The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Bernie Sanders waded into a fight over displacement and development in Boston

Posted: 07 Mar 2020 01:00 PM PST

Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders inserted himself in a tense local battle over a large-scale development northeast of Boston. Before the Democratic Party’s primary in Massachusetts on Tuesday, in which Sanders came second behind Joe Biden, Sanders tweeted support for local groups that want to halt the 161-acre Suffolk Downs project over concerns the planning process wasn’t accessible to non-English speakers, according to Boston.com. “We need affordable housing for all instead of more gentrifying luxury developments

Why Saudi Arabia is buying $6B in mortgages

Posted: 07 Mar 2020 11:00 AM PST

It may soon become much easier to get a mortgage in Saudi Arabia. The kingdom’s state-owned mortgage refinancer plans to significantly boost its mortgage holdings this year in a bid to boost home-buying, according to Bloomberg. The Saudi Real Estate Refinance Company plans to buy about $6.1 billion-worth of mortgages from banks — a ten-fold increase from its current holdings. That would open up space on lenders’ books to take on more mortgages. Current regulations

Coronavirus deals a blow to retail REITs

Posted: 07 Mar 2020 09:00 AM PST

Add the COVID-19 coronavirus to the list of obstacles facing brick-and-mortar retail. Authorities have confirmed cases of the virus in more than 80 countries and territories worldwide. Concern over the virus — or measures taken to stop the spread of the virus — could keep shoppers at home, according to the Wall Street Journal. The impact on retail is already showing in the performance of real estate investment trusts. The FTSE Nariet All REITs Index,

The ground beneath some of Boston’s priciest homes is literally rotting away

Posted: 07 Mar 2020 06:00 AM PST

An antiquated technique that generations of Bostonians used to add thousands of buildable acres to their city is coming back to haunt their city’s current residents. The ground beneath some homes is literally rotting away and it isn’t cheap to fix, according to the Wall Street Journal. Around 5,000 acres of Boston is built atop soil and gravel landfill that was once Massachusetts Bay. That land isn’t solid enough to build foundations on, so up