Mortgage News for July 31st, 2020

Property Prices

Determining the worth of various types of real estate has become more difficult due to limited transactions in the time of Coronavirus. Thankfully, REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) trade publicly daily, providing some insight into values. Year-to-date through 6/30/2020, data centers are up 19%, infrastructure is up 17% and industrials are up 2%. On the flip side, hotels are down 49%, retail is down 37%, residential is down 18% and both healthcare and office are down 25%.¹

Putting in Place

Golf lovers are taking advantage of being locked down at home to lower their handicap. In the early days of the Coronavirus outbreak, Richmond, Virginia company Tour Greens Mid-Atlantic got upwards of 15 inquiries a day for their home practice greens — up from eight or nine per week. A typical practice putting green averages about $30,000. So, does this feature make economic sense when it comes to selling a home? U.S. home listings from June 2019 – May 2020 that included the key words “putting green” were 5% more expensive per square foot.²

Sources: ²Elliot Eisenberg, PhD; ⁵Wall Street Journal