REAL ESTATE TECHNOLOGY
Redfin | July 06, 2022
In 2020 and 2021, purchases of second homes with high flood risk rose 45% from the prior two-year period (2018-2019), according to a new analysis of ClimateCheck data from Redfin (redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage. There were also significant increases in purchases of second homes with high storm risk (40%) and high heat risk (39%).
Demand for second homes surged during the pandemic as low mortgage rates, remote work and the desire to escape the city drove up demand for vacation properties. Overall, purchases of second homes were up 37% higher in 2020 and 2021 compared with 2018 and 2019. Demand has since fallen back below pre-pandemic levels as life has returned somewhat to normal, but many Americans now own at-risk second homes, which has implications for the future.
“The threat of climate change isn’t the top concern for a lot of homebuyers, which means they often prioritize factors like warm weather and proximity to the beach over avoiding natural-disaster risk. Second-home owners, in particular, have another place to live if disaster strikes—another reason climate danger may not feel like a pressing issue, But house hunters should be aware that purchasing in a disaster-prone area not only puts them and their home at risk, but their finances as well. Home values in climate-endangered places may fall in the coming years as consumers learn more about the risks to properties in these areas.”
Redfin Senior Economist Sheharyar Bokhari
A recent Redfin analysis found that more people have been moving into than out of the U.S. counties with the largest share of homes at high risk from natural disasters. That’s partly because some buyers just aren’t aware of the risks. Redfin.com now publishes climate-risk data for nearly every U.S. home, with the exception of rental listings, to help house hunters make more informed decisions.
“House hunters from out of town ask about climate change because they’re very concerned about flooding, but most of them don’t change their minds,” said Miami Redfin agent Cristina Llanos. “They hear horror stories of hurricanes, but generally still move forward. People want to talk about it but it typically doesn’t make or break their decision.”
Heat and Storm Are Most Common Risks Second-Home Buyers Face
Overall, heat is the most common risk facing second-home buyers—nearly all (94%) of second homes purchased in the past two years face high heat risk. Next comes high storm risk, which plagues more than three-quarters (78%) of second homes bought in the past two years, followed by high flood risk (26%), high fire risk (23%) and high drought risk (21%).
Many popular second-home destinations, like Florida and Arizona, face significant heat and/or storm risk. The most popular destinations for homebuyers looking to relocate are Miami, Tampa and Phoenix, which attracted scores of affluent out-of-towners in search of vacation homes during the pandemic.
About Redfin
Redfin is a technology-powered real estate company. We help people find a place to live with brokerage, instant home-buying (iBuying), rentals, lending, title insurance, and renovations services. We sell homes for more money and charge half the fee. We also run the country's #1 real-estate brokerage site. Our home-buying customers see homes first with on-demand tours, and our lending and title services help them close quickly. Customers selling a home can take an instant cash offer from Redfin or have our renovations crew fix up their home to sell for top dollar. Our rentals business empowers millions nationwide to find apartments and houses for rent. Since launching in 2006, we've saved customers more than $1 billion in commissions. We serve more than 100 markets across the U.S. and Canada and employ over 6,000 people.
Read More
REAL ESTATE TECHNOLOGY
Faropoint | July 06, 2022
Faropoint, a leading real estate investment firm focused on last-mile industrial properties in high population growth markets, today announced the sale of 109 institutional-quality, last-mile logistics buildings to a private buyer for $481 million. The portfolio consists of 6.8 million square feet of warehouse space largely concentrated in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Houston and Memphis.
The close of this portfolio sale in the current market climate further demonstrates Faropoint’s successful strategy as an aggregator of individual warehouses in growth markets across the U.S. The firm leverages a proprietary origination platform to collect data from its team of investment professionals across nine U.S. offices. This curation of data arms Faropoint with actionable insights and analytics to identify mostly off-market opportunities to acquire last-mile industrial buildings.
“This deal marks one of the largest portfolio sales of last-mile urban logistics centers in recent years and positions Faropoint to continue to provide significant value to its investors through its last-mile industrial funds,”
Faropoint Chief Relations Officer Raz Rahamim
The 109-building portfolio includes multi-tenant warehouse and light industrial properties, with each building averaging 62,000 square feet. The portfolio is 98 percent leased and occupied by approximately 200 local, regional and national tenants. During the firm’s 3-year hold period, Faropoint executed 120 leases across the portfolio, significantly increasing NOI and lease commitments.
“Our firm is extremely bullish about last-mile industrial and we are optimistic that fundamentals will remain strong in this segment of the market long-term due to constrained supply,” said Faropoint Chief Investment Officer Ohad Portat. “We will continue to closely monitor market conditions and adjust our strategy as needed in response to macroeconomic trends and future volatility.”
This disposition follows a record-breaking year of activity in 2021, during which time Faropoint acquired 148 buildings in 85 separate transactions.
“Transacting at such a high volume across nine offices and aggregating data from thousands of deals allows our team to act with much more accuracy and certainty when vetting and underwriting deals.” said Faropoint Chief Executive Officer Adir Levitas. “As the current macroeconomic climate evolves, we will continue to assess market conditions, and are well-capitalized to act when the right opportunities present themselves.”
Eastdil Secured advised Faropoint on the sale and financing of the portfolio, and Duval & Stachenfeld LLP served as legal advisor.
About Faropoint
Faropoint is a vertically integrated, data-driven real estate investment manager that leverages data and deep market relationships to achieve superior risk-adjusted returns. Faropoint targets inefficiencies in the marketplace that can be solved with technology and scaled to create meaningful positions using cutting-edge, proprietary, real estate underwriting and portfolio management methods. The company invests in markets with strong demographics and high construction barriers to entry, such as Atlanta, Dallas, Philadelphia, Northern New Jersey, Chicago, Tampa, Miami, and Memphis. Faropoint currently owns and manages more than 20 million square feet of industrial assets.
About Eastdil Secured
As the most relevant and trusted advisor in the commercial real estate capital markets, Eastdil Secured creates value for clients through creative, actionable ideas and flawless execution. With an unrivaled combination of capital markets expertise and in-depth understanding of real estate fundamentals, Eastdil Secured delivers best-in-class advice on mergers and acquisitions, sales, joint ventures, debt placement, structured credit and loan sales to investors around the world. Headquartered in New York, Eastdil Secured has a broad global footprint to support clients with offices across the United States in Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, Orange County, San Francisco, Seattle, Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C., and internationally in London, Paris, Frankfurt, Milan, Dublin, Dubai, Hong Kong and Tokyo.
Read More
REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT
The Ascott Limited | July 05, 2022
CapitaLand Investment Limited's (CLI) wholly owned lodging business unit, The Ascott Limited (Ascott) announced it is acquiring Oakwood Worldwide (Oakwood), a premier global serviced apartment provider, from Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd. The acquisition increases Ascott's global portfolio by 81 properties and about 15,000 units. Oakwood's approximately 8,500 operational units are expected to immediately contribute to Ascott's recurring fee income streams upon completion of the transaction slated in 3Q 2022.
Ascott's acquisition of Oakwood will leapfrog Ascott's global presence to more than 150,000 units in about 900 properties across over 200 cities in 39 countries. It will add new markets which include Cheongju in South Korea; Zhangjiakou and Qingdao in China; Dhaka in Bangladesh as well as Washington D.C. in the United States of America (USA). Recently named the 'Best Serviced Residence Brand' in DestinAsian Readers' Choice Awards 2022, Oakwood's award-winning portfolio includes flagship properties Oakwood Premier Tokyo and Oakwood Premier Coex Center Seoul which were ranked top 10 properties in their respective countries in the DestinAsian awards. New properties such as Oakwood Premier Melbourne and Oakwood Hotel Oike Kyoto, will also add to the group's destination highlights.
"This acquisition of Oakwood is part of Ascott's roadmap to playing a bigger role in the lodging market. There are significant synergies between Ascott and Oakwood, given our complementary footprint and product offerings. We intend to build on the strong reputation and heritage of the Oakwood brand, especially in markets across Southeast Asia, North Asia and North America. Oakwood will continue to grow alongside Ascott's current portfolio of global brands as we continue to build growth momentum for our lodging business. We will be able to leverage Ascott's extensive expertise as a global lodging player to deliver greater value to our expanded network of loyal customers and property owners. Besides strategic alignment, this acquisition is also notable to Ascott commercially. Ascott's acquisition of Oakwood brings about an immediate boost to our units under management and franchise contracts. The Oakwood portfolio will accelerate the growth of our asset-light business, with added recurring fee income streams, expanded lodging offerings and increased customer base. The strategic moves we have made in the last few years, such as our investments in Quest, Synergy and TAUZIA have charted an unprecedented growth path for Ascott."
-Mr Kevin Goh, CLI's Chief Executive Officer for Lodging.
Ascott's strategic investments in the past years include its acquisition of Quest Apartment Hotels (Quest), one of the largest serviced apartment operators in Australasia, in 2017 to grow its business franchise arm. In the same year, Ascott invested in Synergy Global Housing (Synergy), a leading corporate housing provider in the USA. In 2018, Ascott acquired TAUZIA Hotel Management (TAUZIA), one of the top hotel operators in Indonesia, to enter the fast-growing mid-scale business hotel segment. With Oakwood coming onboard, Ascott is confident of achieving its target of 160,000 units globally well ahead of 2023.
About The Ascott Limited-
The Ascott Limited (Ascott) is a Singapore company that has grown to be one of the leading international lodging owner-operators. Ascott's portfolio spans over 200 cities across over 30 countries in Asia Pacific, Central Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the USA. Ascott has more than 81,000 operating units and over 54,000 units under development, making a total of more than 135,000 units in over 800 properties. The company's serviced apartment, coliving and hotel brands include Ascott The Residence, The Crest Collection, Somerset, Quest, Citadines, lyf, Préférence, Vertu, Harris, Citadines Connect, Fox, Yello, Fox Lite and POP!. Ascott's loyalty programme, Ascott Star Rewards, offers exclusive benefits to its members when they book directly with Ascott for their stays at its participating properties. Ascott, a wholly owned subsidiary of CapitaLand Investment Limited, pioneered Asia Pacific's first international-class serviced apartment with the opening of The Ascott Singapore in 1984. Today, the company boasts over 30 years of industry track record and award-winning brands that enjoy recognition worldwide.
About CapitaLand Investment Limited-
Headquartered and listed in Singapore, CapitaLand Investment Limited (CLI) is a leading global real estate investment manager (REIM) with a strong Asia foothold. As at 31 March 2022, CLI had about S$124 billion of real estate assets under management, and about S$86 billion of real estate funds under management (FUM) held via six listed real estate investment trusts and business trusts, and 29 private funds across the Asia-Pacific, Europe and USA. Its diversified real estate asset classes cover integrated developments, retail, office, lodging, business parks, industrial, logistics and data centres. CLI aims to scale its FUM and fee-related earnings through its full stack of investment management and operating capabilities. As the listed investment management business arm of the CapitaLand Group, CLI has access to the development capabilities of and pipeline investment opportunities from CapitaLand's development arm. Being a part of the well-established CapitaLand ecosystem differentiates CLI from other REIMs. As part of the CapitaLand Group, CLI places sustainability at the core of what it does. As a responsible real estate company, CLI contributes to the environmental and social well-being of the communities where it operates, as it delivers long-term economic value to its stakeholders.
Read More