Home Price Index Jumps
According to the S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index, home prices continued their acceleration in January. They jumped 11.2% year over year, the biggest gain in 15 years. Month over month, prices rose in 19 of the 20 cities tracked. Year over year, prices rose in all 20. Detroit data was included in January’s indices for the first time in a year due to interruptions in data collection due to Covid-19 shutdowns.
Mortgage Servicers Warned to Prepare for Disaster
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warns that mortgage servicers should begin reaching out to affected home owners now in order to best advise them on ways they can modify their mortgage loans. The CFPB is concerned about mortgage firms that may cause harm to struggling families and homeowners. A separate compliance bulletin said that companies that are unable to successfully manage loss mitigation can expect the bureau to take enforcement or supervisory action. According to the bureau, as of January, over 2 million borrowers have postponed their payments or failed to make them for at least three months.
J.C. Penney Updates Store Closure List
J.C. Penney has updated its store closure list. The company was one of the largest retailers to apply for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection during the pandemic. It announced that it was closing 242 of its stores in May 2020. Since then, the retailer has delayed the closing of 15 stores that were scheduled to be shuttered in March 2021, extending the closing date into May. In doing so, the company added 18 more stores to its closure list.
Amazon Ditches Square Footage
/in Detroit, SE Michigan /by Tracy WillisAmazon is subleasing at lease 10 million square feet and possibly terminating leases in New York, New Jersey, Southern California and Atlanta. The figure could be as high as 30 million square feet. This is in contrast to the the company’s acquisition of 200 million square feet during the pandemic. In the Detroit area, it’s a different story. The company currently occupies or is building at least 13 million square feet. According to sources, Amazon was more deliberate in the Detroit area, as opposed to other areas where it acquired square footage where it could find it. The company also seems to be dropping smaller spaces and not mega-centers like those in the Detroit area.
Hotel Residents Demand Affordable Housing
/in Detroit /by Tracy WillisEvicted tenants who have become hotel residents are about to have their federal aid come to an end. They called on city officials for help finding affordable housing before the federal aid runs out. More than 275 Detroit households have used federal aid through the federal American Rescue Plan to pay for hotels following eviction. The tenants had been informed that the aid would be cut off on June 1. Of the 88 households currently living in hotels and supported by the aid, 40 have received an extension on their end date to June 30. The other 48 already had later end dates.
Equinox Hotel Planned for Detroit Center For Innovation
/in Detroit /by Tracy WillisThe Detroit Center for Innovation will include an Equinox hotel. The hotel will be designed to host visiting sports teams and will include gyms and a special floor for them to work out. The entire project will encompass a 300-acre district of residential, office, education and entertainment. The center will include a University of Michigan graduate campus. Ross and Ilitch, the muscle behind the project, believe it will attract companies and make local graduates want to stay in the state.