A report from the Wall Street Journal. "Isaac Kassirer was at the forefront of one of the hottest trends in commercial real estate. He borrowed from global investors by promising to gentrify apartment buildings in New York’s low-income neighborhoods and raise the rents. Mr. Kassirer fell behind on some loans before the coronavirus pandemic and now some tenants are in open rebellion. Wall Street embraced landlords like Mr. Kassirer over the past decade. Bankers packaged up their loans and sold them to bond investors with the promise that the buildings would generate much higher income."

"About 40 of his mortgages in the area went into forbearance in the spring, according to Freddie Mac data. 'Gentrification came back to bite them in the tushy,' said Cathy Stephens, a 31-year resident."

The New York Times. "One in five New York City tenants did not pay rent in September, by one estimate, and there is growing concern of 'an eviction tsunami.' As apartment vacancies climb, sale prices and rents are falling, but nowhere near the magnitude needed to compensate for scarce affordable housing options. The outlook is daunting. Unemployment in New York City is still 14 per cent, after hitting 20 per cent in June and July. The hotel occupancy rate is 39 per cent, down from 95 per cent this time last year, according to research firm STR. Roughly one-third of the city's 240,000 small businesses may never reopen."

"Residential real estate sales plummeted 40 per cent in July, and 57 per cent in August, compared with 2019, according to the New York City Comptroller's Office. Commercial sales were down 28 per cent and 43 per cent in July and August, compared with last year. Discounts of under 10 per cent are widespread, but prices have yet to plummet, except in the ultraluxury tier."

"It is less clear what will happen in the saturated new-development market. Out of more than 20,000 condo units citywide that have come to market since 2018, nearly 60 per cent remain unsold, said Kael Goodman, chief executive of Marketproof, a real estate data company. That represents US$33 billion of unsold apartments, and about 2,000 of those units have not yet even begun sales."

"'It's the 'Road Runner' dynamite scenario: The fuse is burning, but it hasn't blown,' Mr Goodman said. 'Whichever way things break, there will be buildings that will have to be traded.'"

From WWL TV in Louisiana. "As executive director of Housing NOLA, Andreanecia Morris is helping lead an incentive program designed to connect families in need of housing to landlords who have vacant properties. Landlords get guaranteed fair market value for their property while families get to rest easy. Through grants and other funding Morris says about 1,600 families are ready to move in, but there’s a problem. 'They’ve got the assistance necessary to get housing and they just can’t find it,' said Morris."

"Morris says that’s in a city with an estimated 16 -18,000 vacant rental units. 'It’s a huge mismatch,' Morris said."

From Tuscaloosa News in Alabama. "A month after adopting new regulations governing student-based housing across the Tuscaloosa, city leaders are still wrestling with some aspects of this industry. At center stage now is a potential ban on four- and five-bedroom units within smaller developments, such as duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes and townhouses. District 4 Councilman Lee Busby s questioning the fairness of allowing them in certain developments but not in others. 'If the restrictions in the fives and fours in the mega-developments is partially driven by … this oversupply, this saturation, why would it be any less impacted by the ‘plexes?,' Busby said."

"He’s referring to City Hall data showing that, since 2011, more than 14,000 new bedrooms were built student-based or multifamily projects while the University of Alabama’s enrollment went up by about 7,800. 'I think … we are oversaturated with student apartments,' Mayor Walt Maddox said, 'but I don’t think getting rid of the fours and fives will help that problem. We don’t want to get in the business or regulating supply and demand, but we’re concerned that if we have an oversupply of these, they’re going to … creates problems. '"

The Marco Eagle in Florida. "The Marco Island Civic Association announced earlier this month that it will no longer allow short-term renters to enter its membership-only Residents' Beach facility to limit crowds as high season nears, but some condo owners say they are not happy with the decision. Mark Nothnagel, owner of a two-bedroom unit at the Mariner, said a client who made a month-long reservation for January canceled because of the new rules, resulting in a rental income loss of $4,000 to $5,000."

"'It's not the main reason we own (the condo) but it is a part of the reason a lot of people own properties on Marco Island,' Nothnagel said. Nothnagel said if he continues to receive cancellations he may have to consider selling the condo. Sean Ensminger, owner of two condo units near Residents' Beach, said a renter canceled a month-long reservation for January because of MICA's new rule. Ensminger said he will soon have to notify other renters who are not aware of MICA's policy change, and that it might result in cancellations. If more renters cancel, Ensminger said he will consider selling the properties."

"'It's critical for us to be able to rent it, and get that rental income for the high season,' Ensminger said."

From WQAD in Illinois. "A property owner is suing the Village of North Utica, the town where Illinois' Starved Rock State Park sits. Property owner Sam Patel says a change in Village law dictates how he does business and who he does business with. And now some property owners are selling their units, even when demand for rentals is high. His 10 rental cabins sit empty. Patel used to book guests through third-party services like Airbnb. But under a new village ordinance enacted in February 2020, he can't do that anymore unless he gets special approval. And the Village denied his application for that citing zoning issues."

"'I'm crunching the numbers in my head and at the rates they rent it out at, I can't pay my mortgage, my utilities, insurance with them taking such a big cut,' says Patel."

From CNBC. "In previous downturns, commercial property loan losses were 'heavy' and there are worrying signs that such a trend could be repeated this time during the pandemic-induced slowdown, Oxford Economics’ Adam Slater said in a report. 'Large (commercial real estate) price declines generally translate into big losses for banks,' Slater, an economist at the firm, wrote. This time those risks look highest in the U.S., Australia, and parts of Asia such as Hong Kong and South Korea."

"'In the case of property funds, (commercial real estate) downturns could see a rush by investors to redeem their holdings leading to fire sales of assets — amplifying price declines and broader loan losses,' said Slater."

From Connect Media. "NAI Global CEO Jay Olshonsky sees the makings of another wave of distress in the current downturn. Accordingly, he and his team are advising clients to prepare, in a variety of ways. Olshonsky tells Connect Media, is that 'this is going to hit a lot of major product types in commercial real estate for the first time in a long time.' Naturally, the two most widely discussed are hotel and retail, which have already withstood the worst of the extended shutdown."

"The potential for distress extends to the office and multifamily sectors, Olshonsky says. In the case of office, it is due to the pandemic’s acceleration of the work-from-home trend. 'Do I believe that offices will be closed and people will work from home forever? No,' he says. 'Could it be two to three years? Certainly, and that would cause properties to not have any net operating income and pay debt.'"

"Multifamily operators may also be facing similar challenges, 'because now you have people just not paying rent because of job loss,' says Olshonsky. 'That’s very different from 2009, because back then multifamily was the star and did just fine.'"

"Naturally, a recapitalization depends on 'whether the lender will allow you to actually do that and buy into your plan, and whether you’ll need to put more equity into the property,' he says. Alternately, if the property’s income outlook is truly painful, the owner has to weigh the implications of giving it back to the lender."

"'The other thing we’re recommending to owners is that, with all of the money out there, if they really want to know what their property is worth, put it on the market now and see what the pricing would bear,' says Olshonsky. 'You don’t know if it’s 10 cents on the dollar or 70 cents on the dollar until you get it there in front of a broad group of people. We’re finding that most owners are saying, ‘I want to get the same money I would have gotten on Feb.1 of this year’ and we’re nicely saying to them, ‘well, it’s not Feb. 1 anymore.'"

From Bisnow on Texas. "Dallas-Fort Worth skyscrapers and historic trophy buildings are hitting the sales block, capping off a particularly full sales market. DFW has eight office buildings taller than 10 stories listed for sale, according to CoStar Group data. They total 1.6M SF of office space for sale in the Metroplex. Though the sellers of these eight buildings have not said why they chose to put their buildings on the market now, CoStar Director of Market Analytics Paul Hendershot said the pandemic's impact and ongoing foreign investor interest in DFW could have prompted owners to list their assets."

"'There may be a few owners who feel the economic pain brought on by the pandemic and are looking to unload a property,' Hendershot said. 'The lion share of the deals taking place are not distressed properties being listed as fire sales.'"

"'While the largest buildings may make the headlines, the number of total listings in the market has been steadily increasing in 2020," Hendershot told Bisnow. In the first quarter of 2020, there were 986 total office building listings in DFW, followed by 1,046 in the second quarter and 1,110 in the third quarter, Hendershot said. Today, there are 1,149 office buildings for sale, the highest level reached in a decade, according to CoStar."

From Fox 40 on California. "Michael Schiesz is moving from Sunnyvale to Placerville. Schiesz has lived in his Sunnyvale home for more than 40 years, but now, he says he’s just had enough of living in Silicon Valley. Ironically, Schiesz says it’s been tough to sell his home in Sunnyvale and impossible to imagine a pre-COVID-19 world because of its location, which is less than a mile of 'that big Apple complex.'"

The E'ville Eye in California. "The demand is highest for single-family homes in suburban communities as remote work becomes more commonplace and proximity to urban 'job centers' becomes a less important criterion. Many are predicting an 'exodus' from denser communities San Francisco. For a city like Emeryville that consists of mostly condominiums and whose probably greatest attribute is its proximity to SF, this has put the market in favor of buyers. We’re beginning to see many condominium sellers lowering their initial list price to stoke interest by buyers."

"Rents continued their gradual decline since the pandemic began with 27 of 31 cities (~87%) experiencing year-over-year (YoY) median rent declines. The most expensive markets are experiencing the most drastic declines. New listings in July 2020 rose 53% compared to this time last year. The trend continued in August with 44% more listings compared to August 2019."

"Over the last year, Emeryville averaged about 15 active listings per month. Currently there are 36 properties for sale. YTD listings sold: 74 (25% YoY decline). Median YTD list price: $499,950 (14.5% YoY decline). Median YTD sales price: $500,000 (8.3% YoY decline). Median YTD days on market: 20 days (42.8% YoY increase). Inventory continues to be high and more properties are coming on the market. All this is pointing to a shift in the market. The median sales price in Emeryville declined sharply in 2020 to $535,000 from $600,000 in 2019 and $590,000 in 2018."

The Los Angeles Business Journal in California. "The luxury housing market in Los Angeles may not be immune to Covid-19, but it seems to have built up a strong resistance to the impact of the pandemic. Most agents agree on two things: Sellers are being more realistic on price, and buyers want land. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, there was more aspirational pricing, said Compass’ Sally Forster Jones. But now, she added, sellers have 'less aspirational pricing and more realistic pricing. There’s no more overpricing, and people coming in and negotiating. Sellers are being reasonable. Buyers and sellers are on the same page.'"

"David Kramer, an agent at Hilton & Hyland, called current asking prices 'more realistic. '(Sellers) look at the history of some of the aspirational properties that haven’t sold.'"

The Union Tribune in California. "San Diego-based Guild Mortgage will pay $24.9 million to the federal government to resolve allegations it knowingly violated requirements for home loans that later defaulted. The U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday that allegations, from a former employee, stated the company violated the False Claims Act by not following requirements when issuing mortgages it originated and underwrote for Federal Housing Administration, or FHA, insured loans."

"Despite paying the lofty sum, the department said the claims were only allegations and there had been no determination of liability. Guild Mortgage said in a statement that it entered into the settlement to avoid the delay, uncertainty and expense of litigation."

"'Guild remains confident in the compliance processes it has in place for FHA-related mortgage lending and other mortgage lending activities and maintains its position that the claims asserted were without merit,' wrote Guild CEO Mary Ann McGarry in a statement. 'With this matter now behind us, Guild looks forward to continuing to help its clients achieve their dreams of homeownership.'"