It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Auction.com reported in January that experts predict foreclosure and REO inflow will increase in 2020, with most of the influx coming for government-insured loans. 'Most in the default servicing industry expect government-insured loans to be the primary source of increased foreclosure inflow in 2020, even in the absence of a widespread recession or housing downturn,' said Jesse Roth, SVP of Strategic Partnerships and Business Development with Auction.com. 'That’s a rational conclusion given the rising risk profile of FHA-backed loans originated in the last five years.'"

"The housing market, which is being curtailed by fewer buyers out looking at houses, took another blow this week as mortgage rates soared. 'Under normal circumstances, we would see the bond market improve as stocks plummet, but we are not in a normal market,' said Elizabeth Rose, certified mortgage planning specialist at AmCap Home Loans in Plano, Tex. 'Stocks are taking a beating but instead of money flowing into bonds — thus rates improving — investors are selling bonds to cover margin calls. The government will have to finance the stimulus, which they do by selling Treasurys. Although the Fed has committed to purchasing Treasurys and mortgage bonds, an oversupply will flood the market, which will push mortgage rates higher.'"

"The MBA released its mortgage credit availability index (MCAI) that showed credit availability decreased in February. A decline in the MCAI indicates lending standards are tightening. 'Mortgage credit supply decreased in February, as both conforming and jumbo segments of the market saw a decline,' Joel Kan, an MBA economist, said in a statement. 'Last month’s activity was the calm before the storm.'"

"The world-wide pandemic has upended the lives of every New Yorker and countless others. 'I have been in business for 40 years, and this looks like a cross between 9/11 and 2008,' said Manhattan luxury real-estate agent Donna Olshan. 'We might see a period where things come to an absolute halt,' said Michael Graves, a New York agent with Compass."

"'More concerning to people is the fact that oil prices have crashed,' said Paige Martin of Keller Williams in Houston. 'The implication of this crash is that nearly all oil-and-gas companies will need to make sizable personnel cuts. While most of those cuts haven’t happened yet, a good number of individuals in the industry are concerned for their jobs.'"

"In some markets, deals are starting to fall through, with some buyers citing losses from the stock-market plunge. Others are expressing concerns about where home values will be after the virus subsides. 'There are going to be layoffs,' said Janice Corley, CEO of Re/Max Premier Properties in Chicago. 'This has a big effect on our buyers because they’re the owners and CEOs of these companies.'"

"Shana Rohde-Lynch, an agent with Compass in Marin County near San Francisco, was on the verge of closing a deal for a six-bedroom home listed for $3.77 million in the tony Belvedere area. It had been in escrow for nearly a month. On Sunday night—the day before the financing contingency was due to be removed—the buyer’s agent called and said the buyer pulled out of the deal. The down payment was supposed to come partly from stock sales the buyer no longer wanted to make, given the decline in the stock market and uncertain times."

"Ms. Olshan said she had a contract signed on a studio apartment in New York’s Greenwich Village on March 12 but the buyer, who was funding the purchase in part with money from her parents, called the following day to say they could no longer afford to buy. Developers are likely to be among those hit by the crisis, according to people familiar with the market. In New York especially, where an oversupply of luxury condos has stymied prices over the past few years, developers, some of whom are already under pressure from their lenders to sell units, are now having to close their sales offices indefinitely."

"'We are living in unprecedented times.' That’s how Meyers Research Chief Economist Ali Wolf opened her 'COVID-19 Update: The Housing Market' webinar. 'Consumers make up 70% of the economy – they are the backbone of the economy.' Wolf reported a slowdown in luxury sales and the 55 plus market since the pandemic hit the U.S. 'It really comes down to fear versus affordability,' Wolf said. 'There are some great affordability opportunities right now, and it’s important to communicate the longer-term benefit of homeownership.'"

"That said, things are bound to get worse. 'There will be layoffs and bankruptcies and bailouts,' she said. 'You will see them, and those numbers will be dramatic and bad.'"

"Yesterday, Inman reported on the halt of the iBuyer business model by Opendoor and Redfin, two large real estate operators. According to Mike DelPrete: 'There are already early signs of a slowdown in the Phoenix market, the birthplace and epicenter of iBuying. Whether driven by inventory shortages, global market uncertainty, or iBuyers mitigating their risk, significantly less homes are being bought each month in Phoenix. Total iBuyer purchases in Phoenix for February are down 30 percent year-on-year; Zillow in particular is down 63 percent from the same time last year.'"

"Townhouses in South Calgary generally fetched between $500,000 and $700,000, and infill homes between $900,000 and $1.2-million, late last year. This detached house has been updated and is located across from a park, but with just one bedroom - two shy of the norm in the area – it was listed with a price at the lower end of the scale. Though buyers admired its loft-like design, the lack of bedrooms was a serious drawback and the house needed two price reductions before a bidder came forward."

"'When the offer came lower than what we hoped for, my client was great to … look at all the facts and not be emotional,' said agent Christina Hagerty. 'People coming into 2020 are detaching from what they paid for [their property] and looking at what the market is like now.'"

"Hundreds of thousands of small investors were marooned in commercial property funds as the £15 billion sector scrambled to ban redemptions with the blessing of regulators yesterday. The moves will reopen the debate about the wisdom of open-ended funds with illiquid assets offering daily redemptions, a business model that Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of England, said was 'built on a lie' after the gating of Neil Woodford’s equity income fund last year. This is the fourth big shutdown of property unit trusts since the last financial crisis."

"It leaves investors unable to access their savings at a time when they may desperately need them. Anyone with money in a property unit trust now has the agonising wait to find out what their investments may be worth when they finally reopen."

"Taking away a landlord's ability to remove tenants on 90 days' notice is a major concern and could lead to landlords selling up, Marlborough property managers say. First National Marlborough senior property manager Mariette Knudsen said removing landlords right to evict tenants on 90 days' notice was the 'biggest loss' in the proposed changes. Knudsen said it could mean landlords look to sell their properties as they become too hard to manage. 'They [investors] are saying 'OK, this is too hard for us now' and they're trying to get out of the market and selling.'"

"The Reserve Bank’s dramatic $90bn boost for the financial system will not be enough to save the housing market from a possible crash as Australia heads into a coronavirus-driven recession. But with transactions likely to dry up amid a creeping nationwide lockdown, the long boom in the housing market faces its biggest test for more than a decade. Tom Panos, a Sydney auctioneer, said he had noticed more vendors rushing to 'cash out.' His view was supported by buyer’s agent Pete Wargent, who said he had noticed investors with multiple properties were looking to sell."

"'The reality is that monetary stimulus won’t help the housing market. Confidence in the property market is now very low, as is consumer confidence generally, and until that recovers we won’t see many transactions,' he said. 'Some might try to sell but whether they can find a buyer, I don’t know. Open homes and auctions could be cut and one thing’s for sure, transactions are going to drop off a cliff. No vendor wants to sell for a price lower which is less than they think their property is worth. But there is a fear now that prices could be lower in six or nine months’ time. So they’re thinking, ‘let’s get the deal done’ and that cascades into lower prices.'"

"Damien Klassen, of the Melbourne-based fund manager Nucleus Wealth, said the RBA had used up all its ammunition in recent years by cutting rates to already record-low levels so there was little impact for housing from Thursday’s measures. The spectre of rising unemployment was the most important factor in the delicate housing market equation. 'I’m sure they’ll try to pull something out of the hat because generally the government will do everything it can to save the housing market,' he said. 'But once unemployment starts going up – and I can’t see how it won’t – people will be forced to start selling and prices will fall.'"