A report from the San Francisco Chronicle in California. ” “As San Francisco approached the critical December shopping month, instead of holiday lights and Santa Claus decorations, dozens of downtown retailers greeted shoppers with plywood-encased storefronts and armed guards in the wake of mass retail thefts in Union Square two weeks ago. Pamela Mendelsohn, a Maven retail broker, said many property owners and retailers remain frustrated and feel years of complaints about retail crime have been overlooked. ‘I think they’ve been desperate to get help. I think a lot of it has come on deaf ears,’ she said. ‘There’s nothing festive about walking by all these boarded-up storefronts.’”
The Los Angeles Times in California. “Amid deep frustration over widespread, visible homelessness, Los Angeles voters want the government to act faster and focus on shelter for people living in the streets, even if those efforts are short-term and fall short of permanent housing, a new poll of county voters shows. Asked to describe their concerns in their own words, voters repeatedly mentioned urine and feces in the streets, a rising sense of disorder, and concern for their children.”
From Spectrum News in Texas. “Zillow has been selling many of its properties for much less than the company paid for them. Insider reviewed all the homes for sale by Zillow in the Dallas-Fort Worth area before the last week of October. Out of 168 houses, 128 of the properties, more than 80%, were priced below what Zillow paid. ‘These losses highlight the risks of the iBuyer business,’ said Dallas real estate agent.”
“Nelson said the warning signs of Zillow’s failure have been seen by Texas real estate agents for months. In March of this year Nelson sold a home in Richland hills for $54,000 less than its zestimate. It’s a common trend and one of the reasons Zillow pulled out of the iBuyers market. ‘That home was a perfect example of how off the company’s estimate of value really is,’ said Nelson. ‘We’re seeing big gaps between zestimate and actual value of home.’”
“DFW isn’t the only market in Texas where Zillow is losing, according to Austin real estate agent Paul Juarez. ‘The houses Zillow owns have just sat on the market for a long time, some for more than 60 days or more. They were slow to reduce their price after being on the market for so long and so they have all this money tied up in real estate that they’re having a hard time selling,’ Juarez said.”
From Portland Monthly in Oregon. “Todd Warlik thought the $387,000 all-cash offer that hybrid real estate/tech company Opendoor made to buy his house near Powell Butte last February seemed high. Turns out, his hunch was right. Out of curiosity, he tracked the resale of his former home, which went on the market for $427,000 after Opendoor made some cosmetic upgrades, and wound up selling for $380,000.”
“‘Just from anecdotal comments customers would make, we would hear,‘Hey, Zillow gave us an offer $50,000 above yours, can you match it?’ And we would say: ’There is no way we can match that. Our advice to you is to probably take that offer.’ It all reinforces our strategy to grow at a measured pace, and not go hog-wild,’ said Mark Melikian, RedfinNow market manager.”
The Boston Globe. “Special assessments can provide enough sticker shock to existing residents, but prospective buyers may not know they are being considered or were already levied and that the seller is just trying to skip out on the bill. Courtney Cramer, a 34-year-old assistant principal in White Plains, N.Y., bought a $405,000 condo with her fiancé late last year. The couple figured it would be an intermediate place to live before they found something roomier, but a special assessment has them financially trapped in that condo for another decade.”
“Their share of the cost to address a structural issue in the building — something Cramer said was mentioned only as a ‘potential courtyard and garage renovation’ when they were negotiating the sale — came out to $105,000. The monthly fees are expected to double over the next 10 years to pay for it. ‘I’m trapped for a decade in a property that I had no interest in living in for more than three to four years,’ Cramer said. ‘I would never buy a condo or co-op in New York ever again.’”
From Stuff New Zealand. “Mega landlord Matthew Ryan says he hasn’t seen such a sudden shift in buyer sentiment, or such a convergence of factors that will reduce house prices, since the global Financial Crisis. Ryan says he owns roughly 100 properties, and Stuff has independently identified 68 across Auckland, Wellington, Nelson and Martinborough.”
“Ryan knows estate agents around the country and says those willing to speak candidly say open day numbers have dwindled. Meanwhile, mortgage advisor contacts are telling him their business has gone from manic to flat. ‘It’s like the property market has been Team New Zealand’s America’s Cup boat – flying on foils and then, literally, it’s now belly-flopped back into the ocean.’”
“Ryan says there is also a possibility banks have lent too much and are now waiting to see what happens. Ryan says the wind-change has already occurred in Wellington, and he estimates house prices have fallen 10 per cent in the past 90 days. Ryan says the first sign of trouble is sale volumes start falling, but the average sale price goes up.”
“That’s because the people who get hit first are those trying to buy and sell cheaper homes. ‘The first home buyers might not be able to get the money from the bank or can’t quite afford what they’re wanting to buy.’”
The Associated Press. “A Chinese developer that is struggling under $310 billion in debt warned Friday it may run out of money to ‘perform its financial obligations’ — sending regulators scrambling to reassure investors that China’s financial markets can be protected from a potential impact. Evergrande Group’s struggle to comply with official pressure to reduce debt has fueled anxiety that a possible default might trigger a financial crisis.”
“Friday another developer, Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd., warned it might fail to pay off a $400 million bond due next week. A midsize developer, Fantasia Holdings Group, announced Oct. 5 that it failed to make a $205.7 million payment due to bondholders. Hundreds of smaller Chinese developers have gone bankrupt since regulators began tightening control over the industry’s finances in 2017.”
The Daily Mail. “Bali property prices have plummeted by up to 50 per cent with a 14-bedroom home going for as low as $540,000. Luxury homes with resort-style pools and views of the beach are being sold for 30 to 50 per cent lower than the asking price during pre-Covid-19. The bargains come with one catch: buyers must purchase the property sight unseen. Indonesia Ray White real estate chief executive Johann Boyke Nurtanio said the pandemic and border closures had driven down demand and dragged down the prices with it.”
“‘What happened in the past year is that Indonesians are the ones actively looking and buying cheap assets as an end result of the pandemic,’ he said. ‘If someone wants to go back to Perth, they need to fly from Bali to Jakarta to Dubai to Sydney (and quarantine in Sydney), before taking the last leg from Sydney to Perth, which is impossible for anyone to take this route.’”
“A four-bedroom villa at Ulawata Beach is currently going for $340,000 – down from $440,000 the year before. A 14-bedroom house at Taman Sari in Kerobokan is now on the market for $540,000 after dropping down from $785,000. A three bedroom and four bathroom property at Jimbaran is fetching $892,000 after the price was slashed from $1.1million.”