A director change at a Singapore-listed REIT leads this week’s collection of personnel moves from around the region, as Singapore’s CDL sees the departure of its chief investment officer. There’s also a new finance boss at Hong Kong-listed Kerry Properties, more changes at CIFI Holdings and a few more announcements from around the region.

The manager of IREIT Global announced on 30 December that Frank Khoo had stepped down from his non-executive director role with the SGX-listed REIT, with the move coming after Khoo had earlier resigned from his position as group chief investment officer at City Developments Ltd, which controls the REIT manager. From 1 December CDL chief executive Sherman Kwek, 46, has replaced Khoo as a non-executive director on the IREIT board.

Kerry Properties Ltd announced on 28 November that it has hired Suzanne Cheng Wai Sin as chief financial officer, effective from that same day. Cheng joins the Hong Kong-listed developer from Hutchison Telecom, where she had served as chief financial officer since 2012. The qualified accountant takes over the top financial spot nearly a half-year after Serene Nah had resigned from Kerry’s CFO position, with 31 August having been Nah’s last day on the job.

CIFI Holdings said on 29 November that it has appointed Ru Hailin as an executive director, starting from that same day. Now 48, Ru has been with the financially troubled builder since 2011 and was recently named president of the Hong Kong-listed firm. In the same statement to the stock exchange announcing Ru’s appointment, CIFI also revealed that Chen Dongbiao, who had previously served as president of the company, had resigned from his executive director role and Jiang Daqing had also stepped down as non-executive director.

HKR International said on 1 December that it has appointed Ivan Lee Wank-hay as an executive director on its board with effect from that same day. Now 64, Lee has been with the Hong Kong-listed developer since 2012 and currently serves as general manager for its hospitality division, where he leads the company’s hotel business in Hong Kong, Thailand and mainland China. Prior to joining HKRI, Lee had served with Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, as well as at Pan Pacific Hotels.

Nasdaq-listed H World Group Ltd said on 2 December that it has appointed Jihong He (pictured) as chief financial officer with immediate effect, replacing Hui Chen. The appointment shifts He from her role as chief executive officer for international business with the company formerly known as Huazhu Hotels just over one year after she joined the mainland Chinese firm from CapitaLand Group.

Data centre operator Empyrion DC announced on 1 December that it has named Yongsuk Choi as its chief strategy and infrastructure officer, based in Seoul. At the Seraya Partners-backed firm, Choi is now in charge of developing strategy and planning the expansion of Empyrion’s sustainable data centre platform across Asia Pacific. Choi joins the company from rival Digital Edge, where he had served as chief infrastructure operations officer, and also has previous experience with Facebook in the region.

Troy Tang has joined GLP in Singapore as part of the team managing the industrial specialist’s GLP Perpetual Fund, according to a statement on LinkedIn. Tang joined GLP recently from Brookfield Asset Management in Singapore where he had served as an investment professional involved in the Toronto-based company’s value-add and opportunistic strategies for Asia Pacific for around one year. He also has previous experience with CapitaLand and Perennial Holdings in Singapore.

If you know of other Asia real estate professionals changing their jobs, getting promoted or just doing something exciting, please contact us here at Mingtiandi.

>>> ad: Don't Miss Today's BEST Amazon Deals!
Originally Appeared Here

The 2023 commercial real estate outlook indicates there may be challenges ahead. Retail is at a crossroads, and the future of office space is unclear. Plus, supply chain issues persist, and inflation is near 40-year highs, prompting the Fed to steadily increase interest rates. But there are a few bright spots in the commercial real estate forecast. Multifamily properties continue to perform well, and the hot streak for industrial properties remains.

As we head into the new year, keep an eye on these 2023 commercial real estate trends and opportunities.

 

How macroeconomic forces could impact commercial real estate

National and international geopolitical issues and market volatility combined with high inflation and interest rate hikes place the U.S. economy in uncharted territory. It’s important to look at each of these macroeconomic factors:

• Geopolitical issues: The war in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia have had major global economic implications. While European countries may feel the greatest effects, the U.S. is still experiencing the conflict’s impact. Most notably, the resulting sanctions and supply chain issues have driven up food, shelter and energy prices.
• Record-high inflation: As of October 2022, the U.S. inflation rate was 7.75%. Inflation hasn’t been this high since the 1980s. Rent was up 7.5% from 2021 as of October 2022. The owners’ equivalent rent of residences was up 6.9% from the year before. These rising costs not only affect affordable and workforce housing, but also market rate housing. Many tech giants, for example, are concerned that their entry-level employees can’t afford housing anywhere near Silicon Valley.
• Rising interest rates: As of the November Federal Open Market Committee meeting, the target federal funds range is 3.75% to 4.0%—a level last seen in 2008. The Fed anticipates more increases into 2023, which could negatively impact commercial real estate owners. There may be an upside for multifamily owners and investors, as higher interest rates may cause potential homeowners to remain renters for longer.

 

Together, these factors may lead to a mild to moderate recession in 2023. The pandemic’s economic impact largely mimicked that of a natural disaster on a national scale, but the economy bounced back over several quarters. A 2023 recession would likely be a more traditional one. Full recovery would take place over years, not months, and impact all asset classes.

 

Multifamily properties

Multifamily is currently the highest performing of all asset classes. “As of the third quarter of 2022, multifamily vacancies are at 4.4%—a five-year low,” said Victor Calanog, Head of Commercial Real Estate Economics at Moody’s Analytics.

Multifamily owners and investors aren’t immune to cost increases. But they can adjust rents annually—sometimes even monthly—to account for market changes.

Industrial

As e-commerce increases, so does the need for warehouses and industrial space. “E-commerce’s need to get products into consumers’ hands sooner is what’s driving a lot of innovation,” Calanog said. “All the way from investments in last-mile distribution complexes to drones.” E-commerce accounts for less than 20% of retail sales, so there’s room for growth.

“E-commerce will likely serve as a tailwind for the logistics industry—and industrial warehouse and distribution properties—for at least 10 years,” Calanog said. “The industry has begun to respond and deliver record amounts of new warehouses. Ultimately, whether or not industrial performance metrics fare well will depend on the mix of supply and demand.”

Industrial may be challenged by its longer leases, which generally only account for 2%­–3% inflation.

 

Retail

The retail property forecast largely depends on location and retail category. For example, people still want to shop at a grocery store for certain items, pick up prescriptions, get a haircut or grab coffee. Neighborhood shopping centers in well-populated residential areas continue to perform well.

After decades of trying to revive B- and C-class malls for sales tax purposes, some cities are redeveloping these spaces. That doesn’t mean losing sales tax entirely, as buildings can be converted into mixed-use properties that include apartments along with restaurants, movie theaters and experiential retail locations.

Retail in city centers has been slow to bounce back. “Urban retail tends to boast higher rent levels than other retail,” Calanog said. “But it has continued to be weighed down because fewer people are working in downtown offices.”

 

Office

The future of office buildings remains up in the air. It is, however, important to note that none of the regions across the U.S. have seen vacancy rates dip below their pre-pandemic Q4 2019 levels, according to Moody’s Analytics.

In some cases, the right location with the right amenities—think optimizing floorplans for collaboration, offering private outdoor space and adding onsite services such as childcare and catering—may bring employees back to the office.

“Looking ahead, we are not in the ‘office is dead’ camp, but we think cash flow growth will be challenged in the office sector,” said Anthony Paolone, Senior Analyst and Co-Head of U.S. Real Estate Stock Research at JPMorgan Chase.

 

Opportunities ahead

The combination of the war in Ukraine, market volatility, high inflation and interest rate hikes could make 2023 a challenging year. 

“Our forecasts suggest that unless the Fed changes course, 2023 will be characterized by slower GDP growth as monetary policy continues to tighten and global economies adapt to inflation,” Calanog said. “That translates to less credit and lending activity, and continued volatility for asset pricing.”

But there’s nothing new about commercial real estate’s cyclical nature. Property owners and investors with fortress balance sheets understand how to take advantage of those ups and downs. There may be overleveraged building owners during an economic downturn. That presents prepared owners and investors with an opportunity to grow their portfolio at a lower cost.

 

© 2022 JPMorgan Chase & Co. All rights reserved. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. Visit jpmorgan.com/cb-disclaimer for disclosures and disclaimers related to this content.

>>> ad: Don't Miss Today's BEST Amazon Deals!
Originally Appeared Here

The COVID-19 pandemic affected the Summit County real estate market more than some realtors said they have ever seen. As 2022 comes to a close, reports are showing interesting numbers that — in comparison to 2020 and 2021 — seem low. However, due to the economic turmoil that came in 2022, home prices increased when put side-by-side to pre-pandemic years.
Photo by Liz Copan / Summit Daily archives

As the end of the year approaches, Summit County real estate reports are showing accumulated data that reveals trends from the 2022 market. From increased interest rates to high housing demand, Summit County real estate has had an interesting year. 

“That flight out of cities and to more rural areas, or — the Rocky Mountains, where everyone wants to live and come play — that really boosted our pricing here in Summit County, more so than anything else,” said Chris Lankhorst, Slifer Smith & Frampton’s real estate market president.

Land Title Guarantee Co.’s Summit County market analysis for the end of October shows that while prices shot up, transactions went down. Even then, due to the increase in real estate transactions from 2020, 2021 and the beginning of 2022, the analysis presents that prices have decreased.

Lankhorst said, due to the outstanding real estate boom that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic in Summit County, 2021 can be deemed as an outlier. 

“Since ‘08, ‘09, we’ve been climbing up climbing up climbing up, and then all of a sudden, you get to 2021, where everything kind of peaked,” Lankhorst said. “We peaked so high and appreciated so fast that … 2021 will be that outlier.”

This has led to a decrease in the historic market change. 2022 is the first year since 2016 that the monetary volume in the market — the total value of all the real estate sales in the county — took a dip. In 2015, the market dipped about 2%. The year-to-date comparison of 2022 shows the market dropped whopping 25%. 

While it may seem significant, real estate trends from 2021 indicate that the drop may not be as bad as it seems. 

Former Summit Realtors president and real estate broker Dana Cottrell said there were days in 2021 where she could only find two properties for sale in the town of Dillon, and at times there were none. 

“(Prices) normally don’t accelerate at the rate they did after COVID,” Cottrell said. “It really truly was an anomaly. I’ve been involved in real estate for 25 years, and I’ve never seen prices go up like that before.”

Lankhorst explained if 2022’s real estate trends were compared to 2019, they wouldn’t seem as significant. In fact, the county has $400 million more sales compared to the same time in 2019. 

One factor that has gone up is the average price of a single family home. In 2021, the average price of a single family home was about $1.72 million. The average year-to-date price of a single-family home so far in 2022 is just under $2.08 million — about a 21% increase. 

Cottrell also pointed out that 2022 experienced the tail end of 2021’s frenzy, which could have skewed those single-family home prices. Lankhorst called it the “hangover.” 

The only two months of 2022 that real estate sales were not in lower comparison to 2021 were January and April. January experienced a 28% jump while April barely made it over the hump at 2%. 

Cottrell added that demand decreased more and more each month over the year. 

While folks flocked to each sale she managed at the beginning of 2022, by June, she said offers had dwindled. Then, interest rates surged. Where interest rates used to be around 3%, they are now up to 6% or 7%, which increases the cost of a mortgage and, according to Lankhorst, a buyer’s purchasing power as well. 

That’s when Cottrell said offers dropped off.

“It was really dramatic,” she said. 

According to the market analysis, each month of 2022 brought a decrease in the number of transactions from 2021, the lowest being October of this year, which saw a 49% drop. 

Lankhorst said this increasingly affects local families. Though Summit County has been affected by expensive housing since the ’70s and ’80s, Lankhorst said, it’s become more severe as of late. 

By October of this year, about 41% of buyers were from the Front Range, 32% were out-of-state domestic buyers and only 27% were locals. Cottrell said in the past, transactions were more evenly split into thirds. Now, locals are at the bottom of the heap. 

“I think right now it’s even more so because of the flight to the mountains, the flight to those rural areas out of the cities, and it’s increasingly harder,” Lankhorst said. “We’re running out of land in Summit County, there’s just not anything more to be built upon.”

Both Lankhorst and Cottrell said a peak like Summit County saw in 2021 is unlikely to happen again. 

Lankhorst explained that folks who have the 3% to 4% interest rates they received in years past are unlikely to move since their new interest rate would likely double. If his theory comes true, Lankhorst said inventory will become more balanced.

“If you’re a local and you’re thinking you want to get into a bigger place … that becomes really hard when you look at just that 3% to 7%. It’s such a massive increase,” Cottrell said. 

At the end of the day, Cottrell and Lankhorst said a year like 2021 is not likely to happen again. Whether the market bends toward buyers or sellers is still in the air, but both expect Summit’s hot real estate market is likely to cool down.

>>> ad: Don't Miss Today's BEST Amazon Deals!
Originally Appeared Here

COEUR d’ALENE — The Kootenai County housing market is up when it comes to prices, but down when it comes to sales.

According to the Coeur d’Alene Regional Realtors, the median single-family home price in the county was $550,000 in October, up 15.8% from the same month last year. In June, the median home price was $560,000.

The number of homes sold through October, 2,260, was down 23% from one year ago.

The number of active residential listings on Nov. 3, 930, was down 8.3% from September, but well up from 382 that were listed Nov. 10, 2021.

The number of days a home spent on the market was down to 70, a drop of 8% from October 2021.

“Homes are still selling fast and at higher prices than a year ago,” according to the Coeur d’Alene Regional Realtors.

Winter tends to be a slower time in the real estate market, as fewer people are looking to relocate in the cold months.

>>> ad: Don't Miss Today's BEST Amazon Deals!
Originally Appeared Here

Florida Property Solutions helps New Smyrna Beach house sellers get fair cash offers through its improved house-buying program

With our newly improved house-buying program, you can get a fair cash offer on your house within 24 hours, and we can close whenever you choose to close. Don’t hesitate to call us today!”

— Arthur Botting

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, FLORIDA, USA, November 30, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — Florida Property Solutions, one of the leading and highly-trusted house buyers in New Smyrna Beach and Volusia County, has rolled out its newly improved house-buying program designed to provide a more straightforward solution for homeowners struggling to sell their properties.

The program aims to help more house sellers in New Smyrna Beach get fair cash offers quickly and hassle-free.

“For over a decade, we have encountered many homeowners desperate to sell their houses quickly. They don’t have time to wait long because of their circumstances,” shared Arthur Botting, owner of Florida Property Solutions.

“And thus, we offered them our house-buying solution designed to meet their needs.”

Botting said that the recent improvements they added to Florida Property Solutions’ house-buying program are made to keep up with the changing times and demands of the market.

“We lasted this long in the industry because we innovate. We keep tabs on the latest real estate trends and the changing needs of our target market,” Botting explained.

Botting enumerated the top benefits house sellers can get from Florida Property Solutions’ house-buying program:

— House sellers don’t need to clean up and repair the property.

— They don’t waste time finding an agent they can trust who can deliver on their promise of selling the house quickly.

— They won’t need to sign a contract that binds them to an agent for a certain term.

— They don’t deal with the paperwork and the waiting and wondering (and hoping).

Homeowners need to follow only three easy steps to start their house-selling journey with Florida Property Solutions.

First, they need to contact the Florida Property Solutions’ house-buying specialists and provide information about the property. It helps them research the seller’s property details, enabling them to start drafting an excellent offer or proposal.

Second, Florida Property Solutions would present the house seller with a fair cash offer, zero obligation, and no fees.

Third, the house seller gets paid. They don’t need to wait 6 to 12 months to get their house sold.

Florida Property Solutions Group has over ten years of experience providing a transparent and competitive house-buying program to New Smyrna Beach property owners.

They buy houses in as-is condition for cash and work hard to find solutions to help families in times of difficulty.

Homeowners wanting to learn more about Florida Property Solutions’ newly improved house-buying program are encouraged to contact its team via phone at (386) 227-7818 or visit its website and read Florida Property Solutions reviews.

Contact:

Florida Property Solutions Group
219 Live Oak St
New Smyrna Beach, FL 32168
(386) 227-7818
https://www.floridapropertysolutions.com

Arthur Botting
Florida Property Solutions
+1 386-227-7818
arthur@floridapropertysolutions.com
Visit us on social media:
Facebook
Other

You just read:

News Provided By

November 30, 2022, 15:18 GMT

EIN Presswire’s priority is source transparency. We do not allow opaque clients, and our editors try to be careful about weeding out false and misleading content.
As a user, if you see something we have missed, please do bring it to our attention. Your help is welcome. EIN Presswire, Everyone’s Internet News Presswire™,
tries to define some of the boundaries that are reasonable in today’s world. Please see our
Editorial Guidelines
for more information.

Submit your press release

>>> ad: Don't Miss Today's BEST Amazon Deals!
Originally Appeared Here

Knoxville Self Storage. Image courtesy of JLL Capital Markets

Platinum Storage Group has acquired a 650-unit storage facility in Knoxville, Tenn. MV Investment sold the recently completed asset, which operates under the Storelocal Storage brand.

The JLL Capital Markets team representing the seller included Managing Directors Steve Mellon and Brian Somoza, alongside Directors Matthew Wheeler and Adam Rossien.

The 90,171-square-foot property came online in October 2022 and occupies 1.9 acres. The three-story building offers climate-controlled units ranging from 25 to 300 square feet. On-site amenities include 24-hour video surveillance, individual unit locks, keypad entry, carts and dollies, wine storage and on-site management.

Platinum Storage Group owns, develops and manages self storage facilities in various MSAs across the country, with several assets in Tennessee, as well as Arizona, California, Texas, Massachusetts, Washington, Minnesota and Nevada.

Storelocal Storage – Knoxville is located at 145 Hillview Ave., 5.6 miles from downtown Knoxville and close to the intersection of Rutledge Pike and Interstate 40. According to Yardi Matrix data, there are currently 19 properties in various stages of development in the Knoxville market, set to add approximately 1 million square feet to the existing inventory. As of September, the national development pipeline expanded by 20 basis points month-over-month, accounting for 10.6 percent of the overall stock.

>>> ad: Don't Miss Today's BEST Amazon Deals!
Originally Appeared Here

Michael Arnold of Los Angeles is a real estate broker recognized for his achievements by several leading publications and organizations in the industry. In the following article, Michael Arnold discusses the LA commercial real estate market outlook.

As the world was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, markets of all types were sent into disarray. But perhaps none as much as the commercial real estate sector.

Now the globe is in recovery mode, attempting to recoup lost time and rebuild better than before, including the commercial real estate market. Finally, Michael Arnold of the Los Angeles real estate industry says the landscape seems to be turning around, with experts finding optimism where only pessimism has existed for the past two years.

From high-demand industrial space to graciously low commercial mortgage delinquency rates, the LA scene is set for continued recovery and improvement.

Prolonged Real Estate Pessimism Turns Optimistic

The previous three Allen Matkins/UCLA Anderson Forecast California Commercial Real Estate Survey results all showed disheartening pessimism about retail space. However, the latest Winter 2022 forecast finally sees the LA commercial real estate market get some much-needed optimism explains Michael Arnold of Los Angeles real estate.

The survey polls panels of California-based commercial real estate professionals in the development and investments markets, all of which said three main driving forces are creating this positive market outlook.

First, the limited number of workers returning to offices has boosted demand for retail units explains Michael Arnold of Los Angeles real estate.

Second, the seemingly constant construction of new residential housing across California has increased demand for nearby retail establishments. And this is only set to continue.

Third, experts believe there will be a push to redesign retail facilities to a more open-air approach in the world’s post-COVID climate. In turn, this will attract more consumers and keep commercial real estate flourishing.

Post-Covid Recovery Puts Industrial Space in High Demand

Michael Arnold of Los Angeles real estate reports that the latest Industrial Space Demand Forecast by the National Association for Industrial and Office Parks bolsters Allen Matkins/UCLA’s most recent prediction of a complete Los Angeles commercial real estate market recovery.

Michael Arnold of Los Angeles real estate says that predictions that the net absorption of industrial space will be 401.4 million square feet in 2022 and 334.1 million square feet next year.

This record level of absorption is mainly due to manufacturers and retailers advancing inventories to fulfill heightened demand and prevent supply shortages as the clock ticks through 2023. The United States is moving into expansion from recovery, prompting commercial real estate experts to make this positive correlation.

Currently, Michael Arnold of Los Angeles real estate says that the industrial space demand is outrunning new product supply, encouraging rent spikes and leaving firms left scrambling for units to lease. So much so that large corporations are signing lease agreements on facilities before construction is even underway, and smaller firms are getting creative with vertical expansions on already-owned properties.

But with wage growth continuing and unemployment rates finally leveling, the demand for industrial real estate remains strongly supported. Even though inflationary pressures are well and truly present, consumers are still demanding goods, reflecting continued positivity for the economy and, thus, commercial spaces.

Stable Markets Expected to Continue

The Real Estate Roundtable’s Q1 2022 Economic Sentiment Index, a report detailing the views of real estate industry titans, predicts continued strong commercial real estate fundamentals and a steady but sure economic increase.

Michael Arnold of Los Angeles real estate explains that most (69%) survey respondents say the general market conditions are much or somewhat better than last year’s. And over half anticipate continued improvement during 2023.

Michael Arnold of Los Angeles real estate remarks about the findings, reportedly noting that industry leaders are “encouraged” by the ever-decreasing COVID-19 cases, the lifting of pandemic restrictions, and the safe, efficient reopening of city centers.

Multifamily and Commercial Mortgage Delinquency Rates Stay Low

Michael Arnold of Los Angeles real estate reports that commercial and multifamily mortgage performances are continuing to normalize. The market is seeing decreased or flat-lined delinquency rates for all major investment groups, with many reaching pre-pandemic levels.

The five investment groups analyzed by MBA’s report make up over 80% of the total commercial/multifamily outstanding debt.

According to the UPB (unpaid principal balance) of loans, the per-group delinquency rates for the final quarter of 2021 were as follows:

• Life company portfolios: 60+ delinquent days: 0.04%, unchanged from Q3 2021
• Banks and thrifts: 90+ delinquent: 0.59%, a decrease of 0.1% from Q3 2021
• Freddie Mac: 60+ delinquent days: 0.08%, a decrease of 0.84% from Q3
• Fannie Mae: 60+ delinquent days: 0.42%, unchanged from Q3 2021
• CMBS: 30+ delinquent days: 4%, a decrease of 0.84% from Q3 2021

Post Views:
900

>>> ad: Don't Miss Today's BEST Amazon Deals!
Originally Appeared Here

Like many of you, we spent the last few days eating. Eating turkey, eating stuffing, eating cranberry sauce, eating mashed potatoes, eating pumpkin pie, eating more pumpkin pie, eating more pumpkin pie.

One would think that we would not have had any time since last Sunday Summary to even look at the real estate news. Besides, what happens on the week of Thanksgiving?

Actually, there were several things that caught our eye as we shoveled another helping of cornbread and pumpkin pie down our gullets:

After months of anticipation, it appears the New York State Cannabis Control Board has approved the first round of eight out of 36 recreational dispensary licenses.

“This is just the start,” said Tremaine Wright, chair of the Cannabis Control Board. “We will continue to work to build an industry that is open to anyone who wants to participate.”  

It’s good that they’re making it official, because for a long time smoke shops have been essentially ignoring the law. (Check out CO’s story here from last month … and it looks like a fledgling outfit called The New York Times got wind last week, too. They probably couldn’t miss the wind given their location off of Times Square — which, by the way, is having greater problems than the odor of cannabis. This week a $900 million CMBS loan went into special servicing at Maefield Development’s 20 Times Square.)

Of course, Friday was Black Friday. As of this writing this we’re still unsure what the sales figures are going to be for the entirety of the long weekend, but there has been conflicting information about retail developments of late.

“It looks like spending and retail sales are starting to level,” Cushman & Wakefield’s senior economist James Bohnaker told CO earlier this month. He projected growth this holiday season — but inflation has taken a big bite out of profits. And some items that became necessities during the pandemic (TVs, laptops, couches, etc.) became a lot less in demand when COVID died down.

But we saw some hopeful leasing in the area of retail: The Flyfish Club, a private dining club, took 11,000 square feet at 141 East Houston Street; the Brazilian steakhouse, Fogo de Chão, is opening another location in Reston, Va. — and speaking of the D.C. area, after a Williamsburg expansion back in April, Showfields, the New York-based store that mixes shopping and theater, is setting its sights on Washington, D.C. with a 20,300-square-foot location in Georgetown; and the watchmaker Grand Sieko took 6,259 square feet at 540 Madison Avenue.

Does a casino count as retail? If the answer is yes there were some interesting developments there, too. First, Thor announced a partnership with Saratoga Casino Holdings, The Chickasaw Nation and Legends to pursue a license for a planned $3 billion casino in Coney Island. (Speaking of Thor, they also bagged a $50.1 million debt package to refinance ModernHaus SoHo, the 114-room hotel previously known as the James Hotel.)

Second, Stefan Soloviev (son of the late Sheldon Solow) revealed his plan for a 1,000-room hotel, 4-acre park, Ferris wheel, museum and casino near the United Nations. (Incidentally, the museum would be dedicated to democracy, so there’s something for the more straight-laced U.N. ambassadors.)

Both of these would be massive, neighborhood-shifting undertakings. And we saw a similarly large undertaking make progress this week when the New York City Council voted overwhelmingly to approve the 2.7 million-square-foot, $2 billion megaproject known as Innovation QNS.

The five-block-long project will be developed by Bedrock Real Estate Partners, Silverstein Properties and Kaufman Astoria Studios and will include 3,190 apartments, 1,436 of which will be affordable.

Something we were not thankful for? Our offices

As we settle back into the final stretch of 2022, we’re going in with less than stellar news about the state of the office market.

At the end of October the national office vacancy rate was 16.3 percent, according to CommercialEdge. That’s 150 basis points higher than it was at the same time in 2021, with sharp increases in markets like Portland and San Francisco. Plus, rents were down 0.1 percent nationally.

Of course, there are still tenants out there that need offices, even as they rethink what they need and how much. Like, say, law firms.

Law firms have been growing fast, but trying to cut down on space at the same time.

“It was always historically a very slow-transitioning industry,” said Sherry Cushman, vice chairman of the legal services advisory group at C&W. “Even the big guys didn’t want to do anything drastic. Everyone wanted to see what everyone else was doing. We were trying to get to under 500, 600 square feet per attorney. A decade or more ago, it was not unusual to see 900, 1,000, 1,100 square feet per attorney.”

But perhaps the biggest rethink of office over the coming years is how it will deal with its carbon emissions.

There was some serious talk about the matter at the U.N.’s COP 27 climate conference in Sharm-El-Sheikh.

“The reality is that most of our clients are motivated by risk,” said Jo da Silva, global director of sustainable development at engineering firm Arup, on one of the panels. “Once you turn the conversation not into an aspiration to save the world, but into, ‘You are going to have stranded assets. No one’s going to want to rent your [building], no one’s going to want to buy it off you at a future date unless you improve the efficiency radically.’ ”

That should perk up everybody’s ears.

Shaking it up

Over at Savills there was interesting news: Janet Woods, who was previously Northeast region lead, and Patrick McGrath, chief information officers, are both taking on new roles: Woods is overseeing the Northeast, mid-Atlantic, Southeast and Central U.S. operations, and McGrath is taking over Northwest and Southwest regions.

And in D.C. CBRE just tapped Stephanie Jennings (who had been managing director of national research at Newmark) to be its new research director for the mid-Atlantic region.

That’s all for this week — now, if you’ll excuse us, we have to eat some more leftover pumpkin pie.

>>> ad: Don't Miss Today's BEST Amazon Deals!
Originally Appeared Here

“Crash, correction or chill” looks at economic and real estate trends that offer hints about the depth of housing’s troubles.

Buzz: California mortgage-making took a record tumble this summer as soaring interest rates made most loans unaffordable.

Source: My trusty spreadsheet analyzed third-quarter mortgage lending trends compiled by Attom. These stats, dating to 2000, look at loan-making in 210 metro areas nationwide – including 19 regions in California.

Topline

Californians in 19 metro areas took out 177,566 mortgages from July through September.

That’s the second-slowest slowest three months of the century. It’s also a stunning 63% nosedive from the year-ago period, making this the biggest 12-month drop on record.

Yes, this home-loan crater is deeper than anything we witnessed during the bubble-bursting housing meltdown of the mid-2000s.

How did this happen?

The Federal Reserve ballooned rates to battle surging inflation. In the past 12 months, the average 30-year loan jumped to 6.9% from 3.1%, according to Freddie Mac.

Skyrocketing rates slashed a house hunter’s potential “borrowing” power by 35% in a year and topped the 33% decline of 1980, another high inflation era when rates went to 16.3% from 10.5%.

So this summer, mortgages made to buy a home fell by 53% from a year ago. And homeowners refinanced 82% fewer loans.

Strikingly, owners did take out 74% more home equity loans. This tactic has become the preferred way to pull cash from a house without losing the great rates on an older mortgage.

By the way, this is not some California-only trend. Every U.S. metro tracked by Attom saw fewer mortgage deals cut in the past year.

The nation, minus the California metros, had 1.8 million mortgages made this summer – a 44% drop over 12 months, also the largest decline on record. There were 30% fewer purchase loans, and 66% fewer refis but 45% more home equity loans.

Crash, correction or chill?

Crash: If you make mortgages for a living, this is a huge disaster. No loans. No paychecks.

Mortgage broker Jeff Lazerson, a Southern California News Group contributor, recently wrote he laid off two-thirds of his staff: “Business has all but stopped for mortgage lenders. And, yes, it’s much worse than the mortgage volume collapse I remember from the Great Recession.”

Correction: For the broad housing market, it’s part of a return to normalcy from a boom fueled by the Fed’s cheap money policies of the early pandemic era. This year’s rate surge is designed to slow the overall economy as well as housing.

Chill: Speaking to the big picture, this dramatically slowed lending is a relatively minor annoyance.

The loss of home sales is an economic minus. But, remember, thanks to 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages, the Fed’s gift to any owner who refinanced in recent years remains in place.

That extra cash from shrunken mortgage payments is still being spent. It’s one slice of the overheated, inflation-filled economy. And the improved household cash flow can be a financial cushion against any significant downturn.

The unknown

Lenders have been very conservative about who gets mortgages in this cycle. So it’s a reasonable bet the surge in home-equity lending is being done prudently. (Fingers crossed!)

But if the uptick in home-equity loans is due to the financial strain of borrowers, that’s a worrisome pattern for the broad economic picture.

Details

How mortgage-making slows in some of California’s largest housing markets, ranked by the size of the one-year drop in lending through the summer …

San Jose: 8,114 mortgages made in the third quarter, down 71% (the No. 1 dip among all U.S. metros). That came from 60% fewer purchase loans closed, 89% fewer refinance deals, but 46% more home-equity loans.

San Francisco: 22,048 mortgages, down 67% (No. 5 of the 210) – 56% fewer purchase loans, 86% less refis, but 35% more equity loans.

Ventura County: 4,212 mortgages, down 65% (No. 8) – 54% fewer purchase loans, 86% fewer refis, but 85% more equity loans.

San Diego: 16,835 mortgages, down 65% (No. 9) – 56% fewer purchase loans, 84% fewer refis, but 79% more equity loans.

Los Angeles-Orange County: 51,431 mortgages, down 64% (No. 12) – 55% fewer purchase loans, 83% fewer refis, but 82% more equity loans.

Sacramento: 15,422 mortgages, down 62% (No. 18) – 49% fewer purchase loans, 83% fewer refis, but 94% more equity loans.

Inland Empire: 28,247 mortgages, down 60% (No. 22) – 49% fewer purchase loans, 78% fewer refis, but 127% more equity loans.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com

>>> ad: Don't Miss Today's BEST Amazon Deals!
Originally Appeared Here

Gregory Pion and Lindsay Rehm acquired the property at 6 Ledgewood Drive, Belchertown, from Deborah L Donovan and Brian T Donovan on Nov. 3, 2022, for $430,000 which works out to $225 per square foot. The property features three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and an attached garage. It sits on a 0.9-acre lot.

Additional houses have recently been purchased close by:

• On Ledgewood Circle, Belchertown, in June 2022, a 1,794-square-foot home was sold for $360,000, a price per square foot of $201.
• In February 2022, a 1,657-square-foot home on Turkey Hill Road in Belchertown sold for $280,400, a price per square foot of $169.
• A 1,176-square-foot home at 213 Summit Street in Belchertown sold in August 2022 for $292,000, a price per square foot of $248.

Real Estate Wire is a service provided by United Robots, which uses machine learning to generate analysis of data from Propmix, an aggregator of national real-estate data.

>>> ad: Don't Miss Today's BEST Amazon Deals!
Originally Appeared Here