If You Are Planning On Selling Be Aware That Prices Have Already Peaked, And We Are On Our Way Back Down

A report from Realtor.com. “The South Florida housing market had a February full of ups and downs, with home sale prices going up in some counties but falling in others, and closings plunging across the board. ‘The love affair with Florida has softened a bit,’ says Cara Ameer, a real estate licensed in Florida and California with Coldwell Banker. Broward County, home of the popular spring break destination of Fort Lauderdale, had a rough February across all categories. The median sale price for a typical single-family home in the county decreased by 2%, to $610,000. At the same time, a typical condo in Broward sold for a median price of $275,000, down 5% from the previous year. According to the agent, high insurance costs have played a significant factor in people deciding to sell their homes, especially condos whose monthly fees have skyrocketed, coupled with assessments that make owning a condo unaffordable. ‘Buyers are leery of taking on those kinds of properties, so sellers are going to have to significantly adjust their asking prices in an inventory-rich market,’ adds Ameer.”

7 News Miami. “A homicide at a condo complex. A slip and fall at another one. Do the owners who had nothing to do with those incidents have to pay? One South Florida man turned to Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser to find out. In the condo world, Bonaire at Woodmont is a nice place. Quiet, not too costly and conveniently located. Gary Perlman: ‘We’re central to I-95, the Turnpike, the shopping, the restaurants.’ Another plus: the Perlmans feel safe here. But of course, it’s South Florida and no security is perfect. Gary Perlman: ‘And he followed through on the owner’s side and piggybacked on it.’ It was Nov. 22, 2023, when the driver and two people, who were secretly following him, snuck into the complex. Gary Perlman: ‘Two kids came up to his window and shot him in the car.'”

“The driver didn’t live here. Neither did the people accused of murdering him. As the months passed, calm returned. But then Gary’s irritation grew when he saw their liability insurance company was not renewing the association. Gary Perlman: ‘The remaining companies that we had to choose from increased our rates $60,000.’ Gary concluded it was the murder that sent their proposed liability rates from $21,000 a year to $81,000, hitting each condo owner. Gary Perlman: ‘From just over $600 to over $700 and I think it’s $740 a month now.’ Gary Perlman: ‘Where do they have the right to jack up our rates that way and say ‘You know, the community has to pay for negligence.’ Is it negligence? No, it’s not.’ And Gary says as the price of everything rises, its pretty clear what the people who used to want to move to South Florida will probably think. Gary Perlman: ‘I think what it’s going to do is affect prospective buyers looking at a place to live.'”

Curbed New York. “After years on the market, Donald Trump’s childhood home finally sold — at a significant loss. The Tudor-style five-bedroom, in a nice slice of Jamaica Estates where houses sit back on wide lawns, went for just $835,000 in early March — far less than a similar property on the block, which sold for $1.26 million in 2021, and a full 61 percent less than the seller paid in 2017. The buyer, a corporation listed as 1388 Group, got it at ‘a steep discount,’ per the New York Post, which broke the news. One possible reason? The place was trashed. As Trump’s star rose in 2016, a speculator went after 85-15 Wareham Place, buying it in December of that year and flipping it three months later for $2.14 million — a profit of $750,000. The new owner, who registered under an LLC, tried to turn the place into a piggy bank by converting it into an Airbnb, where Trump supporters might pay $725 per night to spend some time where the president presumably learned to walk, among other accomplishments.”

“But one month after it opened for business, the city shut it down with a partial vacate order. The house went on the market again, and neighbors watched as the building seemed to sit there, abandoned — the grass growing, trash accumulating, and mysterious smells wafting over. One neighbor saw a silver lining in the apparent neglect, and turned the president’s birthplace into a refuge for feral cats. A neighbor told the reporter that the buyer was a ‘known flipper’ who may have also gotten a deal because the seller was motivated. A ‘source close to the transaction’ told the Post that the seller ‘just needed the money.'”

San Jose Spotlight. ‘”Pud’s/condo unsold units has risen again to the highest number of available units since 2014, it’s a great time for buyers to buy,’ Dave Walsh, past president of the California Association of Realtors, said. ‘Condos and townhomes — especially those classified as ‘unwarrantable’ due to Senate Bill 326 — are stagnant on the market for much longer and often experience price drops,’ said Sandy Sicsko of Compass. ‘Buyers are more cautious about these properties, given the lending challenges and potential for future assessments from their HOA.'”

North Bay Business Journal in California. “Marin County apartment sales volume last year increased 2.5 times, from $62 million in 2023 to over $221 million in 2024. Investors waiting for lower prices and higher returns finally found them last year. As prices softened, capitalization rates increased year over year from a median of 4.63% in 2023 and moved to 5.15% in 2024. At the same time the median price per unit dropped from $380,000 in 2023 to $358,000 in 2024. Even with the large increase in sales, many owners that listed their properties last year did not secure a buyer and plan to return to the market this year with their properties offered at a lower price. I expect to see increasing inventory this year as longtime owners retire, even more creative deal making and lower prices to match the closed sales in 2024. If you are planning on selling be aware that prices have already peaked, and we are on our way back down to lower prices that will yield better returns for the real estate investor. Last year Marin County rents softened as the vacancy rate rose to 4.7% according to a recent Costar rental survey. The county population has declined by 1.2% year over year, as tenants moved back to San Francisco or moved out of state to seek cheaper housing.”

Reno Gazette Journal in Nevada. “A number of new apartments in Reno-Sparks are taking longer to reach their target occupancy rate as more units enter the market. Several years of new apartment construction are also showing their impact on the market. The overall market is seeing an occupancy rate of 87.8%, which is below the national average of 91.2%, according to the Nevada State Apartment Association. The number equates to a vacancy rate of 12.2%, compared to 8.8% nationwide. A vacancy rate of 5% to 10% is typically considered as a good or balanced rate. This puts the Reno-Sparks market above the upper ceiling of the threshold, which is when apartments typically start offering concessions. ALN reported 26% of the apartments it tracks in the Reno area offering concessions by the end of 2024, up 8.7% year over year. For large apartments, 34.5% offered concessions in the fourth quarter, according to Johnson Perkins Griffin. Based on ALN data, the market also has 3,147 units for multifamily under construction, which will further add to existing supply.”

The American Statesman in Texas. “Austin-area rents might have fallen recently, but the number of evictions filed by landlords has continued to rise. That’s according to a recent report by tenants rights group BASTA, which found that eviction filings increased 36% last year in Travis County, to 13,210. That is the most eviction filings recorded in the past 10 years. The report comes as rents have continued to decline in the Austin region since a 2022 peak, a trend experts say is the result of a surge in the number of new apartment units coming online and a slight slowdown in Austin’s population boom. Austin added approximately 26,000 new rental units last year, according to an assessment by Austin Investor Interests, a real estate analytics company. That increase drove down rental prices, the firm’s founder, Robin Davis, said in an interview. In mid-2022, Davis said average rent peaked at about $1,742 per month. By late last year, it had fallen to about $1,400. But she noted that is still slightly higher than it was during the first quarter of 2021 – $1,332 per month – when a pandemic-driven population growth bubble began in the area.”

Bisnow on Georgia. “Middle Street Partners is trying to stand out amid a deluge of developers of new apartments fighting for renters in Atlanta. The South Carolina-based developer in January opened Westside Union, a 273-unit apartment project at 400 Bishop St. It is also putting the final touches on its twin luxury Midtown towers called The Juniper and The Reserve at Juniper, which combined will bring 480 units to the market. Those projects are opening amid a historic glut. Developers unleashed more than 24,200 new units in Atlanta last year, an all-time high, according to Cushman & Wakefield. Another 19,300 units are still under construction.”

“While leasing hasn’t yet started on the Juniper towers, Ed Alexander, Middle Street’s director of development for Georgia, said he is bullish on their potential because they are just one block from Piedmont Park. Average asking rents will be north of $4K per month, nearly double the Midtown average. Middle Street and its development partner, AECOM-Canyon Partners, brought in high-end amenities such as infrared and salt saunas and a cold plunge pool. But Middle Street will still have to fight for every renter. Two-thirds of all in-town apartment communities are offering some form of concession to lure renters, with 30% offering two or more months free, according to Haddow & Co. Middle Street is willing to go even further at Westside Union. ‘The team is equipped to offer 10 weeks if they feel that’s necessary to get someone to sign on the dotted line,’ said Ed Alexander, Middle Street’s director of development for Georgia.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer in Pennsylvania. “The Philadelphia Housing Authority acquired four properties totaling 381 units of housing in Germantown, part of a larger plan to acquire private-sector buildings across the city. ‘These are strategic investments to provide more housing options for PHA-assisted residents, and we get to do that in an area of Germantown that is quickly becoming gentrified,’ said Kelvin Jeremiah, CEO of the housing authority. This is part of a larger strategy from PHA, which has found that buying private-sector housing is much cheaper than building new homes, especially in the midst of an apartment glut in some areas of the city.”

“Earlier this year, the agency announced that they would be acquiring 2,000 units of private-sector housing in corners of the city where lower-income Philadelphians increasingly struggle to afford rent. Jeremiah says that buying a unit costs around $300,000 while building a new one can cost up to $600,000. ‘For every unit we build, we could buy two,’ said Jeremiah. ‘So it makes financial and fiscal sense for us.'”

The Globe and Mail in Canada. “Bank of Montreal has tightened mortgage lending rules for self-employed Canadians in several industries that are vulnerable to U.S. tariffs, a move that critics say adds new obstacles during a period of economic uncertainty. As of March 19, hundreds of thousands of self-employed Canadians working in the steel and aluminum space, along with nine other ‘high risk’ industries that BMO believes could face a ‘turbulent economic landscape,’ will find it tougher to secure attractive lending rates as a result of U.S. President Donald Trump’s levies on Canadian exports.”

“BMO’s guidance to external mortgage brokers warns that entire categories of the economy – construction, transportation, leisure/entertainment, retail sales, banking/finance, manufacturing, farming/natural resources, wholesale trade and utilities – are on its ‘Limited Appetite treatment list.’ Self-employed people in those trades will see tougher qualification rules and less credit extended to them, the bank’s memo says. applicants must show that all their spending obligations – everything from car loan and mortgage payments to property taxes, utilities and some condo fees – will only eat up 42 per cent of their income. ‘It’s kind of disappointing in a way that a major bank would decide to pile on at this time,’ Richard Lyall, president of industry group RESCON, which represents residential home builders in Ontario. ‘There’s people who are self-employed who are financially sound. If people are going to be denied credit by virtue of the industry they work in, it’s just not right.'”

“Others say there is a business argument in favour of slowing credit to those facing tougher economic times. ‘I don’t think it’s realistic to think when businesses who extend credit see increased risk that they aren’t going to trim their sails,’ said Dave Larock, president and broker with Integrated Mortgage Planners. ‘I’m all about Team Canada and ‘elbows up,’ but we don’t want our banks to fail.’ Mr. Larock also said that while BMO may have put their policy in writing, he is ‘under no illusion’ that the other major banks aren’t acting on similar policies.”

The Windsor Star. “Rumours, anxiety, and anger are spreading down Ontario assembly lines. Thousands of jobs are in peril as the deadline looms for U.S. President Donald Trump’s auto tariffs, widely expected to cause upheaval on both sides of the border. In Windsor, often the first and hardest hit when recessions strike, the spectre of widespread job loss has conjured painful memories of past downturns. ‘We’re in shock,’ said Unifor Local 200 president John D’Agnolo, who represents about 2,000 Ford workers in Canada’s automotive capital. ‘We’ve seen houses lost, and we’ve seen keys dropped off at the bank. We don’t want to see that again.'”

“United Auto Workers, the union representing American labourers in the industry, has thrown its support behind Trump and his tariffs. It was a surprising reversal for the U.S. union, which supported Democrat Kamala Harris in the last election, with UAW president Shawn Fain calling Trump a ‘scab.’ ‘Tens of thousands of fellow members of Unifor are going to face a very real household crisis of putting food on the table and gas in their cars,’ Shinade Allder, a London area NDP candidate and chair of Unifor’s Ontario Regional Council, said Thursday in Windsor. ‘Parents will have to explain to their children why they can’t play Timbits hockey or have dance lessons or go to family movie night at the theatre.'”

“Multiple Windsor Assembly Plant employees repeatedly shouted Trump’s name through the plant gates on Thursday when federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh stopped by on a campaign tour. ‘We support Trump, we support Trump,’ one woman cheered. When job cuts come, D’Agnolo said foreclosures will follow. ‘With the amount of money we make today on EI, we can’t survive,’ he said. ‘No one can survive on that. We know the impact. That’s why you see the faces looking distraught, because it would decimate this community, and I never want to see that again. Breaks our heart.’ From casinos to restaurant owners, Local 444 president James Stewart said it’s not only autoworkers and feeder plant employees that should be worried. ‘You take auto out of Windsor, and you look at all the other industries left, they’re all going to die.'”

The Business Standard. “In a bizarre twist of romance and real estate, 31 men in Huizhou, a southern city in China, thought they had found true love– only to discover they had fallen victim to a cunning sales ploy. These men, convinced by their girlfriends to purchase apartments, later realised that their so-called lovers were actually estate agents looking to close deals, not walk down the aisle. Authorities have since launched an investigation, revealing that 15 women, all from the same real estate firm, orchestrated the scheme. The women used a dating app to lure unsuspecting men into their web of deception. A state-run newspaper affiliated with China’s housing ministry warned on March 24 that this scandal might be ‘just the tip of the iceberg,’ reported The Economist.”

“The case highlights the dire situation of China’s real estate market, which has been struggling through a severe downturn for four years. Once considered a sure investment, housing sales have plummeted, leaving millions of properties unsold. Some developments remain unfinished despite buyers having already paid for them. The downturn has hit real estate agents especially hard. Since 2021, approximately 10 per cent of agencies in China’s largest cities have shut down, with even steeper declines in smaller towns. In Yanjiao, a city near Beijing, hundreds of agencies have closed. One survivor noted that his income has been slashed in half over the past three years.”

“Some developers have taken price cuts to absurd levels. In Zhongshan, a city in southern China, a builder allowed buyers to secure apartments with a deposit as low as 9.90 yuan ($1.30). In Henan, agricultural products were accepted as down payments, leading one developer, Central China Group, to collect 430 tonnes of garlic in exchange for 30 apartments in 2022. Ironically, the housing crisis might benefit young Chinese men in the long run. Traditionally, societal pressure has dictated that men must own property before being considered marriage material. In late 2019, home prices in Beijing were 44 times the average annual salary, making homeownership nearly impossible for many. That ratio has since fallen to 32 times, presenting a slightly more affordable market. For those who can now afford to buy, the key challenge remains: finding a partner who’s truly interested in marriage and not just in making a sale.”