A report from the Idaho Statesman. “It may be a relief to hopeful home buyers to see local median home prices fall for the first time in more than a year. ‘There’s a psychology behind it,’ said Jennifer Louis, a Boise real estate agent. ‘Once people see a couple drops, they put on the brakes and want to see what’s going to happen.’”
“In January, the supply bottomed out when only 260 homes were listed in Ada County and 160 in Canyon. There were 1,124 available homes listed in Ada in August, a 54% increase from June and a 332% increase from the start of the year. Canyon’s inventories are also improving, with 740 homes available in August. ‘The new builders released a lot of inventory at the end of summer,’ Louis said. ‘We had this big influx all of a sudden. With more inventory to buy, it can affect prices. There are more options. We saw a lot of the builders dropping prices or doing big promos.’”
The Press and Guide. “Closed sales for the combined Dearborn-Dearborn Heights market fell 26.4% in July, compared with the year-earlier month (184 to 250), according to sales data compiled by Realcomp, Michigan’s largest multiple listing service. Dearborn sales declined 16.4% (112 in July and 134 in July 2021). Closed sales in Dearborn Heights slumped 37.3% (64 to 102). ‘While the market is still hot, it is not the frenzy that we saw in early spring,’ said Jeanette Schneider, president of Re/Max of Southeastern Michigan.”
The Free Press in Minnesota. “Mankato Realtor Dar Vosburg said she’s seen a few problems with homes not appraising for enough to satisfy loan requirements, an issue driven by multiple bidders driving prices up beyond the asking price and value of the home. And she’s noticed fatigue among buyers who repeatedly get outbid. ‘Some buyers get tired of looking and making offers and they just decide to hold off for a while.’”
The Anthem Independent. “Arizona Realtors President Jan Leighton, who sells homes in the northwest Valley, said the ‘top’ of the Valley housing market was at the end of March or the beginning of April. Now, she said inventory is ‘up a skosh’ after there weren’t much Phoenix homes for buyers to choose from. She said homes for sale are on the market longer — giving buyers more time to look at a variety of choices.”
From KLAS on Nevada. “After months of sharp increases, Las Vegas lenders say local home prices are beginning to stabilize and say now might be the time for new buyers to jump into the market. Experts such as Andrew Leavitt of Pay It Forward Lending say the market is changing. ‘I would say buyers who have one thousand to three thousand dollars saved up, there’s a good chance you could purchase a property cheaper than what you would rent a house for right now,’ said Leavitt.”
From My San Antonio in Texas. “This content is made possible by San Antonio area REALTORS®. Don’t be insulted if a potential buyer presents an offer way below your asking price. It’s nothing personal, and you’re not required to reduce your price. Some buyers use such offers as a way to start the negotiating process, and it doesn’t take much effort to see if the person genuinely wants to purchase your home. When buyers and sellers get close on a sales price, often someone suggests splitting the difference. If a low-ball initial offer caused you to counter with a significant price reduction, meeting halfway later in the negotiations might not be in your best interest financially.”
The Gazette in Colorado. “That slight momentum in inventory might help to provide more opportunity for buyers; up to now, they’ve been limited in their choices, which has led to sellers routinely fielding multiple offers that exceed their asking price. ‘It’s cooled off a little bit, but it hasn’t gone down,’ said Brian Maecker, a real estate agent with Re/Max Advantage in Colorado Springs. ‘Instead of seeing 10 people bidding for a property, we’re only seeing a couple (or) three. So we’re not seeing the frenzied crowd that we saw a few months ago.’”
“In addition to a bump in inventory, there are times when some sellers might reduce their asking price, Maecker said. ‘It feels like more stuff is hitting (the market) and less people are bidding for it,’ Maecker said. Single-family permits issued by the Regional Building Department through the first eight months of 2021 totaled 3,165, up 11.7% over the same period in 2020. The year-to-date total puts the area on pace to crack the 4,000 mark for the second consecutive year.”
From Seattle PI in Washington. “Matthew Gardner, a chief economist at Windermere Real Estate in Seattle, said he expects prices to continue to drop in the coming months. ‘In King County, median list prices dropped from $740,000 in July to $729,000 in August,’ he said. ‘I believe this is because we are hitting a price ceiling and the rabid pace of home price appreciation will continue to cool as we move through the rest of the year.’”
The Commercial Observer on New York. “Brookfield Property Partners willl take a nearly $100 million loss on the sale of its retail condo at 530 Fifth Avenue, sources with knowledge of the deal told Commercial Observer. The landlord is in contract to sell the 60,000-square-foot retail condo at 530 Fifth for $192 million to a joint venture.”
The Real Deal on Illinois. “A 17,500-square-foot Barrington Hills mansion featured on the Fox TV series ‘Empire’ may finally have a new owner after eight years on the market and a 53 percent price cut from its original ask. Sitting on 8.5 acres at 45 Lakeview Lane, the mansion was listed at $7.5 million when it went under contract on Sept. 3, according to Crain’s, which reported that the sale is subject to an unspecified contingency.”
“Sellers Sam and Geralyn Cecola, owners of the Admiral Theater strip club on Chicago’s North Side, built the home in 2008 and initially listed it for $15.9 million in 2013. Successive price cuts had shaved the ask down to $9.5 million by 2019 and $7.5 million in May of last year.”
“Should the sale go through at the $7.5 million ask, it will be the first $5 million-plus home sale in the Barrington area in at least five years, according to Crain’s. Other suburban luxury markets have had a hard time unloading mansions. Former Chicago Bulls star Scottie Pippen cut the price of his home multiple times before it sold last month for just under $2 million after five years on the market. Pippen’s former teammate Michael Jordan has been trying to sell his pricier Highland Park mansion for nearly a decade. Originally listed for $29 million in 2012, it is currently asking $14.9 million.”
From CNBC on California. “A Los Angeles megamansion once expected to list for $500 million has gone into receivership after the owner defaulted on more than $165 million in loans and debt, according to court filings. The 105,000-square-foot Bel Air estate, known as ‘The One,’ was placed into receivership by the Los Angeles County Superior Court and is expected to be relisted at a lower price in the coming months, according to people familiar with the property.”
“The receivership marks a stunning reversal for ‘The One’ and its flashy developer, Nile Niami, who often touted the property as his ‘life mission’ and ‘the biggest, most expensive home in the urban world.’ Expected to hit the market in 2017 with a price tag of $500 million, ‘The One’ has been dogged by repeated delays, funding problems and changing strategies.”
“‘There’s a lot of people out there with a lot of money — they want something no one else can have,’ Niami told CNBC in 2017. ‘This is it.’”
“‘The One’ was one of dozens of spec mansions that rose up from the hills of Bel Air and Beverly Hills after 2014. The building boom — an arms race of infinity pools, candy walls, auto galleries and party rooms — led to a glut of real estate excess. Many LA megahomes, including several built by Niami, wound up selling for far less than their asking prices. Even as prices were falling, Niami was loading up on debt to finish and promote ‘The One.’ Over the past four years, Niami and his related LLC, Crestlloyd, have borrowed more than $165 million.”