A weekend topic starting with The Atlantic. "Advanced by an unholy alliance of cynical property owners and misinformed activists, the argument goes like this: If local governments were to remove the arbitrary zoning barriers that are behind America’s housing shortage, developers would build only luxury apartments and condos. Such housing would be leased or sold at price points well beyond what regular working families can afford. At best, these units would sit empty as 'safety deposit boxes in the sky,' doing nothing to ease the affordability crisis. At worst, all this new luxury could trigger higher housing costs, as developers rush in to demolish older affordable units and throw up residential towers."

"At the risk of stating the obvious, luxury is just a marketing term. Much of what is eagerly cast today as 'luxurious” is run-of-the-mill new or refurbished housing. Developers and real-estate brokers are not in the modesty business—they’re in the business of building, leasing, and selling homes, which depends on a flair for hyperbole. No recently built apartment or condo is merely 'new' or 'nice.' It’s luxury housing. Thus, a pleasant if unremarkable student apartment building in my neighborhood near UCLA might promise prospective residents 'a life of luxury and endless comforts.'"

"This story has captured the minds of many local policy makers. But it’s nonsense. For all the NIMBY pearl-clutching over the construction of luxury apartments and condos, American cities aren’t building enough of them. The best-kept secret about luxury is that, if you keep building it, eventually there’s enough for everyone."

The Vietnam Express. "An apartment project with a record-high price tag of $18,000 per square meter has recently been launched in HCMC, showcasing increasing demand in the luxury segment. The price tag is 2.6 times the luxury segment average in the city at $6,900 per square meter, according to CBRE. Most real estate consultancies define a luxury apartment as one that is priced $4,000 or higher."

"The boom in this type of apartment is changing the structure of the real estate market. The luxury segment accounted for 39 percent of total apartment supply in HCMC as of the end March, exceeding the 20 percent of the high-end segment, according to CBRE. However, observers are concerned about the imbalance this implies. Nguyen Loc Hanh, CEO of HCMC-based Asia Gem Real Estate Investment, said that 39 percent is too large a ratio for the luxury segment and it does not represent a sustainable real estate market."

"Experts have been advising for the last several decades that the ratio is kept at just 1-2 percent, he noted, adding the the current ratio shows developers are only aiming at very rich buyers. Other industry insiders say that there is still a lot of ambiguity on the criteria for the luxury segment, and that it is too early to identify whether the record-high prices correctly reflect the value of the asset."

The Globe and Mail in Canada. "I don’t think BMO economist Robert Kavcic would disagree that some major Canadian centres need more housing supply, but his point here - that housing listings are running well above year ago levels and partially addressing the supply issue - is important."

"'Contrary to the perception out there, new residential listings in Canada rose to a record high in March. The market is indeed drum tight. But, look at the chart and decide what looks more out of balance? The denominator (supply being too low)? Or the numerator (sales being too high)? Hint: It’s the latter (i.e., the red line surging off the page). In fact, on a seasonally adjusted basis, new listings are now running 25% above pre-COVID norms (we use all of 2019 here as the baseline). Sales, however, are running almost 75% above that level. We’ll reiterate that this acute surge in demand is exaggerated by massive federal-to-household transfers, the promise of low-for-long interest rates, engrained expectations of price growth, fear of missing out, and likely some speculation.'"

The Commercial Observer. "A ruling by Justice Jennifer Schecter in the First Department of the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court last month has made it more difficult for borrowers and their counsel to claim hardship and economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic as a reason to enjoin, or avoid, a UCC Article 9 foreclosure auction."

"The decision, in Shelbourne BRF LLC et al. v. SR 677 Bway LLC, has also likely 'opened the floodgates' to a potential wave of last-resort Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings from borrowers who fail to receive injunctive relief to stop UCC auction sales and save their interests in properties, according to lawyers and brokers who spoke to Commercial Observer about the decision."

"Brokers charged with leading UCC sales on behalf of lenders said that oftentimes, despite extensive and exhaustive marketing work, very few third-party bidders show up at the auction, a caveat that doesn’t help the lender’s case for a 'commercially reasonable' sale, especially in a depressed market with little activity."

"'The courts upholding the law to allow UCC sales to occur makes sense,' FIA Capital Partners Principal David Goldwasser added. 'People actually signed documents that allow for this to happen. Now, they try to claim it is unjust. Since the fuse is so short, there is a lot to lose. This is just the reason lenders started to use this process in their paperwork. It is not to circumvent the system, but to use it for the purpose it was meant for. If you don’t pay your loan, you will lose ownership to the entity that owns the membership in the entity that owns property. The only solution to slow down the train is to file bankruptcy, which brings its own share of complications along with it.'"

The New York Post on Florida. "Dave Portnoy is renting a $200,000-per-month Miami Beach pad that was formerly owned by Floyd Mayweather Jr. until this past October, when the boxing champion unloaded it at a loss, The Post can report. Mayweather initially purchased the home in 2016 for $7.7 million in an all-cash deal, property records show. He sold it for $6.25 million last fall — a $1.5 million loss."

From Socket Site in California. "When the two-bedroom, two-bath unit #504 in the Rowan building at 338 Potrero traded for 11.9 percent less than its purchase price in the fourth quarter of 2017 last month, the two-bedroom, two-bath unit one floor below (#404) was in contract but hadn’t yet closed escrow. And the re-sale of 338 Potrero #404, an 'almost new residence [with] state of the art finishes' and 'views of the city framed by floor to ceiling windows,' has now closed escrow with a contract price of $900,000, down 14.2 percent from its purchase price of $1,049,00 in October of 2017 on an apples-to-apples basis."

From Boulder Weekly in Colorado. "Boulder County has become increasingly unaffordable over the last several decades. 'You can never resolve our housing problem if you allow the market to ration land to the highest bidder,' says David Adamson, an affordable housing advocate."

"Despite a lack of affordable housing options, Boulder actually has a glut of rental units, an estimated 700 vacant homes within the city in February 2020."

From ABC News in Australia. "Owners of apartments in the troubled Mascot Towers building have been advised it is no longer financially viable to fix the building and that their best option is to sell up. Chair of the Mascot Towers Owners Corporation Gary Deigan told the ABC: 'The only solution in our mind is to sell the building off.' 'We have lost a lot of money. We have to decide whether we are going to continue to lose money or try to recover some.'"

"So someone who, for example, paid $1 million for their apartment would receive $200,000-$300,000 from the sale. 'Undoubtedly there will be bankruptcies,' Mr Deigan said. 'But the longer we do it, the more money we lose.'"

"Treacy Sheehan bought a three-bedroom penthouse apartment with city views for $900,000 in 2014. She supports the proposal to sell up. 'You would be mad not to do the collective sale,' she said. 'People are absolutely suicidal.' For the past two years, she has been living in rental accommodation with her four-year-old son. Ms Sheehan said the entire ordeal had left her suffering depression. 'What's the Australian dream all about? You have a $1.3 million property that's worth zero and that's your life savings.'"

"Fabiano dos Santos bought a two-bedroom apartment for $950,000 just months before residents were told it was not safe to stay. He supports the sale even though for him, with a mortgage of $900,000, it will mean financial ruin. 'That is going to push me to bankruptcy,' he said. 'But we 100 per cent have to sell. Pretty much the only way out is to sell and try to move on.'"

From Stuff New Zealand. "We see them everywhere in our cities – vacated leaky apartment buildings and terraced houses covered in white plastic sheeting while they undergo remedial work. What we don’t see is the huge personal cost and anguish behind the defective buildings. And, in case you thought this only happened with older buildings from a particular era, you’re mistaken. Apartments are still being built with problems."

"In the gripping documentary A Living Hell: Apartment Disasters, presenters John Gray and Roger Levie, who have gone through the leaky home nightmare themselves, expose the horrific situation for thousands of homeowners throughout the country. One owner of an apartment in The Zone, which will need to be demolished, describes her situation as 'devastating.' 'It’s always on my mind. I think about it every single day and personally, I will never buy an apartment or unit again.'"