It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “‘Prices are down well over 20% from the height in April and May,’ said Lori Abbey with The Abbey Collection at Compass Real Estate. Metro Denver had twice as many homes with price drops compared to the same time period in 2021. ‘In two or three years, they’re going to be just fine,’ Abbey said of those who bought the past two years. ‘They’re not way upside down. Very few people are in a really terrible position because we are still a growing market.’”
“The number of homes in foreclosure jumped 116% in a year in California as restrictions end on the ability of lenders to move against seriously delinquent borrowers. The U.S. number was even higher, surging 153%. Given the opportunity, after roughly two years of foreclsoure moratoriums, lenders are acting. California ranked only 36th with its 116% jump in foreclosure activity vs. 2021’s first half. The biggest jumps were seen in Colorado at 595%, then Michigan at 497%, Minnesota at 268%, New Jersey at 245% and New York at 227%.”
“La Dune, an oceanfront Hamptons compound owned by Louise Blouin, is returning to market for $150 million. Comprising two homes on more than 4 acres, La Dune has been on and off the market since 2016, when it asked $140 million, records show. The listing comes as Ms. Blouin is fighting in bankruptcy court to maintain control of the compound. She placed one of the two houses in bankruptcy in April in order to avoid a foreclosure auction, bankruptcy filings show. The property is located just off the dunes on tony Gin Lane, one of the most exclusive addresses in the Hamptons.”
“Home sales last month had their biggest drop since the pandemic lockdowns in the spring as high prices and higher mortgage rates cut buyers out of the market. The sharp decline is another sign that the Houston housing market is undergoing a clear shift. While still a seller’s market, buyers are beginning to regain some negotiating power. Inventories are rising, homes are staying on the market longer, and price increases are moderating. Homes in July sold for less than listing prices after selling for more in the previous three months, the Houston Association of Realtors reported.”
“‘Now that it’s slowed down, buyers have a lot more choices,’ said Shad Bogany, a realty agent with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Gary Greene. ‘In the past, they were standing in line to bid higher. Now we’re not seeing it.’”
“Kevin Brown, a Houston, Texas realtor, told Bloomberg that he has witnessed a significant shift in the market. What used to be jam-packed days of back-to-back appointments has dramatically slowed, and now he has five new homes completed for sale, another 55 in construction, all unsold.”
“Cooling demand is starting to impact Reno’s red-hot housing market. The median sales price for an existing single-family home fell below $600,000 for the first time since February. In total, Reno-Sparks saw 425 unit sales, which is down by 34% year-over-year. The combined median home price for both cities was $574,510, a decrease of more than 4% from June. ‘It’s not a full-on buyers’ market but it is shifting to one because homes are sitting longer,’ said Sarah Scattini, president of the Reno/Sparks Association of Realtors. ‘Sellers are now willing to cooperate with buyers who maybe need some closing cost assistance or credit repair.’”
“Most brokers have been through this many times and are not particularly surprised. Since second quarter of 2020, the median price of U.S. homes climbed nearly 40% and most knew that wasn’t sustainable. In addition, the number of REALTORS® has ballooned with more licensed agents in America than ever –1.57 million- which is 13% more than in 2006 when the housing bubble was at its peak. As the pendulum continues to swing, one thing I’m personally looking forward to is watching a lot fewer agents posting brag videos of themselves all over social media doing the ‘happy dance’ because their listing sold in twenty minutes at 100% above the asking price with twenty-seven offers. They’ll find their world is becoming a very different place.”
“Rising interest rates and fears of inflation and an economic slowdown threw cold water over the Baltimore region’s once-scorching housing market. Fewer homes sold last month than in any July since 2014. James Weiskerger of the W Home Group in Timonium, has been watching inventory ‘stacking up’ recently and expects home prices could slip and eventually stabilize. ‘I do think that the current trend of appreciation is kind of a mirage,’ Weiskerger said.”
“‘Yes, they’ve gone down. In February, the average price was just over a million dollars, and now, it’s just over 825,000. But two years ago, it was 600,000, 400,000,’ said Luc Woolsey, president of the Barrie and District Association of Realtors. Housing prices have dropped by as much as 30 per cent in some areas in recent months, but that only brings consumers back to the prices they saw in 2021. ‘Interest rates are going to continue to climb a little bit over the next few months. They have another interest rate announcement scheduled for September, where we expect the rate to be higher,’ said realtor Peggy Hill. ‘Something’s got to give. The consumer can not be paying interest rates at this price and having housing prices be inflated the way they are.’”
“Less than a year after purchasing their four-bedroom townhouse in Surrey, B.C. for $870,000, Aneesh Bhandari and his wife decided to sell their home in early May. They were both were looking forward to their first open house, Bhandari said, making bets on how many showings the home would get. They later discovered only one person came to view the property. ‘It was an eye-opener,’ Bhandari told CTVNews. ‘My realtor didn’t expect that, nobody expected that.’”
“After 30 days on the market, the 167-square-metre home listed for $1.15 million still had not sold, despite being listed for $50,000 below similar homes in the area, said Bhandari. In mid-June, he took the home off the market. ‘At that point in time, the sellers were expecting yesterday’s price and buyers were wanting tomorrow’s price,’ said Bhandari.”
“‘Ive spoken to a lot of vendor agents over there lately, and they are telling me the market has softened,’ said Yellow Brick Home Loans Executive Chairman Mark Bouris. ‘Days on market have blown out and homes are taking longer to sell. What was previously selling in four weeks might now be taking four to six months – that is unheard of in Sydney.’”
“House prices nationwide have decreased annually for the first time since 2011, and are now more than 10% down from the market peak, new Real Estate Institute figures show. In Auckland, the median price has dropped from its peak by $200,000. The country’s median price was down 1.8% annually to $810,000 in July from $825,000 at the same time last year. It fell 4.7% from $850,000 in June. Of the five regions that had annual decreases in the median price, it was Auckland and Wellington that had the biggest. Infometrics principal economist Brad Olsen said Auckland was a key driver of the weakening in prices, with underlying prices in the region down 15% from their peak in November 2021, compared to a 6% drop outside of Auckland.”
“‘Buyers remain cautious about overpaying in a declining market, but are also restricted in what lending they can access,’ he said. ‘Sellers will have to continue adjusting their prices lower if they want to make a sale.’”
“Newly married and with his first child on the way, auto worker Wang wanted to move into the apartment he bought in Wuhan three years ago but those hopes were dashed by China’s ballooning property crisis. Saddled with $300,000 in debt and with his unit nowhere near completion, the 34-year-old decided he had had enough and stopped making mortgage payments. Beijing-based Wang was planning to start a family after purchasing the home. ‘It wasn’t easy for us to buy this home. It all came from my savings,’ said Wang. ‘Now there’s no home, and we still owe two million yuan ($300,000) in mortgage payments. There’s no hope in life, carrying on with payments like this.’”
“Another young homebuyer Xue said almost all of his salary now goes to rent and mortgage payments. ‘I don’t want to pay any more,’ the 24-year-old said. ‘Our hearts are cold.’ Xue’s family put down 800,000 yuan for the flat while he took on a 600,000 yuan loan that he has been repaying for two years.”
“Homebuyers’ ability to make mortgage payments is not the main issue, said Oxford Economics lead economist Tommy Wu in a report. But a loss of confidence in developers will worsen the real estate downturn, he added. ‘The chance of a vicious cycle — declining housing sales and prices, mounting developers’ distress, and deteriorating local government finances — developing is concerning.’”