A report from the Wall Street Journal. "Signs of stress in New York City’s commercial properties are fueling investor bets that trouble in the nation’s largest real-estate market could spread pain nationwide. 'Distress in financial markets was all about residential mortgage-backed securities in 2008 and energy in 2015,' said Daniel McNamara, a principal at MP Securitized Credit Partners, who is betting prices for some CMBS indexes will fall. 'In 2021 it will be all about commercial real estate and the securities linked to it.'"

"Investors watch New York closely because Wall Street splices such loans up, packages them together into bonds and sells them to pension funds and asset managers world-wide. Many consider the city a bellwether, and collapsing loan prices in Manhattan developments could be a sign of trouble ahead for the more-than half-trillion-dollar market for so-called commercial mortgage-backed securities."

"More than $3 billion worth of loans backing commercial property in the five boroughs are currently delinquent, according to Trepp, and loans in creditor negotiations total another $4 billion."

From Footwear News on New York. "According to brokerage Cushman & Wakefield, Madison Avenue — the mile-and-a-half stretch in Manhattan where locals and tourists can find upscale boutiques and luxury fashion names — recorded a 17% decline in rents to an average of $779 per square foot during the third quarter. The firm reported that the price is down 52% from its peak over the past five years. As rents continue to fall, space availability is rising. Cushman & Wakefield shared that Madison Avenue, for instance, saw the highest availability rate in the third quarter at 35%."

"Since March, however, a slew of major retailers — including J.Crew, Neiman Marcus and JCPenney — went bankrupt, while others have drawn down millions or applied for government stimulus funds to keep their businesses afloat. Separately, a growing list of landlords have resorted to legal action against tenants who have skipped out on their lease obligations to cut costs and maintain liquidity."

From Boston 25 News in Massachusetts. "Community leaders in the Mass & Cass corridor of Boston are pointing to at least one positive change that’s happened during the pandemic - methadone home delivery programs. Neighbors who live in the community that’s commonly referred to by the negative nickname 'Methadone Mile' are skeptical that methadone deliveries will result in any noticeable changes. South End resident Elizabeth Schwartz put her family’s Mass Ave condo on the market two months ago and is determined to leave when the right offer comes her way."

"She said the primary factor in her decision is her 18-month-old son’s safety.'I hope for this community and for the city of Boston that things improve, but I’m not banking on that happening in a reasonable time frame that affects me,' said Schwartz. 'It’s just a reshuffling. I don’t think that’s a win because we’re not really addressing the underlying issues.'"

From The Real Deal on Florida. "Miami-Dade County’s largest resort is no longer in special servicing. The $975 million commercial mortgage-backed securities loan for Jeffrey Soffer’s Fontainebleau Miami Beach returned to the master servicer on Sept. 23 following successful negotiations with lenders, according to Trepp data updated this week. The 15-acre oceanfront Miami Beach property includes two hotel towers with 846 rooms and two condo towers with 748 units, the majority of which can also be rented to hotel guests at any given time."

"The Miami area’s $4.3 billion in outstanding CMBS hotel debt is the second largest in the country after Las Vegas, but only 8 percent of that is currently delinquent. By contrast, the delinquency rate is 32 percent in New York, 55 percent in Chicago, and 26 percent in Los Angeles."

From Maine Biz. "With the number of home foreclosures in Maine rising 18.2% during the third quarter, the state now has one of the largest foreclosure rates in the country. Maine ranked No. 6 among states with highest foreclosure filing rates during the third quarter of the year, and was No. 4 for the month of September, according to ATTOM Data Solutions. That level placed Maine behind only South Carolina, Illinois, New Mexico, New Jersey and Delaware, by rank, and just ahead of Florida."

"'Foreclosure activity has, for all intents and purposes, ground to a halt due to moratoria put in place by the federal, state and local governments and the mortgage forbearance program initiated by the CARES Act,' said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of ATTOM subsidiary RealtyTrac. 'But it's important to remember that the numbers we're seeing today are artificially low, even as the number of seriously delinquent loans continues to increase, and that we'll see a significant — and probably quite sudden — burst of foreclosure activity once these various government programs expire.'"

From Patch New Jersey. "This seven-bedroom Moorestown home saw its price plummet from $949,000 to $499,000 on Oct. 14. Features: Being sold strictly as is. Amazing opportunity to complete and customize one of the most iconic classical colonial homes on a gorgeous lot in Moorestown next to the highly acclaimed Moorestown Friends School campus. This vibrant location is exciting."

The Washington Blade. "'The housing market is roaring right now.' 'Home prices climb to record high in pandemic as buyers seek space.' '2020: the summer of booming home sales.' As you might have noticed, these are the types of headlines that have been dominating our news feeds across the nation and in Washington, D.C. In D.C., we experienced a delayed spring market that ramped up in June and only started showing signs of slowing toward the end of August."

"Once September came to a close, though, everything changed. Since then, there’s been a noticeable pause in the demand for specific housing types. Condos are now collecting days on market. The luxury townhouses downtown are seeing only a trickle of showings. Agents are moving to make quick price modifications while inventory sits unsold. The question remains: What is the catalyst for this deceleration? There’s no shortage of factors that could account for the current market state. The bottom line, though, is that not all sectors of our diverse housing market in Washington, D.C. (and its surrounding areas) are currently living up to the media hype."

The Citizen Times in North Carolina. "If you have any doubt that apartment developers see an opportunity in the Asheville area, consider the Oct. 14 Buncombe County Board of Adjustment agenda. It includes two separate applications for new apartments, one proposal to build 852 units off Sweeten Creek Road in South Asheville, and another to build 660 units at 20 South Bear Creek Road in West Asheville."

"Kate Millar, president of the Malvern Hills Neighborhood Association, which opposes the nearby 20 South Bear Creek project, likens the spate of apartment building to the recent hotel boom and wonders if Asheville and Buncombe are becoming overbuilt. 't strikes me that multi-family housing is a place that investment capital from elsewhere likes to flow right now, much like hotels were before the pause. Does this roving capital really care about places that they themselves don't live? Or is it just an extractive arrangement?' Millar said."

"Jack Cecil, CEO of the Biltmore Farms company, which is selling the land for the 852-unit Busbee apartments proposal off Sweeten Creek, said reports do show a continuing need for more apartments. 'The second bellwether is, if people are building them there must be a demand,' Cecil said. 'That's just pure and simple economics 101: supply and demand.'"

The Kansas City Star. "Before the tour of the latest downtown luxury apartments even leaves the lobby, Jonathan Holtzman offers a bold proclamation. 'I think we have developed the best apartment community that’s ever been built in Kansas City,' he said. Walking around the new City Club Apartments Crossroads Kansas City, it’s easy to see why he thinks so."

"The new development at 20th and Main streets has just about every amenity imaginable. On the rooftop, airy cabanas, a party-sized spa and sparkling blue pool overlook the downtown Kansas City skyline. In a central courtyard, residents can enjoy the private dog park or the massive outdoor kitchen. Included in the rent is access to a fitness center, oversized bathtubs, concierge service and two movie theaters — one inside and one outside."

"The supply of downtown rentals continues to expand at a time when the workplaces and cultural amenities that attracted many to the area in the first place have been upended — or closed altogether — by the coronavirus pandemic. And the opening of each new apartment building points to a central question: Are there now too many apartments downtown?"

"Rents on prime apartments are down as much as 10%, said Mike Tiehen, an owner of a third-party rental marketing site and president of the Tiehen Group, which owns and manages apartment buildings across the city. Eenters are finding landlords offering a free month or two of rent or across-the-board discounts on advertised monthly rents. 'Absolutely, now is a great time to rent with all this inventory,' Tiehen said. 'These landlords are afraid to go into the winter months with vacancies so they’re going to be discounting rent. There is an oversupply.'"

"Christina Boveri, owner of Boveri Realty Group, which works with buyers, sellers, renters and landlords, said one thing is clear: there is plenty of rental supply downtown and across Kansas City. 'I don’t see their books on how many people are paying rent. But I do see the vacancies,' she said. 'We see availability every week for most places in the city. And I know those lists have gotten longer.'"

The Real Deal on California. "Rents are free-falling in the country’s most expensive market. The median monthly rate for a studio in San Francisco in September was $2,285 per month, Bloomberg reported, citing data from Realtor.com. That’s 31 percent lower than it was a year prior. Median rents for one-bedroom units were down about a quarter year-over-year, while two-bedrooms dropped in price by 21 percent, according to Realtor.com."

"Santa Clara and San Mateo, both in the Bay Area, also saw big drops in their median studio rents — 19 and 18 percent, respectively. San Francisco’s rent drops are among the largest in the country since the coronavirus pandemic began. Its vacancy rate has risen, too; it was at 6.2 percent as of May."

From Bravo TV on California. "After listing her new Encino house for $9.495M last month, Dorit Kemsley just significantly dropped the price of the home. In an Instagram post, David Parnes, who is listing the property alongside his business partner and Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles costar James Harris, revealed that the house now comes with a much lower price tag. 'MAJOR PRICE REDUCTION,' David captioned his post. ⁠'Reduced by $1.5M⁠.'"