January 18, 2017

The Only Thing That Can Happen

A report from the San Francisco Business Times in California. “The increasing inventory coming onto San Francisco’s condo market has some experts warning about a ‘condo glut.’ Condo supply in San Francisco was up by 70 percent in 2016 compared to 2012, with roughly 1,000 units on the market and more than 2,000 condos under construction. San Francisco hasn’t seen this level of condo inventory on the market since 2008, when 2,069 units came on the market. According to Paragon Real Estate Group, prices for condos have plateaued or slightly dropped in average dollar per square foot values. This is mainly attributed to general economic factors and not any significant market crash.”

“While condos still made up a majority of home sales in the city in 2016, the data from Paragon does show a slowdown among the top end of luxury condos, owing to the new inventory coming onto the market.”

The Post Independent in Colorado. “Reports and newsletters trickling in last week confirmed what Aspen-area real estate watchers already knew: The market was down significantly in 2016. And compared with 2015, it was down indisputably. That year, Pitkin County’s total sales volume broke the $2 billion barrier, the first time the mark had been eclipsed since the Great Recession. Pre-recession, county real estate sales topped $2 billion three times — in 2005 and 2007, as well as the record-setting $2.64 billion in 2006.”

“In 2016, total sales neared $1.4 billion, according to Land Title Guarantee Co. and Aspen Times research of public records. Compared with those $2 billion years, the drop-off was significant. But 2016 was, on its own, still a solid year, brokers said. ‘2015 was on another level,’ said Raifie Bass of Douglas Elliman Real Estate’s Aspen office.”

“Aspen, the backbone of Pitkin County’s real estate industry, ended five consecutive years of increased sales volume in 2016, noted broker Andrew Ernemann in his monthly newsletter issued last week. Total sales in Aspen dropped 39 percent, Ernemann reported. The slower market spurred an 18 percent rise in Aspen’s inventory, with the average seller capturing 93 percent of the listing price, Ernemann said. Aspen’s average single-family home price was nearly $6.6 million from January through November of 2016, according to Land Title Guarantee. For the entire 2015, it was nearly $7.7 million. Sales transactions solely in Aspen also dropped from 323 in 2015 to 202 in 2016, brokers James Benvenuto and Jennifer Houston said last week in their annual market report.”

The Baton Rouge Business Report in Louisiana. “Experts are forecasting a cooling-off period for Baton Rouge’s student housing market in 2017, following a years-long boom that has led to a spate of apartment developments throughout the LSU area. Currently, Baton Rouge is one of the strongest markets in the country for student housing, says LSU Real Estate Research Institute Assistant Director Brian Andrews. There has been a good deal of new construction in recent years.”

“But that growth, and corresponding high unit prices, are not expected to last, Andrews says. LSU is increasing its presence in the market. That, coupled with an unsustainable amount of construction, will make for some belt-tightening, he says. ‘That’s not good news for some of the people that are out there catering to the student market,’ Andrews says. ‘You have a stagnant number of people looking for an increasing number of housing units. The only thing that can happen is for rents to go down.’”

The South Florida Business Journal. “A company managed by the head of private equity firm Apollo Management took a $4 million loss on the sale of a condo in Miami Beach’s Faena House. It marks one of the few times that a condo buyer in the recent development cycle has sold for a significant loss. Completed in 2015, Faena House sold condos at some of the highest prices per square foot in Miami-Dade County.”

“OFH LLC, managed by John J. Hannan, sold the 4,381-square-foot Unit 9-A in Faena House for $12.5 million. The price equated to $2,853 per square foot for the condo, which has four bedrooms and 6.5 bathrooms. Hannan’s company paid $16.5 million, or $3,766 per square foot, for the condo in September 2015. He is the founder and chairman of Apollo Management, which has over $180 billion in assets under management.”

From Bloomberg on New York. “A condo tower rising in what’s billed as Manhattan’s newest neighborhood reported that more than a quarter of its 285 units have sold since marketing began in September, a sign that local buyers are willing to commit to the borough’s far west side. The increase in deals, coinciding with a stock-market euphoria and developers’ greater price flexibility, follows a year in which luxury contracts fell by 18 percent from 2015, said Donna Olshan, president of the brokerage.”

“‘Developers are coming around to the notion that they absolutely have to negotiate or they’re not going to get a deal done,’ said Olshan, who isn’t involved with sales at the Hudson Yards tower. ‘Many developers are taking offers 10 or 15 percent below asking, but they don’t want to cut the price. They’re whispering in brokers’ ears, ‘Make me an offer.’”




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154 Comments »

Comment by Ben Jones
2017-01-18 10:53:50

‘took a $4 million loss on the sale of a condo in Miami Beach’s Faena House. It marks one of the few times that a condo buyer in the recent development cycle has sold for a significant loss’

Safe deposit boxes in the sky. Look at it this way John, it was cheaper than renting.

Comment by oxide
2017-01-18 21:04:00

Why do you keep saying that, Ben? Cheaper than renting applies only to primary residence. Few of these spec condos are primary residences.

Comment by Ben Jones
2017-01-18 21:26:50

‘Cheaper than renting applies only to primary residences’

You can’t rent a Miami Beach condo? This clown was a flipper who got burned for 4 mil.

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2017-01-19 06:09:05

‘Cheaper than renting applies only to primary residences’

In this HB era, the “primary residence” is merely the primary investment. Participants in the HB mania did not pay 2004 prices for a mere residence, they bought as much house as they could afford as a vehicle to make a profit. Makes no difference if the speculator lives in the box, leaves the box empty or rents the box to someone else. All are thinking they will get rich buying property with borrowed money. Same mania. “Cheaper than renting” is the mantra of the mania.

Comment by oxide
2017-01-19 06:28:50

If you live in the box, you can say “cheaper than renting.” If you live in a different box and want to get rich from the investment box, a more accurate phrase should have been something like, “Better ROI than buying stocks on margin.”

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Comment by Blue Skye
2017-01-19 07:46:38

Indeed you can say whatever you wish. Living in the box doesn’t get you a “Get out of Math” card.

 
Comment by The Enrager
2017-01-19 07:49:35

^ :mrgreen:

 
Comment by TheCentralScrutinizer
2017-01-19 09:39:45

Living in the box does mean you aren’t paying rent in addition to a mortgage, and that has something to do with arithmatic.

 
Comment by The Enrager
2017-01-19 10:09:03

Which simply means you’ve doubled your shelter costs.

Ooooph.

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2017-01-19 09:44:04

“Participants in the HB mania did not pay 2004 prices for a mere residence, they bought as much house as they could afford as a vehicle to make a profit.”

Yep. Friends and family, and even my wife’s hairdresser, jumped on board the Fed-funded mania bandwagon, snapping up as many residential properties as their borrowing capacities would allow.

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Comment by Senior Housing Analyst
2017-01-18 11:08:17

Bend, OR Housing Prices Crater 26% YoY

http://www.movoto.com/bend-or/market-trends/

Comment by rms
2017-01-18 13:46:18

Now 26% is a good start, but Bend’s piss-poor wages are still far short of supporting a $365k mortgage with two $40k cars in the driveway.

Comment by Avg Joe
2017-01-18 13:55:29

With median Days On Market up and to the right.

 
Comment by new attitude
2017-01-18 13:57:25

No one moves to Bend, OR for the career opportunities.

Comment by sleepless_near_seattle
2017-01-18 18:02:55

Sort of correct. It’s mainly retirees, yes. But many move there “for the lifestyle” and create their own job (ie- debt junkies, trust funders, & equity locusts).

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Comment by redmondjp
2017-01-19 09:56:43

And entrepreneurs who like to golf - I ran into one of those last year that relocated his startup to Bend from Seattle.

I also have a college classmate that lives there and works full-time as a software developer.

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Comment by The Enrager
2017-01-18 14:47:23

That’s right… From Tijuana to Vancouver prices are cratering.

 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2017-01-18 11:16:52

‘Condo supply in San Francisco was up by 70 percent in 2016 compared to 2012, with roughly 1,000 units on the market and more than 2,000 condos under construction. San Francisco hasn’t seen this level of condo inventory on the market since 2008, when 2,069 units came on the market. According to Paragon Real Estate Group, prices for condos have plateaued or slightly dropped in average dollar per square foot values. This is mainly attributed to general economic factors and not any significant market crash.’

‘The increasing inventory coming onto San Francisco’s condo market has some experts warning about a ‘condo glut.’

Of course, many here knew this was going to happen long ago.

Mortgage-Rate Rise Hits Coastal Property Markets Hardest
Wall Street Journal-2 hours ago
… rates and are likely to feel more pain as rates climb, housing economists say. … After San Francisco, the markets that have suffered the most from higher rates include San Mateo County in California, Nantucket County in Massachusetts, New …

A couple of posters here might remember I singled-out San Mateo as the test case for bubbliness.

Comment by Larry Littlefield
2017-01-19 09:34:00

A glut would mean the market could build its way out of a shortage. That would be a good thing.

It is the average person, seeking to buy or rent, that has been “feeling pain” in much of the country. Cheaper housing would be a particular benefit to the Bay Area. We’ll see if it happens.

It’s like stock prices. People think it’s bad if stock prices go down. Bad for whom? If stock prices were to drop by half with dividends unchanged, the dividend yield might increase to its historical average.

Comment by The Enrager
2017-01-19 09:42:20

Build its way out with falling prices to dramatically lower and more affordable levels accelerating the economy like only falling prices can.

Yous all finally understand why the economy has been in the shitter for 8 years?

 
 
 
Comment by Apartment 401
2017-01-18 12:08:59

I’m building more “luxury” LOLZ. The first floor units vibrate every 20 minutes when the train goes by. Some of the bedrooms measure 10-1/2 by 11 feet…

Comment by oxide
2017-01-18 20:59:25

Which is a fine size for a bedroom, thankyouverymuch. Why do people need anything larger? I’d rather spend the square footage on a bigger kitchen or living room, more storage. Even an extra 15 sq ft will get you another half bath. Big bedrooms are overrated.

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2017-01-18 12:11:24

Rutabaga…

The restaurant recession turned even more damaging in December
Published: Jan 18, 2017 11:06 a.m. ET
Restaurants had their worst same-store sales in more than five years, according to an industry tracker
Diners stayed away in droves in December.
By Ciara Linnane
Corporate news editor

U.S. restaurants ended 2016 on a grim note, chalking up their weakest same-store sales in more than five years, according to industry tracker TDn2K.

Same-store sales, a key retail metric that measures sales at outlets open at least a year to eliminate the effect of restaurant closures and new openings, fell 2.4% in December, the research company found in its latest Restaurant Industry Snapshot. Overall sales fell 4.3% to mark their worst performance in more than three years.

To put the second-half sales downturn into perspective, said Victor Fernandez, executive director of insights and knowledge at TDn2K, the only two quarters with comparable-store-sales declines of greater than 1% during the last five years were the 1.1% decline in the third quarter and the decline of 2.4% in the fourth quarter of 2016. “Furthermore, restaurants have now posted four consecutive quarters of declining year-over-year sales.”

Comment by palmetto
2017-01-18 12:33:26

“Rutabaga…”

LOL! Russ really started something here. I’ve had rutabagas on the brain ever since he posted about it and recalling how much I loathed the Scandinavian root vegetables (rutabagas, turnips, and especially parsnips, blegh!). The only chef I ever saw who could make those root vegetables look halfway edible was that Andreas Viestad guy on PBS.

And don’t get me started on rhubarb, which has nothing to do with rutabagas, but for some reason I always think of them together.

Comment by TheCentralScrutinizer
2017-01-18 12:51:52

Its time for a rutabaga riot to restore our rutabaga rights!

(to be read in the voice of Elmer Fudd)

Comment by Avg Joe
2017-01-18 13:56:50

Thanks. Monitor covered in coffee now.

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Comment by redmondjp
2017-01-19 09:58:01

Rutabaga Riot - now that is an awesome band name right there!

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Comment by BearCat
2017-01-18 16:01:02

Strawberry rhubarb pie! Yum!

 
 
Comment by In Colorado
2017-01-18 14:00:36

Given how new chain restaurants pop up like weeds, it’s hardly surprising that same store sales are down.

Plus people are going more to high end fast food places like 5 Guys or Panera. Still, even those places are getting pretty pricey. Went out for lunch to 5 Guys. It was almost $14 for a cheeseburger, fries and a coke. Yeah, it’s better than Wendy’s, but not that much better

Comment by junior_kai
2017-01-18 15:42:57

And a lot of the top restaurants in the yelp 100 are food trucks.

The rent is too damn high.

 
Comment by Panda Triste
2017-01-18 19:14:12

$14 for a burger fries and coke. That’s snowflake territory.

 
Comment by Ol'Bubba
2017-01-19 02:59:14

When I go to 5 Guys I get a small burger, skip the fries, and drink water. Total cost is between 5 and 6 bucks.

The portion size of small order of fries at 5 Guys is huge, and I refuse to pay over 2 bucks for a fountain drink.

I don’t eat there very often, but they do make a tasty burger.

Comment by dandroidz
2017-01-19 05:41:51

Well luckily 5 Guys wised up and now offers the “mini” size, which is sstill shareable between two people because of that extra scoop. But yes, 5 Guys is pricey, $10-12 easily for a cheeseburger, fries, and drink/water…but heck even a full “value” meal at McD’s or BK touches on $8 nowadays

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Comment by phony scandals
2017-01-18 16:00:24

1:09 always was my favorite part of this son.

Frank Zappa: Call Any Vegetable

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhDGiW-qZ2k

Comment by Apartment 401
2017-01-18 17:49:45

Brown Shoes Don’t Make It.

 
 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2017-01-18 12:14:47

This was posted in the comments to the last thread recently:

Wells Fargo buys mall for $100. They were the only bidder.

http://triblive.com/local/valleynewsdispatch/11779614-74/mall-sale-fargo

“Prior to the sale, analysts predicted the mall would sell for about $8 million, or about 6 percent of what Wells Fargo was owed. “

Comment by 2banana
2017-01-18 18:03:31

Some real estate is worth less than zero.

And THAT is quite a haircut.

Wonder if taxpayers guaranteed those loans…

*****

The decade-old mall’s value has been plummeting, from $190 million a decade ago to an appraisal of $11 million in August, and nearly half of its storefronts are empty. Key tenants have been lost over the years, including a Sears Grand.

Comment by dandroidz
2017-01-19 05:47:44

Now developers are building outdoor “malls” with the same stores, Vic Secret, Banana Rpublic, Gap, some high end makeup stores, and some up scale fast restaurants and other sit down establishments. Its the same damn thing as the indoor mall, but w/o all of the unnecessary infrastructure and dead space. Two of them popped up here in Mass in diff towns, same developer, same exact setup. People overpaying for wood fire pizza and shirts made in Vietnam

Comment by oxide
2017-01-19 08:17:35

Those outdoor malls are called “lifestyle centers.” Get with Orwellian linguistics program already. :roll: :razz:

If you think those are bad, check out the “Premium outlet” malls. Sometimes they’ll have stuff on sale, but it’s just the same high-end crap clothes over again. And a ton of athletic-wear stores: Under Armour, Reebok, Adidas, Columbia, Nike, etc. Do people really work out so much that they need to stock up on all this high-performance apparel? It sure doesn’t look that way. I guess it’s a Millenial thing.

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Comment by TheCentralScrutinizer
2017-01-19 09:41:19

I always favored “Consumption Center”, but I guess that’s hurtful.

 
Comment by rms
2017-01-19 10:07:26

Those outdoor malls are called “lifestyle centers.”

Not a bad idea in sunny California, but further north a mall is [the] winter destination for eating, shopping and eye f*ing.

 
 
 
Comment by oxide
2017-01-19 08:05:40

If the mall is decades old, then isn’t most of that loan paid off by now?

 
 
Comment by The Enrager
2017-01-19 08:09:14

Boat anchor. Only a bank is dumb enough to take it on.

 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2017-01-18 12:23:06

‘2015 was on another level’

Like the farmers dreaming of soybeans in 2013.

‘Total sales in Aspen dropped 39 percent, Ernemann reported. The slower market spurred an 18 percent rise in Aspen’s inventory, with the average seller capturing 93 percent of the listing price, Ernemann said. Aspen’s average single-family home price was nearly $6.6 million from January through November of 2016, according to Land Title Guarantee. For the entire 2015, it was nearly $7.7 million’

My calculator shows this Florida air box sold for a 24% loss about a year and half after they closed. A condo glut in San Francisco. What’s it gonna take for the MSM to say the bubble has popped?

Comment by The Enrager
2017-01-18 12:25:56

We’ll do it for them. every.day.of.the.week.

 
Comment by palmetto
2017-01-18 12:39:15

“What’s it gonna take for the MSM to say the bubble has popped?”

It would take realtors, builders and developers pulling their advertising, and that’s a fact, Jack. I was in the dentist’s office today and started thumbing through something called “Tampa Bay Magazine”.

http://tampabaymagazine.com/

Lol, it was crammed full of “high-end” realtor, builder and developer ads. Not to mention I got a gander at what passes for “society” in Tampa Bay. ROTFLMAO. I’m sure many of them are nice people, though.

Comment by TheCentralScrutinizer
2017-01-18 12:50:27

I wouldn’t say it has popped, rather it is in the process of popping. The side is blown out, but the thin film holding the rest of the air in remains intact, for now…

Comment by The Enrager
2017-01-18 13:17:56

It’s cratering.

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Comment by Ben Jones
2017-01-18 16:43:57

Manhattan has been falling for at least a year and a half. Miami Beach over a year. Houston, two years. London a year and a half. Taipei, parts of Australia one to two years. Brazil is such a crater they don’t even report on it any more. Dubai, Lagos a year and a half. India never really got up and is headed down again. Alberta, a year and a half or so. Vancouver headed down a year ago this month.

It’s just not being pieced together because the media had an “everything is awesome” theme to help a the globalists hold onto power. Now they’re about to be gone. That recent WSJ report on the luxury apartment bubble was probably the closest the MSM has come to saying an overall bubble has popped.

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Comment by Avg Joe
2017-01-18 13:58:34

That’s the same everywhere. Look through “Seattle” magazine sometime, or “Seattle Metropolitan”, the other one.

Page after page of real estate, high end cosmetic surgeons and dentists, and oh, real estate.

Comment by TheCentralScrutinizer
2017-01-18 17:51:25

Been watching houses on Zillow in Kitsap county. Foreclosures are ticking up, days on market seems to be rising, but noting really notable in the way of price reductions yet.

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Comment by Justme
2017-01-18 16:12:15

That’s exactly right. Once the advertising money dwindles, the MSM will start telling the truth about realestate (for a while).

 
 
Comment by Sean
2017-01-18 15:25:26

“What’s it gonna take for the MSM to say the bubble has popped?”

I’ve said this before: A Lehman/AIG type moment. People won’t realize it until you can see it on TV and have the cable “BREAKING NEWS” banner.

Comment by Carl Morris
2017-01-18 16:06:34

How many people are watching TV these days to even see that banner any more? At some point here it’ll be a Facebook post or competitive equivalent that causes “the moment”.

 
 
Comment by Mole Man
2017-01-19 13:19:02

Mainstream San Francisco never accepted the last bubble. It is still expensive they say. Prices only went down 15% that one year they say. What about inflation and the other down years added up? Any decent calculator would say the last bubble cut most SF property values in half but people in and around SF rarely believe that. Can’t fix stupid it seems.

Comment by The Enrager
2017-01-19 14:15:57

Actually SF fell in the 35% range. Even with that prices were still 4x higher than construction cost and long term price trend.

 
 
 
Comment by new attitude
2017-01-18 13:08:29

If you have ever owned a condo and dealt with the curmudgeons on the HOA, you know not to do that again.

Comment by palmetto
2017-01-18 13:31:54

It doesn’t even have to be a condo. As long as there’s an HOA, there will be jerks telling you where to place your garbage cans and what color to paint your doorway and to get rid of the tree in your front yard. It always starts out with good intentions: hey, let’s get together and pool our resources to reduce our water bills and have common landscaping.

The next thing you know, you’ve got an HOA with a book of bylaws and rules two inches thick and some guy knocking on your door telling you to do this or that.

Comment by Ol'Bubba
2017-01-19 03:07:15

True, but the flip side of that coin is that without an HOA, you get a neighbor who paints his house orange, or one who parks a huge mobile home on the street for a month, or one who decides to breed pit bulls and keep them outside in a big ugly kennel.

Somewhere between the two extremes is the happy medium.

 
Comment by dandroidz
2017-01-19 05:53:49

When I bought a condo after college in 2013, I read all of the condo bylaws of my community. It was quite extensive, even down to the type of screen glass door you could install. No Christmas decorations except a wreath or candle lights, etcv, etc…and we paid $190/mo for the privilege. Never again. I never want to share walls and be told what type of dog I can own or what type of glass door I can install.

 
Comment by Bellinghouse
2017-01-19 14:19:24

Agree! I am in the process of selling the 2nd condo I’ve ever owned, and vow to never own a condo again. I own 2 single family homes with no HOA and that is the only way to go. Yes, you’ll occasionally have a nutty neighbor that lets their house go to pot, with no way of forcing them to clean it up, but at least you aren’t legally and financially bound together with dozens (or for some folks, hundreds) of other owners.

Also selling condos is a pain in the butt compared to single family.

 
 
 
Comment by The Enrager
2017-01-18 13:15:01

Government failure and shenanigans are becoming blatantly obvious. Complete and utter failure.

 
Comment by Bradman
2017-01-18 13:19:16

$250M house for sale in LA. It’s the most expensive house in the country. Developer is looking for homeless billionaires.
___
Makowsky argued that his home will be tapping into a new, as-of-yet undiscovered market of billionaire buyers looking for the level of service found on a mega-yacht.

“To me it doesn’t make sense that somebody spends $250 million on a boat where they spend eight weeks a year, but they’re living in a $30 or $40 million house.”

http://www.wsj.com/articles/bruce-makowskys-big-bet-a-250-million-los-angeles-spec-home-1484760031

Comment by Avg Joe
2017-01-18 14:00:04

Except, uh, that the boat can travel around the world and they can live in multiple different places whenever they want.

 
Comment by rms
2017-01-18 14:17:44

The tax code has been carefully jiggered to promote this nonsense. They don’t even live in these places; just use ‘em for parties when they’re in town closing more deals.

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2017-01-18 15:05:21

A $100 thousand boat and a $30 thousand house where I spend a few months a year makes alot of sense to me…

 
 
Comment by Blue Skye
2017-01-18 15:18:18

CNN reports favorably on a citizen shooter who saved a cop’s life.

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2017/01/16/us/arizona-good-samaritan-kills-man-beating-trooper/index.html

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2017-01-18 16:19:39

This deviation from The Narrative will be severely punished.

 
Comment by rms
2017-01-18 17:59:52

Rarely does a “positive outcome” firearm story get reported by the MSM.

 
 
Comment by new attitude
2017-01-18 15:35:11

Anyone try the bacon and butter diet? Keto?

Comment by The Enrager
2017-01-18 16:28:12

Bacon is available in Butthurtistan? You’re moving on up Lola.

 
Comment by oxide
2017-01-18 21:24:35

I haven’t hear of bacon and butter, but I have heard of “steak and eggs,” which is a cutting protocol, that is, a diet for people who are already thin and fit people who want to cut a six-pack.

Steak and Eggs, Keto and other “meatitarian” type diets are generally not a great idea. It’s okay for a couple weeks, but should never be tried long-term. Your body needs at LEAST 50-70 g carbs per day to operate, which you get from the veggies. (All those 3-4-7-10 gram veggies add up fast.) The lack of carbs will affect your brain in a bad way, and there have been reports of hair loss, bad skin, bad moods, lethargy, and other symptoms.

If you’re trying to lose weight, you’re better off going paleo: 1800-2200 calories of meat, veggies, a little fruit, and water/herbal tea. Your fat should come from the meat, with only 1-2 tablespoons of butter to put on the veggies. Be very sparing with the added fats like avocado or olive or coconut oil. Be patient. Paleo matebolism takes 4-6 weeks to kick in.

Comment by The Enrager
2017-01-18 21:45:13

Donkey Chips and Crater Taters for you, for ever.

 
Comment by Ol'Bubba
2017-01-19 03:12:32

One of the key phrases you used was “1800-2200 calories…” a day. Many of us (most) eat far more than 2200 calories a day.

Portion control, and quit eating crap. Easier said than done.

Comment by oxide
2017-01-19 07:05:35

And that’s many of you are overweight. They eat 2,000 calories/day, per the guidance on the food pyramid and package labels, and wonder why they can’t lose fat. FYI, I’m a small woman and I maintain well at 110 lb on ~1300. So it’s not a stretch for a 175-200 lb man to maintain on ~2500 at most, and 1800-2200 for weight loss.

And isn’t that what “portion control” is about? To get you down to that 2200? And those have to be mostly paleo calories too.

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Comment by Big Fat Ugly Bubble
2017-01-19 08:44:57

A couple years ago, I thought I would try the Soylent stuff. Not out of a desire to lose weight, but during that time in life, I lost interest in cooking and thought it would be neat to: a) exactly control calorie intake, and b) get a so-called perfect balance of proteins/carbs/etc. So I ordered some of it — the powder stuff you mix into a drink.

My God. It was the most horrible tasting crap ever. I’m no farmer, but it reminded me of what raw chicken feed would be like. Both the texture and taste, it was so bad. No amount of trying to flavor it with chocolate or anything would help. I had to force it down. I would only eat that stuff if my life depended on it. I threw most of it out. Hehehe. A neat idea, but they have to come up with something better.

 
Comment by oxide
2017-01-19 10:09:23

You don’t mean Paleo people, right? Paleos generally don’t offer lines of meals or foods like Atkins or WW or Nutrisystem. That’s part of why Paleo isn’t quite catching on — there’s no profit to be made.

 
Comment by Big Fat Ugly Bubble
2017-01-19 10:29:43

I don’t know what they call it. Science food, I guess. It would be nice to have something generic like “food units”, even if it was some bland tasteless thing, that you could accurately measure out the # of calories and not think about it, and have it contain whatever is the correct ratios of proteins, carbs and lipids for a normal human being. But not that Soylent stuff. It’s like eating animal feed. I can still remember the foul taste and texture.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by junior_kai
2017-01-18 15:46:27

Let me get this straight, hacked/leaked emails of a prominent pedocrat is worth creating fake news to compel world war 3, but a tranny releasing 10x as many classified documents receives a get out of jail card from the Dindu in chief?

Nothing to see here, move along!

Comment by rms
2017-01-18 18:01:34

+1 You got it straight.

Comment by palmetto
2017-01-18 21:04:40

Check it out, pizzagate is starting to be reported in the MSM. It’s a CBS affiliate in Atlanta. Good segment, too. Pretty fair and balanced, I’d say. That oughta leave a mark.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-18/pizzagate-back-cbs-reality-check-ben-swann-airs-honest-segment-comet-ping-pong?page=1

John Podesta, sucks to be you!

Pizzagate is why we have Russiagate. Look over there! Wag the Dog!

Comment by redmondjp
2017-01-19 10:14:57

Google-image John Podesta’s artwork collection and tell me you don’t find it extremely disturbing.

My gawsh, who has images of underwear-clad children up on the wall of their office at work????

Pizza or no pizza, something is seriously off there.

Also most-fascinating: how a two-bit restaurant owner gets listed on the 50 most influential people in DC list. Methinks he has some serious dirt on a lot of powerful people.

I have finally figured out why all of this is - this is how the deep state keeps their government minions under control - the more dirt they have on them (and the sicker the better), the easier it is to control them. Hence secret rooms with cameras where unspeakable acts occur.

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Comment by Carl Morris
2017-01-19 13:54:26

Works for Skull and Bones.

 
 
 
 
Comment by oxide
2017-01-19 10:13:33

IMO Petraeus deserved leniency more than Manning.

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2017-01-18 16:08:48

With foreigners dumping US debt before Old Yellen can print it all away, who is going to fund our deficits?

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-18/china-sells-most-us-treasuries-2011

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2017-01-18 16:13:23

The picture headlining today’s Drudge Report, showing somber Obama staffers contemplating being cast out into the outer darkness of the real economy - hollowed out by eight years of hope n’ change Goldman Sachs can believe in - is beautiful to behold.

Comment by palmetto
2017-01-18 17:09:00

Yeah, what the heck is that all about? That pic was obviously posed. I’m not sure what point they’re trying to make. Are they butthurt? Contemptuous? Pissed off? Entitled? Resentful? All of the above? Whatever the case, it’s creepy.

And today I had to contend with a couple of older lady libs discussing how they considered going to the estrogen protest-fest in Washington DC but couldn’t make it. We’ll have to see, but I think it will be a bit of a bust.

Comment by phony scandals
2017-01-18 18:09:05

“Are they butthurt? Contemptuous? Pissed off? Entitled? Resentful? All of the above? Whatever the case, it’s creepy.”

Led by Valerie Jarrett I thought they looked quite natural and exactly like people that hate this country, the deplorables who live in it and the Constitution that held them back from their Bill Ayers radical plans for it.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2017-01-18 18:41:09

Testify, Brothah Phony….

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Comment by palmetto
2017-01-18 22:04:48

I was trying to think what these poops reminded me of and all of a sudden, it hit me. They look like BITTER CLINGERS!

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Comment by Blue Skye
2017-01-19 06:14:19

“what point they’re trying to make”

They feel crushed by the unpossible.

 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2017-01-18 16:18:40

China’s housing bubble has now leveled off into a permanently high plateau.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-18/china-housing-bubble-finally-pops-first-slowdown-after-19-months-acceleration

 
Comment by Big Fat Ugly Bubble
2017-01-18 17:07:39

This snowflake in San Francisco was running both an acupuncture business and an Airbnb in her rent-controlled apartment, until the landlord finally had enough and kicked her out. However, the landlord didn’t pay her a relocation payment. As a result, the landlord got sued and now has to pay $400,000 to the lady.

http://www.modernluxury.com/san-francisco/story/san-francisco-tenant-who-faced-6755-rent-hike-scores-400000-payout

“And this is the real doozy: Rent damages are automatically tripled under San Francisco’s Rent Ordinance. Emotional distress damages, if they are awarded, get tripled too. “Part of the reason wrongful eviction cases tend to settle is that emotional distress damages are unpredictable,” says Tobener.”

“Follingstad won’t see all $400,000, of course. After the attorney takes a cut—typically at least 30 percent—that will leave about $280,000, which will then be taxed. “Unfortunately, a lot of it’s going to go to my medical bills,” she says. If she has money left over, she wants to put it toward a place of her own. “I would like to be able to buy something that can be a home,” she says. “I probably will forever have PTSD about losing my house. As long as you’re a renter, that’s always something that could happen.”

Don’t be a landlord to snowflakes in San Francisco.

Comment by Big Fat Ugly Bubble
2017-01-18 17:59:39

You know what they should do in San Francisco. The city government should eminent-domain the entire city, all the buildings, without compensation, and then forcibly redistribute everyone, each according to their need. Except for the really rich people, they could be exempted if they pay.

Comment by dandroidz
2017-01-19 06:01:51

Market forces already handle that. The poor people live in slums, the homeless in metro stations and hobo camps, and the rich in fancy luxury condos

 
 
Comment by dandroidz
2017-01-19 06:08:05

PTSD? Omg….just the disrespect to those that actually have PTSD to protect this dumb bitch. I was just watching a special on vets and medical marijuana, and this dude came back from Iraq and couldn’t even drive his kid to school w/o thinking he was spotting suspicious targets and IEDs. He was on like 35 meds, and finally started token up and it helped. And this chick is “damaged” to the point she needs $400k because she was tryna game the system? Dear God, the swamp doesn’t need to be drained it needs to be NUKED

 
 
Comment by absolute beginner
2017-01-18 17:59:40

“I would like to be able to buy something that can be a home,” she says. “I probably will forever have PTSD about losing my house. As long as you’re a renter, that’s always something that could happen.”

she lost her house or an apartment? ptsd from that? chelsea manning laughs at that.

Comment by Big Fat Ugly Bubble
2017-01-18 18:18:10

The irony is she was an acupuncturist for cancer patients. Then she herself gets cancer, but had the traditional treatment instead. I guess the acupuncturey for cancer doesn’t work on yourself. Maybe she should have tried fruit juice like Steve Jobs. Then, she gets saddled with a bunch of medical bills. I thought Obamacare was supposed to handle all that.

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2017-01-18 18:16:13

Biden warns that the “progressive democratic world order” (forcibly extracting wealth from the productive to fund Democrat patronage and graft networks and dependency bloc voters) is at risk of collapse. Boo f**kin’ hoo…..

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/18/joe-bidens-final-speech-at-davos.html

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2017-01-18 18:27:53

Once again, Yellen is trying to jawbone up the dollar by taking up the likelihood of more rate hikes to come. Sure, Yellen. They’ll come when the bond market forces your hand, and not a minute sooner.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/01/18/yellen-signals-rate-rises-us-economy-storms-ahead/

Comment by Big Fat Ugly Bubble
2017-01-18 18:53:30

They are giving mixed messages, it seems. Yesterday, the NY guy Dudley was talking about trying to get people to increase their cash-out refi’s. They need to keep rates super low for that. One of the articles last week was showing that during the “taper tantrum” in 2013, cash-outs declined by 40% (temporarily). And that wasn’t much of an increase at all in rates. Seems there is vast “untapped equity” out there, but it is very interest-rate sensitive.

But then today, Yellen says that they want to keep increasing rates. It seems like you can’t have both.

Comment by azdude
2017-01-18 19:55:00

all a bunch of bs they have to keep making excuses.

 
 
 
Comment by Senior Housing Analyst
2017-01-18 18:28:10

Auburn, WA Housing Prices Crater 12% YoY

http://www.movoto.com/auburn-wa/market-trends/

 
Comment by Big Fat Ugly Bubble
2017-01-18 19:25:33

Sorry this is politics not housing, but I thought it was funny, from a NYTimes about California and how they want to disrupt Trump. One of the representatives from Los Angeles even said they are going to lie and cheat and steal. They aren’t even trying to hide it anymore, heh.

““The impact of anything coming out of Washington is going to be so difficult for California that we are almost thrown into survival mode,” said Ms. Kuehl, who has been in public office since 1994. She said she had urged people — “everyone: local and state governments, staff of federal agencies, nonprofits, neighborhood groups” — to aggressively try to impede any policies pushed by Mr. Trump that undercut California laws or policies.”

“I said ‘If you have to lie, cheat and steal, do it,’” Ms. Kuehl said. “Take federal money and just tell them you are going to do whatever they want.””

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/18/us/california-strikes-a-bold-pose-as-vanguard-of-the-resistance.html

Comment by 2banana
2017-01-18 19:50:18

Progressives still don’t get why they lost in a landslide in 2016.

And they won’t get it when DJT has a filibuster proof senate in 2018.

And in 2020…

 
Comment by phony scandals
2017-01-18 20:14:59

“I said ‘If you have to lie, cheat and steal, do it,’” Ms. Kuehl said. “Take federal money and just tell them you are going to do whatever they want.””

That sounds like what the 3 people I know who got Obamacare did.

Comment by Big Fat Ugly Bubble
2017-01-18 20:25:13

There’s got to be lots of different types of felonies for what she said to do. Also, it doesn’t set a very good public example when our elected leaders openly suggest things like it is OK to lie and cheat for money, if you don’t get your way.

It looks like there’s a big battle coming between Trump and California. Should be interesting.

 
 
Comment by TheCentralScrutinizer
2017-01-19 09:45:00

Hmmm… where have I heard of a butthurt political party making it’s sole purpose in life be obstructing the president. I guess it’s the new normal.

 
 
Comment by azdude
2017-01-18 19:49:49

easy-frickn-peasy-equity

 
Comment by phony scandals
2017-01-18 20:21:50

What’s Mighty been up to this week?

Comment by Big Fat Ugly Bubble
2017-01-18 20:54:00

They were picking on him in class today.

https://i.imgur.com/IYnyazL.jpg

Comment by The Enrager
2017-01-18 21:02:31

Funniest chit of 2017! :mrgreen:

 
Comment by phony scandals
2017-01-19 08:27:51

“They were picking on him in class today.”

:)

 
Comment by junior_kai
2017-01-19 14:50:26

No doubt studying the housing market intently so the (((Soros))) sponsored hack can contribute at some point in the future with a comment that is actually relevant to this blog. Still waiting. . .

 
 
Comment by TheCentralScrutinizer
2017-01-18 21:50:22

Living in your skull rent free?

Comment by phony scandals
2017-01-19 08:21:23

“Living in your skull rent free?”

Personally I like Mighty.

That boy could defend an Obama executive order making it legal for an undocumented immigrant to throw burning bags of dog sh#t on 80 year-old ladies porches, ring the doorbell, run down to the food stamp office, register to vote and make you think about whether it was a good or bad idea.

I think he is worth every penny The Southern Poverty Law Center pays him.

I was just kinda hoping he wasn’t the guy in the video below saying,,,

“We are out here occupying the street to assert our bodies and use our bodies to say we are here and we will dance.”

‘Queer Dance Party’ held outside Pence’s home

Ellison Barber, WUSA 10:16 PM. CST January 18, 2017

http://www.kare11.com/news/politics/national-politics/queer-dance-party-held-outside-pences-home/387548491

Comment by phony scandals
2017-01-19 08:40:09

At 1:53 the L says… “They see a bunch of…”

I see a bunch of White Privilege at a ‘Queer Dance Party’.

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Comment by The Enrager
2017-01-18 21:25:05

The Housing Bubble Blog Serving Up Crow & CraterTaters Since 2004

Comment by Ben Jones
2017-01-18 21:48:26

‘Many developers are taking offers 10 or 15 percent below asking, but they don’t want to cut the price. They’re whispering in brokers’ ears, ‘Make me an offer.’

Comment by dandroidz
2017-01-19 06:13:24

I wish I had found the blog prior to my ill fated decision in 2013 to buy a condo because I thought “renting was throwing money away”. In my defense, the Virginia Beach - Hampton Rds area isn’t very bubbilicious due to the salary ceiling with so much defense work. Lots of people in equal playing fields and not too many mega millionaires swopping up property.

I digress, but I sold it, ate my loss, and here I am today, better educated and understanding of the game. Having now lived in New England for 2 yrs, I see what a real bubble is. My God Massachusetts is just stupid. $500k meth shacks that need $100k work and have 3 or 4 “bidders”, or looneys.

 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2017-01-19 01:08:58

It seems perfectly clear from Ben’s daily posts that the Echo Bubble collapse is already underway.

Any thoughts on how long it will take the MSM to finally catch on?

Comment by Jingle Male
2017-01-19 07:58:13

The question I have is how deep is the reversal?

It seems the market is much less frothy in 2017 than 2006.

Comment by The Enrager
2017-01-19 08:51:48

That depends how far over priced it is. A 60% decline across the board would merely put most prices back to the long term trend. In CA and parts of the northeast, a 85% decline.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2017-01-19 09:47:16

You seem to be overlooking all the Asian investors who bid up West Coast prices. They already left Vancouver and are leaving California as I type.

Comment by redmondjp
2017-01-19 10:18:13

But they are still buying like crazy in the Seattle area, both residential and commercial.

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Comment by The Enrager
 
Comment by The Enrager
2017-01-19 10:51:02

And not to mention record levels of empty housing units in a city that falls short of its’ over marketed hype and now reverting back to the city it was in the 1970’s.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
Comment by azdude
2017-01-19 06:45:53

the experts say the sacramento market is suppose to continue booming this year.

“Sacramento is hot, hot, hot – for 2017 housing prices”

http://www.kcra.com/article/sacramento-is-hot-hot-hot-for-2017-housing-prices/8604590

Comment by Jingle Male
2017-01-19 08:00:43

It is interesting to talk to people in the Sacramento real estate industry. They all have multiple buyers who want to buy a house under $400,000, but they cannot find available inventory.

Comment by Blue Skye
2017-01-19 08:13:30

Lacking a supply of fools willing to pay 9 x income they are.

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Comment by TheCentralScrutinizer
2017-01-19 09:47:42

…with a burning desire to live in… SACRAMENTO!

 
Comment by redmondjp
2017-01-19 10:21:10

I’ve been to Sacramento about a dozen times now for work, and I really can’t see the appeal of the place. Most of the area seems pretty dumpy, and the exurbs are pure generica.

On the plus side, it’s definitely nicer than Stockton!

 
Comment by Carl Morris
2017-01-19 13:56:16

Like I said about a week ago, I thought the same thing until I came down from the Tahoe side. Now I can see how I could work in Folsom and actually like it.

 
Comment by Jingle Male
2017-01-20 03:43:42

Yes, the foothills offer a great environment in which life is quite pleasant.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Comment by azdude
2017-01-19 07:19:11

when will the FEds balance sheet hit 10 trillion?

Comment by Ben Jones
2017-01-19 07:29:53

‘Trump fear and loathing in Davos’

‘After his election win, Trump has gone out of his way to openly question seemingly everything the Davos crowd holds dear. Trump spoiled the Davos party before it started. Speaking to German and British dailies a day before the Forum kicked off, he repeatedly criticized Angela Merkel and said he trusted the Germany leader no more than Russia’s strongman Vladimir Putin, declared the NATO military alliance “obsolete” and rooted for the further unravelling of the European Union, in the wake of Britain’s vote to leave the bloc.’

‘The comments dominated the rest of the week, leaving the “globalists” (to borrow the phrase used, derisively, by Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon) mostly appalled and confused.’

‘Trump’s style as much as his substance grates. Some of the 3,000-odd Davos men and, though still a minority, women are unused to a billionaire being uninterested in them. The people who come here are used to assuming the world revolves around them.’

Elite was used only once:

‘the self-styled global elite in the audience’

Comment by Ben Jones
2017-01-19 08:27:17

‘What scares many Democrats about Trump isn’t any particular campaign pledge. No, the existential, hair-on-fire threat to the Democratic Party is just how easy it was for Trump to sneak around their flank and rob them of an issue they thought was theirs alone—economic populism—even as they partied at fundraisers in Hollywood and the Hamptons.’

Comment by palmetto
2017-01-19 09:11:18

I could understand people like Streep, Clooney, McCartney, Springsteen et al not supporting or liking Trump. What I couldn’t wrap my mind around was the rabid support for Hillary and it actually greatly diminished any respect I might have had for some of them. I can’t even listen to McCartney anymore, truth is, he wasn’t all that great on his own. And I was a huge fan for a long time.

As far as I know, the only one willing to walk the walk and speak out against Hillary and the DNC was Susan Sarandon, who supported Sanders, and who stood head and shoulders above the lot of grovelling creeps looking to hang on to their well-paying gigs. Streep isn’t worthy to kiss the sole of Sarandon’s shoe.

In Washington, the true spiritual leader of the Dems is Tulsi Gabbard. But the members of the party are viciously clueless.

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Comment by TheCentralScrutinizer
2017-01-19 09:59:30

My girlfriend and her family just love Hillary, and nothing shakes their faith. I have explained in detail why just running a private email server for secretary of state business is enough to disqualify her from being so much as a janitor on an army base, and how lying at length about it puts he in the same league of liars as Trump. They understand, but the emotional component overwhelms logic. Buh but Trump doesn’t even enter into it… they just love Hillary.

They’re believers in the grey haired man in the sky too, which probably correlates. They’re like unTrumplings, except they are well mannered and respectful to everybody.

Sometimes I think democracy just isn’t suited to human beings.

 
 
 
Comment by azdude
2017-01-19 08:30:59

Is the 2.5 trillion in US treasuries on the FEDs balance sheet counted in the 19 trillion of US debt?

Technically when those treasuries mature the FED is suppose to get their printed money back from issuer aren’t they?

 
 
 
Comment by Senior Housing Analyst
2017-01-19 07:29:40

Milton, WA Housing Prices Crater 12% YoY

http://www.movoto.com/milton-wa/market-trends/

 
Comment by phony scandals
2017-01-19 07:31:15

Undocumented worker sues San Francisco for violating sanctuary law

Reuters
By Alex Dobuzinskis
January 18, 2017

(Reuters) - An undocumented immigrant from El Salvador is suing San Francisco alleging police violated the city’s sanctuary city policy by turning him over to U.S. immigration authorities after he reported his car stolen.

The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday on behalf of Pedro Figueroa Zarceno, 32, in federal court in San Francisco against the city and its police chief for violating his right to due process and breaking an ordinance barring municipal employees from cooperating with federal immigration authorities seeking to deport a person.

Figueroa walked into a police station in November 2015 to report his car stolen, according to the lawsuit. Two days later, the car was found and when he went to recover it, he was handcuffed and led outside where federal immigration agents were waiting for him, the lawsuit said.

The incident occurred about five months after an undocumented immigrant was charged with murder in the shooting of a woman at a San Francisco pier.

The shooting drew nationwide attention because the alleged killer, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, was previously arrested on a drug charge and released from jail months before the shooting, despite a request from federal officials that he be held until they could pick him up. Sanchez has pleaded not guilty.

http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-immigration-sanctuarycity-idUSL1N1F900P

Comment by In Colorado
2017-01-19 07:39:08

Only in America.

Comment by azdude
2017-01-19 08:25:43

he will win

 
 
Comment by Young Deezy
2017-01-19 09:02:23

This reeks of a setup, not unlike the arrest that got the Texas sodomy law in front of a court. I’d bet the illegal was put up to this by some “rights” group hoping to sue to get a sanctuary city case in front of a federal judge who might be friendly to the cause. The end goal OFC is making sanctuary cities/states A Thing enshrined in law. It’s total BS.

Comment by oxide
2017-01-19 14:11:47

+1 This will likely to the Supreme Court too.

 
 
Comment by redmondjp
2017-01-19 10:24:43

Yup. This is messed-up. Not only should he be deported, the agency/lawyer representing him should also be charged at the federal level with aiding and abetting a criminal illegal alien. That would put a stop to this nonsense right quick.

And to save you the reply, yes, “That’s racis”

Comment by Blue Skye
2017-01-19 11:40:46

Seriously JP? It is not a crime for a lawyer to defend a criminal.

 
 
 
Comment by The Enrager
2017-01-19 07:43:44

Droppin’ like a rock.

 
Comment by palmetto
2017-01-19 09:33:12

Tony Orlando? (GROAN) Please, God, no! Why not Kid Rock? Even Ted Nugent.

 
Comment by The Enrager
2017-01-19 09:46:30

How much of the fedres 19 trillion in debt wasted on junk is rotting, defective mortgages? Half?

 
Comment by John F. Anderson
2017-01-29 14:39:18

BTW, Australia is in the middle of a housing bubble. The “affordable” stuff is just the worst pre-fab shit while the well-made, reasonable quality houses are so expensive no one can afford them. In the high $300k AUD for a house that is just not “there.” Will they crash? We did.
Roidy

 
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