Banks should be on alert for Russian oligarchs attempting to circumvent U.S. sanctions by investing in commercial real estate, a U.S. Treasury Department watchdog said.
Wealthy Russians with ties to the Kremlin are likely attempting to evade the economic sanctions placed on them in the U.S. by moving money into the commercial-real-estate sector, where complex financing methods and opaque ownership structures can help bad actors hide funds, the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, better known as FinCEN, said Wednesday.
FinCEN, which serves dual roles as the U.S.’s financial intelligence unit and anti-money-laundering regulator, is the recipient of the suspicious activity reports that financial institutions are required to file if they suspect a transaction may be illicit in nature. Law-enforcement officials can consult the reports when conducting investigations into financial crimes.
The Biden administration has targeted wealthy Russians as part of its response to President
invasion of Ukraine last year, placing those with close ties to the Russian government on blacklists that are intended to prevent them from accessing the U.S. financial system.
The alert issued by FinCEN on Wednesday is the Treasury’s latest effort to prevent sanctioned Russians from finding ways to evade such financial restrictions. In an 11-page report, FinCEN listed a number of potential red flags and typologies it said banks should be on the lookout for.
“Thanks to international pressure and the economic restrictions that more than 30 countries have imposed on Russia for its brutal war against Ukraine, sanctioned Russian elites are increasingly left with fewer options for moving and hiding their ill-gotten wealth,” FinCEN Acting Director
Himamauli Das
said.
Sanctioned individuals may try to use pooled investment vehicles or offshore funds to avoid due-diligence processes, FinCEN said in its alert. Banks aren’t typically required to verify the identities of individuals who own less than 25% of a fund. Sanctioned individuals could keep lowering their stakes to avoid detection, while still maintaining control of the fund, FinCEN said.
Oligarchs also may use shell companies and multiple layers of legal entities or trusts, or transfer their assets to a family member or business associate to conceal their ownership, the Treasury bureau added.
Sanctioned individuals aren’t just investing in high-end or luxury properties, according to the alert. In some cases, they may seek out more inconspicuous investments that provide stable returns without drawing unwanted attention. Such sanction evasion strategies are just as likely to occur in small to midsize U.S. cities as they are in the largest metropolitan areas, FinCEN said.
FinCEN’s latest alert builds on a similar warning issued last year, in which the watchdog advised banks to pay close attention to transactions involving high-value assets such as artwork, luxury yachts and jewelry.
Federal prosecutors have warned that lawyers, consultants and other service providers who work for sanctioned individuals could run afoul of the law.
An indictment unsealed earlier this week charged a former high-level FBI agent and a former Russian diplomat with sanctions violations in connection with work they did for
Oleg Deripaska,
a raw-materials magnate who was placed on a sanctions blacklist in 2018.
Write to Dylan Tokar at dylan.tokar@wsj.com
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
A duplex apartment in one of the most prestigious co-op has sold for $19 million.
JACOB ELLIOTT
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A duplex in one of the most prestigious co-op buildings in San Francisco has sold for $19 million, the highest price paid for an apartment in the city so far this year, according to the Multiple Listing Service.
The four-bedroom residence was listed in January for $30 million, and the price dropped to $19 million in August. It went into contract in early November and closed last week, according to listing records and Sotheby’s International Realty–San Francisco Brokerage, whose agent Gregg Lynn represented the seller, while Mary Lou Castellanos represented the buyer.
“At over 7,000 square feet, the apartment is one of the largest in San Francisco and is located in its most revered cooperative building,” Mr. Lynn said in an email.
The sales price reflected the market condition in 2022, whereas fewer buyers are competing for large apartments and able to find opportunity, Mr. Lynn said.
The was designed by architect Conrad Alfred Meussdorffer in 1924 in his signature Beaux-Arts genre, featuring a grand entrance and a porte cochere.
JACOB ELLIOTT
“If they are to sell, other listings will be—or have already been—reduced to their right price for today’s market,” he said. “San Francisco remains a desirable location for full- or part-time residence, and there hasn’t been in recent memory a better time to purchase.”
FROM PENTA: Billionaire Businessman Ronald O. Perelman’s Design Collection Heads to Auction
The cooperative building, located in the tony Pacific Heights neighborhood, was designed by architect Conrad Alfred Meussdorffer in 1924 in his signature Beaux-Arts genre. It has 10 full-floor apartments and features a grand entrance, a porte cochére, private gardens and an attended lobby.
The apartment has a central foyer with Versailles-patterned hardwood floors, a circular floor plan for entertaining, a large living room with a fireplace and large windows framing panoramic views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and Russian Hill, a great room with a fireplace and views of the Bay, a library and a conservatory that opens to one of the terraces, the listing said.
The primary bedroom suite occupies the second floor and comes with dual marble baths and two private dressing wings, according to the listing.
William Oberndorf, founder of the investment firm SPO Partners and a local philanthropist, and his wife, Susan, purchased the home in 2018 for $25 million, property records show.
The buyer was listed in the property records as a limited liability company.
Both parties could not be reached for comment.
This article originally appeared on Mansion Global.
If someone promises you the “deal of a lifetime,” it’s probably not a good investment.
That’s what finance guru Matthew Onofrio, who sold a program claiming to have cracked the code on commercial real estate, promised inexperienced investors looking to strike it rich. But prosecutors say it was all a fraud aimed at lining Onofrio’s pockets.
The 31-year-old native of Eau Claire, Wis., appeared on investing podcasts and at conferences with a compelling tale. He said he had walked away from a promising career as a nurse anesthetist when he discovered a real estate strategy known as triple net investing, through which he had amassed a portfolio worth over $150 million in just three years.
But between 2020 and August of this year, federal prosecutors in Minnesota say, Onofrio had ripped off numerous banks to the tune of $35 million by roping investors into a complex web of quick-flip real estate sales, fraudulent mortgage applications and doctored appraisals.
In a statement, Onofrio’s attorney, Marsh Halberg, said none of his client’s investors had been hurt financially by their investments.
“The defense is aware of very few, if any, transactions where the investors have suffered actual losses at his time. We believe most of the transactions with Mr. Onofrio still maintain a positive cash flow and /or an increase in the value of the property that was purchased,” Halberg wrote in an email.
A civil suit filed this year involving a radiologist from Puerto Rico named Matthew Hermann, who wanted to get involved in real estate investing with his wife, laid out how Onofrio operated.
The suit said the pair met at a networking conference in Colorado in 2020 and hit it off while discussing real estate opportunities. Hermann said he was hoping to build up a real estate portfolio that would provide him with enough income that he could stop working.
Hermann said in court papers that Onofrio offered to bring him into “the deal of a lifetime,” involving a commercial property for sale for $6.3 million in Minneapolis. All Hermann had to do was come up with $1.5 million for the down payment.
“Onofrio told Hermann that he won’t get to his goal of leaving his job by buying duplexes. Onofrio told him that ‘this will light gas on the fire of where you need to go’. He told Hermann that this is all about mindset’,” the court documents read.
When Hermann said he didn’t have that kind of money available, Onofrio offered to lend it to him so he could secure a bank loan for the purchase and Hermann agreed, the court filings said. What Onofrio didn’t say was that he had already reached a deal with the owners to buy the building for $4.75 million, not $6.3 million, and that the difference was going into his pocket, the suit claimed.
Hermann was then stuck paying nearly $6,000 a month in loan payments to Onofrio in addition to his bank loan.
“Onofrio pushed Hermann—a novice with real estate—into this purchase with grand promises of the deal of lifetime. The reality, though, was that Onofrio was the one assured to make money on the deal, not Hermann,” the papers read.
Hermann later tried to sell the property and said he found a buyer willing to pay $6.3 million for it, but the deal fell through due to litigation surrounding Onofrio’s loan.
Hermann’s attorney didn’t respond to a message seeking comment.
Federal prosecutors described a similar pattern, with Onofrio allegedly placing his own money into investors’ accounts to make their finances look better to lenders, and also fabricating appraisal documents to inflate the value of properties.
In one deal in 2021, a Minneapolis commercial property was sold three times in just five months, passing through more than one business entity Onofrio controlled. By the end of the string of transactions, the price had jumped by nearly $4 million, business publication Finance & Commerce reported.
Onofrio is charged with three counts of bank fraud and prosecutors say they are seeking the forfeiture of $35 million seized during the course of the investigation.
TORONTO, Oct. 26, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Altus Group Limited (ʺAltus” or “the Company”) (TSX: AIF), a market leading Intelligence as a Service provider to the global commercial real estate industry, in partnership with the Real Property Association of Canada (“REALPAC”), today released the 2022Canadian Property Tax Rate Benchmark Report which provides an in-depth look at commercial and residential property tax rates in 11 major cities across Canada.
Across Canada, all property owners pay tax based on the assessed value of their property, but the tax rate per dollar of property value varies depending on whether that property is used for residential or commercial purposes. This report examines how shifts in value between classes of property influence tax increases with a spotlight on how municipal efforts to mitigate tax increases can further contribute to inequities.
Commercial-to-residential tax ratio
The commercial-to-residential tax ratio is the key measure in the report that compares the commercial tax rate to the residential tax rate. For example, if the ratio is 2.50, this means that the commercial tax rate is two-and-a-half times (2.5x) the residential tax rate.
The 2022 report found that seven out of the 11 cities surveyed have a commercial tax rate that is more than double the residential tax rate, which means that a commercial property incurs property taxes more than twice the amount of an equally valued residential property. The average commercial-to-residential tax ratio in 2022 was 2.80, reflecting a slight increase of 2.42% from the 2021 average ratio of 2.73. The rise in the average ratio was largely driven by the ratio increases in Calgary, Edmonton, and Halifax, ranging from 6.5% to more than 10%.
| Year-Over-Year Commercial-to-Residential Tax Ratios | |||
| City | 2022 | 2021 | % Change 2021 to 2022 |
| Montreal | 4.21 | 4.17 | 1.08% |
| Quebec City | 3.51 | 3.47 | 1.30% |
| Vancouver | 3.46 | 3.41 | 1.35% |
| Toronto | 3.36 | 3.44 | -2.42% |
| Calgary | 3.07 | 2.78 | 10.27% |
| Halifax | 3.06 | 2.85 | 7.16% |
| Average | 2.80 | 2.73 | 2.42% |
| Edmonton | 2.68 | 2.52 | 6.53% |
| Ottawa | 2.39 | 2.37 | 0.95% |
| Winnipeg | 1.92 | 1.93 | -0.23% |
| Saskatoon | 1.61 | 1.61 | 0.18% |
| Regina | 1.51 | 1.51 | -0.09% |
“The post pandemic market is incredibly volatile, and governments need to be proactive to address the value shifts without increasing inequities between commercial and residential taxpayers,” said Kyle Fletcher, President of Property Tax Canada at Altus Group. “There are two factors that drive property taxes – assessed values and municipal revenue requirements. To achieve equitable taxation and to support economic recovery, governments like Ontario’s need to embrace more frequent reassessment to keep up with market changes, and municipalities need to move away from policies that shift a greater portion of the tax burden to commercial properties.”
Regional trend analysis
- Calgary observed the largest commercial-to-residential ratio increase of the cities surveyed, climbing 10.27% to 3.07. Continuing the trend since 2015, the commercial assessment base contracted year-over-year due once again to declining office assessment values, while the residential assessment base experienced a notable increase of 8% year-over-year due to a surging single-family market.
- Halifax made positive changes in its ratio for 2021 taxation, but reversed course for 2022. The Halifax Regional Municipality increased the commercial tax rate and dropped the residential rate, resulting in a 7.16% increase in its commercial-to-residential ratio, to 3.06.
- Edmonton faced similar pressures to Calgary as a result of the latest reassessment, causing its ratio to increase by 6.5% to 2.68.
- Vancouver saw a decrease in both residential and commercial tax rates, reporting the lowest rates of the cities surveyed. As the rate of taxation for residential properties dropped further than the commercial rate, its commercial-to-residential tax ratio increased by 1.35% to 3.46, ranking the third highest out of all cities surveyed.
- Quebec City first climbed above the average in 2013 and remains well above the average in 2022 with a ratio of 3.51.
- Montreal reduced both residential and commercial tax rates in 2022, but a greater reduction to residential resulted in a ratio increase of 1.08% to 4.21, continuing a four-year trend of posting the highest commercial-to-residential ratio of all cities surveyed. With shifts in assessment expected to occur with the 2023 triennial role, the city will face pressure to further increase the commercial tax rate relative to residential.
- Ottawa raised its commercial rate by a greater percentage than residential, resulting in a 0.95% increase to its ratio for the first time since 2017, now sitting just below the national average at 2.39.
- Saskatoon and Regina continued a six-year trend of posting a ratio below 2.0 and remained static between 2021 and 2022 at 1.61 and 1.51, respectively, the lowest in the survey. Saskatchewan is in the second year of its four-year assessment cycle and values have not shifted.
- Winnipeg’s ratio dropped slightly from 1.93 to 1.92 but would be above 2.20 if the School Rebate and business tax were considered. It is anticipated that the School Rebate will be increased for 2023, further widening the gap between commercial and residential taxes.
- Toronto continued to move toward tax equity, increasing the tax rate for residential properties by a higher percentage than commercial. As a result, the commercial-to-residential ratio continued its 18-year downward trend and dropped by 2.42%, the most substantial reduction in the survey.
Tax mitigation tools
New for 2022, the report provides a spotlight on tax mitigation tools that are currently being implemented or proposed across the cities surveyed. In response to sudden or significant increases in tax burden, or for other policy reasons, provincial or local governments may implement certain measures such as assessment phase-ins, tax rate adjustments, capping or rebate programs to impact the amount of taxes paid by a segment of properties. The challenge with tax mitigation tools is that for every property that benefits, another property must subsidize those benefits.
A copy of the Altus Group 2022 Canadian Property Tax Rate Benchmark Report can be downloaded at: https://www.altusgroup.com/reports/canadian-property-tax-benchmark-report/
About Altus Group
Altus Group provides the global commercial real estate industry with vital actionable intelligence solutions driven by our de facto standard ARGUS technology, unparalleled asset level data, and market leading expertise. A market leader in providing Intelligence as a Service, Altus Group empowers CRE professionals to make well-informed decisions with greater speed and scale to maximize returns and reduce risk. Trusted by most of the world’s largest CRE leaders, our solutions for the valuation, performance, and risk management of CRE assets are integrated into workflows critical to success across the CRE value chain. Founded in 2005, Altus Group is a global company with approximately 2,650 employees across North America, EMEA and Asia Pacific. For more information about Altus (TSX: AIF) please visit altusgroup.com.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Elizabeth Lambe
Director, Global Communications, Altus Group
(416) 641-9787
Copyright 2022 GlobeNewswire, Inc.
Investor concerns about Blackstone’s big retail real estate fund have weighed on its stock in recent months and comments by management last week didn’t appear to help.
Although Blackstone reported an earnings beat on 20 October, its shares dropped 4.2% after the report before rebounding on 21 October to finish up 1.7% at $85.43. The stock is off more than 40% from its November 2021 peak of about $150.
Investors may have been reacting on 20 October to remarks made in a conference call by president Jonathan Gray about Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, which is known as Breit.
Gray said it was possible Breit, Blackstone’s $70bn flagship retail product, could go into redemption — meaning the fund would be paying out more to investors who are redeeming shares than it is receiving in new investments.
Breit and Blackstone Private Credit Fund, another retail product, have become important sources of asset and fee growth for the firm. This makes the investment community sensitive to flows. Breit generated over $1bn in fees for Blackstone in the first half of 2022, making it one of the firm’s most lucrative investment offerings.
Unlike public REITs like Prologis and Equity Residential, Breit isn’t publicly traded.
Blackstone executives fielded several questions on Breit during the company’s earnings conference call on 20 October, and one analyst asked whether it could “go into redemption in the coming months.”
Gray replied: “I would say as it relates to near-term flows, yes, it’s possible that we could see negatives over some period of time.”
Breit had enjoyed huge inflows in 2021 and the early part of 2022, roughly doubling in size. The fund raised $4.2 billion of capital in the third quarter, down from $6.6 billion in the second quarter, but Blackstone didn’t provide a net flow figure based on inflows less redemptions.
READ L&G, Abrdn reassure over property funds after Columbia Threadneedle suspension
Financial News sister title Barron’s wrote critically on Breit in August, arguing that retail investors should consider public REITS as an alternative.
And while many public REITs are down over 30% this year, Breit has returned a positive 9% through the end of September. Our article also cited as negatives Breit’s high fees and higher leverage than many public peers.
In response, Blackstone pointed to Breit’s strong performance since its inception in 2017, its exposure to two of the strongest categories in real estate (apartments and warehouses) and its high levels of liquidity. Breit has returned 13% annually since its inception, four times that of REIT benchmarks.
There has been greater investor focus on the gap between Breit’s performance and those of public REITs in recent months, as the REIT sector has continued to decline while Breit’s net asset value has continued to go up. The selloff in public REITs reflects investor fears about an economic slowdown and the impact on rents, as well as higher rates.
On the call, Gray cited the strong financial performance of Breit this year as warehouse and apartment rents are up sharply. He added that the earnings strength of Breit this year has more than offset the impact of higher rates on real estate valuations.
READ Goodbye Londongrad: Property market hit by pressure on Russian oligarchs
Oppenheimer analyst Chris Kotowski said that public REITs in the apartment and logistics sectors also are showing good financial results, but their stocks are down 30%. Kotowski contrasted Breit’s performance versus public REITs and asked management during the conference call if “they all of a sudden look more attractive relative to your valuations.”
Gray responded that public markets are more volatile than private markets, which is the basis for Breit’s pricing, and that Breit has “ample liquidity,” having met all redemption requests since its inception in 2017.
In a client note on 21 October, JPMorgan analyst Ken Worthington wrote of Breit: “We do see risk to net sales in the near term of intermediaries investing in public real estate funds that have seen prices fall 30% vs. B-Reit (for example) with returns up 8.5% this year.”
Morgan Stanley analyst Michael Cyprys wrote that retail flows have slowed, as expected given the economic environment.
“But we have confidence that BX’s distribution prowess and brand should continue to attractively position the firm to penetrate a ~$70tn retail TAM.”
Blackstone’s distributable earnings were $1.06 a share in the third quarter, down 17% from the year-earlier period, but they exceeded the consensus estimate of 98 cents.
Write to Andrew Bary at andrew.bary@barrons.com
This article was published by Barron’s, a fellow Dow Jones Group brand
TACOMA, Wash, Oct. 20, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Harbor Custom Development, Inc. (Nasdaq: HCDI, HCDIP, HCDIW, HCDIZ) (“Harbor,” “Harbor Custom Homes®,” or the “Company”), an innovative and market leading real estate company involved in all aspects of the land development cycle, today announced it has contracted to sell 56.6 acres of land in Punta Gorda, Florida for $7,250,000 to Historical Fund, Inc. The Property is scheduled to close on or before December 20, 2022, upon the buyer’s satisfaction of their due diligence requirements.
“The potential sale of our Punta Gorda property reinforces our stated business plan to monetize our assets at the most opportune time in the development cycle by taking into account current market dynamics and our planned capital allocation strategy,” stated Jeff Habersetzer, Chief Operating Officer of Harbor Custom Development, Inc.
About Harbor Custom Development, Inc.
Harbor Custom Development, Inc. is a real estate development company involved in all aspects of the land development cycle, including land acquisition, entitlements, construction of project infrastructure, home and apartment building, marketing, and sales of various residential projects in Western Washington’s Puget Sound region; Sacramento, California; Austin, Texas and Punta Gorda, Florida. As a land developer and builder of apartments, and single-family luxury homes, Harbor Custom Development’s business strategy is to acquire and develop land strategically based on an understanding of population growth patterns, entitlement restrictions, infrastructure development, and geo-economic forces. Harbor focuses on acquiring land with scenic views to develop and sell residential lots, new home communities, and multi-story apartment properties within a 20 to 60-minute commute of the nation’s fastest-growing metro employment corridors. Harbor is leading the real estate industry as the first national land developer and home builder accepting payment in the form of cryptocurrency for its listed land, developed lots, residential homes, and apartments.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Words such as “may,” “might,” “should,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “continue,” “predict,” “forecast,” “project,” “plan,” “intend” or similar expressions, or statements regarding intent, belief, or current expectations, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon current estimates and assumptions. While the Company believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to us on the date of this release. These forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including without limitation those set forth in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Thus, actual results could be materially different. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Investor Relations
Hanover International
866-744-0974
Copyright 2022 GlobeNewswire, Inc.
ATLANTA–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Oct 17, 2022–
Stonehill’s commercial real estate group, Stonehill CRE, has deployed approximately $200 million of capital through the origination and purchase of first mortgage loans since being launched in the second quarter of 2022. The company expects its commercial real estate group to deploy an additional $100 million in loan originations and other transactions by year’s end based upon deals in its pipeline. Stonehill CRE is targeting over $500 million in transaction for 2023.
Stonehill, an affiliate of Peachtree Group, has historically been one of the most active hotel commercial real estate lenders in the U.S., ranking as the tenth-largest U.S. hotel lender by the Mortgage Bankers Association in 2021. In May, Stonehill expanded its commercial lending business to include all real estate sectors through the formation of Stonehill CRE, with Daniel Siegel serving as its president.
Ongoing market volatility has seen traditional lenders and the syndicated market pull back on all forms of real estate lending, causing major dislocation in the capital markets. Stonehill CRE is originating loans allowing real estate owners to execute their business plans.
“Stonehill CRE’s formation came at a fortuitous time as market conditions have created a dislocated lending environment for commercial real estate,” said Siegel. “Traditional lenders have not only slowed commercial real estate lending but also tightened underwriting standards, which allows us to provide needed liquidity for maturing loans, new acquisitions and construction projects.”
Stonehill CRE’s transactions that have closed include:
- Mixed-use development – Opus Atlanta in Atlanta, Georgia
- Retail centers in New Jersey and Kentucky
- Land development loans on growing markets in Southeast
- Purchase of a non-performing office loan in Washington DC
“Opus Atlanta is a prime example of how Stonehill can originate and close a complex transaction of a mixed-use development site that traditional lenders generally would not consider executing,” said Siegel. “With our downside protected by one of the best remaining sites in a highly coveted submarket of Midtown Atlanta, we were able to provide a degree of certainty to the borrower that we could close this transaction on their timetable.”
Stonehill CRE is also finalizing transactions on projects in multifamily, office, build-for-rent development and an additional retail project.
“All of our commercial real estate originations and transactions are consistent with our investment philosophy of deploying capital in a disciplined manner while providing ownership groups thoughtful capital solutions and certainty of execution,” said Siegel.
About Stonehill
Stonehill, a direct lender, is actively providing permanent loans, bridge loans, mezzanine loans and preferred equity investments secured primarily by hotel assets. Founded in 2013, Stonehill provides creative finance solutions for acquisitions, recapitalizations, refinancings and renovations and has completed more than 400 transactions totaling over $4.5 billion. The principals of Stonehill have combined to originate, structure or purchase over $10.0 billion of debt. For additional information, please visit www.stonehillsc.com.
About Peachtree Group
Peachtree is a private equity investment, asset and fund management firm focusing on opportunistically deploying capital across its distinct operating and real estate divisions, including hospitality, commercial real estate lending, residential development, capital markets and media. Since its founding in 2008, the company has completed hundreds of real estate investments valued at more than $7.8 billion in total market capitalization and currently has more than $2.0 billion in equity under management. For more information, visit www.peachtreegroup.com.
View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221017005587/en/
CONTACT: Charles Talbert
678-823-7683
ctalbert@peachtreehotelgroup.com
KEYWORD: GEORGIA UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: PROFESSIONAL SERVICES OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES COMMERCIAL BUILDING & REAL ESTATE LODGING FINANCE CONSTRUCTION & PROPERTY TRAVEL
SOURCE: Stonehill
Copyright Business Wire 2022.
PUB: 10/17/2022 09:00 AM/DISC: 10/17/2022 09:03 AM
Copyright Business Wire 2022.
ST. LOUIS — When Abdul-Kaba Abdullah decided to sell his home two years ago, he listed the neatly-kept, four-bedroom house at $175,000 based on presale evaluations.
But once a buyer made an offer, an appraiser valued the home at only $150,000, and the bank wouldn’t give a loan for the original asking price.
Curious, Abdullah looked at the appraisal report and found the photos weren’t even of his home in the predominantly Black area of north St. Louis. The photos had been pulled off the internet, and were not new photos showing updates he had made.
“I immediately knew, well, we have an issue here,” Abdullah said.
It’s a struggle Black Americans have lived with for decades. Now, some leaders in the real estate industry are apologizing for past discrimination while promising to address problems that still remain.
Last month, St. Louis Realtors — the St. Louis area’s largest real estate trade group — issued a formal apology for past discriminatory practices. The National Association of Realtors issued an apology in 2020. Realtor groups in cities like Atlanta and Chicago have shown similar remorse.
“The discrimination to which the Black community was subjected to was part of a system designed to cause residential racial segregation, led by the federal government, supported by the banking system and the real estate industry, and driven by practices like redlining and the use of restrictive covenants,” the apology from St. Louis Realtors states.
St. Louis was notorious for housing discrimination in the mid-20th century, when Black applicants were frequently denied mortgages, white homeowners were encouraged by real estate agents to move once a neighborhood began to integrate, and certain areas of the region were “redlined,” meaning loans to buy homes in those areas were nearly impossible to get.
Will Jordan, executive director of the Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing and Opportunity Council, said change is happening far too slowly.
“Redlining and those types of issues are still playing out in the St. Louis metropolitan area,” Jordan said. “I’ve seen notes on appraisals that are written by banks saying, ‘nothing north of Delmar can possibly be that much. Let’s rewrite this.’” Delmar Boulevard is infamously known as the dividing line between predominantly white and Black areas of St. Louis.
“North of Delmar, it’s still very difficult to get any bank to finance something,” Jordan said.
It’s part of the reason the city’s once vibrant north side has struggled in recent decades with rampant crime, high vacancy rates and a dilapidated housing stock.
Katie Berry, president of St. Louis Realtors, said past discrimination was no accident. Federal lending program maps used green lines to indicate places where loans would be approved — predominantly white areas. Red lines indicated high risk, “and those areas were Black communities or integrated communities because the theory was that once you integrated a community, the home values are going to drop,” she said.
Making matters worse, once integration began in a neighborhood, real estate agents would participate in what was known as “blockbusting.” An agent would help a Black family move into a white neighborhood, then “start knocking on doors of the neighbors saying, ‘Hey, did you know this Black family’s moved in? Home values are going to plummet. You should go ahead and list your house with me. Hurry up and get out of here,’” Berry said.
Meanwhile, a provision of the National Association of Realtors’ Code of Ethics from 1924 to 1950 instructed realtors to avoid “introducing into a neighborhood a character of property or occupancy, members of any race or nationality, or any individuals whose presence will clearly be detrimental to property values in that neighborhood.”
A report released earlier this year by the National Association of Realtors showed that while 72.1% of white Americans own their homes, the rate for Black Americans is just 43.4%. The report also found that Black and Hispanic applicants for mortgage loans were far more likely to be rejected than white and Asian applicants.
Bryan Greene, vice president of policy advocacy for the NAR, said apologies are important because realtors “need to atone for our failures.”
The Atlanta Realtors Association apologized in 2021 for past discriminatory practices.
“We can’t change our history but we can choose to learn from our past, make current powerful decisions, and act with intention to write future chapters that leave a positive legacy,” then-President Cynthia Lippert wrote in a letter of apology.
In 2019, Chicago Association of Realtors President Tommy Choi issued an apology on behalf of the organization for being “on the wrong side of history.”
Lydia Pope, president of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers, which promotes Black homeownership, said the apologies are good starting points.
“Now show us that you want to do better, that you are willing to do more to help create an environment where everyone is treated equally,” Pope said in a statement.
Greene said the NAR has taken several steps, including creation of a Fair Housing Policy Committee. The national group also adopted an action plan in 2020 that emphasizes accountability, culture change and training local realtors in fair housing practices.
As part of the effort to change, realtors in Atlanta have undergone unconscious bias training and are seeking relationships with diverse real estate associations such as the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals and the LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance, the group said.
In St. Louis, the realtors’ association hired a director of diversity, equity and inclusion, is working with lawmakers to reduce barriers to homeownership for minorities, is seeking to address housing vacancies, and is pushing to bring in more Black real estate agents.
Berry knows change won’t happen quickly.
“People have been harmed for generations,” she said.
Abdullah, 44, is executive director of Park Central Development, a company that works to attract investment and keep people in their homes in St. Louis. So he’s familiar with fair housing laws. From the outset, he questioned the appraisal of his home by an appraiser from a mostly-white neighboring county.
When Abdullah filed a complaint with Jordan’s office, the bank eventually agreed to increase the loan value to $160,000, and Abdullah sold. Still, he asked the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to investigate. The case remains unresolved.
“Just because I’m in this line of work, I didn’t think I was exempt from these things happening to me,” Abdullah said. “People have a right to the American dream.”
NEW YORK, Oct. 04, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (the “Company” or “ARI”) (NYSE:ARI), today announced the Company will hold a conference call to review its third quarter 2022 financial results on Tuesday, October 25, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The Company’s third quarter 2022 financial results will be released after the market closes on Monday, October 24, 2022. During the conference call, Company officers will review third quarter 2022 performance, discuss recent events and conduct a question-and-answer period.
To register for the call, please use the following link: https://register.vevent.com/register/BI590b61978ebd4f2e9b2325f0cb102240
After you register, you will receive a dial-in number and unique pin. The Company will also post a link in the Stockholders’ section on ARI’s website for a live webcast. For those unable to listen to the live call or webcast, there will be a webcast replay link posted in the Stockholders’ section on ARI’s website approximately two hours after the call.
About Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc.
Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE: ARI) is a real estate investment trust that primarily originates, acquires, invests in and manages performing commercial first mortgage loans, subordinate financings and other commercial real estate-related debt investments. The Company is externally managed and advised by ACREFI Management, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and an indirect subsidiary of Apollo Global Management, Inc., a high-growth, global alternative asset manager with approximately $515 billion of assets under management as of June 30, 2022.
Additional information can be found on the Company’s website at www.apollocref.com. Please note that our URL address has changed.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking statements as such term is defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and such statements are intended to be covered by the safe harbor provided by the same. Forward-looking statements are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and are generally beyond the Company’s control. These forward-looking statements include information about possible or assumed future results of the Company’s business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations, plans and objectives. When used in this release, the words believe, expect, anticipate, estimate, plan, continue, intend, should, may or similar expressions, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Statements regarding the following subjects, among others, may be forward-looking: macro- and micro-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; the severity and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic; actions taken by governmental authorities to contain the COVID-19 pandemic or treat its impact; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations, liquidity and capital resources; market trends in the Company’s industry, interest rates, real estate values, the debt securities markets or the general economy; the timing and amounts of expected future fundings of unfunded commitments; the return on equity; the yield on investments; the ability to borrow to finance assets; the Company’s ability to deploy the proceeds of its capital raises or acquire its target assets; and risks associated with investing in real estate assets, including changes in business conditions and the general economy. For a further list and description of such risks and uncertainties, see the reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements, and other risks, uncertainties and factors are based on the Company’s beliefs, assumptions and expectations of its future performance, taking into account all information currently available to the Company. Forward-looking statements are not predictions of future events. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
| CONTACT: | Hilary Ginsberg | |
| Investor Relations | ||
| (212) 822-0767 |
Copyright 2022 GlobeNewswire, Inc.
Redfin CEO predicts 'terrible consolidation’ in the real-estate sector, but says it will ultimately be good for the industry
The real-estate sector is in crisis amid the housing downturn. Expect more pain to come before things start to normalize, one housing chief says.
But he added a caveat: “I do think it’ll be good for the industry.”
During the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, many Americans jumped into the real-estate industry, Kelman recounted, so many that “we had more real-estate agents than listings by 2021.”
At this point, there are about million-and-a-half realtors trying to sell roughly over five million homes, meaning that they’re only doing five or six deals a year, which “isn’t a productive, fulfilling life,” Kelman said.
Some of the excess capacity in the sector has been released. In 2022, Redfin went through layoffs twice, responding to market conditions. Compass, another brokerage, announced a third round of layoffs on Thursday, to reduce expenses.
“I hope the industry is close to [becoming] right-sized and that things can get better from here,” Kelman said on Wednesday. “I don’t think that’s happened yet.”
‘It’s just a roommate generation now’
But for many Americans, high housing prices and mortgage rates make homeownership unaffordable. The Redfin chief executive sympathized with younger Americans priced out of the market.
“It’s just a roommate generation now, where people are staying with their parents, living in the basement or just shacking up with friends longer because home prices and rents have both gotten so far out of hand,” Kelman said.
There is some relief for those renters, as rents have fallen over the past few months.
Rents dropped for the fourth month in a row in December, Apartment List said in its monthly national rent report on Wednesday.
“Rents decreased in December in 90 of the nation’s largest 100 cities,’ the report stated, “with prices down by 3% month-over-month.”
And more homes are coming online to help with rental pressure.
But that’s also limiting the number of homes that go on sale, Kelman noted. He said that some of that supply came from home sellers who are withdrawing their listings from the market, and renting them out instead.
Investors still on the prowl for deals
Investor buying was a big topic of conversation during the pandemic, as many prospective buyers got beat out by companies and landlords with big pockets.
Kelman said that investors are still on the prowl, and are scouring disaster zones for deals.
In 2021, investors bought 24% of all single-family homes sold nationwide, a Pew Trusts report said last year.
Kelman said that some out-of-town investors today are tracking damaged homes, such as in Florida, to find deals.
When he recently visited a local office in Florida, Kelman said Redfin employees in areas affected by Hurricane Ian told him that investors were calling as the hurricane made landfall.
“We were trying to tour properties that the National Guard had closed …that were literally submerged. We would have had to visit the property by boat,” Kelman recounted.
“And these investors still wanted us to do a virtual tour where we’re using our phone to guide them through the property,” he continued.
“Even as the regular residents of Florida are calling us, almost in tears, because they’re standing on their second-floor balcony and they’re up to their knees and water …there’s another group of people coming from all over the world who see this as an investment opportunity,” he said.
While insurers and lenders are becoming wary of coastal properties that come with risks associated with climate change, such as flooding, “what was crazy to me is that investors were stepping in to fill that gap,” Kelman said.
Canada banning foreign homebuyers was ‘a bold move’
In response to investors’ buying frenzy, Canada, which is also dealing with an unaffordable housing market, decided to take a hard stance. Kelman said he was impressed.
At the start of 2023, the Canadian government enacted a ban on foreigners buying homes in Canada for two years. The law provides exceptions for purchases made by immigrants and permanent residents of Canada, CNN reported.
“I was impressed and shocked at what Canada did,” Kelman said.
“At one level, it’s just a massive self-inflicted wound to the economy,” he said. But on another level it’s “a real commitment to making housing more affordable for Canadians,” he added.
While the United States frets over a shortage in the supply of homes available for eager buyers, “Canada just said screw it. They pulled the cord,” Kelman said.
“And now that housing market is having a real correction and it’ll be terrible for the real-estate industry [and] for people who are about to sell their home,” he added.
“But it will mean that a new generation of Canadians is going to be able to afford a place, and so that was a pretty bold move,” he added.
Got thoughts on the housing market? Write to MarketWatch reporter Aarthi Swaminathan at aarthi@marketwatch.com
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