January 29, 2015

Ultimately, There Was A Fever

Bloomberg reports on California. “As the key spring U.S. homeselling season approaches, buyers are finding deals on new houses as builders focus on boosting revenue. Dwayne Saunders purchased a house in Eastvale, California, in December, paying $450,000 after builder D.R. Horton Inc. cut the price by 4.5 percent, threw in a washer-dryer and covered his closing costs. This month, the house next door sold for $404,000. ‘It was bigger too,’ Saunders said. ‘I think D.R. Horton just wanted to finish this phase and move onto the next one.’”

From New York Magazine. “Today, in an economically transformed New York, speculators seek profit where others fear to venture. They are rushing toward the margins ahead of an economic upheaval that people in Brooklyn real estate call ‘the wave.’ East New York runs south from Atlantic Avenue to the saltwater of Jamaica Bay. ‘It’s the last frontier,’ a Corcoran broker said as he showed me an Ocean Hill brownstone, purchased for $600,000 in August and flipping for $900,000 in November. ‘Until the next frontier—Brownsville and East New York.’”

“Who are all these investors? In Bushwick and Bed-Stuy, there are a few high-profile players, like Dixon Advisory, an Australian retirement fund that has recently been buying up dozens of properties. But most investors are locally based and stealthy. Several told me off the record that firms like Dixon are latecomers. ‘There are not any deals in Bed-Stuy,’ said one. ‘I think suckers are buying at $1.2 million thinking they will get $2 million.’”

The Houston Chronicle in Texas. “In the last two years, the multifamily market in Houston has boomed with sky-high occupancy rates and rents, hordes of new people moving to the city and thousands of units under construction. But the forecast for 2015 - in light of tumbling oil prices - is far less rosy, industry leaders said Tuesday at separate events on the local real estate market. Rent growth will drop off and job growth will shrink even as construction crews bring more units online, panelists said at the annual meeting of the Houston Apartment Association.”

“Kirk Tate, CEO of apartment builder Orion, said Houston has been ‘red-lighted’ by lenders. Brandt Bowden with the Hanover Co. agreed that capital for new construction has dried up in Houston. He said the drop could be a positive, as things heated up very fast in the last few years and construction costs became inflated. ‘Ultimately, there was a fever in Houston,’ Bowden said. ‘The drop in oil broke that fever. We are getting cautious.’”

The Okotoks Western Wheel in Canada. “Despite plummeting oil prices, Alberta’s real estate market is expected to remain strong, with only a slight decrease in sales expected from last year’s record numbers. For any first time buyers hoping to find a great deal, the CREB report actually forecasts a slight 1.58 per cent increase in prices, something Okotoks realtor Brad Pond said is simply due to constant demand. Home buyers will have a definite advantage this year, as the pressure won’t be as intense as last year, he added. ‘Buyers are walking into a more balanced market now, so it’s not going to be as high pressure for buyers,’ he said. ‘It’s a major, major purchase and people were having to make a snap decision in 2014 they were having to make that decision in literally minutes.’”

“Pond said it was tough watching buyers have to jump on a purchase as large as a house, and is hopeful that 2015 will provide more opportunity for a fair deal. ‘It’s the biggest decision of your life I always feel awful for people after a boom, especially people moving to Okotoks, they’re making this decision in a day and some people are encouraged to write an offer in order to win the purchase,’ he said. ‘They’re encouraged to write without conditions of financing or a home inspection and I just don’t think that’s right for a purchaser.’”

“The business of bundling riskier U.S. mortgages into bonds without government backing is gearing up for a comeback. Just don’t call it subprime. Hedge fund Seer Capital Management, money manager Angel Oak Capital and Sydney-based bank Macquarie Group Ltd. are among firms buying up loans to borrowers who can’t qualify for conventional mortgages because of issues such as low credit scores, foreclosures or hard-to-document income. They each plan to pool the mortgages into securities of varying risk and sell some to investors this year.”

“Reopening this corner of the bond market may lower consumer costs and expand riskier lending, aiding the housing recovery. The most dangerous slices created from the securitization of loans are also the highest-yielding, offering companies from private-equity firms to real estate investment trusts a way to increase returns as global central banks suppress interest rates to foster economic growth. ‘I go to conferences and no less than a dozen investors are saying they want these assets,’ said Michael Kime, chief operating officer of W.J. Bradley Mortgage Capital, a lender that started making some of the loans last year.”

The Washington Post. “On a cold Sunday afternoon 10 years ago, Comfort and Kofi Boateng stood with Comfort’s mother and their three children before a quarter-acre parcel in a brand-new subdivision in the center of Prince George’s County. The place was called Fairwood. Today, they struggle under nearly $1 million in debt that they will never be able to repay on the 3,292-square-foot, six-bedroom, red-brick Colonial they bought for $617,055 in 2005. The Boatengs have not made a mortgage payment in 2,322 days — more than six years — according to their most recent mortgage statement.”

“They came from a Ghanaian culture where credit is scarce and people built their houses with cash and lived in them for generations. Deeply religious, they found their real estate agent and mortgage broker at their church in Laurel. When their money got tight, they borrowed more and refinanced to take on more debt. Caught up in the mind-set of the time, they said, they thought they would be able to continue to refinance.”

“This was more house than they were expecting to buy, but they believed it would be a good investment. They said they thought it would go up in value, like their Germantown house, and they could use that equity to finance their children’s college educations. ‘The purpose of getting the house was to get our kids through college,’ Comfort said. ‘It wasn’t that we didn’t manage our money. We know in America, everyone owes something. We couldn’t get things done the way we expected. It happens to everybody.’”




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93 Comments »

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-01-29 03:56:27

‘It wasn’t that we didn’t manage our money. We know in America, everyone owes something. We couldn’t get things done the way we expected. It happens to everybody.’

That’s a very stark assessment of what a banker’s paradise America has become.

Comment by 2banana
2015-01-29 05:30:18

It happens to everyone.

No - not even close.

Fools, the FSA, the something for nothing crowd and the living within your means is for fools crowd exempted.

 
Comment by Shillow
2015-01-29 05:52:09

I stopped reading this article as too infuriating. At first I thought they had a household income of over 110K when they bought, but then I read further and see them blatantly admitting to fraud because of a job loss, claiming income they no longer had.

They got a 3200 sq ft house. They haven’t paid the mortgage in 6 years? Where is the money? Eff em.

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-01-29 06:28:14

Stop kicking the victims.

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2015-01-29 06:30:59

It’s a classic.

“Today, they struggle under nearly $1 million in debt…The Boatengs have not made a mortgage payment in 2,322 days — more than six years — according to their most recent mortgage statement.”

Just how is not paying a penny in six years a struggle? Maybe it means they are struggling with the truth.

“It happens to everybody.”

No it doesn’t. BTW, debt doesn’t “happen” to you, unless you are just waking up post op.

Comment by Mr. Banker
2015-01-29 06:56:27

“BTW, debt doesn’t “happen” to you, unless you are just waking up post op.”

Or unless Amy brings you to me. If Amy brings you to me then she and I, working together on your behalf, can make debt happen.

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Comment by Beer and Cigar Guy
2015-01-29 07:01:30

You and Lloyd Blankfein, together doing “God’s work”. Bless you, boys. Bless you.

 
Comment by Mr. Banker
2015-01-29 07:03:42

Today a schmuck, tomorrow a real estate mogul.

Drop on by for a free cup of coffee and we will discuss how we can MAKE IT HAPPEN!

(What have you got to lose?)

Ask for the Janis Joplin Freedom Plan and get a free refill.

 
Comment by Sean
2015-01-29 07:52:19

$600,000+ in PG county? Good lord.

 
Comment by joe smith
2015-01-29 08:38:51

Prince George’s County is the worst county in MD. I worked in Laurel briefly when I moved to MD. Some of you may remember I did legal work for Freddie & Fannie & HUD & MD Housing Admin for a firm there. A lot of securitization to be unwound and state and fed procedures to be followed before we could foreclose (bc, you know, mortgages are predatory according to “true believer” libs).

PG County is basically a refuge halfway between Balt and DC. It’s the least white county in MD, which is weird bc it’s nearly completely suburban. It also has relatively few good jobs compared to surrounding areas, so it’s dependent on property taxes. UMD is in PG County but I’m guessing most of the higher UMD earners live in Montgomery County. People who believe that “owning is better” move to PG because they are largely priced out of the nicer Balt/DC areas like Howard County, Montgomery County, and the cities themselves. We can laugh about this, but $600k for 6 BR is about half what that house would run in even mediocre areas of Montgomery or Howard Counties. PG County therefore was “ground zero” for foreclosures in Maryland–it was like a magnet for people who “needed” a big new house but certainly could not afford it and thus were willing to go anywhere, put anything on their mortgage app, etc.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-01-29 08:59:44

Liberace!

 
Comment by taxpayers
2015-01-29 09:11:02

dead honkey
don’t even stop for gas in PG county

 
Comment by Beer and Cigar Guy
2015-01-29 09:31:30

Aahhhhh, Baltimore. You’ll come for the random street violence, but you’ll stay for the chlamydia!

 
Comment by joe smith
2015-01-29 10:09:12

Baltimore is highly segregated — if spook still lurks here he can comment more from a black man’s perspective, but SE and N Baltimore are as white and educated as you’ll get in any city in the US. It’s very much a “haves” and “have nots” divide. Lots of reverse migration going on, with blacks and latinos headed to the suburbs and young whites moving to the city. Same thing in DC as well. Probably true of most cities.

 
Comment by Neuromance
2015-01-29 18:23:21

joe smith: Baltimore is highly segregated — if spook still lurks here he can comment more from a black man’s perspective, but SE and N Baltimore are as white and educated as you’ll get in any city in the US.

It is somewhat segregated, with some areas quite segregated. But the crime however, is not.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by SUGuy
2015-01-29 04:09:39

The purpose of getting the house was to get our kids through college,’ Comfort said. ‘It wasn’t that we didn’t manage our money. We know in America, everyone owes something

Welcome to AmeriKa. The land of the debt slaves and the home of the hamster wheel.

Comment by scdave
2015-01-29 09:07:27

and the home of the hamster wheel ??

I think Millennials & the generation behind them are rejecting that kind of life track…

Comment by oxide
2015-01-29 16:07:07

Wait until they figure out that they’ll want to spend at least a few years not working before they die.

 
 
Comment by rms
2015-01-30 01:20:21

“The purpose of getting the house was to get our kids through college,’ Comfort said.”

I’ve heard of the house buying its borrower a new car or fancy vacation, but I didn’t know a college degree was hiding in there? ‘Merica!

Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-01-30 07:47:25

Someone has to explain how that works.

 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-01-29 04:31:56

“Today, in an economically transformed New York, speculators seek profit where others fear to venture. They are rushing toward the margins ahead of an economic upheaval that people in Brooklyn real estate call ‘the wave.’”

Sounds quite scary!

Comment by Blue Skye
2015-01-29 07:27:20

It’s a tsunami of cash. Thank you Bernanke.

Outtake from the movie “The Day After Tomorrow”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_1VnGp8Lls

Comment by Cactus
2015-01-29 11:00:08

It’s a tsunami of cash. Thank you Bernanke.’

has round 2 from Europe arrived yet ?

 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-01-29 05:09:55

“Reopening this corner of the bond market may lower consumer costs and expand riskier lending, aiding the housing recovery. The most dangerous slices created from the securitization of loans are also the highest-yielding, offering companies from private-equity firms to real estate investment trusts a way to increase returns as global central banks suppress interest rates to foster economic growth. ‘I go to conferences and no less than a dozen investors are saying they want these assets,’ said Michael Kime, chief operating officer of W.J. Bradley Mortgage Capital, a lender that started making some of the loans last year.”

These bundled subprime assets work great so long as the bubble is inflating. Just make you aren’t among the hapless bagholders when the bubble pops.

Or in case you are a bagholder, make sure you are too-big-to-fail.

Comment by Shillow
2015-01-29 07:44:01

Where are they gonna find mortgages not backed by the government to bundle. I thought virtually all were now govt backed.

 
Comment by rj chicago
2015-01-29 08:28:59

Bear - I posted on this yesterday toward the end of the day - really glad that Ben picked it up (?) and read what Macquarie (Aussie based outfit) does - it ain’t pretty.

 
Comment by Cactus
 
 
Comment by Shillow
2015-01-29 05:38:30

” This month, the house next door sold for $404,000. ‘It was bigger too,’ Saunders said. ‘I think D.R. Horton just wanted to finish this phase and move onto the next one.’”

Oof. When people start to realize that waiting will get them a ten percent or more price cut, POP. Bubble, meet pin.

And good bye used fools wishing prices.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-01-29 06:09:02

‘The Boatengs have not made a mortgage payment in 2,322 days — more than six years — according to their most recent mortgage statement.”’

This is the rule not the exception, in particular in CA. How to fix? Get rid of the foreclosure moratoriums.

Maryland List Prices Turn Negative Statewide In 2014

http://www.zillow.com/md/home-values/

Comment by joe smith
2015-01-29 08:48:16

MD doesn’t have a moratorium. It just has a judicial foreclosure process. But the real reason for these Boatengs is probably that the lender doesn’t want to take a bloodbath loss yet. I’m guessing at auction that house goes for several hundred K less.

Comment by Ben Jones
2015-01-29 08:54:54

‘MD doesn’t have a moratorium’

Jeebus, Maryland has throw up as many roadblocks as Massachusetts and I’ve documented that and the now flood of foreclosures many times.

Comment by joe smith
2015-01-29 10:10:53

Judicial state to be sure. Still is no moratorium, though. Judicial proceedings make the process expensive in general and probably more expensive in cases like the Boatengs. Imagine the terms of the Boateng mortgage–probably a textbook case of a sucker loan. “It’s discriminatory lending!!!” I agree it’s a joke.

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Comment by Ben Jones
2015-01-29 10:20:47

‘To protect against the rising tide of foreclosures and to cushion the blow to the state economy, Maryland churned out “aggressive legislation that gave homeowners more time to avoid foreclosure,” Mr. Blomquist said.’

‘These policies, in effect, created a moratorium on foreclosure activity. Through October, the average number of Maryland homeowners receiving foreclosure notices plummeted to about 1,700 each month.’

This is like all the hair-splitting on property tax in China.

 
Comment by oxide
2015-01-29 11:58:16

We don’t have to “imagine” the terms of the loans. It’s in the article:

In 2000 they bought a townhouse in Germantown for $129K. In 2005, they cash-out refi’d their townhouse to obtain $60K cash to buy the Fairwood house.

For the Fairwood house, they borrowed $494K with a 5/1 ARM at 6.1% and a 3-year interest-only grace period. They also got a piggyback loan for $61K at 8.3% fixed.

Their mortgages alone were probably higher than their take-home pay, and that was before the I/O reset.

 
Comment by Neuromance
2015-01-29 18:28:09

oxide: Their mortgages alone were probably higher than their take-home pay, and that was before the I/O reset.

Flipper loans. Can’t be paying too much interest if they hope to make a profit on the flip. They took a gamble and lost (sort of).

 
Comment by DanR
2015-01-30 02:48:21

Shouldn’t every state be run like Maryland?

 
 
 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-01-29 09:00:51

It does have a moratorium, just like every other state.

 
 
Comment by aNYCdj
2015-01-29 09:55:57

They cant sue you there……what a trump card.

“At a point, I was so frustrated that recently I said, ‘Why do I have to keep staying in America then? Why don’t I go back to my country and look for a job there?’ ” Comfort said.

Comment by oxide
2015-01-29 14:29:38

Ma’am, you became a citizen in 2003. Therefore, “your country” is the United States.

Comment by rms
2015-01-30 01:29:16

Therefore, “your country” is the United States.

She’d wrap herself in any country’s flag to avoid debt(s).

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Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-01-29 06:21:35

‘East New York runs south from Atlantic Avenue to the saltwater of Jamaica Bay. ‘It’s the last frontier,’ a Corcoran broker said as he showed me an Ocean Hill brownstone, purchased for $600,000 in August and flipping for $900,000 in November. ‘Until the next frontier—Brownsville and East New York.’”

Stunning. It doesn’t take much effort to find yourself shot dead in broad daylight in East NY. Shot dead.

There is a large painful reckoning coming.

Comment by Blue Skye
2015-01-29 07:43:29

I was thinking the same thing about the Jersey City article yesterday.

Comment by joe smith
2015-01-29 08:52:06

Newport-Pavonia and Journal Square are just fine. It’s the issue of when you go west from the Hudson River the neighborhoods get rough.

 
 
 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-01-29 06:28:17

‘Bloomberg reports on California. “As the key spring U.S. homeselling season approaches, buyers are finding deals on new houses as builders focus on boosting revenue.”

Considering this;

California List Prices Turn Negative Statewide In 2014

http://www.zillow.com/ca/home-values/

Theres many more deals developing in the months and years to come.

Comment by Shillow
2015-01-29 07:46:10

Yay! I feel like Steve Martin in The Jerk: “the new phone books are here. The new phone books are here.”

 
Comment by joe smith
2015-01-29 08:49:44

I root for falling prices too, but I don’t see how your link supports it.

————————-

“The median home value in Maryland is $257,200. Maryland home values have gone up 5.3% over the past year and Zillow predicts they will rise 2.3% within the next year. The median list price per square foot in Maryland is $157. The median price of homes currently listed in Maryland is $255,000 while the median price of homes that sold is $264,150. The median rent price in Maryland is $1,550.”

Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-01-29 09:03:10

I don’t care what you “root” for. Falling prices are what they are and nobody cares about “values”. You’re living proof.

Comment by joe smith
2015-01-29 10:14:23

I’m just pointing out that even though I mostly agree with you, the link you provided doesn’t seem to support your statement.

I went to the link because I was thinking it would support the proposition you stated.

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Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-01-29 10:28:43

Sure it shows falling prices.

How many times do you need to be schooled on it?

 
 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-01-29 09:44:11

Are there any new end-user buyers left standing in CA? Maybe the GSEs can loosen standards enough to qualify a few folks.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-01-29 09:51:13

CA Housing Demand Falls Every Year Since 2009

http://files.zillowstatic.com/research/public/State/State_Turnover_AllHomes.csv

It’s worth mentioning that current demand has fallen to 1990’s levels.

 
 
 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-01-29 06:36:59

‘capital for new construction has dried up in Houston.’

Colorado County, TX(Houston Metro) List Prices Plunge 12% YoY As Oil Plummets

http://www.zillow.com/colorado-county-tx/home-values/

 
Comment by Beer and Cigar Guy
2015-01-29 06:42:41

“…Dwayne Saunders purchased a house in Eastvale, California, in December, paying $450,000 after builder D.R. Horton Inc. cut the price by 4.5 percent, threw in a washer-dryer and covered his closing costs. This month, the house next door sold for $404,000. ‘It was bigger too,’ Saunders said. ‘I think D.R. Horton just wanted to finish this phase and move onto the next one.’”

AaaHaaahahahahahahaa! They Gruber’ed him GOOD, didn’t they!

Comment by Shillow
2015-01-29 07:48:07

The progression from hidden incentives like free washers, to actual price cuts is just as predicted here and right on time.

 
 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-01-29 06:43:02

‘Alberta’s real estate market is expected to remain strong’

“Junk Bonds And Fracking At Low Oil And Gas Prices: Wave Of Defaults, ‘Outright Liquidations’ Next”

http://seekingalpha.com/article/2851506-junk-bonds-and-fracking-at-low-oil-and-gas-prices-wave-of-defaults-outright-liquidations-next

“Canada’s GASFRAC, filed for bankruptcy in Calgary, Alberta, where the company is based, and in San Antonio, Texas, where it filed under Chapter 15 for cross-border bankruptcies.”

You borrowed money? Your losses are being prepared for you.

Comment by Shillow
2015-01-29 07:55:43

Expected to remain strong. Expected.

When I got my first guitar at 15, I expected to be a rock star.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-01-29 08:20:51

know that feeling.

 
Comment by Beer and Cigar Guy
2015-01-29 09:55:50

Phhhhht! Please- you guys ARE rock stars! Compared to Comfort and Kofi Boateng, we are ALL rock stars! And apparently, Rocket Scientists, for being part of the minority intelligent and independent enough to know that ‘the cheese in the trap is ALWAYS free’! Rejoice! Have a beer! Drop-trou and wiggle! I rent! WOOT!

 
 
 
Comment by taxpayers
2015-01-29 06:59:43

does this mean all flipping shows will have to use reruns only?

Comment by 2banana
2015-01-29 07:11:40

Nope - it is on to “flips gone bad” shows

Comment by Blue Skye
2015-01-29 07:47:01

“Flops” is shorter.

 
Comment by Shillow
2015-01-29 07:53:20

Flip Flops, a show about a couple of busty milf realtor rehab addicts who paid for their implants with equity and who like to conduct their flippery in string tank tops and flip flop beach shoes.

All you need is Jack Tripper and we’ve got a hit!

Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-01-29 08:02:46

Flip-Flop! BWHAHAHAHAHAHAA!

There’s a few shady characters slithering around here that are deserving of that new name.

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Comment by redmondjp
2015-01-29 14:48:32

Many of the former flipper show stars have now moved onto the “Let me show you how to get rich in real estate” seminars, soon coming to a hotel ballroom near you, buy your tickets today!

 
 
 
Comment by scdave
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-01-29 07:49:12

Data Dave data.

Rocklin, CA Sale Prices Sink To Negative Territory In 2014; Down 6% QoQ As Inventory Billows Statewide

http://www.zillow.com/rocklin-ca/home-values/

Comment by Confused
2015-01-29 20:41:17

Dear Housing Analyst,

I’m renting and waiting for housing prices to fall enough to buy a home. So I appreciate the pin pushing you’re doing on this sore blister of a housing bubble. Thanks for all your enthusiastic efforts.

But (as another reader pointed out above) the numbers in your links don’t match the numbers you report in your comments.

For example (according to the “Median sale price” graph in your link for Rocklin):

QoQ median sale prices are down 2.6% 191K-186K (Oct’14-Dec’15) while you say “Rocklin, CA “SALE PRICES” are “Down 6% QoQ”

At the same time, Zillow reports that “median home VALUES up 8%” “over the past year” while their graph shows only a 4% increase in sale price YoY.

Perhaps you spin data in the same way that Zillow does.You find the part of the graph that shows a price drop. They find the part that supports prices increasing. They double.You double.

Or perhaps I’m looking at the wrong graphs. Could you clarify how you reached your number, please.

I would like to be able to take your numbers seriously. But maybe the point is just the pin, eh?

Thanks,
Confused

Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-01-29 21:39:08

No need to take falling prices personal. Take it up with your regional MLS office.

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Comment by Confused
2015-01-30 05:09:28

H.A.,
Thanks.

By not answering my questions, you answered my questions.

Even bad advertising is good advertising. Your noise had me going and looking at the MLS website you advertise so much.

“Us” is “them”. We are all one.

“Confused” by your numbers no longer.

All the best,

Alice

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-01-30 06:49:12

Sorry for your confusion.

 
 
 
 
Comment by Shillow
2015-01-29 07:50:18

Keep pimping that meme. The “differences” are temporary at best. They are all walking off the same cliff, some are just in line earlier.

Comment by scdave
2015-01-29 08:49:36

Keep pimping that meme ??

I am not pimping anything Dude…I posted a interview…You draw any conclusion from it if you are capable…This daily HA & Shillow comedy show is really old…You two need some new script…

Comment by AmazingRuss
2015-01-29 09:30:30

I think he was responding to the guy in the video.

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Comment by scdave
2015-01-29 12:00:27

I think he was responding to the guy in the video ??

Maybe…Can’t be sure because those two post right behind each-other in lock-step…

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2015-01-29 07:51:34

‘It’s a major, major purchase and people were having to make a snap decision in 2014 they were having to make that decision in literally minutes.’

‘Pond said it was tough watching buyers have to jump on a purchase as large as a house, and is hopeful that 2015 will provide more opportunity for a fair deal. ‘It’s the biggest decision of your life I always feel awful for people after a boom, especially people moving to Okotoks, they’re making this decision in a day and some people are encouraged to write an offer in order to win the purchase,’ he said. ‘They’re encouraged to write without conditions of financing or a home inspection’

You feel awful? Who was doing the encouraging? And where the *&^% is Okotoks?

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2015-01-29 08:21:41

‘Billionaire real estate investor Jeff Greene faced some harsh criticism after reports last week that he said America’s lifestyle expectations are far too high and need to be adjusted, but Greene insisted to CNBC Wednesday that he was “completely misquoted.”

“What I said was, ‘the global equalization of wages and technology, which is growing at an exponential pace, has killed so many millions of jobs in America and other Western economies and it’s going to kill them at an even faster pace going forward.’ I said, ‘we have our work cut out if we want to build a real economy, an inclusive economy that I grew up in, that I want to see for all Americans,’” he said in an interview with ” Closing Bell .”

‘The original interview, which appeared in Bloomberg and was conducted at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week, occurred in a busy, noisy room, Greene said. He was quoted as saying, “America’s lifestyle expectations are far too high and need to be adjusted so we have less things and a smaller, better existence…. We need to reinvent our whole system of life.”

‘His Beverly Hills mansion, which is on the market for $195 million, has 12 bedrooms, 23 bathrooms and a rotating dance floor. Also part of his real estate portfolio are three hotels in West Palm Beach.’

‘One reason people are staying in their apartments is because a lot of the apartment buildings now have huge amenity packages, he said. The other reason is people are still shellshocked from the crash.’

‘The entrepreneur also said he would support higher taxes on the wealthy. “We absolutely-unfortunately for wealthy people-need to have higher taxes, and I’m certainly prepared to pay higher taxes and I hope that other wealthy people are,” he said.’

‘on the market for $195 million’

Comment by rj chicago
2015-01-29 08:36:15

Higher taxes on the wealthy - ummmm….every wealthy baron except Jeff that is. What a shill!! What a charlatan. What a Philistine. Folks like him are - well I won’t go there…

Comment by Ben Jones
2015-01-29 08:40:35

Yeah, as I recall there is a box on the tax return for overpaying what you owe. Come on Buffet and Jeff. Just pony up. I bet this turd is having his accountants figure out how to get out of every penny they can right his minute.

 
 
Comment by Cactus
2015-01-29 11:12:16

“What I said was, ‘the global equalization of wages and technology, which is growing at an exponential pace, has killed so many millions of jobs in America and other Western economies and it’s going to kill them at an even faster pace going forward.’

yea so is he buying a farm in New Zealand ?

 
Comment by Neuromance
2015-01-29 18:36:14

The Davos crowd is interested in what is good for the Davos crowd. Just because they have a peculiar set of talents which allow them to outcompete the rest of us in obtaining wealth (and in certain cases, generating wealth) does not give them magical insights into how to organize societies, much less what is best for the populace.

 
 
Comment by scdave
2015-01-29 08:42:10

the global equalization of wages and technology, which is growing at an exponential pace, has killed so many millions of jobs in America and other Western economies and it’s going to kill them at an even faster pace going forward ??

I agree with this and the real question is how bad could it get….

Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-01-29 08:57:09

The job losses already occurred now prices are sinking. And it is sinking prices that will turn this all around.

Labor Force Participation Rate Sinks To 37 Year Low

http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS11300000

Comment by taxpayers
2015-01-29 09:51:15

recubbery summah, yo
gov workers doing ok and that’s all folks

 
 
Comment by Cactus
2015-01-29 11:20:46

I agree with this and the real question is how bad could it get….’

You live in Santa Clara were they are all busy working on making that happen. High Tech H1B land

 
 
Comment by taxpayers
2015-01-29 09:42:10

the world has a copper roof” and it be stoved in $2.44

=wow

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2015-01-29 09:43:45

‘U.S. homeownership fell to a 20-year low in the fourth quarter as more Americans opted to rent rather than buy a house, government data showed on Thursday.’

‘The seasonally adjusted home ownership rate slipped to 63.9 percent, the lowest since the third quarter of 1994.’

Comment by rj chicago
2015-01-29 09:55:39

And yet - house prices are way out of whack with actual income. As another poster here note - hello pin - meet bubble.

 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2015-01-29 10:37:32

http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=baba

The jokes write themselves on wall street.

Comment by Bluto
2015-01-29 12:02:18

Wow, no kidding! I checked out a few news stories linked from that page, especially liked this bit:

Yahoo said earlier this week that it plans to spin off its remaining stake in Alibaba into a separate, publicly-traded company named SpinCo.

now there is a company name that inspires confidence ;-)
I wonder if the brilliant Marissa Mayer came up with that??

 
 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-01-29 11:32:44
 
Comment by cactus
2015-01-29 14:55:17

Bruce Norris RE investor

“Bruce definitely seemed more bearish on the market. He didn’t say so outright of course (given that he wants people to attend his January seminar, and understandably so). However, he definitely made it clear that 2014 was a sluggish year when compared against this stage in previous real estate cycles. That is, historically after two years of significant price increases the subsequent year typically has high volume of sales. In 2014 though, sales were consistently down (by about 10% from the previous year)

Comment by Ben Jones
2015-01-29 21:10:42

‘compared against this stage in previous real estate cycles. That is, historically after two years of significant price increases the subsequent year typically has high volume of sales. In 2014 though, sales were consistently down’

It’s a bubble, not a cycle.

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-01-30 01:17:59

And a phenomenally persistent bubble at that!

 
 
 
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