What I'm Reading Overflow: The red hot housing market coupled with stubbornly high unemployment has ignited a boom in new realtors. However, housing supply - which was already low before 2020 - has been dropping like a rock and there are now more realtors than homes for sale in the...
March 22nd – Wanna Get Away?
What I'm Reading Wanna Get Away? Demand for second homes increased far more than for primary homes between January 2020 and January 2021, according to a Redfin analysis of mortgage application data from Optimal Blue, a real estate analytics firm. If ever there were an indication of K-shaped recovery, this...
March 19th – Tick Tock
What I'm Reading Tick Tock: Multifamily forbearance for agency borrowers has been extended through June 30, 2021 after having been set to expire on May 31st. Once the forbearance period ends, owners generally have to start repaying the deferred amount immediately and within 12 months, and while some owners have...
March 18th – Liquid Diet
One Big Thing Interesting story in Globe Street early this week about ReadyCap providing $104MM in construction-to-bridge financing on a new 200 unit apartment building in San Francisco. The project had apparently been behind on leasing thanks to COVID and therefore not able to obtain permanent financing when the construction...
March 17th – Lifeline
What I'm Reading Lifeline: Of the three relief bills passed by Congress over the past year, the latest is probably the most beneficial to the CRE industry. Here's a summary of what the bill contains that will help the industry: $40 billion for rental assistance $25 billion in restaurant industry...
March 16th – My Way or the Highway
What I'm Reading My Way or the Highway: The Kushner Companies declined to oppose its lenders’ bid to appoint a receiver to take control of a deeply distressed Times Square entertainment retail property that it purchased for $295.3MM back in 2015. The decline in value here is eye popping to...
March 15th – Piggy Bank
What I'm Reading Piggy Bank: Cash out refinances have hit their highest level since the financial crisis as homeowners take advantage of low rates. Cash out transactions were muted over the past decade in the wake of the Great Recession but came back with a vengeance in 2020 as mortgage...
March 12th – Stressing Out
What I'm Reading Stressing Out: Fitch Ratings published a stress test that concluded, in a worst case scenario, office values could fall 50% if remote work sticks. Fitch ran various stress scenarios ranging from moderate to severe to determine how telework would impact demand, rent and net cash flow on...
March 11th – Bailed Out
What I'm Reading Bailed Out: The latest round of federal stimulus will provide San Francisco with about $600MM over the next two years, wiping out the vast majority of its $650MM budget deficit and likely sparing it from substantial budget cuts. This was always the bullish case for blue cities...
March 10th – Postponement
What I'm Reading Postponed: The Federal Housing Finance Agency has announced that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae will extend multifamily forbearance for COVID-19. Qualifying multifamily property owners will be eligible for forbearance through June 30, 2021. The program was scheduled to expire on May 31, 2021. This move includes eviction...