A report from Fox Business. “Home listings were up by 13% year over year at the end of February, according to Redfin. This is the largest increase in three years. ‘House hunters are out there, and competition picks up every time mortgage rates decline a bit,’ said Brynn Rea, a Redfin Premier agent in Spokane, Washington. ‘I’m telling buyers who can afford it to look now while they have more breathing room and less competition. They have a good chance of negotiating the price down or getting some concessions from the seller, which could make up for getting a 7% mortgage rate instead of 6%.’”
The New York Post. “Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are back in Los Angeles after living it up in a $15,000-a-night Bahamas resort. But the good luck hasn’t rubbed off on this Manhattan duplex, where Swift’s moody Polaroids captured the essence of her albums. Its billionaire heiress owner still can’t sell this stunning, and quirky, Flatiron flat, which just received another price slash to $2.85 million — a prime plunge from its original $6.25 million ask in 2017. The three-bedroom, 3½-bath co-op at 874 Broadway resurfaced for sale in 2023, asking $3.7 million, and was chopped again to $3.25 million several months after. Potential buyers love the apartment, we hear, but have been spooked by the high maintenance cost — a hefty $8,568 a month.”
KRON in California. “A San Francisco mansion once owned by Nicholas Cage was sold last week for $3.3 million, according to a listing by Compass real estate company. The ‘Victorian mansion’ is in the city’s Pacific Heights neighborhood at 1945 Franklin St. Cage owned the home back in the 1980s. The property was up for sale on Feb. 16 for $3.5 million. It was sold about a month later on March 19 for the lower price of $3.3 million. The condition of the property is listed as ‘Under Construction, Updated/Remodeled.’ In the last 20 years, the mansion was listed as high as $12 million back in June 2018, according to Compass.”
Sarasota Magazine in Florida. “February 2024 data shows that single-family homes in the Sarasota-Manatee region have reached a monthly supply of inventory that hasn’t been seen since March 2019, according to new data from the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee. In Sarasota County, the monthly supply of condo and townhome inventory moved from 2.8 months to 6.7 months, more than doubling, while active listings saw a 128 percent increase, rising from 929 listings in February 2023 to 2,119 listings in February 2024. Similarly, Manatee County condo and townhomes inventory moved from 3.4 months of supply to 6.2 months of supply, an 82 percent increase. Manatee County also saw a year-over-year increase of 87 percent in active listings, and inventory rose from 786 listings in February 2023 to 1,469 in February 2024.”
“More time and space to ponder the best buy means negotiating tools are here to stay. ‘Buyers are being more picky, and there are more hoops to jump through along with more negotiating tools,’ says Paula Jones, a realtor with Keller Williams Realty Select. ‘In the Covid market, you could barely get your printing done before a listing went to contract. Mortgage lenders wanted 30 days to 45 days. Now it’s more like 90 days for [underwriters] to come through. People on both sides of the transaction are a bit more open-minded. People are just being smarter with their money.’”
Money Wise on Texas. “John Seckar can’t even hear the words ‘homeowners association (HOA)’ without it sounding like a ‘cuss word’ to him. The Houston man pays over $6,000 a year ($550 a month) in HOA fees for his two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo, as he told local news station ABC13. But walking the news crew through his complex, he wondered what value he’s getting from his monthly dues, as he pointed out shattered glass, holes in the fence, a broken mailroom door and dogs running loose, relieving themselves freely. ‘Fecal matter everywhere,’ Seckar stressed.”
“William, whose last name is withheld by ABC13, has invested in several condos in the complex. But with the increased HOA fees yet lack of care on the property, he ‘regrets’ his investment decision. ‘We never knew that the HOAs would be increasing faster than inflation,’ he told ABC13.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer in Pennsylvania. “Center City’s newest apartment tower at 210 South 12th St. is set to begin leasing later this spring, adding 376 high end units to the market. Philadelphia has seen a building boom in recent years, and many prominent developers believe there may be a multifamily housing glut — meaning there are more new units than there is demand for them at the prices being charged. Before the pandemic the company also proposed a large apartment building for the Italian Market, at 9th Street and Washington Avenue, where Anastasi’s Seafood used to be. But after demolishing the building, the company hasn’t made any further progress.”
Consumer Affairs. “The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) offers a home loan program specifically for active service members, veterans and surviving spouses. While the VA doesn’t act as the lender, it does back these types of mortgages made available through private lenders while offering multiple benefits. No down payment requirement and no private mortgage insurance are examples of how VA loans can make homeownership even more affordable for military personnel, veterans and family members. Lenders also look at income when calculating your debt-to-income ratio (DTI). This ratio simply compares your monthly income to your monthly debt obligations, such as credit card debt, auto loans and personal loans.”
“Most lenders look for a DTI ratio of 36% or less, where no more than 36% of your gross monthly income goes towards debt payments. The VA doesn’t have a maximum DTI number, but the lender can have its own requirements for VA loan applications.”
From Newsweek. “A migrant influencer who told his TikTok followers to invade and squat in U.S. homes is wanted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcemen. Leonel Moreno illegally entered the United States at Eagle Pass, Texas, in early 2022. After his arrival, he created a following on TikTok as a ‘migrant influencer.’ After breaking Alternatives to Detention program rules, which permit the federal government to track migrants with ankle monitors, he is now wanted as an ‘absconder.’ Moreno told his ‘fellow Venezuelans’ to squat in American homes and also showed off items he said he purchased with U.S. food stamps. Moreno also flaunted a Social Security card on his TikTok page, and said he’s made $1,000 a day as a panhandler. ‘I don’t like to work,’ Moreno said in one video. ‘Boys, in the U.S. there are a million tricks, a million things to do.’”
Blog TO in Canada. “If you’ve ever dreamed of living in a French Chateau but find yourself firmly rooted in the GTA, this estate might just be the answer to your architectural dreams. And the best part, it just dropped its price by more than $2 million. This enormous home at 45 Kensington Dr. was covered back in 2022 when it was first listed for $13,950,000. Since then, it’s been on and off the market with no buyers. Not that it’s uncommon for mansions like this to take their sweet time to sell, but almost two years is still a long time to have a house sit on the market. Now, in 2024, it was just re-listed for $11,800,000.”
City AM in the UK. “Two individuals have received prison sentences for making £3m worth of fraudulent mortgage applications following a prosecution brought by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Larry Barreto and Tassib Hussain were found guilty of fraud offences in November after the FCA commenced criminal proceedings against the pair in April 2021. The City regulator alleged that between 1 January 2015 and March 2018, Barreto gave paid advice to people looking to take out residential mortgages without necessary FCA authorisation. It said that in 11 cases, Barreto ‘dishonestly inflated’ his client’s income in the application to the lender. The FCA claimed Barreto would then pay Hussain, who created false self-employment and employment documentation to support the inflated applications.”
From Reuters. “S&P Global said on Wednesday it had cut its long-term issuer default rating of property firm SBB to selective default from CCC+ after the group on Sunday said it would buy back debt at a 60% discount against the debt’s original value. SBB on Sunday said it would pay 163 million euros ($176 million) to buy back 408 million worth of debt. ‘We view these repurchases as tantamount to a default because the lenders received less value than they were promised under the initial terms of the securities,’ S&P said in a statement. The downgrade highlights the struggles of SBB to reduce its vast debts after it borrowed heavily in recent years to buy public real estate including social housing, government offices and schools. High debts, interest rate hikes and a wilting economy have hit many European property companies, with the sector in Sweden among the worst affected.”
The Luxembourg Times. “Property prices continued to drop in Luxembourg as they fell to their lowest level since the end of 2020, a report by the national statistics agency and the Housing Observatory has found. The price of housing continued its downward trend for the fifth consecutive quarter, with the average price for a house or a flat contracting by 14.4% in the last quarter of 2023 year-on-year. The most significant decline was registered for existing homes, which are down 18.8% compared the Q4 2022. Apartments under construction (sales in a future state of completion or VEFA) experienced the least significant annual decline, down just 7.6%. The price for existing apartments fell by 14.5%.”
“The fall in prices is due to a significant decline in housing market transactions across all segments. Only 749 apartments – new or existing- were sold in the last quarter of 2023, which represents a fall of 42% compared to the same period in 2022. That is the lowest number of transactions recorded over a quarter since the Land Registry was created in 2007, according to Statec. Real estate worth around €435m was sold in the fourth quarter of last year, representing a drop of 48.8% year-on-year.”
“On the other hand, the report notes that the supply of single furnished rooms for rent has grown rapidly in Luxembourg in recent years. Between 2010 and 2012, the supply of furnished room rentals represented less than 3% of the rental supply of furnished flat, house and room rentals. By 2023, the number of furnished room-rentals advertised was around 13.5% of the total rental supply – though that increase also reflects the greater use of property portals since 2013, according to the report. ‘Furnished room rental is therefore an almost exclusively urban phenomenon,’ the report said. Some 60% of furnished room rental advertisements in 2023 were in Luxembourg City, while the canton of Esch-sur-Alzette accounted for 35% of the supply.”
Daily Telegraph in Australia. “A Pearl Beach getaway that set a $7.7 million auction record when 10 parties competed in 2021 has resold at $6.6 million. The Central Coast headland cottage was sold by Louise Fussell and her husband Thomas, a UK private equity investor. ‘This incomparable and unique North facing ocean front property is certainly among The Central Coast’s most sought after positions!’ the listing for the $6.6m home read. According to PropTrack, the median house price in Pearl Beach is $2.049m. That’s up 7.8 per cent over the last 12 months.”