Prices In Sought-After Cities Are Heading South
A report from CNN Money. “After an unusually calm 2017, volatility is making a comeback. The turbulence appears to be a side effect of the Federal Reserve starting last fall to shrink its $4.5 trillion balance sheet. In a bid to revive the economy and stock market, the Fed took the unusual step in 2008 of aggressively buying government bonds and mortgage securities in an experimental program known as quantitative easing. The central bank bought so much during QE1, QE2 and QE3 that its balance sheet swelled five-fold over a decade. The Fed, emboldened by the strong economy, has begun to take the training wheels off. It’s tightened financial policy by raising rock-bottom rates seven times since late 2015.”
“Last fall, the Fed started to trim its balance sheet by $10 billion a month. The pace of selling has since accelerated and is on track to eventually reach $50 billion a month. ‘Quantitative easing was a big experiment, and so unwinding it is an experiment in and of itself,’ said Kristina Hooper, Invesco’s chief global market strategist.”
“The return of market storms doesn’t mean the Fed is on the wrong track. It only seems wise to wean the economy and markets off crisis-era policies. ‘The Fed should be taking away emergency stimulus. If it doesn’t, it’ll blow an asset bubble like what we saw in the housing bust,’ said Barbara Reinhard, head of asset allocation at Voya Investment Management.”
From Bloomberg. “From London to Sydney and Beijing to New York, house prices in some of the world’s most sought-after cities are heading south. Home sales in New York’s most expensive borough have been falling for three straight quarters, allowing buyers to be picky as inventory rises and fears grow that prices climbed too high, too fast. There were almost 7,000 apartments on the market at the end of the second quarter, 11 percent more than a year earlier. Sales fell 17 percent to just over 2,600.”
“Developers are still pumping newly built luxury units onto the sales market: 4,600 new apartments are expected to be listed across the borough this year. The upshot is falling prices: the median value of a home that sold in the three months through June slid 7.5 percent to $1.1 million.”
From the Epoch Times. “While backward-looking measures such as the Case-Shiller 20 City Composite Home Price Index do not yet show the turn, granular measures such as the Weiss Residential Research index show the number of homes rising in price is decelerating rapidly. In beautiful Orange County, for example, home sales in luxury venues such as Newport and Laguna Beach have slowed to a trickle. As in New York and Connecticut, luxury-home prices in Southern California have experienced price compression, especially since this year’s first quarter.”
“Anecdotal reports from real-estate brokers suggest the asset-price bubble created by the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is starting to deflate. The ‘aspirational pricing,’ to paraphrase Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel, is basically done. Prices for high-end homes are being marked down rather than up, as sellers are forced to capitulate to close the deal.”
The Orange County Register in California. “The Inland Empire’s homeownership rate dipped in the second quarter as more homes for sale stood empty. One bad quarter is not a significantly ominous signal, but the falling ownership levels along with a rising vacancies suggest local house hunters are not jumping on 2018’s noteworthy surge in homes listed for sale. Considering all the talk about a shortage of housing in Southern California, it’s curious that an increased supply of shopper options has translated to home sales in the region in 2018 running at a four-year low.”
From Fox 40 in California. “We’ve seen housing prices skyrocket in the last two years, but have we finally topped out? Sacramento-area’s fast-rising price gains have slowed dramatically during the past few months and didn’t even budge in June. And home sales slowed in June compared to May – and from a year ago, according to a California Association of Realtors. Plus, mortgage rates, which surged during the first few months of the year, have actually been falling in recent weeks – and are now at rates last seen in April. What’s going on?”
From Realtor.com. “Realtor.com® today released its July 2018 monthly housing trend report, which revealed a quiet inventory turnaround in high-priced local markets as U.S. home prices and time on market continued to set records. Silicon Valley is leading the rebound as the San Jose metro surged with 44 percent more inventory than a year ago — a quick about-face from its May inventory declines.”
‘The inventory turnaround is concentrated in high-priced markets. Additionally, inventories are up the most in markets that have seen sustained price growth which is now starting to slow. ‘July inventory growth is in high-priced, competitive markets, and often at the pricier end of these markets,’ said Danielle Hale, chief economist for realtor.com®. ‘It’s not just California markets that have seen an increase in inventory, markets on both coasts and in the South reported inventory increases in July.’”
“In addition to San Jose, inventory increased in Seattle, and Providence increasing 44 percent, 29 percent and 23 percent, respectively. Other major markets that showed gains included: Dallas (15 percent), San Francisco (10 percent), Boston (5 percent), and New York (2 percent).”
The Dallas Morning News in Texas. “Dallas-area home price gains continued to lose steam in the latest nationwide comparison. Dallas home prices were up just 5.6 percent year-over-year in the new Standard & Poor’s/Case Shiller Home Price Index. That’s less than the nationwide annual increase of 6.4 percent in May. And it’s the lowest Dallas-area home price increase Case-Shiller has recorded in almost six years.”
“Dallas-area home prices are now at record levels in the Case-Shiller index and are 47 percent higher than they were before the Great Recession. ‘The twin, deeply entrenched drivers of rapidly appreciating home prices over the past few years — very high demand from home buyers and incredibly limited supply to meet it — aren’t changing and are unlikely to meaningfully subside in the near term,’ Zillow senior economist Aaron Terrazas said. ‘But there are some very faint, very preliminary, sometimes contradictory and maybe deceptive signals that the tide could slowly be beginning to turn.’”
From Bizwest on Colorado. “Northern Colorado is in a seller’s market, right? Hard to argue otherwise. After all, the region’s supply of homes for sale has held low for several years running, demand maintains a steady simmer, and average prices keep climbing. From a 30,000-foot view, that’s a reasonable assessment. But identifying a seller’s market or buyer’s market requires a closer look — maybe even as close as a neighborhood, a city block, or a specific property. Through that lens, you’ll see that Northern Colorado is a patchwork of seller’s and buyer’s markets.”
“$700,001-$1 million. Signs of a buyer’s market for those shopping in this price range. Only in Fort Collins was supply at less than six months (4.4 months). Greeley, Loveland and Windsor all reported at least seven months of supply. But Greeley sellers got 100.6 percent of their asking price, while the Fort Collins sellers only brought in 96.2 percent.”
“$1 million-$1.3 million. A small sample size here, so only Fort Collins had enough sales in this price range to warrant analysis. The supply was 8.5 months, and percentage of list price was just 85.5 percent.”
I’ve wondered for a while how the MSM was going to deal with the bubble popping, and now we are watching them try to get out ahead of it.
Jeebus, prices have been falling in London for a couple or three years, same with NYC. Sydney, about a year. Toronto the same.
Do I hear someone shouting ‘fire’ somewhere? I’m trying to watch the movie here…
Goleta, CA Housing Prices Crater 13% YOY As Housing Correction Torches Coastal California
https://www.movoto.com/goleta-ca/market-trends/
‘The twin, deeply entrenched drivers of rapidly appreciating home prices over the past few years — very high demand from home buyers and incredibly limited supply to meet it — aren’t changing and are unlikely to meaningfully subside in the near term,’ Zillow senior economist Aaron Terrazas said. ‘But there are some very faint, very preliminary, sometimes contradictory and maybe deceptive signals that the tide could slowly be beginning to turn.’
Don’t spook the herd Aaron. Dallas is swirling the bowl. Those little cow pasture towns up north are going to get hammered.
‘But there are some very faint, very preliminary, sometimes contradictory and maybe deceptive signals that the tide could slowly be beginning to turn.’
They say FBs who suddenly realize their shacks are underwater make a keening noise, like dolphins, in a pitch that only dogs and other FBs can hear.
I found this comment from Aaron to be odd. A bit off, really. I mean why wouldn’t twin, deeply entrenched drivers of rapidly appreciating house prices NOT subside in the near term? Wouldn’t that sort of thing tend to lead to lots of extra building coupled with profit-taking by landlords? I’m not sure exactly what Aaron is smoking, but it’s probably illegal in Texas.
‘Considering all the talk about a shortage of housing in Southern California, it’s curious that an increased supply of shopper options has translated to home sales in the region in 2018 running at a four-year low’
Investors don’t want to catch a falling knife. All the talk of shortage was hog-wash.
Our own prophet of shortage seems to have washed out with the hogs.
Downtown Los Angeles, CA Housing Prices Crater 10% YOY As California Housing Glut Builds
https://www.zillow.com/downtown-los-angeles-ca/home-values/
*Select price from dropdown menu on first chart
From the UHS link:
‘*Excluded: Denver, Columbus, Las Vegas, Nashville and Birmingham data is under revision and excluded due to MLS feed changes. Adjusted: Washington and Baltimore inventory trends are adjusted to show total listing movement instead of active listing movement due to MLS feed changes.’
The chart they have is interesting. We are supposed to believe that a market with a 44% increase in listings has 26 days on market.
https://www.natchezdemocrat.com/2018/07/08/its-a-buyers-market-realtors-optimistic-about-housing-market-future/
‘Quantitative easing was a big experiment, and so unwinding it is an experiment in and of itself’
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am so pleased to be the involuntary subject of a multi-trillion $ experiment - a second time. Oh joy! And of course, should it go sideways, those responsible will face unrelenting scorn and punishment for their folly, right?
those responsible will face unrelenting scorn and punishment for their folly along with fat paychecks and pensions. What’s not to like about that - for them, anyway?
“This settlement holds Wells Fargo accountable for actions that contributed to the financial crisis.”
But as usual, no bank officials will face criminal prosecution for criminal actions, while the fines imposed are tax deductible and amount to a fraction of their ill-gotten gins from their fraudulent mortgage practices.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-08-01/wells-fargo-agrees-pay-209-billion-penalty-mortgage-loan-abuses
‘The Blue-State Housing Bubble’
‘The bubble is bursting right now in Illinois and in CA, PA, MA, CT, NJ, NY, and all other big Blue states. California alone has a half-trillion-dollar unfunded pension liability. The financial mechanics are the same and cannot be stopped.’
“The bubble burst because the easy money home loan qualification changes created two prongs of financial instability: 1) persons who were not qualified were allowed to obtain mortgages and 2) the easy money policies rapidly escalated home prices and placed many mortgage holders underwater when the artificially high housing prices crashed.”
So they acknowledge artificially high housing prices, but they still decide to build a floor under high housing prices. WTF?
It’s almost like Mr. Banker gets to write the rules.
Nah, the lobby guys I own write the rules for the legislative guys (whom I also own) who then turn them into rules and regulations and laws.
Yeah…as I was saying…
Mr. Banker, I have a question. Can you tell me how many clowns you can fit in a bank account? Thank you in advance.
“So they acknowledge artificially high housing prices, but they still decide to build a floor under high housing prices. WTF?”
Doesn’t make much sense considering prices fell 40%+ anyways.
“This is the bubble: homeowners are losing most, if not all, of the equity they have in their homes. And once again it is being done by government. This time it is not the federal government that is changing home mortgage loan lending standards but the Illinois state pension fund that is literally seizing home equity value to pay their pension demands.”
Or else goons are going to goon.
“The best illustration of the current housing bubble can be seen with a specific example. I know a person on the northwest side of Chicago, a middle-class neighborhood, who recently received, in his July 2018 property tax bill, a raise of $10,000 on his annual tax payment. This was not a raise in the assessed value of his house, this was a raise in the tax that is due. The house is 2,200 square feet and since the owner now wants to sell the house, it was recently assessed as having a fair market value of $348,000. Before this $10K property tax increase, the property tax bill of the house was already at $13,800. So if anyone wants to buy a house worth $348,000 they have to pay $1,983 per month in property taxes. The mortgage will be about $1,350. per month, so the total payment will be $3,333 a month for a house worth $348K. And each year the property tax will only go up.”
And there is the rub: the house is “worth” $348k. Assuming that these pensions will be paid, what I believe will happen is that any wise house buyer in one of these locals with massive pension obligations will discount the purchase price they are willing to pay by the property tax rate. If one is going to pay $2k per month in property taxes, it probably makes sense to knock about $150k-$200k off the purchase price of the home. That home is probably “worth” $125k to $150k.
That home is probably “worth” $125k to $150k. It would have a negative value for anyone with the option to get out of Illinois and move to a saner place.
LOL Illinois. Got TABOR? Oh yeah, you don’t…
That home is probably “worth” $125k to $150k.
Sounds to me like it’s “worth” about whatever ($1350 - (10k/12))/month will get you at today’s interest rate. I show about 96k at 5% interest for a $516.67 monthly payment.
That’s a good way of looking at it. If you knock off $96k from the value of the place due to property tax hikes, it falls to about $252k. That is if the value isn’t already wildly inflated, which it probably is, and it doesn’t account for the uncertainty of future property tax hikes, which are likely in the cards considering that the Chicago Federal Reserve bank suggested a 43% property tax hike. I think when you get right down to it, the $125k to $150k might not be that far off.
No…I meant it’s worth about 96k total now if it was worth $348k on a $1350 payment before.
My gut agrees with your conclusion, but I don’t follow your math. You deducted $10k for the increased property taxes divided by 12 months from the total mortgage payment. But why deduct only the $10k/12 ($833) from $1350 when the actual monthly property tax is $1983 per month?
Maybe a better way to arrive at the intrinsic “worth” of such a place would be to figure out what it’s rental equivalent would be and then deduct property taxes of $1983 from that value. Then apply the annualized price-to-rent ratio to figure out so something like this:
Zillow median value sq/ft in Chicago: $145
Zillow median rent per sq/ft in Chicago: $1.32
Implied annualized price-to-rent: 9.24
Imputed rent for 2200 sq/ft property: $2904
Therefore,
$2904 (rent) - $1983 (property tax) = $921/month
$921 * 12 months * 9.24 (price-to-rent ratio) = $101,788
Well, after all that my math is within $5k of yours, however you came up with it!
OK. All I was saying was that if people were only willing/able to make a $1350 payment on it before, then I would expect the amount they were willing/able to pay per month to drop by the same amount that the taxes had increased per month. Which in this case was well over half the $1350 and should reduce the price accordingly.
Fair points. In any event, I wouldn’t buy such a place, and I suspect you wouldn’t either unless the price was about 1/3 of it’s current “worth”.
i am sorry - is no one stunned about the following
“Before this $10K property tax increase, the property tax bill of the house was already at $13,800. So if anyone wants to buy a house worth $348,000 they have to pay $1,983 per month in property taxes.”
This is the biggest news of the year that really impacts regular folks.
Why is this not on the front page of CNN/NYTimes/Every Newscast.
This impacts everyone and is f**king horrendous (if true)
It’s probably an anomaly. I can’t imagine property taxes are really that high. The can’t possibly be, can they?
Renting feels mighty good right now, particularly in the blue states. Mobile, flexible and ready to bail when the insanity gets too much.
But something Speaker Mike Madigan used to say bears repeating here, “Once you convene the members of the legislature in Springfield close to anything can happen! There’s a favorite expression in the law that states no man’s life, limb or property is safe while the legislature’s in session.”
Heap on racial tensions, unwed mothers, the opioid crisis, five month winters, etc., a heck of a place to live.
I’m thinking Chi-town won’t get Amazon HQ2.
” The Illinois Policy Institute reported that in Illinois public universities, half of the tuition goes to pensions.”
I wonder how many of the kids in IL public universities vote Dem?
E = rate of tax increase vs. Appreciation
E is equity
Once counties start raising taxes faster than the rate of appreciation u r BONED
Big blue cities are all falling now
Capitol Hill Washington DC Housing Prices Crater 17% YOY As Housing Recovery Begins In DC/Virginia Area
https://www.zillow.com/capitol-hill-washington-dc/home-values/
*Select price from dropdown menu on first chart
Experiment #1: QE 1, 2 and 3. Hypothesis: Asset prices will increase.
Experiment #2: Quantitative Tightening (QT). Hypothesis: Asset prices will decrease.
What goes up, must come down.
“‘The Fed should be taking away emergency stimulus. If it doesn’t, it’ll blow an asset bubble like what we saw in the housing bust,’ said Barbara Reinhard, head of asset allocation at Voya Investment Management.”
Uhh, you’re a day late and a dollar short, Barbara…
Thats why she gets paid the big bucks! LOL
“Hypothe$i$: A$$et price$ will decrea$e.”
‘a$pirational pricing,’ … Heeeeheeeheee … Cute!
$oon, $eller$ to emotionally bee $uffering : ‘a$pirational prevention$’
“they offered What?!!!”
Johnny a singin’: “I hear a train a comin’, a comin’ ’round the bend …”
‘Home sales in New York’s most expensive borough have been falling for three straight quarters, allowing buyers to be picky as inventory rises and fears grow that prices climbed too high, too fast’
A question for the MSM: who has the job of watching prices and taking action when they rise too high too fast? It can’t be the central banks because they’ve never spotted a bubble and did anything meaningful about it. Is it the treasury, lenders, the used house salespeople? The appraisers? Nah. It seems like somebody ought to have this job and the authority to do something.
Is it really just on global auto-pilot? That seems sorta reckless. Of course, regulators did drop the hammer in the UK, Canada and Australia. So I guess we can’t say they are all out to lunch. But who has this responsibility in the US? Senator Running Deer?
“… who has the job of watching prices and taking action when they rise too high too fast?”
The individual puke has the job but because he is a totally dumbed-down puke he won’t do it.
Here’s an example from the CO link:
‘let’s examine where the seller’s markets are the strongest and where some buyer’s markets exist across Northern Colorado: $300,000-$500,000. Understandably the most popular price point for buyers, and definitely a seller’s market wherever you go.’
This is the lowest range in the article. Call me crazy but $300,000-$500,000 is a sh*t-ton of money. I’ve been to Colorado. I don’t think people up there can afford this.
I don’t think people up there can afford this.
Only if they’ve been successfully riding the bubble(s) for a while now. I don’t think there are a ton of dual six figure income households there. Usually you’ve got one spouse producing and another with “issues” that woulda coulda shoulda been doing all sorts of things but isn’t. But maybe that’s just a Boulder thing.
I thought Colorado was rather boring when I was there.
Mix in the HGTV-induced housing shows which pervade the culture and websites like Houzz and all these Instagram feeds that are marketing the message of housing = happiness.
Reminds me of this gem of a quote:
“HGTV depends on the dream that has been with us since the saltboxes of New England and the Spanish bungalows of Southern California and the Leisuramas of Montauk: that if you can just get the right house — the one that looks like your friends’ houses look, only a little bit better — your family will pour into it, like thick cream into a pitcher: smooth, fluid, pleasing. Who could get a divorce in a house with so many lush towels rolled up in the master bathroom? Who could raise a sullen teen when there is a “great room” where the family can gather for nachos and football on the big screen?”
http://www.vulture.com/2017/09/the-ugliness-behind-hgtv-never-ending-fantasy-loop.html
Buying overpriced housing for Instagram likes = FAIL.
OMFG - this is a great indictment of 30% of the economy. Without being incredibly sexist —- are men so desperate for s** that they will spend some much to make their wives happy by getting into severe debt
“HGTV was the third-most-popular network on cable television in 2016, a 24/7 testament to the powers of Target chic, the open-plan kitchen, and social conservatism”
… are men so desperate for s** that they will spend some much to make their wives happy by getting into severe debt”
😁
“The problem is, God gave man a brain and a penis and only enough blood to run one at a time.” - Robin Williams
are men so desperate for s** that they will spend some much to make their wives happy by getting into severe debt[?]
The answer is yes…but only when they are young. Then watch what happens when they age a little and come to their senses.
“OMFG - this is a great indictment of 30% of the economy. Without being incredibly sexist —- are men so desperate for s** that they will spend some much to make their wives happy by getting into severe debt”
LMFAO… and they’re giving it away for nothing on tinder while the bantam rooster is at work.
No, men are not buying expensive houses because of the evil influence of women. They are buying them as status symbols and “investments”, as well as a nice place to live for their families. The men are making their own choices.
From the CNN article:
‘It’s not just the Fed that has begun to unwind its emergency actions. In June, the Bank of England said it could begin shrinking its balance sheet sooner than previously thought. Even the European Central Bank plans to halt asset purchases by the end of 2018.’
Of course, the Fed’s balance sheet is not the immediate cause of Facebook’s blow-up. Investors rushed to dump Facebook shares after the social media giant warned of rising costs and slowing revenue growth. The heavy selling caused the Nasdaq to drop by more than 1% for three straight days. That hadn’t happened since August 2015.’
“Cult leadership becomes volatile & vulnerable as ‘liquidity’ [is] drained,” Bank of America chief investment strategist Michael Hartnett wrote to clients on Friday. He called the Facebook “shock” a “classic ‘late-cycle’ event.”
Do you have a link or info on fed bond sales?
How much for a may 2005 las Vegas condo hotel ?
Moorpark, CA Housing Prices Crater 5% YOY As Desperate Ventura County Sellers Slash Prices
https://www.movoto.com/moorpark-ca/market-trends/
OT… Tesla earnings call is due after the bell today. Might be fun, especially if Elon has a meltdown.
Look at the huge jump in EVs sold in America YoY across all car companies:
https://insideevs.com/monthly-plug-in-sales-scorecard/
Tesla shares surge as much as 11% as Elon Musk apologizes for ‘bad manners’
8/1/2018
CNBC
Robert Ferris
*Tesla reports quarterly results after crossing a key milestone to produce 5,000 Model 3 sedans per week.
*Analysts also want to see how CEO Elon Musk behaves after his erratic behavior during last quarter’s earnings call and on social media.
“The electric vehicle manufacturer said it is on its way to achieving the profitability investors are now heavily focusing on, by boosting production, improving margins, and cutting costs.”
“Shares rose by as much as 11 percent after hours on the news. Shares have been pulling back lately as concerns have grown over the company’s future.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/01/tesla-earnings-q2-2018.html
“The Great Realtor Rip-Off”
https://www.economist.com/business/2012/05/05/the-great-realtor-rip-off
Thanks for that article, I missed that one.
Provo, UT Housing Prices Crater 10% YOY As Utah Mortgage Meltdown Heats Up
https://www.movoto.com/provo-ut/market-trends/
Developers swindling “investors” out of their “investments” in “luxury” (conceptual) flats? I am shocked, shocked!
I’m sure regulators and enforcers will make it their highest priority to recover the bag holders’ money.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/beatthescammers/article-5889305/How-lost-life-savings-luxury-flats-never-built.html
The number of people living in their cars is surging in our oligarch-looted economy as “affordable housing” is out of reach of millions of increasingly pauperized members of the former middle and working classes.
Heckova job, Ben and Janet.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-08-01/number-americans-living-their-vehicles-explodes-middle-class-collapses
The number of people who live in their vehicles because they can’t find affordable housing is on the rise, even though the practice is illegal in many U.S. cities.
The number of people residing in campers and other vehicles surged 46 percent over the past year, a recent homeless census in Seattle’s King County, Washington found. The problem is “exploding” in cities with expensive housing markets, including Los Angeles, Portland and San Francisco, according to Governing magazine.
Since I run a lot, I come across many urban RV campers in my neck of the wood. They park along the sidewalks and change location. Sometimes they go into large office parking lots or Walmart parking lots during the day. I’ve been seeing an increasing number of them day by day.
Wells Fargo to pay $2.1 billion settlement for role in housing bubble
“Wells Fargo agreed Wednesday to pay a $2.1 billion fine to settle allegations it misrepresented the types of mortgages it sold to investors during the housing bubble that ultimately led to the 2008 financial crisis.”
‘Tis but a flesh wound.
“The fine is unrelated to the more recent scandals that have plagued Wells in the last three years, such as the opening of millions of fake accounts for customers without their authorization in order to meet unrealistic sales quotas, or the bundling of auto insurance policies on to auto loans when customers did not need them.”
Busted! Curses!
“The government accused Wells and many other big banks of understating the risk and quality of the mortgages they sold to investors at the height of the housing bubble, in Wells’ case between 2005 and 2007. These investors bought up tens of billions of dollars in mortgages from Wells and other banks, and experienced massive losses when borrowers failed to repay and housing prices collapsed nationwide.”
These investors were idiots. Even my paperboy could see through the scam.
“The Department of Justice said Wells Fargo sold at least 73,500 loans that had poor underwriting standards to investors. Half of those loans defaulted, resulting in billions of dollars in losses to investors.”
My paperboy told me that selling six-hundred thousand dollar McMansions to strawberry pickers will tend to do that.
“This settlement holds Wells Fargo accountable for actions that contributed to the financial crisis,” said Acting Associate Attorney General Jesse Panuccio, in a statement.”
I’m quite certain that Wells feels severely chastised. 😁
“In earlier settlements with the Justice Department, Bank of America paid a $5 billion fine to authorities in 2014 for similar allegations, and Citigroup paid a $4 billion fine.”
More flesh wounds.
“Wells Fargo said in a statement it was “pleased to put behind us these legacy issues” and said it had previously set aside the money …”
Translation: The small change …
“… to cover the settlement.”
Bahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
Another “oh dear” moment in time….
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/01/housing-demand-sees-biggest-drop-in-more-than-2-years.html
“Red-hot home prices, rising mortgage interest rates, very few listings at the entry level and a high rate of student loan debt have weighed on buyers for a while, but a strong economy and growing employment had mitigated those factors. Now, however, a market stalemate is developing as rates and prices continue to rise, further weakening affordability.”
The U.S. needs to re-appraise and archive some moon rocks in Fort Knox, and then borrow against them to provide an expanded mortgage guarantee program. /sarc
Wow, and here CNN just announced the economy was doing well after all, with no trouble in sight!
I’m rooting for a good economy with affordable house prices, similar to the 1950s.
Kenmore, WA Housing Prices Crater 10% YOY As The Media Attempts to Whitewash Correction
https://www.movoto.com/kenmore-wa/market-trends/
The Financial Times
US economy
Hamptons property sales slow as caution spreads to wealthy
Rising rates and tax changes hit house buying in summer playground of New York elite
Hamptons property sales slow as caution spreads to the wealthy
Ben Foldy
Published 20 Hours Ago
Updated 20 Hours Ago
Financial Times
An outdoor party at a home in Sagaponack, New York.
Getty Images
Home sales have slowed down this year in the Hamptons, the Long Island beach communities that serve as a summer playground for the wealthy of New York, bringing the median price below the $1m mark.
Second-quarter sales fell 12.8 percent from 2017 levels, according to data prepared for Douglas Elliman by Miller Samuel Real Estate. The median price dropped 5.3 percent to a $975,000, compared with $1.03m a year earlier.
The spring selling season is usually the high point of the year in the Hamptons, so the drop is stoking concerns that the resort areas of Long Island’s south shore are succumbing to the pressures depressing property activity in other parts of the US.
…
‘The Fed should be taking away emergency stimulus. If it doesn’t, it’ll blow an asset bubble like what we saw in the housing bust,’
Barn door left open
All of the horses have fled
Hurry, shut the door
“In beautiful Orange County, for example, home sales in luxury venues such as Newport and Laguna Beach have slowed to a trickle. As in New York and Connecticut, luxury-home prices in Southern California have experienced price compression, especially since this year’s first quarter.”
Didn’t a poster claim here within the past few days that Chinese investors were still snapping up luxury housing investments in The OC like hot cakes?
This article suggests otherwise.
“In beautiful Orange County, for example, home sales in luxury venues such as Newport and Laguna Beach have slowed to a trickle.”
Same goes for collectibles on eBay… nearly comatose.