A report from the Los Angeles Times in California. "At the start of 2020, the Southern California housing market was heating up, juiced by cheap money and a growing economy. Then a global pandemic hit. Deals are now falling out of escrow. Sellers are cutting prices. Certain types of financing are drying up. As Rick Cirelli, a mortgage broker in Laguna Beach, put it: 'Everybody is backing out.'"

"Kerem Ozguz and his wife just had a son; they are now in escrow on a $497,000, two-bedroom condo in Irvine. The business consultant was planning on using a so-called non-qualifying mortgage. Those loans typically require less documentation, which makes it easier to qualify for workers like Ozguz who don't have a W-2 statement to prove income. They are also riskier for lenders and investors. The other day, Ozguz got a call from his mortgage broker. 'He was like, ‘Hey, the loan I was going to put you in doesn’t exist anymore,' Ozguz said."

From CNBC. "Aaron Kirman, superstar real estate agent and host of CNBC’s 'Listing Impossible,' thinks this pandemic could devastate the real estate market. Kirman also warns that some buyers and sellers should expect to renegotiate offers. 'Some closings have happened, but they were 90 days old. I’ve seen offers on the table renegotiated for 20 to 30%.'"

"Buying or selling a house has become vastly more complicated, according to Kirman, who has seen a decline in house viewings since California issued a statewide ‘stay at home’ on March 19. While the lasting effect of the coronavirus pandemic is still unknown, Kirman believes that when the pandemic eventually comes to an end, it’s going to be a buyers’ market, claiming, 'The gains from the past 13 years will be wiped out.'"

From New York Magazine. "The coronavirus and subsequent lockdowns have left virtually no industry untouched. Among the many affected is the short-term-rental industry, much of which is powered by Airbnb and the similar platforms that followed its lead. McGill University professor David Wachsmuth, who has spent years studying the effects of short-term-rental platforms, cautioned that it was early, but countered that there were already clear signs of the coronavirus’s ripple effect. He described Airbnb as 'cratering' right now. For the people who are renting out spare bedrooms or using the platform to supplement their primary income, this is not the end of the world. For the more aggressive speculators, who purchased condos with the intent of continually renting them out year-round, this is a disaster."

"'It’s still a little early to try to back that up with rigorous data at this point, but it’s very clear from the numbers that we’re seeing, as well as from the online discussions among hosts, that these businesses have basically evaporated overnight,' Wachsmuth said."

From CNBC. "Sean Ray normally rents out his 3-bedroom Dallas house for a few days at a time to travelers who find it listed on Airbnb. On Saturday, Ray spent the afternoon touring the property with a mother of two who showed up seeking a long-term rental and wearing an N-95 mask. 'This is something that I’ve got to get done,' Ray said. 'I won’t be able to survive much longer if I don’t get this thing rented.'"

"An arbitrage is when a host rents a property and then rents it out to other people on Airbnb. 'I’m putting someone in my house and crossing my fingers they’ll pay because I can’t evict them,' Ray said. 'But I can’t keep it on Airbnb because that’s a guaranteed loss.'"

"'After they made that announcement, we received an avalanche of cancellations,' said Liam McLaughlin, who manages 14 properties in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on arbitrage. 'We are now just trying to survive by locking in people at week long or month long rates to just break even.'"

From Business Den in Colorado. "The deep freeze weighing down the hospitality industry is wreaking havoc on a local Airbnb market that’s grown to more than $10 million a month. Seattle-based Loftium, which said one-third of its 600 properties are in Denver, is negotiating to reduce lease payments to landlords. The company, which raised $15 million last year, leases homes with two units and then has one long-term tenant help manage the Airbnb unit like an innkeeper. Loftium typically pays property owners more than market rent for a long-term rental."

"But now that business model is broken. Loftium CEO Yifan Zhang said her startup is not making any money right now. 'Travel is gone. … Whatever a (long-term) rental is able to pay is the income that’s available,' Zhang said. 'We’re trying to just make something work.' Zhang said the company is calling all property owners to renegotiate leases. 'Everyone’s taking a hit,' she said."

From Vice Magazine. "Twenty-one Iceboat Terrace isn’t a hotel—but it might as well be. The postcard aesthetic the building purveys has seen many of its 920 condos co-opted into Airbnb units. But what was once basically a bustling mega-hostel for young, party-bound tourists has become a monument to coronavirus-induced isolation in recent days. The few long-term residents who remain are stuck in a ghost skyscraper, and the Airbnb barons who took over many of the condos across its 43 storeys have been left destitute."

"The Iceboat Terrace building isn’t unique. It’s just one sore in the rash of 'ghost hotels' around the world. But by virtue of its size and location—the heart of the most prolific Airbnb neighbourhood in Toronto—it’s a good case study. A trip through Facebook groups for Airbnb hosts, such as Airbnb Cashflow Secrets—Financial Freedom Without Owning Real Estate, reveals mounting insecurity among members since the coronavirus pandemic started. What must have once come off as a low-risk, low-labour money-maker just melted away, leaving many hosts saddled with rents and mortgages they can no longer afford. Hosts are getting no short-term bookings and no long-term inquiries, they tell me. And they’re angry—at Airbnb."

"'This is my main source of income,' said a Waterfront-area host named Jay, who would not give his last name. 'I rely on it quite a bit. But all my reservations were cancelled with full refunds without any say from me.'"

"Cashflow Secret users say the smart thing to do right now is to pivot to what one member called 'the dark side' —long-term rentals to residents, a problem for the market considering users of this particular Facebook group are renting the apartments they are putting up on Airbnb to make a profit. 'I’m noticing many Airbnb hosts around me are starting to put up their condos for long-term listings,' said Waterfront-area host Amy, who also did not provide her last name. 'But because everybody’s doing it at the same time, it’s almost impossible to actually make it happen.'"

From Pique News in Canada. "With the blow to visitation, Whistler might also begin to see homes that have historically been reserved for nightly rentals move into the long-term supply—but it hasn't happened in significant numbers quite yet, said Matt Hick, CEO of legitimate vacation rental service, alluraDirect. Hick noted that alluraDirect is dealing with 'immense losses' and booking cancellations, said that even though Phase 1 owners have flexibility to rent short- or long-term, he advises them to wait at least a few weeks to see how things pan out before making a decision on their property."

"Tricia Curmi owns and lives in a house in Alpine that is rented to several other tenants. Curmi said her and her partner reduced the rent by a third this week before two of their tenants broke the lease without notice. 'The problem, I think, that landlords are going to start seeing is that people are going to want to start taking advantage of the situation. So even if they have family support or money set aside, they want to stay in Whistler and keep partying,' making it difficult to know who really needs support the most, she said. 'Then landlords are going to be painted as the evil ones and we are going to get stuck for not paying our mortgages.'"

The Daily Business Group in the UK. "Property owners are shifting from short to long term letting as coronavirus leaves a huge hole in the holiday lets sector. Airbnb are looking to get out of the tourist market and find tenants for their properties. There has also been a rush of tenants leaving to return to live with parents, creating a sudden glut of property on the market."

"Property firm Apropos by DJ Alexander has been approached by hundreds of property owners in the last two weeks desperate to enter the long-term letting market after wholesale cancellations of holidays. David Alexandernb, joint managing director of apropos, said: 'We have been inundated with enquiries from Airbnb owners. They have had all their bookings cancelled and there is little likelihood of an upturn in the market any time soon, so they are transferring to the long-term market.'"

"'We have also had owners with properties in the Homes in Multiple Occupation (HMO) market wanting to rent them out, as students have left and returned home and there is no clear indication of when they will return so landlords are hoping they can rent these properties out until the market returns.' He added that a number of tenants have given the statutory one-month notice and are returning to live with their parents or relatives because of the coronavirus outbreak."

"'The result is that we would usually have around 100 properties available at this time of year and we currently have 350,' he said. 'The result will be a reduction in rental prices. Overcapacity results in lower rents so I can see prices falling over the next few months and even when the coronavirus crisis is over I believe that many tenants will be able to negotiate lower rents as the market will remain over-supplied.'"

From Edinburgh Live in Scotland. "The coronavirus pandemic has seen a glut of former Aribnb properties appearing on the Edinburgh property market as long term lets – as the platform collapses across Scotland. Last week saw new rental listings in Edinburgh skyrocket with a massive 62 per cent increase compared to this time last year. According to new figures given to Edinburgh Live by property portal Rightmove."

"And that rate is increasing, this week new rental listings are up 105 per cent in the city centre with more than 200 homes in Edinburgh added to Rightmove in the last two days alone, the Times reports. Previously the norm was five or six per day. Housing activists have hailed the collapse of Airbnb, saying it hopefully the crisis ‘will reset rents’ while others have cautioned that the new long-term lets my not be fit for tenants to move into."

"Commenting on the collapse of the holiday letting industry, grassroots group Place Edinburgh said: 'It makes sense that some people will have to sell up or let long term. Rents and homelessness have been rising alongside the sharp increase in residential properties being used as full time short term let businesses, without permission.'"

"Living Rent called on the government to ensure the much-needed homes aren’t converted back to holiday lets after the pandemic, saying: 'This puts the lie to the idea that holiday lets have no impact on housing supply. We are seeing clearly just how much otherwise viable accommodation is lost to holiday lets.'"