June 3, 2016

A Greater Fool Theory Of Investment

It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “After cooling off in 2014, home flipping is on the rise again, according to a new report from RealtyTrac. It is reaching new peaks in 7 percent of the nation’s metro markets, including Baltimore, Buffalo, New Orleans, San Diego and even pricey Seattle. Usually flippers look for distressed properties. There are fewer of those today, so flippers are moving to the mainstream market, creating that new pressure. ‘A telltale sign is when flippers are acquiring properties at or close to full market value. Those markets are so competitive that even the off-market properties flippers are looking to buy are not selling at much of a discount — and there may be very few distressed properties available,’ said Daren Blomquist, senior VP at RealtyTrac.”

“Examples of these markets include San Antonio, where Blomquist says flippers are actually purchasing at a 7.8 percent premium above estimated full market value, as well as Austin, Texas; Salt Lake City; Naples, Florida; Dallas and San Jose, California.”

“A Dumbo three-bedroom used to be the real estate equivalent of a total eclipse or Halley’s Comet: Rare. But not any more. There are an unusually high number of three-bedroom listings in Dumbo at the moment. ‘There has been a visible slow down with higher priced properties, both rental and sales, which includes two- and three-bedrooms,’ Dumbo resident and Halstead agent Terrence LeRay told Brownstoner. ‘This slowdown may be economy related, election related, concerns over P.S. 8 or a combination thereof.’”

“During the boom, Elk City’s RV parks and hotels were full of oil-field workers and the city had to bus people in from as far away as Oklahoma City to work at the Walmart Supercenter because there was a shortage of workers. Elk City recruited St. Louis-area-based developer USA Wealth Partners to build new homes in the addition in 2012 as the city responded to a housing shortage prompted by the oil boom brought on by $100 a barrel oil. A few of the brick homes in the Swales development sit unfinished with boarded-up windows, missing finishing touches like light fixtures and carpeting.”

“Swales addition homeowner Quincy Hudson can point out his neighbors’ homes in the Swales addition with the ‘for sale’ signs and list what energy company the homeowner was laid off from. ‘The economy is terrible, and people are moving,’ Hudson said. ‘But this house isn’t going to sell until the economy comes back.’”

“Tyler Harrison, a real estate broker for Elk City-based Western Oklahoma City Realty, has had so many new home listings over the past few months that he had to order more yard signs. Any of the higher-end homes in the $300,000 price range are a tough sell right now in Elk City, he said. Homeowners who bought at the top of the market a few years ago and don’t have a lot of equity in their homes often find themselves unable to sell their homes for a price that will allow them to pay off their mortgage, he said. ‘We still have buyers coming in, but it’s a limited amount of people,’ Harrison said. ‘There are people without much equity in their homes who are limited in what they can take.’”

“Central Saanich’s Marc Tardif has been trying to sell his renovated two-storey house with four bedrooms and three bathrooms for two years. No offers have come. The price has been knocked down to $399,000 from $499,000. It’s now below the $466,000 assessed value. What’s going on? Well, it might be that Tardif’s house is in Quebec City. A condominium building boom is one factor in the Quebec City market. As well, potential buyers have more choice, as do renters, Tardif said. Quebec City’s rising rental vacancy rate was four per cent in 2015, up from 3.1 per cent in 2014.”

“He calls the city’s rental market dead. ‘They built so many condominiums in Quebec and they are still building like crazy.’”

“Australia is building more apartments than ever: Every corner I drive past has a big hole in the ground waiting for foundations to be poured, and the horizon is a jagged mess of cranes. Apartment prices got crazy there for a while. That sent builders into a frenzy. But that period may be coming to an end. The financial press is full of stories about people buying apartments off the plan and losing money on them. Big money. Like the central Melbourne apartment bought for $2.2 million being sold for $1.6 million.”

“Banks are now restricting lending for construction of apartments in large areas of Australian cities. They don’t want to be left holding bad loans on apartments that have tumbled in price. Even the Reserve Bank has got in on the warnings, with the head of Financial Stability, Lucy Ellis, pointing out that even if a crash seems to be coming, property developers will still rush to get buildings finished. ‘Just as there’s a Greater Fool Theory of investment that helps perpetuate booms in prices of financial assets, it sometimes seems that there is a Slower Builder Theory of property development, where everyone knows that not all the projects underway will make money but yours will if you can just complete it before the other guys complete theirs,’ said Ms Ellis.”

“Nguyen Tri Hieu, a renowned banking expert, believes that the HCMC real estate market is now full of high-end apartment projects because investors put high hopes on Vietnam’s Trans Pacific Partnership membership and other free trade agreements. He noted the high expectation has made the real estate market heat up. Most people are buying apartments at this moment just for investments, while very few people buy for accommodations. In other words, real demand is not so high. ‘Investors have the right to keep a high hope that the high-end market segment would bring high profit, but it is necessary to reconsider liquidity,’ Hieu said.”

“Singapore’s residential rents are falling at a precipitous rate - and the reason could be a sea-change in the make-up of the city-state’s expat workers. Official rental price indexes showing declines in the neighborhood of 10 percent since 2013, while anecdotally, much larger drops are bandied about. Alexander Karolik Shlaen, an economist and CEO of Panache Management, a luxury brands and real estate investment adviser, said a unit he owns has seen a rent drop of 40 percent, from 13,000 Singapore dollars (around $9,400) a month in 2008, down to under 8,000 Singapore dollars now.”

“Rents are set to head even lower, with the numbers of new units exceeding the number of new arrivals, noted Chandran V.R., managing director at luxury property agent CRE. Additionally, with some of those units’ developers likely to rent the apartments if they can’t be sold, tenant-seeking ‘owners are going to be competing with developers,’ he said.”

“After two decades trying to make a life in China’s entrepreneurial city of Wenzhou, Ji Shouquan and his brother Shoufang are ready to head home. They say they have no hope of stepping onto the city’s housing ladder and it is getting more difficult to earn a decent wage. China is relying on millions of internal migrants taking up jobs in cities to boost the urban population and consumption. But migration is slowing down and workers are more reluctant to travel across the country to find jobs, trends that could undermine these efforts.”

“Analysts say China’s massive stock of unsold homes is evidence that the urbanization drive is faltering as migrants struggle to build a future away from their villages or towns. Despite some signs that house prices are recovering from a downturn, official data shows that the inventory of unsold homes in China rose in the year to April by 4.5 percent to 450 million sq meters.”

“‘It’s really tough to make money,’ said Shouquan, who earns about 5,000 yuan ($767) a month as a sound technician in a karaoke lounge. ‘Of the six or seven friends who used to work at the KTV, only two of us are still holding on. Most have gone home.’”

“In the London city center, there are whole neighborhoods of multi-million-dollar homes that are largely empty. Last summer, Roman Borisovich, a Russian banker turned anti-corruption activist, collaborated on a documentary that aired on British TV, called ‘From Russia With Cash.’ In the film, Borisovich went undercover, pretending to be a corrupt Russian official named Boris. He approached five separate realtors from well-known London brokerages, telling them he wanted to buy a multi-million dollar property. He made explicit that he would pay for it with money stolen from the Russian state.”

“All five realtors were willing to help him. Their commissions would have been in the six figures. ‘They had all been trained to watch for money-laundering, but five out of five agreed to play along. That was the appalling part,’ Borisovich recalls. ‘Victorian bricks and mortar have become the currency of international crime,’ he says, adding that he believes the British establishment has been complicit.”

“Home prices went up in March. All indications are that April was an up month too. Bit by bit, prices are regaining the ground lost during the long collapse from 2006 through early 2012. If there’s one thing we should have learned from the housing bust, it’s that rising home prices aren’t an unalloyed good. Rapid price increases in the early 2000s directly led to the subsequent crash. Sale prices lost all connection with both rents and incomes; after a certain point they were going up mainly just because they were going up, and buyers feared missing out. That couldn’t go on forever.”

“For homeowners, housing isn’t just something one consumes; it’s an investment. And when your investment rises in price, that’s a good thing. This simple truth explains a lot about public policy surrounding housing in the U.S. The home mortgage interest deduction is a subsidy for the affluent that serves no discernible economic purpose, but is almost impossible to get rid of because removing it would (1) raise taxes for those with mortgages and (2) depress home prices across the board. Zoning and other land-use regulations have been accused (and to some extent convicted) of segregating Americans by income and slowing U.S. economic growth, but it’s almost impossible to get rid of them because they raise the price of existing homes.”

“So no, I don’t see my nation suddenly embracing the idea that rising home prices are a terrible thing. But it seems like it’s worth the effort to try and at least sow a little doubt.”




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227 Comments »

Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 02:18:42

No bubble here.

‘San Antonio…where flippers are actually purchasing at a 7.8 percent premium above estimated full market value’

‘That twirling sound you hear is a house being flipped. The number of people buying dilapidated homes, fixing them and reselling them for a profit has returned to levels not seen since the housing bubble was building up in 2005.’

‘Not surprisingly, some cable-TV shows that feature house flipping are experiencing a rise in viewership. HGTV, owned by Scripps Networks (SNI), had its highest-rated and most-watched April ever, thanks to the popularity of its new hit series “Good Bones,” starring mother-daughter home-renovation and flipping duo Karen E. Laine and Mina Starsiak.’

‘Another HGTV show, “Flip or Flop,” starring husband-and-wife flipping team Tarek and Christina El Moussa, returns for a fifth season on June 9. The show had its best ratings ever in its fourth season. The popularity of “Zombie House Flipping” enabled rival network FYI to deliver its best-ever first-quarter ratings among viewers aged 18 to 49.’

Comment by 2banana
2016-06-03 05:25:33

We have time warped back to 2005.

We have learned nothing in the obama housing bubble v2.0.

The next crisis will be even greater.

Fools in front of steamrollers.

Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-06-03 07:12:16

“We?”

 
Comment by scdave
2016-06-03 08:29:07

The next crisis will be even greater ??

If, as you say, Obama created the crisis 2.0 then who created the crisis 1.0 to start the whole friggen thing ?? Someone you voted for and stood behind the whole way ??

Comment by Rental Watch
2016-06-03 09:52:23
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Comment by Rental Watch
2016-06-03 09:54:42

From Time Magazine, link to follow:

“President Clinton’s tenure was characterized by economic prosperity and financial deregulation, which in many ways set the stage for the excesses of recent years. Among his biggest strokes of free-wheeling capitalism was the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which repealed the Glass-Steagall Act, a cornerstone of Depression-era regulation. He also signed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which exempted credit-default swaps from regulation. In 1995 Clinton loosened housing rules by rewriting the Community Reinvestment Act, which put added pressure on banks to lend in low-income neighborhoods. It is the subject of heated political and scholarly debate whether any of these moves are to blame for our troubles, but they certainly played a role in creating a permissive lending environment.”

Plenty of blame to go around.

I generally blame a failure of the investment community, and the long-term whittling away of “buyer beware”.

Investors lost discipline, and stopped asking fundamental underwriting questions. That allowed credit to flow, that was the source. Without this lax investment, the bubble wouldn’t have existed.

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Comment by scdave
2016-06-03 11:09:48

Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which repealed the Glass-Steagall Act
??

Clinton signed it because they house & senate could override a veto…Go look at the vote count…

Repeal was driven by the two republicans that sponsored it knowing that they could get it through with or without Clintons approval…

 
Comment by Rental Watch
2016-06-03 11:55:20

Clinton signed it because they house & senate could override a veto…Go look at the vote count…

Veto override needs 2/3s vote. Republicans didn’t have enough votes. Go look at the vote count and composition of the House/Senate.

At the end of the day, Clinton was pushing for the repeal.

In his words:
“Today I am pleased to sign into law S. 900, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. This historic legislation will modernize our financial services laws, stimulating greater innovation and competition in the financial services industry. America’s consumers, our communities, and the economy will reap the benefits of this Act.

Beginning with the introduction of an Administration-sponsored bill in 1997, my Administration has worked vigorously to produce financial services legislation that would not only spur greater competition, but also protect the rights of consumers and guarantee that expanded financial services firms would meet the needs of America’s underserved communities. Passage of this legislation by an overwhelming, bipartisan majority of the Congress suggests that we have met that goal.”

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/106-1999/s354
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/106-1999/h570

 
Comment by Rental Watch
2016-06-03 12:19:50

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=56922

Here is the good stuff about the CRA being a part of Clinton’s rationale.

“Both the Vice President and I have insisted that any financial services modernization legislation must benefit American communities by preserving and strengthening community reinvestment. I am very pleased that the Act accomplishes this goal. The Act establishes an important prospective principle: banking organizations seeking to conduct new nonbanking activities must first demonstrate a satisfactory record of meeting the credit needs of all the communities they serve, including low- and moderate-income communities. Thus, the law will for the first time prohibit expansion into activities such as securities and insurance underwriting unless all of the organization’s banks and thrifts maintain a “satisfactory” or better rating under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The CRA will continue to apply to all banks and thrifts, and any application to acquire or merge with a bank or thrift will continue to be reviewed under CRA, with full opportunity for public comment. The bill offers further support for community development in the form of a new Program for Investment in Microentrepreneurs (PRIME), to provide technical help to low- and moderate income microentrepreneurs.”

 
Comment by I am yuuuge in burma
2016-06-03 17:08:44

Veto override needs 2/3s vote. Republicans didn’t have enough votes. Go look at the vote count and composition of the House/Senate.

Sometime you are just blinded by rage. Facts don’t matter.

 
 
 
Comment by cactus
2016-06-03 10:15:10

Economic history

Hunting and gathering ended we got farming that ended we got industrial revolution that ended and we got house flipping.

Comment by I am yuuuge in burma
2016-06-03 17:07:26

Don’t forget proliferation of voyeurism.

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Comment by snake charmer
2016-06-03 07:49:47

I expect a brutal, corrupt one-party dictatorship like China to screw things up. But as for the rest of the world, what has happened since 2008 is a complete failure of central banking and of democratic government, and puts the latter at risk.

And I rarely agree with 2banana on anything, but he is correct that Obama owns this one. The whole point of the Obama Administration has been a restoration of the tottering economic elite and their doctrine.

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-06-03 21:47:26

Bernanke was also involved with the Echo Bubble housing price reflation scheme.

 
 
Comment by Bluto
2016-06-03 10:03:23

BTW the “Flip or Flop” stars moved on to promoting Trump University style seminars, their version is called “SuccessPath”

http://bc.ctvnews.ca/watchdog-issues-warning-over-real-estate-investment-seminars-1.2911636

 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 02:20:59

‘Vancouver is one of the most in-demand places in the world to live, but owning a home in the city is growing increasingly difficult as the price of a detached house has now reached $1.4 million dollars, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver. Chinese buyers in particular have been in the spotlight for contributing to the upward trend, and animosity against them is rising.’

‘China’s love affair with Vancouver is evident in media as well, with reality shows like HBIC TV’s “Ultra Rich Asian Girls” using the city as a luxurious backdrop. The program follows the daughters of China’s super rich, as they pursue modeling careers, jet off to private islands, and purchase million-dollar Vancouver homes on a whim.’

“Vancouver’s known as the best place to live,” Kevin Li, the producer of the show, told NBC News. “I think that comes with a cost.”

‘Li was born in East Vancouver to a working class family, and has his own experiences in Vancouver’s housing market. “I was able to save enough to buy my own condo, and then a house,” he said. “And because of rising property prices, I was able to leverage that to buy a second condo as an investment. Some people are able to take advantage of this situation, but people who aren’t in - they maybe have a challenge.”

Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 05:25:37

‘Analysts within China are brushing away growing fears that the world’s second largest economy is being engulfed by an expanding property bubble. Across the country millions of flats sit empty, either unsold or unrented, while prices for new units continue to soar in the big cities.’

“I live on the outskirts of Beijing and prices have reached $6,500 per square metre. In some of the better areas here, it’s more than $8,500″, said 25-year-old Beijing resident Atticus Liu. “It doesn’t matter how many years you work, you still might not be able to afford a home in Beijing.”

‘Developers are also taking on increasing risk to help fuel what observers worry is an unsustainable construction boom, particularly in the smaller third and fourth-tier cities. “I don’t know if it’s a bubble but, in the long run, perhaps the trend is slightly worse mainly due to oversupply,” said Deloitte’s chief economist for China Xu Sitao.’

‘There is broad agreement that the smaller cities are the biggest cause for concern. “I just came back from Ningbo in Zhejiang province and there were probably two-and-a-half years worth of housing stock, which is gigantic oversupply,” said Xu Sitao. “If it was a Western country that would mean there’s going to be a severe recession, but in China it’s a different story because the savings rate is very, very high and you still have urbanisation, which is still to be played out in the medium term to long term.”

‘China’s Government has warned against excessive debt-fuelled growth but, with the property sector accounting for 20 per cent of the country’s GDP, it is now playing a major role in propping up an otherwise slowing economy.’

 
Comment by 2banana
2016-06-03 05:28:29

And leverage works both ways.

And when the bubble pops….

“And because of sinking property prices, I was able to go bankrupt due to leverage from that a second condo that as an investment.”

And as an FYI.

I have been to Vancouver many times. Nice city. But far from the “best place to live…”

Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 07:57:52

It’s easy to launder large, really large amounts of money in Vancouver real estate. Even if they are caught nothing happens. They don’t care about the best city stuff.

Comment by Andre The Giant
2016-06-03 08:19:18

It’s a bonafide crime wave.

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Comment by In Colorado
2016-06-03 08:25:40

And the Canadian PTB like the inflow of cash into their economy and want to keep it that way, the “little people” be damned.

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Comment by cactus
2016-06-03 10:23:14

“And the Canadian PTB like the inflow of cash into their economy and want to keep it that way, the “little people” be damned.”

Not just Canada

 
 
 
Comment by Dutch Spikes
2016-06-03 08:56:49

Canada needs central heating.

 
 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-06-03 09:30:12

Forget Vancouver and RE. Chinese pushing up Bitcoin today to another record for the year. Got to $ 575.19 as of 9:28am PST.

countdown to the halving:
http://bitcoinclock.com

 
 
Comment by Get Stucco
2016-06-03 02:55:57

‘A telltale sign is when flippers are acquiring properties at or close to full market value. Those markets are so competitive that even the off-market properties flippers are looking to buy are not selling at much of a discount — and there may be very few distressed properties available,’

Try not to get stucco.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-06-03 02:59:28

“Analysts say China’s massive stock of unsold homes is evidence that the urbanization drive is faltering as migrants struggle to build a future away from their villages or towns. Despite some signs that house prices are recovering from a downturn, official data shows that the inventory of unsold homes in China rose in the year to April by 4.5 percent to 450 million sq meters.”

Higher and higher prices and more and more empty homes is no coincidence.

 
Comment by Mr. Banker
2016-06-03 05:03:06

“Banks are now restricting lending for construction of apartments in large areas of Australian cities. They don’t want to be left holding bad loans on apartments that have tumbled in price.”

We bankers are the real heroes in this mess. Those ignorant construction pukes will spend any and all amount of money made available to them because they have no sense. The only brakes that can be applied to this nonsense is the brakes we lenders, the good guys in all this, apply to the money flow.

Comment by 2banana
2016-06-03 05:30:13

Banks holding the bag?

That is why bailouts and TARPs are for…

Without them - there would be tanks in the street!

How did we ever put 1500 bankers in jail during the S&L crisis? Bad times indeed…

Comment by In Colorado
2016-06-03 08:27:37

S&L’s were mostly small, they were not TBTF. That’s why the crooked S&L bankers went to jail.

Comment by scdave
2016-06-03 08:32:33

Yep…I had some friends that were executives working in the S&L business..They shut down quickly and got out of dodge…Not sure if they ever did any time because they left the state…

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Comment by I am yuuuge in burma
2016-06-03 17:58:42

Holder and Obambi…banksters best buds.

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-06-03 06:01:26

Not only that, but imbecilic home buyers will blow every dime of money loaned to them on an overpriced house, with nary a thought about whether they will be able to pay back the loan. It truly is a banker’s job to apply the brakes on the money flow. Otherwise you’ll wind up with a Texas-sized flood.

Comment by 2banana
2016-06-03 06:06:08

If banks had to eat their bad loans - none of this would happen. (the invisible hand of the market)

Because the US government buys or guarantees nearly every mortgage out there - the banks could care less. They make their money on volume and not on the quality of the loans.

Comment by Ethan in nova
2016-06-03 06:37:15

Every loan $417k or below right? Where Im at tht is only condos

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Comment by Professor Bear
2016-06-03 07:50:34

No, the limit is routinely increased in bubble zones.

 
 
Comment by In Colorado
2016-06-03 08:32:28

Back during the S&L days banks did have to eat their bad loans, which is why so many S&L’s folded, but it sure didn’t stop them from issuing bad loans.

It was pretty surreal watching S&Ls topple like dominoes in SoCal. I also saw more than a few Credit Unions topple out in my neck of the woods after bubble 1.0 popped.

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Comment by Hi-Z
2016-06-03 09:38:03

should be …could not care less…

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Comment by Combotechie
2016-06-03 05:30:28

“A tidal wave may be coming to the bond market, and it’s not going to be pretty.

“At least that’s the view of Matthew Mish, credit strategist at UBS. To Mish, the elevated rates of default in the commodity sector and high risk bonds are a harbinger of things to come for the broader debt market.

“‘First, our quantitative framework is signaling a broader deterioration in the default outlook, with our model projecting default rates of 4.3% over the next 12 months (versus 2.6% one year prior),’ Mish wrote in a note to clients on Thursday.

“Mish’s research asks whether the recent uptick in default rates is simply a ‘rogue wave’ that will dissipate or the ’start of a tsunami’ that will bring the rate of defaults much higher over the long term.

“Mish is in the latter camp. He cites three short-term reasons for a coming increase in the number of firms unable to pay back their debt. They are:

“1. Decreasing profits: Mish notes that corporate profits fell 7.6% in the first quarter against the same period a year ago. In order to pay back loans, companies need to continue to make more, and with less cash coming in, there will be less to allocate to debt.
7 PM(UBS)

“2. Lending standards are getting tighter: Firms also have the ability to pay down debt that is coming to maturity by issuing new debt, effectively kicking the can down the road. Lending conditions for new debt, however, are getting tighter as banks focus on higher quality borrowers. In turn, this makes it tougher for companies to pay for debt with more debt.

“3. Debt is getting more expensive: Loan spreads, or the difference between what banks have to pay to borrow money and what they charge companies in interest on loans they then give out, are starting to widen. In other words, new debt is getting more expensive.

“Add up these factors and you’ve got a problem for companies with debt outstanding, and the $1 trillion market for low-grade, risky bonds.

“This trouble is not just limited to the commodity space. Mish estimates that the default rate for nonenergy firms will creep up to 3.5% in 2016, up from 1.5% currently.

“‘Higher frequency data suggest default stress is rising specifically in the media/entertainment, consumer/service, retail and aerospace/industrial sectors (as well as the non-bank financials),’ Mish wrote.

“As these defaults start to pile up, Mish said, long-term shifts in the credit markets could snowball and make the situation even worse.

“Increased regulation, the holding of high-yield debt by “less stable” investors such as mutual funds, which are likely to unload the bonds quickly in the event of a drop, and the increased size of the low-quality leveraged loan market could all make the tidal wave even worse than in the past.”

 
Comment by 2banana
2016-06-03 06:03:59

If a fund or a group of investments has a 4.5% default rate from its holdings…

Those investments better be paying 10%+ interest to make the risk acceptable.

And these investments are not doing that.

And THAT is the real issue.

 
 
Comment by 2banana
2016-06-03 05:34:13

Why democrats have “superdelegates” - to stop this. But it is not working…

Party of the people?

And then crazy Joe just walks in a takes the nomination…

Why even bother to vote?

—————–

What If Bernie Actually Wins California?
Townhall.com ^ | June 3, 2016 | Mark Davis

While conservative America wrings its hands over Donald Trump’s chances of beating Hillary Clinton, let’s take a moment to anticipate an event next week that would objectively, demonstrably hurt her chances no matter what any Republican does. Let us pause to assess the delicious ramifications of a Bernie Sanders win in the California primary Tuesday night.

One step at a time. Could Hillary lose California? Sure she could. The realclearpolitics.com polling average shows her up by six, but that is wildly inflated by a possible outlier survey showing her up by nearly twenty. The other three current polls, including NBC/Wall Street Journal, each have her up by two.

So what is likely over the weekend? Imagine a split screen. On one side, Bernie will be washed in the loud adulation of grizzled hippies, communists and mush-brained college kids. He will be relaxed, confident and aggressive against Hillary, who for her part may not mention his name much at all.

She will be busy screeching through ill-delivered attacks on Donald Trump, on the gamble that it is wise to look past Bernie to put on the mantle of presumed nominee. She is probably right about that, but if Bernie’s amped-up legions are itching to deliver one last primary blow to her, there may be no stopping them.

So what then?

It all depends on the party loyalist upper-crusters who populate the thoroughly corrupt Democrat superdelegate system. Her 543-44 lead in those rarefied ranks is the only reason we have been told forever that Bernie has no chance. Without them, he would have a solid chance, since among delegates earned through real voting, he is only behind 1,769 to 1,501.

Sure, some superdelegates would bail. There is a natural inclination to follow the scent of a winner if the tide is turning. But remember that these are deeply rooted creatures of the Democratic Party machine, most of whom cast their fate with Hillary early on.

They may regret that decision back when it looked like a coronation lay ahead, but they must know the dire price to be exacted for anyone jumping from the Clinton ship if she eventually wins anyway. Don’t expect widespread willingness to burn that bridge. Bernie’s forces may offer a convention rule requiring superdelgates to vote for the candidate that won their state, but that will be a tough fight in a convention hall packed with Hillary’s power brokers.

If Democrats get to hit a reset button in Philadelphia, Joe Biden may literally ride out onto the Wells Fargo Center stage on a white horse, arriving to rescue the party from Hillary’s scandals and campaign clumsiness and Bernie’s unelectability.

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-06-03 06:05:06

If only the Republicans had any white horses in the stable, they might be tempted to try a similar tactic.

Comment by 2banana
2016-06-03 06:53:09

They can’t.

Republicans don’t have super-delegates (delegates that no one votes for)

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-06-03 07:12:56

Well then I guess they are stuck backing a chronic liar and real estate huckster as their candidate.

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Comment by 2banana
2016-06-03 07:26:31

If only republicans had a better system.

Like super-delegates that could anointed the candidate of their choice.

Who needs pesky voters anyways?

We know what is best for you and you will obey.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-06-03 07:48:10

Trump is actually the ideal Housing Bubble candidate. What’s needed to Make America Great again is a real estate salesman-in-chief.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-06-03 08:00:51

Trump: I will reopen Trump University after lawsuit
By Bob Fredericks
Published: June 2, 2016 4:34 p.m. ET

A defiant Donald Trump on Thursday vowed to reopen his controversial Trump University once a civil suit over the disbanded for-profit program is finished — a case he again predicted he would win.

“After the litigation is disposed of and the case won, I have instructed my execs to open Trump U(?), so much interest in it! I will be pres.,” he wrote on Twitter.

The meaning of the question mark was unclear.

 
Comment by Avg Joe
 
Comment by I am yuuuge in burma
2016-06-03 18:11:24

Trump: I will reopen Trump University after lawsuit

Right on, the Orange one!

TBH, who’s done more harm to this country? Harvard Law/MBA vs Trump U graduates?

Let’s shut off the one that has inflicted horrible pains to this country and peoples lives.

 
Comment by I am yuuuge in burma
2016-06-03 18:32:02

Unbound Delegates = super delegates

“We need more of them.”

–2/3rds of republicans who didn’t support Trump

 
 
 
 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-06-03 07:14:55

That’s a nice incoherent rant. The polls say that it’s pretty close in California. Even if Sanders wins, it will be by a small margin and the gap in elected delegates won’t shrink much.

Comment by 2banana
2016-06-03 07:30:23

The “gap” in elected delegates is pretty narrow between Bernie and hillary.

Now imagine if Bernie had all those unelected super-delegates.

Please don’t let facts get in your way though…

Hillary Clinton 1,261
Bernie Sanders 1,022

it will be by a small margin and the gap in elected delegates won’t shrink much.

http://heavy.com/news/2016/03/updated-current-democratic-delegates-count-latest-bernie-sanders-washington-alaska-hawaii-hillary-clinton-superdelegates-dem/

Comment by MightyMike
2016-06-03 08:57:14

Whether it’s large or small is an opinion, not a fact. Sanders is not going to get all of the super-delegates. It’s extremely unlikely that he could even get a majority.

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Comment by Dutch Spikes
2016-06-03 09:01:43

It’s ironic that the Democrats have a conservative delegate system and the Republicans have a liberal one. That former favors the entrenched and the latter allows an upset by a newcomer…

 
 
Comment by 2banana
2016-06-03 05:38:07

If a fund or a group of investments has a 4.5% default rate from its holdings…

Those investments better be paying 10%+ interest to make the risk acceptable.

And these investments are not doing that.

And THAT is the real issue.

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 05:40:31

‘China’s receding growth rate is taking its toll on listed real-estate companies throughout the Pacific Rim region.’

‘For example, Hong Kong-based developer Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. , which pushed hard into residential development in mainland China in recent years, has seen its shares plummet 31% in the past 12 months. A similar plunge in shares has been suffered by Singapore-listed Global Logistic Properties Ltd., the largest warehouse operator in China, which made a big bet on online retail.’

‘Meanwhile, Hong Kong-listed Hang Lung Properties Ltd. , which owns high-end malls in some cities in China, has been hurt as sales of luxury watches, handbags and other gifts have fallen in the wake of the anticorruption campaign launched by President Xi Jinping. Its stock is down 40% in the past 12 months.’

‘Now many of these companies are feeling the flip side of the China syndrome. China’s current cooling is having its biggest bearish impact particularly on companies that own and develop real estate in that country. For example, Hong Kong-listed Chinese property developers like Evergrande Real Estate Group and China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd. have been hammered on concerns about debt, inventory overhang and housing policy-tightening in the top-tier cities.’

‘But the downdraft also is hurting shares of property owners in other countries as its repercussions are felt in neighboring economies. Hong Kong’s residential market has lost some of its sheen as mortgage lending has tightened and higher stamp duties were put in place, in part to combat speculative purchases by mainland Chinese buyers.’

‘Meanwhile, demand is weakening in Singapore’s office market because companies are downsizing or ratcheting back expansion plans due to the economic and trade slowdown in the region. Units at Keppel REIT, an office landlord on the island city, fell 13% in the past year.’

 
Comment by taxpayers
2016-06-03 05:42:33

someone posted that Drahgi is buying corporate debt- link?
that’s bizarre
whoops we have that too
the fed 4.3 trillion cesspool

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-06-03 06:07:33

I suspect markets are propped up to an unprecedented, irreversible degree at this point by central banks. I’m interested in any articles to either support or refute this impression.

 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 05:43:59

‘Construction costs in Beijing tumbled 10% over the past year amid weaker demand. This was the largest decline in the world and an acceleration of the trend that saw costs fall 5% the previous year, according to the International Construction Market Survey for 2016. The report predicts that prices will remain stagnant in the Chinese capital over the next year.’

‘The survey also said the housing markets of China’s regional trading partners are suffering a severe ripple effect from the slowdown in the commodities market and China’s economy. Countries that rely on exporting commodities to China have seen volatile construction costs amid the slowdown.’

‘Among the world markets that are overheating, Zurich tops the scale at nearly $3700 per square meter (m2), followed by New York at $3650 per m2, and London at $3550 per m2.’

“Two macro-economic factors – the sharp fall in oil prices and China’s slowdown – have rippled across the global construction industry over the past year and triggered a rapid polarization of the market,” Steve McGuckin, Turner and Townsend’s global managing director of real estate, said in a written statement. “Some regions are now facing acute overstretch, with construction demand outstripping what the industry is able to supply. Meanwhile in markets with a heavy reliance on either trade with China or on commodities exports, both demand and levels of investment have fallen.”

Comment by Jingle Male
2016-06-05 06:46:23

Zurich tops the scale at nearly $3700 per square meter (m2), followed by New York at $3650 per m2, and London at $3550 per m2.’

$350/SF

Comment by Captain Lou Albano
2016-06-05 17:28:53

That’s what happens when you build up. Single or two story? $55/sq ft.

 
 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 05:49:11

‘The average commute in the Central Valley is just around 20 minutes. Now think of a long commute. Now longer. And longer. How about 6 times longer. That is what thousands of workers in the northern end of the valley are doing every day.’

‘James Bostick is a salesman that works primarily in the Bay Area but lives nearly two hours away ‘Over the Hill’ in Los Banos. Even at this early hour, there is an unbroken string of cars heading west on highway 152 to make it in time for shifts that, for most, won’t even start until 8.’

‘The Bay Area has by far the most expensive housing prices in the country which is forcing thousands of middle-income workers into more affordable areas like Los Banos. Homes there are about a quarter the price. For many, the lower home price makes it the drive worth it.’

‘As we cross into the Bay Area, James points up and new construction springing up and says he briefly considered moving his family of five closer to work but that the price is just too steep. “See how it’s three high and how congested it is right here? These are condos and apartments. (and what would be the going rate on these?) Those would be about $700,000 each. Now selling” Bostick says.’

‘And that’s for a two bedroom that would still be an hour commute from his home.’

‘Teresa Bartholomew, a real estate agent in Los Banos, told me the influx of workers has been great. Housing and construction are back on track after a brutal decline in the Great Recession, and money is pouring in. “There is approximately maybe four new subdivision in town and they are selling quite rapidly and prices are going up,” Bartholomew says.’

‘But not everyone agrees that turning the tiny town into a commuter hub has been great. Some residents malign the sprawl and the fact that property taxes are barely enough to cover the cost of city services in the new growth.’

‘Vanessa Lovato, a Los Banos native, feels the town itself has not benefited, pointing to its nearly 12% unemployment rate, which is double the state average. “I really hope that Los Banos starts going in a positive direction again. I really hope that other communities will learn ‘if you are going to build houses, at least build jobs’. We are not asking for much. We are not asking for the world. We are just asking for employment,” Lovato says.’

Comment by baabaabooie
2016-06-03 06:35:42

How is it possible in these high priced areas for so many houses to be sold at this high of price. I live in a low cost area of country and my Wife and I have gross income 175K-200K and could never even consider buying a 500K house, for sure not 700K. I know wages might be higher in the bay area but looking at national median wages I am in the top 10% no matter where you live. How is it possible that all these houses are selling? Someone please explain?

Comment by Andre The Giant
2016-06-03 08:12:30

With housing demand at 20 year lows and falling, nothing is selling.

 
Comment by Jingle Male
2016-06-05 06:51:38

Stock options, bonuses, lots of capital chasing deals. All cash purchases with funny money set the market…..the rest get sucked in by the sales comps.

Comment by Captain Lou Albano
2016-06-05 17:27:36

dumb.borrowed.money isn’t a stock option or bonus Jingle_Fraud.

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Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-06-03 07:18:05

Is this a repost from 2006 Ben? I swear to Buddha that I’ve seen dozens of articles like that. Even people commuting from Fresno to San Jose daily.

If the bubble was allowed to deflate in 2009 instead of bail out people we would not be seeing reruns like this.

Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 07:29:46

‘money is pouring in. “There is approximately maybe four new subdivision in town and they are selling quite rapidly and prices are going up”

Huh, they can build houses in California.

‘James points up and new construction springing up and says he briefly considered moving his family of five closer to work but that the price is just too steep. “See how it’s three high and how congested it is right here? These are condos and apartments. (and what would be the going rate on these?) Those would be about $700,000 each. Now selling” Bostick says.’

‘And that’s for a two bedroom that would still be an hour commute from his home.’

Again, somebody track this guy down. Surely he is seeing a mirage. The wait to build a three high must be what, 10, 15 years and millions in permitting? Congested?

Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 07:31:31

‘if you are going to build houses, at least build jobs’. We are not asking for much. We are not asking for the world. We are just asking for employment’

Sorry Vanessa, buying and selling shacks from each other is a sugar high, not a basis for an economy.

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Comment by Andre The Giant
2016-06-03 08:07:50

“Again, somebody track this guy down. Surely he is seeing a mirage. The wait to build a three high must be what, 10, 15 years and millions in permitting? Congested?”

And don’t forget the ‘hookups’! They’re at least $200k!

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Comment by rms
2016-06-03 17:23:49

Los Osos, CA - New Sewer System
http://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Buying/Can_anyone_tell_me_what_is_happening_with_the_sewe-569258

“The town is currently being sewer by the county. The residents are being assessed the cost of the sewer project since 2012/2013. The most common $24K per property sewer assessment is tied to the property taxes. We are paying approx $1100. per year more on our property taxes to pay for the sewer project. The assessment generally rides with the property. The other expense each property owner is facing upon completing of the sewer pipes being installed in the streets is each individual lateral from the street to the existing site of their septic tank. The expense for this part of the sewering varies from property to property depending on if one needs more of less trenching and pipes to get to the individual site of connection. Once the sewer project is installed, the residents will have a normal sewer bill like other sewered communities.”

 
 
Comment by Rental Watch
2016-06-03 09:59:32

Huh, they can build houses in California.

Yup, just not enough…not nearly enough.

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Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 10:08:44

‘just not enough…not nearly enough’

Click!

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 10:17:02

‘Recessions begin when things are very good. It’s only when reports come in that the data has turned that we realize we’ve been in a recession.’

‘Even Warren Buffett will tell you that a recession will inevitably come.’

Warren must be psychic. Or maybe he took econ 101.

 
 
 
Comment by snake charmer
2016-06-03 07:58:43

I thought it was a re-post too. There’s no way I could commute like that for more than a few days. Presuming Mr. Bostick sleeps eight hours a night, he’s spending a material part of his waking life in his car in traffic.

Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-06-03 08:14:32

Plus he is sedentary.

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Comment by Andre The Giant
2016-06-03 08:17:58

There is nothing more pleasurable than lying on my back while consuming groceries.

 
Comment by snake charmer
2016-06-03 09:10:00

I recall reading a recent account from someone leaving the D.C. area, noting his lengthy and traffic-choked commute, observing that he saw his child for 30 minutes a day, and saying that he had to go on blood pressure medication in his mid-30s because he didn’t have time to exercise. Paradise!

 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-06-03 09:56:43

Yup, I knew a feller I worked with, barrel-chested and moon-faced and at 30 years old he told me he’s on BP medicine. I started on that stuff at 53 - genes caught up to me, not my lack of exercise.

 
 
 
Comment by AbsoluteBeginner
2016-06-03 23:27:30

‘Even people commuting from Fresno to San Jose daily.’

150 miles one way. Holy $#@!!

 
 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 05:53:24

‘On Wednesday morning, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia invested $3.5 billion into Uber. It called to mind what an investor told me about a month ago when we were talking about the end of the current boom in Silicon Valley and what happens next.’

‘This person didn’t want to be identified, but he’s one of the best-known venture capitalists in the valley and has been involved in the early stages on some companies that went big. He told me that a lot of companies would deflate and be unable to raise another round without revaluing their stock. But he doesn’t expect a sudden bubble pop like in 2001 because there’s still so much money flowing into venture capital, especially from overseas.’

‘As he put it: “It’s so amazing how much money is available on a global scale. It’s unprecedented … I speculate — and I qualify with that word — there’s a lot of money in Russia, the Middle East, and China that’s looking for country diversification. Or in the case of Russia and Middle East, it may be looking for sector diversification. With oil price shocks, if you’re a Saudi prince, do you want all your money in oil?”

‘As this money continues to flow in, the unicorns will be able to buy more time. But eventually, many of them won’t be able to repay those latest investors, and they’re going to get soaked. In fact, investor Bill Gurley had a warning for these late-stage investors last month as he predicted the end of the unicorn boom: “It’s not the second inning or even the sixth, it’s the fourteenth inning in a five-hour baseball game. You are not being invited to a special dance, you are being approached because you are the lender of last resort. And because of how we meandered to this place in time, parting with your dollars now would be an extremely risky move.”

‘It’s so amazing how much money is available on a global scale’

Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-06-03 07:20:27

I’m still waiting for Buber, where buxom women are always within five minutes from me and my smartphone app.

Comment by Apartment 401
2016-06-03 07:46:34

It’s called Tinder.

Up your game, bro.

 
Comment by rj soon not to be in chicago
2016-06-03 07:56:35

Careful - you might have to ‘wife up’ and get over being a beta bux divorce’.

 
 
Comment by snake charmer
2016-06-03 08:04:32

“‘As he put it: “It’s so amazing how much money is available on a global scale. It’s unprecedented … I speculate — and I qualify with that word — there’s a lot of money in Russia, the Middle East, and China that’s looking for country diversification. Or in the case of Russia and Middle East, it may be looking for sector diversification.”
__________________________/

Yes. Country diversification. What a wonderfully neutral turn of phrase.

Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 12:26:52

‘Fresno taxi drivers are frustrated with city government. For more than a year they have been asking the city to modify regulations so they can compete with ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft.’

‘Fresno’s cabbies said they have been hit hard by ride-sharing services. They claim the number of cab drivers has dropped from more than 100 to less than 30 because they can’t compete with the low prices charged by Uber and Lyft.’

‘City regulations control how much cabs must charge. More than $2 a mile, compared to typical Uber rates of about $1 a mile. Cab drivers must pay for commercial licenses, insurance, city business licenses, and pay workman’s comp insurance to the state. In addition to paying for car inspections and meeting city standards.’

‘City Council Member Clint Olivier urged his fellow council members to find a way to make things more equitable. “We adopted a resolution that instructs the staff to come up with a deregulation and reform package that will level the playing field with Uber and Lyft.”

Is the Saudi investment in this black market taxi service a sign of something?

 
 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 05:56:08

‘Stock in Hovnanian Enterprises Inc., New Jersey’s largest homebuilder, dropped 11 percent Thursday after the Red Bank company announced a loss of $8.46 million, or 6 cents a share, in its fiscal second quarter. That was down from a loss of $19.56 million, or 13 cents, in the same quarter last year.’

‘Ara Hovnanian, CEO of the company, said the results for the quarter ended April 30 were “a little discouraging.” But he added: “It was a dramatic improvement from last year.” Revenue for the quarter climbed 40 percent to $654.72 million, beating analysts’ estimates of $643.06 million. And home deliveries rose 27.8 percent from the year-ago quarter to 1,647 homes.’

‘The company has struggled to recover from the worst housing downturn in decades, reporting only a few profitable quarters since 2006.’

‘Earlier this year, Hovnanian said it is accelerating its plans to pay off debt, rather than focus on expanding, because its lenders are unwilling to refinance loans. As part of that initiative, the builder exited the Minneapolis and Raleigh, N.C., markets by selling nine communities during its second quarter. It also plans to wind down its presence in the Tampa and San Francisco markets after it sells out about a dozen communities in the two areas. In the past 12 months, the company has opened 87 communities and closed out 98.’

Comment by oxide
2016-06-03 09:48:40

Earlier this year, Hovnanian said it is accelerating its plans to pay off debt, rather than focus on expanding,

They are trying to do the right thing, and yet their stock is still dropping. So fundamentals not are a money loser and you actually have to game the system (cheat) just to keep up.

Comment by Andre The Giant
2016-06-03 10:01:29

Hey Donk.

 
 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 05:58:27

‘Though the median sales price for Chicago single-family homes is climbing, the good news for homebuyers is that most places in the city are still selling for below asking price, according to sales data compiled by OpenHouse. In the last 30 days, 1,437 of the more than 2,500 homes sold in Chicago went for below asking price, the data says, while 643 sold for asking price and 495 went for more than asking price.’

‘Even the stars seem to be following the market’s lead:Vince Vaughn may have sold his Michigan Avenue condo this week reports just days after relisting the home, now split into two units, with a combined list price more than a million dollars lower than last year’s asking price.’

Comment by rj soon not to be in chicago
Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 08:26:23

I don’t watch TV, but apparently house flipping shows are a big hit. You can see it at the Phoenix trustee sales. A small army of professional bidders, relaying on cell phones to central command. Lots of money sloshing around, like the venture capital guy said.

I was thinking, Yellen doesn’t see a bubble. With her track record at sniffing them out, what would it take for her to see one? Mel Watt has the pedal to the metal. This all makes Greenspan look like a cautionary regulator.

 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-06-03 06:01:58
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-06-03 06:13:34

Not working…

Stock futures drop after ugly jobs data
By Anora Mahmudova and Barbara Kollmeyer
Published: June 3, 2016 9:03 a.m. ET
Only 38,000 new jobs were created in May

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-06-03 06:36:14

MarketWatch
Bulletin
Fed hike in June effectively off table after jobs data, futures market indicates

Comment by Combotechie
2016-06-03 07:29:53

“Fed hike in June effectively off table after jobs data, futures market indicates”

You forgot to include the word “surprise”.

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-06-03 07:54:56

Nobody could have seen it coming!!

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Comment by Combotechie
2016-06-03 10:50:23
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Comment by redmondjp
2016-06-03 13:23:22

“Nobody expects the Bernanke put!”

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Comment by Dutch Spikes
2016-06-03 09:08:23

I wonder if QE could be snuffing out its own tepid recovery. The wage gains have never materialized but housing costs have dramatically increased. The system just can’t move up despite how much air is blown in.

This is going down and the only question is whether it happens before or after the election.

Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 09:23:41

I realize economics has been drown out by central bankism, but I can faintly remember learning about the business cycle in college. Economy goes up, inevitably bad investments are made. Economy goes down, bad investments are liquidated which provide cheaper resources and opportunities for the recovery. Something like that. I don’t remember when I first noticed the Federal Reserve was trying to preempt recessions. But it dawned on me at the time they were eliminating (to the extent they were successful) the fuel for the rebound.

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-06-03 22:03:02

The Fed’s economic management policy is akin to old-school forestry, where every little fire that started was summarily extinguished. Over time, the result was a thicket of tinder that would fuel a crown fire once a too-big-to-contain fire broke out.

The massive overhang of ZIRP- and NIRP-driven malinvestment is the economic equivalent of tinder to fuel the next economic crown fire following the last one that started in December 2007 and hasn’t quite died out just yet.

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Comment by Andre The Giant
2016-06-03 09:38:02

QE simply collapses demand.

Remember….. I can ask $50k for my used Chevy pickup but where is the buyer at that price?

So it goes with all depreciating assets like houses.

 
 
 
Comment by 2banana
2016-06-03 06:02:03

Another obama/hillary fascist.

Shut down all peaceful free speech you don’t agree with.

With violence.

And hold back police protection and don’t arrest any of the violent fascists so that these peasants learn their lesson.

And then blame those giving a peaceful speech.

“Violence against Americans is good!” - The democrat party

——————

San Jose Mayor Justifies Mob Violence
Weekly Standard | 6/3/16

Thousands of Americans participated in that most benign of civic rituals in San Jose, California, on Thursday night: seeing a presidential candidate speak. Of course, that candidate was Donald Trump, so as these engaged citizens streamed out of the arena, they were subjected to astonishing levels of violence. An angry mob pelted eggs, tomatoes, and bottles at the spectators—as well as the police, who tried (and failed) to maintain some semblance of order. Other Trump supporters were set upon and punched. One was left with blood streaming down his face. (See representative video below.)

The mayor of San Jose, Democrat Sam Liccardo, reacted angrily to the events. Not that he was particularly upset at the violent mob that attacked innocent Americans, of course. No, his ire was directed at Mr. Trump. “At some point Donald Trump needs to take responsibility for the irresponsible behavior of his campaign,” the mayor said. Apparently it was downright “irresponsible” of Trump to even set foot in California’s third largest city.

Comment by rj soon not to be in chicago
2016-06-03 07:48:20

2B
Yep - and so it begins - the FSA, the thugs, the gangstas and the rest of the vermin of society are running scared as they may be seeing the writing on the wall. And the mayor of San Joe - really?

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-06-03/trump-supporters-terrorized-massive-san-jose-street-brawl-police-lose-control

 
Comment by Apartment 401
2016-06-03 07:48:42

Cloward-Piven in action.

“This sucker could go down” — George W. Bush

 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-06-03 10:39:33

The mayor of San Jose, Democrat Sam Liccardo, reacted angrily to the events. Not that he was particularly upset at the violent mob that attacked innocent Americans, of course. No, his ire was directed at Mr. Trump.

That had a whiff of nonsense about it, so I checked.


San Jose mayor scolds Donald Trump, protesters after post-rally violence

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo released the following statement about the violence that occurred after the Donald Trump rally Thursday night at the convention center:

“San Jose police officers performed admirably and professionally to contain acts of violence and protect individuals’ rights to assemble, protest and express their political views. While it’s a sad statement about our political discourse that Mr. Trump has focused on stirring antagonism instead of offering real solutions to our nation’s challenges, there is absolutely no place for violence against people who are simply exercising their rights to participate in the political process.”

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_29974398/san-jose-mayor-sam-liccardo-reacts-violence-after

Comment by 2banana
2016-06-03 11:07:49

Ah yes - the old “my wife made me hit her” defense…

——————-

Politics: San Jose Mayor employs ‘Mohammed cartoon’ defense to blame riots on Trump
Cain TV | June 3, 2016 | Robert Laurie

Free speech? What free speech.

“You were asking for it.” It’s the ultimate ‘blame the victim’ line, and it’s been used in an attempt to excuse everything from theft, to Rape, to Murder. If you didn’t leave it out, it wouldn’t have been taken. If you didn’t insult that guy, he wouldn’t have punched you. If you didn’t dress ‘all pretty’ the rapist wouldn’t have pounced.

Now, Sam Liccardo - the Hillary-supporting mayor of ’sanctuary city’ San Jose - is employing that argument in an effort to absolve violent rioters of wrongdoing.

The mayor, a Democrat and Hillary Clinton supporter, criticized Trump for coming to cities and igniting problems that local police departments had to deal with.

“At some point Donald Trump needs to take responsibility for the irresponsible behavior of his campaign,” Liccardo said.

For progressives, the “irresponsible behavior of his campaign” basically amounts to “speech we don’t like.” They despise Trump’s opinions, his words upset them, and they’re lashing out in an effort to silence the candidate and his supporters. The excuse is: If he didn’t say the things he said, we wouldn’t have to punch people, destroy cars, and burn stuff.

Protesters jumped on cars, pelted Trump supporters with eggs and water balloons, snatched signs, and stole “Make America Great” hats off supporters’ heads before burning them and snapping selfies with the charred remains.

Several people were caught on camera punching Trump supporters.

By blaming Trump for the despicable rage-based actions of the rioters, Liccardo is essentially arguing that the rioters - who spent the night carping about how California should still be part of Mexico - are simply too stupid or too out of control to fight speech with speech.

It’s not a new argument. We’ve heard progressives make it before - when they were demanding free speech limits in the wake of shootings at a Mohammed cartoon exhibit.

Comment by redmondjp
2016-06-03 13:28:34

Perfectly stated by Laurie.

This, folks, is the fundamental transformation of America, brought to you by the globalists using the POTUS as their front man.

Forward!

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Comment by MightyMike
2016-06-03 13:59:39

It’s not even well stated. He never identified anyone expressing this sentiment:

For progressives, the “irresponsible behavior of his campaign” basically amounts to “speech we don’t like.” They despise Trump’s opinions, his words upset them, and they’re lashing out in an effort to silence the candidate and his supporters. The excuse is: If he didn’t say the things he said, we wouldn’t have to punch people, destroy cars, and burn stuff.

 
Comment by Apartment 401
2016-06-04 03:44:55

speech we don’t like

Mike, meet Triggly Puff:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFrZsGbO6N0

Both of you are now excused from the dinner table, the grownups are having a conversation here :)

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 06:10:49

‘Residents encouraged to buy a home as rents increase in Buffalo’

‘Renters in Buffalo are being priced out of some neighborhoods because of rising costs. A number of real estate experts told News 4 there is little affordable housing on Buffalo’s West Side. Now, residents are turning to the city’s East Side to rent or own a home.’

“I just want to have something to call my own,” said Marta Pabellon, a new homeowner. Pabellon is now closing on a house in Buffalo’s East Side after two years of renting an apartment. “I figure rent is the same price as paying a mortgage,” she said. “I just got tired living up and down from somebody, paying rent. I’d rather put money into my own property.”

‘She’s a single mother of two daughters and didn’t think she could afford a house. When she looked at renting again, she found out rent rose by $150 or more in the last two years. She looked for apartments in North Buffalo and on Buffalo’s East and West Sides. “It’s been increasing a lot and not even for a larger apartment, a two bedroom is now the price of a three bedroom,” said Pabellon.’

‘Erie County Legislator Betty Jean Grant said many renters across the city are in the same situation. “People who are in New York City and other places are buying homes eight, nine, ten at a time and they’re renting them out for probably more than a person could’ve bought it themselves and rented it for,” she explained. “Buffalo is in a boom market for housing and we’re building a lot of apartments but unfortunately for the people here, especially the low income ones, they’re for the high end income residents.”

‘Despite the competitive market, Grant said there are neighborhoods on Buffalo’s East Side where a mortgage can cost the same, or less, than rent. She encourages residents to consider buying a home. “If you’re going to pay rent for the same price you can buy a home and have equity in that house, that’s a smarter move to go,” said Grant.’

‘Not everyone agrees. “That, I guess, was a reality five years ago where it was actually, in Buffalo, cheaper to own your home than it was to rent,” said Stephanie Simeon, executive director of the non-profit Heart of the City. “That’s not the case anymore.”

‘The organization supports housing development on the Lower West Side and helps first time buyers purchase a home. Simeon said buying isn’t necessarily cheaper because many homes still on the market for low-income buyers are considered “fixer-uppers”.

“You can get a mortgage for $800 a month but do you have money for a roof repair? Or do you have plumbing that needs to get done or just cosmetics?” said Simeon.’

‘She said it’s putting many residents in a tough situation. “You cannot find rent below $600 so renting is not an option,” said Simeon. “If you’re low to moderate income [a home] that’s move in ready, that’s not happening. It’s tough, it is really, really tough.”

Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 06:16:44

‘we’re building a lot of apartments but unfortunately…they’re for the high end income residents’

Heck of a job Mel

Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 06:31:59

‘Protesters did their best to disrupt a gala held for ‘Multifamily NW’ Thursday night. Multifamily NW is a group that represents landlords and property managers. The group held their annual ACE awards ceremony at the Portland Art Museum. The awards are described on the Multifamily NW website as being the “industry’s premier event giving your associates recognition within their industry and from their peers.”

‘Another group, Portland Tenants United (PTU) decided to picket the ceremony. In a media release, PTU explained that Multifamily NW “pressures politicians to prioritize the rights of landlords over tenants, maintaining an unequal balance of power at the city, county, and state level that helps defend enormous profits through massive rent increases.”

“Why does owning a home give you so much more rights to housing security than renting,” said protest organizer Margot Black. “When we’re paying just as much, if not more.”

“My son and I, and others, thousands of others are suffering needlessly because the fat cats want to go ahead and make their pockets even fatter,” said protester Nathan Starr.’

Comment by 2banana
2016-06-03 06:57:47

“My son and I, and others, thousands of others are suffering needlessly because the fat cats want to go ahead and make their pockets even fatter,” said protester Nathan Starr.’

It is too bad the FSA doesn’t see the real villains to no affordable housing.

Here is a hint:

The more government gets involved, regulates and taxes, the more these things disappear:

Affordable housing
Affordable health care
Affordable college
etc.

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Comment by MightyMike
2016-06-03 11:04:55

State universities are usually a lot cheaper than private ones.

 
Comment by redmondjp
2016-06-03 13:30:19

That used to be true.

Now, with declining state contributions, and the realization that these schools can rake in a lot more moolah by upping the number of out-of-state tuition slots, the gap isn’t nearly as large as it used to be.

 
 
Comment by Bluto
2016-06-03 10:12:59

Protests by another Portland OR tenants group led to a planned appearance by the “Flip or Flop” stars being cancelled…

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3342128/Stars-HGTV-house-flipping-series-cancel-events-Oregon-backlash-seminar-worsen-rental-crisis-Portland.html

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Comment by snake charmer
2016-06-03 11:52:58

You know things are screwed up when rent in Buffalo is unaffordable.

 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-06-03 06:14:56

Commercial bankruptcies have soared 51% since September.

http://wolfstreet.com/2016/06/03/commercial-bankruptcies-chapter-11-chapter-7-soar/

Comment by 2banana
2016-06-03 07:01:55

Can obama keep juggling until after the election?

So many plates in the air about to come crashing down…

And whom then will Hillary blame for eight years for all her problems?

————-

Total US commercial bankruptcy filings in May soared 32% from a year ago, to 3,358, the American Bankruptcy Institute (in partnership with Epiq Systems) just reported. It was the seventh month in a row of year-over-year increases in commercial filings.

“Businesses, especially those within the energy and retail sectors, continue to turn to the financial fresh start of bankruptcy,” the report said dryly.

Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 07:17:25

‘Any of the higher-end homes in the $300,000 price range are a tough sell right now in Elk City, he said. Homeowners who bought at the top of the market a few years ago and don’t have a lot of equity in their homes often find themselves unable to sell their homes for a price that will allow them to pay off their mortgage, he said. ‘We still have buyers coming in, but it’s a limited amount of people,’ Harrison said. ‘There are people without much equity in their homes who are limited in what they can take.’

Maybe houses in Elk City shouldn’t cost 300k and up. Maybe the government shouldn’t be backing these loans. How many foreclosures are coming out of Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Wyoming and Alaska? This is baked in the cake. How much money is going poof in Manhattan every day?

Comment by 2banana
2016-06-03 07:24:21

If you ask question like this…

You will be attacked just like the peaceful Trump attendees in San Jose.

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Comment by Apartment 401
2016-06-03 07:53:47

A sober prediction:

Five more months of this FSA/SJW violence (notice that they never attack one on one, only in packs like the feral animals they never evolved beyond) and The Donald rides to an electoral college landslide on a “Law and Order” ticket a la Nixon ‘68.

Five. More. Months.

 
Comment by Bill DaWahl
2016-06-03 08:04:37

Well, the one thing doesn’t have much to do with the other, but I will say the scene in San Jose was definitely disturbing. That’s what ends free speech in a country, much like Mexico where speaking out is silenced by violence and murder.

I was completely stunned by Mr. T’s reaction. As many here on the blog know, I’ve been in the tank for Trump. But his tweet certainly gave me pause:

“Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 2h2 hours ago
Rally last night in San Jose was great. Tremendous love and enthusiasm in the hall. Big crowd. Outside, small group of thugs burned Am flag!”

Really, Don? These folks come from miles around to support you, and some got badly hurt. And it’s just a small group of thugs burning a flag? Oh, and lest I forget, the police stood down. Wanna talk about how great our police are?

The other thing that struck me was the spectatorism. Many people watching and recording while people get hurt, and no one lifts a hand to help. Sick. Although I did read that a couple of protesters did step in to help a Trump supporter who was being attacked.

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 08:06:30

That’s the problem with calling somebody Hitler. There is no attack that is unwarranted. Now that we have gangs of violent people punching and banging on cars of innocents, who are the fascists? You know, they said Ron Paul was a fascist/racist too, when his campaign got traction. Funny how that works.

 
Comment by Bill DaWahl
2016-06-03 08:19:04

“That’s the problem with calling somebody Hitler. There is no attack that is unwarranted.”

Excellent point. Outstanding, in fact. This is exactly how conflicts are started between both individuals and groups. The media is mostly responsible for this sort of thing. It’s like lighting a fuse and then they stand back and record the bomb going off and react in shocked horror.

 
Comment by Bill DaWahl
2016-06-03 08:31:02

Here’s a compilation of some of the highlights of the “protests” at the rally. And yes, Llamas is a sleazy spectator.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svaGiSj8Pdo&feature=youtu.be

 
Comment by In Colorado
2016-06-03 08:41:34

Five more months of this FSA/SJW violence (notice that they never attack one on one, only in packs like the feral animals they never evolved beyond) and The Donald rides to an electoral college landslide on a “Law and Order” ticket a la Nixon ‘68.

Screaming and throwing temper tantrums has backfired on them so far. I’m sure they believe that doubling down will work.

A thought. SJW’s are promising to move to Canada if Trump is elected; but I haven’t heard a single peep about illegals “threatening” to go home if he’s elected.

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 08:49:31

Wow, mobs of people waving Mexican flags, kicking and punching people to the ground, and then circling them and kicking some more.

 
Comment by Apartment 401
2016-06-03 09:21:49

Ben Jones it’s getting worse and it’s gonna get worser.

At some point, the media is going to lose control of the narrative.

And remember, it’s not about the content of a narrative, it’s about control of the narrative. As equally applicable to housing as to politics.

 
Comment by snake charmer
2016-06-03 09:30:17

What a counterproductive protest. The left could not be doing a better job to elect this guy. Those images, in particular the witless young woman burning the American flag, will have more of an impact than anything Trump might have said during his speech. It also appears as if several individuals are throwing gang signs.

I’ve noticed the “spectator-ism” too. Something happens, and people are more likely to take a video than act. I remember looking at pictures of the rioting in Vancouver after the Canucks lost in the Stanley Cup finals a few years ago. You’d have a couple individuals vandalizing a car, and twenty with their phones out recording.

 
Comment by Andre The Giant
2016-06-03 09:34:22

As equally applicable to housing as to politics…….. and the HBB.

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 09:42:04

They look more like La Raza people than leftists. La Raza is a Mexican KKK. In deep south Texas there are La Raza politicians and sheriffs. One at a debate for sheriff told the audience, “there will never be a white sheriff in this county.” He tried to deny it, but somebody had a recording. He won, got caught in some corruption and resigned. At one point, Brownsville had three school district superintendents in 3 years, all resigning in corruption scandals. One of them had 22 secretaries who were mostly his family members.

 
Comment by butters
2016-06-03 09:44:39

It’s all Trump’s fault. He should not have run to begin with. While at it, he shouldn’t have even been born.

 
Comment by butters
2016-06-03 10:36:08

but I haven’t heard a single peep about illegals “threatening” to go home if he’s elected.

Because they know Trump likes dem cheap labor like any other capitalist would.

 
Comment by I am yuuuge in burma
2016-06-03 17:25:57

It’s telling how mightymouse, califoho and other lieberal stalwarts suddenly go silent.

 
Comment by TheFabulousMoolah
2016-06-03 19:09:37

Do you think a judge who is a member of La Raza Lawyers of San Diego could ever be fair to Trump?

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-06-03 22:05:36

“That’s the problem with calling somebody Hitler.”

If you don’t want to be called Hitler, avoid resembling him.

 
 
Comment by oxide
2016-06-03 12:31:18

Maybe houses in Elk City should cost $300K and up.

Well the fancy ones probably could. Despite what our resident nutcase says, houses do cost money even in the boonies with free land.

That said: no, this ISN’T my idea of a $340K house in the boonies. It’s “ok” and it would cost twice that in DC, but not Elk City.

http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Elk-City-OK/house_type/55757_rid/250000-_price/890-_mp/any_days/globalrelevanceex_sort/35.475349,-99.22268,35.25417,-99.513474_rect/11_zm/0_mmm/

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Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 12:40:14

Elk City, OK Real Estate and Homes for Sale
169 Homes

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/Elk-City_OK

Elk City, OK Price Reduced Homes for Sale
74 Homes

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/Elk-City_OK/show-price-reduced

Here’s one at random:

1409 Walters Way, Elk City, OK 73644
4 beds 4 baths 4,722 sqft

04/19/16 Price change $399,000-3.9% $84 –
03/01/16 Listed for sale $415,000-2.4% $87
08/31/15 Listing removed $425,000 $90
01/13/15 Price change $425,000-9.4% $90
09/15/14 Price change $469,000 $99

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1409-Walters-Way-Elk-City-OK-73644/85988542_zpid/

I’d bet he owes 400k on it.

 
 
 
 
Comment by taxpayers
2016-06-03 08:44:43

Herr Hessle returns

Achtung

Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 10:59:16

The Mexican constitution expressly forbids non-citizens to participate in the country’s political life.
Non-citizens are forbidden to participate in demonstrations or express opinions in public about domestic politics. Article 9 states, “only citizens of the Republic may do so to take part in the political affairs of the country.” Article 33 is unambiguous: “Foreigners may not in any way participate in the political affairs of the country.”

Lots more here:

https://factreal.wordpress.com/2010/05/08/mexico-vs-united-states-mexican-immigration-laws-are-tougher/

Comment by redmondjp
2016-06-03 13:34:51

That’s an excellent idea for our country as well. Anybody protesting at a political rally that doesn’t have their voter registration card gets immediately hauled to jail.

That would instantly shut down these protests.

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Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 13:46:10

I didn’t say that. But given that the Mexican immigration rules are much harsher than the US (and enforced, BTW) along with other restrictions, why aren’t they protesting in Mexico City calling them Nazis? Oh, that’s right, they’d get their asses kicked or worse.

 
Comment by I am yuuuge in burma
2016-06-03 17:46:26

But this ‘murca! Future democratic voters have more rights than citizens.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 07:24:27

‘has been trying to sell his renovated two-storey house with four bedrooms and three bathrooms for two years. No offers have come. The price has been knocked down to $399,000 from $499,000. It’s now below the $466,000 assessed value. What’s going on? Well, it might be that Tardif’s house is in Quebec City. A condominium building boom is one factor in the Quebec City market…He calls the city’s rental market dead. ‘They built so many condominiums in Quebec and they are still building like crazy.’

They’re building like crazy in California too. 62,000 condos in the pipeline in San Francisco, and supposedly they have a shortage. If you look at the LA Downtown News website, they just marvel at the 100 plus towers underway. Australia has close to 300,000 condos being built or ready to go, and they can’t sell what they’ve got. This global shortage of shacks just so happens to coincide with the greatest glut in history. Could it be there wasn’t ever a shortage?

Comment by 2banana
2016-06-03 07:32:45

And the alligator is hungry.

Every month:

Taxes
HOA
Maintenance
Insurance
Utilities
Cleaning
Etc.

 
Comment by Andre The Giant
2016-06-03 08:14:48

Strange they all sit empty.

Got dark towers?

 
Comment by Rental Watch
2016-06-03 11:09:00

They’re building like crazy in California too.

Through April, there have been building permits for 31k units issued in the entire state. That pace is about 50% of what it needs to be.

The pipeline number for SF is 62k. That is a fact. HOWEVER, that is not the number of units that are under construction currently, and it’s not just condos, it’s all residential.

AND, it’s a pipeline with a long time horizon.

The estimate for how many of those units will be built and ready for occupancy in the next two years is approximately 8,700.

Link:
http://www.socketsite.com/archives/2016/02/a-record-62000-units-in-san-franciscos-housing-pipeline.html

Included in the pipeline are projects like the Candlestick/Hunter’s point project with 10.5k of the 62k units. That particular build-out is expected to be over 15-20 years.

Link: http://sfocii.org/sites/default/files/FileCenter/Documents/2046-Exec.Summaryof%20HPS%20Phase%202%20and%20Candlestick%20Redev..pdf

Also included is Treasure Island (about 8k units). That is a 20-30 year plan.

There are plenty of units being delivered in the near term, I’m certainly not claiming a lack of development in SF. HOWEVER, the 62k is a much longer-term housing supply.

By the way, for perspective, both the Hunter’s Point and Treasure Island projects have been worked on for YEARS before they have even gotten to this point. It takes forever to add projects to the supply pipeline, and even longer to get them built.

Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 11:25:41

You realize this tech boom you are in isn’t going to last forever? You realize this housing boom you are in isn’t going to last forever? Just like the shale boom didn’t and the foreigners buying Manhattan and Miami Beach condos didn’t last. And the Australian mining thing with it’s $600,000 rent houses - poof! (Did you see the Aussie FB’s on the video I posted? “Why did they lend me 1,000,000 A-pesos, why!”)

Where’s Rio? How many bananas did he get for his shack? Because Brazil was booming-not! No boom lasts forever. And when your booms turn to busts (and that’s what they do, every time), people will be streaming out of the bay area like these people roll in out of Los Banos. And you will have more than enough shacks there too, just like Mumbai, Tokyo, Melbourne, Dubai and Hong Kong.

Comment by Rental Watch
2016-06-03 11:56:57

I realize that people like to live with shelter from the elements.

I also realize that people make more people all the time.

And we are making more people than shelter.

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Comment by butters
2016-06-03 13:30:26

I also realize that people make more people all the time.

LOLz

Manhattan Historical Population

1900 1,850,093
1910 2,331,542
1920 2,284,103
1930 1,867,312
1940 1,889,924
1950 1,960,101
1960 1,698,281
1970 1,539,233
1980 1,428,285
1990 1,487,536
2000 1,537,195
2010 1,585,873

Brooklyn Historical Population

1900 1,166,582
1910 1,634,351
1920 2,018,356
1930 2,560,401
1940 2,698,285
1950 2,738,175
1960 2,627,319
1970 2,602,012
1980 2,230,936
1990 2,300,664
2000 2,465,326
2010 2,504,700

 
Comment by butters
2016-06-03 13:41:30

It’s not about people making more people. It’s all about making housing as the defacto tax shelter for the criminal class from all over the world.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-06-03 13:55:17

I can’t see what’s so LOL about all of those numbers. Part of the phenomenon can be explained by the significant decline crime that started in the 1990s, making NYC a more attractive place to live, at least for those not afflicted with city hatred.

 
Comment by I am yuuuge in burma
2016-06-03 16:18:08

Pre-1960, both cities have more people but housing prices were nowhere at the level today.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-06-03 17:19:49

Oh, that’s what he was getting at. Well, it’s probably nearly impossible to identify anything that doesn’t cost much more than it did in 1960. I read somewhere that people were complaining in the 1950s that Manhattan was turning into a island for the rich and the poor. The middle class couldn’t afford it.

 
Comment by I am yuuuge in burma
2016-06-03 17:53:00

http://millersamuel.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Miller100yearsNYre.jpg

There’s more than your natural supply and demand in play. I am sure rental/gingle will disagree. If your salary depends on not understating it…….

 
Comment by Andre The Giant
2016-06-03 19:10:02

Do their employers have any idea how feckless they are?

 
 
Comment by butters
2016-06-03 13:43:53

Where’s Rio?

Zika got him? TBH, the symptoms were quite evident.

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Comment by Andre The Giant
2016-06-03 16:15:24

The Freaka With Zika…. Ebola Lola. A distinction without a difference.

 
Comment by TheFabulousMoolah
2016-06-03 19:13:26

Green Shirt is in the dirt.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by rj soon not to be in chicago
2016-06-03 08:46:42

Here we go….remember the stories on Solar City liens on homes a few months back?

http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2016/06/02/solar-panel-installer-introducing-homeowner-loan.html

 
Comment by alphonso bedoya
2016-06-03 09:08:35

Brooklyn. Just call it Manhattan Part 2. As Manhattan inflates it creates ever-increasing gentrified neighborhoods across the bridges into neighboring boroughs. Williamsburg, Brooklyn Heights,….
The unwritten copy is all the same as well. “Build next to a subway and they will come.”

Big cities across the globe are turning everything into the sameness of everything else.

Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 09:13:08

I read an article yesterday with some expert saying Brooklyn had become Paris.

Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 09:16:41

Found it:

‘At Alloy’s 1 John Street, where the average sale price topped $1,800 per foot, Pires said the site contained a “perfect storm” of attributes: A site in Dumbo that was within Brooklyn Bridge Park and boasted views of three bridges.’

‘Half of the buyers at the project were Brooklynites, Pires said, while the rest came from Manhattan and Los Angeles.’

“These were people coming to purchase $5 to $6 million homes who would only go to Brooklyn,” he said. “We thought we’d do a lot of ‘Oh, this is so much better than Tribeca or the West Village,’ but Brooklyn sold itself. It’s become Paris over the last several years [and] we can’t take credit for that.”

Comment by Andre The Giant
2016-06-03 09:33:14

Localized pockets of tolerable areas in a sea of crime, smog, filth, traffic, illegals, noise.

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Comment by CalifoH20
2016-06-03 10:38:22

Where can I mail the Prozac?

 
Comment by Andre The Giant
2016-06-03 11:44:32

Brooklyn has always been that way and always will be that way my friend.

 
 
 
Comment by alphonso bedoya
2016-06-03 09:24:59

Gone are the immigrant enclaves of my childhood. Probably old Parisians would say the same thing.

It doesn’t get better, it only gets different.

Comment by MightyMike
2016-06-03 10:58:37

Those were just replaced by new immigrant enclaves. That’s been going on for over a century.

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Comment by Rental Watch
2016-06-03 11:11:13

And Oakland has become Brooklyn.

Does that mean that Oakland has become Paris?

Comment by I am yuuuge in burma
2016-06-03 17:50:18

Almost. All it needs is few ISIS sympathizers. It will be heaven soon.

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Comment by rj soon not to be in chicago
2016-06-03 09:28:52
 
Comment by alphonso bedoya
2016-06-03 09:33:47

For someone who can afford Manhattan, Brooklyn is cheap. Manhattan has become a different animal. If you own there, it’s your third residence. I don’t know if that is understood.

Comment by Andre The Giant
2016-06-03 09:41:40

20 years ago a close friend and esq said to me “Anyone who tells you they like living here (Manhattan) is lying.”

Comment by alphonso bedoya
2016-06-03 10:45:56

The rich do not live in Manhattan. They live no where. They do business there and sleep atop trees of steel and cement.

If you are into art and theatre, no other city in the word rivals it. It it worth $400/night to visit for a WEEK and see the best art of European and Eastern culture for the past five hundred years ? Unfortunately, Yes.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-06-03 10:49:42

That doesn’t make sense. There are a lot of rich people who live there and have plenty of other options.

Comment by alphonso bedoya
2016-06-03 11:05:54

The rich do not live there. They VISIT.

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Comment by redmondjp
2016-06-03 13:38:16

Yes, they maintain a condo in Manhattan, and stay there maybe a week or two per year. My friend’s rich sister does this. They spent most of the time at their mansion in Florida (29 bathrooms, property taxes of $121K/year).

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Comment by MightyMike
2016-06-03 13:50:52

That’s some rich people. Other rich people have big jobs and spend many days in their Manhattan offices.

 
Comment by Senior Housing Analyst
2016-06-03 16:52:10

“my friends rich sister”

I step-brothers grandfathers coworkers friend of a friends father in law…..

Stick with the data my friend. Stick with the data.

Washington Park(Denver), CO Housing Prices Crater 22% YoY On Ballooning Housing Inventory

http://www.zillow.com/washington-park-denver-co/home-values/

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Rental Watch
2016-06-03 09:51:00

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-03/rent-hikes-are-finally-slowing-mostly-for-the-rich

A good analysis of what is happening in the apartment market.

Summary:

Lots of luxury units were built. Rents increases are slowing for luxury apartments.

Inexpensive units were not built. Rent increases (for now) are generally not showing as many signs of slowing.

Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 09:59:42

‘In New York, for instance, new development has “skewed to the higher end,” said Jonathan Miller, president of appraiser Miller Samuel Inc., which tracks the New York rental market. That trend, coupled with investors buying luxury condos and offering them for rent, has created a glut of high-priced options for lease.’

Yes, these investors with their condos are toast. Like Miami Beach, where wealthy Latin Americans are now “subsidizing” their tenants. And remember the Miami broker who mentioned all of his clients were refinancing their pre-construction and buying more? In other words they were pulling those 30-50% down payments out. Where oh where do those loans reside?

Comment by alphonso bedoya
2016-06-03 11:00:53

Ben

The word “skew” always gets my full attention. Cycles always end with a skewing to the right on the bell curve. Financing drys up and cash at the high end dominates. It look like an after-election landing is finally in place for a severe contraction that should run a good decade if not more.
A documentary on Miami is in order. Overheated, Overbuilt and Overpriced. It’s all become exponential as well.
Botoxed creatures rule the maze and pimp the fix everyday.

Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 11:36:59

Miami Beach prices per square foot are a lot higher than 2005, I believe. Manhattan is at an all time high, but most of what’s closing was signed long ago. Now I am finding little towns and cities in the mid-west with multiple offers above asking. Flipping shows, commercial real estate 25% to 60% higher than 2005 depending on the area. $300,000 houses in Elk City that are underwater. I’m sure it will all work out fine.

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Comment by CalifoH20
2016-06-03 10:40:35

Best headline of the day:

TRUMP CAMPAIGNERS CHASED DOWN LIKE PREY…

So much for those Trump Darwinist.

Comment by 2banana
2016-06-03 10:57:46

To liberals/progressives - Fascism is pretty cool when the fascists are on your side.

Comment by CalifoH20
2016-06-03 11:17:10

I am a Libertarian. I like clean air and water and I am against fraud and corp welfare.

I really have no party.

Comment by I am yuuuge in burma
2016-06-03 16:58:20

Libertarian

You joke too much. stop!

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Comment by Jimmy Carter is Hitler
2016-06-03 11:35:56

It’s always been the case!

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-06-03 22:08:45

Your names are proliferating again. Discussion of Trump on this board seems to aggravate your multiple personality disorder.

Seek help immediately.

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Comment by butters
2016-06-03 10:52:39

Since 2014 The US Has Added 455,000 Waiters And Bartenders, And Lost 10,000 Manufacturing Workers

How’s this even possible? Who are they serving?

Comment by 2banana
2016-06-03 10:56:35

It is the obama economy.

Hope and change. Just not the change you were hoping for…

Comment by CalifoH20
2016-06-03 11:10:28

4.7% unemployment. All my friends are doing well. Some cant find new talent to hire.

 
 
Comment by In Colorado
2016-06-03 10:58:46

Realtors, mortgage brokers, building subs, construction workers?

 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-06-03 11:07:48

Since 2014 The US Has Added 455,000 Waiters And Bartenders, And Lost 10,000 Manufacturing Workers

How’s this even possible? Who are they serving?

That leaves a lot out. The answer must include a lot of people who don’t work in manufacturing.

 
Comment by alphonso bedoya
2016-06-03 11:12:38

They are “serving” the other 60%.
See “servitude.”
My successful Millennials tip 25% to help the “Others.”

“It doesn’t get better, it gets different.”

 
Comment by Andre The Giant
2016-06-03 16:03:31

“How’s this even possible? Who are they serving?”

How? Your govt peddling fiction. They’re serving themselves.

The reality?

Labor Force Participation Rate Falls To 38 Year Low; Joblessness At Record High

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

 
 
Comment by CalifoH20
2016-06-03 13:58:04

Was at a bar last night with 50 or so taps. DIY beer pouring with a wristband that logs you in and counts the ounces. No bartenders. no waitresses. Ya tend to drink A LOT more too as you want to taste them all.

Comment by rms
2016-06-03 22:46:43

Who gets the tip?

Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-06-04 05:38:32

The doorman

 
 
 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-06-03 15:24:47

The Ultimate Staycation? A Second Home in the Same City

Busy with work schedules and wary of weekend traffic, some homeowners are buying second homes in the same city as their primary residence

By CANDACE TAYLOR
June 2, 2016 9:57 a.m. ET
17 COMMENTS
On Friday evenings, Eric Straus and his wife Varinda Missett pack their things, grab their dog and leave their Midtown Manhattan apartment for their weekend home—50 blocks downtown.

Last summer, Mr. Straus and Ms. Missett paid $1.988 million for a two-bedroom apartment in the Manhattan neighborhood of Tribeca, which they use as their weekend getaway. “What I love is that unlike the Hamptons, it’s a quick subway ride down there, and it totally feels like you’re on vacation,” Mr. Straus, 56, said. In comparison to the hustle and bustle of Midtown, their cobblestoned Tribeca street is “quiet—it feels like a country home.”

Getting away from it all doesn’t have to mean actually getting away. Some home buyers are buying vacation homes in the same city or metropolitan area as their primary residence. They say the key to relaxation is a change of scenery, even if it’s just a few miles from where they normally live. “Different neighborhoods have different experiences,” said New York City real-estate agent Shaun Osher of Core, who said he has several clients with more than one home in the city. “If you walk on the street in the West Village, it’s like a different world to the Upper East Side.”

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-ultimate-staycation-a-second-home-in-the-same-city-1464875847

Comment by Cynical Cynosure
2016-06-03 15:53:31

Not to echo Ben but this level of stupidity would never exist without the bubble.

Nobody wants to live in Midtown. It’s a wasteland of offices. They are barely any grocery stores.

So they live in Midtown and “vacation” in Tribeca. Why not just not live in Tribeca? The subway will get you to work in no time.

Beyond ridiculous.

Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 15:59:47

I saw the headline but didn’t open it cuz you only get so many WSJ’s free. Man, any reasoning to explain away speculation.

Comment by Ben Jones
2016-06-03 16:12:58

In pricey Bay Area, some turn to vans for cheap living quarters
Washington Post-10 hours ago
Faced with the most expensive rentals in the nation, workers in the Bay Area …

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Comment by Combotechie
2016-06-03 15:37:33
Comment by I am yuuuge in burma
2016-06-03 16:59:44

Peddling fiction there. Califoh20 says all his fiends are doing awesome.

 
 
Comment by Combotechie
2016-06-03 15:50:34

“Everybody was wrong about the latest jobs report.”

“We went searching for an economist who came close to predicting the surprisingly low number of jobs created in May - 38,000. We couldn’t find one.

“Bloomberg surveyed 81 economists on their predictions for the nonfarm payroll number for May, the closely watched figure that represents the net number of new jobs. The average prediction was for 161,000 new jobs, which turned out to be 123,000 too high.”

More …

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jobs-report-may-goldman-bank-of-america-jp-morgan-all-wrong-160604335.html

 
Comment by Senior Housing Analyst
2016-06-03 15:58:03

Glendale, CA Affordability Improves As Housing Prices Crater 9% YoY

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

 
Comment by Combotechie
2016-06-03 15:59:50

(From May 9)

“UBS: The stock market guides the Fed.”

(snip)

“‘We find that the most significant driver of changes in the Fed dot from one meeting to the next is changes in equity prices’.”

More …

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ubs-equities-stocks-guide-fed-dots-monetary-policy-201427082.html

 
Comment by CalifoH20
Comment by I am yuuuge in burma
2016-06-03 16:56:59

deporting same person 10 times to boost numbers?

 
Comment by TheFabulousMoolah
2016-06-03 19:16:32

This is a many times proven lie. They changed the definition to include people who didn’t used to be counted. Apples to apples he ain’t close.

 
 
Comment by Combotechie
2016-06-03 16:09:15

This is a good read …

“What Makes this Jobs Report so Truly Ugly?”

http://wolfstreet.com/2016/06/03/jobs-report-bls-decline-in-temporary-workers-population-growth/

 
Comment by Senior Housing Analyst
2016-06-03 16:21:51

Brooklyn Heights, NY Affordability Surges As Housing Prices Crater 18% YoY

http://www.zillow.com/new-york-ny-11201/home-values/

 
Comment by Apartment 401
2016-06-03 18:15:15

the Dead Milkmen — Nutrition:

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

 
Comment by Andre The Giant
2016-06-03 19:24:28

crushing.housing.losses.

 
 
Comment by Andre The Giant
2016-06-03 19:50:02

Hingham, MA Housing Prices Crater 10% YoY; Statewide Median Falls YoY

http://www.movoto.com/hingham-ma/market-trends/

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-06-03 22:13:19

Litigator-in-Chief?

State Politics
Donald Trump tied to 3,500 court battles
Our project found about 3,500 legal actions involving Trump, including 1,900 where he or his companies were a plaintiff and about 1,300 in which he was the defendant. Due to his branding value, Trump is determined to defend his name and reputation.
June 01, 2016

An exclusive USA TODAY NETWORK analysis of legal filings across the United States has found that Donald Trump and his businesses have been involved in at least 3,500 legal actions in federal and state courts during the past three decades. The sheer volume of lawsuits is unprecedented for a presidential nominee. No candidate of a major party has had anything approaching the number of Trump’s courtroom entanglements.

By Nick Penzenstadler And Susan Page, USA TODAY

Donald Trump is a fighter, famous for legal skirmishes over everything from his golf courses to his tax bills to Trump University. But until now, it hasn’t been clear precisely how litigious he is and what that might portend for a Trump presidency.

An exclusive USA TODAY analysis of legal filings across the United States finds that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee and his businesses have been involved in at least 3,500 legal actions in federal and state courts during the past three decades. They range from skirmishes with casino patrons to million-dollar real estate suits to personal defamation lawsuits.

The sheer volume of lawsuits is unprecedented for a presidential nominee. No candidate of a major party has had anything approaching the number of Trump’s courtroom entanglements.

Just since he announced his candidacy a year ago, at least 70 new cases have been filed, about evenly divided between lawsuits filed by him and his companies and those filed against them. And the records review found at least 50 civil lawsuits remain open even as he moves toward claiming the nomination at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in seven weeks. On Tuesday, court documents were released in one of the most dramatic current cases, filed in California by former students accusing Trump University of fraudulent and misleading behavior.

The legal actions provide clues to the leadership style the billionaire businessman would bring to bear as commander in chief. He sometimes responds to even small disputes with overwhelming legal force. He doesn’t hesitate to deploy his wealth and legal firepower against adversaries with limited resources, such as homeowners. He sometimes refuses to pay real estate brokers, lawyers and other vendors.

 
Comment by Apartment 401
2016-06-04 04:04:39

Ben Jones, this is the New York Times, the most real real journalists on Diane Feinstein’s list of approved real journalists:

“I saw a couple kids that I knew from the neighborhoods that I know run with the local Norteños and Sureños, and they were just there to fight,” said James Anderson, who lives in San Jose and was attending a protest organized by a Dump Trump Facebook group. “They weren’t there to protest anything. They were just there to cause havoc and fight.”

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/06/04/us/politics/donald-trump-protest.html

“Don’t vote for me if you’re tired of war” — Lindsey Graham, Likud Party Senator of South Carolina, endorsing Hillary Clinton for President

 
Comment by Apartment 401
2016-06-04 04:22:08

Ben Jones, this is a globalist production:

“Everytown was founded in 2014 by Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York, who put in $50 million of his own money in an effort to form a group that could rival the National Rifle Association.”

http://www.sfgate.com/nation/article/Key-gun-control-group-endorses-Clinton-in-2016-7962511.php

It always happens in this order:

Registration
Confiscation
Extermination

And then you and your family get put on a train, sent east, sent to the “showers” where will you will die in a choking and screaming pile of bodies, and then shoveled into the ovens like a pile of manure.

Globalists gonna globe.

 
Comment by taxpayers
2016-06-04 04:33:24

Jobs report
Construction down 15k Bad for housing
Manufacturing down 11k. Bad fire cars

 
Comment by Apartment 401
2016-06-04 05:25:35

Ben Jones, this is a neocon narrative:

“Hillary Clinton has no new ideas on American foreign policy. That is not her product. Clinton sells continuity, more of the same only more of it because it is so good. In continuity we are supposed to find safety, certainty and security.”

http://www.salon.com/2016/06/04/we_cant_have_more_of_the_same_the_very_real_dangers_of_hillary_clintons_foreign_policy/

Also recommend the book Trouble in the Tribe: the American Jewish Conflict Over Israel by Dov Waxman, Princeton University Press, 2016.

Neocons gonna neocon.

 
Comment by Apartment 401
2016-06-04 05:59:59

FoxNewsHate rallies the base:

“An Iraqi Christian who escaped the ISIS stronghold of Mosul says she was “married and divorced” as many as nine times a night, all to give her tormentors a twisted justification for rape, according to an interview conducted by an advocacy group and reviewed by Fox News.”

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/06/03/iraqi-christian-details-how-isis-fighters-married-her-only-for-rape.html

Aisha was 6 years old when the profit muhammed married her, LOLZ.

 
Comment by Apartment 401
2016-06-04 06:19:33

Another one for all the cultural relativists:

“The gall bladders of bears especially can sell for upwards of a thousand dollars on the black market, Hughan said, as many “in the Asian community” think it has medical or aphrodisiac powers, while the paws are often cooked and eaten.”

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/03/young-bear-killed-california-paws-gallbladder-aphrodisiac

No surprise this is California, LOLZ.

 
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