Know What's Happening in Real Estate
Know What's Happening in Real Estate
$1.5B Revamp Planned for Kansas City’s Historic Country Club Plaza
A new ownership group unveiled a $1.5 billion redevelopment plan for the Country Club Plaza, the nation’s first outdoor shopping center. The proposal calls for 750 new apartments, about 645,000 sq ft of office space, 278 hotel rooms, a park and expanded walkways.
Approximately 16% of active first‑lien mortgages in the United States also carry second liens, representing $522 billion in outstanding balances, according to Experian’s Mortgage Loan Performance data. The new loan‑level visibility into these secondary claims gives agency MBS investors clearer insight into performance risk as home‑equity borrowing expands. Analysts warn that borrowers who add fresh second liens may be unable to refinance if home‑price appreciation turns negative, raising re‑subordination concerns. The broader industry also feels pressure from rising delinquencies and the operational complexity of monitoring multiple lien components.
Homeowners can tap their property’s equity without refinancing by using a range of products such as home equity loans, HELOCs, home equity agreements, sale‑lease‑back deals, second‑mortgage combos, reverse mortgages, and secured personal loans. Each option draws 80‑85 % of appraised value...
NAR's existing home sales came out for February and it doesn't yet reflect what we're seeing in the weekly pending sales that we track. NAR is trying to publish this data earlier to keep up, but it still has...
Southern Land Co. has refinanced its 27‑story Josephine apartment tower in Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square with a $145 million loan from Affinius Capital. The development, built at a total cost of $204.5 million—including a $24.5 million land purchase and $180 million construction—features 255 residential units...
Lower Mortgage, formerly AmeriHome, offers a wide array of loan products across 100 locations in 47 states, but many options are not listed online. In 2024 the lender posted a higher‑than‑median mortgage rate of 6.625 % and a total loan‑cost of...
Zillow data shows accidental landlords now represent 2.3% of listed rentals, the highest in its six‑year record aside from a 2.4% peak in November 2022. A surplus of sellers—about 44% more than buyers—combined with modestly lower mortgage rates is prompting...
Attom’s latest housing‑risk report finds Florida leading the nation with 16 counties among the 50 most vulnerable, overtaking California’s 11. The analysis flags rising foreclosures, stagnant wages, and historically high median home prices—now $365,185—as key stressors. Charlotte County, Florida, tops...
Radian Group announced it will wind down its mortgage conduit business rather than pursue a sale, halting new originations in early April. The non‑agency conduit, launched in July 2022, generated $2.2 billion in securitizations but posted a $16.4 million adjusted pre‑tax loss...
Bond yields are back near their highest levels of 2026. Mortgage rates are also close to their 2026-highs, with MND putting the 30-year fixed at 6.19% today, just 2 bps below its peak thus far this year. There's a decent chance mortgage...
Stake the Network for Renters closed an $8 million debt‑and‑equity round after reporting four‑fold revenue growth in 2025. The financing follows its acquisition of Lighthouse and UMoveFree, Texas’s largest apartment‑locating platform. Led by LAGO with participation from RET Ventures, Bluefield Capital, Hamilton...
Le Colonial, the French‑Vietnamese restaurant that shuttered its New York flagship in 2019, has secured a 15‑year lease for roughly 9,600 sq ft at the base of 50 West 57th Street, slated to open in summer 2027. The new space will accommodate 215...
Mortgage broker Andrew Russell emphasizes that strong lender partnerships hinge on three pillars: product quality, speed, and service. He highlights that while rates matter, rapid turnaround and accessible, knowledgeable account executives are equally critical for client satisfaction. Russell points to...
Damon Germanides explains how bank‑statement loans are becoming a mainstream tool for mortgage brokers serving self‑employed and non‑traditional borrowers. By validating income through deposit analysis rather than tax returns, these non‑QM products expand qualifying capacity and offset pressure on conventional...
Morningstar DBRS has issued provisional credit ratings for Freddie Mac’s Multifamily Structured Credit Risk Notes, Series 2026‑MN13. Class M‑1 receives a (P) BBB‑low rating while Class M‑2 is assigned (P) BB‑low, both with a Stable trend. The trust will fund...
Been saying this for a while... It's not about the ~$60 monthly payment difference. It's the intense human psychology of a sub-6% mortgage rate.
Home sales just dropped to the lowest level since 2009. Down 35% from pandemic peak, and by 25% from pre-pandemic norms. This was the 2nd-worst February reading in the last 30 years. Traditional news outlets tried to claim there was...
Charles Cohen, a Midtown office landlord, was given a 45‑day deadline by a New York state Supreme Court judge to repay $135 million in outstanding debt or face forced sales of his properties. A Fortress Investment Group executive, David Moson, was...
Today on Volts: perhaps you've heard that a group of billionaires is planning to build a big (400K residents) new city in Northern California. I talked to the ringleader Jan Sramek about it. And talked. And talked. The first half...
The housing market so far in 2026? Let's talk about it. Today, I have fresh stats for twelve counties and some new price visuals to help interpret what is happening. I also talk about my favorite phrase, "all ships rise...
Home‑search platforms are rapidly adopting AI and collaborative tools to address buyer frustration. A Realtor.com survey shows 65% of buyers struggle to find homes based on personal priorities, prompting major sites like Zillow, Redfin, and Wahi to introduce natural‑language queries,...
Acuitus unveiled its 26 March auction catalogue, spotlighting an ultra‑prime Mayfair freehold at 33 Clarges Street with a guide price of £5.25 million, roughly £1,200 per square foot. The catalogue also lists a Clapham High Street freehold comprising two flats and a restaurant,...
A recent video shows a TV reporter touting ChatGPT as a tool for selling homes, despite lacking real‑estate expertise. The article challenges this claim, arguing that AI may not capture the nuances needed to secure full retail value. It warns...
A Redfin‑commissioned survey finds 25% of Americans are delaying or canceling major purchases such as homes or cars because of the military conflict with Iran, while 56% say the war has no impact on their buying plans. The conflict’s effect...
Mount Anvil has secured planning permission for a 274‑home development on Lots Road South in Chelsea, allocating 44% of units to affordable housing. The scheme includes 65 extra‑care social‑rent homes, 53 general‑needs social‑rent homes, and 156 private residences. Kensington and...
Has there been a housing market, federal, state, municipal, that the government has not screwed up? Get everyone in a house many couldn’t afford pre GFC then “let’s roll the dice.” Don’t ever allow building in anyone’s backyard (a key...
Whether to buy a home is like deciding whether to have children. You should be 100% sure you want one and that you can afford to maintain it.
Florida’s legislature passed the Infill Redevelopment Act, mandating that counties with over 1.475 million residents permit residential development on 5‑acre parcels, including contaminated brownfields, adjacent to existing housing. The bill caps density at the lower of the local average or 25...
Perkins & Will’s HVM Maya, an 18,000 m² luxury tower in Campo Grande, Brazil, reimagines high‑end living by merging the building with the adjacent Parque das Nações Indígenas. The design uses a west‑facing circulation belt and brise‑soleils to achieve passive thermal comfort, while exposed...
The existing‑home market is entrenched in a deep recession, contrary to recent optimistic forecasts. While lower mortgage rates have eased affordability pressures, they address only a fraction of the sales slowdown. Persistent inventory shortages and muted buyer confidence continue to...
Gould Investors L.P. completed the sale of its Long Island City asset for roughly $101 million, generating about $93 million in net proceeds and a $90 million accounting capital gain. Within days, the partnership redeployed the majority of those funds to acquire a...
Homebuyers often consider borrowing to cover a down payment, weighing 401(k) loans against personal loans. A 401(k) loan lets you tap retirement savings with no credit check, typically offering lower interest but a five‑year repayment limit that can erode future...
Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors arranged the $6.9 million sale of two single‑tenant retail pads in Murrieta, Southern California. The Quick Quack car‑wash occupies 4,126 sq ft on a 20‑year absolute triple‑net lease with 12% rent escalations every five years and 17 years...
Here's a crazy-yet-telling apartment stat: Among the top 15 markets CUTTING rents, they collectively had 2x more demand (absorption) than the top 15 markets INCREASING rents. Why? Because it's all about supply, not weak demand or affordability etc. Among the top 15 markets...
Connell Co. has secured leases with five new tenants—Four Spoons Ice Cream Co., Doner Shack, Café Exchange, Prime IV Hydration & Wellness, and Greatness Wins—for The District at The Park in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. The District is a 60‑acre,...
A JPMorgan Chase Institute study of 4.5 million homeowners shows that cash‑strained borrowers increasingly turn to buy‑now‑pay‑later (BNPL) as a liquidity valve, especially when mortgage payments tighten budgets. BNPL spending spikes 34‑38% in the year before a first‑time home purchase, while...
Gilead Sciences is leasing 50,000 sq ft at One Triton Square in central London, adding to the building’s recent leasing momentum. The development, completed in October 2025, is now 77 % let or under offer, reflecting strong demand for premium biotech space. One Triton...
That empty big box store in your shopping center might not become another retailer. Fitness, pickleball, and entertainment concepts are taking over second-generation retail space as goods retailers shrink. Landlords are repurposing boxes instead of waiting years for another anchor. Still marketing retail...
Working on a property with a $500,000 accessory dwelling added two years ago. It’ll be interesting to see how much this adds to value. That’s a big price tag for an ADU.
The 2017 Opportunity Zones tax‑deferral program aimed to spur growth in low‑income census tracts, but its first round unfolded amid COVID‑19 and high inflation, limiting clear outcomes. Ohio’s newly released tract‑level data shows two‑thirds of eligible zones received no investment,...
The problem with this view is that the number of single-family rental homes in the U.S. has been in decline for years, as research from Harvard, John Burns and Redfin have all shown.
Don't know what makes a bulletproof residential floorplan this is is pretty damn bulletproof for industrial. (spaces can be demised down to 6,000 sq ft, small office buildout in front, wide open warehouse space, dock & grade loading) https://t.co/091JUIUwdI
For all the LA "mansion tax" watchers out there, the LA city council created a three-member committee today to recommend changes to the initiative for a possible new local vote on the Nov ballot. Comes as a potential Nov statewide...
Actual call with a broker today: Me: Great to meet you, would love to do a deal with you. What type of retail deals do you focus on? Broker: I actually wanted to convince you to buy industrial assets instead, which is what...
Great point from Senator Schatz: The BTR ban "is positively Soviet-like. It is arbitrary. We have decided owning a single-family home is good. Renting is bad."
Welp... And the crazy thing is the rightful focus on the build-to-rent ban is taking away from from the 1000 other zany regressive aspects of this bill.
It's even worse than this guy makes it seem. If someone rents out their "$1.2M" home for $4k/month, that's the all-in cost (property tax, insurance, maintenance, etc.) So, the mortgage would have to be even LESS than $4k/month, valuing the home even...
WOAH Senator Brian Schatz says the provision that forces future build-to-rent development to be sold after 7 years is a "drafting error" But he added that: "But what we were told last week is: The bill is closed." via @Eleanor_Mueller
Forbes coverage of the ongoing rent/mortgage payment issues & customer service meltdown at @HeyBilt: https://t.co/cHSguZwiNL
One of the biggest mistakes I see investors make is trying to do a major remodel on their very first long-distance deal.
if you keep increasing the taxy levy without real benefits, eventually new supply (some forced) comes into market and lowers price, which then increases the tax rate burden as a % of asset that makes it very unattractive this is the...
