This Ain’t No American Dream, This Is An American Nightmare

A report from the Miami Herald. “At a time when only a fraction of Black residents can afford to buy property in South Florida, many Black residents and community members are saying it’s more important than ever for Black people to hold onto generational property in historically Black communities. Real estate and mortgage broker Danny Felton, who recently spoke on a panel called ‘Don’t Sell Mama’s House’ during the Black Wealth Summit at Florida Memorial University, said Black homeownership is fundamental to creating generational wealth. ‘We have to look at real estate as an investment tool, not a burden,’ said Felton, 54. ‘If I purchase it today, it’s a basic need, and it will appreciate. Owning a piece of property is paying yourself. You can’t write off rent on your taxes.’ Clarice Cooper, 74, president of the Coconut Grove Village West Homeowners and Tenants Association has been telling neighbors for years to hold on to their homes. ‘We try to urge people to see that if you sell your house for $500,000 to $600,000, it will be sold for $7 million to $8 million,’ she said.”

The Daily Mail. “Canadians are cutting ties with America — even if it means giving up their dream vacation homes. Thousands have put their Florida properties and other US homes on the market after President Donald Trump threatened to annex Canada. ‘Canadians feel really disrespected,’ Palm Beach realtor Jeff Lichtenstein told the Daily Mail. ‘They don’t feel comfortable in the United States right now.’ Lichtenstein said he is seeing an uptick of Canadian clients calling off real estate deals at the last minute. ‘The buyer thanked me but said that, unfortunately, due to the current political climate, they would not be purchasing a home in the United States,’ Lichtenstein says. He also described another Canadian client ready to list their home in the Sunshine State, even though they know selling in the current climate may come with a 10 per cent loss – or more.”

Wall Street Journal. “President Trump’s federal government shake-up is taking a toll on the U.S. capital’s economy. Economists believe government layoffs and looming budget cuts will push the Washington, D.C., metro area into a recession, challenging its reputation for economic resilience. Michael Matheke-Fischer, a former USAID contractor specializing in global health, was laid off in January when Musk abruptly dismantled the agency. His wife, Nandini Pillai, also worked in global health for a USAID grant recipient and was furloughed by her employer around the same time.”

“The family of four has cut their nanny’s hours from 40 a week to 10 or 12, no longer orders in for dinner, is driving as little as possible and is eating less meat, Matheke-Fischer said. They also canceled plans to send their children to day camp this summer. Matheke-Fischer, 43 years old, expects to be able to cover mortgage and basic expenses for a few months but is worried about what comes next. ‘We’ve gone from a double-income family to a no-income family,’ he said. ‘I lived in India for a long time and my wife is of Indian descent, so thankfully, we know what to do with vegetables.'”

New York Post. “Ken Griffin is officially one property away from washing his hands of Chicago. The billionaire Citadel founder is close to wrapping up his Chicago selling spree with the offloading of two more condos this week. The transactions totaled $15.9 million — an $8.79 million loss for Griffin, who bitterly cut ties with the Windy City in 2022. The two unfinished penthouse condos at 9 West Walton, located on the 35th and 36th floors, sold on Tuesday for $7.4 million and $8.5 million, respectively. Griffin paid over $12 million for each of the units in 2017. ‘The decline in Chicago real estate values is yet another bill coming due from years of failed leadership in Illinois,’ Zia Ahmed, a spokesperson for Griffin, said in an emailed statement.”

“The Tuesday sales mark the end of Griffin’s historic tenure at 9 West Walton. His 2017 purchase of a four-penthouse spread — plus a pool — for $59 million marked the largest-ever real estate transaction in Chicago’s history. The other two penthouses, on the 37th and 38th floors, sold to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker in December for $19 million — another sales loss of $14.8 million for Griffin, Crain’s reported. All in all, Griffin has lost a total of $23.59 million, or 40%, of his 2017 investment at No. 9 West Walton, Crain’s reported. The Post can confirm that Griffin has one remaining property in Chicago, which has been on and off the market since 2022. Griffin’s furnished penthouse at 800 North Michigan Ave., a furnished apartment just blocks away from 9 West Walton, is currently listed for $15.75 million.”

Yahoo Finance. “All the ingredients for a busy spring homebuying season were there: Buyers had more inventory to choose from, mortgage rates were holding steady, and showings and mortgage applications were picking up. Now, the volatility that gripped financial markets after President Trump announced sweeping tariffs on US trading partners threatens to upend it all. Prospective homebuyers, fretting about their job security and investments, are rethinking their searches, and sellers are worried too. ‘Sellers are concerned about their home values,’ said Jacob Barker, a New York-based broker at Coldwell Banker Warburg. ‘Buyers, even if they are not personally worried about their own financial position, are loath to put in an offer when the price might be 7% less a few months from now.’ Another weak spring would put the country on course for a third straight year of dismal home sales. Just over 4 million previously owned homes were sold last year, the lowest level since 1995.”

Los Angeles Times in California. “For Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, the list of problems keeps piling up. Faced with a nearly $1-billion shortfall, Bass has been weighing whether to lay off more than 1,500 city workers — or almost 5% of the workforce — while also eliminating some vacant positions. ‘I knew our city services were broken. I knew we were not having the healthiest budgeting. But I didn’t expect to have to consider thousands of possible layoffs,’ she said. Bass said she is still hoping to avoid employee layoffs, in part by securing financial relief from Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state Legislature. Darry Sragow, a Democratic Party strategist, contends that the city’s financial problems are largely self-inflicted. And he voiced strong doubts about a windfall arriving from Sacramento. ‘I don’t know that there would be a lot of sympathy for plowing a huge amount of state money into rescuing L.A.,’ he said.”

“Mott Smith, who chairs the Council of Infill Builders, an advocacy group focused on development issues, said the city has failed to make meaningful progress in approving policies that will make it easier to build homes. As a result, he said, major investors and lenders are fleeing the Los Angeles market. ‘Even the most die-hard boosters are questioning whether it makes sense to do business here,’ said Smith, who served on a city working group focused on streamlining the permitting process. Smith said the slowdown in housing development is depriving the city of property tax growth, which in turn reduces its ability to deliver services.”

KFMB San Diego in California. “The American dream of owning a home is being reimagined. Developers are buying single-family homes and adding high-density units in backyards, or as Realtor Jim LaMattery calls them, ‘alligator projects.’ ‘The reason I call these alligator projects is because they’re over-built, bloated, monstrosities in the middle of our neighborhoods,’ LaMattery said. One ‘alligator project’ is in the backyard of a single-family home on Almayo Avenue in Clairemont. Concerns stretch beyond the block. Clairemont native, John Schwartz, is worried about other projects coming. ‘It’s an exploitation of neighborhoods that shouldn’t be happening,’ Schwartz said. ‘But if I did anticipate that it was a possibility, I don’t think I would have bought in the area.'”

“‘My greatest joy in real estate was selling to young people a new home,’ LaMattery said. ‘That, to me, is what the American dream is. This ain’t no American dream, this is an American nightmare.'”

Barrie Today in Canada. “Over the last four years alone, Bradford landlords have been dealing with almost $1 million in unpaid rent, and the system that handles those issues is due for change if it’s going to keep up with demand. That was the message from Kevin Costain and Rose Marie, chair and vice-chair, respectively, of Small Ownership Landlords Ontario (SOLO), during a deputation to Bradford council on April 15. ‘This is theft,’ Costain said. ‘Even for Bradford it’s a serious and local problem.’ Costain pointed to a report of one tenant’s application that had been ‘stalled’ at the LTB for about six years. ‘Imagine waiting six years for anything, for a hearing,’ he said. He explained those numbers came from openroom.ca — which hosts a publicly searchable database of filings and orders from Ontario’s Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) — that help paint a picture of how ‘mom-and-pop’ landlords are ‘having their lives ruined’ by professional tenants.”

“Several councillors shared more local stories, with Ward 6 Coun. Nickolas Harper recalling efforts to try to help a resident after their tenant left the water running non-stop, and Ward 5 Coun. Peter Ferragine said he’s currently going through the process of trying to evict a tenant who refuses to leave a property which has already been sold. As a real estate agent himself, Ferragine explained few people are interested in buying rental properties given the issues with the tribunal. ‘Nobody wants to do it anymore,’ he said. ‘It’s a scary thing to do.'”

From Lancaster Live. “Residents in Blackpool have told how their lives are being made hell by the booming number of short term lets through companies like Airbnb. People living in the popular seaside town say their lives are being blighted by anti-social behaviour, noise disturbances and even prostitution. They raised their concerns as tens of thousands of holiday-makers are set to flood Britain’s resorts and tourist hot spots for the Easter Bank Holiday weekend. Saima Arif, 41, has operated three hotels in Blackpool’s town centre for eight years. She said: ‘The ones now, there’s nobody there. If somebody’s booked a double room, they know the code. If they meet friends with a girl, they use that code, go in, use the room, and go out. It’s like one person’s booked the room, a couple who’s out for the night and give the code to another couple. They use the room and just go out after an hour.’ She added: ‘The people who ran these places for 20-odd years did it right. As soon as they left, it’s like everybody started making their own rules. I’m just thinking ‘am I the daft one?'”

“Tourist organisation StayBlackpool’s Ian White, 64, says short-term lets from companies like Booking.com have been on his radar since 2014. He’s heard from families who have been forced to leave their own homes and sleep overnight in a camper van just to escape the disruption of short-term lets. Despite this, Ian says the town is currently experiencing an oversupply of beds as it struggles to compete with foreign package holiday deals. Because of this, many guesthouses are now turning to house people from out of the area and prisoners on early release, which can give more consistent income. The 64-year-old said: ‘They bring in a certain amount of antisocial behaviour and other issues. Some traditional holiday accommodation have started to lose business, where regular guests won’t come back.’ Ian wants short-term let accommodation to be subject to the same rules as guesthouses in an effort to tackle the oversupply and help bring the guesthouses back to normal operations. He added: ‘Blackpool is looking quite vulnerable.'”

Radio New Zealand. “Infometrics chief forecaster Gareth Kiernan said, through the latter half of last decade, population growth outpaced new housing supply and associated infrastructure development. But there was a catch-up of housing supply in 2021 and 2022. Corelogic chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said the overall population grew 7.5 percent between December 2018 and 2024 and CoreLogic’s records showed housing stock rose by 9.9 percent over the same period. There are now large numbers of houses available for both sale and rent.”

“‘Putting aside any effects from changing occupancy rates – people per house – and/or shifts in societal tastes in terms of property type/size, there’s evidence there to suggest any supply/demand imbalance has eased,’ he said. ‘Certainly, the general vibe on the ground at present is that the market is fairly well balanced, and reflects the large construction boom we’ve had in previous years. Any shortages that were prevalent in the past don’t seem to be an issue now, which adds to the case for thinking that the next phase for house prices could be fairly subdued.'”

“‘Some of these dynamics have shifted more recently. The 2023 boom in population growth has well and truly deflated. And even though residential building activity has slowed down sharply, population growth looks set to track below that of the housing stock at least for this year,’ BNZ chief economist Mike Jones said. ‘Getting a proper handle on the size of the housing demand/supply balance is fraught with difficulty. But whatever your current estimate, these dynamics point to some reduction in pressure from here. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that we’re seeing the market balance in both the rental and real estate markets tilt towards excess supply, with rents falling in some parts of the country and house prices going nowhere despite big falls in mortgage rates.'”