A report from Mortgage Professional America. "Odeta Kushi, deputy chief economist at First American, looked at 50 housing markets across America. In all but two of those markets (San Jose and San Francisco), owning made more sense than renting. For mortgage professionals looking to communicate this information to prospective borrowers, Kushi offered a straightforward takeaway: the house is paying you."

From WHYY in Pennsylvania. "Jobin is one of a growing number of homeowners in the region unable to pay their home loans nearly a year into a pandemic that has cost hundreds of thousands of jobs across the region. Before the pandemic began, she was a home health aid. The hours were always unpredictable but she was able to average 40 hours a week — enough to keep her mortgage paid and food on the table. When March hit, her hours began to dwindle to 16 and then none at all."

"The latest available census data shows about 13% of homeowners behind on their mortgage in the Philadelphia metropolitan statistical area which includes Reading, Camden, and Wilmington, Delaware. The share of troubled loans signals a growing crisis, said Ira Goldstein, the president of Policy Solutions at the Reinvestment Fund. 'We’re getting close to what it was during the worst recession since the Great Depression,' he said."

"Jobin is doing all she can to be one of the homeowners spared in this crisis — and trying to remain focused on its silver linings. 'I adore the time I get to spend with my kids,' she said. 'Before I was working full-time and they were at school full-time and we didn’t really see each other. [Now], we’re able to watch movies, talk, and read together.'"

The San Antonio Current in Texas. "After sitting on the market for a couple of years, country singer George Strait's estate in the ritzy Dominion neighborhood has been re-listed at $7.5 million, knocking a quarter off its original asking price. The King of Country's Santa Fe-style home originally went on the sales block in 2018 at $10 million, then the price dropped to $8.9 million in 2019. The latest price cut took place Sunday, the Express-News reports."

The Real Deal on Illinois. "A court-appointed receiver is casting for a buyer for the landmark Congress Theater. The vacant Logan Square venue has hit the market, months after a long-sought redevelopment effort for the 160,000-square-foot property was canceled when lender AEG foreclosed, according to Crain’s. Developer Michael Moyer had planned to restore the near century-old former movie and music theater with 4,900 seats and add 14 apartments and a 30-room hotel. He received approvals to build a 72-unit apartment residential project next to the theater."

"But now, a court-appointed receiver has hired Frontline Real Estate Partners to market the building after entertainment giant AEG Worldwide filed a $24 million foreclosure suit in August, according to Crain’s. In addition to being the lender, Los Angeles-based AEG had also agreed to lease the theater space at 2135 North Milwaukee Avenue. But the company alleged in August that a group led by Moyer defaulted on $14 million in loan payments dating several years back."

From Westfair Online. "Jonathan Miller, CEO of Miller Samuel Inc., described the rental market in New York City as still being crushed. He said the Manhattan residential rental market has been down about 22% in terms of net rental rates recently and he’s seen some segments down as much as 40%."

From Westword in Colorado. "A new report reveals that rent in Denver fell by more than 5 percent in 2020 — the biggest drop in a decade. In previous years, Rob Warnock, Apartment List added, 'cities like Denver brought in a huge annual influx of out-of-towners looking to take advantage of the strong job market. Now those same movers can access jobs without living as close to the city center. So it's not just a story of people leaving Denver. It's also a story of people not coming to Denver.'"

From Inside Nova. "For the year ending in January, rents in Arlington were down 14 percent from a year before, standing at $1,673 for a one-bedroom apartment and $2,025 for a two-bedroom unit. In San Francisco, where the average rent is down a whopping 27 percent from January 2020, the decline seems to have hit bottom, at least for now. Also among the top 10 in terms of percentage declines in median rent for the year ending in January were New York City (down 21 percent), Seattle (20 percent), Boston (19 percent), Oakland (15 percent), the District of Columbia (14 percent), Arlington (14 percent), San Jose (13 percent), Chicago (13 percent) and Jersey City (12 percent)."

From Bisnow. "Fitch CMBS Senior Director Melissa Che doesn't believe there will be a slew of fire sales in the hard-hit hotel and retail CRE segments like first projected when the pandemic hit. 'I don't think there are going to be fire sales across the board,' Che said. 'I think stimulus has played a big role, and servicers have played a big role in terms of granting short-term debt relief. We know this health crisis is different from the prior great financial recession. It's a medical health care crisis, and servicers have done a great job quickly addressing the short-term debt relief needs. I don't think servicers wanted to foreclose on everything because we are in a very unique situation right now.'"

From Oakland News Now in California. "There are affordable apartment units all over Oakland, you just have to look past the lies. Oakland, California, and America, is in the middle of The Pandemic, where a deadly virus, still of unknown origin, has thrown our economy into a downward tailspin. A number of Oakland landlords are acting as if there’s still money out there to be gotten, asking for $3,000 per month rent, when many can barely afford $1,500 a month. I have several friends in the real estate industry in Oakland who have told me they can’t see leasing a unit on Lakeshore, with a Lake view, for less than $3,000 per month rent, only to have to drop their ask to $2,000 per month rent, then $1,500 a month rent."

"The truth is that 'Vacancy is through the roof,' said Sid Lakireddy, president of the California Rental Housing Association. 'The market’s beaten up.'"

"Want proof? Look at the website Apartments.com. Nook on Valdez has a studio at 2425 Valdez, Oakland, CA Studio $1,260 – 1,725. Plus, get this: they are offering 4 Weeks Free on select apartments! And here’s what’s available at that address 2425 Valdez, which is near Broadway and 27th: Studio 1 Bathroom $1,260 – 1,295 175 Sq Ft FLOOR PLAN G Available Now. Studio 1 Bathroom $1,260 – 1,295 175 Sq Ft FLOOR PLAN G Available Now. Studio 1 Bathroom $1,310 – 1,390 181 Sq Ft FLOOR PLAN E Available Now. Studio 1 Bathroom $1,310 – 1,345 181 Sq Ft FLOOR PLAN E Available Now. Studio 1 Bathroom $1,355 – 1,390 181 Sq Ft FLOOR PLAN E Available Now."

"That’s just one of what Apartments.com says is 127 listings, but that only goes by address; there were 10 examples of units at that address, all under $1,500 in rent."

The Boulevard Sentinel in California. "The price of a house — even in a sellers’ market — has to adhere to some semblance of reason. The three homes featured below sat on the market for more than 100 days and then sold at discounts to their asking prices and for less than the median price in the region. They stand as reminders to Northeast Los Angeles home sellers that the sky is not the limit, even here, even now."

"Address: 4104 Shelburn Ct., Highland Park. Sold for: $850,000. Discount from Asking Price: $135,000. Days on Market: 166. After languishing on the market for nearly half a year, it finally sold for $850,000, or $515 per-square-foot, a price that could actually be considered a steal. Address: 4838 N. Maywood Ave., Eagle Rock. Sold for: $853,000. Discount from Asking Price: $125,000. Days on Market: 149. A rare two-story near the intersection of Eagle Rock Blvd. and Yosemite Dr., this 3-bed, 3-bath Eagle Rock home was also listed near $1 million in late summer. It’s not a designer home by any means, but it’s spacious, well located and — after the $100,000+ price reduction — a very good value."

The Daily Record. "Sean Connery's former mansion in the French Riviera has had its price slashed in half to £13.3 million after it failed to find a buyer. The late James Bond star lived in the property on the C te d'Azur near Nice. It was put on the market last May with a guide price of £26.7 million but a purchaser has not yet been found."

From Business Daily on Kenya. "The cost of homes in upmarket Kileleshwa and Kilimani suburbs, which accounted for 45 per cent of all properties on sale, registered the biggest decline in the year by 9.9 per cent and 8.6 per cent respectively. The firm linked the price fall to high land prices amid a pandemic economic fallout – which has led to job losses and pay cuts – as well as cuts on bank loans and mortgages."

"'We have seen the Kilimani and Kileleshwa markets move from steep price growth, in all ways a price boom, until it reached levels that buyers could no longer reach with the roadblocks in mortgage finance and reduced liquidity from a global pandemic,' said Sakina Hassanali, head of property development consulting and research at HassConsult."

"This, she said, forced property developers to put up smaller apartments with lower price tags resulting in an oversupply in the market. 'While smaller apartments dominate the new build market in Kilimani and Kileleshwa and provide middle-income housing at lower ticket prices, the sheer volume of new stock created rental price vulnerability for larger and older stock during the economic slowdown caused by 2020's global pandemic, resulting in rental price corrections.'"

From Newshub New Zealand. "A Kiwi economist is expecting investors to sell off their worst properties during New Zealand's housing frenzy. Tony Alexander told The AM Show he predicts house prices will continue to rise strongly in 2021, but expects the return of loan-to-value ratio restrictions (LVRs) to impact the market. He said investors are now going to be selling off their faulty properties while the market is still hot."

"'It's not going to continue like this, there will be a slowdown,' he told The AM Show. 'Some of it is going to be natural in that the deposit that you have got to come up with is going to be too big. And some of the investors who have been around for a number of years, generations, they know what to do when the frenzy comes along - you sell off your crap, the stuff that needs a new roof, or the new floorboards, you start flogging that off.'"

The Globe and Mail. "Now that the frenzy has abruptly ended – with huge declines Tuesday in the share prices of Redditors’ favourite stocks such as GameStop, (down 60 per cent), AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (-41.2 per cent) and BlackBerry Ltd - (21.1 per cent) – it is clear the whole flare-up never lived up to its original billing. As for the price of silver, which hit an eight-year high on Monday, it fell 7 per cent. Instead of being an epic showdown of the People versus the Man, it now seems more like the usual Wall Street wrestling match in which rival groups of money-hungry traders scramble to make a buck by promoting their own versions of the truth."

"In the case of the folks that congregate on Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum, this promotion has reached epic proportions. The pseudonymous posters have a simple message they keep repeating – that small investors are rising up against the fat cats of the investment industry."

"The rhetoric around this manoeuvre can hit extreme levels. So can the self-righteousness. 'We have to FIGHT for this to work out, it’s a [expletive] blood bath,' stocktipsinstockings wrote in a post on Tuesday as GameStop shares plummeted. 'You’ve now seen how the game is played, how it’s rigged, how it’s contorted and drawn out and galvanized to benefit the other side of the trade desk.'"