A report from the American Statesman in Texas. "Last month, Central Texas housing market expert Charles Heimsath anticipated that sales could plummet by 30% over the next three months, in what typically are among the busiest months for residential real estate. 'It is just too difficult to show property, obtain appraisals, make repairs and find an interested lender, particularly at the higher end of the market,' Heimsath said in April."

"Recent figures indicate his forecast was on the mark. Some real estate agents said they expect the report to show what they already know: that the virus brought an abrupt and merciless halt to Central Texas’ 10-year housing streak, one marked by ever-higher records in home sales and median home-sales prices. The luxury market has slowed, they said, while some potential buyers planning to move to Austin from elsewhere have pushed back their timelines, putting travel on hold for now."

From Forbes. "The crush of business loss resulting from the pandemic is a difficult reality for an industry. The drop in usage and revenue is devastating. And then there is short-term rental market and its face to millions: Airbnb. 'Our bookings in March all cancelled,' said Shauna Mahoney, a co-owner with her husband Chris of two properties. One is a family cabin, fully paid for, near Zion National Park in Utah. The other, a house near the Glen Canyon National Recreational Area in Arizona, where Chris works for the National Park Service. They bought the latter property last August and then remodeled it as a family vacation spot that could more than pay for itself—until a pandemic stopped the business this year."

"'COVID-19 put a pause on travel,' said Karen Xie, and associate professor of service analytics at the University of Denver's Daniels College of Business. She said that Airbnb saw cancellations of 85% of existing bookings. 'Hosts on Airbnb are hit hard, especially those professional hosts who operate multiple Airbnb properties using leverage,' according to Xie. 'They are struggling to pay back mortgages to banks due to the halt of cash flow.'"

"Heather Bise, a long-time real estate professional, has a house in Cleveland where she had been renting out over Airbnb as a five-bedroom bed and breakfast. Her lease was $1,700 and she could see as much as $6,000 in monthly revenue. 'Then Corona slowly started to infect my bookings in February, rapidly spreading throughout April,' Bise said. 'My business had been shattered, to say the least. I kept telling myself, 'I survived the recession in NYC as a broker. I survived Hurricane Sandy in Jersey. If anyone can comeback from COVID-19, I know it can.' And yet bringing in new business was a challenge.'"

"Price promotions might seem a potential solution, but they come with difficulties. The Mahoneys 'slashed' their rates from $259 to $129 a night. 'We had three new bookings when we dropped our prices,' Shauna Mahoney. Their business has moved to nearby 'bargain hunters' who are sometimes never satisfied rather than previous clientele who would come from all over the world. 'We had someone who wanted to book and said can you come down on the price at all?' she said."

From KOLO TV in Nevada. "The housing crisis in the Reno-Sparks area is far from over, but because of the COVID-19 Pandemic, supply is now catching up with the high demand. 'COVID was kind of a blessing for the market, you know giving it some time, you know letting inventory catch up to demand,' Local Realtor Kayla Dalton said. Dalton explained that the sudden halt in demand is closing the gap in housing inventory. There are now at least 850 homes on the market, compared to 600 in March."

"Dalton also added that because many buyers have put their search on hold, it's now less competitive to get the home you want at a better price. 'Before, buyers couldn't really negotiate deals and they were just having to put their full price offer in and hope that nobody else was going to beat them so now is definitely a better time for them to negotiate a deal,' she said."

The Miami Herald in Florida. "A 7,630-square-foot unit at 7021 Fisher Island Drive on exclusive Fisher Island just sold for $12.2 million to an Ohio buyer looking for a vacation home, said listing agent Cyril Matz of Douglas Elliman. The buyer paid another $800,000 on the furnishings, bringing the total sale to $13 million. The condo sold at a 12% discount, down from $13.86 million after 92 days on the market. The selling price was $1,598.95 per square foot. Another Palazzo del Sol unit was sold by the developer in August 2019 for $2,200 per square foot. While sales do continue, Matz — like other agents — has seen a slowdown in South Florida’s luxury condo market due to over-supply."

"Cindy Stumpo, founder of the Newton-based custom home builder firm C. Stumpo Development, said she predicts the decrease in local condo luxury sales to continue. 'Condos are going to be hit hard, because there’s just so many of them,' she said."

The Real Deal on California. "Luxury home sale prices ticked up last week in Los Angeles. Two new-construction homes topped the current list; the three others are at least 20 years old. 1672 Clear View Drive | Beverly Hills | $10.4M: The market for new construction white-box moderns has been somewhat weak over the last couple of years, but the price tag on this five-bedroom, eight-bathroom property suggests there are still buyers. But those buyers aren’t willing to bite at the first price. The 8,800-square-foot property first hit the market in December, asking $15 million before that was dropped to $11 million in late March, which came out to $1,188 per square foot."

The Orange County Register in California. "You know there’s trouble in the tourism business when nobody seems to want to own a luxury hotel. The Chinese government is trying to unload 15 U.S. luxury resorts – including six in California – after seizing a failed insurance company two years ago. Korean real estate investors last September were willing to pay $5.8 billion for the resort collection that includes Montage Laguna Beach, Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel in Dana Point, Loews Santa Monica, Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay, Four Seasons Hotel in East Palo Alto and Westin St. Francis in San Francisco."

"The deal was supposed to close mid-April as bizarre questions swirled about ownership technicalities of some of those resorts. Then Mirae Asset Global Investments, the proposed buyers, last week said they were walking away from the deal, claiming the sellers didn’t execute as promised."

"The world’s hotel industry has been slammed by travel fears and business restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic. And by one metric, Green Street Advisors commercial real estate indexes, hotel values are down 16% in three months."

"But the seller insists a deal is a deal and went to federal court in Delaware to force the Koreans to buy. And Friday, according to Law360, a judge ruled the seller’s case is good enough that there should be a trial starting in August. I’m guessing the settlement chatter has begun in a squabble over an investment — luxury hotels — that is decidedly not for the risk-averse."

"Not wanting luxury resorts is suddenly chic in 2020. The 15-hotel deal now in front of a Delaware judge 'is just one of many deals that buyers have walked away from,' says hotel analyst Alan Reay at Atlas Hospitality. The legal battle is now over the buyer’s huge deposit, reportedly in the $500 million ballpark, Reay says. Can the one-time suitor walk away from these resorts without losing that kind of money?"

From Spectrum News on California. "Tom Bannon, CEO of the California Apartment Association, estimated that more than 85% of renters in California would not be able to pay their rents in May. 'There’s about six million rental units in the State of California. Approximately three million of those rental units are in buildings that are between one and five units, and clearly those particular landlords -- we sort of call them mom and pops, which are really independent rental owners -- are probably more impacted than anybody,' he said."

"If two residents in a four unit building cannot pay rent, that means 50% of the landlord’s monthly revenue is gone. That makes paying the mortgage, insurance, and other expenses difficult. Some landlords bought their properties as investments."

"'A number of your smaller independent rental owners, a lot of folks basically put their life savings into their property, and it is their retirement. Is it a gamble? Sure,' Bannon said. 'But the reality is, housing is an important component of our society, and if in fact it's that important, we are hopeful that the state government will step in and do something about it and provide some sort of housing vouchers so that everybody wins, both the residents and landlords.'"