Douglas Elliman’s losses mount. And the worst is yet to come ( Real Estate )

TRD NATIONAL ^ | May 08, 2020 | Erin Hudson

[george76]

Howard Lorber anticipates slow sales to continue until fall.

Douglas Elliman is preparing for an unforgiving market ahead.

During an earnings call for the brokerage’s parent company, Elliman chairman Howard Lorber said the firm cut staff by 25 percent, reduced all salaries by 15 percent and is seeking to consolidate offices and negotiate “rent reductions, deferrals or holidays” with landlords nationwide. And that’s despite not yet feeling the full effects of the “severe decline” in sales activity.

At the end of last year, the brokerage had 125 office leases in the seven states where it operates.

Elliman reported a net loss of $69 million, compared to its net loss of $10.4 million in the same period last year.

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The firm’s cost-cutting measures — similar to many of its peers — began in April at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. and were prompted by a slowdown in sales as New York State enacted a stay-at-home order for non-essential workers.

We began to experience a severe decline in closed sales volume in mid-March and this continued in April and May,” Lorber said. “We anticipate that this sales volume will continue to be slow until the fall, possibly longer.

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Since stay-at-home measures were not enacted until later in March, the full toll of the pandemic isn’t reflected in the firm’s first-quarter numbers. For the third year, the brokerage’s losses continued to grow, despite a strong quarter in New York City.

[cloudmountain]

No one will ever be satisfied.

If prices drop or rise there are always consequences.
MOST countries of the world don't have the private home ownership that we do.

[Moonman62]

During an earnings call for the brokerage’s parent company,

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The parent company is Vector Group, symbol VGR, and the stock price went up after the earnings call.