A report from The Real Deal on Florida. "With hundreds of Floridians losing their jobs on a daily basis and the economy on crutches, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended evictions and foreclosures for a period of 45 days. But experts say it is far from enough. 'It is nice that the governor is protecting people from losing their space,' said attorney Josh Migdal, a partner at Miami-based Mark Migdal & Hayden. 'However, it doesn’t change the fact that there will be defaults, and it is only a temporary band-aid.'"

"The action could have a major impact on landlords who are seeking to rent out their residential properties for income. In South Florida, many condo owners put their units on the so-called shadow market for rent. The market was already facing challenges due to the influx of new apartment complexes that are competing directly with condo rentals, causing some unit owners to offer sharp discounts. 'We are anticipating a significant amount of payment defaults,' said attorney Jay Sakalo, a partner with Bilzin Sumberg’s business finance and restructuring group. 'There is going to be calamity on the payment side.'"

"Attorney Bruce Jacobs of Miami-based Jacobs Legal, who represents homeowners in the foreclosure process, warned that many banks will eventually demand full payment. And that will probably lead to an onslaught of foreclosures – likely greater than the last recession, he said. In the last crash in 2008, people were told to ‘stop paying your mortgage and we’ll help you,’ Jacobs said. 'And then people didn’t pay their mortgage, and at some point the bank filed for foreclosure.' He sees a similar situation playing out now. 'If you don’t pay your mortgage or don’t pay your rent, even Gov. DeSantis’ order says you still owe that money.'"

From Realtor.com. "'This is the best buyer's market I have ever seen in my career,' says Ryan Serhant of Nest Seekers and Bravo’s 'Million Dollar Listing New York.' 'Sellers are nervous, there’s excess supply, and interest rates have been hovering at historic lows.'"

"With fewer home buyers out there looking, you have less competition in your way. 'Unmotivated and uncommitted buyers have dropped off,' adds Maggie Wells, a real estate professional in Lexington, KY. 'Less competition is a huge leg up in this market.' Besides mortgage rates, home buyers are probably wondering about the stability of their income, as fear of layoffs loom. 'We are entering uncharted territory,' says Michael Zschunke, a real estate agent in Scottsdale, AZ."

From KSNV in Nevada. "Prices and demand surged in Southern Nevada until a pandemic is leaving open houses bare. Alberto Saab with Berkshire Hathaway has seen a 40 percent drop in sales since the coronavirus pandemic forced people out of work. As new homes continue to be built, it likely means there will be a surplus. 'I'm obviously going 'this is not the time to put money in the market.' With all the income not coming in and the market, I don't see how it couldn't go down,' said Saab."

From Business Den in Colorado. "Denver’s residential real estate market started strong in March, then ended with uncertainty. Despite the jump in withdrawals, 6,663 new listings still came onto the market in the region. That was a 30.2 percent increase from February. The number of showings in March peaked between the fourth and 10th of the month. They fell 50.4 percent by the last week of the month, when stay-at-home orders were issued, according to the monthly report. David Bovard, founder of Greenwood Village’s Realty Group, has seen a growing consensus between sellers and buyers to avoid inspections and opt for seller concessions."

The Dallas Morning News in Texas. "North Texas home sellers are retreating in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Asking prices for homes listed for sale in Dallas-Fort Worth fell 3% in March from a year ago — a sign of what might be to come in the next month or two. Real estate agents have reported a sharp decline in homebuyer traffic. The decline in home buying activity caused by the pandemic is coming at the time of year the housing market typically takes off. 'April and May are going to be the telling months,' said Dr. James Gaines, chief economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. 'The first half of March, we were still gearing up for all the shelter in place.'"

The Texas Tribune. "Another area that might see an economic downturn is the border because of a slowdown in commercial trade with Mexico. '[Regions] like El Paso, McAllen, Laredo and Brownsville will also be hit hard because they weren’t doing that well before the COVID-19 sudden stop, and their economies will also be affected by the recession in the Mexican economy,' said Luis Torres, an economist with the Texas A&M Real Estate Center. 'Housing markets will be hit differently depending on the region. Yes, Houston would be hit harder, but Midland-Odessa would be hit even more.'"

The Department of Housing and Urban Development suspended foreclosures and evictions for mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration until the end of April. But some fear these policies are postponing a larger problem: the delinquencies that might come from unemployed homeowners. 'That’s when you can have falling prices,' Torres said. '[Homeowners] might try to sell a home at the best price that they can, and that might be with a discount, and that could have an effect on home values.'"

From KEYT in California. "The COVID-19 pandemic is hitting local Airbnb host hard. They are suffering from the loss of business and finding it hard to get help from the vacation rental giant. 'It's so frustrating, we have lost that part of our business. And we are out of so much money, ' said Gail Kemble from Rainbow Ventures Property Management. Kemble and Kelly Rojas run Rainbow Ventures Property Management in Oceano. 'When COVID hit, Airbnb decided they are not paying us at all and they still owe us about $40,000,' said Rojas."

"Most local Airbnb hosts are suffering from the loss of business, and say Airbnb is not available to help. 'We have no one to talk to, no one to call, no one to email,' said Rojas. 'Airbnb is not taking any phone calls, they are not replying to any emails,' said Airbnb host Michelle Arturo. With the national epidemic, the company chose to allow all guests to cancel all reservations with no penalties, which has left hosts with the financial loss. 'For us to lose 22 vacation rentals, and thousands of dollars… our housekeepers, our maintenance people, they are all out of work,' said Kemble."

"Arturo has a multi-tenant property and uses Airbnb to pay her mortgage. 'Any of the reservations I've had for several months that I was counting on aren't coming, all that money is just gone,' said Arturo."

From Curbed Boston in Massachusetts. "The novel coronavirus pandemic may have drastically (and understandably) slowed the pace of development in Boston, but projects have wrapped in the early part of 2020. Among these is the four-unit condo conversion at 4 West Cottage Street in Roxbury. And among those four units is Unit 1. It’s a 685-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom with high ceilings and modern finishes as well as central AC, in-unit laundry, and storage in the building’s basement."

"Also of note: its price. Unit 1 is asking $300,000, or $437 a square foot, through Matt Marshall. Both sums are on the southern end of the Boston price spectrum. The latest data put the city’s median condo sales price at $700,000, for instance."

From WKBW in New York. "At this time last year, the housing market in Western New York was at a historic high. 'Last year if you would have asked me I would have said we were experiencing the single most robust housing market we had ever seen in Buffalo and Western New York, and this year, we have zero activity,' said Chrisopher Mekker, licensed real estate broker and owner of Buffalo City Living, LLC."

"This downturn, due to COVID-19, could have massive effects on the market once things reopen. 'I would anticipate that there will be a flooding of the market that a lot of people who wanted or needed to list their homes for sale of the last month of the coming months are probably going to list all of those homes right at once,' Mekker said. That means, a good time for buyers, and bad time for sellers. 'It would be a higher supply than normal and it would stand to put a downward price pressure on the market,' Mekker said."

The Wall Street Journal. "A growing number of property investors are preparing for what they believe could be a once-in-a generation opportunity to buy distressed real-estate assets at bargain prices. Many of these firms are eyeing hotels, retail properties, mortgage-backed securities and other assets that have come under stress in recent weeks as the spread of the coronavirus pandemic has closed businesses across the country, leaving them unable to pay rent and their landlords unable to pay their mortgage bills."

"Commercial real-estate prices in the U.S. more than doubled over the past decade, according to Real Capital Analytics, leading many investors to conclude that the market had settled near a peak and so afforded few obvious buying opportunities. Now, many of these assets could soon hit the market as lenders and desperate landlords look to raise cash."

"Investors concede there is a risk, and they won’t be pouring all their money into distressed assets. Prices could remain depressed for a long time, and there is always the danger of buying too early, before the market bottoms out. David Schechtman, a broker at Meridian Capital Group, predicts that bankruptcy auctions in the property market will become a regular occurrence. He said he is currently marketing a handful of distressed assets for sale, including an unfinished luxury condominium in Manhattan."

"'Our thoughts and prayers are with all of our fellow Americans and nobody wants to capitalize on anybody’s misfortune,' Mr. Schechtman said. 'But I will tell you, real-estate investors—when you take the emotion out of it—many of them have been waiting for this for a decade.'"