A report from the Inlander in Washington. "A decade after the depths of the Great Recession, another potential housing crisis is brewing: State and federal governments have issued eviction moratoriums, preventing landlords from booting tenants who aren't paying their rents. 'We've had a number of landlords — with nonpayment of up to 10 months from some tenants — pursuing bankruptcy,' says Steve Corker, president of the Landlord Association of the Inland Northwest."

The Voice of OC in California. "Cities across Orange County are finding ways to handle the rapidly expanding business of short term rentals. 'It was basically three days of continuous party,' said one resident at a Costa Mesa City Council meeting. 'The worst of everything was that after this nightmare was over, neighbors found used needles and used condoms on their front yards.'"

"Short term rental operator and Orange resident Dory Williams lost her job with an airline due to the pandemic, and since then has moved out of her home and operated it as a short term rental to meet her mortgage payments and pay for groceries. 'Since March, I’ve been unable to find a job and fully rely on my rental,' Williams said. 'If rentals are banned, I don’t know what to do. I’d be forced to sell the house I worked so hard for.'"

From Bloomberg. "A hotel company that ran into trouble during the financial crisis is shaping up to be one of the biggest losers in the pandemic lodging bust, as property owners who delayed debt payments grapple with impatient lenders. Columbia Sussex Corp., the closely held Crestview Hills, Kentucky-based owner of 49 lodging properties, is in foreclosure on three hotels, and is prepared to surrender two others to lenders, loan documents compiled by Bloomberg show. At least 25 properties that the company has financed with loans packaged into commercial-mortgage backed securities are in special servicing or on servicer watch lists."

"Columbia Sussex has lost hotels before. It bought 14 hotels from Blackstone Group Inc. in 2005, then surrendered them in 2010 after the private equity giant bought up debt on the properties. In many ways, the lodging industry’s current problems make past crises look tame by comparison. U.S. occupancy rates fell to 44% in 2020, well below the previous low of 55% in 2009, according to data provider STR."

From Boston.com in Massachusetts. "It wasn’t that long ago that Boston was the third-most expensive U.S. city for renters. That was last month. Boston has dropped to fifth as COVID-19 continues to take its toll on the market and landlord and renter incomes. Boston tied with Indianapolis for the largest month-over-month decrease in rent: six percent. Year over year, rents are down a whopping 19.2 percent. For two-bedroom apartments, they are down 13.8 percent."

From Bisnow New York. "Boston Properties took an impairment charge last quarter because of a protracted lease-up and extra costs at the brand-new office building Dock 72, the company said Tuesday. The $60.5M non-cash impairment charge was declared on the real estate investment trust's Q4 2020 earnings statement. Boston Properties said the slower-than-expected leasing was due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has thrown cold water across the entire city’s office leasing market. And the current fair value of the property has been lowered, resulting in a sizable loss."

"The property opened in October 2019, with WeWork leasing 222K SF across half of the third through sixth floors and all of the seventh and eighth floors. At the time, WeWork’s much-hyped initial public offering was going south and was ultimately canned. The coworking behemoth has since taken another major hit as a result of the economic fallout of the global health crisis."

The Atlanta Journal Constitution in Georgia. "Amid the coronavirus pandemic, not much good news has emerged. But there is a small silver lining for renters. In 2020, rent prices dropped, rather than increased in Atlanta. 'This aggregates to a national trend that appears similar to previous winters but hides some new trends,' Apartment List explained. 'Most notably, the nation’s smaller, more-affordable markets have absorbed most of the summer’s rent rebound, while larger, more-expensive markets have been saddled with unrelenting price drops.'"

From CTV News in Canada. "If you were on the lookout for a Greater Toronto Area condo or apartment to rent or own late last year, new data from the region's real estate board shows you might have had an edge in negotiations. The number of condos listed for sale or rent in the area in the fourth quarter of 2020 were up by double and sometimes triple digits from the year before, while prices were down. 'I have a few clients right now where their properties are vacant because we just can't even get tenants in them,' said Davelle Morrison, a Toronto broker. 'It's on my to do list to try to get to take another price cut.'"

From The Express. "Property prices in England's capital could be about to plummet as house prices in some of the city's most sought-after locations begin to tumble. According to research by Astons, sold prices have fallen by ten percent since the start of the pandemic in some of London’s prime postcodes. For example, the W1J postcode in Mayfair and St James’s has seen prices drop by as much as 40 percent. That means some property prices have dropped from £4.9million to £2.9million."

The Irish Independent. "The financial backer of Dublin's two biggest commercial property projects is accelerating its exit from the capital after coming under financial pressure. Colony Capital has agreed to sell its stake in the Facebook and Salesforce European headquarters developments to an undisclosed international buyer. The company had bankrolled the two projects, which are being developed by Ronan Group Real Estate (RGRE), as part of its aggressive move into Irish commercial real estate after the financial crisis."

"Last year, the US parent company began selling assets after one of its investment arms defaulted on a €3.2bn loan secured on a portfolio of hotels and nursing homes hit by the pandemic. Market sources said Colony is now winding down its European commercial real estate fund and will be looking to sell those properties, which include the Hive in Sandyford and Carrisbrook House and 23 Shelbourne Road in Ballsbridge."

From Free Malaysia Today. "The property overhang in Malaysia has continued on an upward trend, with consultant firm Rahim & Co International expecting the market to remain challenging for the rest of the year. Its research director, Sulaiman Saheh, said 57,390 homes, serviced apartments and Soho (small office home office) units worth RM42.49 billion were left unsold as of the third quarter of last year. Sulaiman said housing affordability had also contributed to the overhang, as prices were relatively high compared to the average Malaysian annual household incomes."

"Rahim & Co International executive chairman Abdul Rahim Abdul Rahman said property consultants have found it difficult to 'close the gap between the property prices the buyers and sellers want,'which has been widened by the pandemic. Chief executive Siva Shanker pointed out that the vaccine was not a 'silver bullet' for the property market’s struggles, as the oversupply of residential units and office spaces had existed long before the pandemic. 'These problems were not caused by the virus, so they will not be solved by the vaccine,' he said, adding that office vacancies had fallen in the 70% bracket, the lowest in a long time."

The Vietnam Express. "Rents for coworking office space in HCMC decreased 12 percent year-on-year last year due to the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, a report says. The occupancy rates of coworking office space in Grade A and B buildings last year plunged by 7 percentage points as its supply experienced the lowest growth since 2017 to 6 percent, according to a report by Savills Vietnam."

"The gloomy outlook for the coworking space market, which boomed in the country between 2017 and 2019, has prompted investors to cancel expansion plans. '2020 was a challenging year for both traditional and shared office segments. The market has been seeing a number of tenants turn to lower-priced office buildings and shophouses to cut down on rental costs in order to maintain their business,' said Vo Thi Khanh Trang, head of Savills Vietnam's market research department."

The South China Morning Post. "Hong Kong’s embattled serviced apartment operators are slashing rents, in some cases, by as much as half, and offering sweeteners to boost occupancy rates. 'Whilst hotels can entice locals with attractive staycation packages, serviced apartments rely heavily on business travellers and corporate relocations – with those new to Hong Kong utilising them whilst searching for more permanent homes,' said Will Robertson, executive director at Nest Property. 'The serviced apartment industry, like many, has struggled as a result.'"

"L’hotel Causeway Bay Harbour View is offering serviced apartment units starting at HK$9,999 (US$1,290) per month. The flats, ranging from 301 to 344 sq ft, were priced at HK$12,000 a month before the offer. The units went for as much as HK$19,000 at their peak before the coronavirus outbreak sent the hotel and serviced apartment sector into a downward spiral. The offer comes with HK$1,200 dining credits and cleaning service twice a week."

"The monthly rent for a three-bedroom suite at The Harbourview Place, Sun Hung Kai Properties’ luxury serviced apartments located in The Cullinan, was recently priced 41 per cent lower than in November 2018, according to Nest."

From Nestegg in Australia. "According to Domain’s latest rental report, Sydney’s unit rents have tumbled to 2013 prices, dropping 5.1 per cent on the quarter and 7.8 per cent on the year to $470 in December. This marks the steepest quarterly and annual fall since Domain rental records began in 2004. Similarly, Melbourne suffered a 3 per cent quarterly decline and 7.6 per cent yearly decline to a five-year low of $388. Of all the capital cities, Melbourne units have recorded the deepest fall in asking rent since pre-pandemic March, down 9.8 per cent."

"'For the first time in five years, Melbourne is the third most affordable capital city to rent a unit, after Adelaide and Perth,' Domain said. 'A marked change considering Melbourne was the third most expensive city to rent a unit back in March. Inner-city apartments have been hardest hit with rents at a seven-year low, followed by the inner east and inner south hitting a four-year low.'"

"As for Sydney, Domain explained that unit rents have been hardest hit in the city and east and inner west, with rents at an eight-year low, while the lower north shore is the cheapest in nine years. 'Annually, unit rents have been falling since mid-2018, but this trend has been accelerated by changes as a result of COVID-19.'"