The Chicago Journal

Real estate market hopes for consistency this year

Real estate: The real estate market was afflicted by a slew of problems in 2022, including inflated prices, high demand, and a deficit of available houses.

The market is anticipated to shift as the new year gets underway, largely because of the rise in interest rates in 2022.

Normalization

Home prices in the real estate market are still going down.

As a result, many market players have changed their stance to prioritize normalization above correction.

Price hikes and sales activity accelerated between March 2020 and March 2022 and appeared uncontrollable.

However, things are beginning to change.

Luxury homes, which make up the top 5% of the market, had a dip in a worldwide home price increase in the third quarter, falling to 8.8% yearly.

A Knight Frank survey indicates that it has decreased by 10.9% from its peak in the early stages of 2022.

The inflation rate for housing costs, which is falling by 0.3% year-on-year, is taken into consideration in the report.

The markets

The US markets are “coming back to earth,” according to Jonathan Miller of the New York-based appraisal company Miller Samuel.

“Clearly, the pivot of Fed policy has had an impact on every housing market in the country because rates were too low for too long,” said Miller.

“It created this insatiable demand and obliterated supply.”

Although Jonathan Miller is concerned about a recession, he thinks that because of a stronger job market, it won’t be as catastrophic as previous ones.

Other major cities are currently experiencing similar difficulties.

Experts predict that Dubai and Miami, two locations with large populations, won’t experience any changes or effects.

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The New York market

New York experienced record-breaking sales activity in 2021.

Since then, the city’s growth has significantly slowed down.

Since then, the city’s growth has significantly slowed down.

Bess Freedman, CEO of Brown Harris Stevens, claims that deals are down and demands have eased.

“The first quarters of 2022 were excellent, like superb,” said Freedman.

“And then the third quarter started to slow down, and now the fourth quarter has really slowed down.”

As the Fed keeps raising rates to curb inflation, Bess Freedman forecasts upheaval in the real estate market this year.

Despite the robust labor market, she claims that concerns about a recession still linger.

“Real estate will be as it has been recently, which is a little bit rocky,” she elaborated.

“It’s been ups and downs. There are still a lot of people spending a lot of money on expensive apartments – we just had somebody sign something for over $20 million.”

“People are still closing and signing; they aren’t all walking away, but it’s slower,” Freedman continued.

“It’s going to be a little challenging in the first quarter and maybe into the second, but I think we’ll rebound and start picking up again.”

Dollar strength

The enormous growth of the dollar continues to be an obstacle to foreign investment.

Jonathan Miller claims that this would hinder sales growth as Wall Street executives could see their bonus payouts reduced by more than 30% from levels in 2021.

Even though there are many cash buyers in Manhattan, he claimed that reducing rates would still be advantageous to the city.

The financial markets, which have been unstable as a result of the Fed’s adjustments to its monetary policies, are of particular concern to New York buyers.

“It creates a cautionary environment,” Miller explained.

“We’re probably looking at a year closer to pre-pandemic, which was a little bit below average in terms of activity.”

“The 2023 story is going to be normalized, [and] certainly not a boom.”

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The Los Angeles market

In the middle of 2022, according to the Agency’s CEO, Mauricio Umansky, changes took place in the Los Angeles real estate market.

He noted that over the previous two and a half years, the market had evolved at an unsustainable rate.

“Volume dropped while the industry’s cyclical nature and historical seasonality quickly returned,” said Umansky.

“What felt like a jolt was actually what I believe was the beginning of a rebalancing act.”

This year, he anticipates a robust luxury market in Los Angeles.

“More millionaires exist today than at any other point in history,” explained Umansky.

“Markets are more globalized than ever, and there is much wealth to be distributed, especially among hyper-wealthy markets.”

Mauricio Umansky continued:

“I believe housing remains a primary investment for the world’s most affluent citizens and a safe hedge against inflation.”

“While economists predict the slowdown in volume to continue into the start of the new year, supply is still tight, and demand is on the rise, meaning price growth is still expected in the year ahead.”

According to a recent Knight Frank projection, the price of prime properties in Los Angeles will increase by 4% in 2023.

Over the coming year, stability is predicted by Mauricio Umansky:

“While the current market presents some points of discomfort, buyers, sellers, and agents will acclimate to our new normal until the market picks up again.”

Reference:

Real estate markets set to normalize in 2023 after nearly three years of the pandemic boom

Lyft announce plans of workforce layoff

Lyft joins a host of companies making tough decisions amid rising inflation by informing employees about layoff plans.

The announcement

The transport company’s announcement came on Thursday after Lyft executives reconsidered staffing in light of the economic situation.

Lyft sent a letter to its employees on Thursday regarding the company’s difficult decision.

Logan Green and John Zimmer, the company’s co-founders, said the layoffs would affect all parts of Lyft’s business.

They also pointed to the broader macroeconomic challenges that led to the tough cuts.

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Statement

The memo from Lyft’s founders expressed regret over the decision, writing:

“We know today will be hard. We’re facing a probable recession sometime in the next year, and rideshare insurance costs are going up.”

“We worked to bring down the costs this summer: we slowed, then froze hiring; cut spending; and paused less-critical initiatives.”

“Still, Lyft has to become leaner, which requires us to part with incredible team members.”

Slow growth

The tech industry saw a surge during the pandemic as consumers became more dependent on the digital world.

However, technology companies experienced slow growth in the September quarter as customers and advertisers reconsidered spending.

Most of the tech industry is now rethinking its investment and workforce needs.

Amazon also shared plans to suspend hiring corporate positions for months on Thursday, citing the economic climate.

Additionally, Stripe, a payment processing company and one of the most valuable startups, also announced it will lay off 14% of its staff.

Stripe CEO Patrick Collison wrote to his employees and said:

“We were much too optimistic about the internet economy’s near-term growth in 2022 and 2023 and underestimated both the likelihood and impact of a broader slowdown.” 

Read also: Federal Reserve continues with another rate hike

Lyft

The ride company’s move comes as Lyft rival Uber saw strong sales growth, fueled by demand for rides and food delivery.

Lyft will announce its financial results on Monday.

“We are not immune to the realities of inflation and a slowing economy,” the memo states.

The company, on Thursday, confirmed its intention to lay off more than 683 employees.

Lyft also said it would incur more than $27 million to $32 million in restructuring and related costs due to severance and employee benefits.

So far, in 2022, the company’s shares are down nearly 70%.

Reference:

Lyft to lay off 13% of staff

Apple continues positive streak amid inflation

Apple beat Wall Street analysts’ sales and earnings forecasts for the September quarter despite a tough earnings season.

September quarter revenue overcame fears that demand for the latest iPhone series was weaker than anticipated.

Sales

Apple posted revenue of more than $90 billion in the fourth fiscal quarter, up 8% from the same period last year.

In addition, revenue reached $20.7 billion, a gain of less than 1% from the same quarter in the year before.

Apple CFO Luca Maestri also released a statement:

“Our record September quarter results continue to demonstrate our ability to execute effectively in spite of a challenging and volatile macroeconomic backdrop.”

Following the report, the company’s shares fell more than 1% after hours.

Read also: Workers at an Apple store in Oklahoma vote to unionize

Apple products

Sales of the company’s products increased 9% year-over-year to nearly $71 billion.

The growth shows a decrease in the growth rate compared to the previous year, but it was already expected.

Consumers are currently grappling with fears of a possible recession amid high inflation.

Meanwhile, the significant dollar value still raises doubts about Apple’s success in convincing international users to upgrade their devices.

Apple CEO Tim Cook says the company set an iPhone sales record on an analyst call in September.

Services segment

Apple’s service segments posted revenue of $19.2 billion, up 5% from the quarter a year ago and a year-over-year decline.

The Services segment includes paid subscriptions, such as Apple TV+ and Apple Music.

It is a powerhouse for Apple and compensates for the slow growth of Apple’s hardware business.

According to Maestri, subscriptions to paid services are more than 900 million.

Last year, there were only 155 million paid subscriptions.

Read also: Flash report: EU looking to phase out Apple’s Lightning connector in favor of USB-C

Raised prices

The company raised the prices of its music and TV streaming services this week to boost sales.

Investing.com analyst Jesse Cohen issued a bullish statement, saying:

“Like other major tech companies, even Apple is suffering from the negative impact of a worsening macro backdrop and ongoing supply chain woes.”

“Though, it has done a better job of navigating through the challenging environment,” Cohen added.

According to Luca Maestri, Apple expects revenue growth to slow in the December quarter from a year earlier.

He cites the strength of the US dollar and continued macroeconomic weakness as factors behind the slowdown in growth.

Reference:

Apple is weathering the economic downturn better than fellow tech giants