A report from the Idaho Press. “The rising prices meant Boise’s relative affordability to outsiders dwindled. ‘At some point, though, prices can’t increase over 30% per year,’ said Julene Webb, Real Estate Consultant with Group One Sotheby’s International Realty. ‘That can’t continue for 10 years. People just get priced out of the market.’”
“Christina Ward, a Realtor with Keller Williams Realty Boise, has observed a similar trend as Webb. ‘I’m starting to experience buyers saying, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to move there anymore because what’s the point? We’re going to be away from the beach now and we have to pay the same prices,’ Ward said.”
From Fox Lexington in Kentucky. “The real estate market is showing signs it’s cooling off. Rick Pannell, a real estate broker, said months of record-breaking home sales and low inventory may be changing. According to the Lexington-Bluegrass Association of Realtors, July was the first time home sales have dropped since the pandemic began. ‘Things are going to stabilize a little bit as more inventory comes on the market, it’ll start to drop prices down a little bit,’ Rick Pannell said. ‘You won’t see those record sales and you won’t see people scrambling to make a full price offer with escalation clauses in it.’”
From CapeCod.com in Massachusetts. “According to a recent report by the Cape Cod & Islands Association of Realtors, the year-long frenzy fueled by buyers seeking refuge on Cape Cod has subsided as market activity is returning to pre-pandemic levels. Sales pending at the end of July were 380 for single-family homes and 106 for condominiums, a 37.6% decrease for single family and a 30.3% decrease for condominiums.”
“‘Inventory hasn’t rebounded and prices haven’t subsided, but market activity is slowing, which shows it may be the last chance for sellers to take advantage of a frenzy home buyer market and list now,’ said Ryan Castle, CEO of the Cape Cod & Islands Association of Realtors.”
The Merced Sun Star in California. “While the median price of a single-family home slightly dipped in July for California, the home prices have continued to rise in Merced County. The single family median price rose to $365,000 in July — the highest price to date from January 2008 to now. ‘I believe there is indeed an aspect of buyer fatigue and there are some that want to wait out the craziness,’ said Brandon Ruscoe, an agent for Better Homes and Gardens, Everything Real Estate — speaking on what realtors are seeing nation wide. ‘And while it might not necessarily be a lower price down the road, buyers figure if they are going to pay that much it needs to be a perfect fit for their needs.’”
“Ruscoe said Stanislaus County has seen a slight decrease in housing prices while Madera and Fresno County have seen increases similar to Merced County. Sacramento-area prices are similarly dropping for the first time in more than a year. Numbers have also leveled or dropped off in El Dorado, Placer and Yolo counties.”
From AZ Big Media in Arizona. “Developers are trying to address this need even as demand seems to have peaked. According to Jim Belfiore, president of KASA Development, demand is down 31% from May — when it was at its highest — and dropped 16% from last year. Conversely, supply for speculative inventory has plummeted 78% year-over-year, while prices of new homes have increased 29% during the same period. More new homes are on the way. Belfiore notes that approximately 23,000 new home permits were issued in Greater Phoenix as of July and projects that 35,000 could be issued by the year’s end — a level not seen since 2006.”
“‘If you go into one of the sales centers right now, you’re looking at a 60 to 90 day closing period,’ comments Matt Linaman, division manager at Starlight Homes. ‘Even though permits are going out, our closings have essentially plateaued.’”
From CBS Denver in Colorado. “The Town of Breckenridge could see a cap on short-term rentals as early as November if the legislation passes readings set for September. While amendments are possible, the idea would be to reduce short-term rental licenses from 2,476 to 2,200. Toby Babich is the owner of Breckenridge Resort Managers and part of the Summit Alliance of Vacation Rental Managers. He believes the idea of a broad cap has created uncertainty in the short-term rental community.”
“‘We’ll see people who will want to sell and get out, I’ve been contacted by people a couple of times already about people that are saying, ‘What should we do? Should we sell now? Should we hold on? Do we want to hold onto our license maybe and see how it rolls out…’ So we’re going to see people that want to panic sell and just get out of the market because they’re worried about their long-term investment,’ he said.”
“‘I think it’s concerning that 52% of our inventory in Breckenridge is short-term rentals,’ said Alex Micheline is the Assistant General Manager for the restaurant, Kenosha Breck. ‘Summit Council has not wanted to wait because we’re seeing such a degradation in our community of homes that people actually live in and over the last 5 years we have actually seen an increase of 534 short-term rentals,’ said Eric Mamula, Mayor of Breckenridge. ‘Do you want to live in a community that is nothing but empty homes or homes that are just rented out every 3 to seven days?’”
From KHON 2 in Hawaii. “Creating tens of thousands more local rental units while raising lots of money for the City – it sounds like a win-win but it could come at the expense of folks who own empty homes and condos. A tax on vacant units was proposed at the Honolulu City Council in fall 2020. It was studied by the previous administration and is still being considered. Empty homes and condos blanket the island while locals struggle to keep up with Honolulu’s cost of living; nearly 40,000 units are vacant at any given time, according to a UCLA study the City commissioned in 2020.”
“Honolulu City Council chair Tommy Waters said the empty House bill is likely to get moving again soon, along with other property tax bills aimed at recognizing the impact of the soaring housing market on local owners and renters — like the second-home tax category. ‘Bill 20 (2021) would raise the residential a category from $1 million to $1.3 million,’ Waters said. ‘As you know, if you own a second home that’s worth $1 million or more, you pay a slightly higher tax rate. Well guess what? Almost all homes on Oahu are $1 million now.’”