We’re Not In The Boom Anymore
A report from Vice Magazine on Canada. “Canada’s real estate market is bound to take a hit this year thanks to the government’s new mortgage rules that took effect on January 1st. Buyers who are making down payments of more than 20 percent on a home, do not need mortgage insurance — they will now have their incomes ’stress-tested’ on a mortgage rate two percentage points higher than whatever rate they originally qualified for. Average home prices in Toronto have declined by almost 10 percent since May 2017, with single-detached homes bearing the brunt of that decrease.”
“Some critics of government intervention in the housing market argue that the mortgage rules were badly timed, given that Canada’s hottest real estate markets like Toronto were already cooling. ‘These rules were necessary, but to what extent was there a need to do it at this particular time?’ asked CIBC’s Deputy Chief Economist Benjamin Tal.”
From the St Catherines Standard in Canada. “The Niagara real estate market has levelled out in recent months after prices increased on average 30 per cent from January to May 2017, says Brad Johnstone, broker of record for Royal LePage Niagara. Randy Mulder, president of the Niagara Association of Realtors, says many of the buyers have been coming from the Greater Toronto and Hamilton areas. While Mulder says buyers are no longer ‘flooding the market,’ he says activity should remain steady.”
“‘People realized there’s quality real estate to be had here for a reasonable price, comparatively speaking,’ he says. ‘I don’t think we’re going to see a heavy erosion of the pricing because a lot of that was a makeup.’”
“According to Boldt, Niagara properties are half to one-third of the price of housing in Toronto. He says Torontonians began selling their homes and buying similar properties in Niagara. Boldt says foreign buyers, especially from China, contributed to rising prices and volume before the province introduced a speculation tax in April. ‘As much as people complain, I think these are actually good things. We’re trying to prevent what happened in the States,’ he says, referring to the U.S. housing crash of 2008.”
“Mulder says it’s unfair to compare sales figures now to those experienced at the height of the boom. ‘We’re comparing sales now to one of the hottest markets I’ve seen in my 55 years on this planet.’”
The Vancouver Sun in Canada. “To understand Metro Vancouver’s housing market in 2017, and how B.C.’s politicians could ease the affordability crisis in the future, it’s necessary to look offshore — to China, Australia and New Zealand. A clutch of real-estate industry and government officials in Canada still want the public to believe foreign capital and immigration policy have little to do with the sky-high housing markets in Vancouver and Toronto. But the evidence is pushing their vested voices to the fringe of the affordability debate.”
“UBC geographer David Ley, author of Millionaire Migrants, joins SFU’s Qiyan Wu in maintaining Chinese investment has become ‘a fundamental’ of Metro Vancouver’s real estate market, up there with interest rates. National Bank of Canada economists estimate ‘almost $13 billion was spent by Chinese investors in Vancouver’ in one year alone.”
“Indeed, this year’s move by China’s authoritarian leaders to severely restrict how much money they will allow to leave their populous country appears to be a key reason prices on high-end detached houses in Metro have this fall been dropping by 15 to 20 per cent, even if most of the public hasn’t noticed.”
From News.com.au in Australia. “New data reveals that there are just over 23,000 Sydney properties on the market at the moment, a massive rise from last year. The CoreLogic data also reveals Sydney’s median home price has inched down in recent months to just over $895,000. However, that’s still more than $300,000 higher than it was in 2012. The average amount of time it takes to sell homes is already rising in some suburbs as buyers realise they have more choices and more bargaining power.”
“Yet auctioneer Rocky Bartolotto of Auction Services said many inner-city vendors were still not pricing their properties competitively because they were expecting to get more money than neighbours who sold six months or a year ago. ‘Sellers need to be realistic with their pricing. We’re not in the boom anymore,’ Mr Bartolotto told The Daily Telegraph.”
“CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless said investors would struggle to enter the market. ‘Prospective borrowers, particularly investors, may find securing a mortgage won’t get any easier in 2018,’ Mr Lawless said.”
From The Daily Telegraph in Australia. “Some of Sydney’s wealthiest suburbs have been hit hard by the city’s plunging house prices, with formerly immune property havens such as Darling Point and exclusive Point Piper dropping by as much as 17 per cent in the past year. The dramatic fall follows a Sydney-wide downward trend in which timid buyers have slammed the brakes on the once-booming housing market.”
“‘It’s more than brakes, the market has slipped into reverse for four months now,’ said CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless.’The question is how far is it going to go? We think there will be a correction of 5 per cent to 10 per cent in property values.’”
From the Brisbane Times in Australia. “Blacktown train guard John Okroglic, 40, is one Sydney property investor who believes he sold his investment property at the right time, as house prices in the city fall. Mr Okroglic sold his apartment on Elouera Road in Cronulla in November for $720,000, a property he bought for $345,000 just 15 years ago. ‘I think we hit the peak, simple as that,’ he said. ‘You sell at a high and buy at a low, you’re not going to hold something that’s not making you money.’”
“Just one month since the sale, Mr Okroglic thinks if he waited any longer, he would have received $50,000 less. ‘There’s one place in Cronulla it went for $640,000 two, three weeks ago … my agent saw it and he said, ‘How did he only get that much when yours was not nearly as good?’ ‘So I’m very lucky.’”
“Mr Okroglic said he always felt the Sydney housing bubble would not last. ‘Wages haven’t kept up with this nonsense, as I call it. Something is going to give eventually, and I’m sorry to say this, but I think there’s going to be a lot of carnage later on,’ he said.”
‘Some critics of government intervention in the housing market argue that the mortgage rules were badly timed, given that Canada’s hottest real estate markets like Toronto were already cooling. ‘These rules were necessary, but to what extent was there a need to do it at this particular time?’ asked CIBC’s Deputy Chief Economist Benjamin Tal.’
It’s never a good time to stop shooting up heroin Ben.
‘formerly immune property havens such as Darling Point and exclusive Point Piper dropping by as much as 17 per cent in the past year’
‘Average home prices in Toronto have declined by almost 10 percent since May 2017, with single-detached homes bearing the brunt of that decrease’
A loud notice to shack worshippers in California and Washington state: these markets were hotter than yours have ever been and the prices are still higher. Yet they hit a brick wall in less than 6 months. Woe to the fool who thinks they are different.
“…they will now have their incomes ’stress-tested’ on a mortgage rate two percentage points higher than whatever rate they originally qualified for.”
What is the purpose of these stress tests? Do they reflect a concern that interest rates will somehow be 2 percentage points (200 basis points) higher some time in the foreseeable future?
That’s unpossible. Everyone knows that current historically low interest rates are here to stay.
‘New data reveals that there are just over 23,000 Sydney properties on the market at the moment, a massive rise from last year…Lawless said investors would struggle to enter the market. ‘Prospective borrowers, particularly investors, may find securing a mortgage won’t get any easier in 2018’
Well get out your bib rentalwatch and start eating crow again. There was a mighty “shortage” of shacks and airboxes in Sydney. Lo and behold - it’s gone. All that was need was a bit of restraining speculators, a little tax and some loan tightening, and the once world-beater is now an FB wasteland. It’s interesting that in Sydney, Vancouver and Toronto, detached shacks are getting hit the hardest when they were previously considered the strongest part of the market.
“All that was need was a bit of restraining speculators, a little tax and some loan tightening”
Our new tax plan does a little bit of three. Crater in 3… 2…
23000, are there even that many people in Oz? Lol, maybe they can use some of them for koala habitat - I hear theyre quiet neighbors cuz theyre always stoned on eucalyptus leaves.
Now roos, on the other hand, would not make good neighbors. Always jumping around and getting in fights, kind of like aussies themselves, eh? I blame vegemite!
23,000 * median price of $895,000 says that $20,585,000,000 is trying to be sold.
It would take a LOT of demand to satisfy that market.
My local Wells Fargo is now locking the door to its walkin ATM lobby from 6pm to 7am every night to keep the homeless from sleeping in there.
This isn’t even downtown, this is South Denver.
“My local Wells Fargo is now locking the door to its walkin ATM lobby from 6pm to 7am every night to keep the homeless from sleeping in there.”
With Global Warming sweeping the nation that seems like cruel and unusual punishment.
Dog Found Dead After Being Left Outside in the Cold in Hartford: Police
Published at 1:22 PM EST on Jan 2, 2018 | Updated at 7:52 PM EST on Jan 2, 2018
A Hartford resident faces animal cruelty charges after a dog was found frozen to death on Adams Street, according to Hartford police.
https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Dog-Found-Dead-After-Being-Left-Outside-in-the-Cold-in-Hartford-467707473.html
hope they get fck up the azs and get aids
would be fair
also
no inventory hear in N VA as big dod overspend will sprinkle down on us
‘Just one month since the sale, Mr Okroglic thinks if he waited any longer, he would have received $50,000 less…Mr Okroglic said he always felt the Sydney housing bubble would not last. ‘Wages haven’t kept up with this nonsense, as I call it. Something is going to give eventually, and I’m sorry to say this, but I think there’s going to be a lot of carnage later on’
Once again, a man on the street knew more than all the so-called experts. How would you like to be the dolt who bought this shack? A few hours ago he sits down to his avocado toast, looks at the newspaper and says, “Abigale, this is the bashtard who sold us this place. We’ve been stuffed!”
Get rid of negative gearing and then watch the show unfold. The ability to write off the difference between what you collect in rent and what you pay on the mortgage has made “investing” in Oz possible for decades.
Probably not going to happen though.
Because the census asking about citizenship status is racist:
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/01/02/us/census-citizenship-status-immigrants.html
Why do illegal aliens deserve proportional representation in Congress?
Hmmm … what would keep illegals from simply marking the “legal resident” checkbox on the form? No one is going to ask them for proof, right?
Congratulations to UCF on their National Championship.
That other game coming up is for second place.
Commentary: After Peach Bowl win over Auburn, UCF is the real national champion
Jan 1, 2018
We now present to you the real college football national champions — the UCF Knights.
UCF 34, Big, bad SEC powerhouse Auburn 27.
Who cares what the College Football Playoff cartel, er, committee says? All they are is a kangaroo court for college football’s privileged and powerful who have somehow convinced the American public that there is a legitimate playoff going on that excludes the nation’s only unbeaten team.
“There’s no more teams left to beat,” defensive leader Shaquem Griffin said after the Knights forced Jarrett Stidham, Auburn’s All-SEC quarterback, into two game-changing interceptions. “To the College Football Playoff Committee: What more can we do?”
The Knights, even though they are one of the most dominant teams in the nation, were shamefully ranked No. 12 in the final College Football Playoff ranking — five spots behind a three-loss Auburn team. Yes, the same Auburn team that played three of four playoff teams this season, manhandling both Georgia (40-17) and Alabama (26-14) late in the season and barely losing to Clemson (14-6) early in the season.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/ucf-knights/os-sp-ucf-peach-bowl-mike-bianchi-0102-story.html
What does this have to do with HBB?
“What does this have to do with HBB?”
First you explain to me why I have to explain anything to you and then tell me what these letters stand for…
ESABATM
My fave from the old days, LSMFT
LSMFT: Loose Straps Mean Floppy Tits.
Palmy is there any news of those 30-40 Congresscritters that weren’t supposed to return to Congress? No? Hmm… another conspiracy theory gone poof.
Give me a break, oxy, I’ve just been trying to find out if the House Intel committee got the info it subpoena-ed from DOJ/FBI. I’ve been on the horn for the past hour between my representative’s office and the Intel committee’s office and am being stonewalled ALL THE WAY!
Smarmy little girl voice: “I’m sorry, we’re not allowed to divulge that information.”
I’m not asking what’s in the documents or whatever, I just want to know did they even get them.
So I call back to my rep’s office to see if they can get Miss Tinkle-voice to just say yes or no.
Smarmy lisping guy cuck-voice: “I’m thorry, thath’s thandard prothedure, thecurity clearanthes don’t allow it until they make a public announthement. I’ll path your contherns on to the reprethentative.”
At this point, I don’t give a friggin’ rat’s patootie who returned to Congress, because if Nunes didn’t get what he asked for, it doesn’t matter. Because the DOJ/FBI just showed who really runs the country and the Constitution don’t mean crap.
Is it go time?
Is it go time?</i?
https://westernrifleshooters.wordpress.com/2012/09/03/bracken-when-the-music-stops-how-americas-cities-may-explode-in-violence/
So what did you find out?
Also, I’m pretty sure this isn’t the first time that a request in Washington went unfulfilled. What am I missing, that this somehow is such a pivotal moment?
As I mentioned above, I didn’t find out squat, because according to the staff member of the Intel committee and the staffer at my rep’s office, it’s “confidential” until the committee makes a public statement. And as I mentioned, all I wanted to know was did the DOJ even respond to the subpoena. Which they’re supposed to do, by law.
It is true that the “permanent” government often stonewalls requests. In that case, Congressional committees have to take the unusual action of subpoena to force them to fork over the information being requested. As I recall, the last time this happened Eric Holder was issued a contempt citation, I think it had to do with Fast and Furious. In fact that was probably the real pivotal moment, now that you mention it.
Why is it pivotal? Sheesh, I don’t have time here for a civics lesson, but it boils down to, as I said above, the battle between the “permanent” state, in this case the entrenched members of the DOJ/FBI, vs the “transitory” state (elected officials and their staffs, etc.). “Transitory” is what the unelected bureaucrats calls the people that WE, as citizens, elect to represent us. It’s a term of contempt, really. J. Edgar Hoover called the FBI the “SOG”, or Seat of Government.
The bureaucrats are supposed to be responsive to the representative government, however much they may not want to be. When they are not, it is a nullification of representative government and by extension, the Constitution. That is what is going on with all the shenanigans at the FBI/DOJ, with Russiagate and the dossier, an attempt to nullify the election. And if they’re successful, we’re done as a nation.
“LSMFT: Loose Straps Mean Floppy Tits.”
I prefer a little strap gap.
In German: stopzemfrumfloppen
I’ve been coming here (off and on) for years, and I have no idea what those acronyms mean?
ESABATM
E - Eat
S - Sh#t
A - And
B - Bark
A - At
T - The
M - Moon
Ok
Have to? You don’t. Threadjacking is not very polite.
Housing my good friend…. Housing.
Boulder, CO Housing Prices Crater 7% YOY
https://www.movoto.com/boulder-co/market-trends/
“What does this have to do with HBB?”
“Threadjacking is not very polite.”
Do you put your hands on your hips and stomp your feet when you say this sh#t?
It shows the Folly of the American public, and they’d rather watch a useless game then get involved with their community and show up at public meetings let alone the PTA or whatever they call i now. Vote and make their daily lives better. Archie Bunker still lives in Millions of Americans today,
Archie B. was a dig at white God fearing male US citizens by a rotten to the core card carrying communist.
“It shows the Folly of the American public, and they’d rather watch a useless game then get involved with their community and show up at”
OK Folly boy
I coached little league for 11 years rec and travel, you?
No?
Then you wouldn’t know about on top the thousands of hours it required. Pre season meetings, weekends spent on clinics and draft before the season starts, hours on the phone calling kids/parents about being on team/practice/games. You wait for that last parent to show up 20 minutes late after practice, you still take the kids that struggles and their Mom or Dad out to a separate field on your off weekend day so the other kids don’t know their getting extra help. You take the parents that are going through a divorce to another parking lot and explain to them they just can’t fight in front of their kid much less the whole team. I could go on but for what I am responding to I have already said too much.
I have run a small business for 26 years while managing to keep several employees from day 1 through today paid and able to raise their families. Through those years we were fortunate enough to be able to help single Moms and struggling families by doing hurricane damage and other repairs they could not afford to pay for that would have easily paid for a loaded 2018 F250.
How much out of pocket time and money have you given to your community?
Through it all I didn’t hear anyone that was around and willing to help flapping their gums about watching useless games or showing up at public meetings or getting involved with their community. We just did it.
Saul Alinsky still lives in Millions of Americans today.
PS
I only watched a couple of plays from a few games over New Years, I just thought it was worth mentioning another Committee of “betters” had screwed up.
Funny, I think the same thing when 2bananas reposts every single ZH article, but no one seemed to mind.
Every. Single. One.
Interesting article, thanks. I would think the theme of vested interests receiving an unwelcome reality check might resonate here.
“It wasn’t right — watching the Committee every week sitting in a room and deciding this two-loss team must be better than UCF or that three-loss team must be better than UCF,” obviously perturbed coach Scott Frost said. “It looked like a conscious effort [to keep UCF out of the playoff].”
An exciting game to end the year for sure. Nice that Scott Frost could be with the team at the playoff too.
There’s a whole bunch of rent-free living going on around here.
Not to mention bunches of good eats!
https://spicysouthernkitchen.com/wp-content/uploads/flamin-cheeto-mac-and-cheese-4.jpg
https://spicysouthernkitchen.com/flamin-cheetos-mac-and-cheese/
(frankly this stuff would make me sick, even if it were grass-fed)
Hey Donk
“Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl” just doesn’t sound right.
National City, CA Housing Prices Crater 5% YOY
https://www.movoto.com/national-city-ca/market-trends/
WSJ paywall preview — renters say they want amenities, but not many use them:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/renters-love-the-gymbut-only-in-theory-1514993082
Salon dot com wets the bed on #MuhSanctuary:
https://www.salon.com/2018/01/03/acting-immigration-director-suggests-charging-sanctuary-cities-politicians-with-crimes/
Remember, California is the most impoverished state in the country:
http://m.sfgate.com/nation/article/Critics-fault-some-aid-for-the-homeless-12462716.php
“You’ve got to serve the food in a place where mental health is being provided.”
This used to be done…at in-patient mental health facilities, but few of them seem to exist anymore?
Probably no one wants to foot those bills, plus the lawyers would have a field day so instead our country is now one big open air asylum, especially libtard states like clownifornia. Thanks (((lawyers)))!
I’m thinking that places like Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis are just as libtard as Los Angeles and San Francisco but they have less of a homeless problem because the weather makes them head south and west.
I was under the impression that the halfway houses served meals.
“Some of Sydney’s wealthiest suburbs have been hit hard by the city’s plunging house prices, with formerly immune property havens such as Darling Point and exclusive Point Piper dropping by as much as 17 per cent in the past year. The dramatic fall follows a Sydney-wide downward trend in which timid buyers have slammed the brakes on the once-booming housing market.”
With bubbles in formerly frothy markets such as Australia and Canada collapsing, can other Chinese investor-fed boom markets such as the U.S. West Coast be far behind?
Are the Canada and Oz slowdowns simply due to policy changes in those countries? Or do the Chinese (and others) no longer have as much money to invest? (Or maybe they have lost the desire to do so?)
Handing out subprime loans to anyone that asks isn’t a very firm foundation.
Plunging necklines, not house prices. Janet?
What the heck is a “jumo”?
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/03/donald-trump-russia-steve-bannon-michael-wolff
“The chance that Don Jr did not walk these jumos up to his father’s office on the twenty-sixth floor is zero.”
(((Person Who Is Jewish))) with Money.
Here comes Chipzilla! Not RE-related, but surely of interest to HBBers…
“A massive, mysterious security flaw in Intel processors is forcing a redesign of the kernel software at the heart of all major operating systems, The Register is reporting. Since the issue lies directly in Intel’s x86-64 hardware, Windows, Linux, and Mac all need to protect against it. And worse, it appears that plugging the hole will negatively affect your PC’s performance.”
Q: How do I know if my PC is at risk?
Short answer: It is. There isn’t any concrete data yet, but speculation is that the bug affects all Intel x86 CPUs produced over the past 10 years, regardless of the OS you’re running or whether you have a desktop or laptop.
Quotes are from this article: https://www.pcworld.com/article/3245606/security/intel-x86-cpu-kernel-bug-faq-how-it-affects-pc-mac.html
Excellent Register article: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/01/02/intel_cpu_design_flaw/
i need 10 grand by the end of week.
…mine a BitCoin
Just create your own cryptocurrency!
“It’s basically a class of really stupid speculators who have convinced themselves that trees grow to the sky…” - Uber-bear David Stockman on cryptocurrency
He also took shots at the fed and other central banks.
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/29/bitcoin-fever-to-burn-out-in-spectacular-crash-david-stockman-warned.html?recirc=taboolainternal
“It’s basically a class of really stupid speculators who have convinced themselves that trees grow to the sky…” - David Stockman on cryptocurrency
No one that I have spoken to says it will grow to the sky. Stockman is ignorant as fk. It’s a trading vehicle. Nothing more nor less. What it is doing, however, is diverting money away from “conventional” investments and that’s why governments are trying to curtail/control it. (Why do you think they want to tax it? )
Clearwater, FL Housing Prices Crater 19% YOY
https://www.movoto.com/clearwater-fl/market-trends/
Your tax dollars’ inaction.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-signs-order-disbanding-voter-fraud-commission/ar-BBHQk97
As long as he’s cutting wasteful spending, maybe we won’t see any more of those hundred-million-dollar bomber flyover show-of-force-shows in Korea. Jesus gave us (((Oppenheimer))) for a reason.
Not sure what to make of this. Properties selling in the South Bay of Los Angeles $800k to >$2M and immediately going online on the rental market at a high market-rate rent, rents that feel very high for people that actually live in this area despite being the market rate.
LOTS of expensive rentals are available for the limited number of renters that can commit to these high prices. There are only so many people that can pay $3,700 - >$6k/month in rent. I’ve seen the same nice but expensive rentals sitting available online month after month.
What I don’t get is that these condos, townhouses, and single family homes are selling, and immediately being listed as rentals, at sales-prices that would be slightly cash-flow NEGATIVE vs. monthly payment even with a >50% cash downpayment. They would be cash flow negative even IF they are rented at 100% occupancy at the asking-rent-price with zero upkeep or property management costs. And that is not counting the lost opportunity cost of dropping $500k - $1M+ cash in downpayment.
These properties are pre-”flipped” before they are selling, meaning the same tiles, countertops, cabinets in EVERY single one… and staged with the same furniture and accessories including the “It’s better at the beach:)” faux-weathered sign, starfish, and “tasteful” beachy cottage chic light blue bedding and throw pillows. Barf!
So these are post-flip sales. It’s not dreamy-eyed flippers buying these things thinking they can add paint and carpet and screw the next guy.
Can anyone shed light on this? Who would be buying these rental properties at 50% cash down and still negative cash flow? Could it all be large companies that don’t care about individual properties making sense, only the aggregate of their vast diversified holdings? Or could individual investors actually be thinking they are going to turn a quick profit even though even the ultimate RE cheerleader Zillow only predicts tiny increases YoY if any for these S Bay zip codes???
‘these condos, townhouses, and single family homes are selling, and immediately being listed as rentals, at sales-prices that would be slightly cash-flow NEGATIVE vs. monthly payment even with a >50% cash downpayment. They would be cash flow negative even IF they are rented at 100% occupancy at the asking-rent-price with zero upkeep or property management costs. And that is not counting the lost opportunity cost of dropping $500k - $1M+ cash in downpayment.’
Greater fools stuff.
If you’re bored in early 2018, this book might help liven things up.
Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump%e2%80%99s-lawyers-send-cease-and-desist-letter-to-bannon/ar-BBHQEgE
Butt, meet hurt.
Bob Newhart: STOP IT!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow0lr63y4Mw
So is the First Amendment pretty much out the window now?