A weekend topic starting with the New Yorker. "Jay Peak sits at the northern end of Vermont, twenty minutes from the Canadian border, and has one of the heaviest snowfalls in the region. It was, for many years, an obscure hill known for deep powder and glade skiing, visited primarily by locals, Canadians, and hard-core enthusiasts. But, in the early two-thousands, the general manager of the Jay Peak ski resort, Bill Stenger developed a scheme to expand the resort and create jobs. He raised money using the EB-5 visa program, which aimed to channel foreign investments into businesses that created jobs for Americans, especially in rural or economically depressed parts of the country. For five hundred thousand dollars (the amount has since risen to nine hundred thousand), foreign investors and their families became eligible for green cards, so long as that money succeeded in creating at least ten jobs."

"On April 13, 2016, he had finished his morning rounds and was drinking coffee with the head of the snow-grooming department when his assistant called. 'You need to come over to the office right away,' she said, sounding nervous. 'Some folks from the S.E.C. are here.' The S.E.C. had also started quietly investigating the projects, and soon the F.B.I. did as well. The lead F.B.I. agent on the case, Jennie Emmons, told me that she’d visited Jay Peak a few years earlier, on vacation with her kids. After driving through miles of remote farmland, she said, she was 'blown away' to see the enormous scale of the construction happening on the hill. 'Someone told me Chinese money had built this,' Emmons recalled. 'The whole thing just sounded crazy to me.'"

The City in New York. "Two decades since New York State launched the 22-acre Atlantic Yards project, the rights to develop its six high-rise sites near Barclays Center in Brooklyn will be up for grabs if a lending group’s auction goes through as scheduled later this month. Last fall, the Shanghai-based developer that took over the project in 2018, Greenland USA, defaulted on loans totaling nearly $350 million. Greenland subsidiaries are slated to go to a private auction Feb. 12 over the two EB-5 pool loans, which provide a pathway to a U.S. visa for investors willing to stake $500,000 and up."

The Globe and Mail. "This week, Transparency International released the 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) – scoring 180 countries and territories around the world on public sector corruption. On the face of it, Canadians have reason to be positive. We’ve moved up to 12th place from 14th place the previous year. But before we pat ourselves on our collective back, we need to note a couple of important facts. First, as a country, we’ve declined in the rankings over the years; until 2019, Canada was always in the CPI’s top 10 list of the world’s least corrupt countries – indicating low levels of perceived public sector corruption. Second, as a major player in the globalized economy, we’re also playing a role in the globalization of corruption – and we’re not doing enough to stop it."

"They’ve even invented a word for the phenomenon in Canada: 'snow washing.' Estimates indicate that $45-billion to $113-billion is laundered in Canada each year. Money launderers use anonymous corporate entities and complex ownership structures to disguise the origin of the funds. This money is both corrupt, and corrupting, because here in Canada it undermines the integrity of our country’s financial system, and it distorts key areas of our own economy, such as real estate markets. Indeed, experts estimate that housing prices in British Columbia are 3.7 per cent to 7.5 per cent higher than they would be in the absence of money laundering."

The Civil Beat. "Hawaii lawmakers have tried and failed to pass legislation reining in short-term vacation rentals in the past, but this session feels different, says Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole, chairman of the Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee. Keohokalole has authored an ambitious bill that would reshape the way short-term vacation rentals are regulated in Hawaii – and give counties power to phase them out completely over time. 'Our state is such a desirable destination, and such a profitable investment for many, that people from around the world have purchased property to hold as investments or rent as short-term rentals to visitors — making on average four times what they would if the property was simply rented to a local family,' said Gov. Josh Green. 'Right now, 52% of all short-term rentals in Hawaii are owned by non-state residents, and 27% of short-term rental owners own 20 or more units.'"

Hawaii Real Estate Dreams. "The two big stories of this month are raising the minimum wage and the extreme regulation of vacation rentals. Watch for condo sales to slow down and inventory to rise with the huge increases in association fees. There are even a few complexes implementing or facing assessments also. They have been rapidly rising due to costs outside of the associations’ control: water, electric, insurance, landscaping wages, etc. Some complexes have had back-to-back double digit increases. One has gone up 50% in the last two years. Raising the minimum wage for landscaping crews for instance, huge change! And then there is always insurance which in itself has probably gone up over 20% the last two years."

"To add to this, a few years ago the state decided it wanted to keep all of the TAT tax and not share with the counties… they let the counties add their own 3% tax. Overnight the TAT tax jumped from 10.25% to 13.25% plus 4.71% GET… that is 18% on top of every vacation rental! Occupancy has plummeted down 25%. Now guests don’t look at the room rate, they look at how much the stay will cost them."

Beat of Hawaii. "It’s starting to look like Hawaii may no longer be for you if you like staying in vacation rentals. The concept of short-terms rentals is popular as a lead balloon among many in power in Hawaii. There’s no doubt that anti-Hawaii vacation rental sentiments are being greatly assisted, intentionally or not, by Hawaii’s governor. He makes no qualms about demanding that vacation rentals be reeled in. And he’s willing to push towards alienation and legal opposition that is surely forthcoming. In its last session, House Bill 84 sought to 'Make explicit the counties’ authority to enact ordinances to amortize or phase out permitted, nonconforming, or otherwise allowed short-term rentals in any zoning classification. Includes swapping, bartering, or exchange of a residential dwelling, or portion thereof, in the definition of 'short-term rental' for this purpose.' It isn’t clear whether that will be back this year or not."

KVVU in Nevada. "Homeowners across Las Vegas who list an illegal short-term rental may face steep fines, and one homeowner learned of $180,000 in penalties. As more homeowners slowly get licenses for listings across the Las Vegas Valley, cities and Clark County are enforcing rules banning illegal short-term rentals posted on popular sites like AirBnb and VRBO. In two cases, after the owners got an initial warning and vowed to end their activity, a listing continued to be posted and steep fines accumulated. The case against a home off Sahara Avenue and Rancho went before the Las Vegas City Council; the homeowner and their attorney appealed the fines, and were denied an appeal."

"'I am constantly getting texts, emails, calls, pulled aside in the grocery store about short term rentals,' said Councilman Brian Knudsen. The property in question sits in Ward 1. 'If we continue to erode laws by not enforcing the fees and fines associated with them, we continue to lose the dignity of our neighborhoods.' The Greater Las Vegas Short-Term Rental Association has continued its effort to bring a case to the Nevada Supreme Court, arguing county regulations are too burdensome on homeowners."

The Portugal Resident. "Portugal’s rental market is in turmoil with new licensing restrictions, higher taxation, an outright assault on rental apartment owners, confusion and a vote of ‘no confidence’ from owners failing or refusing to enter financial details to retain their existing Alojamento Local (AL) licences. Is the tourist rental market in Portugal now unworkable or are there ways of increasing investment returns in 2024 and beyond? Despite the politically motivated changes to the short- and medium-term rental market, Portugal remains a sound environment for investors; it all depends on where you buy."

"Portugal’s rural interior, defined as those council areas with low population density, has avoided many of the recent unpleasant changes to the short-term tourist rental sector and is experiencing a healthy demand from those seeking double-digit returns from their investment properties. In the western Central Region, among other hot spots, there is a clear shortage of rental properties on the market combined with an historic oversupply of houses that can be repurposed as rental properties."

Two articles from the Telegraph. "Last year the Balearic government sent a warning to British tourists, loud and clear. Misbehave in 2024 and you will be sent home. But tourism chiefs this month said that the Balearics’ biggest problem, far greater than the follies of a few inebriated gentlemen from Braintree, is the issue of illegal holiday rentals that do not comply with local regulations or have the appropriate licences."

"In October last year, Marta Vidal, the Balearics’ housing minister, said that there were as many as 235,000 unregulated holiday let properties across the islands, as reported in the Majorca Daily Bulletin. Nobody knows the exact figure, but what we do know from the most recent census is that there are around 26,500 legal holiday rentals across the islands. Even somebody who has just consumed their sixth allocated mojito can see that the balance seems a bit off."

"Majorca’s tourist chiefs have had enough. At last week’s Exceltur Forum, ahead of the Fitur tourism conference, Gabriel Escarrer, the chief executive of Meliá Hotels International, said 'the uncontrolled growth of tourist rental housing' is Majorca’s biggest problem. 'I’m not convinced that tourists fully understand the harm caused by Airbnb,' says Elizabeth Becker, the author of Overbooked: The Exploding Business of Travel and Tourism. 'Tourists act like consumers and Airbnb has been pretty effective at publicly pushing back against the mounting evidence of the harm it causes.'"

"'Tourists want to believe the Airbnb story that this is a ‘sharing’ business, not the predatory real estate enabler that rewards absentee businesses to buy up whole neighbourhoods, pushing out locals, harming the environment and increasing inequality,' she added."

"Terrible news, eh? Chilly, gloomy, miserable and pointless February is upon us and it’s not going down well with the Covid refugees. Reports from the UK’s leading estate agents have it that the townies are heading back to the city. According to Hamptons, the number of homes bought outside of the capital by Londoners is at its lowest figure since 2014, while Savills say that the trend of rocketing house prices in rural areas is over and buyers are flocking back to the city."

"The townies who fled the capital during Covid are represented by Anna Van Praagh, who writes for a London pamphlet called the Evening Standard. 'I’ve never really understood what people do for leisure in the country,' she declared this week. She talked of the refugees returning to London and being re-acquainted with their 'open-minded, totally non-judgmental friends.' 'Londoners,' she added, “feel and look younger.'"

"Well, on behalf of all the swivel-eyed loonies, the opinionated fascists and haggard country bumpkins, I’d like to say: 'Good riddance, townies!' You evacuated the disease-ridden city with your viewpoints framed by Heartbeat, Doc Martin and Glastonbury. Actually what you hoped for was a suburban life (parks with bins for dog poo not fields with cowpats, for God’s sake) but what you got was real life. You couldn’t believe that you couldn’t get your kids an oat milk Babyccino with sprinkles on a Saturday morning and were horrified that your white trainers got dirty just when you stood on your doorstep."

"But, once bitten twice shy, we’d take one look at you with your swanky luggage and clean shoes at Taunton station and send you straight back to London. What relief there is, now your ilk have fled back to the big smoke, that house prices will have a chance to settle to what they should be; that estate agents can see a country abode’s practicalities, rather than it being trendy. Maybe, while you’re at it, you can welcome back all those metropolitan numpties who have screwed up property prices and stolen cottages from indigenous locals around places like Chipping Norton and Bruton."