A report from the Wall Street Journal. “Once Silicon Valley’s highest-flying darlings, companies from WeWork to Uber Technologies Inc. have collectively lost about $100 billion in value this year. Vitaliy Katsenelson, chief executive of Investment Management Associates Inc., likens the current moment to the correction in internet stocks two decades ago. ‘We are in the dot-com bubble 2.0, except it’s not happening in the public markets but in the private markets,’ he said.”
“‘We’ve been in the middle of a rollicking party that’s gone on for five years and someone has snapped on the light switch,’ said Chris Douvos, whose firm, Ahoy Capital, invests in venture-capital firms and startups. ‘We are all adjusting our eyes and no one has any idea how the rest of the night is going to go. That’s how Silicon Valley feels right now.’”
From ABC 7 News in California. “Fremont is the fourth largest city in the Bay Area, only surpassed by San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland. Among the Big Four, Fremont has the second most expensive housing, following only San Francisco. Prices have dropped just shy of 5 percent from their height here, but the increases are still staggering.”
The San Francisco Business Journal in California. “Ken Rosen, one of the Bay Area’s most well-known economists, said Oakland’s housing market is oversupplied with new units. The influx of new apartments will benefit renters with more competitive prices and a broader selection of homes, Rosen said. But landlords could take financial hits if they have to offer discounts to lure tenants or charge lower rents than they originally planned when they started construction.”
“‘There’s going to be some turmoil,’ said Rosen, chairman of the Fisher Center for Real Estate & Urban Economics at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. ‘Too much supply at once is a lot to deal with. That doesn’t mean it won’t be absorbed.’”
“The city has welcomed a few thousand new homes to the market this year with 9,277 homes under construction and another 10,097 units in the pipeline, according to city data. Oakland is now adding more homes, mostly apartments, to its housing stock than San Francisco.”
“Rosen said rents have effectively doubled in many parts of the Bay Area and home prices have surpassed their peak from before the Great Recession. But that rate of growth is slowing down. ‘More development is a good thing,’ he said. ‘We need more supply, but it means there’s going to be more caution in the next round.’”
“Rosen said some companies that had been growing exponentially are likely overvalued. That includes WeWork, that is one of San Francisco’s largest office tenants. ‘We never want recessions, but there would be less traffic and housing costs would go down,’ he said.”
From Mansion Global on New York. “Nadine Adamson is a top associate broker at Brown Harris Stevens in New York, who in 2012, 2013 and 2014 received the firm’s award for the most townhouses sold by a Manhattan agent. MG: What area currently has the best resale value?”
“NA: The prime neighborhoods of Brooklyn and Manhattan. I’d stay away from areas with a lot of condo development. I’d stay in the Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights area, where you’re seeing good resale. Also, Tribeca, SoHo. In Lower Manhattan, prices have gone down a lot.”
From Popville on DC. “We haven’t seen a ton of new listings hitting the market in the District this past week, but we have seen a slew of price reductions and homes returning to market via failed contracts amongst other reasons. This may just be your 2nd chance to score that home you wanted — maybe even at a discount!”
From KOLD in Arizona. “It’s a contentious issue in Oro Valley and residents are now talking about recalling the Mayor and Vice-Mayor over their handling of the town-owned Community Center and golf courses. Linda and her husband, Erich Bock, own a home on one of the golf courses. Having their property value closely tied to its success, the two brought their own chairs to assure themselves a seat at the meeting.”
“The Bock’s are worried about uncertainty in the housing market near the golf courses. ‘The Community Center and the golf course thrive because everybody knows it’s going to be there,’ said Linda. ‘[Council] has already hurt membership on the golf course, we know that. We know people who have decided to sell their houses on the golf course because they don’t know what’s going to happen. The problem is the property values go down, property taxes go down, which means we won’t have as much to put into the community.’”