A report from the Wall Street Journal. "A mortgage-lending company sponsored by private-equity giant TPG is delaying dividend payments and said it is in danger of running out of money if market turmoil continues, a fresh sign that nonbank lenders are getting squeezed. Less regulated than banks, these lenders issued billions of dollars in high-yield construction loans and other mortgages and also bought bonds backed by property debt. They funded these deals with the help of cheap bank debt facilities, which were in turn secured by their loan and bond holdings and corporate guarantees."

"But now that the value of these holdings is plummeting from the coronavirus pandemic and as the U.S. economy grinds to a standstill, banks are demanding more collateral and some nonbank lenders are in danger of running out of money. TPG’s isn’t the only mortgage trust to come under pressure. Share prices for other mortgage REITs have also tumbled amid investor concerns over the property market. The shares of many of these companies are trading at just 30% to 40% of the net book value of their holdings, according to Steven DeLaney, an analyst at JMP Securities. 'That’s insane,' he said. 'That’s recession pricing.'"

From Bloomberg."The $16 trillion U.S. mortgage market -- epicenter of the last global financial crisis -- is suddenly experiencing its worst turmoil in more than a decade. Holders of mortgage-backed securities are fielding redemption requests from clients, margin calls from jittery counterparties and drops in their valuations, forcing the funds to solicit offers on billions in assets in emergency sales over the weekend. For Wall Street, the moment that crystallized the extent of problems in mortgage markets came Sunday, when some firms rushed to raise cash by requesting offers for their bonds backed by home loans."

"Such solicitations are known as 'bids wanted in competition,' or BWIC. 'I ran dealer desks for over 20 years,' said Eric Rosen, who oversaw credit trading at JPMorgan Chase & Co., ticking off the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management, the bursting of the dot-com bubble some 20 years ago, and the 2008 global financial crisis. 'And I never recall a BWIC on a weekend.'"

From Bisnow on New York. "Slate Property Group co-founder David Schwartz's company owns some 3,000 rental apartments in New York City, including affordable housing and market-rate units. 'There needs to be some sort of program in place for those who can’t pay their mortgage or rent, but not for those who just don’t want to pay, because that would start an absolute economic spiral,' he said."

The Charlotte Observer in North Carolina. "In a normal year, late March marks the middle of the busiest season for real estate agents. The spring buying season is when agents like Jonathan Osman of Tryon Realty Partners make a significant chunk of their income for the year. Instead, in the past several weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic, he’s had buyers put purchases on hold and saw sellers’ homes languish on the market. 'It’s kind of like trying to sell a home during an actual hurricane,' Osman said."

From Mansion Global on Florida. "A penthouse apartment at One Thousand Museum, the futuristic new development designed by the late Zaha Hadid in Miami, has sold for $13.8 million. Friday’s sale of the five-bedroom apartment marks the first resale within the 61-story tower on Biscayne Boulevard. Around three weeks before the deal closed, the price of the pad was cut to $14.5 million, and the discount prompted a flurry of interest, according to listing agent Oren Alexander of Douglas Elliman."

"'We reduced the price to what we felt was truly market price,' Mr. Alexander said. 'Once we reduced it to market, we had a bidding war instantly. It shows you the issue in Miami is not demand but just unrealistic sellers and their brokers willing to take over-priced listings.'"

The Dallas Morning News in Texas. "Residential real estate sales firms haven’t wasted any time scaling back business because of the expected slowdowns from the coronavirus pandemic. One of the country’s fastest-growing home sales firms — Compass Real Estate — has already pared back its nationwide staff by more than 10%, according to multiple media reports. Compass, best known for its black yard signs, expanded into North Texas in 2018 and has quickly become a major player in this market."

"But CEO Robert Reffkin is reporting that the company has experienced a 60% drop in home showings and expects a substantial decline in revenues. Other so-called disruptors in the real estate sales arena are also shifting gears. Zillow Group has announced a nationwide halt to its home purchase program. Home sales firm Redfin, which also operates in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, is cutting back as well. Other companies including Opendoor and Realogy‘s RealSure are also suspending cash offers for homes. Fitch Ratings in a new report is warning that some major home markets — including those in Texas — could see declines in home prices due to the pandemic and declines in the securities market and pending recession."

The Los Angeles Times on Nevada. "It was just two weeks ago that Las Vegas native Carlos Rosales Jr. told his cousin that business at his new barbershop was doing so well that he was considering hiring a third apprentice. But that feeling evaporated last week when Rosales closed the barbershop following a statewide shutdown of non-essential businesses in an effort to contain the deadly coronavirus. 'I don’t know how I’m going to pay my mortgage or car payments on my new truck,' he said."

From Vice Magazine on Canada. "Renting in Toronto is difficult at the best of times, so finding an apartment for less than $1,000 a month in a hip location is nothing short of a miracle. But look no further than this place we found on Craigslist last night. It's going for only $975 a month and the landlord only wants first and last month. Wowzers! What a find! However, if you look a little closer there are a few hints that this property was not meant to be lived in by Toronto residents. The first would be the line that reads,'please note that you won’t have access to a kitchen and laundry in the house.' Booo!"

"Ads like these in the time of 'rona are a dime a dozen not only in Toronto, but across the globe, particularly in cities with a sizable tourism industry. And why is that? It’s because this was likely a short-term rental, such as an Airbnb, until now. 'I have four units and they have always performed at 90 percent occupancy or higher until now,' Andrea Orozco told the outlet. 'I have four individual apartments within my bungalows. I might have to take in full-time tenants, but I really don't want to.'"

"Orozco said that full-time tenants, the people who actually need housing, were just too much of a hassle and would rather sell than rent long term. Now, after aiding the destruction of Toronto’s rental market, short-term rental landlords are flooding both the rental market and selling off their condos or homes. It’s hard not to think of this as a long-needed reckoning, as short-term landlords have been raking it in for years, all the while as local renting residents have been forced to pay more and more for less."

The Irish Independent. "There has been an increase in properties for rent due to the crash in tourist numbers, prompting hopes of a fall in rental costs. It is thought a number of landlords have withdrawn their rentals from short-term listing sites like Airbnb and are putting them on the market instead. The volume of rental stock in Dublin central is up 64pc alone, according to property website Daft."

From Globes on Israel. "With no tourists around, owners of apartments that were being rented out on short-term leases are looking for long-term tenants. Yad2 analyst Nir Chen examined the supply of apartments available for rent in the main cities in the first two weeks of March 2019 and March 2020. He noticed a substantial rise in the number of apartments offered for rent in Tel Aviv. 'We see an increase in the number of new notices reaching the Yad2 website. We believe that many Airbnb apartments that were meant for internal and external tourists have been converted to rental apartments. A steep rise in Tel Aviv is visible, and the reason is obvious - the coronavirus. The owners are putting the apartments back on the market, and the supply is increasing.'"

"The 'Israel Airbnb' and 'You Are Not Alone - Apartments for Isolation all over Israel' Facebook groups are offering many apartments designated for people in isolation. Omri Segev, CEO of the company who offers dozens of apartments all over Jerusalem, talks about a dramatic change in his company's activity. 'We're trying to make lemonade out of this lemon. We're been stuck with properties, and we're trying to give good service to people who have to be in isolation. The prices are very low, because the market is being flooded.'"

"And the prices? Yulya Daiment, operations manager at the loginn company: 'They've been cut in half.'"

From ABC News in Australia. "The spread of coronavirus across Australia could see unemployment reach about 10 per cent and house prices drop 20 per cent — and that may not even be the worst-case scenario, according to some economists. CoreLogic's Tim Lawless said Australia's housing market would start 'losing steam' by April, and the situation could be worse than expected because of high household debt. The areas worst hit by mortgage stress would be those exposed to tourism, and where there's a higher portion of hospitality workers such as in some pockets of Western Sydney."

"More properties could also be placed up for rent in coming months. Across the globe, Airbnb rentals are moving from short-term to long-term listings. If there was a sudden flood of rentals onto the housing market it could push down rental prices for certain types of properties."

From Stuff New Zealand. "Property investors are pulling properties from Airbnb to offer as long-term rentals instead. A spokeswoman for Trade Me said usually 6 per cent of Trade Me rental listings were offered furnished. But since March 14, when the self-isolation rules were first announced, that number had increased to 11 per cent. 'This puts the total number of fully furnished rental listings at double what they were at the time last year,' she said."

"Economist Benje Patterson said huge number of Airbnb units had been put back into the rental market in Queenstown in particular. 'They are being advertised extensively across Facebook community groups at significantly discounted rents. Most come furnished and are often on six-month leases so that landlords have the option of putting the unit back on Airbnb if conditions have normalised again ahead of next summer,' he said."

"He said it was worrying because a big drop in yields for investors would push some to sell. 'A flood of forced sales, at a time when confidence to purchase a home is low, could cause severe instability to pricing. There is likely to be moves by the government over the next week or two to implement mortgage relief in order to prevent such forced sales. The last thing the government wants is for a mass rush to the exit push other homeowners into negative equity and compromise financial stability in anyway.'"