A report from the Center Square on Colorado. “Denver’s housing market increased its inventory by nearly 30% last month, but experts say it won’t be enough to shift the market in favor of homebuyers. The average sale price of $625,000 represents a month-over-month decline of 2.4%, according to the report. The median price of homes stood at $540,000 in July, a 0.92% decrease from June. ‘Buyers are facing harder decisions by the day,’ said Jenny Usaj, a DMAR market trends committee member. ‘If you do not go higher, can you sleep at night? If you pay over the list price, can you sleep at night? Historical financial data is the basis of many real estate decisions, but so are feelings in this market and feelings cannot be calculated.’”
From News 3 Las Vegas in Nevada. “The housing market is still very hot, but it is changing a bit. More inventory is coming to market. The latest numbers show the number of units without offers jumped almost 23% from June to July, sitting at 3,007, the 5th straight month inventory has climbed. Competition is tough, as realtor Bobbie Starr Dust saw at a local open house in Spring Valley.”
“‘There were 42 cars – my clients, and I counted 42 cars. They were all the 42 people times three because it was their wife and kids, were in front of the house waiting to get in. And every plate was from California,’ she said. Starr Dust says added inventory means some prime properties now take more than just a few days to sell, something remarkable in this overheated market.”
From Seattle PI in Washington. “After a chaotic summer that saw extremely low housing inventory, bidding wars and record-breaking jumps in median sale prices, Seattle’s tight real estate market could be showing signs of cooling off for the fall season. ‘Despite the extreme shortage of inventory and robust sales activity, there seems to be a bit of a leveling off from the market frenzy,’ said Gary O’Leyar, broker owner at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Signature Properties. ‘My advice to buyers would be to take advantage of this time before Labor Day and the fall market. [For sellers,] don’t get overly hyped with anecdotal information about the real estate market. Overpricing a listing in this market is still a big mistake.’”
The New Haven Independent in Connecticut. “Carol Horsford runs a top commercial real-estate broker as well as a top rental management company. She discussed the explosion in sale prices for homes throughout Greater New Haven during the Covid-19 pandemic. That’s peaking somewhat for middle-class housing, she said. She gave the example of a single-family home listed with her agency in Hamden for $279,000. On May 26, during the peak, it immediately attracted seven offers, with bidders offering to pay over $300,000. An offer was accepted. But six weeks later, the buyer backed out. When it went back on the market, fewer people were showing up at open houses. Some offers came in, but not as many, and not for above the asking price.”
The Standard Examiner in Utah. “Basic macroeconomic theory (which is oxymoronic) tells us that when aggregate demand, which is the total amount of goods and services consumers are willing to purchase in an economy during a certain period, changes in a way the alters its relationship to aggregate supply, a ‘shift’ occurs. Boring, but relevant; because that is exactly what is occurring today in the real estate market. This simply means you must do the dishes now before showing your home.”
“Rest assured, however, that we are not on the brink of a crash. That we are headed for a crash is an armchair opinion not remotely based on fact. Frankly, the cost of housing was rising too high too fast. Demand has been far higher than supply. This hasn’t changed; however, we may have failed to predict the impact that the less-concrete sciences (psychological and social) have on the market. Too many lost bids to cash buyers, or buyers willing to waive contingencies, or bring in inconceivable amounts of cash to pay over appraised value at closing have taken a toll. Perhaps the famous lyrics from Twisted Sister are finally playing loud in the mind of the consumer; ‘We’re not gonna take it. Oh no, we ain’t gonna take it. We’re not gonna take it anymore.’”
“The first-time home inventory has always been a hot commodity in the Utah market and will continue to be. It is mid- to upper-range homes and luxury homes that are taking a little longer to sell. But there’s still no need to panic — this is actually normal. Experienced agents are familiar with this.”
“It is also important to consistently review a listed property’s position among the competition in the same price range and area. Adjustments may need to be made according to these shifts we are seeing in the market. Take a breath. Again, this is normal. There has been no sudden change or false conditions implemented to have created any sort of a bubble. Not one of the five basic economic factors referred to has shifted alarmingly. As sellers, we have just been spoiled. Let’s go back to vacuuming the floor, putting the dishes away and leaving the pets out of the pictures and we will be just fine.”
The Bay Area Newsgroup in California. “More buyers have emerged for a bankrupt developer’s Bay Area projects, raising hopes that the potential property sales could help investors and creditors recoup some portion of the money they are owed. The prospective property purchases are occurring through a federal court proceeding linked to a securities fraud case that’s been brought against bankrupt developer Sanjeev Acharya and his company, Silicon Sage Builders. A court-appointed receiver is attempting to sell all of Silicon Sage’s properties in a quest to recoup some money for creditors and investors who entrusted their funds to Acharya.”
The Niagara Falls Reporter. “New York is notorious for having the highest cost of living in the US, and first-time renters are often forced to move back home because they can’t keep up with living expenses. So, now’s the time to get back on that horse and latch onto those stirrups if you’re looking to rent a place. 2020 has seen a dramatic price drop in rentals, and although the market seems to be making a comeback, reports claim it would take at least a year before pricing increases to what it used to be.”
“The average rent in Manhattan for May was $3,037, up 8.8% from April. Despite the steep increase, though, the rent was still 11.1% lower than in 2019. The New York price readjustment stems from a nationwide trend where tenants seek more space with less rent, and landlords have had to take a knock on rent costs. One of the leading reasons rental prices won’t rapidly increase is due to the stark amount of places available at the moment. Unless things go back to normal, economy-wise, there’s no way landlords would think of increasing their rental prices right now.”
“It’s going to take more than the summer for a considerable number of people to move back to the city and afford rent costs at what they used to be. The city has reached a 10% vacancy on its rent capacity, and it’s clear that landlords have been warehousing their empty apartments.”
From KPTV in Oregon. “There is mounting frustration about the state’s program to distribute relief funds for tenants behind on rent and their landlords. Moe Farhoud, who owns 61 apartment buildings in southeast Portland said half of his 1400 tenants are behind on their payments, owing $1.5 million in unpaid rent. ‘To be honest, we’re behind lots of bills because we don’t have the revenue come,’ said Farhoud. ‘If if this is going to continue, some people are going to collapse. We are one of them. We’re trying very hard to survive.’”
From Fox News. “A North Carolina landlord says he is out $24,000 in unpaid rent from tenants, while one renter bought three boats over the course of the eviction moratorium. Buddy Shoup, who owns 35 properties across the state, said that he has been forced to maintain the properties and hemorrhage costs while the federal government slowly dribbles out rental assistance, of which only 7% has been doled out to renters in need.”
“‘[The money] was used, they went and bought brand new boats, but I mean, you know in a time of crisis like what we’ve been through, you’re evidently getting money from somewhere, but it’s not getting to me,’ said Shoup.”
From Empower Wisconsin. “‘It’s been tough on landlords,’ said Chris Mokler, director of legislative affairs for the Wisconsin Apartment Association. Mokler said he knows of landlords who are facing foreclosure after going more than a year with sporadic or no rent at all. He said the federally funded rental assistance program has been effective for many, but there remain a number of tenants who have, for one reason or another, opted not to apply for the aid. ‘Landlords are not getting all their rents,’ he said. ‘Some are surviving just fine, some are not.’”
From Huddle Today in Canada. “You’ve probably heard a lot about Halifax’s housing market: out-of-control prices, wild bidding wars, Ontarians swooping in and scooping up properties, sight unseen. Some of it is true. Some of it is changing. Carrie Knowlton-Trider is a Halifax-based Realtor with RE/MAX nova who’s been in the business for nearly a decade. She says the mountains of gossip and misinformation about Halifax real estate is distorting the perceptions and expectations of both buyers and sellers entering the market.”
“Knowlton-Trider says the market changed significantly in the last month alone, and a lot of what people are hearing out there is constantly changing on a property by property basis. ‘People tell me stories about houses selling for $100,000 over asking price. And yes, that was happening often. But now it’s rarer. I’m seeing some sellers needing to drop their list price upwards of $50,000 because they overpriced their listing’ she says.”
“Some of her clients whom she told to wait on buying a home are now looking at places that are $50,000 to $60,000 cheaper than they would have been a few months ago because of the bidding wars. You don’t want to put your house on the market at an inflated rate and when you don’t get offers be forced to drop your price. ‘Now it’s 10 days later and everyone wants to know what’s wrong with the house and why you’re lowering the price,’ she says.”