The Frenzy We Saw A Few years Ago Is Over, It Doesn’t Exist Anymore

A report from the Washington Post. “Virginia state senators spent hours this week, in the frenzied homestretch of the General Assembly session, debating and ultimately agreeing to make federal government contractors affected by sweeping cuts in Washington eligible for state unemployment benefits. The measure is meaningless, at least for now, because the state budget bill that the legislature is expected to approve Saturday includes no money for it. Dismissing claims that laid-off workers were already forced to put their houses up for sale, Sen. William M. Stanley Jr. (R-Franklin) said it was a chance for them to get the equity out of their properties in the pricey Northern Virginia real estate market. ‘I’ve seen all these houses going on the market in Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax — $1 million, $1.5 [million], $2 million,’ he said. ‘There’s equity, so they’re not being robbed of their place of dwelling. Probably making extra profit. And, hopefully, they’ll find another way to use their talents … [besides] attaching yourself like a carbuncle to the government function.'”

“A new stumbling block emerged. Senate Majority Leader Scott A. Surovell (D-Fairfax), who led the charge for extending benefits to contractors, proposed a floor amendment on Thursday dictating that the bill would not become effective unless the money to pay for it was included in the state budget. And the money was not in the budget. Republicans declared the Democrats’ bluff called. ‘Yesterday, if I was not mistaken, I heard from the other side of the aisle that people were dying on the streets of Alexandria, and Zillow was suddenly overloaded on its website with more than 3,000 million-dollar homes in Arlington,’ Stanley said. ‘What changed? Twenty-four hours we went from, ‘We have to protect these government independent contractors’ to ‘Never mind.’”

Market Watch. “Existing-home sales fell in the first month of the year as buyers continued to struggle with high home prices and 7% mortgage rates. Some parts of the housing market are also starting to flash some warning signs of potential distress. In January, foreclosure starts, which refers to the act of a lender foreclosing on a homeowner’s property, jumped 30%, according to data from Intercontinental Exchange. That was partly due to lenders reacting to the expiration of the moratorium on foreclosures on homes purchased with a mortgage backed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Intercontinental Exchange said, and could be a temporary increase. The NAR’s data said that 3% of home sales stemmed from foreclosures and short sales in January. ‘Nothing alarming,’ said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the NAR, but still noteworthy. The number was unchanged from the previous month.”

Banker & Tradesman. “Inventory constraints, higher interest rates and soaring home prices have been taking their toll on the housing market of late across New England. But the second-home market in traditional vacation regions of New England, such as on Cape Cod and New Hampshire’s Lakes region, seems to be experiencing a greater shift away from the buying frenzy, according to data and anecdotal evidence. On Cape Cod, the sale and price numbers are not as clear-cut as they are in New Hampshire – though other data suggests a slowdown is most definitely underway on the Cape. Katie Clancy, a sales vice president at Williame Raveis Cape Cod, noted that homes are sitting on the market longer these days on Cape, indicating a softening in the market. ‘The market is definitely shifting,’ said Clancy. ‘It’s still a seller’s market, but buyers are more discerning. They’re not bidding willy-nilly anymore. They’re not manic like they were a few years ago.'”

“Joan Witter, a real estate agent with Compass-Witter & Witter in Osterville, agreed with Clancy that homes are sitting longer on the market these days on the Cape, due largely to overpricing of properties by sellers. In particular, she noted there seems to be a softening in the demand for homes priced at $3 million and up. ‘It’s not nearly as crazy as it was a few years ago,’ she said of luxury home sales and prices. ‘COVID caused some really insane prices.’ ‘I think it’s going to be a good year,’ said Maggie Tomkiewicz, a broker at Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty in Dartmouth. ‘The market is still strong in our area despite the low inventory. Demand is high.’ But that doesn’t mean things will return to their pre-2022 levels. ‘The frenzy we saw a few years ago is over,’ Tomkiewicz said. ‘It was crazy then. It doesn’t exist anymore.'”

Wall Street Journal. “Home buyers have the most leverage over sellers in years. The bidding wars of the past half decade are fading in many parts of the country. Instead, today’s buyers say they are finding sellers willing to lower prices or throw in extras to sweeten the deal. Ryan Duncan, 28, didn’t hesitate to negotiate when he bought an Austin, Texas, duplex for $507,000 in November. The closing price was $10,000 below ask. He plans to live on one side and rent out the other. He knew the property had been on the market for more than three months and heard the owner was eager to cash out. ‘It definitely feels like a buyer’s market to me,’ he said.”

“Several of the most buyer-friendly areas now are in Florida markets such as Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Dennis Bowers, a real-estate agent in Naples, Fla., said there is about 30% more inventory in his market now compared with last year. Roughly three years ago, buyers had about a day to make an offer on a property. The market has slowed down considerably, and buyers now have time to negotiate and make an offer below the asking price. Homes that need flood insurance are more likely to sell at a discount, he said. Many sellers are still expecting to get the same price their neighbors did during the pandemic. Their homes are sitting on the market for months, he said. ‘Some sellers are living in a fantasy,’ he said.”

CBC News on Florida. “So far, short-term travellers have been more likely to cancel their plans than snowbirds, who have stronger ties to the U.S., said Stephen Fine, president of Snowbird Advisor. He said 40 per cent of snowbirds own property and 70 per cent drive their own vehicles down, meaning going elsewhere isn’t as simple as changing a plane ticket. But a weak loonie and rising costs have already made the Sunshine State an increasingly expensive option for snowbirds, forcing a growing number of Canadians to sell their properties, according to Fort Lauderdale real estate agent Alexandra DuPont. ‘In the last two weeks it’s shifted to what’s been happening more on the political side,’ she said of the motivations of Canadian sellers.”

“She’s currently listing 35 properties, she said, and about 30 of those are owned by Canadians. Meanwhile, she has zero Canadian buyers. It’s unprecedented in her 12 years of selling real estate. ‘I’ve never had this many listings in my life,’ DuPont said. ‘A lot of my clients are checking up weekly … they want to know how come I’m not bringing offers.'”

From KXIN TV. “Indianapolis is expected to be one of the hottest housing markets in the country in 2025 according to Zillow. Sara Coers is the associate director at Indiana University’s Center for Real Estate Studies. She said there is a simple reason why Indianapolis is on the map: a supply and demand issue. ‘When the housing market really heated up, a lot of people rushed into more popular markets, like Austin, which is now notably over built. No one did that with Indianapolis,’ she said.”

From Bisnow. “The number of new apartments hitting markets across the U.S. is projected to decline sharply in the coming months, leaving the executives of the country’s biggest multifamily real estate investment trusts optimistic about their ability to raise rents. Oversupply was weighing on executives’ minds as recently as this past summer, but those concerns have mostly evaporated — especially among REITs with portfolios concentrated on the West Coast, Northeast and Midwest, according to an analysis of multifamily REITs’ fourth-quarter earnings calls. Investors have spent the past few years pouring capital into Sun Belt markets, CBRE Investment Management Portfolio Manager Elisabeth Troni told Bisnow, and gateway markets like San Francisco, New York and Chicago now have stronger underlying fundamentals. ‘Nothing about the tailwinds behind a market like Austin has fundamentally changed. We’ve just overdelivered on the supply,’ she said.”

The Los Angeles Times in California. “Real estate losses from the Palisades and Eaton fires could top $30 billion, and government agencies that receive revenue from taxes stand to lose $61 million or more annually while homes are being rebuilt, a Times analysis shows. Christine D., who asked that her last name not be used because she has already been the target of identity fraud, stood momentarily frozen amid her ruins, plastic grocery bags wrapped around her shoes and over her head, a vista of Santa Monica Bay and Catalina Island behind her. She isn’t sure what she will do now. She said she was insured ‘to a minimum’ and has been advised that rebuilding could cost $1.5 million. ‘I’m over 80,’ she said. ‘They’re talking about five to six years rebuilding. I think it’s not a good time that I can rebuild and spend another five or six years with all the problems.’ She said she might walk away and leave the vacant lot to her grandchildren.”

“Altadena landlord Michael Astalis lost five of those multi-home properties on which stood a total of 16 structures, including his own. ‘I lost $16 million in 3 1/2 hours,’ Astalis said in an interview. ‘I’m guessing I am one of the people that lost more properties than anyone else in Altadena.'”

The San Francisco Chronicle in California. “In another blow to Oakland’s tourism industry, the largest hotel in the city’s downtown is defaulting on its loan. The owners of the Oakland Marriott City Center, a 500-room hotel on Broadway, defaulted on its $100 million loan from Invesco CMI Investments, putting the property at risk of foreclosure, according to the Mercury News, citing Alameda County public records filed earlier this month. Gaw Capital, based in Hong Kong, purchased the hotel in 2017 for $143 million. Oakland’s downtown Marriott joins several other Bay Area hotels facing financial upheaval, which industry insiders say is part of an ongoing trend.”

“‘Lenders have been extending loans and pretending things might turn around,’ Alan Reay, president of Irvine-based hotel market consultancy Atlas Hospitality, told the Mercury News. ‘Extend and pretend is coming to an end. More foreclosures are ahead. More hotel owners are going to walk away and just give the lenders the keys to their properties.'”

The Daily Hive in Canada. “A Vancouver home that has been on the market since 2023 for various amounts has seen its value drop by almost $1 million compared to its last sale. 3838 West 50th Ave. in the Vancouver West Southlands neighbourhood was listed in late January for $5,135,560, just a bit above the assessed value of $4,895,000. In 2019, the home was sold for $6,018,925. Based on the subsequent listings, it doesn’t appear that the property will fetch nearly that much in the Vancouver real estate market. According to Zealty, the first time the home was listed after the 2019 sale was in 2023. In February 2023, the property was listed for $5,698,000. That listing expired in July 2023.It was listed again for $5,380,000 in October 2023, but that listing expired in March 2024. That March, it was listed once again for $5,498,000. The price eventually dropped to $4,990,000, but the realtor couldn’t find a buyer at the reduced rate. In September 2024, it was listed for $5,135,560, which expired in January 2025 before being listed again at the same price. That listing is still active.”

The Globe and Mail in Canada. “A condo corporation in Concord, Ont., is alleging its former property manager, Norbert (Bert) Berger, made it ‘the victim of an elaborate conspiracy’ to use $200,000 of its legally protected reserve funds to profit personally from risky cryptocurrency transactions. It’s the second corporation to make similar allegations of an investment scheme involving a company called Pink Piggy Investment Group Inc., where Mr. Berger was a corporate officer and shareholder. After The Globe and Mail published a story about Mr. Berger’s YCC 25 activities on Sept. 20, the Condominium Management Regulatory Authority of Ontario (CMRAO) began a probe that resulted in Mr. Berger’s suspension on Oct. 13.”

“‘As soon as the CMRAO became aware of the situation, we initiated a prompt but thorough inspection. Condo board members and others came forward and provided evidence,’ said Tsehaie Makonnen, CMRAO director of communications and outreach. ‘The CMRAO will not tolerate advising or soliciting condominiums to make illegal investments of this nature, which put owners at serious risk.'”

The Daily Post. “House prices have taken a hit in Gwynedd following a clampdown on holiday homes, with values dropping by 3% in the last quarter of 2024, exacerbating a year-long downturn. The county has seen a significant 12.4% decrease in property prices year-on-year after local authorities introduced measures to control pricing. North Wales Live readers are cautiously optimistic. Commenter Seeing thinks: ‘House prices are falling. Fantastic news, second home scavengers are in retreat and housing may become a little more affordable. A house, after all, is a place to make a home, not a money making project where you can use your additional wealth to take advantage of the less well off and the poor.'”

“Rojer says: ‘The whole idea of the council tax premium and Article 4 is to try and discourage second home ownership, so it seems to be working. But saying this I cannot see that prices will fall low enough for everybody to be able to buy as the poorly paid job market will always prevail. Recent local first time buyers might now find themselves with a negative equity on their property for a while until a time comes when inflation and property demand will make prices rise again.’ Flash74 is pleased: ‘The house values were pushed up artificially by demand for second/holiday homes. All this is doing is bringing the sector back to normal. It will allow local people to buy these houses, freeing up smaller, cheaper houses further down the ladder for FTBs and young families to buy.'”

The Bangkok Post in Thailand. “SET-listed developer SC Asset Corporation plans to rebrand and diversify into non-property businesses next year, as the housing development sector continues to slow down and may take a few more years to return to normal. Chief executive Nuttaphong Kunakornwong said the residential market will continue to face three key negative factors carried over from last year: high household debt, excess supply, and low consumer confidence. ‘These challenges made it more difficult for residential developers to sell and transfer houses last year,’ he said. ‘With the current residential supply, which will take at least five years to be sold out compared to two to three years under a healthy situation, the residential market will remain sluggish and will take a few years to return to normal,’ Mr Nuttaphong added.”