A report from Reuters. "The coronavirus crisis is likely to cut home and office building prices, may lead to a permanent shift in the demand for office space, and could push highly indebted households and companies toward default, Boston Federal…
A report from the Wall Street Journal. "As the novel coronavirus causes turmoil in property markets, some of the most risk-hungry real-estate lenders are starting to come under pressure. Funding debt investments with bank loans has allowed REITs and debt…
It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Mortgage firms are bracing for a wave of missed payments starting April 1 as borrowers lose their jobs as a result of the coronavirus epidemic. The firms, which collect money from borrowers…
It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "Auction.com reported in January that experts predict foreclosure and REO inflow will increase in 2020, with most of the influx coming for government-insured loans. 'Most in the default servicing industry expect government-insured…
A report from the Palm Beach Post in Florida. "As the coronavirus spreads, travel and other economic activity has slowed or stopped. Florida’s $1 trillion economy relies on tourism more than most states, so the slowdown here is likely to…
A weekend topic starting with Yahoo Finance. "The Federal Reserve slashed interest rates by half a percentage point last week, citing a need to protect small- to medium-sized businesses from the economic ripple effects of the coronavirus. But a Seattle-based…
It's Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. "There are some very real discussions going on amongst real estate industry professionals on social media platforms and at ongoing conferences about what effect the virus may have on the industry. With…
A weekend topic starting with KSL in Utah. "Orn Bodvarsson, an economics professor at Westminster College, said the country is on a decade-long expansion trajectory that shows almost no sign of faltering anytime soon. He said there are a variety…
A weekend topic starting with an editorial by Paul Krugman. "I’m in Spain right now, talking about zombie ideas — ideas that should have been killed by evidence, but just keep lurching along. And as it happens, the experience of…
A weekend topic starting with Sheila Bair, the former Chair of the FDIC. "It’s been said of academia that the fights are so vicious because the stakes are so small. The same could be said of fights over bank regulation.…