The Market Segment Often Affected First
A report from the San Francisco Business Journal in California. “Venture capitalists tightening their purse strings, startups shedding jobs and the continuing dearth of IPOs could be taking their toll on the Bay Area’s housing market. By almost any measure, the Bay Area’s roaring economy is cooling. The hardest hit segment of the Bay Area’s housing market is the luxury sector, according to research released Monday by San Francisco-based Paragon Real Estate Group. ‘It appears the luxury segment has softened to a greater degree than more affordable segments, some of which remain very competitive,’ Paragon said. ‘The number of high-end listings in MLS has jumped while sales have plateaued or declined. When economic uncertainty swells, this is a market segment often affected first.’”
“Paragon cites the supply of high-end condo projects to market as well as the fact that expensive homes are usually a buyer’s second or third home, not a primary residence. Apartment rentals also reflect job losses more quickly, with Paragon saying asking-rent appreciation has plateaued and that ‘it is quite possible that actual lease rents have already started to decline.’”
The Miami Herald in Florida. “For the second year, Miami-based polling firm Bendixen & Amandi International partnered with the Miami Herald to interview 100 of the county’s top real-estate professionals. In 2015, more than half of survey participants said foreign buyers dominated the high-end market. This year, only 33 percent — fewer than one-third — said the same. Those polled agreed nearly across the board that political and financial instability abroad have impacted Miami real estate, with only 8 percent of participants swinging the other way. ‘The weakened purchasing power of foreign economies has directly affected the residential real-estate market in Dade,’ said one industry professional.”
“‘The responses fit pretty much with what the economic environment and the markets overseas are telling us,’ said Tony Villamil, founder of the Coral Gables-based Washington Economics Groups. ‘Basically, South America is in recession, and the exchange rate has depreciated between 25 and 40 percent in most countries — major countries such as Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia and Argentina — because of low commodity prices and political problems.’”
The New Canaan Advertiser in Connecticut. “The New Canaan Advertiser called 15 realtors in town and heard back from five on what buyers are talking about this season. Candace Blackwood of Berkshire Hathaway NE Properties, said there were 94 public open houses in New Canaan on May 22. ‘That may very well be a record,’ said Blackwood. ‘Most of the agents I have spoken to, have lamented the paltry numbers of attendees.’”
“‘Buyers have become conditioned to knowing there is a lot of inventory,’ said Melissa Jones of Houlihan Lawrence. ‘They are paralyzed to make a decision because there might be a better house coming out next week. It’s truly an amazing time to buy,’ said Jones. ‘Prices are down, you have lots of inventory, buyers can pick and choose what they want at this point.’”
The Midland Reporter Telegram in Texas. “The average price of a two-bedroom apartment in Midland was $1,030 for May — about a 30 percent drop from October 2014, the peak of Midland’s housing market according to ApartmentList data. One-bedroom apartments averaged at $820 last month and three-bedroom apartments averaged $1,600, according to the data. The median rents are calculated averaging all available units advertised for that month, AL data scientist Andrew Woo said.”
“Overall, each type of apartment — one bedroom through three-bedroom — dropped by $230, $290 and $450 respectively from May 2015, or a 22 percent average drop. Rents correlate with the oil market but, while prices of oil have seen an increase, rents haven’t, Woo said. ‘I wouldn’t expect rent prices to have dropped quickly, but to have stabilized by now,’ Woo said. ‘What data is showing is that rent prices are continuing to decline month over month so they haven’t hit bottom yet.’”
From Go Local Worchester in Massachusetts. “For years after the 2008 Great Recession Central Massachusetts was devastated by foreclosures and now housing advocates have distributed new housing data that shows a significant increase. The Warren Group has published the newest foreclosure statistics that show a 16.6 percent increase in foreclosure petitions (the first step in the foreclosure process) for April 2016 over April 2015. This is the 26th consecutive month of year-over-year increases in petitions. There have been 4,484 petitions filed year to date, a 26.2 percent increase from last year’s figure through April of 3,367. For two years, every month saw a double-or triple-digit percent increase in petitions year-over-year.”
“‘I certainly am not surprised that foreclosures are up,’ said Rose Webster-Smith a post-’foreclosure’ homeowner still fighting to reassert her legal title and organizer for Springfield No One Leaves. ‘With 74,000 foreclosures and some 140,000 households having already lost their homes in Massachusetts, and this new thousands more losing their homes, where are these homeowners going to live now?’”
“Webster-Smith continued: ‘We’re finding more and more empty homes in Springfield. In my little neighborhood, there are 12 vacant homes. None of them are boarded up. Most are all recent bank foreclosures. Some of them haven’t even been to the auction. They are just panicking and leaving. The realtors are trying to say that homes now being foreclosed were bought between 2000-2006 but I know that some of them are from 2009, 2010, even 2013.’”
From The Record in New Jersey. “In the overheated housing market of 2005, Barbara O’Leary and Dennis Poletto bought a Bergenfield colonial for $440,000 — just five years after the previous owner had paid $175,000. Now, they’d like to downsize into a place with no stairs. But they feel they can’t move, because real estate agents have told them their home would probably sell for about $330,000. ‘Nobody expected the world to fall down and the housing market to fall through, and that’s where we stand now,’ said O’Leary, 77.”
“The couple’s experience is common across North Jersey, especially in lower-priced housing markets. Ten years after home prices peaked — before tumbling into the worst downturn in decades — most homes are still worth less than they were in mid-2006. One reason: New Jersey leads the nation in foreclosure starts, as the state catches up on a backlog of distressed properties. In towns where homes sold for less than $400,000 during the boom, median values typically are off by about $110,000 — a drop of 29 percent. For many lower- and middle-income families, losing so much value is devastating.”
“‘If they thought they were going to retire with the profits from the house, they have nothing,’ said John Susani, broker-owner of Coldwell Banker Susani Realty in Paterson.”
“As for O’Leary and Poletto, they still love their spotless Bergenfield home. But they know the stairs will become more of a challenge as they grow older, and are ready to move, if only they could get a better price. ‘You really do get frustrated,’ said O’Leary. ‘If I’m frustrated, there have got to be a lot of people who are frustrated.’”
‘Home sales on Kauai tumbled 31.4 percent in May when compared with May 2015, while sales of condominiums fell 16.7 percent, according to data provided by Hawaii Information Service on behalf of the Kauai Board of Realtors. The median sales price fell 18.3 percent for homes and dropped 14.2 percent for condos.’
‘There were 35 homes sold in May, compared with 51 in May 2015, and 35 condos sold, compared with 42. The median sales price for a home was $502,500, compared with $615,000, while for a condo was $320,000, compared with $373,000.’
‘Home sales dropped 50 percent in the region of Hanalei, 37.5 percent in Kawaihau and 36.4 percent in Koloa. Condo sales fell 36.4 percent in Hanalei and 57.2 percent in Kawaihau but rose 33.3 percent in Koloa.’
Where did all the buyers go?
Hana hou!
to Hilo Hatties!
Where did all the buyers go?
US Housing Demand Plummets To 20 Year Low
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0q8fIAsczFk/VUANHEhSbnI/AAAAAAAAjRs/oANwXOUviGw/s1600/MBAApr292015.PNG
Purchase applications have been stuck at 1997 levels since 2010, which is six years and running.
With such dismal demand, you have to wonder what keeps home prices propped up.
still too high, no jobs there.
‘When mortgage mania was at its peak in 2005, millions of homeowners tapped the equity in their homes through home equity lines of credit. It’s now time to pay the piper.’
‘HELOCs come with 10-year grace periods, so 2015 marked 10 years after the frothiest borrowings. In March, delinquencies were up 87% compared to a year ago among 2005 second lien HELOCs – those that stand behind a mortgage on the property – data provider Black Knight said Monday.’
Ben Jones, I sold HELOCs on commission for TARP bank in 2005.
My own little contribution to all of this mess, thank you…
They are all victims
Thank you for your service.
http://www.bkfs.com/Data/DataReports/BKFS_MM_Apr2016_Report.pdf
Here is a link to the Black Knight Mortgage Monitor that includes the data in question.
There is also 2016 and 2017 vintages coming, which are both similar in size to the 2015 resets.
They should have refi’ed out their helocs when they had the chance and then they could have walked away…..except in CA where a refi mortgage can become recourse. It is on the purchase money mortgages that are non-recourse by statute.
Better yet…they could have refi’ed to a lower fixed rate and pay it off like a responsible adult would. But we’re in America where the mortgage or second becomes a public problem.
I guy at work refinanced his place lowering his monthly payments by almost $400, so he bought a new motorcycle.
“delinquencies were up 87% compared to a year ago”
Record high delinquencies, record high vacancy rate, record low housing demand.
crushing.housing.losses.
‘The CRE boom has been quite magnificent. But as sure as night follows day, there will be a bust. That process has probably already started given the credit deterioration suggested by the CMBX indices. It wouldn’t be all that surprising to see CRE prices start to roll over. Once this happens, the poor lending and underwriting standards during the boom will become all too apparent.’
‘In December 2015, the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a joint statement warning about the potential risks to the banking system from CRE lending.’
‘The federal banking agencies’ examination revealed an “easing of CRE underwriting standards, including less-restrictive loan covenants, extended maturities, longer interest-only payment periods, and limited guarantor requirements.”
‘Perhaps they should have said something before it was too late!’
‘Furthermore, it’s ironic that the Fed would warn about how fast and loose CRE lending has become. The Fed’s own easy money policies and three quantitative easing (QE) stimulus programs have actually fostered the CRE boom (just like the shale oil boom).’
‘I’ve said that auto loans will be a problem area during the next downturn. Well, CRE is going to be an even bigger debacle. Retailer woes, the glut of CRE space created by a shift towards online shopping, and QE-induced excesses all ensure a spectacular CRE bust.’
The big RE bubble bust is coming. Soon.
Before or after the election is the real question.
Another obama legacy.
‘The average price of a two-bedroom apartment in Midland was $1,030 for May — about a 30 percent drop from October 2014, the peak of Midland’s housing market according to ApartmentList data. Overall, each type of apartment — one bedroom through three-bedroom — dropped by $230, $290 and $450 respectively from May 2015, or a 22 percent average drop. Rents correlate with the oil market but, while prices of oil have seen an increase, rents haven’t, Woo said. ‘I wouldn’t expect rent prices to have dropped quickly, but to have stabilized by now,’ Woo said. ‘What data is showing is that rent prices are continuing to decline month over month so they haven’t hit bottom yet.”
Midland had the biggest increase in luxury apartments in the country recently at 700%.
‘it’s ironic that the Fed would warn about how fast and loose CRE lending has become. The Fed’s own easy money policies and three quantitative easing (QE) stimulus programs have actually fostered the CRE boom (just like the shale oil boom)’
He’s mocking you Janet.
Don’t forget to mention the movements of the stars, the sun and the planets as you tally the Obama legacy.
We all know you won’t be voting for Gary Johnson.
And all the blood from the next neocon war will be on your hands.
And we know you will be voting for a demagogue who has the Republican party on its knees.
Your accusations of “partisan” are rather cute.
2brony has never denied being a Republican.
HBB poster MacBeth has previously posted some nice “greatest hits” compilations of your decade of posts here which poke holes in your claims of being some kind of above the fray independent.
For the record:
Nader 2000
Kerry 2004
Obama 2008
Johnson 2012
And I support Johnson again this year.
Why do your candidates always lose by a landslide?
For the record, I will submit a nonpartisan California ballot today, which means I am not voting for any of the three leading Presidential candidates in the primary.
However, my wife, daughter of a Republican party committee member in her home state, just commented, “I can’t believe I voted for her.” LOLZ
“Why do your candidates always lose by a landslide?”
Comments like this are everything that’s wrong with the political process today. People have this bizarre need to have voted for the ultimate winner. I’m proud to have never voted for the ultimate winner of a presidential election. Every president of my adult life has been an unmitigated disaster. Why you’d feel anything but shame for supporting any of them is beyond me. I place the blame for the mess our country has become squarely on you and people like you. Stop voting in the same “lesser of two evils” republicrat criminals election after election. Please.
Obama has served his jooz well.
Read the book Trouble in the Tribe: The American Jewish Conflict Over Israel by Dov Waxman, Princeton University Press, 2016.
https://i.sli.mg/GIbD8z.jpg
And show us on the dolly where he touched you.
cre boom? flat as a pancake here in DC area. Prices are more likely 2002 levels for commercial.
‘Greeley hotel occupancy slips with oil and gas industry’
‘The city’s occupancy rate is down, the price per room is down and new hotels are slated to soon bring more than 200 rooms to the area. A Rocky Mountain Lodging Report released in April showed the occupancy rate in Greeley fell from 73 percent in 2015 to 59.4 percent in April 2016.’
“You can see how the market has weakened,” said Robert Benton, who helps put together the lodging report. “It’s primarily the decline in energy prices and the pullback in energy companies that have stopped drilling.”
‘The booming oil and gas industry in 2013 and 2014 pushed the demand for rooms way up, creating a tight market for those seeking short-term stays. In 2015, the Homewood Suites by Hilton, 2510 46th Ave., opened to fill some of the demand, but the demand already was waning. At the end of 2014, the market started to slip, and many of the oil and gas workers from Texas and South Dakota went home.’
‘Two more hotel projects — the downtown hotel and convention center and a Holiday Inn Express north of Centerplace — are in the pipeline, according to the Greeley Planning Department’s commercial development list. The downtown hotel is slated for a 2017 finish, and the Holiday Inn Express recently was approved by the planning commission, but an open date isn’t yet planned.’
‘Even without oil and gas, von Weiland said she thinks other local industries will carry the area hotels. “There’s so much coming into northern Colorado. The growth of northern Colorado is really pretty amazing,” she said. “I kind of feel like we’re going to be a destination.”
What are those other local industries? The feedlots? Let me guess … construction.
Nothing like the smell of Greeley in the morning!
There is the University of Northern Colorado. I think they’re the biggest employer in town.
HP used to have a presence, but that’s long gone.
State Farm has some kind of claims processing center.
Vestas makes windmills.
And of course, there’s JBS and Leprino foods. 30% of jobs in Weld County are agriculture related.
But Greeley boosters are kidding themselves if they think the oil bust won’t affect Greeley.
Norrthern CO is NOT a destination.
FWIW, Northern Colorado has grown, and not just Greeley. Ft. Collins, while still hipster white, isn’t redneck like Greeley.
“As for O’Leary and Poletto, they still love their spotless Bergenfield home. But they know the stairs will become more of a challenge as they grow older, and are ready to move, if only they could get a better price.”
Why do I suspect that the stairs aren’t the only reason they’re trying to bail from this overpriced home?
“In the overheated housing market of 2005, Barbara O’Leary and Dennis Poletto bought a Bergenfield colonial for $440,000 — just five years after the previous owner had paid $175,000.
…
But they feel they can’t move, because real estate agents have told them their home would probably sell for about $330,000.”
25% off their bloated purchase price is likely the best offer they are going to realize in this life. Sell now, or stay priced in forever!
‘$440,000 — just five years after the previous owner had paid $175,000.’
I’d bet they expected to sell it for $700,000.
‘‘If they thought they were going to retire with the profits from the house, they have nothing,’ said John Susani, broker-owner of Coldwell Banker Susani Realty in Paterson’
Here’s where the savvy posters can chime in and brag about their housing windfalls. Because it’s kinda hit and miss like a casino and not very connected to savvy at all.
Financial genius is a rising market.
My imaginary house that I didn’t buy has made me financially independent…. All that cash just stayed in my bank account.
Brag? Heck yeah!
Our next door neighbors bought their 3-bedroom ranch in 1983 for $131,000.
Seven years later, we bought the (slightly but not much larger) house next door for $275,000. We maybe could have got it for $250k but we’ll never know. The house is now worth just about what we paid for it plus what we put into fixing it up.
Windfall investment for sure.
“Now, they’d like to downsize into a place with no stairs.”
This will be the narrative of our aging population going forward. Anyone who bought a McMansion with stairs - you best plan on dying in that monstrosity!
No problemo. You just convert the study or office on the main floor into a bedroom (many new McMansions in my neighborhood already have a master suite on the ground floor).
Let your 20- or 30-something kids live upstairs.
First-world problems.
I know a fam that put mom and pops in thier 60’s downstairs (walkout basement but still has stairs) and the youngers bedrooms are up on the third floor. Time to install the old stair climber!
Age 77? Oh they’re going to downsize at some point. To a place with no stairs. And no bathroom. And no kitchen. It has a nice satin pillow though.
And that north NJ home worth $330,000?
I will bet a steak dinner property taxes are at least $15,000.
Feed that alligator while you wait for prices to rebound…
How much higher will NJ taxes go to make up for the mass exodus of millionaires?
Public union goon pensions will be paid.
That is all you really need to know.
Govnics can retire at age 55 w 75% of pay in my county
Does the media have some kind of realtorbabble “style guide” they use when writing about loanowners “losing their homes” or being underwater?
Always, always, always the victim. No responsibility, no accountability.
These loosers signed their names on the loans. Eat your f*ing losses like an adult and stop pretending to be a victim already.
No one could see this coming…
Why did the bank loan us so much money…
We really didn’t read or understand the paperwork…
The realtor told us…
The banks got a bailout and so should we…
Prices were always going up…
Etc.
To be fair, Deutsche Bank exploiting poor borrowers in Cleveland’s Slavic Village (Broadway and the East 70s) was very real and ended up destroying the neighborhood in the process. These were houses between $50-100K.
The loanowners with $300,000 mortgages are not victims. They should have their income tax refunds withheld and their Social Security benefits garnished to make up their losses. And not another penny of taxpayer dollars to bail out banks.
“The loanowners with $300,000 mortgages are not victims. They should have their income tax refunds withheld and their Social Security benefits garnished to make up their losses.”
And this money should be sent to the true victims, the lenders.
“And not another penny of taxpayer dollars to bail out banks.”
Wrong! The system must be saved. At any cost.
Tanks in the streets!
Don’t forget we could have tanks in the streets if a bank fails or a banker doesn’t get his bonus…
Most people are morons. This is why we have firearm safety classes. In the absence of mortgage safety classes, the responsibility falls on the banks. You can’t fix stupid.
Consumers in Texas Begin to React
by Wolf Richter • June 6, 2016
The worst plunge since the Financial Crisis
OK, this is anecdotal evidence supplied graciously by the Dallas Fed, via the comments in its Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey. It’s how a business in “Professional, Scientific and Technical Services” sees the Texas economy. There are other businesses that are doing well, and some of the comments confirm that. Not everyone is getting slammed. But….
We were up 7.5% for the year through March. April alone put us down 2% year to date. That is what is going on out here in the real world … dang little! We are a 56-year-old family-owned company that averages 17% growth per year.
This economy is in and headed deeper into the tank faster than all the talking heads can spin their silly data and metrics to portray the story most beneficial to whatever lines their pockets best today. That said, Texas and our commodity-driven markets may set us apart as some sort of dark anomaly.
The stories are now piling up of oil-bust contagion working its way deeper into the overall economy of oil-producing states, including Texas. Unlike some other oil producing states, Texas has a vast and diversified economy. So from the beginning, it was said that this time, the oil bust won’t hurt like it did last time; the pain would be contained in its isolated corner of the economy. But this theory is now falling apart. It comes on top of the weakness of the overall US economy.
And consumers are reacting.
Sales tax collections in May, for sales in April, plunged 7.1% year over year, according to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. It was the worst year-over-year decline since March 2010 at the very bottom of the last retail crash during the Financial Crisis and the oil bust that ended in a V-shaped recovery as the Fed’s bailouts, QE, and ZIRP started taking effect.
The $2.4 billion in sales taxes collected in May was also lower than two years ago, a first since the depth of the Financial Crisis.
In March and April, collections had risen 2.1% and 3.1% respectively, a brief respite, after having declined every month since October. Despite that respite, for the first five months this year, sales tax collections are down 2.8%.
Over the past 12 months, collections have dropped 8 times on a year-over-year basis. Total collections for the 12-month period are down 1.8%.
This chart by “David in Texas,” who obtained the data from Texas Transparency, shows how the 5-year retail boom, as depicted by sales tax collections, is hitting the skids. I circled the months with year-over-year declines….
This is a good article and it deserves a link …
http://wolfstreet.com/2016/06/06/texas-consumers-react-retail-sales-tax-collections-plunge/
Sorry for no link. I am new here and I thought that that link was supposed to be put into the ‘URL’ line under the email sign-in. So, what is that box for?
It’s optional.
They can just make up the drop in sales tax revenue via civil forfeiture.
A practice which, by the way, was recently given a reaffirming nod from the current regime’s own Attorney General.
Nobody gives a sh*t about civil forfeiture. Dead zoo gorillas get a million retweets, but crooked cops violating the Constitution doesn’t warrant a peep of interest.
+1
Coming soon to North Dakota, central PA, Denver, Alaska…
But not to Southern California.
We’re special. Zillow says so.
Well, at least not due to low oil prices.
My family used to make a great living off the coal economy as miners in NE/Central PA. It still sits on the largest known anthracite coal deposit (highest burn/density) in the world. That area, “Coal Region”, has been devastated since the 80s.
Coal will make a comeback under Trump.
Can’t say how much but just calling off the obama EPA dogs that are enforcing made up regualtions will help greatly…
That’s interesting. When I saw that dandroidz mentioned the 1980s I assumed that there wouldn’t be any blaming of Obama. The I saw what you wrote. There’s also a fact out there that fracking has lowered the price of natural gas. That’s what’s resulted in a big reduction of coal use.
Of course, around half of the R& D that led to the fracking revolution was funded the federal government, so you can always blame big government for doing something not mentioned in the constitution.
You forgot to mention that if Al Gore hadn’t figured out how to string computers together we’d all be in a cave right now eating gruel.
Coal will make a comeback under Trump.
Can’t say how much but just calling off the obama EPA dogs that are enforcing made up regualtions will help greatly…
Coal’s problem isn’t political. It’s cheap natural gas.
Anthracite is used in making steel. Anyone notice a real live steel mill in North America lately?
Blame the governments for giving away our steel producing facilities - -
Jeb Hensarling (chair of the House Financial Services Committee) plans to introduce a proposal to overturn Dodd Frank and eliminate the CFPB today.
Hensarling Says ‘Emerging Consensus’ For Overturning Dodd-Frank
“There is a Washington, Wall-Street axis; some want to rely on the taxpayers in order for there to be a bailout fund,” House Financial Services Cmte Chairman Jeb Hensarling says on Bloomberg Television.
“Market discipline is going to help the economy a whole lot more than federal micromanagement”
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/trackers/2016-06-06/hensarling-says-emerging-consensus-for-overturning-dodd-frank
These tweets/highlights are great. But the reality is that, due to legalized bribery, the government (taxpayers) will bail out these companies, because it’s good for politicians in the short term to do so.
We’ve been hearing all the right things from key players for years, yet when push comes to shove, market discipline is never restored, bailouts become entrenched, legalized bribery becomes further entrenched, TBTF becomes entrenched, and the ‘privatize the profits, socialize the losses’ model becomes more entrenched.
And as much as I liked the concept of the CFPB (like an FDA for the financial sector), they were completely defanged. The typical industry has high powered lobbyists and advocates to blunt legislation (see the cable industry, the infrastructure through which information is piped into homes). The FIRE sector has the central bank advocating its cause. The top players in the FIRE sector control the central bank (“Why is Jamie Dimon on a Federal Reserve board?”)
Another obama legacy…
Post Obama, ergo propter Obama.
teleprompter Obama. A buncha okie-doke.
http://theduran.com/see-happens-barack-obamas-teleprompter-breaks-trump-speech-video/
I looked up okie doke on the urban dictionary and really could not understand what that slang means. Can someone please define this in PLAIN english. That speech was not the first time that obummer used okie doke - so it must mean sometin to him?
“Market discipline is going to help the economy a whole lot more than federal micromanagement”
Like the kind of market discipline that led Hank Paulson to get down on his knees and plead with Nancy Pelosi to agree with the bankster bailout proposal?
“Candace Blackwood of Berkshire Hathaway NE Properties, said there were 94 public open houses in New Canaan on May 22. ‘That may very well be a record,’ said Blackwood. ‘Most of the agents I have spoken to, have lamented the paltry numbers of attendees.’”
What? No bidding wars? BTW, what the opposite of a bidding war? A selling war? A price war?
“‘Buyers have become conditioned to knowing there is a lot of inventory,’ said Melissa Jones of Houlihan Lawrence. ‘They are paralyzed to make a decision because there might be a better house coming out next week. It’s truly an amazing time to buy,’ said Jones.”
So amazing that the bids have dried up and buyers are now sitting on their hands or on fences or wherever.
“‘Prices are down, you have lots of inventory, buyers can pick and choose what they want at this point.’”
Wallets, buyers are sitting on their wallets.
A sea change.
Damn. And I had my taking care of the squirrels letters all ready to go…
‘They are paralyzed to make a decision because there might be a better house coming out next week’
I don’t know about paralyzed. When I am making an offer to a lender, I like to watch them twist in the air a bit. Because they know there might be a better house next week. Heck, it might even be one they foreclosed on.
‘Buyers have become conditioned to knowing there is a lot of inventory’
Wait a minute. Shortage equals multiple offers, glut equals no offers? I wonder if expectations of price increases enters into it? Sounds like a bunch of gamblers if you ask me.
In 2009, if I got no response from a lender on my first offer, the subsequent offers were for less money. Recon Trust was unresponsive to my first two offers, but took my third offer for $38,000 less, 4 & 1/2 months later. It was a goofy time!
And 8 years later it still isnt worth that much.
“The newly released emails also provide the first official confirmation that Snowden worked with the CIA, Vice News reported. An email from the NSA to all agency employees sent on June 10, 2013, identified Snowden as a “current NSA contractor and former CIA affiliate.”
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/06/06/documents-reveal-feds-effort-to-discredit-snowden-reveal-cia-ties.html
Is the CIA even allowed to operate and conduct missions in America? Spying on American citizens?
Another obama legacy…
What makes you assume spying on Americans only started with Obama? This seems entirely implausible, along with over 90% of the partisan BS you sling here.
“Most transparent administration in history”
LOLZ
P.S. he’s “really good at killing people” too…
A non answer to a serious question…
‘America is falling apart. Anyone who travels in this great land knows it. This great city is crumbling. I’m scared to take the underwater tunnels to Long Island or New Jersey. Our local airport, LaGuardia, should be in Zimbabwe.’
‘The American Society of Civil Engineers warns that crumbling roads, rusting bridges, decaying railroads and transit systems are costing the nation $129 billion each year, and that crumbling infrastructure adds $97 billion annually and caused travel delays of $28 billion annually.’
‘I raise this scandalous issue because Switzerland, a tiny nation of only 8.2 million, just opened the remarkable Gothard Base Tunnel, the world’s longest and deepest rail and road tunnel drilled right through the highest Alps.’
‘I was in Switzerland in 1996 when the 151.8 km (94.3 mile) long tunnel project was begun, and I just watched its grand opening this week on TV. The project came in a year ahead of schedule and under budget at $10.1 billion. The Swiss are as skilled at watching their pennies as drilling through granite mountains. Rock amounting to 5 Giza pyramids was excavated.’
‘The new Gothard Tunnel (there are two older, narrower ones) cuts almost an hour off the travel time from Zurich to Milan. More important, it will alleviate the frightful congestion and pollution from cars and heavy transport trucks in the narrow Alpine valleys. It creates a direct rail link from Rotterdam in the north to Genoa on the Mediterranean.’
‘Compared to Switzerland’s excellent roads, beautiful bridges or viaducts, punctual to-the-second trains, the US looks – and perhaps is – a third world nation. Swiss, French, and German trains travel at 230-300km an hour, offering fast, clean, safe, civilized travel (at least when France’s rail workers are not on strike). I just took a French TGV express train from Lorraine on the German border direct to Charles De Gaulle airport in about one hour – what it takes to get from Manhattan to New York’s Kennedy Airport by taxi.’
‘America’s vast highway system was built during the golden era of President Dwight Eisenhower. Today, America’s infrastructure is backwards, primitive, and humiliating for the self-proclaimed ‘greatest country on earth.’
‘Why is this? Because Americans and their government in Washington has chosen imperialism over taking care of home.’
‘While the US crumbles, it pours billions upon billions into foreign military misadventures. The foolish war in Afghanistan will soon hit $1 trillion. Iraq is on the way to a second trillion. Washington is running little wars in East Africa, Yemen, now West Africa, Pakistan, and the Mideast, while gearing up for possible conflicts with Russia and China.’
‘Invading small, weak Muslim nations may be glamorous and career-enhancing. – and certainly the objective of the neocon fifth column. Fixing sewers, dams and bridges is not – and does not make billions for arms manufacturers.’
‘History is full of empires that ignored their own infrastructure and social well-being in favor of pursuing military glory abroad. All are on the trash-heap of history. America is headed that way, addicted to debt and war. We spend close to $1 trillion annually on the military and nuclear forces. This sum is not for ‘defense,’ but for offense around the globe.’
‘The Swiss don’t waste a centime on stupid foreign wars. That’s why their beautiful nation works as efficiently as a Swiss watch.’
I’m being polite out of respect for our blog host.
Maybe you should take some of that respect and give it to our Constitution.
Trivia …
Anyone who decides to invade Switzerland will quickly learn that they are invading an armed camp.
Wiki …
“The structure of the Swiss militia system stipulates that the soldiers keep their own personal equipment, including all personally assigned weapons, at home (until 2007 this also included ammunition). Compulsory military service concerns all male Swiss citizens, with women serving voluntarily. Males usually receive initial orders at the age of 18 for military conscription eligibility screening. About two-thirds of young Swiss men are found suitable for service, while alternative service exists for those found unsuitable. Annually, approximately 20,000 persons are trained in basic training for a duration from 18 to 21 weeks (increased from 15 weeks, in 2003).”
this…..
La Place De La Concorde Suisse…..
https://www.nytimes.com/books/98/07/05/specials/mcphee-place.html
and this…….opening ceremony of the Gotthard tunnel….
Must be seen to be believed……
http://www.theburningplatform.com/2016/06/05/i-got-nothing/
“…foreign military misadventures.”
Tell me, what did the two “foreign military misadventures” called World War I and World War II cost America?
Or, what would Switzerland, Germany, France and Japan look like today if America would have stayed out of that most foolish war?
The world takes peace, prosperity and freedom for granted–the “foolish” Americans who fought WW II are almost all dead. The young and ignorant internet generation posters here and everywhere around the world haven’t a clue.
It’s a bipartisan legacy of several Presidents, greatly expanded since September 11. Obama should have reined it in, but he didn’t.
I was in Utah a few years ago and drove by the NSA data collection center, which is visible from I-15. I waved hello.
You can rest assured that their alert level went up two clicks, as they monitored the GPS location of your cell phone coming within close proximity to their data center.
My flip phone is so old that they can’t do that, at least not as accurately. They have to go off of which cell towers the phone is pinging off of and do an approximation.
Not that I care . . .
More money being sucked out of the “real economy” because of ObamaCare:
“Some health insurers are asking for double-digit rate increases for individual plans in Colorado next year while others are changing their coverage or not offering any insurance to those who buy their own policies.”
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/colorado-health-insurers-want-hikes-for-individual-plans
VA and Oregon providers already announced 25% and 29% premium increases for 2016-2017.
ObamaCare has been a death sentence to prospective entrepeneurs.
Why would anyone start a business when they have to spend $20,000 a year for an individual insurance policy?
Is it really Obamacare or is it the insurance companies gouging because they can (and blame it on the president?)
The whole medical industry needs to be burned down. When I took a spill off of a truck, bounced off the liftgate and hit the floor I got an ambulance ride, a few scans and told my collarbone would heal on it’s own. The bill for this service was $15,800 or so.
That’s not realistic. I didn’t have the ability to comparison shop. I don’t even know what services were rendered for this money, or what was done. It’s a few random line items. I had insurance, so I only had to pay $1,000 in deductible which is probably what the service should have cost total to begin with.
BCBS requests premium increases of up to 60% in TX for 2017. It’ll be interesting to see the plans / premiums in December. BCBS is the largest insurer in TX I believe.
‘Death sentence’…The employer mandate only covers businesses with 50 or more employees.
Oh, but this was the plan. Start with Obamacare, it cracks up, and we’re forced into single payer. Isn’t the crack up fun?
Not sure I agree with you there Ben. I think the intention of ACA opponents is to return us to the status quo ante, which wasn’t working either.
That’s what they said on this blog. Didn’t oxide and rio say that? What I said was insurance was the reason prices go up and up. More insurance wouldn’t keep prices from going up, but result in the opposite. Look what’s happened.
There is recorded evidence from meetings years ago that Obamacare was merely an intermediate step to single-payer. A step necessary because they could “sell” Obamacare to the public.
It is all playing out exactly according to the plan.
Remember, you have to pass the legislation in order to find out what’s in it. It’s the new American way!
Obamacare was destined to fail because of how it was structured.
IIRC, (however they divide the tranches of patients) the most expensive patients cost 6x the most inexpensive, but by mandate, insurance companies are only able to charge the most expensive patients 3x the most inexpensive.
So, you have heavy consumers of healthcare paying less thanthey should for insurance, and light consumers of healthcare being asked to pay more, in many cases, A LOT more.
Well, heavy users are happy to get the bargain. Those who are light users are not happy to pay, and would rather pay the penalties, than pay a lot for something that they never believe they’ll use.
Why not? If they get sick, they can join the ranks of the heavy users for the discounted price whenever they want.
Those who crafted the law misread human nature at it’s most basic; people look out for their own self interests above all else.
If your legislation doesn’t work with that simple statement in consideration, it is destined to fail.
‘It is all playing out exactly according to the plan’
That’s the way I remember it. Set it up, cracks up, forced into single payer. That the “cracks up” would be expensive and painful just didn’t get a mention. What other parts of the economy can we turn over to these caring folk?
There is recorded evidence from meetings years ago that Obamacare was merely an intermediate step to single-payer.
Do you have a link for that? It sounds like an awful lot of effort to take an indirect path that might not actually lead to the supposedly desired result.
This is not the exact speech that I was thinking of, but it proves the same thing. In 2008, Obama himself saying “we may not get there (single payer) immediately . . .”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpAyan1fXCE
And ILLANNOY is paying attention to this because it is in the same BCBS system as TX. The whole thing here is beginning to blow up - land of lincoln health - the obamacare exchange is utterly bankrupt. Hard to believe my soon to be former employer was seriously looking at this as a health insurance option a year ago.
Pay the penalty or go with a medical sharing service. Really, the only two choices left.
This is creepy:
“At Facebook, your start date was celebrated by the company the way evangelicals celebrate the day they were baptized and found Jesus, or the way new American citizens celebrate the day they took their oath in front of the flag. This event was called (really) your Faceversary, and every colleague would rush to congratulate you on Facebook (of course), just as normal people did for one another on their birthdays. Often the company or your colleagues would order you a garish surprise bouquet for your desk, with one of those huge Mylar balloons in the shape of a 2 or whatever. When someone left Facebook (usually around when the balloons said 4 or 5), everyone would treat it as a death, as if you were leaving the current plane of existence and going to another one (though it wasn’t assumed this next plane would be better than the current one). The tombstone of your Facebook death was a photo posted on Facebook of your weathered and worn corporate ID. It was customary to include a weepy suicide note/self-written epitaph, and the post would garner hundreds of likes and comments inside a minute.”
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/06/how-mark-zuckerberg-led-facebooks-war-to-crush-google-plus
This sounds a little like Dave Eggers’ book “The Circle,” which I highly recommend.
Worcester, MA suffered major losses in the manufacturing sector in the 70s-80s, and only now is recovering with BioMed and Boston commuters. The median income is only $65,000, so no surprise people can’t afford the ridiculous housing prices.
Also Springfield MA is the murder capital of Ma, another pure cesspool.
I need to leave this state. Unaffordable rents and housing everywhere.
Interesting sentiment.
Massachusetts population growth has been 0.83% (less than 1%) for the last 6 years, about the same as the US. New Hampshire and Rhode Island are much less and Connecticut, Maine and Vermont all had declines. It is hard to swim against and outgoing tide……..unless you choose to move to Maine!
I only moved here last yr to spread my wings a bit and try a new job. I can return back to my family/friends/old job in Virginia, which is becoming a more and more real proposition.
MA at least is growing - ILLANNOY - not so much.
https://www.illinoispolicy.org/23-of-illinois-29-largest-cities-are-shrinking-chicago-sees-2nd-biggest-population-decline-in-u-s/
Huffington Post provides some LOLZ for a Tuesday:
You Can Crowdfund Everything These Days, Including Your Divorce
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5755ac51e4b0eb20fa0e8961
‘The hardest hit segment of the Bay Area’s housing market is the luxury sector, according to research released Monday by San Francisco-based Paragon Real Estate Group. ‘It appears the luxury segment has softened to a greater degree than more affordable segments, some of which remain very competitive,’ Paragon said. ‘The number of high-end listings in MLS has jumped while sales have plateaued or declined. When economic uncertainty swells, this is a market segment often affected first.’
‘Paragon cites the supply of high-end condo projects to market as well as the fact that expensive homes are usually a buyer’s second or third home, not a primary residence. Apartment rentals also reflect job losses more quickly, with Paragon saying asking-rent appreciation has plateaued and that ‘it is quite possible that actual lease rents have already started to decline.’
Yeah, months ago. Job losses? You mean skinny pants got no dough? Oh dear, those $4,000 a month apartments are gonna be hard to fill. Defaults here we come.
$4,000/mo apartment lofts surrounding the Tenderloin and the Mission districts, pure dumps. Good thing those employees get ‘vested’ after 3 or 4 yrs, oh wait…they just got hired and offered useless stock, D’oh!!
Too funny. Back in the late 1990s I had options which vested over a fairly lengthy schedule. Of course, I just played the present right out into the future, and anticipated reaping great, largely-unearned riches, which didn’t came to pass.
I’ve never forgotten that lesson. My boss at the time sighed and said “what goes up must come down. As we are all realizing right now.”
San Francisco……
Month All Beds 1 BDs 2 BDs
7/2009 1,841 1,416 1,840
8/2009 1,795 1,378 1,767
9/2009 1,790 1,364 1,783
10/2009 1,788 1,356 1,799
11/2009 1,782 1,369 1,806
12/2009 1,597 1,262 1,669
1/2010 1,450 1,258 1,616
2/2010 1,737 1,390 1,773
3/2010 1,808 1,408 1,855
4/2010 1,836 1,395 1,858
Fast forward:
6/2015 3,723 3,127 4,275
7/2015 3,714 3,074 4,119
8/2015 3,512 2,965 3,853
9/2015 3,453 2,883 3,662
10/2015 3,457 2,896 3,653
11/2015 3,410 2,931 3,687
12/2015 3,484 3,058 3,925
1/2016 3,569 3,115 4,011
2/2016 3,770 3,096 4,126
The bottom in rents seems to have occurred in January 2010 at $1450. Up 160% in the last 6 years.
‘Android users all around the world are using social media apps less. In almost every country, time spent on Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter apps is down. This is according to a study by SimilarWeb. Twitter saw a substantial drop in France. Users were on the app for almost 20 minutes a day this time last year, and now they’re tweeting only 13 minutes a day.’
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/all–app-d-out—why-people-are-ditching-mobile-apps-153502969.html
What do you buy an app developer for Christmas? An alarm clock? A map to Texas?
A clown suit.
Ditching?!!? Crap, I never even started!
I’m ALWAYS behind!
You buy them a book on Chinese or Hindi so they can train their replacements before they get $h!tcanned from the next food delivery or picture app start-up.
“appears the luxury segment has softened to a greater degree than more affordable segments”
Been watching the number of availabile units climb at my old digs in the Presidio Landmark. When I left they were trying to get another 15%, and had zero vacancies. Now they have about 10% vacancies, and are clinging to the higher rent with no takers.
‘We’re finding more and more empty homes in Springfield. In my little neighborhood, there are 12 vacant homes. None of them are boarded up. Most are all recent bank foreclosures. Some of them haven’t even been to the auction. They are just panicking and leaving. The realtors are trying to say that homes now being foreclosed were bought between 2000-2006 but I know that some of them are from 2009, 2010, even 2013.’
Are you suggesting the UHS and MSM have been lying to us about all these vacant houses? When I made that video in Las Vegas, there were abandoned foreclosures everywhere. As a matter of fact, I see them almost everywhere I go.
I’m surprised Springfield isn’t completely empty. I went there for an event and was unimpressed, and I also found out its a murder haven for Massachusetts. A former Patriot football player was just shot there last month actually.
The MSM and Realtors will never mention these vacant homes, because everyone should move to taxachusetts and commute 1+ hr into Boston to contribute to the FIRe economy, yay!!
Trying not to pollute Ben’s blog with election garbage, but Salon has a piece titled:
“In attack on Trump, Clinton accidentally admits drone killings of civilians are a war crime”
Neocons gonna neocon.
We will be in another ground war in the Middle East within 3 years, I’d bet money on it.
And I wouldn’t need very long odds to bet that Trump will be leading the charge in the next Middle East conflict.
That’s why you should support Gary Johnson if you want a clean conscience.
I’m mature and honest enough to admit that voting for Obama in 2008 was a mistake. W was a sh*tty president but I know I won’t be supporting his fifth term.
It was a tragic mistake by the majority and the entirety suffered the consequences.
Never again.
I voted
I am vacating today’s primary.
I voted two. Really, I got to vote twice. My wife let me fill out her ballot! Go Bernie!
“My wife let me fill out her ballot!”
Shenanigans!!
Best slogan ever: “Feel the Johnson”
Stick it to the man (and woman)!
Johnson is the true middle finger to the establishment.
Aren’t lib…ertarians done with Gary Johnson, thinking he’s become more statist in recent years? I thought the new flavor of the election year was Peterson or McAfee.
‘The weakened purchasing power of foreign economies has directly affected the residential real-estate market in Dade,’ said one industry professional…‘Basically, South America is in recession’
I wonder why this isn’t being reported more widely? Oh, it’ll all be OK cuz they were putting 30% down. I did see one broker say “buyers” were refinancing that down payment out and buying more condos. And this was pre-construction. Just who is refinancing pre-construction condos in Miami?
‘The number of high-end listings in MLS has jumped while sales have plateaued or declined. When economic uncertainty swells, this is a market segment often affected first.’
I know a guy who bought into this market segment a year or so ago. He must be pitting his shants about now…
I recall thinking it seemed dangerously near the Echo Bubble peak to buy. Don’t forget that Japan saw over two straight decades of real estate price declines beginning around the time their bubble popped, circa1990, despite ultra-low interest rates over the entire period.
safe to say? “there is no luxury condo market that will be positive for 2016″
even Portlandia?
Portland’s black residents putting faith in ‘Soul District’ to counter gentrification:
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/23/portland-soul-district-gentrification
How nice of all the white millennial hipsters to allow the working class black residents they are displacing turn their former neighborhood into a museum, LOLZ
When I was in Portland in 2013 for work the gentrification was getting hot-n-heavy in the “Pearl district”. It used to be a industrialized/plighted area of the downtown, and was turning into $6 coffee shops, donut shops, craft beer bars, and $3k/mo apartments and luxury condos. The gentrification efforts have really spread rapidly since then and now stretch to areas outside of Portland, and anywhere with land/homes to demolish.
The Pearl District was popularized by a 10 year property tax abatement on condos, in the middle of the 2005 housing bubble.
“2013″ “…getting…”
No, my friend. That area was “getting hot-n-heavy” in 2000, 2001, 2002 after they tore down the Lovejoy viaduct and rebuilt it. I watched as they dragged the streetcar rail lines through the neighborhood in ‘99 before they were installed. Soon after, vacant lots became condos. Then it spread north into more condos from 2006-2009 before/during the crash. There are a few more going in now.
The areas most recently hot-n-heavy are the most central SW downtown areas, and some North Portland corridors (Williams) in which EVERY, and I do mean every, vacant lot now has $1600 studio apts and condos built on them. I don’t even go to that area anymore due to the congestion of cars and hipsters. It’s the poster child for gentrification. I found more in common with the former inhabitants than I do with the new deebs, as I lived not far from there until 2007.
My mistake on the year timeline, I’m sure it was exploding during the boom/bust of 06-09. I just recall elements of the old Pearl District still being there, but surrounded by more and more condos.
My buddy in St. Johns (NE Portland area) is witnessing rehabbed apartment buildings and condos all over his neighborhood as more and more Californian transplants look for real estate/space.
I need to check out St Johns. Been awhile since I’ve rolled through there. I’m sure I’ll be shocked at the growth. The curious thing there is that the gentry will be pushing out the white poors (and some Latinos). In prior gentry moves (closer in N and NE Portland), it’s been mostly black poors (and some whites) pushed out.
Intel laid off 784 so far in PDX. Daimler laying off 170. The next recession is starting.
The current recession HAS started…
The last recession never ended.
This alleged recovery is nothing but debt, debt, and more debt.
Seattle still perky
http://www.movoto.com/seattle-wa/market-trends/
last of the Mohicans
My grandmother used to say “Last of the Moe Higgins”.
Seattle was last to crash in ‘07, too.
Friend of mine just bought a $515k shack in West Seattle. Frothy frothy frothy. To think Microsoft laid off 10,000 just a couple of yrs ago…
But how many in Redmond? Was just there last week. Place was buzzing with activity, which isn’t to suggest it’s not losing anyone.
Microsoft has ’stealth’ layoffs every year, when they ‘manage out’ 2-3% of their workforce: the older, higher-paid, and less-diverse employees. Replaced by the younger, lower-paid, and more-diverse ones. Rinse, lather, repeat.
They give you a low performance review score for two consecutive years so they have justification (almost impossible to prove age discrimination when they do this), branding you with the scarlet letter so you are hiring poison to other MS managers, and then they give you a certain number of weeks to sit at your desk and try to find a new position internally.
So there is always churn. But based upon my neighbor who paints and rehabs apartments full-time for two complexes directly across the street from Microsoft HQ, things have slowed down just a bit compared to a year ago. If you want a 2BR apartment, you have to already be in a 1BR, and then get on a waiting list.
I still think that in the long run, Microsoft will likely shed 25% or more of its employees which will actually help the bottom line a great deal. They are not growing like Amazon is, employment-wise.
Has anyone else noticed the resemblance of the Fed’s liftoff to the space shuttle Challenger launch?
Jeff Reeves’s Strength in Numbers
Opinion: Why investors can expect U.S. interest rates to stay low forever
By Jeff Reeves
Published: June 7, 2016 8:24 a.m. ET
No case for a hike — not now, this year, or even 2017
When the Federal Reserve raised interest rates a measly 0.25% last December, some investors thought it was about time.
After all, pundits had been warning of rising rates. Consider this Wall Street Journal piece from the beginning of 2014, when the 10-year yielded almost 3%, compared to about 1.7% currently.
But other investors were skeptical that the U.S. economy was ready for liftoff. Instead, they saw a failure to launch. Mizuho Securities chief economist Steven Ricchiuto, for example, has dismissed the idea of higher rates for some time. He told Reuters the December hike “was very, very stupid” and that the U.S. is more likely to see a rate rollback akin to the European Central Bank’s retreat on rates after a brief experiment with tighter monetary policy in 2011. And it’s pretty clear which side turned out to be correct in that fight.
…
With high end housing markets starting to crumble, the Fed cannot afford to hike rates further. The last thing they want is to get blamed for a housing collapse.
As we’ve seen here today, they haven’t raised rates and yet are being blamed for the CRE bust.
Some trivia …
“16 People Confess: What They Saw at a Wedding That Convinced Them the Marriage Would End in Divorce”
“It’s wedding season! That means expensive dresses and/or suits for the various parties, wild reception shenanigans and hopefully, everlasting love.
Or in some cases, just the first two. Just in time for that destination wedding you shelled out $500 on airfare towards, plus the tux/dress, plus the gift … here are the 16 things Redditors witnessed at a wedding that convinced them the union they were there to celebrate just wasn’t meant to last.
1. There was this woman walking around during the reception placing bets on when they would divorce. I later found out she was the mother of the groom.
2. During the vows they had written for each other, the bride starts with “I know I can be a pretty terrible person, and I don’t know why you’ve stuck around, but that’s all going to change starting today!”
3. She flinched when he turned to kiss her.
4. The bride had the minister put “Til death, or divorce, do us part” into the ceremony.
5. My cousin (the bride) told us, as she was going from table to table thanking the guests, that she didn’t think it would last. We were stunned.”
You know why June is wedding season?
Because back in the middle ages, it was the period when the streams and rivers warmed up enough for people to get cleaned up!
From Monty Python and the Holy Grail:
Who’s that?
My friends are in the marriage and child stages….life is about to get expensive for me just to “celebrate” with them.
Nonesense, Just send them a card saying you gave “in their name” to the Human Fund. The SJW’s love altruistic gifts!
For the SJW’s with kids, send them a few months of paid diaper service.
How do you know that his friends are SJWs? Also, what exactly is an SJW?
SJW = Social Justice Warrior.
I know what the letters stand for. What do these warriors do that is so objectionable?
Well, they seem to want equality of outcome, rather than equality in opportunity, for one thing.
Well, they seem to want equality of outcome, rather than equality in opportunity, for one thing.
Not the ones I know. They just want to end the scams and cheating. No more too big to fail.
SJW = Socialist Jewish (or at least approving of the Ziocon new world order and its countless endless wars) Whores.
It fits like a glove.
There appears to be a problem determining exactly what a Social Justice Warrior is. Your contribution doesn’t help us get any closer to a definition.
Irrelevant.
How do I know? I know a mighty lot Mike.
An SJW is the mortal enemy of the basement dwelling neckbeard (BDN)
Kailua Kona, Hawaii Affordability Surges As Housing Prices Crater 9% YoY
http://www.zillow.com/kailua-kona-hi/home-values/
Developers flock to middle cities of Palm Beach County
Projects include Water Tower Commons in Lantana and Cortina in Boynton Beach
June 07, 2016 08:45AM
By Dan Weil
http://therealdeal.com/miami/2016/06/07/developers-flock-to-middle-cities-of-palm-beach-county/
I was just in Palm Beach this weekend. Boy that humidity, I certainly don’t miss living in the south. Also it’s crazy to see the huge wealth divide in WPB…one minute its $50,000 shacks with cars in the front yard, next thing its marinas with 50′ yachts.
‘they feel they can’t move, because real estate agents have told them their home would probably sell for about $330,000. ‘Nobody expected the world to fall down and the housing market to fall through, and that’s where we stand now’
Look on the bright side Barbara, it’s cheaper than renting.
This article is mostly about how New Jersey missed out on all the gravy the past few years. Imagine all the Barbara’s out there if the gravy subsides.
‘Nobody expected the world to fall down and the housing market to fall through, and that’s where we stand now’
No one expects the Spanish Inquisition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WJXHY2OXGE
best and most boring high div payor fund?
Vanguard?
also if you have an account w vanguard pester them to start an MLP fund-they email constantly w “how can we help?”
MLPA fees are too high
2016 Bilderberg Meeting
Dresden, Germany 9-12 June
Final list of Participants
Graham, Lindsey (USA), Senator
http://bilderbergmeetings.org/participants.html
“Don’t vote for me if you’re tired of war”
Graham endorsement of HRC forthcoming…
See also:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/05/27/silencing-america-as-it-prepares-for-war/
wow, Baron pimping stocks and S&P p/e is 24? w gdp of .8%
we could get to 35 again
lightening the load today
‘Cap rates have compressed in all markets across the country especially in the last two years; lower cap rates lead to higher sale prices. Concerned about excessive valuation, banks have been hesitant to underwrite deals here at cap rates below 8% and at sale prices above this level buyers are expected to contribute additional equity. The Park Square Apartments in Orchard Park sold at a 7.5% cap rate, 26 apartments and townhouses at $2.5 million or $96,000 an apartment. Even at this price, the sale qualified as a value added deal with the buyer able to make improvements and increase rents on the renovated units shortly after closing, from $1,200 to $1,500.’
‘Sunrise Management and Consulting of Albany quotes rents as rising 6.95% in the last year and 14.1% over the last three years in the western New York market with an average rent of $1,141 in 2015 in a survey of 19,400 apartments…Owners now cater to potential renters with open modern layouts, large kitchens, and high finish levels. Rents in the CBD have moved from $1.25 per s/f to as high as $2 per s/f in the last few years for the newest loft apartment conversions.’
‘The Buffalo News reports that in the past five years 5,500 new apartments of all types including all classes of senior housing and purpose built student housing have been built or are proposed in the entire western New York market, including 1,300 in its largest suburb the town of Amherst. Previously, there had not been significant multifamily development since the 1970s. In the city of Buffalo, 82 projects with 3,500 apartments since 2012, including 1,300 in the downtown core, are in various stages of planning and development.’
‘The opportunity for investors is in the class B properties, there is no foreseeable new competition as there is no financial incentive to build for rentals below $1,000. With rents as high as $2,000 per month in the new developments, class B owners have been able to narrow the gap between class A and B rents to their advantage. There is always strong demand for affordable workforce apartments, catering to those earning up to the median household income. Most sought after is the large inventory of well-located suburban garden apartment complexes built in the 1960s and 1970s and as these complexes come on the market expect high levels of interest and quick sales.’
https://cre.nyrej.com/look-2016-buffalo-apartment-market-heine/
‘Even at this price, the sale qualified as a value added deal with the buyer able to make improvements and increase rents on the renovated units shortly after closing, from $1,200 to $1,500′
Heck of a job Mel.
US Debt Clock peddles fiction.
usdebtclock.org
In WWII the U.S. had rationing and scrap metal drives to support the war.
Post 9/11 W told us to take our families to Disneyworld.
Former SF mayor Willie Brown even started a campaign distributing shopping bags emblazoned with flags that said “America: Open For Business.”
It’s hard to sacrifice when you’re forced to decide what palette size to buy your Cheetos in at Costco.
Perhaps soon we will have robots to stuff Cheetos in our mouths.
Oh dear…
‘LendingClub Corp. abruptly adjourned its annual shareholder meeting Tuesday, saying it wasn’t ready to address investors after a leadership shakeup last month. The company’s stock halted amid the announcements, then dropped 5 percent to $4.50 as of 2:33 p.m. in New York. It’s down 59 percent this year.’
“Given the developments of the last few weeks, the company is not yet in a position to provide its stockholders a complete report on the state of the company,” San Francisco-based LendingClub said Tuesday in a filing just as the meeting was to start.’
‘On Tuesday, LendingClub said it’s boosting interest rates and tightening criteria for borrowers to qualify for loans. LendingClub, which matches consumers seeking loans online with investors looking to fund them, was a stock-market darling just 18 months ago. Its shares soared after an initial public offering in December 2014, briefly valuing the venture at more than $10 billion. But they soon began sliding amid mounting competition and signs that some debts were failing at higher-than-expected rates.’
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-07/lendingclub-delays-meeting-says-can-t-provide-complete-report
Another half-baked silicon valley IPO flames out, taking billion$ to money heaven with it. I wonder if the employees borrowed money to buy houses there?
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/lending-club#/entity
Looks like they raised less than $500MM from venture and private equity. Although there are some of the rounds that are “undisclosed” it appears as though most funding rounds were $50MM or less…so, I added $100MM to the $400MM of funding.
So, $500MM of outside equity came in to purchase varying portions of the overall company. The rest was still owned by early employees and founders.
It is now worth about $1.7B on the open market.
Did the VC/PE Funds make money on the investment? It all depends how much of the company they bought with their money and if they were able to sell their shares before this collapse.
Did the founders make money? Seems like they made quite a bit.
Are they rank and file employees who were either issued options at a much higher price, or granted stock which is now worth 80% less feeling a lot of pain (and potentially hosed if they lose their job)? Yup.
‘Seems like they made quite a bit’
So did Madoff. Some people lost a lot of money. More to come.
Madoff stole money from his investors. There is no other way to describe it. At the end of the day, there were no assets owned by his entity, no profit generated from his activity.
LendingClub, now with a great deal of warts shown to the public is an entity that the public markets STILL value at more than $1.5B, and the company is trading at more than book equity. AND, while a paltry sum, LendingClub is profitable.
Undoubtedly the public markets valued the company too highly, and people who paid a high price for its stock lost a lot of money.
Ultimately, the founders, with outside investment, created a company that is marginally profitable and worth more than the capital invested into it.
This is distinctly different than being a thief.
The pain in the Bay Area isn’t going to come from headlines. The pain is going to come from companies that get one less round of financing than they might have received 3 years ago, and silently close up shop. This will ultimately show up in apartment vacancies, office sublease space coming on the market, and less traffic on the freeways.
The founders ALWAYS pay themselves first. So even if the whole thing folds up, they still win. If they sell to a bigger company or go public, then they win bigger.
It’s a win-win when you are at the top.
Stupid employees… Expecting rewards for productivity.
Knife catchers lining up and camping out in Seattle for condos:
Home prices soar again; some buyers camp out to lay claim to a future condo
http://www.seattletimes.com/business/home-prices-soar-again-some-buyers-camp-out-to-latch-on-to-a-future-condo/
Very, very few people around here think it’s a bubble. They’re going to get evicerated.
‘Very, very few people around here think it’s a bubble’
That’s actually a necessary element for a bubble.
‘The number of condo sales in Downtown Seattle were up 4% over April. Some might have expected a bigger increase, but these figures were not a surprise to us as we saw much more inventory hit the market.’
http://blog.seattlepi.com/urbancondospaces/2016/06/05/downtown-seattle-condo-sales-in-may-up-4/
Yup. Seattle is hot, hot, hot, in more ways than just our temperatures lately (96 degrees at my house two days ago):
http://seattlebubble.com/blog/2016/06/07/nwmls-strong-demand-pending-sales-hit-time-high/
I also hear the traffic is real and spectacular.
Like The OC (so cal) with out the sunshine, beaches, cute girls, fish tacos and Persians.
I was working with some in 2012 that were in the end stages of being destroyed. Only takes 4′years to forget, apparently.
pay 3x with fake Yuan: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/04/03/u-s-ordered-to-return-assets-seized-in-crackdown-on-exported-cars/?_r=1
Some amazing times we live in …
“Greenpeace slapped with RICO lawsuit.”
http://legalinsurrection.com/2016/06/greenpeace-slapped-with-rico-lawsuit/
“CA’s ‘First of its Kind’ Bill to Prosecute Climate Change Deniers Sidelined”
http://legalinsurrection.com/2016/06/cas-first-of-its-kind-bill-to-prosecute-climate-change-deniers-sidelined/
Pesky free speech. Unfortunately idiocy is protected along with the rest… People just have to figure it out for themselves.
Fremont(Seattle), WA Affordability Surges As Housing Prices Crater 7% YoY
http://www.zillow.com/fremont-seattle-wa/home-values/
Do you even read your own links?
PLUS 16.9% one-year change? You must have a different definition of crater than the rest of us.
Down 16%? I thought it was down just 7%.
Here’s another one;
North Beacon Hill(Seattle), WA Housing Prices Crash 19% YoY As Mortgage Defaults Skyrocket
http://www.zillow.com/north-beacon-hill-seattle-wa/home-values/
Scarf a bag of Cheetos and sniff some black basement mold, and it all becomes clear. Join us… Become one with the multi mind, jp!
Scarf a bag of Cheetos and sniff some black basement mold, and it all becomes clear. Join us… Become one with the multi mind, jp!
Santa Clara, CA Affordability Improves As Housing Prices Dive 4% YoY
http://www.zillow.com/santa-clara-ca-95051/home-values/
Why are Bernie Sanders supporters “seething” at the discovery the Democrat Party is corrupt and autocratic to its core? You’d have to be a special kind of stupid to miss something that’s been blatantly obvious for decades.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/c8976c50c03f4f1d97f5e34d7057f600/sanders-supporters-angry-clinton-wins-sufficient-backing
You didn’t read that one at all.
And just like that, stupid shows up.
Connecticut homehomers are discovering their “investments” are worthless due to crumbling foundations.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/08/nyregion/with-connecticut-foundations-crumbling-your-home-is-now-worthless.html?_r=1
Don’t let the power of cratering prices enrage you.
Massachusetts Affordability Improves As Housing Prices Sink 3% YoY Statewide
http://www.zillow.com/ma/home-values/
The most corrupt state in the Union went for Hillary. Imagine that.
http://graphics.latimes.com/election-2016-new-jersey-results/
An excellent editorial on how Greece’s “radical left” Syriza came to power vowing to fight for the nation against Troika-imposed austerity, then after a show of pointless theatrical defiance ended up being the Troika’s eager little b*tch-boys and bill collectors.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/06/syriza-betrayal-selling-nation-160605070129076.html
Milenials: see your path? Know it. B*tch boys, haha! Perfect.
Keep stacking.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-06-07/royal-canadian-mint-smashes-all-records-strongest-sales-ever-silver-maples
If you do not want your country turned into a neoliberal oligarch looting preserve, you must be “far right” or “extreme nationalist.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/06/07/france-shuns-europe-as-brexit-revolt-spreads/
Wow! Hill vs Trump. we are doomed to repeat history of wars and deficit spending.
I am hoping Rand Paul and Bernie form a 3rd party.