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☆ Disney struck a second secret agreement to mess up DeSantis’ power grab on the company, official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The board appointed by Ron DeSantis to oversee Disney said the company struck a secret agreement. A member of the board said Disney agreed a last-minute deal to set its own utilities rate. But Disney outmaneuvered DeSantis, striking a new deal for the land Disney World occupies back in March, shielding its status for the foreseeable future. According to the board chairman, it struck the utilities deal at the same time. DeSantis has claimed there are problems with the new land deal Disney struck, and he will seek to have it overturned.

☆ Affordable housing is the best way to prevent heat-related deaths, Phoenix's chief heat officer says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Phoenix's chief heat officer says more affordable housing will prevent heat-associated deaths. "It can be a little shocking," Hondula, director of the city's office of heat response and mitigation, told Insider. All these factors led Phoenix in 2021 to establish the country's first publicly funded heat office, with Hondula at the helm. Gallego told Insider in a statement that she and other city staff are working daily to address this issue. Hondula, for his part, said the heat office needs to be the biggest advocate for investments in affordable housing and homelessness services inside City Hall.

☆ UK's Bellway to buy back shares, hike social housing output
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Ajose Koilparambil | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Chief Executive Jason Honeyman told Reuters the company started hastening construction in its social housing programme in October after a demand slump. Honeyman said homes built in the programme would make up more than quarter of overall output in the fiscal year ending on July 31. Bellway, which builds everything from one-bedroom apartments to six-bedroom family homes and luxury penthouses, said there was a moderate improvement in bookings since January. Bellway shares edged up about 1% in morning trade. ($1=0.8121 pounds)Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The US housing market is crashing and soaring at the same time. It all depends on where you live.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The US housing market is crashing and soaring all at the same time as pockets of the market see divergent trends. According to data from Black Knight, home prices on the West Coast are plunging at the same time home prices on the East Coast are surging. Meanwhile, all 12 of the major housing markets west of Texas saw home prices fall over the same time period. Such a split in the US housing market is unprecedented. To be sure, West Coast home prices had room to fall after experiencing dizzying gains over the past decade.

☆ Don't bother writing a 'love letter' to home sellers. They're a waste of time and someone could get screwed.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Aj Latrace | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Moved by the note, dubbed a "love letter" in real-estate parlance, Byington decided to sell the house to her. Elizabeth Scire's "Barbie House" love letter to the seller. EtsyLove letters risk discriminationDeeply personal and emotionally written love letters, however, open sellers and their agents up to legal risks. In a 2020 blog post, the National Association of Realtors said love letters would be more accurately described as "liability letters." In September 2021, Oregon became the first state to enact a law that banned the practice of writing or sharing real-estate love letters during the homebuying process.

☆ Homebuyers, take note: 21 spots across the US where prices may fall
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Aj Latrace | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Real-estate data firm Attom evaluated which counties across the country are most vulnerable. Attom's researchers looked at a number of key indicators to determine the overall health of a region's real-estate market. Home prices that are out of reach for many locals suggests they are overly elevated. One is that the counties around major cities such as Chicago and New York are particularly vulnerable. Out of the 581 counties Attom analyzed, here's a look at the 21 counties that are most vulnerable to a decline.

Summary Poll dataBENGALURU, March 7 (Reuters) - India's housing market will remain resilient despite rising interest rates and a weak global economic outlook, according to a Reuters poll of property analysts who have barely changed their forecasts from three months ago. Defying a global trend of falling housing prices as mortgage rates rise and crimp affordability, India has exhibited resilience and is emerging from a decade-long downturn due to strong demand. A major source of employment in a country of 1.4 billion people where a majority are unskilled, the Indian housing market is likely to remain a stable contributor to economic activity in Asia's third-largest economy. A recent increase in unemployment also raises concerns about the sustainability of the current housing market trend. "Amid rising prices, affordability will only worsen in the coming quarters.

☆ More pain for the crypto industry means a chance for startups to pivot
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

After an awful 2022 that saw one of the industry's high-profile figures implode, the crypto market is looking for a bounceback. McDermott laid out to Insider's Bianca Chan and Dakin Campbell how tough times for crypto startups mean more realistic valuations and, in some cases, a reevaluation of the business model. Once of the most common critiques I hear about crypto is "It's a solution looking for a problem." The most recent crypto winter could force startups to be a bit more pragmatic about the specific problem they are looking to address. "If you can solve fraud in crypto, you can solve fraud in basically any part of finance," Meier told Insider.

[1/3] Sales representatives stand outside their kiosks inside a luxury residential project by Indian property developer DLF in Gurugram, India, February 28, 2023. Many people want to upgrade their homes after the COVID-19 pandemic confined them indoors, industry executives say. "I haven't seen such a mad rush in a decade," said Prashant Thakur, head of research at real estate consultant Anarock. Mercedes sold a record number of high-end cars in India last year and luxury goods are in high demand too. So far, around 160 people were invited for a viewing and 17 of 46 flats sold in the eight-storey project.

☆ Is Now a Good Time to Sell Your Home?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Veronica Dagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

If you are serious about selling your home now, don’t get greedy with the asking price. This is still a seller’s home market as there simply aren’t enough affordable homes for sale in many parts of the country.

☆ Here are the US cities where home prices are actually falling
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( Anna Bahney | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

San Jose, California, was the most expensive place to purchase a home in the United States in the fourth quarter. Prices for San Francisco homes are already down 21% in the fourth quarter from the peak median price of $1,550,000 in the second quarter. Among the most expensive cities that saw prices falling are Anaheim, California, with the median price of $1,132,000, down 1.6% from a year ago; Los Angeles, with the median price of $829,100, down 1.3%; and Boulder, Colorado, with the median price of $759,500, down 2.0%. Other places with falling prices saw the big price increases during the frenzied home buying market of the past few years. Instead, prices for single-family homes climbed in nearly 90% of metro areas tracked by NAR in the fourth quarter: 166 markets out of 186 saw prices still going up.

☆ A 23-year-old teacher got $25,000 to buy a house so she could live and work in the same city as her students
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The school district is now offering grants to qualifying staffers to lower its turnover rate. The school district is trying to change that by awarding grants to teachers so they can afford homes in the community where they teach. Lillian Snoeyink, 23, is the first grant recipient, receiving a check in January from the Holland Public Schools. Holland Public Schools launched the grant program in January after struggling to attract and retain educators. Holland Public Schools is not the only school district taking drastic measures to help employees afford housing.

☆ Four-time NBA champion Steph Curry joins his rich neighbors in opposing much-needed new housing near their Bay Area backyards
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Robert Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Steph and Ayesha Curry penned a letter opposing a townhouse development near their home in Atherton, California. "This is a tough thing for a community like Atherton to change," Atherton City Manager George Rodericks told NBC. Since 1969, California law has required cities to update their housing and land use needs, known as "Housing Elements," every eight years to ensure enough affordable housing is available to residents. Cities who fail to comply with the deadline could lose grant funding and face lawsuits from the state Attorney General. Cities spanning from San Francisco to Los Angeles have had their plans approved by state regulators, with many plans including efforts to increase density on developable land.

☆ Lawmakers call on 8 states to pass wealth taxes to help pay for childcare, affordable housing, and ending homelessness
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Lawmakers and advocates are pushing to pass wealth taxes in eight states, after a federal plan failed to pass. The taxes would target both realized and unrealized capital gains, assets like stocks and bonds. "Funding our future means using the revenue generated from the Washington state wealth tax to expand access to affordable homes for working Washingtonians," Frame said. In California, a wealth tax on the unrealized capital gains of the top 0.1% would yield nearly $22 billion, according to California assembly member Alex Lee. Targeting capital gains and unrealized gains are not a new idea, but haven't been able to pick up the federal traction they need to be implemented across the country.

☆ NYC mayor cites slower economic growth spurred by high office vacancy, cost of migrant crisis and health care, in budget address
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Mark Morales | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

“We crafted this budget in the environment of economic and fiscal uncertainty. The increase in vacancies weakens the commercial office market, according to analysis from the preliminary budget. Rising health care costs and settling expired labor contracts are also listed as hurdles, according to the preliminary budget. Adams said that 88% of jobs lost during the pandemic have been recovered, according to the preliminary budget. The Adams administration also boasts $8.3 billion in budget reserves, according to the preliminary budget, which also looks ahead to investments in affordable housing addressing and environmental concerns.

☆ 5 ways to make affordable housing for all in 2023 — from construction laws to mortgage financing
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Kelsey Neubauer | Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Houston has been able to keep its housing affordable in large part because of just this, he said. Jeff Tucker, the chief economist at Zillow, also told Insider that the biggest hurdle to affordable housing was "zoning reform." California has already done this when its citizens voted to pass Proposition 46, which provides funding specifically for affordable housing. It allocated just shy of $1 billion to the multifamily sector, according to CCIM, and is expected to see $13 billion in private funds be pushed into affordable housing. In July, Ginnie Mae, a federally-backed mortgage provider, specifically focused on affordable housing, requested that a manufactured home mortgage program be extended.

Relentlessly rising rents, eight consecutive interest rate hikes, surging living costs and devastating natural disasters in the past few years have inflamed what was already among the world's least affordable rental markets. In Demographia's International Housing Affordability report this year, Sydney ranked the world's second-least affordable market, behind only Hong Kong. Australia's worst floods on record in the east of the country earlier this year destroyed homes and forced about 40,000 people to evacuate, adding to the housing crisis. SEEKING SOLUTIONSProperty owners say rising costs are forcing them to raise rents. Trina Jones from Homelessness New South Wales said for the move to be successful, homes need to be representative of social and affordable housing, and not aimed at making profits.

☆ MacKenzie Scott says she's given away almost $2 billion this year
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

MacKenzie Scott has donated $2 billion to charities this year, per her most recent Medium post. With a net worth of $26 billion, she's become one of the world's most generous billionaires. The 52-year-old philanthropist and former wife of Jeff Bezos has a net worth of $28 billion, according to Forbes. The funds donated by Scott this year are in addition to the $12.5 billion she's given away since signing up to the Giving Pledge. On November 14, Scott wrote a blog post on Medium outlining her most recent donations.

☆ 'Easy to bully': A corporate landlord in Cincinnati is aggressive in trying to evict tenants, critics say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Gretchen Morgenson | Gretchen Morgenson Is The Senior Financial Reporter For The Nbc News Investigative Unit. A Former Stockbroker | She Won The Pulitzer Prize In For Her | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +13 min

“We had the exact same story and the exact same company — VineBrook Homes,” Allen told NBC News. VineBrook Homes Trust Inc., which owns over 3,000 single-family homes in the Cincinnati area, is one of the most aggressive landlords in bringing eviction proceedings against its residents, they say. A big institutional owner of over 24,000 single-family homes in mostly lower-income areas, VineBrook Homes is a real estate investment trust (REIT) with properties in 18 states, including Alabama, Indiana, Missouri and Mississippi. “I left in Dec. 2021,” Jenkins told NBC News. Vinebrook Homes owns over 3,000 single-family homes in the Cincinnati area, including many in suburbs like North College Hill.

☆ Investors' home purchases drop 30% as price increases slow down
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Diana Olick | In Dianaolick | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Home sales have dropped for nine straight months, driven by surging mortgage rates, and now investors are pulling back even more than traditional homebuyers. The drop in investor sales outpaced the drop in overall home purchases, which were down roughly 27% in the third quarter. The investor share in the overall market also fell to 17.5% of all sales from 18.2% a year ago. Non-investor homebuyers are facing much higher mortgage rates and a shortage of affordable homes for sale. Investors tend to use cash more often than traditional buyers, so they are not quite as influenced by mortgage rates.

☆ Singapore's PropertyGuru slips back into the red with $5.3 million net loss for the third quarter
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Sheila Chiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Lauryn Ishak | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesSingapore-based online property portal PropertyGuru posted a net loss of $7.4 million Singapore dollars ($5.3 million) for the quarter ended Sept. 30 — down from last quarter's net profit of SG$3.8 million. But that's still lower than the net loss of SG$9.6 million in the same period a year ago, and third quarter revenue grew by 47% year on year. Meanwhile, adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter improved to positive SG$5.7 million, up from an adjusted EBITDA loss of SG$1.5 million in the same period a year ago. The online portal provides information across the Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam marketplaces. In an interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia" Tuesday, Dische pointed to trends in the Malaysia and Singapore property markets.

☆ 3 major predictions for real estate in 2023, according to a 17-year Wall Street veteran who also lists 10 cities that could see the most and least price corrections
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Laila Maidan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

T here will be disparity in price corrections for homes listed above and below median home prices. in price corrections for homes listed above and below median home prices. Rising mortgage rates will increase demand for affordable homes and reduce their supply, he said. On Monday, 30-year fixed mortgage rates were at 7.08% in the US, more than double where they were a year ago. Rising mortgage rates will increase demand for more affordable properties and reduce their supply, he said.

☆ A non-profit that's poured $19 billion into affordable housing development shares how investors can see stable returns with this 'impactful investment opportunity'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Jennifer Streaks | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Despite the challenges in affordable housing development, Enterprise Community Partners has deployed $19 billion of housing equity into more than 2,600 developments, creating and preserving more than 184,000 affordable homes. The Columbia, Maryland-based non-profit continues to strive to show that affordable housing is an impactful investment. "Once the narrative is changed around affordable housing, it will be seen as the impactful investment opportunity that it is." "The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit is our most powerful tool for building and preserving affordable housing," Hoekman says. The Act seeks to expand and strengthen the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit by increasing housing credit allocations and maximizing affordable housing production and preservation.

DENVER — The businessman accused of swindling people out of their life savings by promising to build them tiny homes and not delivering is now the target of a police investigation. Matt Sowash, founder of the Colorado-based nonprofit Holy Ground Tiny Houses, has also filed for bankruptcy, court records revealed Wednesday. A 14' tiny home featured on the Holy Ground Tiny Homes YouTube channel. Tiny homes have been touted as a solution to homelessness and an affordable way for many to put a roof over their heads as home prices across the country have skyrocketed. Holy Ground Tiny Homes.

☆ Factbox: Windfall taxes, spending cuts on table as Hunt tries to fix UK budget
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Britain's latest finance minister Jeremy Hunt needs to raise an estimated 40 billion pounds ($45 billion) to repair public finances. British banks hold around 947 billion pounds of reserves at the BoE, largely as a result of quantitative easing that the central bank is yet to reverse. Cost estimates for completing HS2 soared to 100 billion pounds before the Leeds link was removed. The change represented a saving of 3.5 billion pounds in its first year in 2021. Asked on Oct. 19 about the foreign aid budget, Truss said more details would be set out in due course.

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