Latest news with #developers
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
People Are Revealing The "Warning Signs" That A Place Is About To Get Really, Really Expensive, And It's Spot On
For years, people have opened up about gentrification and how it's affected their own lives and communities. The Urban Displacement Project describes it as "a process of neighborhood change that includes an economic change in a historically disinvested neighborhood — by means of real estate investment and new higher-income residents moving in — as well as demographic change — not only in terms of income level but also in terms of changes in the education level or racial make-up of residents." Gentrification is a complex issue, and it has been known to negatively impact low-income communities and people of color, as it typically leads to forced displacement. And people online have shared the unexpected and clear signs it's bound to happen in an area. Here's what they had to say: Note: Some responses were pulled from these two Reddit threads. 1."I live in the Nashville area, and this has been an issue for a few years now. We have a particularly bad case of 'tall/skinnies' here. Developers buy an old house, tear it down, and put up two tall/skinny houses on the single lot, and they look absolutely ridiculous. Some of them honestly look like they aren't much wider than a shipping container and are three to four floors tall." "They stick out like a sore thumb, and most are honestly just slapped together like Ikea furniture and sell for millions just because they are close to downtown." —user1982 2."Painted utility boxes are a huge sign of gentrification in PG County. Expect matchbox fancy $2K studio apartments next, and then a series of strip malls with the weird ash wood look." —mahuwenagoito 3."When it happened in E. Austin. I noticed two things: the removal/replacement of anything frequented by poor people, and the lack of random roosters. It was already done by the time the vegan cat café showed up. But the developers will still tell you to move to the 'historical part' of Austin, even though all the history has been shoved out and painted over. And now, they call the cops on our 'historic' car club meetups." —smellsbells 4."When you start seeing/hearing a lot of positive press about a known-to-be-sketchy area. Gentrification doesn't work if the place doesn't become desirable to new businesses and residents. Investors want those who avoided the area before to start thinking of how great it could be to get that gentrification momentum going." "I watched it happen to a certain area in Los Angeles proper, just outside downtown, that you didn't want to walk through after dark, 10 to 15 years ago. Now, it's been very much reborn as a millennial Mecca and hipster haven." —debrastarrm resident here. I've been watching all these new (mostly gated and HOA) housing communities go up, charging upwards of $700K at minimum, but most are more than that, and all these people moving inland from the Bay Area willing to pay for it are driving up the cost for the locals. And you'd think that would bring more businesses, but no, just more houses and warehouses. Then there's competing with 'investors' buying the cheaper houses only to do the cheapest cosmetic changes and put them back on the market well above what they paid, or renting them out." "I just took a day trip recently and was reflecting how many awesome places my state has to visit and how many of them I've driven to, and how it's a shame I'm being priced out of where I've lived my entire life." —panda_13 6."The FIRST sign is the first quirky coffee shop that isn't a Starbucks. See one of those, and grab you some real estate, because the bougies are coming, and they're bringing wild housing prices with them." —u/HawaiianShirtDad 7."Old buildings get torn down. Before the beginnings of gentrification, the lots weren't worth removing the condemned buildings; renovation teams start showing up in neighborhoods that haven't been renovated in decades. Lawns start getting cut on a weekly basis. Once a neighborhood goes from condemned to livable, all the other stuff starts to happen pretty quickly." "A lot of this is spearheaded by property developers/home flippers looking at analytics to find the next neighborhood to invest in." —u/ghostwriter85 8."At some point, an organic grocery store opens up. The crime rate goes down over time. Home prices/rents go up quickly. More coffee shops and breweries." —u/iapetus3141 9."Recovering planner here. In the background, people look for parcels that are worth more than the improvements. If there are a lot of them in an area — especially an area with amenities and good transport bones, it is a good candidate." —u/DanoPinyon 10."Rent going up 300% over the course of a decade." —u/Canada_Haunts_Me "I took a gander at my old Atlanta apartment that I moved into six or seven years ago that I rented for $800 a month. It's now around $2K. It was a POS." —u/Ol_Scoobert 11."If an area is headed for gentrification, people who don't have children start moving in. Artists, musicians, writers. College students. Restaurants, especially trendy restaurants. Galleries and music venues. Bookstores. Coffee houses. All the kinds of places young hipsters like. Housing stock that is neglected but can be restored. Young people living in a cooperative." "Sometimes, the gentrification doesn't launch. It's not guaranteed. If there's too much crime, if the resources needed to lift it up vanish due to external circumstances or a lack of collective momentum by investors, it may fail." —u/jupitaur9 12."One thing that has stood out is a new trendy name that has come out of nowhere. We live in 'insert name,' and it's been called that forever. Uhhh, no it hasn't!" —u/w84primo "Exactly! We actually have a new area deemed SODO. I asked someone once about all of the names, and I almost lost it and laughed in their face. They asked how would you know where to go if you had to meet someone somewhere or go to their house. I held it together, but I'm sure my face gave it away. I don't even think I responded to that." —u/w84primo 13."If you follow your local newspapers and you start reading about apartments being sold and the new owners wanting to renovate is a sign. This type of action by the new owner will usually come with mass eviction notices — especially, if they are rent-controlled and support certain demographics, like senior citizens or those who are lower income." "Then when the reno is complete, the new owner jacks the rent up ensuring old tenants can't ever come back, sending displaced tenants away like a ripple effect to the next cheapest block or city. Then the neighboring apartment buildings say, 'Well, the apartments next door are charging the new amount, so should I,' then the next wave starts, with or without the renovations. The cycle continues. Demand in the new area for newly displaced or gentrified population will then be focused on by the last corporate apartments buyers to do it all again until we all live in a van down by the river." —u/labormarketguide 14."The 'artisan' restaurants that make a classic food (burger, taco, etc.) and make them 25 dollars because of their premium 'aiolis' or other fancy ingredients. They're usually decorated with a graphic of the parts of a cow or pig." —u/andrew2018022 15."Mass buying of local properties by real estate investors, while pricing out local buyers." —u/Hel-or-Highwater 16."Gentrification isn't random. It's an ongoing process. I live in Charleston, South Carolina. We've experienced significant growth in my lifetime. We've gotten to the point where building new neighborhoods further out is an increasingly less viable option. Add to this, large employers moving into North Charleston, and you have a recipe for gentrification. This isn't because someone bought an old gas station and turned it into an art gallery. It's because people need a place to live, and industry is growing in our city. Those art galleries and taco shops are responding to the same economic conditions that the developers are. They see an economically depressed area in commuter distance to major employers." "This drives down rents, which makes the area desirable for new businesses. Some of them will stay (like the taco shop), while others will have to move on when rents start to get high (like the art gallery)." —u/ghostwriter85 17."People running or jogging, especially during the weekday mornings." —u/Irunmtns "I lived in a neighborhood that was gentrifying and remember a local telling me, who was pushing my baby around in a stroller, that 10 years prior she had almost never seen anyone walk around in her neighborhood." —u/doctorboredom 18."I've worked in Civic Center San Fransico since 2003, so I've seen its evolution for the past 19 years. This place went from a total wasteland to one of the busiest locations in the city. The first thing they did right when Twitter moved in? They started razing all the cheap hole-in-the-wall restaurants and parking lots for shiny new apartment buildings. Basically expect any old ma and pa businesses and parking lots to be the first to go." —u/cocktailbun 19."You know a place is being gentrified when a lot more artists move in. Artists first go somewhere for cheap prices and then make it 'interesting' to richer people. We then — usually accidentally — attract monied people who want to either be associated with us or exploit us, and then, the dive bars flourish. Then, you start seeing artisanal coffee spots. From there, you give it five years." —Anonymous 20."Franchises start replacing local businesses." —u/Hel-or-Highwater 21."Big demographic shifts. Not just the people of the neighborhood, but the local businesses as well." —u/Antitenant 22."I experienced this in Atlanta through the full process. I moved into a neighborhood that was mostly elderly residents who have probably lived there 20+ years. The house I bought needed repair, but this was in 2011, so the price was manageable. The first sign of things changing was an increase in racist judgemental posts on Nextdoor that were like, 'Sketchy AA male acting weird and walking in the street.' When I moved in, my neighbors were extremely friendly and let us know some of the characters in the area, like 'Watch out for the guy who tries to get you to drive him to Auto Zone then try to scam you for cash-type stuff. Then a new development went up down the street (my street was half in a nice city zone and half in the incorporated county). This is what really started the process. Another development went up a year or so later." "Skip maybe five years, and I ran into a lot more families out and about, many houses were renovated, flipped, etc. Eventually, a higher-end grocery store was developed very close by." —u/BoydCrowders_Smile 23."For restaurants, at least like 8–10 years ago, it was: Edison Bulbs, those metal bar chairs (you know the ones), reclaimed pallet wood facades, roll-up doors, and $15 for a handful of tater-tots with 'aioli,' which is just hot sauce mixed with mayonnaise." —u/Shoobert And finally... 24."I think by the time you start seeing it, it's already happened. Displacement and rent increases are mostly invisible (comparatively). By the time the new condos and bougie shops sprout up, it's already past the tipping point." —u/novium258 Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity. What are some other signs that an area will be gentrified/is about to become really expensive? Let us know your thoughts in the comments, or if you prefer to remain anonymous, you can use the form below.
CBC
11 hours ago
- Business
- CBC
Metro Vancouver's condo market is slumping. Here are 4 key factors behind the slowdown
4 factors behind B.C.'s depressed condo market 17 hours ago Duration 2:58 Social Sharing After years of soaring prices and new builds, Metro Vancouver's condo market is showing signs of strain with projects stalling, sales declining, and developers hitting pause. Industry experts say it's the result of a "perfect storm" of four major forces converging: high interest rates and softening rental income, reduced foreign capital and lower immigration — all of which have created a challenging environment for both buyers and builders. "[We] are at a breaking point, the industry is doing terribly," said Anne McMullin, CEO of the Urban Development Institute. "It's not just that the industry is struggling; it's our inability to deliver homes that people can afford." Rising interest rates, declining rent Increase in borrowing costs has reduced affordability for buyers and made it more expensive for developers to finance new builds, says McMullin. Just five years ago, mortgage rates were near historic lows, making it relatively affordable for buyers to borrow large sums and invest in real estate. But those rates have climbed significantly, pushing up monthly mortgage payments. WATCH | Some real estate advisors question Surrey's decision to convert condos to rental units: Some real estate advisers question Surrey's decision to convert condos to rental units 3 days ago Duration 1:36 Surrey city council has approved changes to development applications for converting hundreds of condo units into rental units. As Pinki Wong reports, some real estate advisers think the shift will mean fewer homes for younger generations to purchase down the road. The result is higher "carrying costs" — the total expense of owning a condo, including mortgage payments, property taxes and maintenance fees. The City of Vancouver's 2025 budget includes a 3.9 per cent property tax increase and an 18.2 per cent hike in utility fees, together adding hundreds of dollars to annual expenses. "It costs more to build a unit or a home than the average person in the Lower Mainland can afford," said McMullin. "When it's costing more to build … we see project cancellations and we start to see projects not going ahead." At the same time, condo and rental price growth has stagnated, which means homeowners can no longer count on steady price growth to absorb the costs. According to the latest housing market update from the B.C. Real Estate Association, residential prices in the province in May 2025 were down 4.2 per cent at $959,058 compared to the same time last year, while residential sales were down 13.5 per cent. In Vancouver, average asking rents for a two-bedroom fell from $3,440 in 2024 to $3,170 in 2025, according to the latest figures from Statistics Canada. Though economists expect rates to begin to decline slightly in the second half of the year, persistent inflation risks and ongoing U.S. trade tensions could keep borrowing costs elevated for now. Decline in foreign capital and immigration levels A second factor cooling B.C.'s condo market is the decline in foreign investment, largely due to the federal ban on non-residents purchasing residential property in Canada. Initially enacted in January 2023 under the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act, the ban was recently extended by two more years and is now set to expire on Jan. 1, 2027. It prohibits foreign commercial enterprises and non-resident individuals from buying homes anywhere in Canada. The federal government says foreign ownership has fuelled worries about Canadians being priced out of housing markets in cities and towns across the country. But for developers, the measure has made it harder to access the capital needed to get projects off the ground. "While the intention is understandable, the current broad-brush form of the ban also limits access to foreign capital that could help builders meet presale thresholds and finance new construction," the Homebuilders Association Vancouver said in a statement. The association has called for a more flexible approach to the policy. The group suggests Canada could look to Australia's model, which allows foreign buyers to invest in new builds under specific conditions, such as requiring the units to be rented out or limiting resale timelines. Another drag on demand is a recent slowdown in population growth. WATCH | Metro Vancouver housing market looking good for buyers: analyst: Metro Vancouver housing market looking good for buyers: analyst 19 days ago Duration 7:46 A recent advertisement from a Surrey real estate agent which touted a 25 per cent discount on a housing unit highlights how buyers have an advantage in the current Metro Vancouver housing market. Mark Ting, a partner with Foundation Wealth and On The Coast's personal finance columnist, says that the trend of housing prices going down may be sustained. As of spring 2025, B.C.'s population stood at approximately 5.7 million. But the province recorded a net population decline, with 2,357 fewer residents compared to the previous quarter. The drop comes amid changes in federal immigration policy. Under its 2025–2027 Immigration Levels Plan, the federal government has introduced targets not only for permanent residents but also for temporary residents, which include international students and foreign workers. The plan aims to reduce temporary resident volumes to no more than five per cent of Canada's total population by the end of 2026. The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation says the condo slowdown is likely to persist this year as supply increases outpace demand.
CNET
12 hours ago
- Business
- CNET
Facing Billions in DMA Fines, Apple Lets EU iPhone Users Install Apps Outside the App Store
In a scramble to sidestep penalties that could soar into the billions, and with Brussels regulators watching closely, Apple has agreed to let Europeans download iPhone apps from outside its own App Store. With just hours left before an EU compliance deadline, the company said residents of the 27-nation bloc will soon be able to grab apps from rival marketplaces or straight off a developer's website. The change rolls out later this year with iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6, and also lets users set a different browser engine and choose a third-party wallet at checkout. For everyday EU iPhone owners, that means the download button could pop up in more places than just Apple's storefront. After you select the new setting, iOS shows a one-time permission sheet confirming you're leaving Apple's marketplace. The app then passes a quick notarization scan meant to weed out malware. Apple notes that off-store downloads work only inside the EU, and disappear if you stay outside the bloc for more than 30 days. Cost to developers Developers do gain fresh distribution freedom, but there's a price tag. A new two-tier Store Services fee asks for 5% of outside sales in exchange for basic services like app reviews and support, in what's called Tier 1, or 13% for the full bundle of perks, including automatic updates and App Store promotions in Tier 2. Apple will take a 5% "Core Technology Commission" on any purchase made outside its own payment system. That new cut will phase out the current €0.50-per-download fee and become the sole charge across the EU when a unified pricing model arrives on Jan. 1, 2026. Apple insists "more than 99 percent" of devs will pay the same or less under the revamped math. Why now? In April, the European Commission fined Apple €500 million ($585 million) for blocking developers from steering users to cheaper payment options, and warned that daily penalties of up to 5% of global revenue could follow if it failed to comply. Throughout the back-and-forth, Apple has accused the commission of "moving the goalposts" on what counts as compliance, with a spokesperson saying the company has invested "hundreds of thousands of hours" to meet the EU's evolving demands. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney blasted the 5% tier as a "malicious compliance scheme" that "makes a mockery of fair competition." If regulators decide Apple still hasn't gone far enough, the iPhone maker could face steeper sanctions, or even be forced to separate its App Store business.
News.com.au
13 hours ago
- Business
- News.com.au
‘Phantom' towers haunt Sydney's housing pipeline
They've been called 'phantom' towers – housing projects that exist on paper but have yet to deliver any homes years after getting the green light from councils. These would-be projects have become a deepening issue, with developers failing to get approved projects off the ground due to rising costs and struggles to obtain financing. SuburbTrends figures commissioned by MCG Quantity Surveyors have laid bare the problem, with one in six approved unit projects around the country failing to get built – many spread around Sydney. Many of these projects had stalled after the developers put them on indefinite hiatus, letting the approvals lapse. Others faced an uncertain future, with approvals renewed but no works commenced after many years. Mike Mortlock, the director of MCG Quantity Surveyors, said the figures were startling. 'We already know when looking at approvals that we are not even close to where we need to be to meet the national target of 1.2 million new homes in five years, but when you look at completions it's even worse,' he said. 'There are certain areas where less than 60 per cent of unit approvals are feeding through to completions.' Approved projects yet to deliver any housing years after getting greenlit from council are numerous. They include two residential towers of 14- and 20-storeys on Bathurst St in the Liverpool CBD. The towers were approved in 2020 but no works have been commenced yet. A Granville development on Parramatta Rd is yet to commence after the proposed 373 units were approved in 2019. Similar projects in the nearby Parramatta CBD remain stuck in limbo after approval was granted in the years between 2020 and 2022. Housing Industry Association economist Tim Reardon noted these 'phantom approvals' were mostly an issue in the multi-apartment construction space, not for houses. 'We are commencing half the number of units as a decade ago,' he said. Approvals for detached houses almost always resulted in houses getting built because of the different way these projects were financed, Mr Reardon said. New houses were typically sold first, then approved, then built. With units, approvals came before the projects were actually financed. This meant unit developers were more sensitive to policy changes. Mr Reardon said a key contributor to the phantom approvals issue was increased taxes on foreign investment into new housing projects. Foreign retirement funds and overseas institutions were a valuable source of financing for new apartment projects in previous years but recent taxes on these groups meant this money had dried up. 'Using foreign capital adds too much to the cost of building and much of that foreign capital is flowing to other countries so, as a consequence, builders have to finance their projects domestically and often they can't get it.' But that may soon change. A $1 billion NSW Budget initiative has been heralded as a potential game changer in addressing the issue and has the potential to break some of the gridlock keeping projects from going ahead. The Budget measure, termed the Pre-sale Finance Guarantee package, will see government essentially act as a guarantor for certain housing projects. Budget papers said the scheme will directly add 5000 new homes by going guarantor for developers on unsold properties. It will also indirectly add 15,000 new homes over the next five years by offering builders the security to start new projects through purchasing unsold stock, according to Budget papers. Mr Reardon said the new scheme would unlock a 'significant' amount of new housing stock. 'This is the first NSW government policy that will meaningfully move the needle on housing supply,' he said. 'Previous intentions and statements were positive but this is the first that will actually materialise in more building.'
Bloomberg
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Bloomberg
Six Observations From Summer Game Fest
Hi everyone. Today we've got some thoughts from the Summer Game Fest convention, but first... This week's top gaming news:
