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In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending May 9th, 2020… an economy in turmoil, words of encouragement from Warren Buffett, and a pick-up in mortgage activity.   We begin with economic news from this past week and another round of job losses. The latest weekly report shows an additional 3.2 million unemployment claims for a total of more than 20 million jobs lost in April. That’s brings us to about 33 million jobs lost since the pandemic began.   www.NewsForInvestors.com  

The Tampa housing market could be among the first to come roaring back to life after the economy opens back up, according to John Burns Real Estate Consulting. Dallas was named  as a potential post-pandemic boom market as well, along with a few other areas.   John Burns Real Estate Consulting is well-respected for doing in-depth research on the real estate industry, and specifically for national builders. This latest report looks at geographic opportunities for real estate investors within three categories.   www.NewsForInvestors.com  

We’re in the midst of severe economic shock right now. There are over 30 million job losses in one month, closed businesses, and a 4.8% drop in the GDP, but somehow home prices are rising in some places. That may be a disappointment for homebuyers and real estate investors looking for a deal, although some researchers see lower prices in the coming months.   Home prices dropped dramatically during the housing crisis ten to twelve years ago, but that’s not what’s happening this time around so far. As the Wall Street Journal points out, we’ve been dealing with a tight inventory for years and, right now, supply has gotten even tighter because sellers don’t want to list their homes and because many builders have put things on pause.   www.NewsForInvestors.com  

The lure of the big city might be fading a bit. A new Harris Poll shows that a growing number of people would like to move away from the city, and that preferences for other lifestyle habits are changing. The poll includes a wide range of questions from how people intend to buy their food in the future to whether they are worried about dying from the virus..    This particular Harris Poll has been tracking coronavirus trends since mid-March and includes more than 300 questions. It appears that many of the questions have been added in more recent weeks, such as the ones about migrating to more rural areas. Each “wave” of the poll is done weekly over a three-day period with the latest information from the last week of April.   www.NewsForInvestors.com    

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending May 2nd, 2020, First-Quarter GDP, a new low for mortgage rates, and a surge in demand for single-family homes.   We begin with economic news for this past week and the staggered reopening of some state economies. At least 30 states have started allowing businesses to carefully reopen, or have announced plans to do so this month, but each state has different guidelines and timelines.   www.NewsForInvestors.com    

Many U.S. malls are at risk of closing for good because of the pandemic. A new analysis by Green Street Advisors is predicting that coronavirus shutdowns will push department stores into bankruptcy, and force more than half of all U.S. malls to close by the end of the year. If you are a homebuyer or investor, you should check on the status of a nearby mall to see if it might affect your property value.   Green Street says there are 1,000 malls still operating in the U.S. and about 60% of them are anchored by department stores...   www.NewsForInvestors.com  

California is not known as a landlord-friendly state, and a few new laws are adding to that reputation. In addition to statewide rent control that caps rent increases and makes it difficult to evict bad tenants, at least two cities in the San Francisco Bay Area have completely outlawed the use of criminal background checks to screen tenants. These “fair chance” housing laws are designed to prevent homelessness among the formerly incarcerated, but are they fair to landlords?   www.NewsForInvestors.com  

Real estate is holding strong among Americans who see it as the best way to invest. This marks the fifth year in a row that real estate has taken the number one spot in a Gallup poll on investing preferences. It was conducted in early April, after the recent COVID-19 stock market sell-off.   It’s no secret that I’d choose real estate over stocks, but this poll shows that many other Americans feel the same way. 35% of the pollees chose real estate as their preferred method of investment while 21% chose the stock market. That’s a bigger gap than last year. Stocks lost six percentage points, while real estate held on to 35. Gold and bonds both trail stocks but they took points away from stocks as people put more emphasis on those options.   www.NewsForInvestors.com    

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending April 25th, 2020... the staggered reopening of the U.S. economy has begun, two small business rescue programs are being refunded, and the home sale slump could be reversing.   We begin with economic news from this past week, and plans, by some states, to slowly restart their economies. The state of Georgia is taking the first steps with the cautious reopening of some businesses on Friday, April 24th. While states, like Georgia and South Carolina, are planning to ease stay-at-home restrictions, others are extending them because modeling shows they are still at risk. A model maintained by the University of Washington shows that Montana could safely reopen on May 1st, and that Alaska, Hawaii, North Carolina, Vermont and West Virginia could do so on May 10th. At least half the states should wait until May 25th or later.   www.NewsForInvestors.com  

We’re sure to see some changes in the post-pandemic economy, and one of them could be an increased demand for single-family rentals. Potential homebuyers who have been furloughed or have lost their jobs no longer qualify for mortgages. Those who do have their jobs may not have the down payment, high credit score or reserves needed to get a loan. But with the concern that social distancing could be a longer-term way of life, they may also prefer to rent a single-family home instead of an apartment if they are forced to remain renters for awhile.   www.NewsForInvestors.com  

A recent change in lending could impact real estate investors, especially if more lenders follow suit. Over the weekend, JPMorgan Chase stopped accepting HELOC applications. The bank posted the notice on its website saying it’s a temporary suspension due to the current economic uncertainty created by COVID-19. Lenders have also been tightening loan standards.   Chase says it will continue to review already-submitted applications for home equity lines of credit, and HELOCs that have already been issued are not affected. But investors who might want to jump on a real estate buying opportunity by tapping into their home equity, face a shrinking pool of funding options.   www.NewsForInvestors.com    

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending April 18th, 2020... we’ll take a look at whether the pandemic will impact home prices, the good news about rent collection, and what banking regulators are doing to help home sales.   We begin with economic news from this past week, which hasn’t been great but there are a few bright spots, including plans to loosen up “stay at home” orders over the next several weeks.   www.NewsForInvestors.com  

If you are a landlord in need of financial help from the disaster loan program and you haven’t applied yet, you’ll now have to wait until Congress agrees to provide more funding. The Small Business Administration announced on Wednesday, April 15th, that the Economic Injury Disaster Loan, or EIDL, and the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, have both run out of money and will not be accepting new applications. Already submitted applications are still being considered, but the process is slow-going.   www.NewsForInvestors.com    

Rent default reports are coming in and they are not as bad as some headlines might lead you to believe. You may have seen reports that 30% of renters were unable to pay their rent in April because of pandemic-related lay-offs and furloughs. But that’s somewhat misleading. There has been an increase in defaults, but it’s not 30% above normal. In this podcast, we’re going to take a look who’s paying, who isn’t, and what landlords can do to increase rent collection while they also help tenants survive this crisis.   www.NewsForInvestors.com    

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending April 10th, 2020… a new deadline for the 1031 exchange, a housing market rebound, and a pullback by lenders.   We start with economic news from the past week… but first, important news about the 1031 exchange. The IRS published a notice on Thursday, April 9th, announcing extended deadlines for 1031 exchanges because of the coronavirus. The new deadline is July 15th for anyone with a deadline between April 1st and July 15th. That applies to both the 45-day deadline and the 180-day deadline.   www.NewsForInvestors.com    

The Federal government is pumping trillions of dollars into the U.S. economy to offset damage from the coronavirus pandemic. But, as businesses remain closed and much of the U.S. workforce unemployed, we will likely see some amount of damage -- including the sale of distressed properties. While that’s never a good thing for the seller, it creates a potential buying opportunity for the real estate investor.   The Wall Street Journal reports that a number of institutional investors are sitting on piles of cash for what could be a once-in-a-generation opportunity to buy properties at a big discount.   www.NewsForInvestors.com  

Forbearance will help save property owners who can’t pay their mortgage, but who’s going to save the mortgage service companies that have to pay the bond holders? Major players in the housing industry say that without a bailout, companies like Quicken Loans, Freedom Mortgage, Mr. Cooper, and other nonbank mortgage companies could have a serious liquidity problem. FHFA Director, Mark Calabria, doesn’t agree. He says there’s no evidence of a systemic failure among nonbanks.   The pandemic has triggered concerns about another foreclosure crisis because of all the job losses. That prompted the creation of a mortgage forbearance program for homeowners as part of the $2 trillion Cares Act.   www.NewsForInvestors.com  

Airbnb has set up a fund to help hosts dealing with coronavirus cancellations. Travelers ditched plans for vacations, work trips, and family get-togethers when the virus spread. And then, Airbnb promised full refunds. Airbnb’s “Host Relief Fund” will help cover some of the lost revenue, but many hosts are coming up short.    We don’t know yet how the coronavirus will impact the overall housing market, but for Airbnb hosts, the impact was felt almost immediately. Big events that draw huge numbers of people to destination hot spots were cancelled, and along with them, Airbnb reservations.   www.NewsForInvestors.com  

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending April 4th, 2020... rent payments are now due, new data on top population growth cities, and how renters are dealing with their plans to move.   We begin with economic news from this past week, and the distribution of stimulus checks to American consumers. Adults earning less than $75,000 will get the full $1,200 amount. Parents will also receive $500 for each dependent child. The IRS is expecting those payments to start going out by the end of April. That should help many Americans pay their bills, including the rent.   www.NewsForInvestors.com  

Just days after the largest stimulus package in history was signed, talks have begun on what could be “phase four” of the coronavirus stimulus plan. A few of the ideas being discussed include major infrastructure spending and a rollback on the cap for SALT deductions.    President Trump signed phase one of the virus rescue plan in early March. It authorized $8.3 billion for the initial response including money for state and local governments, virus research, testing, and vaccine development. Phase two was signed on March 18th for $100 billion that expands unemployment benefits and provides tax credits to employers for paid sick  leave. Phase 3 is the big one so far. The $2.1 trillion dollar package went into effect on March 27th and includes major relief for consumers in the form of direct bank deposits or checks, tax deferrals, state aid, loans to small and large businesses, and some grants for several impacted businesses like airlines.   www.NewsForInvestors.com