Real Estate News

June 20, 2021

Fox 11 LA-  Gov. Gavin Newsom says California will pay off all the past-due rent that accumulated in the nation’s most populated state because of the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, a promise to make landlords whole while giving renters a clean slate.

Left unsettled is whether California will continue to ban evictions for unpaid rent beyond June 30, a pandemic-related order that was meant to be temporary but is proving difficult to undo. Click here for more 

June 21, 2021

Press Democrat-  Lawmakers in Sacramento are poised to extend statewide eviction protections beyond the end of June to ensure emergency rental aid reaches struggling tenants in time to cover potentially all of their unpaid rent during the pandemic, a move strongly backed by local renter advocates and met with resistance by many landlords.

The underlying issue is that state and county governments have been slow to distribute the $2.6 billion in federal funds to cover back rent. In Sonoma County, officials have so far disbursed less than 10% of the $32 million set aside for its rental aid program. Click here for more

 May 8, 2021

Real Clear Politics- There will always be munis. Income from municipal bonds typically enjoys tax-free status at the federal level and in the issuing state. Conversely, when investors put wealth to work in a startup, private corporation, or public company, they face a capital gains tax penalty if their investment bears fruit. If a home run, that penalty becomes enormous.   

Imagine that. Investors who subsidize the growth of government largely avoid taxation. But if they back an innovative corporation, or rush a distant future into the present through an intrepid investment with a visionary entrepreneur, a major IRS bill awaits.  Click here for more   

The California Association of Realtors has issued a Quick Guide outlining the state of California's Rental Assistance for Landlords.  Click here to read the document.

The California Association of Realtors has issued a Quick Guide explaining SB91, The Tenant Relief Act Extension and State Rental Extension Program, recently passed by the California State Legislature. Click here to read and download the document.

March 8, 2021

MSN Market Watch-   

Housing IS the business cycle, it’s been said.

So it may be fitting that a K-shaped recovery from the COVID-induced downturn would be accompanied by an increasingly unequal housing market. What’s less certain is what that will mean for the broader economy and markets.

“I definitely think the pandemic widened the gap between the haves and the have-nots,” said Glenn Kelman, CEO of Redfin “When I started in this business, there was a broad consensus around making the American dream accessible to middle- and lower-income people. After this year I now see housing as a luxury good.” Click here for more

March 8, 2021

Forbes-    

The stock price of Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ: WBA) looks attractive at current levels of $47, as it is up a mere 7% from the levels it was on March 23, 2020, when broader markets made a bottom due to the spread of Covid-19. This marks a significant underperformance compared to the S&P which has moved 70% since its March 2020 lows, with the resumption of economic activities as lockdowns are gradually lifted and vaccination programs have been initiated in multiple countries. This underperformance can partly be attributed to investor concerns over Amazon’s entry into online pharmacy, that is likely to result in market share loss for pharmacies, such as Walgreens and CVS Health. WBA stock is also down 31% from levels of around $69 seen toward the end of 2018.

Some of the 31% decline of the last 2 years or so is justified, given the company’s lackluster fundamentals. Walgreens’ total revenue grew 6% to $139.5 billion in fiscal 2020 (fiscal ends in August), as compared to $131.5 billion in 2018. 

However, the company saw a decline in its net margins from 4.6% in 2018 to 3.0% in 2020, resulting in a 30% decline in net income from $6.0 billion in 2018 to $4.4 billion in 2020, on a non-GAAP basis. The company saw an 11% decline in total shares outstanding due to share buybacks, and on a per share basis, adjusted earnings declined 21% to $4.74 in 2020, as compared to $6.02 in 2018. Given the lackluster performance over the recent years, WBA’s P/E multiple also contracted, but it will likely see a rebound from the current levels. Our dashboard, ‘What Factors Drove -30% Change In Walgreens Stock between 2018 and now?‘, has the underlying numbers. Click here for more

March 8, 2021

Commercial Observer-  

It’s been more than three decades since Public Enemy’s Chuck D and Flavor Flav warned, 

“Don’t Believe the Hype,” but some people didn’t get the message.

Since the onset of the pandemic, economists and real estate experts predicted Californians would start fleeing in masses for better housing affordability, more job opportunities and fewer taxes. Indeed, the amount of residents leaving the city of San Francisco — notably the least affordable rental market in the country — has increased during the coronavirus crisis.

 But, the number of residents leaving state lines show “no marked increase” in 2020 compared to years prior, according to a new study by California Policy Lab. The report found “no evidence of a pronounced exodus from the state.”  Click here for more

 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