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Demand Is Already Evaporating And With That, Prices Will Absolutely Decline

A report from Multi-Housing News. “Multi-Housing News talked to Brown Harris Stevens’ first CEO, Bess Freedman, about the luxury real estate market in the time of COVID-19. How was New York City’s luxury real estate market before COVID-19? Freedman: Before the coronavirus, we had been in a strong buyer’s market for three years.”

From Mansion Global on New York. “An apartment in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood that once belonged to fugitive Malaysian businessman Jho Low is now in contract, according to records on StreetEasy. The three-bedroom, four-bathroom condo on Prince Street first listed in July 2019 for $9.9 million, and the last asking price, set in January, was $8.5 million. Mr. Low purchased the Prince Street apartment for $13.8 million in 2014, according to records.”

From Banker and Tradesman. “The National Association of Realtors says its weekly flash survey of its members shows no sign homesellers still on the market are panicked and lowering prices in a hurry. Nearly 3 in 4 of the 2,915 Realtors who answered the survey – conducted nation-wide on April 19 and 20 – said their clients haven’t reduced listing prices to attract buyers. Of the sellers who are dropping their home’s price, most are only doing so by less than 5 percent with a smaller number dropping their price between 5 percent and 10 percent.”

“The survey found 87 percent of respondents reported some decline in buyer interest in their market, with 40 percent reporting buyer interest has halved. For the buyers that remain, 64 percent of Realtors who took the survey said buyers they work with are expecting a drop in prices in their market with the largest share – 24 percent – expecting a 5 percent to 10 percent drop.”

The Ahwatukee Foothills News in Arizona. “The lingering scarcity of Valley homes for sale continues to bedevil homebuyers, keeping home values where they’ve been before the pandemic-fueled economic meltdown, experts say. Worse for buyers, prices continue to creep upward, according to the Cromford Report, the leading authority on the Phoenix metro housing market. Cromford noted that the success rate for listings – how quickly homes sale – fell from 89 percent to 82 percent after March 21, when many businesses closed. But, it added, ’89 percent is abnormally high and 82 percent is still a long way above average.'”

“‘We have never seen prices decline when listing success rates are above 65 percent,’ it said. ‘In fact, apart from a few isolated instances, price declines tend to follow listing success rates below 50 percent.’ Realtor.com senior economist George Ratiu noted, ‘Sellers are recognizing the economic downturn is already a lot deeper than expected.’ Still, while the economy has slowed home price increases dramatically, they’re not falling. Ratiu said, ‘Demand is already evaporating and, with that, prices will absolutely decline.'”

From Forbes. “Industry experts discuss today’s California real estate market. Compass California President Mark McLaughlin and CoreLogic’s Deputy Chief Economist Selma Hepp answer key questions on the market. What advice do you have for sellers who must sell now? Mark McLaughlin: Be prepared to a dramatic shift from a sellers’ market to a motivated buyers’ market. The survey results show for properties between $500,000 to $2.9 million that 63% of Northern California Compass agents and 55% of Southern California agents think post stay-in-place pricing will be down 5% to 10%. For properties over $3 million, that number may be down by more than 10 %.”

“Selma Hepp: Everyone is asking of course what’s going to happen to prices? Once we see updated numbers sellers who need to sell will most likely have to reduce the asking price.”

The Real Deal on Florida. “The $975 million commercial mortgage-backed securities loan for Jeffrey Soffer’s Fontainebleau Miami Beach has entered special servicing, presenting new challenges for Miami-Dade County’s largest resort. The CMBS loan is backed by 846 hotel rooms at 4441 Collins Avenue. It went into special servicing on March 30, according to data provider Trepp.”

“Brett Mufson, president of Fontainebleau Development, said the hotel is in talks with its lenders, bond holders and servicers regarding modifying the hotel’s loan documents. The special servicer status ‘by no means should be interpreted as our loan being in default or that we are behind on any payment,’ he wrote in an email to The Real Deal.”

“‘As a matter of procedure, upon receiving a Borrower request for a modification the Master Servicer transfers the loan to the Special Servicer who will run point on those discussions,’ Mufson said, later adding that, ‘We view all our lenders as partners and now more than ever it’s important to work hand-in-hand to ensure a smooth transition back to normalcy.'”

“The loan, originated in November, is the largest CMBS hotel loan in South Florida, according to Trepp.”

From King 5 News in Washington. “One-third of renters in America missed April rents, and it’s causing a strain between them and their landlords. Many landlords say they are also struggling — with no help in sight. Kyle Woodring, the trade group’s director of government affairs, says a vast majority of the nearly 6,000 members are mom-and-pop landlords. Some own income properties just to afford to live in Seattle, and now they are in double trouble as they pay their tenant’s rent and their mortgage.”

“‘Most of our members are not in the business of rental housing,’ said Woodring. ‘It’s an investment that they’ve secured for their family or for their retirement. They’ve chosen to sort of invest in their community.'”

The Houston Chronicle in Texas. “Foreclosures are often regarded as neglected bank-owned dwellings in need of a lot of work. But a recently foreclosed home that just hit the market at 326 Park Laureate does not fit that mold. The 5,842-square-foot, five-bedroom home in Houston’s prestigious Memorial area, a wooded enclave filled with million-dollar properties, is now for sale at just under $1 million: $999,999. Just last fall it was on the market for $1.399 million.”

“With a 20-percent down payment and 4-percent interest rate and a 30-year mortgage, this dwelling would cost roughly $7,889 per month. Not the typical bank-owned property price, but still a far cry from what houses in this part of Houston typically list at. Do you think it’s a bargain or still pricey for a foreclosed building?”

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This Post Has 117 Comments

  1. ‘How was New York City’s luxury real estate market before COVID-19? Freedman: Before the coronavirus, we had been in a strong buyer’s market for three years’

    These people are just plain liars. It couldn’t be more the opposite.

    ‘The National Association of Realtors says its weekly flash survey of its members shows no sign homesellers still on the market are panicked and lowering prices in a hurry. Nearly 3 in 4 of the 2,915 Realtors who answered the survey – conducted nation-wide on April 19 and 20 – said their clients haven’t reduced listing prices to attract buyers. Of the sellers who are dropping their home’s price, most are only doing so by less than 5 percent with a smaller number dropping their price between 5 percent and 10 percent’

    ‘The survey found 87 percent of respondents reported some decline in buyer interest in their market, with 40 percent reporting buyer interest has halved. For the buyers that remain, 64 percent of Realtors who took the survey said buyers they work with are expecting a drop in prices in their market with the largest share – 24 percent – expecting a 5 percent to 10 percent drop’

    The B&T used to be sort of objective. No more. It’s full on REIC hucksterism.

    1. That virus is going to be used as an excuse for every damn thing that has happened for 50 years.

      “I’m old and sick and I need my children to take care of me. Why did we get divorced in the 1970s when those children were little and had needs themselves? Coronavirus.

      Why is the infrastructure collapsing? Coronavirus.

      Why did that debt-laden business, pillaged by those won controlled it and walked off with the loot, go under? Coronavirus.

      Why will the Social Security and Medicare benefits of those born after 1957 be slashed again? Coronavirus.

      And why will taxes on work income (but not retirement and investment income) be jacked up again? Coronavirus.

      Why are asset prices being bailed out again? Coronavirus.

      Etc.

    3. “Before the coronavirus, we had been in a strong buyer’s market for three years’

      “The B&T used to be sort of objective. No more. It’s full on REIC hucksterism.”

      – Now it’s just boldface, outright lying. NYC RE has been cratering for years.

      “When it becomes serious, you have to lie.” – Jean-Claude Juncker, then President of the Eurogroup, April 20, 2011

      “If we have data, let’s look at data. If all we have are opinions, let’s go with mine.” – Jim Barksdale

  2. I’m still overloaded with crater. You won’t believe some of the BS I’m seeing. I’ll post as much as I can but right now I can’t fully complete searches because of all the crater.

  4. “Of the sellers who are dropping their home’s price, most are only doing so by less than 5 percent with a smaller number dropping their price between 5 percent and 10 percent.”

    I dunno, but this early in the game, 5 to 10 percent seems like a lot. Where will it be in 6 months when held-back supply floods the market, just as buyers are hitting a new low?

    1. I know this time is different, but the last two times that real estate significantly corrected, it took about five years for prices to bottom out (1991-1996, 2007-2012).

      2. Back when the Brandenburg Gates were opened and the Germans were chipping out chunks of concrete from “The Wall,” the old timer defense engineers “knew in their gut” that lay-offs were looming, lots of ’em! A friend of mine had a boss who quickly hired a realtor and listed his paid-off San Jose home at 20% below current market. The banks were on the hook in those days, so it still took a bit to locate a qualified buyer, but he got it sold, retired and moved back to his childhood home in the mid-west. Many others were upside-down for more than a decade and struggling in a lean job market. Apple was just a couple of months away from bankruptcy back then.

        1. I remember the General Dynamics and other defense industry layoffs in San Diego. It was brutal.

  5. I’m glad the folks who bought this place on the back side of the Great Housing Bubble got it at a discount to the 2007 price, especially after adjusting for 13 years’ worth of inflation. They are also deep pockets who don’t have to worry about possible future price declines.

    Real Estate News
    Report: Bill and Melinda Gates buy $43M Del Mar home
    The home at 2808 Ocean Front was purchased for $43 million and makes it the second highest home purchase in San Diego County history
    (The Guiltinan Group)
    The Del Mar sale is one of the biggest in San Diego County history
    By Phillip Molnar
    April 22, 2020
    2:58 PM

    Bill and Melinda Gates have purchased a home in Del Mar for $43 million, said The Wall Street Journal.

    The sale of the massive beachfront property marks the second-biggest home sale in San Diego County history. Ironically, the biggest was for the same house for $48.2 million in 2007.
    …

          1. “Her purchase of the property is a bit complicated. She bought it for $35 million but the total grew to $48.2 million when three adjacent parcels were added to the deal.”

          2. Lotta Texan$ like bee.ute.tea.full CA beach$ weather. 🏄‍♂️🏄‍♀️🏊‍♂️🏊‍♀️🎾

          3. I never understood the Del Mar mystique. From Camino Del Mar is doesn’t look all that different from the other coastal communities. I suppose its proximity to La Jolla makes it “special”

          5. I used to live in Solana Beach. I could see the racetrack from my apartment. It didn’t make my life any more special

          6. I lived in Del Mar back in the early 90s, in Seapoint across from the lagoon and beach. Fresh out of college, surfed every morning before work at SIO – and sometimes after if there was a good glass off. Many epic days surfing with dolphins out, rode one wave almost into the lagoon at high tide on an awesome swell. Liked kayaking the lagoon, hiking in the reserve – there are some amazing hikes in there.

            The people for the most part sucked. Very stuck up, even at the Ralphs supermarket there. Never seen so much attitude, maybe something in the water.

            I think part of the attraction is its proximity to UCSD, SIO, SR, General Atomics and other employers. You can just take torrey pines road along the beach and golf course – no freeway madness. Beautiful drive. And its not a madhouse like La Jolla where you have pakis selling bart simpson tshirts at the cove. That train though is loud and with the coaster you hear it often. Between that and the freeway noise I don’t think the place had the luster it used to.

            Fun fact – its one of only two places in the world where Torrey Pines grow; the other place is Santa Rosa Island in the channel islands which is a different species. Beautiful trees.

  6. ‘the three-bedroom, four-bathroom condo on Prince Street first listed in July 2019 for $9.9 million, and the last asking price, set in January, was $8.5 million. Mr. Low purchased the Prince Street apartment for $13.8 million in 2014’

    This is why I’m not messing with the ankle-biters anymore. They have no idea what’s going on in these markets and have their heads up the REIC a$$. NYC RE has been sinking like a turd in the well since 2016.

  7. ‘Many landlords say they are also struggling — with no help in sight…Some own income properties just to afford to live in Seattle, and now they are in double trouble as they pay their tenant’s rent and their mortgage’

    Some bright bulbs up there in Seattle.

    ‘Most of our members are not in the business of rental housing…It’s an investment that they’ve secured for their family or for their retirement. They’ve chosen to sort of invest in their community’

    In 2014 I spotted a rental bubble precisely because I saw landlords we’re making money, but rather counting on cash-out refinancing and greater fools.

    ‘not in the business of rental housing…It’s an investment’

  9. ‘Preliminary results from antibody tests in Los Angeles County indicate that the true number of COVID-19 infections is much higher than the number of confirmed cases there, which implies that the fatality rate is much lower than the official tallies suggest. “The mortality rate now has dropped a lot,” Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, said at a press briefing today. In contrast with the current crude case fatality rate of about 4.5 percent, she said, the study suggests that 0.1 percent to 0.2 percent of people infected by the virus will die, which would make COVID-19 only somewhat more deadly than the seasonal flu.’

    ‘The new study suggests the true fatality rate among everyone infected by the virus is somewhere between 0.1 percent and 0.3 percent (without taking into account people infected since the study was conducted). The lower end of that range is about the same as the estimated fatality rate for the seasonal flu.’

    https://reason.com/2020/04/20/l-a-county-antibody-tests-suggest-the-fatality-rate-for-covid-19-is-much-lower-than-people-feared/

    By all means, lets drive the economy into a ditch! One thing to consider: countries like Thailand don’t have an “unlimited” cash bucket. If we fudge up that, hello sovereign default.

    1. “The COVID infection is substantially more common in the population than we’d realized prior to this study,” said Stanford University professor of medicine Dr. Jay Bhattacharya. “Instead of having a death rate of — like the World Health Organization said — three in a hundred,” he continued, “our estimates suggest about somewhere between one and two in a thousand die from getting infected.”

      https://www.foxnews.com/media/coronavirus-death-rate-flu-jay-bhattacharya

      So why don’t we shut down the economy every flu season? Because we’d be broke-a$$ that’s why. And it wouldn’t change the outcome.

      Coronavirus Updates: More than 26 Million Americans Out of Work

      https://weather.com/health/coronavirus/news/2020-04-23-coronavirus-updates-covid-19-unemployment-benefits-paycheck

        1. Can’t 3M hire them all to make N95 masks? Except for the Real Journalists: they can learn to code.

        2. 26 Million Americans Out of Work

          It appears that is just the people eligible for UI benefits.

          Yeah, when I see that number I think about the hard core unemployed or under the table people who haven’t been counted in years, but maybe they don’t matter any more now than they did before. Except if they went from under the table to unemployed they are in big trouble…

    2. If everyone gets it and only 0.1% die, that’s a big number — about 330,000 for the U.S.

      1. PS It doesn’t seem likely at this point that COVID-19 will have as bad an impact as the 1918 flu pandemic, but they were much more lax with social distancing measures back then. They also would not have understood the concept of “asymptomatic case” in 1918, nor would they have been able to detect them.

        “In the U.S., about 28% of the population of 105 million became infected, and 500,000 to 850,000 died (0.48 to 0.81 percent of the population).”

  11. ‘five-bedroom home in Houston’s prestigious Memorial area, a wooded enclave filled with million-dollar properties, is now for sale at just under $1 million: $999,999. Just last fall it was on the market for $1.399 million’

    ‘Not the typical bank-owned property price, but still a far cry from what houses in this part of Houston typically list at’

    And there’s your fire-sale comp, except it hasn’t sold and with jumbo loans being 86ed, it isn’t likely to sell.

    1. ‘Oil derivatives sold to Main Street investors, including some that could be bought with a few clicks on a bank app, have produced hundreds of millions of dollars of losses in South Korea and China. Their plight echoes losses suffered by individual investors in the U.S., who were also burned by this week’s extraordinary price action, in which one futures contract for West Texas Intermediate crude plunged below zero. In China, an investment product known as “crude oil treasure” could saddle both the bank behind it, Bank of China Ltd., and end-investors with losses.’

      ‘And in nearby South Korea, this week’s turmoil added to a difficult year for the country’s mom-and-pop investors, who are avid buyers of complex investment vehicles. The trouble for Bank of China’s investors came because the life of one of its products ended on Monday, as futures for May delivery went negative, a statement from the bank showed. That timing effectively resulted in holders being cashed out at minus $37.63 a barrel—meaning whatever they had invested was wiped out.’

      ‘Bank of China’s clients might also be on the hook for more money than they put into the investments. The product’s contract terms say Bank of China can dip into investors’ other accounts with the bank to make up any shortfall. Jefferies analysts, citing a screenshot published by Chinese media, calculated that 3,261 investors owed Bank of China collectively the equivalent of about $52.2 million.’

      https://www.wsj.com/articles/crude-oil-treasure-turns-toxic-for-chinese-bank-and-its-small-investors-11587642511

      2. This reminds me of the “rogue wave” that got the money manager in Florida who was selling naked options. His clients were also on the hook for losses over what they had invested.

      3. Can’t wait for the future reports on Chinese real estate investor losses due to speculation in U.S. residential property markets.

    2. Ben, this is all well and believe me, I’m a realtor troll rooting for you. However, this is just one example and one opinion. Now, we all know real estate only goes up. Sellers dont need to sell. They just take the houses off the market. Real estate agents have saved all their commissions so they dont need to make any money. All you bitter renters are toast. Prices wont go down. PERIOD. End of Story!

      1. Well, no, they’re going to get cheaper rents now, right?

        And some sellers will actually need to sell — namely, all of those Airbnb illegally distributed hotel managers in over their heads now — so there should be, at least in areas more heavily favored as tourist destinations, some mitigation of that so-called “shortage”.

        2. Oh the horror! Havent you heard the wise saying “its different this time?!” This beer flu is just a pause to allow all realtors to take a vacation and get a break from all the cookie baking and door opening, it gets exhausting!!! RE will be back to the moon soon as soon as we are all suntanned and new model Mercedes comes out. #ItsDifferentThisTime

      2. Just because transactions volume has cratered doesn’t mean that prices can’t go ever higher!

          1. This could be an artifact of first time buyers being among the first to lose their jobs in a recession, wiping out the low end of the market. Quality-adjusted prices (e.g. the Case-Shiller repeat sales index) may tell a different story than the median transaction price.

    1. It’s cratering but good now…. nothing left but the crying…. and the dust cloud from the DebtDonkey Stampede.

      Burke, VA Housing Prices Crater 14% YOY As Washington DC/Northern Virginia Housing Market Swirls The Bowl

      https://www.movoto.com/burke-va/market-trends/

      As a noted economist question, “Why buy a house when you can rent one for half the monthly cost… Buy it later after prices crater for 70% less.”

    2. I’m not crowing! I believe the prices in DC are insane. I’ve been sitting on the sidelines wait for the drop but in the Reston VA area, it is not happening. I WISH IT WAS. The metro (i.e. the feeding tube to the taxpayer trough) is opening soon in Reston which has buyers paying extra. So fed up with it all.

      1. My wife’s cousin cashed out of Bethesda’s overvalued market just in time last year. You have to admire investors with the luck of timing on their sides.

      2. Move to Fairfax County or MD after prices crater.

        In the meantime rent for half the monthly cost of buying.

      1. Ye$! (Be$ides we need a new eCONomic definition for the financial effect$ of this tired “old” phrase:

        “let’$ tend$ to the $ick & the dying.”

        🐷.flu.Cootie$. 🦠 + deeth.👾killa.germ$ = munch, clog, munch, clog, munch, clog, munch …
        🐷 🦠 🤧🤒👦👧👨👩🧓👵👴👨‍⚕️🛌😃 + 👾😷👴🧓👵👨‍⚕️🛌😱☠

      2. There’s still 4 out of 5 champing at the bit to see if their COVID-19 case will be mild or not.

        1. Doe$ x1 month still = 30+1 days in America / USA?

          (Iffin’ so the axoh.deeth.👾.knobs&handles.killa.germs is a mighty hungrie$ invi$ible critter!)

          Coronaviru👾 has killed more Americans in one month than both flu and car accidents do in an entire YEAR.

          By Rory Butler For Mailonline
          23 Apr 2020

          It has fast become ‘one of the leading causes of death in the United States’

          Confirmed US cases stand at 827,093, and 45,435 people in this country dead

          In an April 21 article, the National Review looks at a series of other viruses and human-based disasters and compares their sheer body count against that of Covid-19.

          The National Review is swift to remind those politically partisan clusters who say Covid-19 is no more lethal than the flu that we are still in the ‘fir$t wave’ of the pandemic and the time scale so far is much shorter.

          Although there is still much we don’t know about the coronavirus, we know enough to say that it is far more dangerous and deadly than the flu,’ said the National Review.

          In the 12 months between 2009-10 and after some 61 million infections, the H1N1 swine flu had struck dead 12,500 Americans.

          At the height of its power, seasonal flu killed some 34,200 Americans between 2018–19.

          And in 2019, around 38,800 US citizens were killed in car crashes.

          However, as of March 20 of this year, coronavirus had killed 225 people. And yet by April 20, it had claimed more than 42,000 American lives.

          Today, confirmed cases of coronavirus in the US stand at 827,093, and some 45,435 people in this country dead.

          ‘Despite the rapidity with which the coronavirus has killed tens of thousands of Americans, some on the right have continued to argue that the pandemic will end up being no more serious than a bad flu season,’

          2. “And in 2019, around 38,800 US citizens were killed in car crashes.”

            It should be interesting to see to what degree the predictable drop in 2020 car crash deaths offsets the additional deaths due to COVID-19.

        2. What i$ their birth.year ages?

          (Elderly inquiring minds (1957) wishes to knows!)👴🧓👵👨‍⚕️😷👾🛌😱☠

      3. Just heard DJT suggested quarantines may need to remain in effect until the summer. And based on various events I was scheduled to attend over the upcoming months which have been canceled or changed to online format, this seems entirely likely.

        Good luck to all concerned!

        1. Might bee the best gone fishin’ & ocean sailing season yet! 🤞🤞

          -(train travels, dang it!)

    2. It still hasn’t interested the media that hospitalizations and deaths in NYC attributed to the CCP Virus have tailed off to practically nothing.

        1. Isn’t 500 “about nothing” in a big city like New York? Only 1/6 of a 9/11 attack.

        2. over 500 have died so far today

          I’m not at all afraid of being wrong. However, NYC must not have gotten the memo on this because they reported 500 three weeks ago and now it’s down in the double digits.

          It is curious that something called worldometer knows what NYC and NYS do not know, and instantly.

          The link has been posted. nyc.gov doh covid

          1. It is curious that something called worldometer knows what NYC and NYS do not know, and instantly.

            Per the website, the deaths are reported by NYC. In any case, not my town, not my problem.

          2. Interesting. FWIW the chart says: Due to delays in reporting, recent data are incomplete.

            It doesn’t specify what “recent data” means. Within the last hour or the last week?

            The NYT is reporting hundreds of daily deaths, though who knows where they get their data?

          3. worldometer

            Looking at that site, they have stats for NY. That is the state, not the city. If they had a special report for NYC it doesn’t show now.

    3. “1 in 5 New York City Residents Infected With CCP Virus,”

      Who would have ever been able to figure that out?

      Ben, Blue and you know who. 🙂

      jeff
      March 15, 2020 at 10:32 am

      Professor Bear
      March 15, 2020 at 8:53 am
      Is this a panic? There seems to be quite a bit of debate on that.

      I used to take the train from Old Greenwich Connecticut into Grand Central Station in New York City to attend Ranger games and concerts etc. The last train car on the way home at 1 am was the party car but that’s a story for another day. The train came from New Haven and made frequent local stops including New Rochelle all the way to Grand Central.

      Point being if this is going to be what is being pushed by the MSM the cat is already out of the bag. Coronavirus is in every state but West Virginia and has been delivering commuters from New Rochelle, a town that has had the National Guard called out into Grand Central which has 750,000 people pass through every day.

    4. Muh model says if everybody doesn’t hide under their bed for the next year or so, 6 gorillion are gonna die! – signed, typical jackbooted empty skulled libtard politician.

      But a baby died! A baaaayyybeee! We can’t allow random tragic events to happen!!! – signed, your neighborhood Karen, en route to PP clinic.

    5. Likely many “infected” or previously “infected” cervesa sickness people walking around symptom free… from what i have heard, the seasonal flu has similar statistics but far less fear mongering and none of this extreme and economical destruction

      https://youtu.be/yxjt67xiZTE

      1. Liz Wheeler speaks well, very clear, but my mother would probably cry if I brought her over for dinner; it wouldn’t be the first time. 🙂

  15. How was New York City’s luxury real estate market before COVID-19? Freedman: Before the coronavirus, we had been in a strong buyer’s market for three years.”

    Liar liar pants on fire.

  16. “The National Association of Realtors says its weekly flash survey of its members shows no sign homesellers still on the market are panicked and lowering prices in a hurry.

    That’s because these greedheads have no inkling of how screwed they are.

  17. Of the sellers who are dropping their home’s price, most are only doing so by less than 5 percent with a smaller number dropping their price between 5 percent and 10 percent.”

    That conforms to what I’m in Colorado Springs, where sellers are offering piddling $5-6 reductions on $300K shacks. Of course, said shacks are sitting unsold. When the April numbers come out, some of these greedheads might see the light and decide to get out ahead of the cratering.

    https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/Colorado-Springs_CO/show-price-reduced/nc-hide

  18. Be prepared to a dramatic shift from a sellers’ market to a motivated buyers’ market.

    I’m a motivated buyer – motivated to stay on my lawn chair, celebratory adult beverage in hand, toasting all the cratering wit my HBB homies while I wait for the carnage to play out. I’ve got all the time in the world, sellers – you don’t.

  19. “Selma Hepp: Everyone is asking of course what’s going to happen to prices? Once we see updated numbers sellers who need to sell will most likely have to reduce the asking price.”

    You must be some kind of Mensa candidate, Selma, with insights like dat.

  20. The special servicer status ‘by no means should be interpreted as our loan being in default or that we are behind on any payment,’ he wrote in an email to The Real Deal.”

    You are well and truly buggered, Brett. But we’ll pretend you’re not in arrears if you want us to.

  21. “One-third of renters in America missed April rents, and it’s causing a strain between them and their landlords.

    Maybe if rents hadn’t been driven into the stratosphere by speculators, many of them landlords, the tenants wouldn’t be stiffing the landlords.

  22. “‘Most of our members are not in the business of rental housing,’ said Woodring. ‘It’s an investment that they’ve secured for their family or for their retirement. They’ve chosen to sort of invest in their community.’”

    Cry me a river. Anyone who bought shacks at bubble pricing is part of the problem, especially if they expected to gouge their renters to cover a mortgage they otherwise couldn’t afford. The sooner they have to sell their shacks at a loss, or walk away and let them go into foreclosure, the better.

  23. The 5,842-square-foot, five-bedroom home in Houston’s prestigious Memorial area, a wooded enclave filled with million-dollar properties, is now for sale at just under $1 million: $999,999. Just last fall it was on the market for $1.399 million.”

    Correction: that enclave is filled with properties FORMERLY worth a million dollars. And any greedhead who prices a shack for $999,999 needs to be kicked in the Jimmies on general principle.

  24. Ugh – the northern Va market is skyrocketing. Reston VA townhouse on market for 519k – sold for 430k in 2016 – and has no major upgrades.

    This is 1700 sq ft with no garage and close to 30 yrs old. Insanity.

        1. It didn’t sell?

          Makes sense.

          As a noted economist said so eloquently, “I can ask $50k for my 10 year old run down Chevy pickup but where is the buyer at that price? So it is with all depreciating assets like houses and cars.”

          Fairfax, VA Housing Prices Crater 10% YOY As Northern Virginia/Washington DC Emerges As Ground Zero For Mortgage Fraud Epidemic

          https://www.zillow.com/fairfax-va-22031/home-values/

          *Select price from dropdown menu on first chart

    1. “Tis a mere flesh wound.

      Sales volumes may have fallen off, but real estate industry economists offer their assurances that prices will keep going up from here on out, just as they always do.

  26. Just thought I would share this:
    https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2020/04/16/unemployment-filing-interviews-js-orig.cnn/video/playlists/business-economy/

    When days matter, government help is only weeks away.

    I don’t know what it will take for people to negotiate harder or save more so they have more than mere days of cash available to survive some hardship.

    The hilarious thing to me though, the lady in this video went on national TV and says she has stacks of under the table cash from tips that she’s using to get through the shutdown. Guess it goes to show rules only work if you don’t follow them too closely.

  27. Wowsers! thee.DOW.up 📈📈📈📈📈🎢📉📉📉📉📉 … ⬆️ 0.17%

    $tunning!📰🥁👏🎉

  29. The Ahwatukee Foothills News in Arizona’ I was in Ahwatukee 2006 -2009 and it got ugly. Estate sale and the stove was going, the AC was going , everything. I asked the agent how can you sell the house grandma died in if you strip it ? , and then it dawned on me it was a walk away. I saw it over and over again. I did not see that in California here it was more a midnight dash.

    1. it was a walk away.

      ??? So the house had already been sold to the bank? I always forget there might be a big mortgage on Grandma’s house.

  30. No they striped it before they bailed and let the bank foreclose. I don’t think there was a grandma that was just a BS story.

  31. “‘Most of our members are not in the business of rental housing,’ said Woodring. ‘It’s an investment that they’ve secured for their family or for their retirement. They’ve chosen to sort of invest in their community.’”

    –This is a mistake so many make. They, in fact, ARE running a business. They ARE in the business in rental housing. What they get out of pretending they are not is beyond me. Its like that scene from Karate Kid…..”Karate do YES, or Karate do NO, or sooner or later….splat”

    1. They’ve chosen to sort of invest in their community.

      I think “invest” was the key word there. They think that they are riding an investment. The whole collecting rent from annoying strangers thing is just a temporary side hustle that doesn’t actually need to go well, because that’s not where the real money is.

      1. invest in their community

        Strikes me as an oddly untruthful statement. Speculation in housing does not improve the community at all.

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