A report from The Merced County Times in California. "CEO Josh Stech, described Sundae, which is funded by Silicon Valley venture capitalists and has offices in San Francisco, Manhattan Beach and San Diego, as a business which specializes in a niche in the real estate market. 'The category is homes that need a lot of work,' said Stech. Stech told the Times, 'Heading into this crisis, we owned a lot of properties and are now putting them back onto the market. It’s shifted to a buyer’s market, so you need to be thoughtful about doing work on a home if you want it to sell fast.'"

"Home building has paused, according to Stech. 'There are foreclosure and eviction moratoriums, which is a good thing for a time like this,' he said. 'But when that forbearance stops, we might see a wave of foreclosures after this health crisis passes.'"

From Stuff New Zealand. "The next few months could be a unique opportunity to land a trophy home that wouldn't otherwise be available. There are certain homes in L.A. that you'll never see on the market unless someone dies, said David Kramer, an agent with Hilton & Hyland, but recessions bring motivated sellers out of the woodwork."

"'When things go bad, you see legacy homes sell at reasonable prices. People think those in the high-end market won't be affected, but they love deals. If you're looking at a good price for a property — combined with a good loan — that's a deal. There are definitely some more big sales coming,' said Kramer, who just listed a gargantuan Spanish villa of more than 40,000 square feet for NZ$164 million in Bel-Air."

"Although inventory is down, buyers trying to take advantage of the market to snatch up a trophy home have plenty of options. There are currently 45 properties listed for NZ$50 million or more in L.A. County, according to Redfin. Listing agents don't seem to be shying away either. Twelve of those 45 properties have hit the market since the beginning of March, when concerns over the pandemic began to swell."

"Chasing a deal? Beverly Hills' Wallingford Estate — a five-acre promontory property anchored by a 38,000-square-foot mansion — hit the market in April for NZ$156 million, down NZ$65 million from its price in 2018. In Bel-Air, a 10.6-acre prized piece of land with approved plans for up to 180,000 square feet just relisted for NZ$205 million, a cool NZ$41 million shy of its last asking price."

"Jade Mills of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage said interest rates are pushing sales through. 'Banks are taking longer to get loans done, but they still seem to be getting done,' she noted. In addition to her usual slew of roles needed to close a deal, Mills finds herself adding another feather to her cap: therapist. In a time where sellers are wary and buyers are asking for more price cuts, it's the agent's job to keep everyone happy enough to get the deal done."

"Many sellers are nervous about listing their home in what appears to be a buyers' market, but one way the Multiple Listing Service is assuaging their fears is removing the days-on-market data, which can be leveraged into lower offers. If buyers see a property has been on the market for over 100 days, they're much more likely to seek a bargain than if something just listed last week."

"Some high-end agents, such as Stephen Shapiro of Westside Estate Agency, aren't so optimistic about the market. 'Some people say things are going great. They're not going great,' said Shapiro, noting that he's seen sales drop roughly 30 per cent over the last month. Many of the sales closing had already gone into escrow before the pandemic broke out, and buyers still in escrow are doing one of three things: backing out, asking for an extension or renegotiating."

"Motivated sellers have been luring deal-seekers with price cuts, but many are simply withdrawing their high-end properties altogether. 'If someone doesn't have to sell, this isn't the environment you want to sell in,' Shapiro said."

"In April, Kylie Jenner turned heads when she dropped NZ$60 million on a modern compound in Holmby Hills. The reality star got a decent discount as well, as the 15,000-square-foot stunner first hit the market last summer for NZ$90 million."

The Los Angeles Times. "Mortgage credit is tightening. Some lenders are increasing FICO score and down payment requirements. One type of low-documentation loan has all but dried up. So-called jumbo mortgages, which in Los Angeles and Orange counties are those for greater than $765,600, have also grown rarer. And two major banks have stopped issuing new home equity lines of credit — a potential source of funds for existing homeowners suddenly in need of cash."

"'Lenders are concerned … with the severity and the duration of what is going on,' said George Bahamondes, a real estate finance analyst with Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. That can be seen in the data. The Mortgage Bankers Assn.'s Mortgage Credit Availability Index, which measures how accessible loans are to borrowers, has fallen sharply. The April index, released Thursday, was the lowest since December 2014 and a 12% decline from March. The March index had fallen 16% from February."

"Experts said lenders are tightening standards because they fear they’ll take in less money, whether it’s because of defaults on existing and future loans or mortgage forbearance programs that allow borrowers to delay payments for up to a year. 'I wouldn’t be surprised if we got back to 2010-2011 type of tightness of credit,' said Joel Kan, an associate vice president with the trade group."

"One of the biggest contractions has been in loans that require minimal documentation to prove a borrower’s ability to repay and that can’t be sold to or insured by government entities. Such loans — often referred to as non-QM mortgages — are popular with self-employed borrowers who don’t get W-2 forms detailing their wages."

"Some major non-QM lenders have announced they’ve stopped issuing loans altogether. That includes Irvine-based Impac Mortgage Holdings, which works with outside brokers as well as directly with borrowers under the name CashCall Mortgage. Impac has cited uncertainty in the marketplace for its decision."

"Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions of Atlanta, another big non-QM lender, said it temporarily stopped making low-documentation home loans. It started doing so again last week, but with changes. A borrower needs to provide 24 months of bank statements from their business and have a minimum FICO score of 700. Before, only 12 months were needed and borrowers needed only a 600 credit score. Angel Oak said the loans were always only for self-employed borrowers. Previously, loan seekers could qualify using a personal bank statement, but that’s no longer an option."

"Dave George, a Redfin agent in Orange County, said there is still demand to purchase homes, and by some indications it’s increasing. George said Redfin saw a jump in the number of in-person showings, which are allowed with proper social distancing measures, last weekend in Orange County. At the same time, many of his clients are locked out because they need a low-documentation loan and can’t find one. 'They are on the shelf right now,' he said. 'They can’t get the financing they need.'"

The San Francisco Chronicle. "Three marquee San Francisco tech companies -- Uber, Airbnb and Lyft -- which exemplified a new generation of megabillion-dollar startups, have now slashed staffs in response to the coronavirus pandemic and shelter-in-place orders. 'No one is immune,' said Richard Florida, an urban studies theorist and professor at the University of Toronto. 'The recession -- or depression -- will bite everyone.'"

"San Francisco developed a love-hate relationship with the tech sector as Silicon Valley's epicenter shifted here. 'The city may have congratulated itself on having the world's greatest concentration of high-tech startups funded by venture capital, but it was always bemoaning the new urban crisis it faces, with techies driving up housing costs and gentrifying the city,' Florida said. 'Now that may turn into (deeper) problems. When people are laid off, they can't pay taxes.'"

"The influx of highly paid tech workers into the Bay Area accelerated housing unaffordability, said Peter Cohen, co-director at the Council of Community Housing Organizations, a San Francisco nonprofit. Even though the tech boom also helped create middle-wage and lower-wage jobs, developers aimed their production at the high end, 'which drove housing prices all the higher and out of reach for a very wide range of everyday workers not in those high-paid ranks,' he said."

"Now that could change. 'Perhaps the reduction in some of that highly paid workforce from tech layoffs will begin to dampen housing prices as property owners have to adjust to new characteristics of demand,' Cohen said."