An Expanding Pool Of A Dour Perception On Housing
A report from the Houston Chronicle. “Two weeks after Hurricane Harvey unleashed the worst flooding in Houston’s history, tens of thousands of families are beginning an uneven recovery in hotels, rentals, family members’ homes and flood-damaged apartments. Officials estimate as many as 136,000 homes and structures in Harris County flooded, but it remained unclear Friday how many were single-family houses, apartments, commercial or public buildings. Occupancy for so-called Class A units - those in the nicest and newest buildings - was 82 percent before Harvey hit, according to Apartment Data Services; it was 91 percent in moderately priced complexes.”
“As high-end occupancy ticks up, landlords have started pulling the generous rent concessions they were offering to lure tenants before the storm. ‘In all this misery, that’s been some good news,’ said Stacy Hunt, an executive director in Houston with Greystar, an apartment owner and manager. ‘There was a ready supply of new construction apartments.’”
“Halfway through a survey of area complexes, Houston-based Apartment Data Services has identified at least 6,668 apartments damaged by Harvey’s flooding. By comparison, Apartment Data Services President Bruce McClenny said about 5 percent of the apartment stock was damaged by Tropical Storm Allison, or around 20,000 units. He also noted that before Harvey, there were more than 43,000 Class B, C and D apartments available.”
The Houston Press. “Arthuro Martinez is sleeping on a couch, without cushions, in the middle of his largely destroyed and musty apartment. Carlos Adolfo Rubio and his wife, Gloria, are sharing one mattress with their two children, after losing just about everything else. And Maria Soto says no matter what room she and her kids sleep in — two of them have autism — there is mold growing on the walls. There is mold growing on all of their walls. But the rent is due. It is due even if they decide to move elsewhere to escape the mold, each person told us.”
“‘They told me I have to pay, and that if we don’t, there will be an eviction,’ Soto said (she added she had until the end of the month, but Martinez and the Rubios said they had no such leniency). ‘I have to pay for other stuff. I have to pay for clothes for the kids, shoes — all the shoes got wet. I have to buy new shoes for everybody. I’ve been looking for a new apartment for a week, but it’s so expensive everywhere.’”
From National Mortgage News. “Just a week after Hurricane Harvey struck Houston, Irma Jalifi was doing something that might sound crazy: closing on a home. In fact, Jalifi, a real estate agent with Redfin, closed on not one but three Houston houses Tuesday at their asking prices — two at $1 million and a three-bedroom at $450,000 — as the new economics of Houston housing began to take hold.
“The calculus of disaster is simple, if cold blooded. Many whose homes have been flooded must move, and those who dodged Harvey now sit upon some of the city’s most desirable addresses. Far from declining, prices and rents are expected to rise given the sudden housing shortage. Out-of-state investors have even started to swoop in to acquire damaged homes to repair and sell or rent. ‘It’s as if we hit a reset button on the market,’ Jalifi said.”
The American Statesman. “Houston area Realtor Shad Bogany had five closings scheduled for the week of Aug. 28. And then Hurricane Harvey happened, drowning Houston with 51 inches of rain and paralyzing the city for nearly a week. All of those closings were put on pause, Bogany said, and he expects some of those deals will never happen. ‘A lot of Realtors are probably having a loss of income,’ Bogany said. ‘Imagine you had a bunch of listings in a certain neighborhood that flooded — you’ve lost all of that.’”
“Metrostudy, which tracks the housing market, said the Houston metro was estimated to be oversupplied by 62,000-plus homes and apartments before Harvey hit. Ed Wolff, president of Beth Wolff Realtors in Houston, said the apartment occupancy rate went from 81 percent before Harvey, to 97 percent recently.”
“Homes that have flooded, if they are being sold as-is, will see their prices drop between 10 and 20 percent, Realtors said, though it depends on how susceptible the area is to flooding. Wolff met Wednesday with a seller whose house would have been marketed for $470,000 before Harvey. Now, Wolff said the list price more likely will be $370,000 for the Meyerland home, which Wolff estimates will need about $50,000 in repairs. Wolff said he doesn’t think there will be a mass exodus of Houstonians pulling up stakes. ‘I feel like Houston is like the banks – too big to fail.’”
The Dallas Morning News. “Hurricane Harvey will send clouds through the entire Texas real estate market, slowing overall home sales and affecting prices. The damage from Harvey will have an immediate impact on Texas’ housing activity, said Dr. James Gaines, chief economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.”
“‘Texas was on pace to set another record in 2017,’ Gaines said. ‘I think the downturn in the Houston market will be enough to keep us from getting there. We’re expecting a short-term real significant drop in sales, employment, you name it.’”
From My High Plains. “Amarillo home sales decreased 9.2 percent in the first half of 2017 to 1,561 single-family home sales. Statewide, Texas home sales volume increased 5.5 percent to 166,256 home sales, while median price increased 7.7 percent from the year prior to $221,800. The number of homes on the market also grew significantly statewide in the first half of the year, with active listings increasing 5.9 percent year-over-year to 99,398 active listings. This uptick in housing stock has helped lead to a much-needed increase in housing inventory, which ended at 4.1 months in June 2017. This is only the second time in three years that Texas housing inventory levels have surpassed 4.0 months.”
From Danielle DiMartino Booth. “Something is up, or more likely down, with the U.S. housing market. And the reconstruction after Hurricane Harvey may not do much to help. Here’s the evidence: The latest take on home-builder sentiment showed that buyer traffic stubbornly remains in negative territory, despite some of the highest readings of the current cycle on builders’ expectations for sales gains in the next six months.”
“In addition, recent mortgage rate declines have not led to an increase in applications to buy a home. Over the past few weeks, purchase activity has slumped to a six-month low, even though rates are at their lowest level since November. This defies a central tenet of the housing market that falling rates naturally lead to an uptick in sales. As for actual sales volumes, both new and existing July home sales missed forecasts by wide margins.”
“Prices have been and remain the main impediment. The median new home sales price of $313,700 marked the highest July price on record and is up more than six percent over last year’s level. At an annual gain of 6.2 percent, the best that can be said of the median sales price for previously occupied homes is that it’s off the record pace it set in June. Corroborating the slowdown in sales, both the Federal Housing Finance Agency and S&P Case-Shiller home-price indexes have softened unexpectedly.”
“The latest results from the University of Michigan Survey of Consumer Confidence Sentiment speak volumes. While all buyers have expressed dismay at home price gains, those between the ages of 18 and 34 have been particularly alarmed. The survey also showed an expanding pool of those with a dour perception on housing. Thanks to high prices, both upper- and lower-income cohorts as well as those in the West and the South now say they’re pessimistic about buying a home. Likewise, prime-age buyers (ages 35-54) are now echoing their younger counterparts’ laments about prices.”
“Looking ahead, pending home sales suggest the summer’s data are anything but an aberration. The pending home sales index has fallen in four of the last five months, with July coming in particularly weak, down 0.8 percent compared to the consensus forecast, which called for a rise of 0.4 percent.”
“For years, Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, has cited constrained inventories of homes as the main driver of any weakness in the sales figures. After the recent spate of disappointments on the pending home sales front, Yun added the following perspective on prices: Over the past five years, median home prices have risen 38 percent while hourly earnings have increased by just 12 percent. This yawning gap has pushed affordability to its lowest level since 2008.”
“Tellingly, the most recent data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas revealed a jump in construction worker layoffs. The mitigating factor will be the tremendous demand for workers to repair and eventually rebuild Houston and the surrounding region after the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Harvey. What is less of a certainty is the long-term effect of the storm. About 1.2 million homes in and around Houston were at moderate to high risk for flooding but aren’t in a designated flood zone that would have required insurance.”
“Many will qualify for federal disaster relief. Still, the government program comes in the form of low-interest rate loans to help shoulder the burden of repair costs at a time when many households are already buried in debt with precious little in savings; as the third quarter got underway, the saving rate fell to 3.5 percent, a fresh low for the current cycle.”
“Although many have drawn comparisons to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Harvey will affect more than twice as many mortgaged properties. According to Black Knight Financial Services, of the 1 million or so mortgaged homeowners in the disaster area, more than 300,000 could become delinquent within two months, and 160,00 are at risk of becoming seriously delinquent inside a four-month period.”
“As per the Mortgage Bankers Association, homes in foreclosure nationwide totaled 502,437 in the second quarter, exemplifying the very real potential for Harvey to leave a huge scar on the housing market. It is clear investors are banking on the rebuilding effort becoming its own macroeconomic engine of growth. With housing clearly peaking, the nearer-term risk is that Harvey’s devastation solidifies broader market woes.”
Redmond, OR Housing Prices Crater 27% YOY
http://www.movoto.com/redmond-or/market-trends/
‘The latest results from the University of Michigan Survey of Consumer Confidence Sentiment speak volumes.’
September 6, 2017
http://thehousingbubbleblog.com/?p=10194
“At the end of July, of the top 50 markets, based on housing stock, 46 percent were overvalued, according to CoreLogic. Home sales have been weakening throughout the summer, as demand far outpaces supply and affordability weakens. Redfin reported 35 percent more requests for home tours in July, compared with July 2016. It also, however, reported that the number of offers dropped 11 percent.”
“‘Buyer demand has been stronger so far in 2017 than last year, but the combination of low inventory and rising home prices is taking its toll heading into the fall,’ said Nela Richardson, chief economist at Redfin. ‘Sellers are still in control of the market, but their advantage is narrowing as buyers are becoming less willing or able to chase escalating prices.’”
Ahem…
‘35 percent more requests for home tours in July…the number of offers dropped 11 percent’
And there was a survey recently saying over half thought there was a housing bubble.
Housing Bubble dry cleaner effect soon to recur: Households that overpaid for housing, who face a slowing rate of appreciation, find they have no money available to spend on other consumption goods besides housing…
janet yellen will buy some more debt so they can get some bailout checks.
Save the snowflakes (a short video):
https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&q=save+the+snowflakes+video&oq=save+the+snowflakes+video&gs_l=psy-ab.1.0.35i39k1.2357.2357.0.4798.3.2.0.0.0.0.95.178.2.2.0….0…1.2.64.psy-ab..1.2.178.6.rRQrSbLhY2A
Paging Mr. Banker…
***********
“Many will qualify for federal disaster relief. Still, the government program comes in the form of low-interest rate loans to help shoulder the burden of repair costs at a time when many households are already buried in debt with precious little in savings; as the third quarter got underway, the saving rate fell to 3.5 percent, a fresh low for the current cycle.”
“… many households are already buried in debt …”
“… the saving rate fell to 3.5 percent …”
I detect two (2) group dynamics at play here:
Group 1: Broke-ass losers that have to borrow money, and
Group 2. Pukes who save money of which wonderful people such as myself pay next-to-nuthin’ to them in the form of interest.
Bahahahahahaha … I collect money at next-to-nuthin’ rates from group 2 and turn right around and loan it to group 1 at hefty rates and hefty fees.
It dern’t git much better than dat.
Pukes who save money of which wonderful people such as myself pay next-to-nuthin’ to them in the form of interest.
I think most of those pukes “invest it” in the stawk market.
Many will qualify for federal disaster relief. Still, the government program comes in the form of low-interest rate loans to help shoulder the burden of repair costs at a time when many households are already buried in debt
When they get the repair estimates, many will just walk away. As we all know here, they can rent for 2-3 years and then qualify for another low down mortgage and get a new house, possibly built where the old ones were, before they were bulldozed.
Oh joy!
In the age of obama Mel Watt 3% down mortgages…they will WALK.
************
Although many have drawn comparisons to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Harvey will affect more than twice as many mortgaged properties. According to Black Knight Financial Services, of the 1 million or so mortgaged homeowners in the disaster area, more than 300,000 could become delinquent within two months, and 160,00 are at risk of becoming seriously delinquent inside a four-month period.”
Heck, even with 20% down it would probably make sense to walk away if your house was even just partially submerged. The whole house will have to be gutted: exterior clapboard, drywall, carpeting, wood floors, cabinets, appliances, furnace, A/C, etc., everything will have to be ripped out and replaced. And with no flood insurance it won’t happen.
“And with no flood insurance it won’t happen.”
+1 Indeed.
Apparently the Parable of the Broken Window also applies to hurricanes.
Fed’s Dudley says hurricanes Harvey, Irma to give ‘unfortunate’ boost to U.S. economy
By Jeffry Bartash
Published: Sept 8, 2017 11:19 a.m. ET
NY Fed president says hurricanes unlikely to influence rate hikes
…
“The long-run effect of these disasters, unfortunately, is it actually lifts economic activity because you have to rebuild all the things that have been damaged by the storms,”
In light of this macroeconomic insight, the government should undertake a secret program to engineer more catastrophic hurricanes in order to stimulate the economy as much as possible.
Even better PB would be if the government simply bombed some of our own cities. That’s technology that we already have.
The logic of the author is akin to suggesting we should dig ditches with spoons rather than backhoe’s to create jobs.
Natural disasters are wealth destroyers…plain and simple.
“Tellingly, the most recent data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas revealed a jump in construction worker layoffs. The mitigating factor will be the tremendous demand for workers to repair and eventually rebuild Houston and the surrounding region after the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Harvey.”
Bombing cities seems a bit excessive, and risky too, as bombs have a way of killing people. It would seem sufficient to take a wrecking ball to McMansion tract home developments, in order to clear the way for economically stimulative new home construction.
The Broken Window Fallacy highlights the failure of modern economics: focusing on gross economic _activity_ tells you nothing about economic _benefit_ or net _effect_.
Look at breaking and then replacing a window from those three perspectives:
Activity: positive.
Benefit: neutral (had a window before breakage, and after fixing).
Net effect: negative (the window was broken and not performing its function for some period of time).
Net effect: negative (the window was broken and not performing its function for some period of time)
AND resources needed to be used unnecessarily to replace the window which could have been used for something else (another window, or a meal, or medicine, etc.).
Who needs windows, anyway, in tropical areas where hurricanes blow them out on a regular basis?
I think a solution would include tough love. No insurance from a profit seeking corporation? You get nothing. Government insurance is similar to welfare, free gifts from the rest of us.
Eventually the market forces would find an equilibrium between property values, the quality of construction and the ability to live near the water in Florida and other coastal areas.
Amazon is already building an R&D site in Boulder. Not sure if that is where they would want to build a “second HQ”, but it does cross my mind that relocation minded Seattleites might prefer Boulder over some place on the east coast. That said, I could see Raleigh or Hotlanta as being strong candidates for the second HQ. Austin also comes to mind. It would be funny if they chose some rustbelt town like Cleveland or Indianapolis. Detroit would be an even funnier choice.
Detroit would be perfect as the locals might glean something about the modern workplace… you know, one step at a time, no immediate gratification.
I think Sean said they were building it in VA. No surprise there. Puts ‘em closer to Uncle Sugar.
It believe that there has been no official announcement yet.
I expect Amazon to shop around for corporate welfare before announcing the “winner”
I second that. “Love me? Want me? Show me how much green you’re willing to bleed for me.”
I think Ethan in NoVa said that NoVa would be a logical choice because there is so much data storage there already. Yeah, it’s going to be a tax break war, which leaves out Destroit or Cleveland. My *guess* — just a guess — is the Upper South. Richmond, (or, our favorite, Blacksburg), Nashville/Knoxville, Charlotte, or Research Triangle or some similar medium city. 30-40 years ago they all had crappy infrastructure which means no big buildup in pension obligations, but they have educated liberal people there now.
I think Bezos will extract every last dime of public economic money from whatever region ultimately “wins” the new headquarters.
Don’t be surprised if there are multiple rounds of bidding, followed by a “best and final”.
You don’t become one of the richest men in the world by leaving anything on the table.
“public economic development money” is the phrase I meant to type in the above post instead of “public economic money”.
NoVa would be a logical choice because there is so much data storage there already.
I respectfully disagree. Data-center footprint can be literally anywhere—it doesn’t matter much whether your developers are close to that or not. As existence proof, I would point to Seattle, which has major developer footprint from all three of the big cloud providers, yet very little data-center footprint (AFAIK).
Forgot to mention the follow-on thought: the important thing for attracting developers is a livable city, good compensation relative to cost-of-living, and “other options” if the gig they moved there for doesn’t end up being a good fit.
There really isn’t anywhere for Amazon to develop a new campus in or around Boulder. It’s surrounded by public lands and open space that can’t be developed, hence the already exorbitant real estate prices. Their best bet in Colorado would be north or east Denver metro, which would surge real estate prices even farther than the metro area’s already overvalued level.
Detroit might not rank high for a variety of reasons, but what they’d stand to lose in initial investment I predict they’d make back and then some. Leveraging corporate muscle to benefit a struggling community would be a strategic “hearts and minds” move. They’d have a customer for life in me.
“Boulder” can mean a lot of things. It could be built in the GunBarrel area. But yeah, in central Boulder, probably not.
Broomfield or Louisville could be another option.
East Denver? That would be Aurora. I think not.
Those are areas where it would be possible in the region, not necessarily desirable. I consider Broomfield and Louisville north Denver metro, but potAto/potAHto.
Wealthy are saying in hotels on the taxpayer (Fema) tab
5:00 storm advisory coming up. This oughta be good. I just saw one image where it looks as if the eye is just above the coast of Cuba and is sitting there spinning.
Stay safe, Palmy.
Thanks, Bubba. Right about now I’m wishing I’d taken that deal in Rutherfordton.
OTOH, this storm keeps shifting westward, it hasn’t taken a northward turn yet and it doesn’t seem to want to leave the coast of Cuba. Every since Ben put me on to that rainbow loop, that’s what I’ve been watching. Good chance this thing could just keep creeping westward. The winds had been increasing today and right now have decreased somewhat.
Getting breezy in Jupiter, some power lines down in Southern Palm Beach County. Local news dudes telling people to get in their safe rooms on Hutchinson Island (which is North of here) among other places for Tornado Warnings. We’ll see.
Good luck to you Mr. palmetto and stay safe.
Here’s a good site to check out:
http://spaghettimodels.com/
The water vapor imagery tells the story, and is quite indicative of what is likely to take place. (I have no idea why there are still folks here on HBB who watch the gibberish called The News. Sites like this one plus the hurricane center at noaa.gov is really about all you need).
Glad my parents got out of Venice. Looks bad. They have ample flood and wind insurance, replacement cost plus 20% on flood. Costs them a pretty penny, tho, that’s for sure.
Interestingly, they left Venice about 11:30 am Saturday, drove over the Sunshine Bridge, and took Route 27 into Tallahassee. Got there around 7:00 pm. Not too bad commute, considering it’s an approx. 330-350 mile drive.
I hope Palmetto is doing well.
I also feel for Muggy — didn’t he buy his house there not more than a year ago in/near Pinnelas, right in the direct path of the storm now? Unless he’s got really good insurance, he’s probably toast.
Thanks, oxy. 8 bells and all is well, so far. Meaning, the power’s on, the house is still intact. I did see the tip of a branch from the oak tree go skittering up the street earlier when it was still light out.
That wind and driving rain is fierce, though. I’ve been through two of these before, but the tendency is to forget what it was like. I’ve been reminded.
“As high-end occupancy ticks up, landlords have started pulling the generous rent concessions they were offering to lure tenants before the storm. ‘In all this misery, that’s been some good news,’ said Stacy Hunt, an executive director in Houston with Greystar, an apartment owner and manager. ‘There was a ready supply of new construction apartments.’”
Out slither the leeches. How excited they must be to find new blood in the disaster capitalism host.
The market is the market is the market.
As unfortunate as Hurricane Harvey was for Texas and the Houston area in particular, the housing market dynamics have changed.
If you were in that situation would you behave any differently? Would you be willing to behave differently if you had a fiduciary responsibility to the entity that owns the apartment complex you manage?
The rent concessions are no longer offered because the supply and demand curves have shifted.
Looks like the best evidence yet that supply and demand are alive and well in real estate.
Supply and demand are essentially physical principles, so they must be exist in real estate.
However: Is that demand consumption-based or speculative? Is it indirectly driven by an entity with no profit motive or is it profit-based? These details will influence the trajectory of the market going forward, and can help explain its history.
Well….. we know there is record high inventory, record low population growth and housing demand at 20 year lows.
It’s one thing to continue business as usual, quite another to publicly dance a little jig that profits are about to jump at such a cost.
The excuses for crime and fraud are endless. It’s still crime and fraud.
They have been talking about reducing the FED balance sheet for years now. Before you know it we will need more QE so the bills can get paid.
If you cannot reduce a 4.5 trillion balance sheet now, how will you ever reduce it if you have to add to it?
QE is like a roach motel, once you get it you cant get out!
Face the facts folks. The FED will have to expand their balance sheet to finance the govt debt. All this talk about reducing the balance sheet is BS.
Yellen can sell a 5/1 treasury mix
“See,I’m normalizing w no big interest rate changes”
“Before you know it we will need more QE so the bills can get paid.”
Hehe… so true.
“All this talk about reducing the balance sheet is BS.”
My feelings too.
Walnut Creek, CA Housing Prices Crater 11% YOY
http://www.movoto.com/walnut-creek-ca/market-trends/
Ben,the Crown Railroad Cafe looks dandy, have you eaten there (saw it in a Rotella motor oil commercial).
No.
Try the beans at Smokey Joe’s Cafe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6dA-liqmKs
Getting nasty here
Good Luck palmetto
And good luck to you, too, jeff. It’s around noon here, getting strong gusts and rain. Power still on.
The power has been off and on a few times here, five minutes at the most.
Local news showed clips of this happening in the Keys.
Hurricane Irma Sucked The Ocean Away From Beaches In The Bahamas ::
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkk0WAgjvP0
Same thing in Tampa Bay. People are walking on the bottom of the bay.
https://www.facebook.com/tampabaycom/videos/10156555281479838/
I do not recall seeing that with any of the other storms, pretty wild.
I really like these rainbow loops that Ben posted. This one shows the eye bobbing and weaving like a drunken fighter. East, west, east, west.
http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/east/tatl/h5-loop-rb.html
Here’s sumptin’ that’s good …
https://earth.nullschool.net/
That IS good. Really like that one, great colors and graphic.
came across the AZ home…..The Grand Canyon Caverns are a major attraction in Seligman, AZ. However, if you’d like to avoid paying admission or dealing with crowds, you could purchase your own cave. Better yet, a cave with a house of your very own.
If you happen to be in the market for off-the-grid living with a seriously subterranean component, this intriguing two-level home could be the spot for you. Listed at $199,900, it’s a one-of-a-kind place with a price we truly dig.
Aboveground, the two-bedroom, one-bath home is 990 square feet and sits on nearly 6 acres with views of the Aubrey Cliffs. But what’s below the property is more enticing: a 3,000-square-foot cave.
https://www.realtor.com/news/unique-homes/cave-home-arizona
“The calculus of disaster is simple, if cold blooded. Many whose homes have been flooded must move, and those who dodged Harvey now sit upon some of the city’s most desirable addresses. Far from declining, prices and rents are expected to rise given the sudden housing shortage. Out-of-state investors have even started to swoop in to acquire damaged homes to repair and sell or rent. ‘It’s as if we hit a reset button on the market,’ Jalifi said.”
All weather conditions, from non-stop SoCal sunshine to monster Gulf state hurricanes, result in higher real estate prices. It is clear that real estate always goes up, no matter what.
“It is clear that real estate always goes up, no matter what.”
Ahmen… sing it.
major global central bank balance sheets have went from about 2 trillion in 2000 to about 20 trillion today.They have been buying everything from stocks, bonds, currencies all in the name of preventing prices from falling.
With almost no increase in income,real incomes fell
Englewood, CO Housing Prices Crater 18% YOY
http://www.movoto.com/englewood-co/market-trends/
power still on. Driving wind and rain, major gusts. But, power still on. We’re supposed to get the worst of it for our area between 9 and 11 tonite, but it’ll be down to a Cat 1. It’s weird that the east coast of Florida seems to be having a worse time of it.
I don’t watch the news, but I am watching noaa, etc. and there are some really wild looking dark bands coming off the east side of the storm, pushing north. Stay safe!
Bernankeville and Yellenville and more to come….thanks for making housing so unaffordable guys…
Homeless in California
Excerpt:
There are dozens of youths, middle-aged and elderly people living in the stench along the encampment, and every day brings more hunger, more pain. Some say city officials and residents do not understand their plight and instead are focused on finding ways to get rid of them since they took over a designated National Recreation Trai. [...]
Brenda Jean, a grandmother who patched together a tent to shelter herself under a bridge, said she was among the first people who chose the riverbed as a home seven years ago. She estimates that nearly 80% of the current population showed up in the last two years.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-river-trail-homeless-20170908-story.html
This is the “misery index” which is off the charts thanks to Yellen and Co., but never talked about in the media.
A Fed mandate to intentionally drive up the cost of shelter for human beings is not only sick and cruel, it should be illegal. I’m not sure what will change short of sending bankers to the gallows.
Financial sector executive golden parachutes. If Wall Street had been allowed to be subject to market forces, it would have been destroyed. If they’d been subject to the justice system the rest of us are, there would be many more people in prison. But no
Fully one-third of the highest-paid financial industry CEOs of the past two decades have been fired, bailed out, or busted for fraud.
https://thinkprogress.org/three-infuriating-facts-about-wall-street-ceos-five-years-after-the-crisis-ac49b6a7fc3d/
It’s by design.
What better way to promote globalism than to make housing unaffordable?
Austin, TX Housing Prices Crater 7% YOY
http://www.movoto.com/austin-tx/market-trends/
Not a good night for people who bought catastrophe bonds…