A report from Bloomberg. "Tom Barrack, who a week ago warned that commercial real estate financing was on the brink of collapse because of the coronavirus pandemic, is now calling for a moratorium on margin calls and intervention by the Federal Reserve to keep values of mortgage debt from plummeting further. The threat of widespread defaults has caused waves of selling in the market for commercial mortgage-backed securities. Banks in turn are demanding cash and seizing collateral from vehicles that borrowed to invest in CMBS and other forms of asset-backed debt, a practice that drives down prices even further. One index of mortgage REITs, or real estate investment trusts, has collapsed by more than 50%, in part because of those margin calls."

The Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia. "In the early days of the coronavirus, the market enabled some developers to take advantage of lower rates. But that has changed in the past few weeks, wiping any benefits away. Now, for many trying to access the capital markets, there is a dramatic pause. For instance, lenders of commercial mortgage-backed securities have completely stopped quoting deals. Three weeks ago, a full leverage CMBS loan might price at 3.5% to 3.75%, but there is no bid now."

"Hotel owners and landlords with retail tenants have been impacted the most severely. Apartment and office owners also are expected to be hurt. In Virginia, one of the largest construction lenders for multifamily transactions is the Virginia Housing and Development Authority. The VHDA offered a 30-year fixed rate construction permanent rate in the low to mid 3% range in late February. That same pricing now is closer to 5%, putting deals on pause."

The Real Deal on California. "Thomas Bannon has spent the past 30 years as the leading advocate for California’s multifamily landlords, and he has never dealt with any problem bigger than the coronavirus. In an interview with The Real Deal Tuesday, Bannon expressed deep concern about the present and future of California’s residential landlords. TRD: Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and other local government leaders have ordered a moratorium on evictions, which your organization supports. Is it frustrating, though, that there hasn’t been accompanying foreclosure relief for property owners?"

"Bannon: Absolutely. There has to be foreclosure relief for property owners. The industry will not sustain otherwise, and it will deter future investment in housing. It’s a three-layer problem. The tenant can’t afford to pay the rent, and then the owner can’t afford to pay the mortgage, and if the owner can’t pay the mortgage, that ruins the banks."

The Long Island Business News in New York. "While the spring housing market is usually one of his busiest times, Huntington-based attorney Paul Greenstein, a 30-year legal veteran who mostly handles real estate transactions, isn’t optimistic about business this season. 'Over the last couple of weekends, people that would have bought houses didn’t,' he said. 'I haven’t had a new deal in the last three weeks and it’s going to be completely shut off. I’m anticipating zero business. If I get one deal between now and April 30 I’ll be shocked beyond belief.'"

From BNN Bloomberg on Canada. "Canada’s largest real estate market 'hit the brakes' in the last full week of March as sales plunged and sellers pulled listings in the face of the COVID-19 crisis, according to a Toronto-based realtor. What had been a gradual softening in Greater Toronto Area sales after a strong February turned decidedly negative last week, with sales down 37 per cent compared to the same period last year, John Pasalis, president of Realosophy Realty, told BNN Bloomberg."

"There was also a 27 per cent increase in cancelled listings as the economy absorbs record job losses as entire industries come to a near standstill in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus. 'The market has definitely hit the brakes,' said Pasalis. He added some of those cancelled listings may end up getting relisted at a different price."

The Financial Post on Canada. "For the thousands of people who made or received firm offers before the coronavirus outbreak changed everything — and who are now left wondering whether their deals will close in the weeks or months to follow — the anxiety level is even greater. Some have wondered whether a pandemic is considered force majeure (unforeseeable circumstances or 'acts of God'), which could free them of their obligations in case housing prices were to plummet in the next few weeks. Others may be facing other liquidity issues."

"Another concern is the trillions of dollars lost in investments since the onset of the pandemic. Some buyers had planned to cash in on investments to make their down payments. As portfolios bleed across the board, real estate transactions contingent on healthy investment returns could be in jeopardy. Mark Weisleder, a partner with the law firm Real Estate Lawyers.ca LLP, told clients in a note that the 'only way a deal cannot close is if the government registration system closes down or lenders cannot fund loans, which is not the case right now.'"

"While buyers’ remorse is real, it is no ground to back out of the deal, warned Weisleder."

From Estate Agent Today on the UK. "One of London’s most experienced estate agents says there has been a very significant surge in foreclosure sales in part of the capital’s housing market - even before the Coronavirus outbreak began. Marc Schneiderma director of Arlington Residential, says that clearly during the lockdown period that will be almost no new business, although he notes that predatory buyers are already on the prowl for casualties of the crisis - forced to sell at significant discounts."

"However, Schneiderman believes there have been significant weaknesses in the market even before the Covid-19 calamity. 'Notwithstanding this current crisis, never before in my 35 years as an agent can I recall so many sales on behalf of banks and mortgagees in possession' he says. 'It is no longer unusual for us to be contacted by a bank who are foreclosing on a £10m, £20m or even £30m property. Sadly it is just indicative of the wider depressed economic environment in which we find ourselves as a country.'"

From Bloomberg on China. "The early indicators from China aren’t pretty. Overdue credit-card debt swelled last month by about 50% from a year earlier, according to executives at two banks who asked not to be named discussing internal figures. Qudian Inc., a Beijing-based online lender, said its delinquency ratio jumped to 20% in February from 13% at the end of last year. China Merchants Bank Co., one of the country’s biggest providers of consumer credit, said this month that it 'pressed the pause button' on its credit-card business after a 'significant' increase in past-due loans. An estimated 8 million people in China lost their jobs in February."

"'These issues in China are a preview of what we should expect throughout the world,' said Martin Chorzempa, a research fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington."

The Vietnam Express. "With increased travel and visa restrictions slashing bookings, the Covid-19 pandemic has hurt homestay operators all over Vietnam. Minh Tu's Airbnb apartment in District 1, HCMC has received no guest so far this month. Last month, Tu’s revenue from the Airbnb listed homestay fell 60 percent from January. He has offered significant discounts, but these have had no impact. Tu now plans to rent the apartment long-term to get through the pandemic crisis. 'If the disease is not contained by the second quarter, I will lose money this year.'"

"Other homestay operators in Vietnam have similar tales of woe to share as tourist destinations close, and Vietnam stops issuing new visas to foreigners starting March 18."

From Domain News in Australia. "Airbnb hosts and owners of other short-term rental accomodation are scrambling to get properties leased out longer term, as bookings from international and local visitors dry up due to the coronavirus. Properties previously pulled from rental markets for more lucrative short-term stays are being put back up for lease, agents report, as investors seek more secure rental income amid the drop-off in tourists and increasing economic uncertainty."

"'The honeymoon is over,' said Michelle Williams, director of @home Property Management Solutions in Launceston, who has been contacted by more than a dozen hosts – some with multiple properties – in recent days. 'There’s a scrabble out there now, a mass scramble to try get stock out … it’s like a race to the end,' said Rachel Beadman, head of property management at Phillips Pantzer Donnelley in Sydney’s east."

"In Launceston, Ms Williams said she was only taking on properties if owners were willing to meet current market prices and offer longer term leases, noting some had unrealistic expectations of being able to charge the same rates at a time when inquiries were falling. 'It’s going to be tough renting anything, let alone something furnished for the short-term,' she said. 'They have to compete with hundreds of others in the same space, and it’s clear to me [we’ll] end up with a saturated market.'"

The New York Times on Australia. "The line for unemployment benefits curled around the block in an upscale neighborhood of Australia’s largest city, with officially prescribed wide distances between everyone in need. There were restaurant workers in masks who had spent decades jumping from one hip hangout to another. An immigrant whose paychecks had risen as reliably as the sun. And a manager of event venues wearing $500 boots who hadn’t worried about work since the 1990s."

"In a country where the last recession predates the birth of the web browser nearly three decades ago, the coronavirus is ripping away any pretense of economic exceptionalism and shouting to the nation that its days of exuberance are over. 'It always felt like if you work hard and put in the hours, you can get whatever you want,' said Milena Molina, 45, the manager of a law firm who was laid off last week for the first time in her career. 'Now it’s just uncertainty. It gets worse every day.'"

"Many Australians, at every level of the economy, are flummoxed and struggling to even put into words what’s happening. 'It’s quite a surreal experience that we’re faced with,' said Danny Ruhlmann, a cinematographer who was abruptly cut from an Apple TV production in Ireland this month, sending him back to Sydney. 'It’s something that none of us would have predicted, and it’s going to take time to reset what our new norm is.'"

"Old assumptions — property prices will rise; a good education guarantees prosperity — suddenly seem to have question marks appended."