little less so.’”
Politico on Florida. “State Rep. Vicki Lopez, the Republican lawmaker who led condo reforms to try to prevent another Surfside tragedy, is worried about a recent court decision over a building buyout in Miami. It concerns the 60-year-old Biscayne 21 condominium. Lopez is concerned the case will spur similar lawsuits and make developers reconsider buying unsalvageable condominiums. She wants most condo owners to have the ability to sell off when their buildings are no longer safe or have become too pricey to maintain — and give them and the developers they sign with the ability to override small numbers of holdouts. Those concerned about the ruling say it’s unfair to give a sliver of residents veto power when most want out. ‘These people otherwise face foreclosure,’ said Jan Bergemann, president of Cyber Citizens for Justice, a property owner’s advocacy association. ‘They otherwise lose everything if they can’t sell to a developer.’”
The Star Tribune in Minnesota. “An artificial stream in a park-like setting attracts joggers and dog walkers to St. Paul’s Highland Bridge development. Meanwhile, plans for thousands of new privately developed apartment units remain on pause. They’re the victim of rising construction costs, soaring interest rates and the rent stabilization law approved by St. Paul voters that brought much residential construction to a halt. ‘The vision for the site was established pre-pandemic and with very different market conditions,’ said Melanie McMahon, the city’s executive project lead for redevelopment. ‘It’s just a different world that we’re in right now.’”
The Boston Globe. “Robynne A. Alexander pitched a flashy plan in 2022 to buy a sprawling state-owned campus in Laconia, N.H., and redevelop it into a ‘self-sustaining village’ with housing, hundreds of new jobs, park-like open spaces, an urgent care facility, and a resort in the scenic Lakes Region. It didn’t pan out. Despite receiving three deadline extensions and soliciting investors, Alexander failed to close the deal in late April. By then, investigators with the New Hampshire Bureau of Securities Regulation had begun scrutinizing her business dealings, as the New Hampshire Bulletin reported. Newly filed court records reveal Alexander has fallen under the scrutiny of federal fraud investigators as well.”
“Alexander received at least $450,000 from apparent investors in one or more of her projects between April 2023 and January 2024, and she may have used much of the money for purposes other than the intended investment, according to the SEC’s filings. The evidence suggests that in one instance Alexander used part of a $100,000 wire transfer from an apparent investor on one project to pay a debt of more than $46,000 that she owed to an apparent investor on another project, according to the filings. Alexander told the Globe she has found herself in unfamiliar territory. ‘I’ve had a speeding ticket in my life, and that’s the most trouble I’ve ever been in,’ she said. ‘I don’t understand all of this stuff. I’m just going to cooperate and have my attorney deal with it with me.’”
Bisnow Los Angeles in California. “La Salle Investment Management has sold office properties in Playa Vista at a loss of roughly 47%. The Annex, a roughly 132K SF low-rise creative office campus at 5340 Alla Road, sold for $50.3M to the private Westside Neighborhood School, LA Business First reported. The property, which sits on more than five acres, allows for the development of another 160K SF. Playa Vista was once a burgeoning tech hub sought by tenants looking for larger spaces and newer office stock than they might be able to find elsewhere on the Westside. But like so many other submarkets, its office properties have been hit hard by hybrid and remote work arrangements.”
The Real Deal on California. “The Gas Company Tower, L.A.’s fifth tallest building, is worth one-fifth less than a year ago and two-thirds less than its value in 2021. The value of the 52-story tower, now on the market by a receiver after Toronto-based Brookfield walked away from its debt obligations, is $214.5 million — 21 percent less than its appraisal last summer, the Commercial Observer reported, citing figures from Trepp. The spire at 555 West 5th Street in Downtown is backed by a $350 million commercial-mortgage backed securities loan and more than $100 million in mezzanine financing. Three years ago, the 1.4 million-square-foot building was valued at $632 million, or $451 per square foot. That means its latest value amounts to 34 percent of its worth in 2021. The new valuation for the property works out to $153 per square foot — a potent indicator of the decline in the Downtown office market since the pandemic shift to remote work.”
The Globe and Mail in Canada. “Ninepoint Partners LP will stop paying cash distributions on three private debt funds that collectively manage $2-billion in assets and will also skip the current redemption window on its flagship private debt fund, preventing investors from cashing out in the second quarter. ‘Currently, the fund is unable to make redemption payments due to having insufficient net cash for this purpose,’ Ninepoint wrote in a memo to advisers. Private debt managers in Canada raise money from investors – often retail investors – and then lend these funds out to borrowers who are unable to obtain traditional bank financing. In exchange for lending to higher-risk corporate borrowers, investors have historically received outsized monthly payouts that amounted to about 8 per cent annually.”
“Lately, however, some higher-risk borrowers have struggled with much higher interest costs. Many loans offered by private debt managers are provided at variable rates, and these have become more expensive for borrowers, just like variable-rate mortgages. When borrowers struggle, they may not repay their loans on time, creating a cash crunch for private debt managers. The pain is spreading across the industry. In all, private debt funds that manage nearly $10-billion have struggled with elevated redemption requests or major defaults, and funds managed by companies such as Romspen Investment Corp. and Hazelview Investments have halted redemptions.”
From CBC News. “Tens of thousands of Canadians are emigrating from Canada to the United States and the number of people packing up and moving south has hit a level not seen in 10 years or more, according to data compiled by CBC News. The real estate agents and immigration lawyers who help Canadians make the move say the surge is being driven partly by a desire for a more affordable life. But there are also people who say they have lost faith in Canada under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s leadership and want to pursue the American dream instead, these agents and lawyers said. Marco Terminesi is a former professional soccer player who grew up in Woodbridge, Ont. and now works as a real estate agent in Florida’s Palm Beach County with a busy practice that caters to Canadian expats.”
“Terminesi said his phone has been ringing off the hook for the last 18 months with calls from Canadians wanting to move to sunny Florida. ”With Trudeau, I have to get out of here,’ that’s what people tell me. They say to me, ‘Marco, who do I have to talk to to get out of here?’ Terminesi told CBC News. ‘There’s a lot of hatred, a lot of pissed-off calls. It was really shocking for me to hear all of this. And I’m not sure all of these people are moving for the right reason. People are saying, ‘I hate the politics here, I’m uprooting my whole family and moving down,’ and I say, ‘Well, that problem could be solved in a year or two.’”
The New Zealand Herald. “New public housing units craned onto a Sandringham site have shocked locals who said the places looked more like shipping containers than residences. The six new apartments in two blocks, each of three levels, are at 15 Kingsway Ave and locals said they were amazed that it took only a day for them to be craned into place. But many are scathing too: ‘We’re starting to look like ghetto cities that we see in other countries,’ said one. ‘They look like those storage containers put on top of each other,’ said one. ‘These stick out and not in a good way,’ said another in a social media group, reflecting Rotorua people’s views.”
“Prefabricated housing business Ecotech imported the units from China, describing themselves as ‘a next generation construction company that is turning traditional building on its head, delivering architectural quality buildings faster and more affordably than ever before.’ Neighbours said the buildings only arrived on the weekend but they were surprised at the appearance in a street which is mainly older wooden Californian-style bungalows with some brick and tile single-level units. Tony Frost of Ecotech Construction and Civil said the units were certainly not shipping containers but he refused to say how much the business was selling each apartment to Kāinga Ora for, saying that was commercially sensitive.”
“Ecotech homes are also up at Nugget Ave, Hobsonville Point. Developer Tony Houston also got places from Tony Frost’s business via China. ‘But don’t call them container homes. They’re not, they’re bigger than containers for a start,’ said Houston. At the time, 23 Nugget Ave was for sale for just over $800,000.”