Real Estate

• [New] Rishi Sunak has laid out plans in the House of Commons for a greener financial services climate, pledging to launch Britain's first green sovereign bond in 2021 to meet growing investor demand.
• [New] The office vacancy rate in the United States will climb to 19.4%, compared to 16.8% at the end of 2019, and rise to 20.2% by the end of 2022.
• [New] The Victorian state government has committed $5.3 billion to build social and community housing over the next four years, a move that could catalyse impact investment in social and affordable housing.
• [New] In order for UK housing to meet the UK's goals in line with the Paris Agreement, a 24% reduction is needed in direct emissions from households by 2030, and a 15% reduction is required in energy used for heating by 2030.
• [New] Direct emissions from housing need to be reduced by 24% by 2030 to meet the UK's Paris Agreement commitments, and further impetus is required to meet the legally binding net zero 2050 target, let alone the 2030-2040 targets of many of the North's local authorities.
• [New] Perth's rental vacancy rate is less than one per cent, and the Real Estate Institute of WA expects rents will increase by 15 to 20% when the emergency moratorium is lifted in March next year.
• The waiting list for council housing in England will almost double to two million people next year, amid alarming figures suggesting that hundreds of thousands are already facing the threat of eviction as a result of the Covid-19 fallout.
• Royal Dutch Shell Plc will push for the reversal of President Donald Trump's rollback of methane emissions rules and the introduction of carbon pricing when Joe Biden moves into the White House next year.
• Currently four billion tons of cement are produced every year, but because of increasing urbanization, that figure is expected to rise to five billion tons in the next 30 years.
• With a growing number of US utilities setting net-zero emissions targets and states and cities adopting their own clean energy goals, analysts expect that transition to proceed regardless of who wins the White House in 2020.
• Norway's Norges Bank will be increasingly concerned over risks posed by extremely low interest rates, especially given the threat of increased speculation and risk taking in the real-estate sector.
• If Congress fails to pass another coronavirus stimulus package before years' end, Americans' outstanding rent debt could skyrocket to $70 billion - resulting in a housing crisis that could rival what homeowners experienced 13 years ago.
• Many variables could potentially impact the value of a home in San Antonio in 2020 (or any other market) such as big changes in the distressed, new-construction, or luxury home segments.
• Post Covid-19, you can imagine many companies shrinking down their real estate and employees can just work from home.
• All in, Denver expects to spend $30 million per year on affordable housing, creating 6,000 new units over the next five years, in part through a partnership with Denver Housing Authority.
• Bolstered by an increase in housing starts and the need to repair or replace older roofs with more durable products, the demand for roofing in the U.S. is projected to grow 0.2% per year to reach 253.0 million squares by 2024.
• The social housing sector must respond to reduced housing opportunities for younger generations, who face rising rents and house prices, and more instability in the labour market.
• In the next years, American businesses will be at a disadvantage because they will be increasingly shut out of the Chinese market, and they are likely to exert growing pressure on whoever is in the White House to work out a deal with China.
• Tehran appears to be treading carefully as it waits to see whether a possible removal of President Donald Trump from the White House could alter the maximum pressure policy that has sent Iran's economy into a tailspin.
• 30 million to 40 million Americans could lose housing by the end of the year, referring in part to an estimate from global advisory firm Stout Risius Ross showing over 12 million households have little or no confidence that they can keep paying rent.
• The potential for losses on US business debt and commercial real estate [could] accelerate tighter lending standards from small and medium-size banks.
• The US has announced plans to withdraw from a 144-year-old postal treaty, which the White House says lets China ship goods at unfairly low prices.

Last updated: 28 November 2020