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The construction of single-family homes in the US has increased for the second month in a row. The Northeast, Midwest, and South regions experienced an increase in single-family housing, but the West saw a decline. Further, permits for future construction have also seen a significant rise, signalling a positive outlook for the struggling housing market. The rise is attributed to buyers taking advantage of lower mortgage rates. However, the housing market still faces challenges such as high input and labour costs for builders, as well as expensive financing options for buyers.Read more
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) in Canada has released its first annual risk outlook report, identifying potential threats to the country's financial system in the fiscal year until March 31, 2024. According to the report, the two main risks are the possibility of a decline in the housing market and the challenge of adapting to sudden rises in interest rates. Other risks include the growth of unregulated non-bank financial institutions, climate-related risks, cyber-attacks, and hazards arising from emerging technologies.Read more
Spain and Portugal, two of the poorest countries in western Europe, are looking to tackle the issue of soaring property costs by using a “bad bank” created during Spain’s most recent financial crisis to build up to 50,000 units of public housing. Spain’s Cabinet is set to approve a plan that would increase the number of public homes by 17% using properties from its bad bank. The Portuguese Government has approved plans to invest €2.4bn in public housing by the end of 2026 and presented a housing bill to parliament last week that would allow the state to convert vacant private properties into social housing.Read more
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported that new home prices rose by 0.5% month-on-month in March, following a 0.3% increase in February. This marks the highest rate of growth since June 2021 and the third consecutive monthly increase. This is a positive indication of the market slowly recovering from it slump with the help of various supportive policies introduced by the government in the last year to tackle the crisis. However, the extent of this upward trend’s momentum remains uncertain.Read more
Several businesses in Vietnam’s biggest cities such as, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, have packed up and relocated during to soaring rents. Many believe the situation is partly due to a surge in inflation and economic pressure. Despite the current vacancy, real estate investors expect the lease price to rise, driven by the anticipated increase in demand as more foreign businesses migrate to Vietnam.Read more
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Sunac China Holdings Ltd, a real estate developer based in China, saw more than a 50% decrease in its market value upon the resumption of trade after being suspended for over a year. The decline occurred following the release of the company’s financial results and its agreement on a debt restructuring plan. The drop in share prices occurred one day after the company had announced to the Hong Kong stock exchange that it would resume trading and implement the debt restructuring plan.Read more
Last week, the Ministry of Finance reported a decline in revenue from government land sales in China slowed for the month of March, thanks to various stimulus policies that boosted the confidence of developers. However, data from the same ministry showed that in the first quarter of this year, income from land sales, which is the primary means for local governments to raise funds, decreased by 27% compared to the same period in the previous year.Read more
Earlier this month, Democratic Mayor Karen Bass of LA, made an announcement regarding the city’s severe homelessness crisis. She pledged to allocate a historic sum of $1.3 billion in the next budget to provide shelter and treatment programs for the unhoused individuals. This budget could potentially be utilized to purchase hotels or motels to convert into housing, and to identify other city-owned properties that could be used for sheltering the homeless.Read more
New York City's real estate market has seen a surge in demand for rental properties, leading to a record-high median monthly rate of $4,175 in March 2023. Despite an increase in available units, the market is still struggling to keep up with demand. The average lease was signed with a 0.7% discount from the listing price, down from a 5% discount in February. The borough's vacancy rate rose to 2.54% last month from 1.89% a year earlier. Real estate agents expect rents to remain high.Read more
Sunac China, a property developer facing challenges, submitted application to the Hong Kong stock exchange to resume trading of its shares starting April 13. The company also announced that it is currently working on implementing a restructuring plan. Trading of Sunac’s shares had been suspended last year due to the delay in releasing its financial results. Last month, the company finally published its overdue interim results for 2022, which revealed a core loss of 11.06 billion yuan.Read more
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