September 12, 2017

The ‘Myth’ And This Overpriced Madness

A report from the Bonner County Daily Bee in Idaho. “It’s important to have myths in life. A myth contains elements of truth wrapped into hopeful aspirations. They’re more than fairy tales, but less than scientific fact. Why do we create and believe in myths then? Take ‘affordable housing’ for example. The sale price of homes has increased about 6 percent each year for the past several years, while real wages in North Idaho have not kept up with that pace. At the same time, the number of listings for existing homes under $250,000 has gradually been shrinking as the low-lying fruit (i.e. the least expensive homes) have been getting picked off.”

“The issue of affordability here in North Idaho may yet morph into a hard intractable fact. The ‘myth’ is that we care, that this is on our radar as something important, that somebody is doing something about it.”

The San Gabriel Valley Tribune in California. “California’s political leaders, having ignored and even abetted our housing shortage, now pretend that they will ’solve it.’ Don’t bet on it. Longtime San Francisco journalist Tim Redmond points out that luxury apartments tend to replace the often more affordable older buildings in urban neighborhoods. There’s been a gusher of high-rises built in places like San Francisco or Los Angeles, but these are generally very expensive, and have not discernibly lowered prices.”

“When will the so-called progressives address the real needs of middle- and working-class families? Their current, and proposed, policies will result not in greater opportunity, but rather in expanded poverty. This state already suffers the highest poverty rate in the nation, when adjusted for the cost of living, which is dominated by housing costs.”

The University of Massachusetts Media. “To all developers, urban planners, housing authorities, and mayors in and around the city of Boston: You have failed this city. What’s clear is that nobody in this city, adorned with the power and equipped with the voice, has truly tried to put a stop to this overpriced madness. There are so many brand new and beautifully built residential spaces that are outlandishly priced. I’ve lost count and I’m sure you have as well.”

“Numbers like $3,443 for a 1 bedroom, $4,245 for a 2 bedroom, and $5,072 for a 3 bedroom scatter real estate offices all over Boston. What calculator are these people that set the prices using? And, more importantly, who is willing to pay these prices? I wish I could have a word with both sides because I cannot, for the life of me, understand why a studio is worth that much money. I just can’t.”

“According to a recent article on BostonMagazine.com, in order to own a home in avaricious Boston, residents need to have a salary of approximately $98,518.71. I’ll let that sink in.”

The Real Deal on New York. “According to this week’s market reports, rents are down by 2 percent in Manhattan, and TAMI tenants made up 27 percent of Downtown Manhattan office leases in 2017. The price difference between condos and new-development condos narrowed for the fourth consecutive month, to $314 per square foot, and price per-square-foot in new developments dropped 18 percent year-over-year to $2,074.”

The Business News Network in Canada. “The head of Canada’s largest bank thinks it’s time regulators sit back and digest how higher rates and a myriad of new rules flow through the country’s housing markets and the broader economy. With the Bank of Canada’s quarter-point rate increase on Wednesday already starting to pass through to consumers as chartered banks boost their prime lending rates, Royal Bank of Canada Chief Executive Dave McKay argues it’s time to take stock.”

“‘We do have to be cautious to keep layering on change on top of change until we see the full manifestation,’ McKay told BNN in an interview in downtown Toronto. ‘It’s hard to predict how these new [housing] policy moves are going to affect borrower psychology, investment psychology, and asset prices in an economy.’”

“Canadian regulators at various levels have brought in measures to take some heat out of housing markets, including new lending standards and taxes on foreign buyers in Vancouver and Toronto. On the latter, McKay said RBC welcomes the recent slowdown in the Greater Toronto Area’s housing market, where prices are 20.5 per cent below April peak levels.”




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118 Comments »

Comment by Ben Jones
2017-09-12 07:04:58

‘We do have to be cautious to keep layering on change on top of change until we see the full manifestation,’ McKay told BNN. ‘It’s hard to predict how these new [housing] policy moves are going to affect borrower psychology, investment psychology, and asset prices in an economy.’

Make the federal loan cap in California the same as everywhere else and crater.

Comment by 2banana
2017-09-12 08:04:42

But, but…things are different in California…

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2017-09-12 11:36:41

CA is a filthy, impoverished unmitigated disaster.

‘To Curb Outbreak, San Diego Will Power Wash “Fecally Contaminated” City’

https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/09/fecally-san-diego-getting-bleach-pressure-wash-amid-viral-outbreak/

Comment by MIke in Carlsbad
2017-09-13 21:31:27

I’ve read its because of the statewide “plastic bag ban” which really didn’t ban anything, but instead now it costs .10 per bag.

The homeless used to have plenty of these bags to put over coffee cans or buckets to do their business. Now they no longer have access to them the fecal matter is spreading all over the streets.

Nice work voters of California!

 
 
Comment by Rental Watch
2017-09-12 13:26:26

https://www.fhfa.gov/DataTools/Tools/Pages/Conforming-Loan-Limits-Map.aspx

Prices rising plenty fast in lots of counties that have the same limits as the rest of the country. According to Zillow year on year data, a sampling of the multitude of counties that are gray:

Merced up 12.5% year on year.
Lake County up 9.9%.
San Joaquin (Stockton) up 10.9%

And even in counties that aren’t influenced at all by their high priced neighbors:

Siskiyou up 20.1% year on year
Humboldt and Mendocino up about 6%
Shasta up 5%
Tulare up 7%

Comment by Mafia Blocks
2017-09-12 14:49:25

Prices are meaningless in the absence of a look at demand. We know that organic demand is at 20 year lows. I haven’t checked lately but the last time I did, housing demand in CA was at 30 year lows.

Remember….. I can ask $50k for my 10 year old run down Chevy pickup but where is the buyer at that price?

So it is with all depreciating assets like houses.

 
Comment by GuillotineRenovator
2017-09-12 14:52:42

“And even in counties that aren’t influenced at all by their high priced neighbors…”

Wow, that’s some good Emerald Triangle dope you’re on. Those counties’ prices are most certainly influenced by others.

Comment by Rental Watch
2017-09-12 21:51:55

The influence of the coast fades with distance.

Siskiuyou, Shasta, Tulare aren’t really commutable to places with high paying jobs and crazy high home prices–those counties don’t have high priced neighbors.

Those three counties all have neighboring counties that also have loan limits on par with the rest of the country.

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Comment by Blue Skye
2017-09-13 04:01:09

“…Tulare”

They are apparently close enough to the mania to be infected with it.

 
 
 
 
Comment by Professor 🐻
2017-09-13 05:59:07

Just had one of my most awesome Lyft rides, ever. The driver was an African-American used home seller who takes people to the airport at 4:30am to supplement his real estate sales income. You gotta love the guy’s work ethic, but I also have to suspect that sales aren’t booming, The guy was all over the Housing Bubble and all the reasons that it’s going to blow up again any day now.

Comment by Ethan in Northern VA
2017-09-13 08:08:56

Maybe Lyft is his lead generation.

 
 
 
Comment by In Colorado
2017-09-12 07:11:34

The ‘myth’ is that we care, that this is on our radar as something important, that somebody is doing something about it

No one needs to do anything. Mr Market will eventually take care of it.

Comment by Ben Jones
2017-09-12 07:16:43

It hasn’t helped that the feds are guaranteeing loans to turn affordable apartments into unaffordable apartments. We are already getting a crash, but it was all avoidable. Question is, will it be laid at the feet of Bernanke and Watt?

Comment by In Colorado
2017-09-12 07:56:18

Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan.

No doubt we will once again hear “No one could have seen it coming”

Comment by GuillotineRenovator
2017-09-12 09:48:04

Blatant, humanity disservicing lies such as “nobody could have seen it coming” are easily refuted by blogs like this. There are date and time stamps which prove it. But, that doesn’t fit the media narrative so it’s ignored in favor of the oligarchs’ propaganda.

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Comment by Professor 🐻
2017-09-13 06:31:08

I suspect Yellen or her successor will take the blame, unless the Fed’s propaganda apparatchiks can successfully deflect it. Joe Six-pack doesn’t understand lag effects, and I am talking about the vanishingly small minority of Joe Six-pack types who have any inkling of the Fed’s role in Housing Bubble reflation.

Comment by Professor 🐻
2017-09-13 06:36:06

My comment leads straight to the moral hazard problem facing any Fed chair, which is that it is far less painful to blow a bubble and keep it aloft on your own watch, letting the eventual fallout land on a successor, than to presently take away the punch bowl.

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Comment by taxpayer
2017-09-12 07:13:35

The price difference between condos and new-development condos narrowed for the fourth consecutive month, to $314 per square foot, and price per-square-foot in new developments dropped 18 percent year-over-year to $2,074.”

wow, my 60 yr old house is 300 a sq ft
it’s like I’m in NY

 
Comment by taxpayer
2017-09-12 07:14:44

wasn’t Idaho last up/first down last time?
land is so scarce there

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2017-09-12 07:28:42

‘When will the so-called progressives address the real needs of middle- and working-class families? Their current, and proposed, policies will result not in greater opportunity, but rather in expanded poverty. This state already suffers the highest poverty rate in the nation, when adjusted for the cost of living, which is dominated by housing costs.’

Housing bubbles make you poor, then they pop. Oh joy!

Comment by 2banana
2017-09-12 08:03:03

Venezuela went hook, line and sinker to make life more fair and to make everyone more equal.

Now they are all equally miserable in poverty.

So they got what they wanted.

The progressives in charge became billionaires, of course.

But they were doing God’s work.

 
Comment by Professor 🐻
2017-09-13 06:42:49

The elephant in the room may be the Fed’s use of bailouts, post-bubble collapse, to never allow prices to return to their pre-crash levels. Over time, these supposed wealth effects begin to look like stealthy, financially-engineered inflation creation / dollar & dollar-denominated debt writedown.

 
 
Comment by In Colorado
2017-09-12 08:01:16

“According to a recent article on BostonMagazine.com, in order to own a home in avaricious Boston, residents need to have a salary of approximately $98,518.71. I’ll let that sink in.”

And that place will be an utter dump

Comment by Mafia Blocks
2017-09-12 08:05:30

Precisely the reason why everyone rents the same house for half the monthly cost.

Remember….. Housing is a rapidly depreciating asset that bleeds you dry every day you own it.

 
Comment by 2banana
2017-09-12 09:05:57

A dump with 15K in property taxes….

Comment by rms
2017-09-13 06:22:28

“A dump with 15K in property taxes…”

They probably have to defer property taxes for retired people and lien the estate afterward.

 
 
 
Comment by GuillotineRenovator
2017-09-12 09:43:53

“The sale price of homes has increased about 6 percent each year for the past several years, while real wages in North Idaho have not kept up with that pace. At the same time, the number of listings for existing homes under $250,000 has gradually been shrinking as the low-lying fruit (i.e. the least expensive homes) have been getting picked off.”

It’s the same everywhere. The Yellenbucks ran up prices in the major cities, then spread like an infection to every nook and cranny in the entire housing market. Wages? This has nothing to do with wages…

Comment by Mafia Blocks
2017-09-12 11:06:55

Wages will never triple or quadruple to meet grossly inflated asking prices of resale housing. Price declines will accelerate as housing demand continues to crater to record lows.

 
 
Comment by 2banana
2017-09-12 09:49:35

Long term democrat controlled cities.

Due to massive corruption and incompetence, houses are affordable.

Property taxes are not.

Check this out: $499k. Nice.

22K in property taxes!!!!!! Dear Gawd.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2436-Coventry-Rd-Cleveland-OH-44118/33660749_zpid/

Comment by Carl Morris
2017-09-12 10:17:35

Wow…property tax literally more than the payment on 0 down. And here I can’t even stomach more than $12k in taxes per year on a million dollar house in San Jose.

 
Comment by GuillotineRenovator
2017-09-12 10:31:42

Taxes and FEES are a real issue in many places, and not just on real estate. Local governments are making life more and more expensive on a yearly basis.

The latest thing in our area is to charge cars by the mile, phasing out the gas tax thanks to hybrids and electric vehicles. I’m sure it will be even more expensive, nothing ever gets cheaper.

Comment by Taxpayers
2017-09-12 15:12:37

Gov workers here retire at 55= taxes up the booty

Comment by Professor 🐻
2017-09-13 06:45:54

Are you saying the government workers in your hood can get full pension at 55? Maybe you should sign up…

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Comment by sod
2017-09-12 18:52:58

Just got my property tax bill for my crappy little 6 year old 21′ travel trailer. $350. The thing sits in storage most of the year.

Comment by palmetto
2017-09-12 19:28:01

Unbelievable. Personal property tax is disgusting, IMO. Theft.

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Comment by Professor 🐻
2017-09-13 06:48:02

So are you saying that everyone should be able to store their used junk for free, despite the extra policing costs to make sure that it doesn’t get stolen?

 
Comment by Karen
2017-09-13 11:10:57

No one is using the $350 he pays a year in taxes to ensure his travel trailer doesn’t get stolen. You really don’t understand policing or what the government is doing with our money.

 
Comment by Professor 🐻
2017-09-13 12:58:53

Preach it, Karen!

 
 
Comment by GuillotineRenovator
2017-09-12 20:43:17

Holy smokes! What state? I agree with Palmetto, that’s disgusting.

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Comment by MightyMike
2017-09-12 11:12:24

That looks like a place for rich people. the property taxes wouldn’t be an issue for them.

Comment by 2banana
2017-09-12 11:28:29

You really are pretty clueless

Comment by MightyMike
2017-09-12 13:15:52

because you say so

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Comment by Lurker
2017-09-12 12:43:42

“Why Don’t Rich People Realize They’re Rich?”

http://theweek.com/articles/596339/why-dont-rich-people-realize-theyre-rich

“A median family spends far more on mortgages, health care, car expenses, and childcare than back in the 1970s.”

“People in the top 10 percent, top 5 percent, or higher regularly say they’re stressed about money…. At least one-third* of American households live paycheck to paycheck, and two-thirds of that one-third extend into economic reaches myself and Brookings would consider wealthy or at least well-off.”

“This relates to the way high costs of living in major cities eat into paychecks. There are rents or mortgage payments, car payments and maintenance, insurance, the costs of educating children, and payments for the student debt to get the degrees that offer access to high-income jobs.”

“Both parents must now work to provide the same income as one parent did decades ago, so now childcare is a necessity. Even food is an issue: One of the more striking aspects of the modern American economy is that the more you earn the more hours you tend to work — often well above 40 hours a week. So people have no time to cook, and regularly eat out in the cities where eating out is more expensive than anywhere. Add it all up, and you can see how even a six-figure salary can go right back out the door very quickly, leaving even the rich “cash constrained.”


*Article from 2015. The 2017 number is 78% of Americans with full-time jobs live paycheck to paycheck.

Comment by MightyMike
2017-09-12 13:18:34

This is part of the pro-business, pro-rich guy narrative. The rich aren’t really rich and the poor aren’t poor. Everyone’s middle class.

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Comment by In Colorado
2017-09-12 14:51:26

Most poor people, when asked, will insist that they are middle class.

 
Comment by Lurker
2017-09-12 14:51:58

“part of the pro-business, pro-rich guy narrative.”

From ‘The Week’ and the Brookings Institute? Sure.

 
Comment by Rental Watch
2017-09-12 21:56:06

I guy I went to school with once claimed he was middle class…until his friend said “c’mon, both of your parents are surgeons and make $500k per year, there isn’t anything middle class about you”.

I grew up with my parents at their best year making maybe $110k combined…I considered myself middle class. I still don’t think I was poor. I certainly didn’t have all the toys I wanted, and got my first full-time summer job for spending money when I was 12 or 13, but I never went hungry, and certainly wasn’t poor.

 
Comment by OneAgainstMany
2017-09-13 15:44:20

This op-ed has some insightful notions about the perception of who we think is poor:

https://goo.gl/vx9hh3

 
 
Comment by GuillotineRenovator
2017-09-12 15:38:28

Eating out is one of the worst things you can do to your budget if you’re poor or at least close to it.

A lot of low income people don’t put enough thought into their spending habits. They’ll buy a useless $6 Starbucks drink that’s gone in 5 minutes, but cost them 30 minutes of their labor.

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Comment by redmondjp
2017-09-12 16:19:35

Yes, come to my neck of the woods and I’ll drive you out to the boonies and show you the people living in shacks with blue tarps permanently over the roof, with three satellite dishes on the side and a jacked-up pickemup with $5K of tires/wheels on it that gets 9mpg parked out in front.

And yet they can’t afford food . . .

 
 
Comment by Taxpayers
2017-09-13 04:39:49

Think taxes

“Both parents must now work to provide the same income as one parent did decades ago, so now childcare is a necessity.

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Comment by rms
2017-09-13 06:38:59

“We should also make necessities like health care, child care, education, and public transportation free and easily accessible to every American, rich or poor, either through cash transfer programs or by having the government provide the service directly.”

No lower taxes here.

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Comment by oxide
2017-09-12 17:17:38

That is a stunning house. Beautiful woodwork, nice kitchen, servant’s staircase, ballroom in the attic. I would bet that house has some history to it; likely some business magnate had it built. But they need to get rid of that brown rug and put down more hardwood.

Comment by Ol'Bubba
2017-09-12 17:42:39

Oxy - In general, what’s your opinion regarding installing new wall to wall carpeting vs. installing new hardwood floors?

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Comment by oxide
2017-09-13 04:52:40

I prefer hardwood to carpeting, so much more elegant. Use an area rug if hardwood is too cold. But carpeting is cheaper. And TBH, every house probably should have at least one comfy romper room with padded carpeting.

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2017-09-13 07:12:44

romper room…

Carpeting is as disgusting as wearing the same clothes unlaundered for several years.

 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2017-09-12 18:04:57

‘they need to get rid of that brown rug and put down more hardwood’

Hardwood is what’s under that rug.

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Comment by palmetto
2017-09-12 18:37:54

LOL, there’s nothing like a terrazzo floor if you’re living in Florida. And yet, so many people covered it up with carpet. Which is a hangin’ crime.

Another hangin’ crime: ripping out perfectly good solid wood kitchen cabinets and replacing them with particle board crap from Home Depot.

 
Comment by oxide
2017-09-13 04:54:41

Ben, you’re probably right. I’m surprised the realtor didn’t take up the rugs and stage the rooms with a few area rugs. The hardwood would have matched the interior woodwork and sold the house better.

 
 
 
 
Comment by whirlyite
Comment by In Colorado
2017-09-12 14:53:46

Because what every broke Houstonian with a flood damaged house that will need tens of thousands of dollars in repairs just to be habitable needs is a tax increase.

 
Comment by GuillotineRenovator
2017-09-12 18:21:58

The local governments is where the real theft is happening. It’s getting really bad around here.

 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2017-09-12 10:41:39

“…low-lying fruit (i.e. the least expensive homes) have been getting picked off.”

Once upon a time, inexpensive homes were the cheapest, lowest-quality, most-undesirable types that generally were only of interest to impoverished households who could afford nothing better.

Nowadays, they are the low-lying fruit which gets picked off first.

Comment by Neuromance
2017-09-12 16:11:33

Back in the day there were also the concepts of “money pit” or being “house poor.” The concepts still exist of course, and will once again come back into the modern lexicon, but I haven’t seen these terms in popular discourse since the Bubble 1.0 inflation.

 
 
Comment by Senior Housing Analyst
2017-09-12 10:51:43

Millbrae, CA Housing Prices Crater 7% YOY

http://www.movoto.com/millbrae-ca/market-trends/

 
Comment by Professor 🐻
2017-09-12 11:57:43

“RBC welcomes the recent slowdown in the Greater Toronto Area’s housing market, where prices are 20.5 per cent below April peak levels.”

Anyone who bought in Toronto this spring has seen their downpayment disappear, and is most likely deeply underwater at this point. Some reason to celebrate!

Comment by GuillotineRenovator
2017-09-12 20:46:49

That is an absolutely spectacular freefall. Real estate is notoriously sticky on the way down. Oh, Canada!

Comment by Professor 🐻
2017-09-13 07:08:13

It seems like the adhesive that normally makes prices sticky on the way down can spontaneously and spectacularly fail after prices rise too far, too fast. Chalk it up to all the investors piling in with dumb borrowed money to speculate on never-ending high rates of appreciation, who have no skin in the game and every reason to dump their holdings as quickly as possible when historically unprecedented rates of appreciation inexorably collide with economic reality.

Comment by Carl Morris
2017-09-13 10:08:53

It seems like the adhesive that normally makes prices sticky on the way down can spontaneously and spectacularly fail after prices rise too far, too fast.

Sure, but only in places without a too big to fail currency and a big army and a central bank ready to do whatever it takes.

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Comment by Professor 🐻
2017-09-13 13:01:05

That’s true. I occasionally forget that the U.S. is a well-armed pension fund.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Karen
Comment by In Colorado
2017-09-12 14:57:03

Yup, they sure don’t talk about high prices, except indirectly (hard to save for the down payment).

And MSN has disabled comments in what looks like a permanent move.

Comment by Obama Goons
2017-09-12 15:05:24

Pyrrhic victory for the censoring communists. A big win for blogs like this one.

Comment by palmetto
2017-09-12 16:06:36

How did we get so many commies in this country? Oh, right, the long march through the institutions. Starting right after WW2.

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Comment by palmetto
2017-09-12 16:38:24

Commie censoring at the Seattle times regarding the multiple accusations of sex abuse.

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/why-we-are-not-allowing-comments-on-some-stories-about-allegations-against-mayor-ed-murray/

I guess it pays to protect deviants.

Comment by GuillotineRenovator
2017-09-12 20:48:33

Murray is as creepy as they come.

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Comment by palmetto
2017-09-13 06:21:54

To me, it’s so flabbergasting that such an individual would actually make it to public office, and then be defended so vociferously. I don’t even know what to say.

Sigh. I keep reminding myself that this is how it goes at the end of Empire.

 
 
 
Comment by rms
2017-09-13 06:57:41

“Yup, they sure don’t talk about high prices…”

“Anyone claiming America’s economy is in decline is peddling fiction.” —Barack Obama, State of the Union, 2016

 
 
 
Comment by JT
2017-09-12 15:26:39

When will the market in CA crash!???

 
Comment by Senior Housing Analyst
2017-09-12 15:37:58

Alameda, CA Housing Prices Crater 10% YOY

http://www.movoto.com/alameda-ca/market-trends/

 
Comment by Apartment 401
2017-09-12 15:58:56

Realtors are liars.

 
Comment by palmetto
2017-09-12 16:33:37

Another piece of filth bites the dust:

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/seattle-mayor-ed-murray-resigns-after-fifth-child-sex-abuse-allegation/

It took FIVE accusers to boot this guy from office. From the story:

“Pizza was seen being delivered to his staff on the seventh floor of City Hall.”

LOL! Not sure if the author was taking a subtle shot at the guy or just making an observation, but that was pretty funny.

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2017-09-12 17:27:53

I just got this email from a company in Panama:

“How is the Beach Real Estate Market shaping up in 2017?

Coronado consistently tops the most popular beach destination lists along Panama’s Pacific Coast, and for good reason. So why the market downturn? Read on for insights on new construction inventory and trends in the secondary market, as we take the guesswork out of the recent fall in prices for you.

The Report includes:

Trends in a nutshell: who’s buying and what?
Why the big sell-off?
The luxury market
What’s going on in the rental market?
The view from new-construction
Pricing: pre-construction and beyond”

 
Comment by jeff
2017-09-12 17:27:58

Too much.

The stars are on the networks begging for $ from you or as Mr. Banker likes to put it you little pukes.

That’s right Oprah and Cher who was reading with her eyes closed told the story of how White, Brown and Black people made an arm chain in flood rushing waters to save a man who was trying to get to his son in the Hospital.

They said this is who we are.

No Oprah, No Cher that is who WE ARE!

You pukes along with Arnie Grape who led off the show live in your own mega rich world of Betters and you wouldn’t consider getting your shoes wet to save a child that was swept up in flood waters.

Oh, and you can tell George Clooney and the rest of those Better @sswipes pretending to answer the phones and write down donations they are obviously incapable of doing that and they aren’t fooling anybody.

Comment by palmetto
2017-09-12 18:24:04

Really a shame about Clooney. I enjoyed “O Brother Where Art Thou”.

Were all these people always like this, or have they been drugged into madness?

If it’s any consolation, Hollywood has really been stinkin’ out the joint. Not too many movies out there I’m interested in. Maybe something by Chris Nolan or Wes Anderson.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2017-09-12 18:34:43

You pukes along with Arnie Grape who led off the show live in your own mega rich world of Betters and you wouldn’t consider getting your shoes wet to save a child that was swept up in flood waters.

You have no reason to think such a thing. The anger out there is phenomenal.

Comment by Ben Jones
2017-09-12 19:05:38

‘The anger out there is phenomenal’

Foot stamping is at an all time high. I even read Bernie is responsible for Shriek losing.

Comment by palmetto
2017-09-12 19:23:03

The Prof posted below on Jamie Dimon’s foot stamping. And a thorough foot-stamping it was, too.

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Comment by jeff
2017-09-12 20:04:03

‘The anger out there is phenomenal’

George Clooney slams ‘failed f—ing screenwriter’ Steve Bannon

3 days ago

http://ew.com/movies/2017/09/09/george-clooney-steve-bannon/

 
Comment by palmetto
2017-09-13 06:48:42

Earlier in the summer, I read a biography of Cary Grant. It was an eye-opener to say the least. Aside from the fact that this lauded Hollywood icon was about as degenerate as it gets, I learned a lot about the involvement of the shadow government and spook organizations in the movie industry, since that was a thread that was woven throughout the book. It was heavy-duty around the time of WW2, and it would seem that the involvement is off the charts today.

It’s sad to see a man with so much artistic talent reduced to hag-ridden cuckery. I gotta admit, though, when it comes to virtue signalling, no one does it better than George. His marriage is a masterpiece of holier than thou.

Anyway, the cure for Clooney is a good dose of James Woods’ twitter feed. Check it out sometime, you’ll feel better.

 
Comment by jeff
2017-09-13 07:37:43

THE CLOONEY FOUNDATION FOR JUSTICE GIVES $1 MILLION GRANT TO HELP SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER COMBAT HATE GROUPS

August 21, 2017

The Clooney Foundation for Justice was established in 2016 to advance justice in courtrooms, classrooms and communities around the world. It was co-founded by George and Amal Clooney, who serve as the foundation’s presidents.

The SPLC is the premier U.S. nonprofit organization monitoring the activities of domestic hate groups and other extremists. It currently tracks more than 1,600 extremist groups operating across the country,

https://www.splcenter.org/news/2017/08/21/clooney-foundation-justice-gives-1-million-grant-help-southern-poverty-law-center-combat

 
 
 
Comment by Obama Goons
2017-09-12 19:38:25

No foot stamping allowed on the Trump Train.

 
Comment by jeff
2017-09-12 19:45:50

“You have no reason to think such a thing.”

I have no reason to think they live in their own mega rich world of Betters?

 
Comment by Rental Watch
2017-09-12 22:00:23

Anyone who flies around in a private jet preaching of the horrors of climate change and global warming clearly believes they are better than the rest of us. No anger about it…just truth.

 
 
 
Comment by julie
2017-09-12 17:37:55

A comment about eating out. It’s fine as long as it costs less than cooking the same food. For instance, 2 mcdoubles for 5.00. But what I really want to know is what happened to homesnap? I used to look at their news weekly to track real estate trends, and it looks like they disabled this feature. Does anyone know? Thanks

Comment by palmetto
2017-09-12 18:25:31

I like the White Castle sliders. Heaven.

 
Comment by oxide
2017-09-13 05:15:07

Financially, eating out could be cheaper than eating in. The problem with eating out is that the chemical additives, sugars, and vegetable/seed oils used by restaurants are extremely unhealthy and fattening. The best bet is to cook very simply: chicken on sale, ground beef on sale, eggs, frozen vegetables, olive oil, ghee, and a very small amount of white rice. Cheaper than eating out and you’ll lose weight too.

Comment by OneAgainstMany
2017-09-13 16:20:57

This is pretty much how we eat, minus the meat (vegetarians). There are local joints around town that we know provide excellent bang for your buck and are actually comparable to cooking at home and still are fresh, healthy, and delicious.

Knowing how to eat out (e.g., what restaurants have quality food and are fairly priced) is crucial to keeping food costs under control for us. We are a dual-income household, so time constraints are a real issue and, as a result, we do eat out a lot. But often times the cost of eating out for us is actually cheaper than cooking at home (true story!).

Bulk cooking and freezing meals is one way of solving this problem, but we just don’t care to do that. So we cook sporadically and eat out a lot.

Comment by Carl Morris
2017-09-13 16:27:09

I’ve concluded the same thing. If I’m careful about getting food that isn’t too expensive and where the leftovers can provide a second meal it’s competitive with preparing at home. I grew up eating stuff made with cheap ingredients but I tend to buy expensive ingredients which kind of defeats the purpose of cooking at home to save money. I can only take so much of what I ate as a kid.

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Comment by OneAgainstMany
2017-09-13 16:30:21

One example: the hospital I work at (I’m an RN) has LiveWell meals priced at $3.34. These are healthy, made-from-scratch meals that are sold to the public at subsidized prices. It’s not uncommon to have salmon, asparagus, and quinoa or something like that sold. At that price for a meal, cooking is less economical. So yes, if you know what you are doing, you can actually eat out for cheaper than cooking, especially when you factor in the time for meal prep and the percentage of food waste that happens to so many Americans as they load up at Costco and Sam’s club and it all goes bad before they can consume it.

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Comment by Senior Housing Analyst
2017-09-12 18:21:52

“CTX Realtor Arrested, Charged With Exploitation Of Elderly”

http://www.kxxv.com/story/35829309/ctx-realtor-arrested-charged-with-exploitation-of-elderly

Comment by palmetto
2017-09-12 18:48:17

From the lively little RE blog in Greenwich, CT

“Stamford developer pleads guilty to $71 million swindle”

https://www.christopherfountain.com/blog/2017/9/12/stamford-developer-pleads-guilty-to-71-million-fraud

“Like most successful fraudsters, DiMenna presented himself, and was perceived as, a perfect gentleman, all while he was stealing from investors who considered him a friend.

As recently as 2015, the Stamford Advocate was still publishing gushing tributes to him, despite his history of fraud dating back to 1995.”

Comment by Mr. Banker
2017-09-12 20:24:41

“… despite his history of fraud dating back to 1995.”

The stupidity, it … it is so … it is so profitable.

 
 
 
Comment by Professor 🐻
2017-09-12 18:53:10

Financial Times
Bitcoin
JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon calls bitcoin ‘a fraud’, ‘worse than tulip bulbs’
fastFT
8 hours ago
by: Laura Noonan

JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon issued a sharp condemnation of cyrpto-currency bitcoin, declaring that it was a “fraud” that should only be invested in by murderers, drug dealers and people living in North Korea, Ecuador and Venezuela.

“If we had a trader who traded bitcoin I’d fire him in a second for two reasons. One, it’s against our rules. Two, it’s stupid,” the bank boss told the Barclays’ financial conference in New York on Tuesday.

“You can’t have a business where people are going to invent a currency out of thin air,” he added. “It won’t end well… someone is going to get killed and then the government is going to come down on it.”

The value of a single bitcoin is around $4,200. The crypto-currency, which can be manufactured using computing power and is then stored on servers, was valued at less than $250 per unit at the end of 2015.

“Don’t ask me to short it, it could be at $20,000 before this happens but it will eventually blow up. It’s a fraud and honestly I’m just shocked anyone can’t see it for what it is,” Mr Dimon said, describing bitcoin as “worse than tulip bulbs”.

Comment by palmetto
2017-09-12 19:08:04

“You can’t have a business where people are going to invent a currency out of thin air,”

Ahem.

Comment by azdude
2017-09-13 06:15:12

he hates competition

Comment by Carl Morris
2017-09-13 10:17:00

Yup, and people being killed and the government coming down on it will not be independent events.

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Comment by Professor 🐻
2017-09-13 13:02:40

Haha…

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Comment by Mr. Banker
2017-09-12 20:22:19

“It’s a fraud and honestly I’m just shocked anyone can’t see it for what it is,”

Bahahahahahahahahahahaha … as totally dumbed-down as Americans have become and you are shocked anyone cannot see it for what it is?

Bahahahahahaha … you DEFINITELY need to get out more.

No child left behind: Bahahahahahahahahahahahaha … jokes that write themselves.

 
Comment by Neuromance
2017-09-13 04:30:13

As soon as Dimon figures out a way to get a cut of the action, his tune will change.

Thought experiment: compare and contrast the following:

1) A 20 gram gold bar
2) A ten dollar bill
3) A non-voting, non-dividend-paying stock
4) A tractor in a farming video game
5) A bitcoin
6) A promise to pay back 100 dollars (a 100 dollar debt)

Comment by oxide
2017-09-13 05:25:24

Honest answer? I’d choose the bitcoin, and then immediately sell the bitcoin for the $4200 cash, and use the $4200 cash to buy a really sturdy $1000 bicycle and some parts, and use the rest to buy golden grams.

Comment by Professor 🐻
2017-09-13 13:06:34

One Bitcoin could buy you a hell of a nice guitar, provided you offloaded it immediately for actual money.

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Comment by azdude
2017-09-13 04:54:03

It appears we are gonna reach escape velocity any week now after 10 years of pump priming.

It looks like central banks will print what it takes to keep asset prices high.

 
Comment by Senior Housing Analyst
2017-09-13 05:46:21

Chevy Chase, MD Housing Prices Crater 9% YOY

http://www.movoto.com/chevy-chase-md/market-trends/

Comment by azdude
2017-09-13 06:20:01

u cannot do diddily squat without king dollar.

 
 
Comment by Professor 🐻
2017-09-13 07:26:13

I’m stuck at the gate and not happy after getting up at 4am to catch an early flight. My connecting flight will be long gone before my first flight lands. The Friendly Skies are leaving me feeling pretty cantankerous. At least I have internet service on my cell phone to cheer me up!

United’s Quest to Be Less Awful
A bungled merger. A corruption scandal. Three CEOs in a year. But hey, at least the snacks are free again.
By Drake Bennett | January 14, 2016
Illustration by The Red Dress
From Bloomberg Businessweek

Early last summer, a team at United Airlines set out to discover what bothered its passengers most. The airline collects 8,000 customer surveys a day, and there was a lot to choose from: Was it extra fees for luggage? The lack of legroom? The sour, thin coffee? Was it being forced to spend 20 hours in a frigid military barracks in Newfoundland (as passengers on a United flight to London did last June)? How about the carrier’s tendency to lose the one bag you really need? (On June 17, 2014, Rory McIlroy tweeted: “Hey @united landed in Dublin yesterday morning from Newark and still no golf clubs… Sort of need them this week.”) Could it be the problems with the reservation system that caused widespread delays in 2012, and again in 2014, or the computer glitch on July 8, 2015, that led the airline to suspend all its flights, all over the world, for two hours? In October, United failed to provide a wheelchair to a passenger with cerebral palsy; he had to crawl off the plane.

Every airline has its horror stories, of course—air travel is full of opportunities for customer disenchantment. But United has proved an industry leader: On all major performance metrics—delays, cancellations, mishandled bags, and bumped passengers—United has, since 2012, been reliably the worst or near worst among its competitors.

 
Comment by Professor 🐻
2017-09-13 07:34:58

I’m grateful to UAL managers for the extra opportunity to conduct some online research while awaiting takeoff.

Tim Wu
Transportation
Date of Publication: 04.13.17.
Time of Publication: 7:00 am.
How United Turned the Friendly Skies Into a Flying Hellscape

In 1965, United Airlines introduced its famous slogan: “Fly the friendly skies.” The man who led the agency that coined the phrase explained: “Let us show the public our warm ‘good-guy’ genuine concern side, as well as the efficient side they already appreciate in us.”

A slogan may just be a slogan, but at the time, at least, it represented a promise. United would strive to be humane, and make flying, intrinsically stressful, a warm experience.

It is, by now, safe to say that the promise has been broken. The capstone was this week’s brutal and bloody eviction of David Dao, a paying customer, for the sin of wanting to remain in the seat that he had paid for. But the airline has been on an inhumane trajectory for quite some time. That’s why this week’s catastrophe will not be fixed by increasing the eviction fees offered to customers, or by figuring out some other means of removing people from airplanes with less violence.

 
Comment by jeff
2017-09-13 09:57:30

Stevie Wonder, Justin Timberlake, Oprah Winfree, George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Dennis Quaid, Adam Sandler, Terry Crews, Leonardo DiCaprio, Gwen Stefani, Ray Romano, Bryan Cranston, Beyoncé, Bruce Willis and many more $14 million

Defensive end J.J. Watt $31 million

Hurricane Telethon Gets Political Right At The Start [VIDEO]

DEREK HUNTER
8:48 PM 09/12/2017

Celebrities participating in the Hand In Hand fundraiser include Wonder, Justin Timberlake, Oprah Winfree, George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Dennis Quaid, Adam Sandler, Terry Crews, Leonardo DiCaprio, Gwen Stefani, Ray Romano, Bryan Cranston, Beyoncé, and many more. It was broadcast from New York, Los Angeles,

We’ve made $14 million thus far! Bruce Willis and I say thank you! @handinhandfund #handinhand

9:04 PM - Sep 12, 2017

http://dailycaller.com/2017/09/12/hurricane-telethon-gets-political-right-at-the-start-video/

J.J. Watt got a hero’s welcome in Houston after raising $31 million (and counting) for relief efforts

by James Dator Sep 10, 2017, 2:21pm EDT

https://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2017/9/10/16284128/j-j-watt-heros-welcome-houston-31-million-harvey

 
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