I Was About To Lose My Home And Everything, And It Was Like Nobody Cared

A report from WJLA. “Rent in Washington, D.C., is climbing for the first time in months, with a 2.7% increase in February, according to Redfin. Arlington, Virginia, experienced the largest year-over-year increase in asking rents last month, with a 12.1% rise. The average rent in Arlington now stands at $2,591. Bethesda, Maryland, is nearing $3,000 monthly, with a spike similar to Arlington’s. Cassandra De Leon, a realtor with Compass, said, ‘People are just not willing to make that jump and take that risk. For instance, I have a couple that is ready to start a family, they are ready to purchase their first home, and both are federal employees, and they won’t make the jump, so they are thinking about renting for another year.’ De Leon added, ‘If you can stomach the pain, I would say take the opportunity and buy right now because there is a lot of opportunity for buyers before the spring market hits.'”

The Palm Beach Post in Florida. “A just-recorded sale in the prime Palm Beach condominium development at 2 N. Breakers Row offers a trip backward, of sorts, to the height of the coronavirus-related real estate boom, when real estate prices were escalating sharply amid heavy buyer demand. In October 2021, an oceanview corner unit, No. N21, changed hands with a pool cabana for a recorded $10.5 million. Fast forward to 2025, and the condo and cabana just sold for $7.3 million, or $3.2 million less than their 2021 price.”

The Maple Ridge News. “First, as outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on March 4, the goal of Canada’s efforts in the newly launched trade war is to end the tariffs. Literally all Canadians asked for was nothing, no change. And instead we were attacked. Our anger was at first undirected and symbolic. Booing the U.S. national anthem at hockey games, or buying ‘Canada is Not For Sale’ hats. Now it’s becoming focused. Canadian trips south of the border seem to have dropped dramatically. People are re-arranging vacation plans, either staying in Canada or going overseas to friendlier nations. Snowbirds are reportedly selling their Florida condos and moving back to winter in Montreal.”

Los Angeles Daily News in California. “A sweeping policy implemented last year that forced hundreds of Los Angeles County field probation officers to take unpaid leaves if they had work restrictions preventing them from redeploying to the troubled Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall has financially devastated some of the department’s oldest employees and is further diminishing the county’s ability to supervise high-risk probationers. As a result, some officers have turned to early retirements to avoid foreclosures, while others wait to rotate in and out of a limited number of temporary positions for those with injuries or other restrictions.”

“The forced leaves already have accelerated retirement plans for some officers. A former field officer told the Southern California News Group she retired four years earlier than planned, at 61 at a lower rate, because her only other options were to redeploy to Los Padrinos, where the injuries she sustained on the job could be exacerbated, or continue to stay on leave and risk losing her home. ‘I’d never been late on my mortgage in my entire life of being a homeowner, not once, and for two months I couldn’t pay my mortgage,’ said the officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to a pending workers’ compensation case. ‘I was about to lose my home and everything, and it was like nobody cared.'”

The Los Angeles Times. “Chris Russo, who had closed escrow on a house in Pacific Palisades one day before the Palisades fire burned it down, said it has ‘been a full-time job to manage how to recover from this disaster.’ Russo, who had lived in West Hollywood for 24 years, thought she had found her paradise: a single-wide trailer in the Tahitian Terrace mobile home park across the street from Will Rogers State Beach. Russo, a post-production supervisor and documentary filmmaker, said she was covered by the California FAIR Plan, the state’s insurer of last resort, and ‘severely underinsured.’ She would like to see the mobile home park be rebuilt and actually get to move into her home, which was destroyed before she even received the key.”

Bisnow on California. “San Francisco architects and developers are encouraged by an ordinance passed by the city’s Board of Supervisors this week that will waive some fees for converting offices into apartments. But while the ordinance will save money and make more conversions possible, such projects are complex and will still require substantial planning and investment, making a conversion boom unlikely. ‘We have about 35M SF of vacant office space in San Francisco, and we think about 10-13M SF of that office was functionally obsolete before the pandemic,’ said Anne Taupier, director of development at the office of economic and workforce development for the city of San Francisco. ‘We don’t see that as coming back online as office in any future, so we do think adaptive reuse is critical in how we take that space off the market and at the same time, create a 24/7 economy in our downtown.'”

“‘The key to getting any of this to work is to convince the equity markets that it’s OK to come to San Francisco, that’s the critical issue,’ Forge Development CEO Richard Hannum said. ‘How do we create a policy structure that is inviting? Unfortunately, the media has portrayed San Francisco as being in a doom loop. It was once the No. 1 place to invest money in the country for decades and then it became a pariah during the pandemic.'”

W42ST in New York. “Hell’s Kitchen residents are calling for urgent action as crime, deteriorating conditions and housing violations overwhelm a stretch of 14 buildings on W49th Street between 8th and 9th Avenue. The owners claim squatters are fueling much of the block’s chaos. Delores Rubin, president of the Midtown North Precinct Community Council, did not mince words. ‘This is shameful,’ she said. ‘People are afraid to walk in and out of their own buildings. The crime, the drugs, the prostitution — it’s happening right in front of us, and there’s no accountability.'”

“Christian Banovich of Nieuw Amsterdam Property Management, the managing firm for building owner Black Spruce Properties, stated that these individuals had moved into vacant units and taken advantage of the slow-moving housing court system to remain indefinitely. ‘One of these squatters moved in February of 2023,’ Banovich said at the meeting. ‘We called the police immediately, but they produced a fake lease. NYPD told us they had tenant rights. We’ve been in and out of housing court for two years trying to remove this person.’ A second squatter moved into another unit in April 2024, according to Banovich. ‘We started legal action right away, and thankfully, we have an eviction order for next week, March 12,’ he said. ‘But it shouldn’t take this long. These individuals are responsible for break-ins, vandalism and drug activity. We’ve spent over $100,000 on security upgrades, only to have them destroyed again.'”

“Residents, some of whom have lived in the buildings for decades, described a constant state of fear and frustration. ‘I have lived here for 10 years, and it has never been this bad,’ said one tenant whose statement was read at the meeting. ‘I see people shooting up in the hallways, doors broken, people I don’t recognize coming and going at all hours. I pay market rent, and I don’t feel safe in my own home.’ Another longtime tenant wrote, ‘In the last year, we’ve had fires, a shooting that ended in someone’s death, and drug deals happening right outside my door. When I call management, they tell me to call the police. But the police come, and nothing changes. The same people causing the trouble are right back here the next day.'”

The Globe and Mail in Canada. “On an empty, overgrown downtown Vancouver lot, 152 units of social housing remain unbuilt almost nine years after the city sold the land to a developer. With no sign of development in a slowed down real estate market, it’s unclear when the desperately needed housing will be delivered. As part of the sales contract, the city has until May 3 to buy the land back from the developer. But if it plans to act on the option, it’s not saying. The city sold the nearly 1.5-acre property in November, 2016 for an estimated $120-million, a deal that included the construction of 152 units of social housing to be transferred back to the city. But the developer purchaser, Pinnacle International, was only required to pay $20-million upfront. The remainder has yet to be paid.”

“Pinnacle had been marketing the presale units for the last year; however, the advertisements that covered the chain link fencing have been removed and the presentation centre has closed. ‘Right now we have ceased marketing,’ said Grace Kwok, vice-president of Anson Realty and sales director for 601 Beach.”

The Vancouver Sun. “A tour of downtown New Westminster with Coun. Daniel Fontaine is a chilling experience. This city, with a population of 92,000, has the dubious distinction of being the second-densest city in Canada. It recently surpassed Montreal for the number of people per square kilometre and is now second only to Vancouver. On a walk through downtown New West, which was the capital of B.C. until 1866, Fontaine points to the many concrete residential towers that have been erected in the past few years on Carnarvon Street, which he calls ‘Carnarvon Canyon’ because of its wind-tunnel effect. This corridor of the city’s hillside downtown isn’t only without cafés and retail outlets, it’s also devoid of boulevard trees. Scores of trees planted by tower developers died, basically because they have been enveloped in the shadow of the buildings, said Fontaine, a gardener.”

“‘I’m not opposed to more density. I’m opposed to bad development,’ Fontaine said, surveying downtown. ‘They wouldn’t even build some of this in modern-day Russia.’ What do residents get out of living in the second-densest city in Canada? Unfortunately, Fontaine said, they’re being strapped with taxes ‘that have gone through the roof.’ It’s not entirely Victoria’s fault, though, said Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon. A significant portion of the blame can be laid at the feet of Ottawa, which has been setting record-high immigration targets without consulting with, or aiding, the municipalities that must absorb newcomers. ‘We’ve opened the migration doors, but there’s a complete disconnect. As a result, local governments have to increase taxes just to keep afloat.'”

The Chosun Ilbo. “South Korea’s construction sector, which accounts for roughly 15% of the country’s GDP and has long been considered a key barometer of the economy due to its job creation and spill-over effects across related industries, is facing a severe downturn. The struggles of mid-sized and small construction firms, considered the industry’s backbone, are sending shockwaves through the sector. Concerns are growing that the financial strain could spill over into the financial sector, straining real estate trust companies, banks, and securities companies that have provided loans or guarantees to cash-strapped builders. As builders cut back on hiring, the construction sector shed nearly 170,000 jobs in January compared to a year ago.”

“So far, six mid-sized builders have filed for corporate rehabilitation this year, according to the construction industry on Mar. 9. Last year, the total amount of unpaid construction fees owed to mid-sized firms reached nearly 12 trillion won ($8.3 billion), up 40% from two years ago. Many of these firms have stayed afloat by taking on debt to cover construction expenses, but with the prolonged real estate slump, their options are dwindling. A prime example is Shindonga Construction, a construction firm in Korea that recently filed for corporate rehabilitation. The company’s uncollected receivables nearly tripled over three years, from 71.9 billion won in 2020 to 214.6 billion won in 2023. The builder’s financial troubles stem from large-scale unsold housing projects in Jinju’s Shinjinju Station and Uijeongbu. Despite posting 18.1 billion in operating profit last year, the firm ultimately collapsed under financial strain.”

South China Morning Post. “Rents in upmarket districts of Beijing and Shanghai slumped by as much as 17 per cent year on year in February, Beike says More than two years after China’s stringent Covid-19 lockdowns triggered an exodus of international businesses and expatriates, the country’s high-end property market continues to suffer from falling rents, with analysts warning the downturn could persist for some time amid declining home prices. The average rent for flats in Beijing’s central business district, home to more than 118 multinational companies, declined as much as 17 per cent year on year in February to 11,385 yuan (US$1,750) per square metre, according to data compiled by Beike.”

“Shanghai fared no better. In Pudong’s Lujiazui, a financial hub known for its luxury high-rises, rents fell 8 per cent, while those near the landmark Jingan Temple tumbled 13 per cent last month. The average rent in the city has fallen 13 per cent compared with pre-pandemic levels. ‘The decline in these areas isn’t recent,’ said Lu Wenxi, an analyst at Centaline Property, noting that this has been the case since people left in droves following the pandemic lockdown. ‘Normally, an apartment listed at 12,000 yuan to 13,000 yuan per month would find a tenant within three months, but now it’s taking much longer, and the difference is noticeable,’ Lu added.”

“A survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in China in January found that 30 per cent of respondents were considering or had already shifted manufacturing out of the country, double the proportion in 2020. At least 17 US law firms have shut offices in four of China’s top-tier cities over the past two years, according to legal intelligence provider Leopard Solutions. The rental segment has also been squeezed from the growing supply of lower-priced flats put on the market by landlords who are reluctant to sell amid falling prices.”

“The total supply of government-subsidised rental housing could reach as much as 8.8 million units this year across the country, according to estimates from the China Real Estate Information Corporation. This was due to local governments stepping up efforts to digest large amounts of unsold housing stock that amounted to 738 million square metres as of August 2024, according to an S&P Global report published in October. Priced 20 to 40 per cent below market rates, these subsidised flats make up around 40 per cent of the rental market in China’s eight largest cities, according to real estate think tank Mingyuanyun.com. The squeeze was especially pronounced in Shanghai, where such housing has grown at a compound annual rate of 79 per cent since 2021, compared with just 12 per cent for private supply, it added. ‘The demand has not been strong enough to begin with, and as subsidised housing, long-term rental flats and other offerings enter the market, [rental growth] is only likely to worsen,’ said Centaline’s Lu.”