The Crossroads Mall in Portage, Michigan (near Kalamazoo) has recently been valued at $22.6M. Unfortunately, the mall has $100M in mortgage debt. The owner is currently in discussions with its lender about a deed-in-lieu. Although stories about the decline of the regional mall are all too common, the decline of Crossroads has been stunning, as […]
Retailer Bath & Body Works, which saw a surge in sales due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is planning to simultaneously open 49 off-mall locations, while closing 40 mall locations, in 2021. This will essentially keep the store count level but will shift stores away from malls to freestanding locations.
Victoria’s Secret, a brand of L Brands, intends to close up to 50 stores in 2021. This is after the closure of 250 stores in 2020. L Brands continues to look for a solution to its Victoria’s Secret problem, including spinning the brand off to a private equity firm.
As I discussed last week, the impact of mortgage forbearance and foreclosures on the residential market remains unknown. There are multiple variables that could impact the ultimate effect: government intervention, the outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the state of the economy and job growth when foreclosures are once again allowed. The Biden administration bought […]
One of the biggest unknowns of the real estate market in 2021 is the impact of the lifting of COVD-19 forbearances, and the expiration of foreclosure moratoria. The number of mortgage loans in forbearance is still quite high, at 5.38%. And the pace of borrowers exiting forbearance plans is the lowest since tracking began in […]
The mall is dead. Actually, in my opinion, the mall has been dead for several years. But no one has bothered to tell the mall. COVID-19 may have dealt the final blow to malls. But the downward spiral began, quietly, on July 5, 1994: The founding of Amazon. Amazon provides a virtually limitless selection of […]
This week I want to highlight the upcoming tax appeal season. Generally in the first weeks of February (sometimes later in Macomb County), property owners will receive a Notice of Assessment in the mail. If you have not received a Notice of Assessment when you expect it, you should immediately contact the assessor’s office in […]
In the past four months of 2020, the number of homes sold exceeded the number of homes listed, demonstrating the continuing residential real estate boom, and showing that the residential market continues to be very seller-friendly.
As we observe the impact of COVID-19 on the residential, office, and retail sectors, there is a much longer-term factor that I am also observing. The impact of electric and/or autonomous vehicles on real estate. First, electric vehicles. As the percentage of electric vehicles increases, there will inevitably be an impact on petroleum retailers. These […]
Based on an analysis by a Detroit residential broker, there is a one-year supply of condos for sale in the Downtown Detroit market. According to the broker, 4-6 months is considered a “balanced” market, so the existing one-year supply is a clear buyer’s market. It appears the rush to develop new condos in Detroit to […]
