It Seemed Like The Only Way Was Up
It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “While there’s no doubt that a lack of homes on the market means sellers continue to have the upper hand, there are signs of buyer fatigue and flattening prices in the District. ‘The housing market is slowing in nearly every metro area in the country,’ says Nela Richardson, chief economist of Redfin brokerage in Washington. Affordability is the culprit in the District and other locations, Richardson says. Sellers need to recognize that this is not the time to overprice their homes, despite the low inventory, says Donna Evers, broker/owner of Evers & Co. in Washington, which was recently sold to Long & Foster Real Estate.”
“‘Sellers who have been waiting for summer to end to put their homes on the market tend to overprice their homes in the fall,’ Evers says. ‘This is particularly a problem for homes valued at $1.5 million or above. There are lots of expensive properties on the market, so sellers need to compete in that price range.’”
“If you’ve been house shopping lately in Nashville or its surrounding cities, you know the perfect house only stays on the market for days, and in some cases, hours. Some realtors are now saying the market is cooling off and giving buyers a more level playing field. ‘I would say for the last two and a half to four years it’s been a hot sellers’ market. And now these last 30 to 45 days I’m personally starting to see a slowdown, and it’s kind of slowly shifting back to a neutral market,’ real estate agent Kim Cunliffe said.”
“Libby Dorris has watched her neighbors struggle to sell their homes for months. ‘One has been on the market since March and the other since July,’ Dorris said.”
“It’s been a busy year for the Killington real estate market, and while prices are moving up slightly for some properties, they still represent good values, real estate agents report. Kyle Kershner, broker and owner of Killington Pico Realty noted, ‘The number of sales for both condos and single-family homes in Killington are up year-to-date over the same time period in 2016, but paradoxically, the median sales price in both categories is down by nine and ten percent respectively. A possible explanation for this is that listing inventory in both categories has remained high — I’m carrying more listings today than I have at any other point in my 16-year career. … we have a 30-month supply of single-family home inventory on the market today and a 20-month supply of condominium inventory.’”
“These facts about the Kitchener-Waterloo real estate market are true: Homes are selling for, on average, less money than they were earlier this year. They’re spending much longer on the market. Bidding wars are far less common. April was when the local real estate frenzy was at its peak. The area’s average residential sale price hit an all-time high of $512,656. Since then, the average sale price has fallen for four straight months. For August, it stood at $441,992.”
“Most adversely affected by the changing conditions, says Keith Church, the broker of record with Royal LePage Grand Valley Realty, are people who think they can get the same price for their home now that their neighbour got for a similar property a few months earlier. ‘They’re not going to get that today,’ he says. ‘The market has sagged for the sellers.’”
“House prices in London have fallen annually for the first time in eight years, figures revealed today. The capital has seen a dramatic turnaround in just two years, from buyers queuing at open days outside homes for sale to reduced signs going up on property listings. ‘I’m in the process of buying two properties for clients in Loughton where not only am I the only buyer for each but we are paying 10 per cent less than the asking price. Prices in many places are falling back, sales are taking longer and pitching an asking price is hard,’ said property buying agent Henry Pryor. ‘My advice is that the price is just a part of the marketing to attract buyers to come and view. It’s not a statement of value nor is it what you are prepared to accept. There is a market for those who want to buy and sell, it’s just not the same market we had 18 months ago.’”
“There is little doubt that since the recent financial crisis ended, housing prices in Denmark have skyrocketed to a point when talk of ‘housing bubbles’ have once again came to the fore. But those discussions could very well dissipate soon. From Monday morning, tens of thousands of homeowners in the Copenhagen and Aarhus areas will wake up to a whole new housing market reality as the Business Ministry moves to avoid a repeat of the bubble burst of yesteryear.”
“Some experts, however, contend that the state’s effort to put a damper on the housing price spike is too stringent and could lead to a downward spiral. ‘The new rules will curb price development in the impacted municipalities, and that’s basically the purpose of them. But as regards the bigger picture, there are a lot of other initiatives aiming to tackle the price development – primarily through a tax reform,’ Mikkel Høegh, a real estate economist with BRF Kredit, told Politken. ‘So we are afraid we will see the opposite of a bubble: a downward trajectory that will completely deflate the housing market.’”
“For several years it seemed like the only way was up for Yangon’s property sector. But like any market, real estate goes through cycles of boom and bust that are normally based on supply and demand. In most regards Yangon’s property market is now in a period of oversupply. Prime office rents are less than half what they were only two years ago. Condo prices (both rental and sale) are coming down; all indications suggest rents will fall further. House and land sale prices in mid-to-outer suburbs are falling with plenty of stock on the market and few sales; rents here are also declining.”
“The biggest change in recent years, though, is choice: renters now have much of it, which was not always the case a few years ago. Supply has caught up to demand and there are now a variety of rental types across a range of prices. This trend is likely to continue – just look at the skyline and consider how many high-rise projects are sprouting up.”
“The ANZ has told its brokers to tighten lending restrictions in 11 postcodes in Brisbane and Perth, where buyers will now need a 20 per cent deposit before they can borrow. Banking and Finance Consumers Support Association president Denise Brailey warned the big four banks were scrapping some unpopular fees and cracking down on home loan applications as a last-minute attempt to win public support and stave off a Royal Commission.”
“Ms Brailey said she had more than 2,000 low income people on her books that had lost or faced losing their homes after being ‘preyed on by banks’ and granted loans they could not afford. ‘I have seen 70 and 80-year-olds on incomes of $30,000 a year given million dollar loans. It is just a disgrace,’ she said. ‘These are not isolated incidents, every case I’ve looked at has got fraud, some of them have got forgery, but they are all unaffordable, unstainable, unverified loans. In some cases, the elderly customers were paying the interest on their loans with the bank’s money.’”
“The 1,800 investors who handed over $120 million to a suspected Ponzi scheme masterminded by Pilbara businesswoman Veronica Macpherson are unlikely to get their money back, according to the liquidator of her Macro group companies. The biggest land asset is the Newman Estate, a 244-lot subdivision marketed by Macro as an upmarket development that would attract mine and service workers to live in the town and prompt a shift away from fly-in, fly-out workers.”
“Now corporate investigators like ASIC and liquidator Hayden White of KPMG are trying to unravel the vast and complex web of companies and international money flows left behind. Mr White recently reported to unsecured creditors and investors — who were mostly from overseas, predominantly from Singapore and Malaysia — that they were unlikely to see their money again.”
“The median price of land has dropped from $410,000 to $75,000 in the past year, according to the Real Estate Institute of WA. ‘They continue to incur costs, rates and taxes and they’re difficult to sell,’ Mr White said. ‘I’ve never had a situation where you can’t sell property. I always tend to have that view there’s always a buyer at some price. Unfortunately this matter is changing my view on that.’”
‘Mr White recently reported to unsecured creditors and investors — who were mostly from overseas, predominantly from Singapore and Malaysia — that they were unlikely to see their money again’
Shanghai Dan, holding the bag:
If I had a mortgage and I read this, I’d be walking away from it in a hurry.
Add some “Hot Sauce from Hell” to that Joshua Tree… for lubrication.
A fitting data point.
Joshua Tree, CA Housing Prices CRATER 9% YOY
http://www.movoto.com/joshua-tree-ca/market-trends/
Realtors are liars.
“he is worried about being responsible for paying his rent out of the lump sum. Previous Housing Benefit was paid direct to rent takers.”
There is a lesson in here somewhere.
Oh yeah - don’t give junkies a bunch of cash.
And I am talking about banks and Wall Street.
+++++
Universal Credit is ‘putting people in poverty’, charities warn (UK)
Sky News | September 29, 2017 | by Joe Tidy
The Government is being urged to pause the mass roll-out of its new benefits system next week as charities warn it is forcing people into poverty.
The system is designed to simplify the way claimants are paid merging six existing benefits, including housing benefit and jobseeker’s allowance, into one monthly payment.
Sky News went to one of their centres in Oldham to find out if that was the case.
In the two days I was there I met people like Debbie and Steven who, through addiction, had run out of benefit money and are desperate for help.
Like many people, Debbie openly admitted that her need was self-inflicted.
She said: “My problem is alcohol basically. But I recently got into some drugs as well and was spending £100 a day. Now I can’t afford to buy my food.”
Another man, recovering alcoholic Steven, told me he is worried about being responsible for paying his rent out of the lump sum. Previous Housing Benefit was paid direct to rent takers.
He said: “I think it’s totally wrong [to pay benefits monthly] because you’re giving people like me who are vulnerable and alcoholic money in their hand in one lump sum where they’re just going to blow it all.”
‘the perfect house only stays on the market for days, and in some cases, hours…Libby Dorris has watched her neighbors struggle to sell their homes for months. ‘One has been on the market since March and the other since July’
One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn’t belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?
http://www.songlyrics.com/sesame-street/one-of-these-things-is-not-like-the-others-lyrics/
The perfect house?
Would that be one in perfect condition, the perfect location, with the perfect color of paints, with the perfect staging, with all the right granite and stainless and priced to sell?
It rarely exists.
But…But…housing ladder!
++++
“Buyers are kicking back a little more on home inspection and they’re asking for more repairs. We’re seeing some contracts fall through during inspection because the buyer and seller can’t come to terms,” Cunliffe explained.
The end of the housing bubble v2.0 is so close…
And October 1st is just days away.
+++++
Home-Buying Hope Crashes To 5-Year Low, Drags Consumer Confidence Lower
ZeroHedge - Sep 29, 2017 10:21 AM
Share of consumers judging home-buying conditions as favorable was at five-year low…
Google’s Pixel 2 XL goes on sale next week, so there goes the down payment.
What happens October 1?
Obama’s QE goes into reverse
Have a link to an article that speculates the effect of it “reversing”?
Not in DC Metro. Housing is soaring (in the burbs) and they only stay on the market for less than a week. This area is never going to be affordable. EVER.
Yep. Townhouse around the corner just sold I think, took like 2 weeks. Same with the other one that went on the market a few months after new neighbors with a heard of kids moved in.
$120K or so above where prices were like 4 years ago, but not as high as some of the foreclosures that hit the last bubble peak (bank just recently sold one.)
Are you sure?
Washington, DC Housing Prices Crater 15% YOY
https://www.zillow.com/adams-morgan-washington-dc/home-values/
The market I’m referring to that is “reasonable” and not infested with 3rd worlders (yet) was going for upper 300s. It is now approaching mid 400s and averaging 1 wk on the market. This is one of the few areas of dc metro that hasn’t surpassed the 1/2 million mark - but it is climbing. It is a 25 yr old townhomes with 1 car garages. Insane
Give it time. With demand at 20 year lows and falling(likely 30 year lows in DC), the price declines will accelerate.
Give it up, Housing Analyst. You are making up statistics from whole cloth.
Hello my good friend.
Seattle, WA Rental Rates CRATER 14% YOY
https://www.zillow.com/seattle-wa-98109/home-values/
“Give it up, Housing Analyst. You are making up statistics from whole cloth.”
Whole cloth? Lint from his navel is more like it.
Jingle
HA, Ha, ha, hahahaha…….
How bout them crushing.housing.losses.
Denver, CO Housing Prices CRATER 16% YOY
https://www.zillow.com/highland-denver-co/home-values/
“Buyers focus too much on the home price rather than looking at the monthly costs of a property,” Evers says. “There are a lot of loan programs out there that can be helpful to buyers, and with financing loosening a little, they may find they can afford a little more than thought.”
This is quite literally some of the worst advice EVER to give someone. I don’t even know where to begin picking out wrong things here…
Look at the photo of the little “row house” with the price tag over $700k. I was out there once and drove around taking photos of all the foreclosures. They can spruce these old dumps up for pictures, but when you get close they’re just dumps.
“As long as you can make the monthly payment you’ll be OK!”
-My Aunt
Now THAT is a bubble popping.
Coming soon to nearly every city in America and the world (Germany might be an exception).
And yes, you still have to feed the alligator.
++++++
“The median price of land has dropped from $410,000 to $75,000 in the past year, according to the Real Estate Institute of WA. ‘They continue to incur costs, rates and taxes and they’re difficult to sell,’ Mr White said. ‘I’ve never had a situation where you can’t sell property. I always tend to have that view there’s always a buyer at some price.”
You know what’s really crazy? Regular shacks were selling for more like 900k in 2013 or so.
Back when the housing bubble v1.0 was popping - there was a saying around here that anyone who bought a house after 1999 was now or is about to be underwater.
I wonder what the date will be for housing bubble v2.0?
I predict 1999!
1999 would still be only a partial rollback from this credit mania.
That drop was in a mining town, probably nothing whatsoever worth a damn in that area besides whatever came out of the ground.
Lots of articles lately all over the webz about fraud - and the place most shysters sock away their ill gotten gains more often than not is RE. And its never just one place, its 4, 6, 10, you name it. Fraudsters as old as 70 hoarding shacks, what do they think theyre going to do with them? Truly bizarre.
Under obama, Holder and Clinton, not ONE banker even went to jail in eight years.
My prediction - a few banker perp walks and DJT wins in a landslide.
++++++++
Vietnam Shows How To Clean Up The Banking System: Ex-Banker Sentenced To Death For Fraud
ZeroHedge - Sep 29, 2017
The lack of prosecution of US bankers responsible for the great financial crisis has been a much debated topic over the years, leading to the coinage of such terms as “Too Big To Prosecute”, the termination of at least one corrupt DOJ official, the revelation that Eric Holder is the most useless Attorney General in history, and of course billions in cash kickbacks between Wall Street and D.C. And, naturally, the lack of incentives that punish cheating and fraud, is one of the main reasons why such fraud will not only continue but get bigger until once again, the entire system crashes under the weight of accumulated theft, corruption and Fed-driven malinvestment. But what can be done? In this case, Vietnam may have just shown the way - sentence embezzling bankers to death. Because if one wants to promptly stop an end to all financial crime, few things motivate as efficiently as a firing squad.
According to the BBC, the former head of a major Vietnamese bank has been sentenced to death for his role in a fraud case involving some 800 billion dong (which sounds like a lot of dong, but equals roughly $35 million) of illegal loans. Nguyen Xuan Son, who served as general director of OceanBank, was convicted of embezzlement, abuse of power and economic mismanagement. Bank founder, tycoon Ha Van Tham, and dozens of other banking officials are also on trial, accused of lending violations.
Meanwhile, dozens of former employees also received lengthy prison sentences in the major corruption trial. Because OceanBank is partially-state owned, Son’s crime of mishandling state money was thought to be particularly serious. After leaving the bank, he rose to be head of state oil giant PetroVietnam. As Reuters reported previously, PetroVietnam and Vietnam’s banking sector are at the heart of a sweeping corruption crackdown in the communist state.
“…few things motivate as efficiently as a firing squad…”
Apparently, this gentlemen got off (will die) easy.
I read somewhere that in North Korea, a government official convicted of fraud a few years ago (think it was an uncle of KimJong) was blown away by anti-aircraft fire. Sounds pretty messy, if you ask me.
Betcha fraud activity in North Korea is pretty near zero.
A couple of years ago while I was in China there was a rumor about locked glass rooms and dogs that hadn’t been fed in 3 days and people being forced to watch.
As an animal lover, I find this more despicable than most anything I’ve ever seen or heard in my entire life. I have no faith in mankind.
The Chinese developer who built the airport for the Olympics was killed by firing a squad for corruption, IIRC.
I just got this in an email:
“WE tv announces today that “Sharon Flipping Osbourne,” a home improvement special unlike any other, will premiere next Friday, October 6 at 10 PM ET/PT. “The Chew” host and infamous rocker wife has a little-known talent—flipping houses—and in next week’s special, she uses her own money, and her no-nonsense approach, to completely make over the home and life of a lucky LA couple.”
“We all love Sharon Osbourne for her charming, cheeky and opinionated personality, but guess what?! She’s also an experienced house flipper! Sharon has flipped dozens of homes - big and small - and made millions selling to celebrities. Premiering Friday, October 6th at 10pm ET/PT, viewers will see an entirely new side of the television host and media personality on an original special, “Sharon Flipping Osbourne.”
“On the one-hour special, Sharon makes a deal with a couple in Los Angeles who were looking to sell their home but had no idea who would be knocking on their door to help! She offers to put her own money into the mix to update the house, but this means she’s in charge: from hiring the contractors, decorating with décor from her own warehouse to working with her favorite realtor. In the end, if they get an offer that works, she splits the profits with the seller…it’s flippin’ awesome!”
“What most people don’t know about me is that I flip houses, and I’m damn good at it,” comments Osbourne, who also serves as an Executive Producer along with her son, Jack Osbourne. “Most people don’t know how to get their max price, but I do because I’m Sharon F$&:@ing Osbourne.”
The most obvious BELL AT THE TOP indicator there has been to date.
I am going to watch it too! With lots of good rye whiskey.
Because I am 2 F-cking Banana!
Just a side question. Did the Osbournes run out of money? Are they in the Nick Cage and John Deep club of loser RE investments?
If ancient music history is any guide Ozzy is hopeless with money but Sharon knows what she’s doing. My guess is that she has very little personally at risk in this venture. It’s all entertainment.
And 2B - your brand of rye is what?
Curious.
Got this as a gift.
Very good and not too pricey!
http://dadshatrye.com/
Dad’s Hat—I had to follow the link to clarify, because I had first read that onewordnocaps DadsHatRye as DadShatRye.
Unfortunate, that, in a name.
“Gee, that rye must be strong. Two sips and Dad sh!t in his hat.”
after being ‘preyed on by banks’ and granted loans they could not afford.
here if you don’t give them the loan ,it’s raciscist
The MSM loves to ignore the fact that they were also temporarily granted HOUSES that they could not afford.
(smile)
“‘I have seen 70 and 80-year-olds on incomes of $30,000 a year given million dollar loans. It is just a disgrace,’ she said.”
Bahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
“I’m going to work until I die.”
Yes, you will. Suzanne researched it.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/national/seniors-financial-insecurity/
“I’m going to work until I die.”
Isn’t that what we used to do in the old days?
How else will that mountain of debt called a mortgage be repaid?
Exactly. “Retirement” is a relatively new phenomenon.
The China family system seems decent to me. You retire from your profession but you will then take over caring for your grandkids in your child’s home for the rest of your life. In return for that you get free room, board, and care.
The one child policy complicated it a little though because there were 4 grandparents for only one child.
Sounds like The Waltons.
We used to do things like that in this country, in mass numbers. We will again.
“Molnar said the company’s owner thought he was doing his 100 employees a favor by managing their retirement accounts. “But he didn’t know what he was doing,” she said. Instead of being angry with him, she’s furious with the 401(k) system.”
Hehe… there’s gotta be more to this story.
I think I see some of the problems…
++++++
They raised two children and lived well enough but never had much extra cash to put away. After a lifetime of working, they have a small mobile home in Indiana, a couple of modest life insurance policies and $5,000 in savings.
The Devers are better off than many Americans. One in 5 have no savings, and millions retire with nothing in the bank. Nearly 30 percent of households headed by someone 55 or older have neither a pension nor any retirement savings, according to a 2015 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
As Joanne’s retirement account was further battered by the Great Recession in 2008, the Molnars sold Mark’s share of his piano-restoration business and their home in Connecticut, which had lost value but kept attracting higher and higher property tax bills.
“their home in Connecticut, which had lost value but kept attracting higher and higher property tax bills.”
And that’s how a desperate state government extracts money to pay for its sanctuary state policies, pensions and other stuff.
which had lost value but kept attracting higher and higher property tax bills.
gov goons get paid, and r the only ones to retire
It is possible to escape the fate of working forever, even rather late in the game.
My employer is planning a reduction in force. They’ve magically timed a major (financed) facility expansion with a business downturn. I raised my hand. I’ve been making preps for quite a while and now there is a signoff bonus on the table.
I don’t need much, but I have more than that and a thousand things I want to do. I’ve spent the last week evaluating their offer of a continuing consultant gig, but I don’t think I will do it.
Congrats, Blue!
It takes courage to cut that financial umbilical cord, even knowing that you don’t need much and have more than that. I salute you for that courage.
Thanks Prime!
‘These are not isolated incidents, every case I’ve looked at has got fraud, some of them have got forgery, but they are all unaffordable, unstainable, unverified loans. In some cases, the elderly customers were paying the interest on their loans with the bank’s money.’
_______________________/
Wow. This must be, like, the first time ever that massive fraud, loose money, and an asset bubble went hand-in-hand.
Walnut Creek, CA Housing Prices Crater 6% YOY On Record Low Housing Demand
Irvine, CA Housing Prices Crater 11% YOY
https://www.zillow.com/northwood-irvine-ca/home-values/
Irvine is a nice area… among the last places to collapse.
.9% doesn’t cover repairs etc
‘The housing market is slowing in nearly every metro area in the country,’
Time to further loosen up lending standards to help the dancers keep dancing…
Don’t wear flip-flops walking around downtown Denver because you’ll probably step on some used heroin needles.
https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2017/09/29/denver-mayor-hancock-seeks-input-on-his-new-5-year.html
The same goes for downtown Salt Lake City, Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, LA, San Diego, and dozens of other western cities.
Where are they getting the money to pay for heroin and other drugs? Crime?
I saw this in downtown San Jose, CA last year. Street people are sleeping in the recessed alcove entry of office buildings blocking access to the electronic keypad and/or doorway, and the smell of urine was everywhere.
Hopefully they don’t have a raging hepatitis A epidemic like San Diego’s homeless community has.
Stop sugarcoating the housing market: Economist warns that buyers face increasing troubles
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/26/stop-sugarcoating-the-housing-market-economist-warns-that-buyers-face-increasing-troubles.html
If you buy a house now you stand to loose alot of money…alot.
I believe the cancellation numbers for the NFL Sunday Ticket are in.
NBA says players must stand for national anthem: report
AFP Sep 29, 2017, 10:36 PM
New York (AFP) - The National Basketball Association sent a memo late Friday to all 30 teams instructing players to stand for the US national anthem, and warning teams there won’t be any exceptions.
The memo, from deputy commissioner Mark Tatum, said the league has the discretion to discipline players who violate a rule already on the books stating that they must stand for the anthem, broadcaster ESPN reported.
The memo tells teams that “the league office will determine how to deal with any possible instance in which a player, coach, or trainer does not stand for the anthem.” It adds that individual teams “do not have the discretion to waive” the rule.
https://sports.yahoo.com/nba-says-players-must-stand-national-anthem-report-023631808–nba.html
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
“April was when the local real estate frenzy was at its peak. The area’s average residential sale price hit an all-time high of $512,656. Since then, the average sale price has fallen for four straight months. For August, it stood at $441,992.”
That’s a pretty fast ride down. The annualized rate of decline is ((441,992/512,656)^(12/4)-1)*100% = -35.9%.
Investors must be soiling themselves.
Try not to catch yourself a falling 🔪.
C.R.A.T.E.R.