A report from KTSP in Minnesota. “The housing market has been red-hot during the pandemic, but it could be cooling off. Existing U.S. homes sales rose 2% in July. For comparison, sales in June jumped about 23% from a year earlier. Another sign the housing market is cooling off: First-time homebuyers fell to 31%, the lowest level in more than three decades. ‘Long-term, there are no signs of the housing bubble that we’ve seen, so I expect it to kind of more normalize,’ said Kelly Hudick with Marathon Realty.”
From Fox 23 Maine. “The Maine Association of Realtors president says there is some good news for potential buyers feeling frustrated with the market. For the fourth consecutive month, the number of available homes is starting to increase. With single-family listings up nearly eight percent compared to last month. If it keeps going in that direction through the rest of the year, prices could stabilize. In Portland, Benchmark Real Estate has also seen signs of a possible leveling off. The median sales price for single families has dropped for the past two months from an all-time high of $479,250 in May to $461,500 in July.”
From KTAR on Arizona. “In metro Phoenix, houses on the market rose 1.6% from June, however, remains down 18.8% compared to last July, the report said, with more inventory expected to appear in the market over the next few months. Buyers might be pleased to hear the share of houses listed with a price cut was at 10%, up 2.1% from June. As inventory signs continue to rise for the third straight month and home value appreciation decreasing in nearly half the markets, Nicole Bachaud, Zillow economic data analyst said, ‘All signs point to the likelihood that the housing market is beginning to ease off the gas pedal.’”
From KUSI in California. “The real estate market in San Diego has seen a swing for both buyers and sellers in recent months — but now many are saying the market is seeing a balance. Overall, the previously hectic housing market is beginning to stabilize, said Jim Bottrell, Founder of the Jim Bottrell Real Estate Team.”
The Real Deal on Florida. “Russell Weiner paid more than $35 million for two waterfront properties on Pine Tree Drive in Miami Beach. The properties are separated by a home owned by Richard and Maria Meruelo. The Meruelos, who are in the midst of a divorce, face a foreclosure lawsuit on that property. Court records show RH Fund XXII LLC, which is tied to Las Vegas-based Red Hills Holdings, sued over an alleged unpaid mortgage balance of $6.3 million, plus interest, that is backed by the home.”
The Puget Sound Business Journal in Washington. “In a trend that may only worsen the Seattle area’s affordable housing crisis, owners of single-family rental homes are fleeing the market, say some real estate observers. A brokerage that specializes in rentals in King and Snohomish counties saw a 33% increase in the number of clients selling their property in 2020 compared with 2019. In Seattle, the number was even higher at 48%.”
“‘Areawide, prior to last year, the biggest single-year spike we had seen was 16% from 2013 to 2014,’ said Cory Brewer, vice president of residential operations at Lori Gill & Associates/Windermere Property Management. ‘Specifically in Seattle, 48% is by far the biggest spike we have seen during this time.’”
“Jim Henderson, president of Landlord Solutions Inc., is seeing the same trend, which he attributes to regulatory burdens. Henderson works with landlords in Pierce and King counties. ‘Landlords don’t get into this business to provide free rent,’ Henderson said. ‘For three months, that’s one thing. But it’s been 18 months. And landlords have to keep paying mortgages, insurance and maintenance costs.’”
The Village Sun. “Small landlords from around the city rallied across the street from the governor’s office in East Midtown Thursday, calling for an end to the state’s eviction moratorium. Last month, the property owners filed a class-action Article 78 lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court against Governor Cuomo, Attorney General Letitia James and New York State over the COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020.”
“The rally was organized by the group NY Landlords. The property owners say they are unfairly being asked to carry a burden that other businesses are not. Most of those at the rally were Asian, and most of the speakers’ comments were in Chinese. ‘Because the lawmakers keep on extending this unfair blanket eviction moratorium, a lot of our members are now are on the brink of bankruptcy,’ a message on the group’s Web site states, in part. ‘The blanket moratorium…has forced a lot of small mom and pop landlords into debt and foreclosure. It’s time to stand up for our rights and get our voices heard!’”
The Irish Times. “Purpose-built student apartment blocks in Dublin city could be turned into homeless accommodation under proposals from the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE). The DRHE is seeking to take advantage of the glut of new student blocks in the city which have failed to attract sufficient numbers of students.”
From Mansion Global. “Slower demand from high-end home buyers in the U.K. is responsible for dragging down asking prices for the first time this year, according to Rightmove. ‘New sellers dropping their asking prices can ring economy alarm bells, especially when it’s the first time so far this year, so it’s important to dig underneath the headline figures,’ said Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s director of property data.”
From Urban Developer. “More than half of Victorians who live in apartments have reported their homes have unrectified defects, according to a national survey. The Apartment Living Report surveyed 3600 apartment owners nationally and revealed that 54 per cent of the more than 1000 Victorians surveyed are living in apartments with defects. The chief executive of the group that commissioned the survey, Australian Apartment Advocacy, Sam Reece said the findings pointed to a need for urgent action to educate and protect apartment owners. About 16,000 apartments are expected to be delivered to the Victorian market during the next four years, and consumers need tools to know whether they’re purchasing a dud, Reece said.”
“There was a lack of clear access to information about buying an apartment which had left current apartment owners with inherited ‘defect debt’ and those looking to buy an apartment unsure about what to look out for, she said. ‘For too long governments have allowed a Wild West building culture, where too many new apartments are being built ith defects,’ Reece said. ‘Thousands of lives have been wrecked by lax building regulations, rogue developers and a lack of consumer information around apartment buying and living.’”