A report from the Review Journal in Nevada. “Las Vegas high-rise closings set an all-time record during the first six months of 2022 but the condo market — like in the single-family home segment — has slowed with higher interest rates and concerns about the economy. Sellers are recognizing they may have to drop their prices to attract buyers in a slowing market, said Michael Zelina, a Realtor with Corcoran Global Living. Zelina called the high-rise market stagnant with a lot of people still looking but not making offers.”
“‘I think it was a market scare and everyone took a break,’ Zelina said about the stagnance, ‘Interest rates went up, and people were worried about the economy. We have a buyer segment that says we’re not purchasing right now.’”
“Anthony Spiegel, a luxury Realtor with the Ivan Sher Group and Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, said what’s happening in the condo market is the same marketing forces impacting the single-family housing market — there’s a pause. ‘We’ve seen a significant pullback in general interest and showing requests,’ Spiegel said. ‘Most of the time luxury is discretionary and discretionary income is evaporating and people are wondering if prices have gone up too much.’”
The Olympian in Washington. “The Thurston County housing market is not what it once was. The county median price in July was $505,000, down from $525,000 in June. Although the county housing market has slowed, ‘Our market is slowing down and prices have flattened out,’ said Steve Pust, managing broker at Van Dorm Realty in Olympia.”
“Pust added it is a return to normal. Sellers are being more careful about how they price their home, and buyers are able to negotiate again. During a more frenzied period of the market, some buyers waived the home inspection to make their offer more competitive, he said. Of the 600-some active home listings on the market in July, about 100 of them reduced their list price, Pust said.”
Colorado Community Media. “From June 2021 to June this year, the number of active listings for single-family homes in the Denver metro area jumped up by about 52%. Statewide, the number saw about a 43% uptick. ‘The story here, just to be frank, is not that all the sudden the market has drastically changed — it’s that it mellowed out compared to 2021 and 2020,’ said Matthew Leprino, a Realtor based in metro Denver. ‘The current state of Colorado’s housing market is not that different from 2019.’”
“The hike in interest rates is a main factor driving the increase in the pool of available homes, but the dizzying level of housing prices themselves appears to be slowing demand down too, Leprino said. ‘I wouldn’t say it was totally unexpected. You can’t have the kind of price appreciation that we’ve had’ and not see a slowdown at some point, said Leprino, using a term for an increase in price. Housing prices had been on a steep upward swing for years in Colorado even before the pandemic. ‘I think everybody’s spent the past 14 years or so waiting for the next shoe to drop,’ wondering whether a new housing recession will occur, Leprino said.”
“There may be short-term regressions in price: 2007 and the next couple years are good examples, Leprino said. ‘But by 2014, we had more than rebounded the prices of what they would have already been had the dip not taken place,’ Leprino continued. ‘In a long-term scenario, (housing prices) always go up,’ Leprino added. ‘Denver has been such a draw for people for so long because it was inexpensive, because it’s clean, because it’s safe,’ but those attributes aren’t quite as true today, Leprino said.”
The Washington Examiner on Colorado. “Friends and family arrived for a graduation in May at the University of Denver. We forgot to warn them. Once a cosmopolitan utopia of clean, safe, family-friendly neighborhoods and parks, Denver now looks and feels like a drug orgy. Following the graduation, a dinner and cocktail party went well at the B&B. Then came the morning. Guests awoke to strangers passed out on the driveway leading from the alley to the B&B garage and parking lot. One had a spent needle in her arm. No one could leave without running them over.”
“An out-of-town guest called 911, expressing concern for the people on the pavement. A dispatcher asked if they were breathing. Affirmative, said another guest who checked their pulses. The dispatcher said authorities and medics might respond, but if all were breathing, it would take a long time. ‘What I’ve seen in Colorado Springs and Denver, you almost never see in St. Louis or Kansas City,’ my brother said. ‘Sure, you see homeless encampments and occasional tents under overpasses or in parks. In Colorado, addicts on the sidewalk are common.’”
“A few blocks from the UD campus, graduation guests rented a spacious bed and breakfast. The old neighborhood surrounding the university remains moderately upscale. A two- to three-bedroom bungalow sells for $700,000 and up. Residents are educated and affluent, with about 22% enrolled in graduate or undergraduate programs. Yet they are surrounded by a drug scene one expects on skid row.”
The Toronto Star in Canada. “While prices for detached homes have dropped steeply in most regions of the GTA, the prices in King have plummeted, according to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board. The township, known for green rolling hills, large, mansion-like homes coupled with suburban amenities amid idyllic country life, has had the average selling price fall from $3,218,42 in February across 38 home sales, to $1,664,046 across 20 home sales in July. That’s a 48 per cent price drop in just three months.”
“The price fall in King and lower inventory is indicative of how increased interest rates to combat inflation have cooled bidding wars across the GTA. But the prices have been so high for so long, that they were bound to drop, and these current prices are more ‘normal,’ some realtors told the Star. ‘We have to manager our seller’s expectations. ‘It’s really hard to inform somebody that they’re not getting what their neighbour got three, four months ago. And significantly lower,’ said Julianne Boileau, a sales representative at RE/MAX Hallmark York Group Reality that services several GTA areas, including King.”
“Vadim Vilensky, a broker of record at RE/MAX RealtronVadim Vilensky Realty Inc., said that while prices have dropped steeply in the last three months — current prices are not too dissimilar to the previous year. What has really caught Vilensky’s attention is the low inventory in a region like King, as just 20 homes were sold in July 2022. In the current environment, sellers are in a position where they cannot sell their house unless they buy something else, due to the low inventory, he said. ‘But if other sellers are not willing to come onto the market, it becomes a chain reaction,’ he said.”
“His clients are frustrated, as they’ve been looking at how their neighbours have sold their homes for more than a million dollars more than they will get. But he provides comfort by explaining that compared to summer 2021, they are still making a good profit margin on their home. ‘Yes, you’re down from the peak of this year, which was a crazy peak. But you’re still up by a lot from last year,’ he said.”
The Globe and Mail. “In this environment, Christian Vermast and Paul Maranger of Sotheby’s International Realty Canada say sellers should aim to have a property that stands in the top 10 per cent of its category in order to attract the eyes of buyers. In other words, the home or condo must be priced to today’s market conditions and also have attributes like a good location, high-quality finishes and polished presentation. ‘It’s the mediocrity that’s going to languish,’ Mr. Maranger says. ‘It’s the abrupt nature that shocked people,’ Mr. Maranger says of the sudden slowdown.”
“Mr. Maranger points out that sales in the GTA have been extremely slow in July in all price segments – falling roughly 50 per cent from the same month last year – and he expects August to remain sluggish. The agents say the sellers facing hardship will be more motivated to sell and will therefore set realistic prices. ‘Those are the properties that are going to go first because they’re going to be priced very sharply,’ he says. ‘The over-priced and mediocre will sit and sit and sit and they will artificially inflate inventory.’”
“Mr. Maranger says the conversation now with homeowners revolves around ‘how motivated are you? How patient are you? How much time do you have?’ The agents recall the downturn of 2008 when homeowners would list their house with a sign that says ‘for sale or for lease.’ ‘We’re going to start to see that again.’”
From News.com.au. “The Australian property marketing is already ‘settling,’ with rising interest rates scaring borrowers away and forcing sellers accept lower prices. Stefan Stella from Ray White Glenroy, told news.com.au there was ‘a bit of turmoil’ in the market but that ‘anything that’s priced correctly does sell.’ ‘I had another auction on Saturday that was a complete dead duck, no action whatsoever,’ he said. That property, a 700 square metre corner block development site, would have normally sold for $1.3 million to $1.4 million, but passed in at $1.1 million.”
“When prices began to fall earlier this year, Mr Stella said many sellers baulked at taking a haircut on a ‘superior property’ to one down the street that might have sold for a higher price just a few months earlier. ‘With all the negativity in the media the past three or four months, I’d say now most people are accustomed to the market that is, whereas at the start they were utilising comparable sales from three months earlier when the market was no longer comparable,’ he said. ‘That’s where it was hard. Everything is still selling provided it’s priced right.””
“‘The real question is going to be, what’s going to happen in September, October, November as the market appraisals start lining up now as we end the winter, and we move into our spring selling season which sees an upswing in listings?’ said Sydney-based auctioneer Tom Panos. ‘One would assume that more listings should see a softening of prices. But the softening’s already happened. I’ve said it before, there’s a data lag that economists are missing by about three, four months. The market has already be repositioned in most areas by 10 per cent, even 15 per cent, some markets even 20 per cent. But realistically, we’re probably going to see another softening of around five, 10 per cent. We’re close to the bottom I think.’”