A report from ABC Action News in Florida. “After years of a scorching hot housing market, a new report labels the Tampa region as one of the fastest-cooling housing markets in the country. North Port came in first place, followed by Tampa and Cape Coral. In fact, six Florida cities rounded up the top 10. Lakeland listed at number 9. After years of renting out his 3-bedroom, 2-and-half bath town home in Westchase Chris Weston decided to put it up for sale in February, citing high prices of insurance and HOA fees as to why. He listed the property at around $480,000 in February, but when it wasn’t moving like he thought it would, he decided to reduce the price, now listed at $435,000. He also upgraded the appliances, added new flooring and carpeting and fresh paint. However, it’s now 5 months later and the property is still for sale. ‘We have had on perspective buyer,’ Weston said. ‘It kind of took the wind out of our sails a bit because of how everything historically had been moving in Tampa, especially Westchase. We were counting in days and weeks and now the days and weeks turns to weeks and months.. it’s like is there an end to this?’”
WPTV in Florida. “Dorothy Calixte said she and her family are in a financial death spiral. Their home built by Port St. Lucie Properties is now in foreclosure. She’s trying to pay debts that keep getting bigger. Calixte said she got a loan in 2022 to have Port St. Lucie Properties build her house. Ten months later construction stopped, and she had to get another builder to finish the job for another $96,000. Coastal Builders was hired by Port St. Lucie Properties. The company said it built the foundation of Calixte’s home but were never paid by Port St. Lucie Properties. Now it’s filed to take possession of the house if the Calixte family doesn’t pay $123,000 for the work, and subsequent attorney fees. When I dug into court records last year, I found a 100 homes built by Port St. Lucie Properties had a total of $3.76 million worth of liens attached.”
“Calixte fears an expensive court battle will add to her debt. ‘I’m very worried,’ said Calixte. ‘Having a house is a great American dream. And I feel like it’s being taken away from me right now.’ She blames Port St. Lucie Properties owner Mark Montalto who was arrested in December on fraud charges.”
Hawaii News Now. “At the Oahu Country Club on Monday, insurance industry leaders tried to reassure Hawaii condo and homeowners, telling them the insurance rates they’re currently seeing will go down in a few years. However, some owners we talked to said they can’t afford to wait that long. ‘Just riding out the wave, that might work in the medium, long term, but right now people are hurting,’ said Waikiki condo owner Jacob Wiencek, who said rate increases have forced changes in his lifestyle. ‘I’ve had to cut down my personal spending. I’ve had to economize. I’ve had to pick up more shifts at my job and work more overtime.’”
Market Watch. “Two experts on housing from different sides of the aisle clashed Tuesday over what a second Trump administration could mean for Americans dealing with the tough market for home buyers. Mark Calabria, who served as the Trump administration’s head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said the Biden administration tends to put out a news release that says, ‘We care about housing supply,’ but when he reads it — ‘90% of it is about increasing demand. So I think you would see a switch away from that,’ Calabria said.”
From Boston.com. “The US Department of Veterans Affairs announced today that they are temporarily suspending the rule that prohibits borrowers from paying buyer’s agents fees when purchasing a home with VA mortgages. The rule change is in response to the proposed, but not-yet-approved class action settlement against the National Association of Realtors, several large brokerages, and many Multiple Listing Services. Before the temporary rule change, veterans would not be able to purchase homes with a buyer’s agent if the seller refused to compensate that agent. Not working with an agent leaves buyers vulnerable to deals that may not reflect their best interests. ‘We always want to put Veterans and their families in the best possible position to buy the homes they want, and that’s what this update is all about,’ Under Secretary for Benefits Joshua Jacobs wrote in a statement.”
From Moneywise. “Homeowners are often on the hunt for financial flexibility. Their options include a second mortgage, which may get new fuel thanks to a proposal from Freddie Mac that could revive interest in the long-dormant borrowing strategy. Second mortgages, which allow homeowners to tap their home equity for loans, have fallen in popularity. Scars from the 2008 financial crisis left both lenders and borrowers cautious. Stricter lending standards and regulations have made it more difficult to qualify for second mortgages. Now, Freddie Mac – the government-sponsored enterprise that buys and sells mortgage-backed securities – wants to make it easier for homeowners to tap this home equity. It has proposed the purchase of single-family closed-end second mortgages from lenders.”
“By purchasing these second mortgages, Freddie Mac would encourage lenders to offer more of these products, potentially leading to better rates and terms for borrowers – part of a broader effort to adapt to changing market conditions and offer more robust support to the housing market.”
Minot Daily News. “It was only 17 years ago that the ‘subprime’ mortgage crisis torpedoed the economy and sent the financial markets into the biggest tailspin since the Great Depression. Millions of Americans lost their jobs. One of the matches that lit that bonfire was Freddie Mac and its cousin, Fannie Mae, offering generous, taxpayer-guaranteed mortgage insurance to risky borrowers on loans with low down payments. It all blew up in the faces of the taxpayers even though the Washington experts said the chances of these mortgages going bust and taxpayers taking a loss was less than one in a thousand.”
“The biggest taxpayer bailouts went not to the Wall Street banks and investment companies but to Fannie and Freddie. Here we go again. The latest scheme by the Biden administration is to encourage families to borrow more money by using the equity in their home as collateral. Home equity loans are often very risky. If prices fall, home equity can become negative. There is nearly $18 trillion in home equity, and it’s one of the largest sources of savings and ownership for American families. Why in the world would President Joe Biden want to go down this dangerous road again? The obvious answer is that Biden wants to ‘stimulate’ spending by putting more cash into the hands of consumers so they can rush and spend it before the election. This also is happening at a time when Fannie and Freddie are now insuring million-dollar homes.”
From TV Insider. “Kevin Spacey got candid during an appearance on Piers Morgan‘s show Uncensored, where he spoke about the allegations against him, and revealed that his Baltimore home is being foreclosed on. Breaking down in tears, Spacey noted that he’d be traveling to Baltimore because his home there is being foreclosed on and sold at auction to account for the massive debt he’s accrued. ‘I have to go back to Baltimore and put all my things in storage,’ he told Morgan as he admitted, ‘I’m not quite sure where I’m going to live now.’ Morgan pushed for answers about the foreclosure and wondered why Spacey found himself in this predicament. ‘I can’t pay the bills that I owe,’ Spacey remarked.”
The Fresno Bee. “Two agricultural investment firms are among the buyers vying for a part of the more than 8,000 almond acres being sold in the wake of Trinitas Farming’s bankruptcy in California. Trinitas Advantaged Agricultural Partners and Trinitas Farming LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Feb. 19 after amassing $188 million of debt. The Oakdale-based Trinitas Farming developed and operated 17 separate almond ranches on 8,680 acres in Fresno, Tulare, San Joaquin, Contra Costa and Solano counties. Agriculture analysts say rising interest rates, escalating production costs and the declining prices for almonds all contributed to the downfall. The company folded before it could harvest its first crop.”
“Bankruptcy attorney Riley Walter said this has been a challenging time for almond growers. ‘When the market started softening quite a bit, there were major shifts in ag lending,’ said Walter, who represents Ceil W. Howe III, a Stratford farmer and one of the Trinitas owners. ‘Banks began tightening up their loan documents; there were more restrictions and loans were scrutinized a lot more closely.’ As a result, Trinitas could not sustain the downward turn in the market and put all of its almond ranches up for sale.”
Blog TO in Canada. “A Toronto home listed for sale multiple times over the past decade and eventually sold at a significant $400,000 loss demonstrates just how much prices in the city’s real estate market yo-yo up and down. The detached home, located at 12 Aldwinckle Hts. in York University Village, boasts 11 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms and, according to its listing, presents a huge ‘rental income’ opportunity for its buyer. Despite this, the home has quite a turbulent sale history. The home successfully sold for $1.45 million in February 2022, at a time when many prospective buyers flooded the city’s real estate market to take advantage of cheaper borrowing rates. In March 2024, the home was listed for sale at $1.299 million. After sitting on the market for roughly three months, it was sold for $1.05 million — approximately $400,000 less than it was originally sold for just two years prior.”
The Globe and Mail in Canada. “560 Cardero St., No. 502, Vancouver. Asking price: $809,000 (Feb. 28). Selling price: $798,000 (March 5). The sellers had purchased this one-bedroom condo five years ago as a temporary home so they could relocate to Vancouver. There are few one-bedroom condo units in the Coal Harbour area, which is filled with much larger luxury units. They received two offers but one was too low. Prices have dropped and buyers are looking for deals, says listing agent Ian Watt. ‘For sure it would have sold for more a couple years ago. That’s the reality. Everybody has to be careful looking at assessed values, because they don’t mean anything any more,’ Mr. Watt said. ‘A lot of people are advertising properties that are listed below assessed value. Well, that’s not a selling feature because everything is down [in value] from when they collected the data a year ago.’”
From Newshub. “New Zealand house prices plummeted by 2.3 percent in May from April, partly driven by caution from buyers amid high interest and council rates, Trade Me says. Due to the nature of the market and supply outgrowing demand, properties were spending more time on sale as buyers felt they were ‘able to take more time to make a decision,’ saidTrade Me spokesperson Casey Wylde. The price of a five-plus bedroom home in Auckland City was in freefall – down 9.9 percent from a year ago. That wasn’t surprising given ‘they’re among the most expensive properties in the country,’ Wylde said. In Hawke’s Bay, prices were down 3.7 percent month-on-month to $728,250.”
“Overall, New Zealand’s housing market was ‘increasingly dynamic,’ Wylde said. ‘Housing supply has fluctuated over recent years but, overall, has been on an upward trend. Especially now, following the consent boom in 2022, we’re starting to see a lot of those projects reaching completion and entering the market, largely concentrated in the main cities where the most need for new housing has been.’”
News.com.au in Australia. “Landlord are up in arms over proposed changes to rental rules, with some even claiming the move could spark a ‘mass exodus’ of investors. Last week, the Victorian government proposed new minimum rental standards relating to energy efficiency across the state. The proposed changes are in line with the government’s commitment towards net zero emissions by 2045 and would ensure that tenants are provided with ‘comfortable and energy efficient living arrangements.’ One homeowner called the plan ‘delusional,’ claiming it may save tenants money on energy bills but it would drive up rents. One added: ‘Renters will soon have better homes than some owner properties!’”
“There were many who branded the proposal just ‘another blow for landlords,’ with multiple people claiming this would see many selling their investment properties rather than having to comply with the new rules. ‘I reckon a mass exodus by landlords from the rental market. They are making a serious rental problem even worse. Timing is appalling,’ one person said. One person added: ‘Keep raising the costs to maintain rental properties and I can tell you myself and many more landlords will simply sell.’”