Real Estate News

 November  23, 2020

The Street- The Covid-19 pandemic will continue to touch every corner of the housing market in 2021. It will keep mortgage rates low and affect who will be able to buy homes.

That’s not all. A wave of foreclosures will begin in 2021 unless lenders, nonprofits and the federal government coordinate effectively to prevent it. And housing inequality almost surely will get worse.

Here are the housing and mortgage trends to watch for in 2021, starting with an outlook for mortgage rates and home sales. Click here for more

 Novermber 10, 2020

CoStar- While the Orange County apartment market in Southern California had recorded some of the largest rent losses in the country since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, averaging nearly 2.5%, the past few months have seen a reversal of fortunes for landlords. Rent levels have now surged above pre-pandemic peaks after a strong summer leasing season.

In the past few months, the positive trend in rent growth has been fueled by a few submarkets with one common trait: the coast. While South County, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach saw rents drop like the rest of Orange County at the start of the pandemic, those areas have seen the most robust recovery since bottoming out. While Newport Beach saw rent losses of almost 6% following statewide shutdown orders, multifamily asking rents have since climbed back up and are now above levels seen in March.

Each of these three coastal submarkets have seen rent levels rise by more than 1% from pre-pandemic levels, showing that living in proximity to the beach continues to be attractive and renters are willing to pay a premium even in these uncertain times. Click here for more

November 18, 2020

MSM Money-   U.S. home prices “are in no danger of declining” next year, and home sales are projected to rise as well as buyers compete for a scarce number of homes and mortgage rates hold steady near historic lows, a Realtor economist forecast Tuesday, Nov. 17. 

If accurate, the market will experience its ninth straight year of increasing home values — a boon for homeowners who already own a home, but bad news for renters, households priced out of the market and others on the sidelines waiting for a new price crash.

“In 2021, I think demand, work-from-home demand for larger-sized homes, will continue,” Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, said during the association’s annual conference, held online this year. “Home sales (will rise) 9%, and home prices are in no danger of declining because of a housing shortage.” Click here for more

November 16, 2020

Business Journal-  Dollar General has launched its first two Popshelf stores, a new retail concept offering non-consumable products and targeting primarily middle-class women.

As reported in October, the first two stores are in the Nashville area, in Hendersonville and Clarksville.

According to The Tennessean, both stores opened Oct. 29, at 215 W. Main Street in Hendersonville and 2819 Wilma Rudolf Blvd. in Clarksville.

The Goodlettsville-based retailer expects to open 30 Popshelf stores in various markets by the end of fiscal year 2021. Each Popshelf store is expected to add 15 jobs. Click here for more

Novermber 12, 2020 

NASDAQ-   Shares of Starbucks Corporation SBUX have gained 20.2% in the past three months, compared with the industry’s rally of 10.5%. The company is benefiting from robust digitalization, solid global footprint and innovation. The company is witnessing faster-than-anticipated sales recovery in the United States. However, dismal margin remains a concern. Let’s delve deeper.

 Starbucks’ solid execution of several initiatives in the United States and China, and best-in-class loyalty programs and digital offerings are expected to have driven profits. Despite the pandemic, the company opened 130 and 260 net new stores in third and fourth-quarter fiscal 2020, respectively. Moreover, the company opened 1,400 new stores in fiscal 2020. The company expects to inaugurate nearly 2,150 (850 stores in Americas and 1,300 internationally) news stores and 1,100 (50 stores in Americas and 1,050 in internationally) net new stores worldwide in fiscal 2021. In China, the company anticipates opening 600 net new stores. New store productivity and Return on Investment (ROI) in the United States and China are high. Click here for more

November 6, 2020

Fox Business-   

Californians have voted "no" on an initiative to increase state property taxes on commercial properties to their highest levels in more than 40 years.

Proposition 15 would have overturned an older proposition that allowed state property taxes on commercial properties to be based on their purchase price rather than their market value. The older initiative, Proposition 13, also established that property taxes could be raised no more than 2% each year.

 The state nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office estimated that Prop 15 would have increased property taxes between $8 billion to $12.5 billion annually -- revenue that lawmakers say was intended to be funneled into schools and local communities.  Click here for more

November 3, 2020

SacBee-   California rent control initiative Proposition 21 failed Tuesday, as votes showed 60 percent opposing the measure. 

It was the second time in two years that California voters rejected a rent control measure at the ballot box.

Proposition  21 would have revised a 25-year-old law that prohibits local  governments from freezing housing costs on buildings constructed after  Feb. 1, 1995 and single-family homes. 

After Proposition 10 failed in 2018 with 59% of voters rejecting the rent control measure, activists amended their plan this year to allow landlords more wiggle room in raising rents in between tenants. They also exempted property owners with up to two single-family homes. Click here for more

November 6, 2020 

California Globe-  It appears that the electorate has passed Proposition 19,  which changes property tax rules. It was placed on the statewide ballot  by the Legislature by ACA 11 (Mullin), which enacts The Home Protection  for Seniors, Severely Disabled, Families, and Victims of Wildfire or  Natural Disasters Act. ACA 11 was approved in July as Chapter 31 and was  voted upon on November 3, 2020.

Prop. 19 allows homeowners over 55,  disabled, or wildfire/disaster victims to transfer the primary  residence’s tax base to a replacement residence, changes taxation of  family-property transfers, and establishes fire protection services  fund. Prop. 19 adds amendments to Sections 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3 to Article XIIIA.  Click here for more