A report from Mansion Global on New York. "Last week, 30 high-end contracts asking $4 million or more entered into contract in Manhattan, according to Olshan Realty. The strong totals in the last two weeks 'continued a trend that started after the November election—a cocktail stirred with ingredients ranging from the Covid-19 vaccine to low interest rates, a robust stock market and meaningful discounts,' according to Donna Olshan."

"The rental market is also showing signs of rebounding, according to the UrbanDigs. Landlords removed 835 listings from the market last week—a sharp increase over 399 the week prior. 'This is likely due to landlords holding back inventory for the busier spring and summer months (‘warehousing’), and means renters (like buyers) are facing a tighter market' according to UrbanDigs."

The Oregonian. "Oregon lawmakers passed a bill extending the state’s eviction moratorium for renters until the end of June during a December special session, but opted not to take up legislation to extend the state’s foreclosure moratorium. That left homeowners struggling to make their payments in a state of uncertainty. Not all lenders are making an effort to work with homeowners. One 60-year-old homeowner in Troutdale who lost her job as a human resources director last year due to the pandemic received a letter from her lender on Feb. 3 informing her that she was now in default because of the expiration of Oregon’s foreclosure moratorium."

"The letter said that she had to pay off all outstanding charges and late fees by Feb. 6 to avoid foreclosure. The woman, who requested that her name not be used, has a loan that is not covered by the federal moratoriums. She said her lender claims she owes $75,000 between missed payments and late fees. 'It’s just turned my life upside down,' she said. 'I’m going to lose everything and I’ll be homeless. I don’t have a lot of resources. My house is everything to me.'"

From Arlington Now. "Recent articles have shed light onto just how much COVID-19 has hurt the apartment rental market in the D.C. metro area, including an article about rents dropping by 14% in Arlington and an article on rents in D.C.’s Class-A high-rise buildings dropping approximately 18%."

"I have certainly experienced the difficult rental market in the past 10 months with clients who have struggled to find new tenants for their condos for months, even after significant price reductions. In some buildings, there are double-digit numbers of condos being offered for rent, with little interest. I have also spoken to many condo owners who are turning to selling units after months of vacancy trying to rent them out, which is one of the reasons for last year’s explosion in condos listed for sale."

From Bisnow Boston. "As Simon Property Group reels from the coronavirus pandemic’s gut punch to retail, the REIT continues to let smaller and worse-performing malls fall by the wayside. Last week, Simon relinquished its ownership of an Atlanta mall in a foreclosure auction that saw no bids. In November, the REIT ceded control of at least four other mall properties it controlled. This week, according to Fitch Ratings, the mall operator is over 60 days delinquent on an $85.6M loan backing a Boston-area mall for the second time in four months."

"'In some cases, they’ll be restructured, mutually agreed to; and if not, and the special servicer would like to own the real estate, we’re more than happy to cooperate and do it in a professional manner,' Simon said. 'It’s absolutely in the best interest of Simon Property Group shareholders those decisions that we’re making on that front … [We] hope to make deals in some — if not, then they’ll no longer be part of our portfolio, and we wish that new owner the best of luck.'"

From Blog TO in Canada. "The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly shifted the trends in Toronto's housing market since it first arrived last March, and it seems condos in the city's most luxurious neighbourhoods are among some of the hardest hit. In The Annex, according to the report, the condo market saw a 29.96 per cent drop in value, while Bloor-Yonge decreased by 11.98 per cent, Yorkville by 11.79 per cent, Casa Loma by 11.13 per cent and Bay St. Corridor by 6.31 per cent."

"Findings show that condo inventory levels in all of these neighbourhoods aside from The Annex are also currently nearly double what they were during the same time last year. Rental values in these neighbourhoods have also taken a plunge."

"Sam Massoudi, a real estate agent with Strata who has investor clients in hard-hit luxury neighbourhoods, says many of them relied on wealthier international students as tenants for years, but have since been forced to sell. 'I have investor clients who were once so proud to own a property in a luxury neighbourhood. But they had no idea a pandemic like this was going to hit and drive immigration out of the city,' Massoudi said. 'So now some of them have sold. For those who didn't, they're renting these places out for very cheap. That's why we're seeing such low rents in some luxury areas.'"

The Vancouver Sun. "Vancouver condo developer Mark John Chandler is 'a financial predator,' a U.S. Federal Court judge said Monday while handing down a six-year sentence for a real estate investment fraud. Chandler swindled 12 U.S. investors out of $1.7 million more than a decade ago, taking their money for a purported Los Angeles condo project that never materialized, and instead using it to buy himself a Mercedes-Benz, chartering a private yacht, luxury purchases and high-end dining, and vacations in Hawaii and Las Vegas."

"'What’s galling is that the defendant had opportunity after opportunity to do the right thing, and yet he continued to defraud anyone who would listen,' U.S. District Court Judge Percy Anderson in his reasons for sentencing. 'This defendant was, and is, a financial predator. The evidence showed that he’d rob, victimize and exploit anyone for his own personal gain, and it’s no coincidence that this defendant has more than 77 civil cases filed against him, where there have been numerous accusations of fraudulent conduct.'"

"Chandler’s 'brazen criminal conduct financially and emotionally devastated his victims,' and 'caused his victims to suffer depleted retirement accounts, bankruptcies, and lost homes,' prosecutors wrote. One of Chandler’s victims, a California-based doctor, spoke by phone at the hearing, saying Chandler 'fully expected to get away with it, because he was going to go back to Canada and he never thought he’d be extradited. … He was just going to do whatever he wanted and hightail it back to Canada thinking he was safe there.'"

"In B.C., Chandler has also been the target of enforcement action from regulators, before and after his time in L.A., including accusations he mishandled more than $10 million of homebuyers’ deposits after returning from California for a Langley condo project called Murrayville House. The Murrayville fiasco caused serious hardship for dozens of hopeful homebuyers, as one B.C. Supreme Court judge noted in a 2018 judgment in one civil lawsuit, calling the situation a 'house of cards' that left behind 'no winners.'"

"Gary Janzen of Langley and his wife suffered significant financial losses and emotional distress after they signed a presale agreement in 2016 for a Murrayville home. After Monday’s sentence was handed down, Janzen said: 'We’re glad that justice has been done. … But we’re very disappointed and discouraged there’s no justice here.'"

"When the judge offered Chandler a chance to speak, he read from a prepared statement and apologized to his investors and his family. Chandler’s time in jail, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been 'the toughest experience I’ve been through during the 57 years of my life,' he said. Chandler contracted the COVID in prison, he said, and was 'locked up 24 hours a day, being fed peanut butter and jelly for breakfast, lunch and dinner.'"