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There Is An Oversupply Problem

A report from Sarasota Magazine in Florida. “‘Lots of sellers are over-asking and still aiming for the numbers they saw right after the pandemic,’ says Bernadette Caswell, of Michael Saunders & Company. ‘But that was a blip and it’s over. Sellers need to get more realistic. The public will tell you what your home is worth. If you have 30 showings, and it doesn’t sell, then you have your answer.’ The effects of panic buying are showing. Brian Tresidder, 2023 Real Association of Sarasota-Manatee president cited a national survey that indicated some buyer’s remorse. ‘In a market that’s not in a frenzy, buyers take more days and maybe look at 10 homes. In the last few years, if you wanted [to buy], you didn’t have that time. People say they picked the best option at the time but would have liked to have more options. It’s tying into that rising inventory now.'”

The Denver Post in Colorado. “Thomas James Homes will wind down its Denver operations by next fall and exit the state after finding a tougher-than-expected market. ‘We did decide to phase out of the market,’ confirmed Steve Kalmbach, president and COO of the California-based homebuilder. ‘Relative to our other locations, Denver wasn’t as robust.’ Kalmbach said the company’s business model relies on a ‘resilient pricing structure’ for consumers. Translated, the company needed to see its new homes sell for what it expected them to sell for before construction started. The company often found it had to carry homes in Denver to the final stage, which resulted in prices getting squeezed.”

From Newsweek. “Austin, Texas, the fastest-growing large metro area at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, is set to see house prices plummet as sellers look to come to terms with buyers who are interested in purchasing homes but struggle to contend with elevated prices, analysts told Newsweek. ‘If you are a homeowner in Austin, you were really happy when house prices were going up so sharply because of the added demand,’ said Brad Case, chief economist at real estate developer Middleburg Communities. ‘Then the new supply came in, and now you’re looking at the possibility of having to take, not necessarily a lower price than you paid when you bought, but certainly a lower price than if you had sold a year ago. So, there is an oversupply problem in Austin.'”

The Texas Tribune. “Federal authorities on Wednesday sued Houston-area developer Colony Ridge, accusing it of luring Latino home buyers into seller-financed mortgages and setting them up to default and face foreclosure.Colony Ridge entities developed a collection of subdivisions that cover about 33,000 acres of land 30 miles north of Houston. Those neighborhoods drew the attention of Gov. Greg Abbott and the Republican-controlled Legislature after right-wing publications claimed they are a magnet for undocumented immigrants and overrun by crime. Federal authorities outlined the general workings of an alleged scheme that began with videos and ads in Spanish aimed at drawing Latino customers to visit Colony Ridge’s properties — often featuring the national flags of Latin American countries and admission into contests for gifts like a free tractor. Once a person visited the property, the developer allegedly used high-pressure sales tactics, required minimal down payments and then extended loans without assessing a buyer’s ability to repay or verifying their gross income.”

From Post Online. “As borrowing costs remained elevated, California’s existing home sales registered the biggest monthly decline last month over the past year and dropped to the lowest level since the Great Recession, the California Association of Realtors reported. The state has experienced steeper price drops than the rest in the nation over the past year. In San Francisco, one of the most expensive urban areas in the country, average home values dropped to 1.2 million dollars in November since reaching a peak of nearly 1.5 million dollars in May 2022, according to the Zillow.”

“‘Washington, D.C., could be the new ground zero for office distress,’ Trepp Research Director Stephen Buschbom told Bloomberg. The proportion of loans defined as criticized has nearly doubled in less than a year. It sat at 38.4% at the end of 2022. The figure not only reflects the impacts of the pandemic but also long-term weaknesses in the region’s office market. In 2019, 12.1% of office loans were criticized in the D.C. area. That figure was 1% in San Francisco and 6.1% in New York City.”

Arlington Now in Virginia. “Question: Do you think that the newly announced stadium for the Capitals and Wizards will cause home values to increase in Potomac Yard and the surrounding neighborhoods? Answer: I think that many residents/future residents will find that the cost of the congestion far exceeds the benefit of marginal improvements to local entertainment and retail. If enough homeowners consider the new arena to be a net negative for themselves, the logical conclusion is that demand in and around Potomac Yard will fall, which means a new arena will have a negative effect on the value of homes in the congestion area. I think this is a terrible deal not just for the people who live nearby the proposed stadium but for Virginians and the entire DMV.”

“The entire DMV suffers because access to the stadium becomes more difficult for a majority of fans (think about people coming from the Maryland suburbs), the teams leave their home city, and downtown D.C. gets crippled by the loss of sporting events. A strong, vibrant D.C. core is important for the entire DMV and this is a crushing blow to an already fragile downtown.”

Bisnow on Georgia. “There are a few words to describe Atlanta’s commercial real estate scene in 2023: Transitional. Challenging. Sobering. But perhaps the most representative word for the year that was, above all, defined by the highest interest rates in decades? Purgatory, said RADCO Cos. founder Norm Radow. ‘Sellers know they’re going to hell, but they’re grabbing on and delaying what will happen. No matter how fast [the Federal Reserve cuts rates], the fact is we overshot ourselves in values in 2020 and 2021, and the piper has to be paid.’ The pullback has been concentrated in Atlanta’s technology sector, a sector that is under pressure due to skyrocketing interest rates and a decline in venture capital funding, said John Boyd, the principal of corporate site selection consulting firm The Boyd Co.”

“‘Technology companies, until this economic slowdown, have been flush with cash,’ Boyd said. ‘When these guys are in cost-cutting mode, it has ripple effects.’ Windsor Stevens Holdings Managing Member Rod Mullice, who is developing an apartment project not far from Microsoft’s stalled campus, said the failure of Silicon Valley Bank has especially impacted Atlanta’s tech industry, cutting off a prominent source of funding. ‘The VC community is reeling right now,’ Mullice said. ‘The startup community is in bad shape. We have a bunch of zombie technology companies.'”

“K.C. Conway, principal at economic research firm Red Shoe Economics, said that migration into Georgia is now happening from Florida in great part because the cost of operating and owning real estate has jumped. ‘What’s the No. 1 reason that they’re moving out of Florida? It’s not because it’s a nice place or sunny and all that kind of stuff. The No. 1 [reason is the] expense side, and it’s out of control: property insurance,’ Conway said. ‘Businesses are saying, ‘You know, we can’t make it work.’ Homeowners can’t make it work. Their property and their monthly property insurance premium exceeds their mortgage.'”

From CP 24. “Buyers are in the ‘driver’s seat’ in almost all of Ontario’s real estate markets and the ‘sluggish’ conditions are likely to persist into 2024, a recent report from RBC suggests. In the report the bank said that the MLS home price index in Toronto was down 1.7 per cent in November and has now been declining since August amid ‘softening demand-supply conditions’ brought about by the Bank of Canada’s aggressive interest rate hiking campaign. New listings are significantly outpacing sales. A similar phenomenon is also being observed across parts of British Columbia, RBC said.”

“The average price of a home across all property types in the GTA peaked at $1,334,062 in February 2022, prior to the Bank of Canada’s first interest hike. Average prices eventually dropped to a low of $1,037,542 but rebounded in the spring amid temporary declines in fixed-mortgage rates. In its report, RBC said that home resales have now declined 13 per cent since June ‘reversing almost entirely the spring rebound.’ It said that it expects the downturn to linger in to 2024 as ‘elevated ownership costs remain a deterrent for homebuyers.’ ‘Property values are coming under increasing downward pressure across large parts of Canada. This is particularly the case in Ontario,’ the bank said.”

The Timmins Daily Press in Canada. “Police are investigating another potential arson at a residence in Garson. It’s the second time in less than six weeks that a blaze at the Orell Street building has struck responders as suspicious. ‘The fire was extinguished prior to the arrival of fire services,’ said Greater Sudbury Police. ‘However, firefighters determined the fire to be suspicious.’ There was minimal damage to the residence and no injuries were reported. Back on Nov. 13, crews responded around 5 a.m. to a fire at the same address. While no-one was injured, the building sustained damage and the blaze was deemed suspicious. ‘Prior to the residents being alerted to the fire by the fire alarms inside the residence, an unknown suspicious person dressed in dark clothing was seen in the vicinity of the building,’ police said at the time.”

The Meath Chronicle in Ireland. “Angry would be buyers of homes in Rathmoylon say they are ‘devastated’ at facing another Christmas locked out of their dream houses. In October, Receivers were appointed to Meathamatic Ltd, the company behind Ringfort, a development consisting of 16 three- and four-bedroom semi-detached homes sold off the plans aimed at first time buyers. Prospective buyer signed contracts and paid up to €30,000 in deposits some as far back as 2020 but now fear the project will never be completed after solicitors acting on behalf of receivers advised that matters between all parties ‘had come to an end.'”

“Another buyer who signed a contract to buy a house worth €275,00 used a Help to Buy deposit of €27,500 and paid a €5000 holding deposit in cash in 2020. ‘I had €15000 worth of extras sitting in that house, that cash is gone. I’m up at a figure of about €50,000 so far.’ she said.”

From ABC News. “The South Australian government will spend three times what was initially forecast to finish building essential infrastructure at a housing development in Adelaide’s south that was left in limbo following the collapse of a building company. The state government announced in August that it would build a road and other essential infrastructure at a housing estate in O’Halloran Hill, where 20 homebuyers were left with half-built properties after the builder, Felmeri Homes, went into liquidation in July.”

“Homebuyer Edward Gilmore said according to the most recent timeline, he should be able to move into his property in May while the road was expected to be finished by July. ‘We really hope that is the time frame and it doesn’t blow out beyond that,’ he said. ‘The biggest struggle we’ve had … is trying to plan our lives really,’ he said. Mr Gilmore, who now has a new builder, said he had signed the initial contract expecting to move in by Christmas 2021. ‘This will be our fourth Christmas since we signed,’ he said.”

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This Post Has 92 Comments

  1. ‘Federal authorities outlined the general workings of an alleged scheme that began with videos and ads in Spanish aimed at drawing Latino customers to visit Colony Ridge’s properties — often featuring the national flags of Latin American countries and admission into contests for gifts like a free tractor. Once a person visited the property, the developer allegedly used high-pressure sales tactics, required minimal down payments and then extended loans without assessing a buyer’s ability to repay or verifying their gross income’

    That’s some sound lending right there! What I’ve read is that this is a cartel deal. No word on guberment loan backing?

    1. How could the developer afford to make loans they knew were not going to be repaid? It’s a pretty strange business model, and it seems like a government loan guarantee may have been a missing piece of the puzzle.

      1. “How could the developer afford to make loans they knew were not going to be repaid? It’s a pretty strange business model …”

        The intent of the business model was to foreclose on the property, to reclaim the property so it could be resold to the next schmuck.

        From the article:

        “Federal authorities on Wednesday sued Houston-area developer Colony Ridge, accusing it of luring Latino home buyers into seller-financed mortgages and setting them up to default and face foreclosure.”

        1. Colony Ridge

          A friend from Houston has told me about this place. It’s a community that caters to illegals that is out of sight and out of mind for most of Houston.

  2. ‘Washington, D.C., could be the new ground zero for office distress…A strong, vibrant D.C. core is important for the entire DMV and this is a crushing blow to an already fragile downtown’

    How the mighty have fallen, right taxpayer? Eat yer crows sh$thole dweller.

    1. DC’s murder rate is at a 20 year high and is about to pass Balitmore’s murder rate for the first time in a generation. Mayor Bowser the progressive really destroyed the hard fought gentrification of the nation’s capital

      1. The toughest punishment you can give inmates is…………making them read 5 books and do a book report on each one to be presented in person to the parole board before you are let out one day before your total sentence has been served.

    2. That used to be a fairly good section of downtown… Gallery Place Chinatown. There was a lot of foot traffic as tourists visited local shops and restaurants before and after games at the looming Verizon Center. Chinatown was right there too, adding to the tourist interest. I don’t know what area looks like now.

      Arlington is a congested mess as it is. Everyone is stranded between screaming highways and a river that likes to flood the historic small-shop street. I don’t even know where they can fit a new arena.

    1. Washington Post (via Archive) — U.S. faces ‘unprecedented’ border surge as immigration deal stalls in D.C. (12/20/2023):

      “The broader U.S. immigration system is in similar tattered shape after decades of congressional inaction and recurring migration spikes — including record numbers of illegal crossings this month. U.S. Customs and Border Protection is surpassing more than 10,000 encounters with migrants along the southern border per day, an influx likely to exacerbate strains on New York, Chicago and other cities already swamped by newcomers seeking shelter, food and assistance.

      The latest surge is happening as negotiations in Washington to tighten U.S. enforcement have stalled until at least after the congressional holiday recess. Lawmakers are struggling to hash out a deal that would expand deportations, curb asylum claims and allow authorities to rapidly expel migrants during periods of mass crossings like the current one.

      The numbers we are seeing now are unprecedented,” Troy Miller, the acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said wearily in an interview this week.

      CBP this week closed vital commercial rail crossings in El Paso and Eagle Pass, Tex., after thousands of migrants traveling on freight trains to the U.S. border waded across the Rio Grande en masse. The agency has shut down a busy pedestrian crossing near San Diego, as well as the border checkpoint here in Lukeville, saying it needs CBP officers to help overwhelmed U.S. Border Patrol agents at those locations. Authorities have set up large waiting areas along the border wall and the banks of the Rio Grande that function as open-air arrival halls.”

      https://archive.is/18Zbd

      Open borders is TREASON.

      1. The globalists love the idea of labor moving to capital, instead of capital moving to labor; and the Democrats expect to give all of them amnesty within a generation, so they can harvest their straight ticket Democrat ballots, and maybe even flip one or two red states blue, which is urgent now that FL and OH went solidly red the past two election cycles and are unlikely to ever go back.

      2. U.S. Customs and Border Protection is surpassing more than 10,000 encounters with migrants along the southern border per day

        My understanding is that number has been exceeded in the Arizona “sector” alone. I wouldn’t be surprised if the total daily number is much higher.

  4. “‘Washington, D.C., could be the new ground zero for office distress,’ Trepp Research Director Stephen Buschbom told Bloomberg.

    Meanwhile, Youth for Biden are stepping up their reparations collections against anyone foolish enough to wear expensive winter coats in Panem on the Potomac.

    https://www.foxnews.com/video/6343636408112

  5. ‘What’s the No. 1 reason that they’re moving out of Florida? It’s not because it’s a nice place or sunny and all that kind of stuff. The No. 1 [reason is the] expense side, and it’s out of control: property insurance,’ Conway said. ‘Businesses are saying, ‘You know, we can’t make it work.’ Homeowners can’t make it work. Their property and their monthly property insurance premium exceeds their mortgage’

    I think KC meant property ‘taxes’ and insurance are more than the loan payment which means Florida is fooked.

  6. ‘Police are investigating another potential arson at a residence in Garson. It’s the second time in less than six weeks that a blaze at the Orell Street building has struck responders as suspicious’

    If at first you don’t succeed…

  7. The pullback has been concentrated in Atlanta’s technology sector, a sector that is under pressure due to skyrocketing interest rates and a decline in venture capital funding, said John Boyd, the principal of corporate site selection consulting firm The Boyd Co.”

    Tech Bubble 2.0 was only viable in a world awash with Fed funny money. Now that the punchbowl has been taken away, true price discovery is going to lay waste to these “unicorns” and “industry disruptors” that never would’ve existed if the Keynesian fraudsters at the Fed wouldn’t have flooded the financial system with trillions in created out of thin air Yellen Bux that fueled massive speculative malinvestment.

  8. ‘I had €15000 worth of extras sitting in that house, that cash is gone. I’m up at a figure of about €50,000 so far’

    Well it was cheaper than renting buyer.

  9. “Another buyer who signed a contract to buy a house worth €275,00 used a Help to Buy deposit of €27,500 and paid a €5000 holding deposit in cash in 2020. ‘I had €15000 worth of extras sitting in that house, that cash is gone. I’m up at a figure of about €50,000 so far.’ she said.”

    FBs who rely on “Help to Buy” schemes have no business buying shacks.

  10. Joe Biden’s America.

    Hungry for the holidays: Food insecurity spikes in America even as inflation rate slows (12/20/2023):

    “Food insecurity and the need for food remains elevated nationwide. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Household Food Security Report released in October, 1 in 8 U.S. households (17 million households) experienced food insecurity last year, significantly higher than the 10.2% recorded in 2021 (13.5 million households).

    While the rate of inflation has slowed, food and housing costs remain high, and it is likely to take many more months, if not years, for households to regain financial stability after the recent mounting challenges of late.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/personalfinance/hungry-for-the-holidays-food-insecurity-spikes-in-america-even-as-inflation-rate-slows/ar-AA1lMEYA

    At least there’s no more mean tweets.

  11. Joe Biden’s America.

    The only growing population in California is its homeless population (12/20/2023):

    “A lot has been made of California’s population exodus since the pandemic lockdowns exposed how high the cost of living was in the state. But there is one population in California that is continuing to grow: the homeless population.

    California’s homeless population increased by 5.8% this year to a total of just over 181,000 homeless people. California also has a higher percentage of its homeless people living on the streets and sleeping outside (roughly 70%) than any other state. It is the worst of both worlds, and it comes even as California has spent $17.5 billion on homelessness from 2018 to 2022.

    Somehow, despite all that spending, California’s homelessness crisis has only grown worse. When you look around the halls of the state leadership and at where that money goes, it isn’t hard to see why. In California, that money is funneled through government bureaucracies and homeless activist organizations.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-only-growing-population-in-california-is-its-homeless-population/ar-AA1lKXsC

    $17.5 billion is that a lot?

          2. pecifically: Alameda and Santa Fe

            It will soon be everywhere in Dumver, with tents on every street.

            It is a planned demolition.

  13. Brampton, Mississauga & Durham Real Estate Update – Prices Keep Dropping (Dec 13, 2023)
    Team Sessa Real Estate
    14 hours ago

    In this episode we take a look at the current Brampton, Mississauga, Ajax, Whitby, Pickering Real Estate home prices and market trends for week ending Dec 13, 2023. People feel like my videos bash seller’s. In reality, I take the time to bash anyone in this industry that needs bashing. I try to be as realistic as possible.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhYlR3zz7sI

    16:25.

      2. What a horrible place for a second home. You might get 15 good weekends out of it before it snows in. Anyplace in a Canada with a livable climate is already built out.

        I’m lucky to live in the US where I can find any climate I fancy.

        1. 15 good weekends

          That is certainly not true. It’s at the same latitude as Ottawa and Montreal. Not very far north from where I live. A lot of “inhabited” USA is farther north.

          1. It’s in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the boreal forest for millions of Canadian pesos. Give me a ‘cottage’ as they call it for 1/10th the price and 1/5th the size and I’ll find a way to make fall winter and spring work up there. But millions of pesos for this place? Come on man, that’s malarkey! What’s the market for a place like this ?

          2. malarkey!

            I don’t argue for the ridiculous price. I argue that it is in a habitable location. My fishing camp is way north of there.

            Biggest RE bubble in history.

    1. Financial Times
      Sovereign bonds
      US bonds on track for best month in nearly 40 years
      Sharp rally is driven by growing expectations of US interest rate cuts in 2024
      Exterior of Federal Reserve building
      Interest rate futures indicate investors have swung to fully pricing in a quarter-point cut by the Federal Reserve’s June meeting
      Jennifer Hughes, Kate Duguid and Harriet Clarfelt in New York
      November 29 2023

      US bonds are on track to record their best monthly performance in nearly four decades, as growing optimism about interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve next year fuels a dramatic rebound from an early autumn sell-off.

      The Bloomberg US Aggregate bond index, a widely tracked measure of total returns on US fixed income, has risen 4.3 per cent so far in November, putting it on course for its best monthly showing since 1985.

      The rally has nudged the benchmark’s total returns this year into positive territory, raising hopes it can avoid notching up a three-year string of losses — an unprecedented event in its 47 years.
      …

    2. Donald Trump Issues Ominous Warning About Stock Market Crash
      Dec 20, 2023 at 9:30 AM EST
      By Benjamin Lynch

      Former President Donald Trump warned of a stock market crash coming soon despite markets being close to all-time highs.

      “You’re gonna have a crash the likes of which you’ve never seen with what they’re doing. It’s going to be scary,” Trump said at a campaign rally in Iowa on Tuesday.
      …
      https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-wall-street-crash-1854101

    3. Financial Times
      Berkshire Hathaway Inc
      Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway sells stocks as cash pile swells to record levels
      Conglomerate offloads more than $5bn worth of US and international shares
      Fund managers follow Warren Buffett’s investment decisions closely
      Eric Platt in New York
      November 4 2023

      Berkshire Hathaway’s cash pile surged to a record $157bn in a quarter in which chief executive Warren Buffett continued to sell stakes in publicly traded companies, as the so-called Oracle of Omaha found a dearth of appealing investments.

      The company sold more than $5bn worth of US and foreign stocks in the third quarter, according to results released on Saturday. The sales lifted Berkshire’s divestments of listed shares to nearly $40bn over the past year.
      …

      1. AMC Plans to Issue 3.3 Million More Shares of AMC Stock
        More shares of AMC stock are on the way
        1d ago · By Eddie Pan, InvestorPlace Financial News Writer

        – AMC Entertainment (AMC) has announced an equity for debt exchange that will result in the issuance of 3.34 million shares.

        – The company also announced that it would begin selling its own branded line of chocolates at its theaters.

        – AMC stock is down more than 75% so far this year.
        …
        https://investorplace.com/2023/12/amc-plans-to-issue-3-3-million-more-shares-of-amc-stock/

      2. 3 Miserable Meme Stocks to Sell While You Still Can
        The year 2023 brought renewed interest in meme stocks, but there shouldn’t be a sequel for these three stocks
        18h ago · By Chris Markoch, InvestorPlace Contributor

        Investors going back for another bite of these meme stocks are likely to face more disappointment.

        – GameStop (GME): The company is embarking on a new strategy that is unlikely to change the trajectory of GME stock.

        – AMC Entertainment (AMC): Despite a string of blockbusters, revenue is still below 2019 levels.

        – Mullen Automotive (MULN): Three reverse stock splits in one calendar year tells investors all they need to know.
        …
        https://investorplace.com/2023/12/3-meme-stocks-that-you-should-sell-before-january/

        1. GME was never about making a profit. The GME craze from early 2021 was about sticking it to the man. The vast majority of the buyers intentionally held the stock, knowing they would likely lose a couple hundred bucks, just to keep the price high and squeeze the big boyz’ shorts. It generally worked.

      3. TECH NEWS
        Electric scooter company Bird files for bankruptcy. It was once valued at $2.5 billion.
        The company is using the bankruptcy proceeding to ease the sale of its assets within the next four months and is trying to ‘maximize value for all stakeholders’
        Anthony Robledo
        USA TODAY
        December 20, 2023

        Once valued at $2.5 billion, transportation company Bird filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in federal court in Florida on Wednesday, the company said in a news release.

        The company, known for its trendy electric scooters, is in a “stalking horse” agreement where it will use the bankruptcy proceeding to ease the sale of its assets within the next 90 to 120 days, the company said.

        “The bid is subject to higher and better offers, and is aimed at maximizing value for all stakeholders,” Bird said.
        …
        https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2023/12/20/electric-scooter-bird-files-for-bankruptcy/71990943007/

      4. Financial Times
        SoftBank Group Corp
        How SoftBank’s bet on US mortgage lender Better backfired
        Multibillion-dollar investment in start-up soured as interest rates rose and Spac craze ended
        Softbank chief Masayoshi Son, left, and Vishal Garg of Better Home & Finance
        SoftBank chief Masayoshi Son, left, and Vishal Garg of Better Home & Finance
        Ortenca Aliaj and Eric Platt in New York and David Keohane in Tokyo 14 hours ago

        In April 2021, SoftBank was so eager to back US mortgage lender Better Home & Finance that it wrote a $500mn cheque and was prepared to hand its newly acquired voting rights to Vishal Garg, the start-up’s founder and chief executive.

        The investment followed months of talks between Better and SoftBank’s Vision Fund, led by Rajeev Misra, a top lieutenant of the Japanese group’s founder and chief executive Masayoshi Son, according to people familiar with the matter.

        At the suggestion of SoftBank executives, Better soon after cut a deal to go public via a special purpose acquisition company, choosing one set up by Icelandic billionaire Thor Björgólfsson. As part of the transaction, which valued Better at $7bn, SoftBank said it would invest a further $1.3bn.

        Now, with Better battling to survive in a mortgage market hit by higher interest rates, the investment is shaping up to be a fresh blow to SoftBank’s reputation as one of the world’s savviest investors weeks after the office-sharing group WeWork, another of its bets, filed for bankruptcy.

        While Better has avoided WeWork’s fate, its shares have collapsed by 95 per cent since the group finally went public in August after a two-year delay as the Securities and Exchange Commission investigated claims from a former employee that it had misrepresented the health of the business. Since SoftBank’s investment, Garg has become such a polarising figure that Better lists him as a risk factor in regulatory filings.

        “When [Son] is investing in companies, he’s investing in the founder,” said a person who was involved in SoftBank’s investments, adding that the approach — and a willingness to write big cheques quickly — brought risks.
        …

      5. It seems like a bunch of the dummest investing ideas in the history of money are all CR8Ring at the same time.

        1. Housing Market
          Americans Decide to Sell Homes as Housing Market Changes
          Dec 20, 2023 at 12:05 PM EST
          By Omar Mohammed
          Reporter, Economy & Finance

          The used homes market rebounded in November as sellers show a willingness to offload their homes amid a decline in mortgage rate that is offering opportunities for buyers and sellers who had stayed out of the market amid elevated borrowing costs for home loans.

          The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said on Wednesday that used home sales jumped by nearly one percent, breaking five months of negative data, with the Midwest and Southern parts of the country showing an improvement even as the Northeast and the West continued to struggle. Transactions for single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops hit more than 3.8 million.

          The improvement in used homes adds another encouraging sign to the housing market that has struggled amid high mortgage rates and elevated prices. The existing homes was frozen as sellers had been reluctant to enter a market that might require them to replace their homes with new mortgage rates that in October had hit 8 percent.

          But over the last few weeks mortgage rates have slowly been coming down and for the week ending December 15, borrowing costs for a home loan went under 7 percent.

          “With the positive news about the drop in inflation, and [the Federal Reserve policymakers] projections proclaiming a pivot towards rate cuts, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate reached its lowest level since June 2023, declining to 6.83 percent,” Mike Fratantoni, Mortgage Bankers Association’s chief economist, said in a statement shared with Newsweek.

          Analysts at NAR struck a cautious optimistic note about the market going forward.
          …
          https://www.newsweek.com/americans-decide-sell-homes-housing-market-changes-1854178

    2. I have heard from others who deal with the “refugees” that they have a huge sense of entitlement, even the children. Not surprising as they wave their country’s flags in their caravans. I wonder how long until these people begin to riot because they aren’t getting what they want? Summer of Love ’24?

  16. Malls in the South aren’t safe at all ,thats where gangs go to settle scores ….A Mother who lost 2 grown kids to “Guns” ,has the answer in Anderson SC …she sues the local mall,with much fanfare , and willing slimy lawyers , where the last one got offed ….too bad there’s not a Babydaddy around to help with a bit of raising of kids …

    1. ‘As one Israeli general (Yitzhak Brick) recently made clear: “All of our missiles, the ammunition, the precision-guided bombs, all the airplanes and bombs, it’s all from the U.S. The minute they turn off the tap, you can’t keep fighting. You have no capability.… Everyone understands that we can’t fight this war without the United States. Period.” Remarkably, the Biden administration has sought to expedite sending Israel additional ammunition, by-passing the normal procedures of the Arms Export Control Act.’

      Tail wags the dog.

      1. And the only thing alleged conservatives want to conserve is Israel’s border, not that of the U.S.

  19. Billionaires Turn to Legal Bribery in Quest to Build Utopia

    https://dnyuz.com/2023/12/21/billionaires-turn-to-legal-bribery-in-quest-to-build-utopia/

    The tech billionaires seeking to build a shining new city in Northern California started with secrecy and pressure tactics.

    They are now resorting to what amounts to bribery disguised as philanthropy.

    The initially anonymous investor group operating under the generic name of Flannery Associates—which now calls itself California Forever—generated widespread suspicion during the five years it purchased more than $800 million worth of largely agricultural land in Solano County.

    As anyone outside Silicon Valley could have foreseen, the billionaires sowed considerable ill will when they filed a $510 million antitrust suit against those who balked at accepting even an inflated price for farmland that has been in their families for generations.

    The result was a series of decidedly negative receptions at six town halls that California Forever CEO Jan Sramek began hosting in late November. As Sramek has acknowledged, the project will need voter approval to build on land that is now zoned solely for agriculture.

    In a cynical ploy at the final town hall meeting Monday, Sramek announced that California Forever is accepting applications for $500,000 in “community grants” to local nonprofits.

    “For too long, nonprofits in Solano County have received far less funding when compared to other Bay Area counties,” Sramek said. “The California Forever project wants to help narrow that funding gap.”

    Sramek was citing a United Way study, which found that Solano County has 6 percent of the Bay Area’s population, but gets less than 1 percent of the funding for nonprofits. He spoke as if California Forever is seeking to right a wrong in the county where it is wagering nearly $1 billion that it can change local use laws and make the super-rich even richer.

    But where were Sramek and his deep-pocketed billionaires before they decided they needed to buy votes along with more than 60,000 acres? They could have donated to Solano groups at any point if they were so concerned about the disparity. California Forever did not respond to a Daily Beast request for comment.

    A 22-year-old named Aiden Mayhood, whose family has been farming in the county for seven generations, was at Monday’s meeting. He later told The Daily Beast that many of those in attendance recognized Sramek’s offer for what it was.

    “A lot of people I think viewed it as almost like bribing,” Mayhood said.

    Sramek named six “initial recipients” of the grants, among them the Solano Land Trust. For the county’s conservation organization to have accepted a grant from California Forever implied some measure of approval. And farmers such as Al Medvitz, who have conservation easement arrangements with the Trust, were concerned.

    “That creates some consternation for us,” Medvitz told The Daily Beast.

    But Medvitz reassured himself that he and the other farmers should still trust the Trust even when billionaires were involved

    “Money is pretty powerful, but it isn’t all powerful,” he said.

    As it turns out, Sramek’s performance at the town hall meeting was misleading. The Solano Land Trust says it neither sought nor received funding from California Forever.

    “No, we haven’t applied for a grant,” the trust’s executive director, Nicole Braddock, told The Daily Beast.

    Braddock said the trust received a personal, anonymous donation that turned out to be from Sramek and his wife for its Put a Child on The Land program, in which school kids visit pristine undeveloped spaces such as Lynch Canyon.

    “We’re learning that the donor no longer considers it anonymous, which is why I can talk to you about it,” she said.

    She also said, “We never take money from individuals or businesses that require endorsement support, favors influence or quid pro quo. That wasn’t part of this or any other donation that we take. And we also have taken no position on the plans of Flannery/California Forever.”

    The donation from Sramek and his wife was made at the Solano Land Trust’s annual Sunday Supper in October. The fundraiser was also attended by Maryn Anderson, a 34-year-old high school teacher whose father is a fourth generation Solano County farmer and has refused to sell. She introduced herself to Sramek.

    “I said, ‘Hi, my name’s Maryn Anderson,’ and he immediately knew who I was,” she recalled. “And I said, ‘You are suing me and my family and my community for $510 million.’”

    She later told The Daily Beast, “My main message to him was, ‘You have big amends to make in this county if you really want to go forward with this project. I don’t want you to be successful, but I’m telling you, if you do want to go forward, you have amends to make, specifically with how you’ve treated many of the farmers.”

    She concluded that Sramek does not understand that most of the people who did sell to him are no longer active farmers and were only leasing their property to those who are. Many active farmers have a deep attachment to the land that seems beyond Sramek’s comprehension.

    “He just can’t see why we wouldn’t sell,” she recalled.

    Of the California Forever crew, she says, “It was like we confused them when we said, ‘No, there’s not really an amount of money that we would sell for. We care about what we do. We believe in what we do. We believe in agriculture.’ They would just look at you like, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ You know, it doesn’t compute that money couldn’t buy something.”

    Anderson saw Sramek again at a town hall in Rio Vista on Dec. 5. She rose to speak and offered him a way to make amends.

    “Will you commit to dropping the lawsuit against the local farmers who are not aligned with your vision, in a goodwill attempt to change the way that you are interacting with our community?” she asked.

    Sramek seemed to believe that the farmers who did not sell were conspiring to hold out for more.

    “Illegal and criminal,” he said.

    California Forever has pressed ahead with the lawsuit even as Ian Anderson and his co-defendants filed a pending motion to dismiss on the grounds there was no wrongdoing. The mounting legal bills are enough to ruin a farmer.

    “They, they want us to get in line or get outta the way, and they’re happy to… crush you in order to get what they want,” Anderson said.

    And now that its disgraceful behavior leaves it in need of currying favor with voters, billionaire-backed California Forever suddenly says it wants to ensure Solano County’s non-profits get their fair share.

    The nerve of these people.

  23. Is the Fed’s printing press money really ‘free’? Because I remember my professor telling the class on day one of the first college economics course I ever took that, “There is no such thing as a free lunch.” And she wasn’t talking about food.

    1. Fortune
      The Fed watcher who called the 2007 housing bubble expects interest rates to stay high for ‘much, much, much longer.’ It’s payback for the unsustainable ‘free money era’
      Will Daniel
      Sat, Dec 9, 20238 min read

      Jim Grant has been tracking the ins and outs of Federal Reserve policy and its effects on the economy and markets in his famed newsletter, Grant’s Interest Rate Observer, for over 40 years. The always bow-tied and often staunchly skeptical economic historian has made a name for himself with some pretty prophetic forecasts ahead of past financial calamities, including the Global Financial Crisis.

      Now, in an interview with Fortune, Grant lays out his fears that another potential disaster is on the horizon. After roughly a decade of near-zero interest rates, he argues, the U.S. economy developed a debt problem—one likely to end badly now that higher interest rates are here to stay. The inevitable fallout from the end of the “free money era” has yet to be felt fully, Grant warns.

      The ‘everything bubble’ and its consequences

      To understand Grant’s worries, we have to take a step back to 2008, the year he believes Federal Reserve policy became completely illogical.
      …
      https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fed-watcher-called-2007-housing-110000762.html

  24. Russia’s latest headache is a housing bubble
    Theron Mohamed
    Dec 21, 2023, 4:36 AM PST
    Russian President Vladimir Putin.
    Alexei Nikolskyi/RIA Novosti/Kremlin

    – Russia faces a debt-fueled housing bubble as a result of a government-subsidized mortgage boom.

    – The country’s central bank warned the program could undermine its rate hikes and fuel inflation.

    – The Russia-Ukraine war has fed the bubble through easy credit, death payouts, and Western sanctions.
    …
    https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/russia-ukraine-war-economy-housing-bubble-mortgages-rates-inflation-debt-2023-12

  25. ‘the company’s business model relies on a ‘resilient pricing structure’ for consumers. Translated, the company needed to see its new homes sell for what it expected them to sell for before construction started. The company often found it had to carry homes in Denver to the final stage, which resulted in prices getting squeezed’

    So you saw the writing on the wall Steve.

  27. ‘Sellers know they’re going to hell, but they’re grabbing on and delaying what will happen. No matter how fast [the Federal Reserve cuts rates], the fact is we overshot ourselves in values in 2020 and 2021, and the piper has to be paid’

    That’s the spirit Norm!

  28. TACOMA, Wash. — The jury reached a verdict on Thursday afternoon in the trial of three Tacoma police officers charged in the death of Manuel Ellis, a 33-year-old Black man, who died while handcuffed and hogtied in police custody in March 2020.

    The verdict is expected to be read at about 3 p.m. on Thursday.

    Hope you got off work early and left downtown.

        1. From a newspaper article: ‘At 17, Manuel was arrested on robbery charges. By 18, he had tried methamphetamine. By the age of 24, he was a daily user. As Manuel’s addiction deepened, his mental health deteriorated. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, ADHD, and PTSD, and was prescribed several medications and mood stabilizers. Manuel’s drug habit led to a number of encounters with police. In 2014, he pleaded guilty to second-degree identity theft, according to separate court records.’

          I didn’t read anything that he did wrong other than losing his temper. He was extremely combative during his arrest requiring leg restraints and a spit hood in addition to standard issue handcuffs. It seems like the blacks have a knack for escalating minor encounters into full blown take-down arrests, e.g., like a wound up coil spring ready to release all its energy at the slightest provocation. He was also a father of two children.

          1. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, ADHD, and PTSD

            So, in other words,, he was impulsive.

    1. It is my understanding that some states are cracking down on the charter buses, so some states like Texas and Arizona are now putting them on airplanes to get them to the sanctuary cities.

  35. Tayler Hansen
    @TaylerUSA

    Illegal Migrants are littered throughout the Phoenix Airport right now. They’re receiving priority boarding and expedited security.

    Many have no idea where they’re going.

    Locations include Charlotte, Philadelphia, NYC, and Texas.

    Multiple had to be escorted from the women’s… Show more

    https://x.com/TaylerUSA/status/1737210583844561205?s=20

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