A lot of the details you've all been looking for here:

Construction workers look to looming coronavirus shutdown and see a ‘sinking boat’ | PlanPhilly.com

I was driving on I-95 past Fishtown/Port Richmond and I saw that the land along Beach Street immediately adjacent to Graffiti Pier was all torn up. It used to be overgrown with small trees and weeds. I know all construction is on hold due to COVID-19 however has that massive project started?

Big Foundation at 4th & Cecil B Moore Will Mean a New Mixed-Use Building

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http://www.ocfrealty.com/wp-content/...0-cecil-2.jpeg

Read more here:
http://www.ocfrealty.com/naked-phill...d-use-building

Apartment building progressing at 2020 Dreer Street in East Kensington

http://www.ocfrealty.com/wp-content/...3/IMG_4625.jpg

http://www.ocfrealty.com/wp-content/...3/IMG_0991.jpg

Read more here:
http://www.ocfrealty.com/naked-phill...-dairy-project

A Surface Parking Lot Finally Disappears on Frankford Avenue

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http://www.ocfrealty.com/wp-content/...3/IMG_1093.jpg

Read more here:
http://www.ocfrealty.com/naked-phill...ankford-avenue

No More Development Possible on a Small Francisville Block

2009
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Today
http://www.ocfrealty.com/wp-content/...3/IMG_4596.jpg

Read more here:
http://www.ocfrealty.com/naked-phill...cisville-block

Coronavirus quiets the boom of Philly construction | Inquirer.com

Excerpts:
……

^
This was what I was thinking for the Laurel site construction. Beside the concrete mat pour, I haven't see more than a few guys on the site doing work and they were spread out (i.e., 6 ft or more).

1400 Block of Germantown Avenue Continues Its Evolution

10 years ago
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Today
http://www.ocfrealty.com/wp-content/...4/IMG_5476.jpg

Read more here:
http://www.ocfrealty.com/naked-phill...nues-evolution

^ Fuck gentrification! Am I right?

If no lived there for the last 30 years its not gentrification.

^pretty sure that was blatant sarcasm pal

Looking through Zillow and see some housing price drops but not as many as I would have expected. Not sure if developers are in denial or if they just don’t know how to proceed.

Are you expecting to see home prices decrease? When do you think the current economic calamity will finally start to trickle into sale prices?

^ I actually saw a price increase in my daily feed, which made me pause. I just don't see how much if anything is being done under the circumstances. I think that price movement is generally predicated on market conditions, but it doesn't seem like the market is even "open." I assume that most sellers aren't going to adjust the price when the they are competing with a virus instead of other sellers.

^ Perhaps you are right. I know a couple people who bought during this time, but the purchase started before all heck broke loose.

The prices will need to go down for the general housing stock. Most of the new houses will miss the spring / summer sales season, plus all the layoffs, plus restrictions on mortgages, etc. I don’t see how these houses don’t end up getting a chunk of the value carved out of them.

^ I do think there will be an overall "correction" when buying and selling resume in earnest. The pool of qualified buyers is undoubtedly going to shrink to the extent that the unemployment hit isn't reversed.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/19/u...&region=Footer

Thoughts on impact to Philly? I can see this driving people out of "big cities" to smaller less expensive markets. Any thoughts about which bucket we fall into? (The idea that $825 for an apartment in Tulsa as a good thing makes me think we're well positioned). Rents will likely drop a little, our Eds and Meds should stay stable/strong.

I think there will be a lot of unfortunately shuffling and closing of restaurants, but the demand will come back and, while it will look different, it will rebound. Thoughts?

Philly is still 'cheap' compared to its Northeast brothers....I think it will rebound and I think the allure of cities is still there. Everybody forgets that there is an entire (very) connected generation coming up after the Millennials....so even though some are heading for the burbs, they will be replaced.

As for the bigger issue of people leaving entire metro areas, I could see that becoming an issue for us. I can work from anywhere and over the past few years I've been looking into possibly leaving the entire area. Even though we're leaps and bounds cheaper than the NYC, Boston and DC metro, we're still much more expensive than most areas in the US bar a chunk of the west coast.

The thing is, the parts of cities you'd want to live in are expensive everywhere...unless you're really willing to live in a tier-3 city.

Anywhere near the core of Nashville is uber expensive. I'd argue even more expensive than Philadelphia.

Austin. Ditto.

Charleston. Ditto.

Atlanta. Close.

Dallas. Close.

Minneapolis. Close.

Miami. Forgettaboudit.

New Orleans. Close.

Even liveable lower tier 2 cities like Richmond are very expensive near the core.

At the end of the day, you're talking about cities versus suburbs in general...and I can't think of the suburbs winning over any time soon.

The movement is going to be from more expensive cities to less expensive cities...but even there there's a limit.

Phillys population growth has definitely slowed. That trend already started here. And now we have the rise of WFH, the want for less density/open areas, and Tax abatements reducing. This will be a trifecta that will definitely impact the city.

Overall, I think the city is going to plateau or slightly decrease for a while. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a shift away from center city condo/split residential unit living to an increase in popularity of the bigger new homes that have space for multi-purpose living: home gyms, roof tops, back yards, larger kitchens, dining room space, etc.