A report from the Berkeley Newsroom. "Berkeley Haas Professors Nancy Wallace and Richard Stanton were some of the few voices to forewarn of the massive risk posed by shoddy practices in the mortgage industry prior to the 2008 financial crisis. Unfortunately, history seems to be repeating itself. More than two years ago, Wallace and Stanton again began raising the alarm that the mortgage landscape that emerged from the last crisis is dominated by 'nonbank' lenders who operate with little of their own capital or access to emergency cash. It was another disaster waiting to happen, they warned, and called for increased oversight."

"Wallace says this new crisis will begin to show itself within the next 30 days, as people forgo their monthly payments and the highly leveraged nonbanks face margin calls from the brokers they’ve borrowed from—commercial banks like JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo Bank and investment banks such as Morgan Stanley. They need cash to pay these lenders, and they don’t have it. The nonbanks have already begun asking for a rescue."

NBC San Diego in California. "The coronavirus pandemic has claimed another victim: San Diego’s once red-hot housing market has at least temporarily hit the ice, said Andy Nelson, president of Willis Allen Real Estate. Nelson said the upper end of the housing market -- where homes sell for $1 million or more -- has taken the hardest hit. 'That’s the market of choice,' Nelson explained. 'It’s not (the price-range) in which buyers need a home out of necessity.'"

"Afton Miller, a veteran agent with Coldwell-Banker Realty, said San Diegans are still buying and selling, but agreed with Nelson that the once-booming real estate market has definitely slowed down in March and April."

The Dallas Business Journal in Texas. "Ask Rogers Healy where the Dallas-Fort Worth residential real estate market is headed, and he doesn’t sugarcoat it. 'We’re in for some relative hell for at least a couple of quarters,' Healy said in an interview with the Dallas Business Journal. Healy, founder of Rogers Healy and Associates Real Estate and owner and CEO of Rogers Healy Cos., said the likely slowdown in the months ahead will have an upside in that it will cause real estate agents who don’t belong in the field to wash out."

"Why do you think we’ll have that lag before rock bottom? 'There’s stuff like forbearance, where people think forbearance is the forgiveness of the mortgage. It’s not. They can go in and potentially press pause on the mortgage payments for a couple of months, and then it balloons, potentially with interest, to where they have to write a check all at once, which, that’s not going to happen. I would say if 50 percent of people who practice forbearance are able to make it happen, we’d be lucky. So, it’s going to lead to some foreclosures.'"

"'On top of that, lending requirements are changing drastically. This morning (Monday) a big bank announced at least 20 percent down and 700 credit score to qualify for a loan. That’s not even a jumbo loan – that’s just a loan. So I think we’re in for some relative hell for at least a couple of quarters.'"

"'I think real estate needs their toilet flushed of some of the realtors of DFW. I think this is going to be, unfortunately, the way to go and do that.'"

From Mansion Global on Florida. "Home sales were stable across South Florida in the first quarter of this year, reflecting strength before the Covid-19 pandemic hit the state, according to market data from Douglas Elliman. In Miami Beach and Barrier Islands, the median sales price of luxury single-family homes-defined as the top 10% of the market segment-slipped 7.9% to $9.3 million. The number of sales remained unchanged, at nine. The number of luxury condo sales, at 69, was roughly flat compared to the same period last year. However, the median sales price dropped 20.8% year-over-year to $2.55 million, according to the report, prepared by Jonathan Miller."

"In the first quarter, Tampa’s median luxury sales price-single-family and condo included-fell 13.6% to $760,000. In Delray Beach, the median sales price decreased 19.6% year-over-year to $1.4 million in the first quarter, according to the report."

The Bangor Daily News in Maine. "The short-term rental unit Rudy Ferrante hosts next to his home on Munjoy Hill is booked solid in a typical April. Not this year. Even before the state ordered a shutdown on Airbnb and other short-term rentals through April due to the new coronavirus, Ferrante’s guests canceled on him well into June. With no short-term revenue coming in, he’s now leaning toward renting his Vesper Street unit for a year. 'That way I don’t have to worry about when this is going to end,' Ferrante said."

"Some of the roughly 800 registered short-term rental units in Portland could go back on the market because of the pandemic. With no revenue coming in, owners like Ferrante are weighing switching units over to long-term rentals or riding things out until the virus passes. David Burke, a high school teacher who rents out units in two buildings through Airbnb, VRBO and ads he places in nursing magazines, estimated that spring cancellations from short-term guests have already cost his family between $10,000 and $20,000. If the shutdown lasts through the summer, he may have to go into debt to pay the mortgages."

The McCall Star News in Idaho. "Kelly Hill stood in a cavernous entertainment room inside a short-term rental in McCall and pondered how she will be able keep the bills paid if the threat of the COVID-19 virus keeps tourists away into the summer. Those losses worsened on Monday after Valley County commissioners set May 15 as the soonest short-term rentals could begin renting to non-essential personnel again. About 75% of the company’s annual income is earned through its 66 short-term rental properties capable of housing up to 740 guests from Cascade to New Meadows, Hill said."

"The company has seen over 80 reservations canceled as far out as August since Idaho Gov. Brad Little issued a statewide isolation order on March 25, she said. 'Even more disturbing is the lack of new reservations being made,' she said. Hill is preparing for an 85% decrease from the $150,000 the company made last April booking short-term rentals, most of which were for summertime stays."

"Frost Property Management reported similar losses, with 59 short-term rental reservations amounting to about $50,000 in revenue cancelled since March 16, Owner Jonathan Frost said. 'That is significantly more than the combined total number of altered or refunded reservations we’ve had since we were founded in 2012,' Frost said."