It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “Median selling prices in July declined 10% from June’s record high of $812,000 for a single-family home. Multiple offers are also down, as well as the number of bidding wars, according to the report. Greater Boston Association of Realtors President Dino Confalone says it remains a seller’s market, but it’s starting to show more price adjustments, and inventory is sitting on the market longer.”
“Some Portland area brokers are experiencing fewer showings, longer sell times and residential properties under contract bouncing back onto the market. Has panic buying and zealous bidding finally reached a stopping point? The third quarter appears to be leveling out,’ said broker Adriana Focke. Focke explains the recent change in pace by pointing to one of her properties for sale. The four-bedroom house on a 3,920-square-foot lot was placed on the market on Friday, Aug 6. ‘I was expecting a busy weekend with back-to-back showings, but … the home is still available,’ she said.”
“Focke said other real estate agents are having similar experiences with their new listings, including those priced under $500,000. ‘I have seen several withdrawn listings in the last two weeks,’ she said.”
“In a sign the Central Texas housing market could be cooling, home sales across the region and within the city of Austin declined last month — the first time that’s happened since May 2020. ‘The level of appreciation we’ve been seeing could taper off a little bit,’ Eldon Rude, a longtime Austin-area housing market consultant. Geof Sloan, an agent with Black Label Real Estate Advisors, said he’s seeing more open houses and more price reductions than earlier in the year — inventory remains in short supply and it’s still ‘an extrememly strong sellers’ market. ‘It’s kind of like going 85 (mph) down the toll road but you slowed down to 70,’ Sloan said.”
“The California Association of Realtors suggests that the region’s housing market may be leveling off. The median cost of a single-family home in the Bay Area dipped 3.6% in July compared to the previous month, the report found, and prices declined or plateaued in all but two of the region’s nine counties. The number of homes sold last month compared to June dropped significantly in several counties, including a 26% decline in Napa County and a 21% dip in San Francisco.”
“The biggest regional price drop in July was a 7.7% decrease in Sonoma County, to a median $761,700 sale price, followed by a 7.3% dip in San Mateo County to $2.1 million. Prices dropped 5% in San Francisco, to a median $1.9 million.”
“Sylvester Stallone is attempting to offload his lavish Beverly Hills mansion, after once having the enormous property on the market for over $100 million but seeing no action. The ‘Rocky’ star first listed the mega estate back in January for $130 million. He ended up slashing the price on it by some $25 million before removing the listing. Now, Stallone is putting his more-than-modest home back on the market for $85 million.”
“Marcia Riklis has bought a $6.6 million Upper East Side home at Beckford Tower, according to city property records.That’s more than 10% off its $7.49 million asking price. Not bad, especially since Riklis took a hit on her former co-op at 980 Fifth Ave., which she bought for $8.4 million in 2012 and had listed for sale for $6.35 million last year. That unit later sold for the asking price in mid-March.”
“The Toronto-area real estate market feels more sleepy in August than it has in a long while. Rochelle DeClute, broker at Union Realty in Toronto, senses that the ‘fear of missing out’ that fueled the spring chaos has dissipated. One side effect of the slower market appears to be that some people who bought in the spring when the market was at its peak are now having trouble securing financing at closing time. Ms. DeClute has heard from others in the industry that a few deals have fallen through because the buyer paid a lofty price in the spring, only to find the lender’s appraisal a few months later comes in below the sale price.”
“That can happen when the appraiser looks at the prices comparable houses have been selling for in the neighourhood. If some steam is coming out of the market in that area, nearby houses may be trading at softer prices and the lender may ask the buyer to come up with a larger down payment to close the gap. It also creates a crisis for the sellers if they need the funds to close the deal on their next property.”
“Around three-quarters of respondents expected demand for housing to ease across the country this year, including in hot spots like Toronto and Vancouver, while nearly 60% predicted that the chill would linger at least a little while longer. ‘The dramatic fall in interest rates created a sense of urgency to get into the market, so in many ways people borrowed activity from the future, and now it seems the future has arrived,’ said Benjamin Tal, deputy chief economist at CIBC Capital Markets.”
“Two years after his Ralan Group collapsed leaving apartment buyers about $230 million out of pocket, founder William O’Dwyer has been declared bankrupt. Mr O’Dwyer, was made bankrupt on July 28 following a debtor’s petition he made, according to the Australian Financial Security Authority’s National Personal Insolvency Index. At the time of its collapse Ralan had a development pipeline of more than 3000 residential units and debts of more than $560 million, including to secured lenders such as Westpac and Wingate.”
“A 4,600 sq ft luxury penthouse in Hong Kong, which was previously owned by the debt-laden mainland Chinese conglomerate HNA Group, has been put up for sale by creditors.The fully furnished four-bedroom flat is on the 45th floor of 39 Conduit Road, Mid-Levels, one of the most prestigious addresses in the world’s most expensive property market.”
“Third and fourth-tier city property prices in China have dipped this year as indebted property developers dump units to replenish their coffers and in response to local buyers’ diminished purchasing power due to the Covid-19 pandemic. One city’s authorities are intervening in the market in what some see as a bid to prevent a contagion effect across the nation’s wider low-end property market. Yueyang, a prefecture-level city in southern central Hunan province, recently announced a ban on home price discounts of more than 15%.”
“The announcement came soon after Evergrande Real Estate Group offered slash-rate discounts on its apartments in the city in June. At the same time, people have been warned to buy properties in lower-tier cities only for self-use and not as speculative investments, as the oversupply situation in these cities would continue for some more time, according to some mainland economists.”
“In October 2019, Evergrande announced it would slash the prices of its apartments in Yueyang by about 3,000 yuan per square meter.Last year, Evergrande offered more price cuts to potential homebuyers. In February 2021, it launched a nationwide 25% discount on all of its property projects. This year, the company sold its apartments in Yueyang at as low as 5,400 yuan per square meter, similar to the level before the wave of speculation started in 2016.”
“A commentary published by Sina.com said it was understandable that the local government in Yueyang banned property price cuts of more than 15% as a sharp decline in home prices would hurt the government’s land sales revenue. The commentary added that many local governments in lower-tier cities relied heavily on land sales to generate their fiscal income but they would not likely be allowed by Beijing to loosen their property curbs for some more time.”