It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “During the fourth quarter of last year, 2,404 sales closed in Manhattan, a 1.2% dip year-over-year. The median sales price, meanwhile, remained flat at close to $1 million, according to a report by Douglas Elliman. However, the median sales price in the luxury segment, defined as the top 10% of sales, dropped 24% year-over-year to $4.8 million.”
“Zillow and Pulsenomics LLC asked more than 100 real estate gurus to predict what would occur in 2020 housing markets. As for 25 major local markets, those folks polled did not like what they saw in California, with the state home to five of the six U.S. metro areas with the poll’s worst outlooks. ‘Many West Coast markets hit an affordability ceiling that set off declining home values in the most expensive of these,’ said Zillow economist Skylar Olsen. ‘Indeed, this price correction — a clap back from having appreciated with too much exuberance in the recent past — pushes many previously hot markets to the bottom of our experts’ list.’”
“The co-founder of a popular online ticketing marketplace sold his Bal Harbour condo for $9 million, a loss from its previous sale in 2018. Property records show Vivid Seats co-founder Jerry Bednyak sold Oceana Bal Harbour units 2102S and 2102S to 2018 West Churchill Trust. The double unit spans 7,442 square feet with six bedrooms and eight bathrooms. It last sold in 2018 for $13.25 million.”
“Metro Denver home prices, after years of effervescent gains, are going as flat as that unfinished bottle of champagne. ‘Metro Denver real estate values have peaked and are falling in some locales,’ said Van Lewis, a broker associate with Re/Max Alliance in Aurora. ‘Nothing drastic, but definitely a change from recent years.’”
“‘Denver’s home price growth came crashing back to Earth after several years of stratospheric increases. We forecast that to continue, with a mere 1.4% price growth over the next year,’ said Jeff Tucker, an economist with Zillow. Denver isn’t alone in seeing the party come to an end. Denver is now in the camp of metros that have gone from hot to not. Several of the hottest housing markets from 2018 — San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles and Seattle — have all suffered sharp slowdowns, Taylor said.”
“The value of Lululemon Athletica Inc. founder Chip Wilson’s Vancouver waterfront mansion has fallen 11 per cent to about $65-million, a high-profile example of the downturn in the city’s housing market. Mr. Wilson has seen his property’s assessed value drop nearly 18 per cent from the peak of $78.8-million in mid-2017. In the city of Vancouver, the median value for detached properties fell to $1,568,000 in mid-2019, down 10.7 per cent compared with $1,755,000 in mid-2018, BC Assessment said in its latest annual review. The median value for condos slipped to $686,000 within Vancouver’s city limits, down 7.3 per cent from $740,000.”
“House prices have started to fall for the first time since 2012. Economist at Trinity College Dublin and author of the, Ronan Lyons, says the owner-occupier sector is just one part of the housing system. ‘We’re seeing no more upward pressure on prices and in fact slight downward pressure in prices. That is indeed a good thing, but it doesn’t mean we have an entirely healthy housing system yet,’ he said.”
“There are about 1.83 lakh unsold housing units in urban area worth Rs 1.39 lakh crore. The SBICAP study had estimated that nearly 4.58 lakh housing units were stalled. Some of the reasons behind projects getting stalled have been the liquidity crunch and reports of developers diverting homebuyers’ payments to other projects. Some homebuyers have even stopped making payment since several projects have been stalled for years and some builders have gone bankrupt.”
“Private home prices in Singapore rose just 0.3% in the final three months of 2019, further evidence that government cooling measures levied in mid-2018 have taken the heat out of the city-state’s residential real estate market. Slower home-price growth could make it harder to work through an apartment glut, however. The city-state is grappling with a housing oversupply that some market watchers say may take as long as four years to clear. There are almost 32,000 units — some finished, others under construction — in the pipeline.”
“Domain economist Trent Wiltshire said Melbourne’s market had seen three phases over the past decade; a soft period in 2010-2011, a boom from 2012 to 2017 and a correction from late 2017 to mid-2019. South Yarra’s median house price jumped from $725,000 in 2010 to $1,477,750 in the year to November this year, with a peak of $1.760 million in 2017.”
“According to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand, the median house price within nine holiday destinations dropped by up to 16 percent in the three months to November 2019, compared to the same period in 2018. Parts of Waiheke Island and Wanaka, where the median house price tips $1 million, have become slightly more affordable, while Pauanui has also taken a knock. People looking for a little peace and quiet away from the rat race may still be able to unearth a property for under $500,000 in places like Te Anau and Taupo – or could re-consider places like Mangawhai Heads, Paihia, Oneroa or Onetangi, where latest data shows that prices have pulled back.”
“Life may be getting slightly easier for Hawaii’s renters because apartment rents have flattened and are declining in many parts of Oahu, two new housing studies show. ‘In the last three to four years, rents have flattened or decreased,’ said Matt Brummel, president of Honolulu Property Management, which manages 1,000 apartment units, most of them on Oahu. ‘Supply has increased to where it lets renters be more picky and choosy and don’t need to pay the same rent.’”
“This trend became evident even before vacation rental rules on Oahu were changed. Those effects have not yet been fully studied and it will be some time before a more definitive analysis is completed, but experts think it will cause further good news for Hawaii renters as more units formerly rented to tourists become available to local people. About 1,448 housing units were built on Oahu in 2018, 881 were built in 2019 and 671 will be built in 2020, says housing analyst Ricky Cassiday. ‘The average rents are going down,’ he said.”
“In one downtown building, for example, a lower-floor unit rented for $3,800 a month in 2014. More recently, a nicer unit in the same building came up for rent and was leased at $3,400, or $400 a month less, Brummel said. When the tenant in the $3,800-a-month unit moved out, the landlord realized that rents had fallen so much that he decided to sell instead, he said. ‘Everything comes back on the table when the landlord listens to the market.’ Cassiday said.”