It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “Americans treated their homes like ATMs last year, withdrawing $152.7 billion amid a cash-out refinancing spree not seen since before the 2008 financial crisis. Mortgage rates fell below 3 percent for the first time last year, making refis a no-brainer for many homeowners. Last year, there were $2.4 trillion refinancings, according to Black Knight. But economists don’t consider today’s cash-out refinancings as risky as in the run-up to the 2008 crisis: home prices are rising now, while values plummeted then.”
“The big iBuyer experiment continues to be very, very costly. Opendoor and Zillow lost a combined $1.2 billion buying and selling homes over the past two years, including $607 million in 2020, according to industry observer Mike DelPrete. ‘That’s a loss of about $40,000 on each home bought and resold — about $1.6 million every single day or $1,100 per minute in 2020,’ he wrote. In DelPrete’s analysis, Opendoor’s net loss per home topped $100,000 last year.”
“A penthouse duplex at 215 Chrystie St. in the Lower East Side has sold for $18 million, according to property records. It is the first resale in the Ian Schrager building, and it represents a $1 million loss for the seller.”
“Rick Ross just paid $3.5 million in cash for Amar’e Stoudemire’s custom home, striking a deal less than a week after it hit the market. The Florida home is found in Southwest Ranches. Stoudemire got his full asking price but still took a loss on the property. Records show he paid $3.7 million for it a decade ago.”
“David Coverdale appears to be close to selling his rock star home. The Lake Tahoe-area getaway is in contingent status, and was last priced at a heavily discounted $6.8 million. The musician initially listed the home in 2019 for $9.85 million. But a year later, with no takers, Coverdale significantly cut the price to $7.65 million.”
“Edmonton’s apartment starts are seeing triple-digit percentage growth, a recent report has found. Covering data from the last three months of 2020. And it shows apartment starts in the city grew by 114 per cent, year over year. Emmett Hartfield, partner at Intelligence House, notes the downtown market is very competitive with a ‘glut’ of rentals available.”
“Melbourne homeowners are so accustomed to homes selling under the hammer for well above the quoted price range that some properties with ‘realistic’ price guides are being passed in. Buyer’s advocate Cate Bakos said there were other reasons properties were still passing in at auction despite strong buyer demand and increasing competition. ‘The categories that are tending to pass in are properties where there is a glut of stock – where, for example, there are high levels of apartments and where supply and demand are out of balance,’ she said.”