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Now, Some Sellers Are Having To Lower Their Expectations

A report from Los Altos Online in California. “Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone discussed current trends at the Rotary Club of Los Altos. Stone noted the median price of single-family homes over the last seven months has declined 16 percent in Silicon Valley.”

From ABC 7 News. “There are signs of hope for potential home buyers in the Bay Area. Inventory is up, and in the South Bay, home values have dropped at least a small amount. In the San Jose metro area, inventory is up nearly 45-percent, and home values have actually dropped.”

“What a difference a year makes. There are more homes for sale. That means buyers may not be competing against others and putting in offers above the asking price.”

“Gustavo Gonzalez is the owner of Valley View Properties. He sees the San Jose housing market starting to normalize. ‘I don’t know if we’ll open a floodgate,’ he said. ‘I think what we’ll do is we’ll the buyers that are out there looking, maybe have a better opportunity of finding a house.'”

From SCV News. “March also marked the tenth consecutive monthly increase in the number of properties listed for sale throughout Santa Clarita, the Association reported. At the end of the month there were 559 active home and condominium listings. That was up 48.3 percent from a year ago. For two-and-a-half years the local supply of active listings fell lower every month, but beginning in June 2018 the inventory started growing by double-digit numbers compared to the prior year.”

“‘Resale prices have been softening in recent months after soaring ever higher for years,’ said Tim Johnson, the Association’s chief executive officer. ‘Now, some sellers are having to lower their expectations in the face of slowly growing inventories and rising buyer resistance to high prices.'”

From Market Watch. “A new report paints a picture. And it’s not pretty. Between 2003 and 2018, the share of adults with student debt in the Bay Area has nearly doubled, jumping from 6.2% to 12.2% and collectively these 735,000 borrowers owe $26.6 billion, according to a report released Tuesday by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and the San Francisco Office of Financial Empowerment.”

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  1. ‘I don’t know if we’ll open a floodgate

    ’In the San Jose metro area, inventory is up nearly 45-percent’

    Eat yer crow zillow:

    ‘Stone noted the median price of single-family homes over the last seven months has declined 16 percent in Silicon Valley’

    1. Also from the Los Altos article:

      ‘Stone said millennials – those born after 1980 – no longer see homeownership as their American dream. In 2018, a majority of those under 30 preferred to rent living space. In fact, over a 12-year period, their rate of homeownership fell to its lowest point since 1967.’

      ‘They’re also riddled with college debt, the assessor observed, making it more difficult to qualify for a home mortgage. Student debt increased by 600 percent ($260 billion to $1.46 trillion) between 2004 and 2018, Stone said.’

      ‘Multifamily housing and apartment rental rates have increased 52 percent over the past eight years, he said, and rates continue to rise. There has been “too much money chasing too few homes, causing home prices to skyrocket,” he said.’

      1. riddled with college debt

        So much debt everywhere you look. It’s been an Epic and Evil experiment by our dear banking cartel for the past decades. Higher prices for everything and a lifetime of interest payments. It won’t end well, but it can’t end soon enough.

        1. Warren’s Free College Time Machine

          ‘Elizabeth Warren doesn’t appear to be capturing the imagination of American voters, but her policy proposals are a guide to where Democrats are heading if they win the White House in 2020. So check out her new plan to cancel some $640 billion in student loans, which Democrats once promised would be a money maker for government.’

          ‘The irony is that when Democrats nationalized the student loan market in 2010, they swore it’d be a profit center for government and devoted “savings” to finance the Affordable Care Act. Part of the pitch was that the government could save on administrative costs. This was always a trick. The Obama Administration would claim profits from interest-rate arbitrage—borrowing at lower rates and charging more to students—even though a sizable portion of loans aren’t in repayment.’

          ‘Her accomplices are the colleges that have captured these subsidies, often for dubious purposes like hiring administrators, who have multiplied faster than instructional staff. Ms. Warren laments that in her day college was much cheaper, yet the prime reason it’s more expensive is federal subsidies and student loans. For every new dollar a college receives in subsidized loans, colleges raise tuition 60 cents, according to an analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.’

          ‘This may be especially true at expensive schools that aren’t all that selective, but tend to saddle students with debt and degrees that have a dubious return-on-investment. Remarkably, college has become more expensive even as students appear to be studying and learning less. A degree is often little more than a signal to employers that a person has some basic skills. But colleges suffer nothing if their students default on loans, and Ms. Warren’s “free” college plan merely means more wealth transfers to her former well-to-do employers in academia.’

          https://www.wsj.com/articles/warrens-free-college-time-machine-11556144467

          1. Does this mean I will be getting a refund check for the student loans I borrowed, and paid back?

            Nobody promoting this will address this question.

          3. “For every new dollar a college receive$ in $ub$idized loan$, college$ rai$e tuition 60 cent$”

            Red $tate College$ did knot accept these $ubsidizes?

            ‘Her accomplice$ are the college$ that have captured these $ubsidies, often for dubiou$ purposes like hiring admini$trators, who have multiplied fa$ter than in$tructional $taff.

          4. Knot just Blue $tate College$ … Red $tate High $chool football $tadiums as well!

            “I voted against it, but I’m getting $eason ticket$.”

            “The taxpayers of Allen can’t be too upset by public money being used to buff up the city’s image, because they are the ones who approved in 2009 approved the $119 million in bonds required to build the new high school football stadium, as well as a school auditorium and other facilities. The community’s growth ensures that the tax bite from those bonds won’t be too deep, but the issue, as well, is that the people of Allen, or at least a majority of them, want to guarantee that their school facilities are seen as first-class.

            If you’re going to keep your community at a median income level at least double the national average, you can’t let things start looking a bit shopworn, and when you do build, you want to build big so everybody looks at you, and maybe resents your ability to pull this off, at least until they figure out how they can move in.”

            Why Allen, Texas, Built a $60 Million High $chool Football $tadium

            Bob Cook |Contributor | $ports & Lei$ure

          5. Meanwhile$, back @ the Allen, Tx ranch, ju$tice is extending the long.arm.of.the.local.law!

            About 280 worker$ arrested in ICE raid at Allen technology busine$$

            Charles Scudder, Staff Writer | The Dallas Morning News

            Katrina W. Berger, special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations’ Dallas office, said the number of people taken into custody Wednesday was the most at a $ingle $ite in a decade. In 2008, 398 people were arrested at an Iowa $!laughterhouse.

            Berger declined to discuss what charges or fine$ the company’$ management might face, but she said the raid was part of a larger, ongoing investigation.

            Employer$ previously found by ICE to have “abu$ive and exploitative” hiring practices have faced charges including alien harboring, alien $muggling, con$piracy and monie$ laundering.

            Repre$entatives for CVE could not be reached for comment.

          6. “The Count” (Sesame Street) … buuuttt vaaaiittt, there’$ more:

            Who own$ CVS Technologie$? (Build.thee.Pe$o.funded.WALL!!!)

            The chamber is led by a board of notable Korean-American busine$$ professionali$m that includes CEO of CVE Technology Group, Howard Cho. Michael Lee, 2011 President-Elect of the Greater Dallas Asian American Chamber of Commerce, has served as president of the Greater Dallas Korean American Chamber of Commerce since January, 2009.

            Today the chamber is supported by roughly 1,000 busine$$es and organization$ across twelve counties, and its members represent nearly 50,000 area employees. The chamber’s mi$$ion statement is stated as:

            “As the most prominent representative of Korean American busine$$ entities in Greater Dallas, GDKACC fulfills a multi-faceted mi$$ion. In addition to supporting locally-based Korean American executiv$The chamber is led by a board of notable Korean-American business professionals that includes CEO of CVE Technology Group, Howard Cho. Michael Lee, 2011 President-Elect of the Greater Dallas Asian American Chamber of Commerce, has served as president of the Greater Dallas Korean American Chamber of Commerce since January, 2009.

            Today the chamber is supported by roughly 1,000 businesses and organizations across twelve counties, and its members represent nearly 50,000 area employees. The chamber’s mission statement is stated as:

            “As the most prominent representative of Korean American business entities in Greater Dallas, GDKACC fulfills a multi-faceted mission. In addition to supporting locally-based Korean American executives to provide the members with practical information and to promote friendly relations among the members, GDKACC is active in the development of “corporate diplomacy” initiatives to build economic cooperation and to advance closer relations between the Korean American community and other business communities in Greater Dallas.

            Company Profile
            Sector: Consumer Discretionary
            Industry: Con$umer $ervices

            Cve Technology Group, Inc. return$, repair$, and refurbishe$ con$umer product$. The Company offers remanufacturing, reverse logistics, warehousing, distribution, warranty repair, and field services. Cve Technology Group serves customers in the United States

    2. $26,600,000,000/735,000 = $36,190 on average…alot less burdensome than paying off a Bayarean mortgage!

  3. “March also marked the tenth con$ecutive monthly increa$e in the number of propertie$ listed for $ale throughout $anta Clarita, the A$$ociation reported. ”

    Calling all $pecu.ve$tors, get yer “$ell.a.flip” li$ted a$ap!!!

    It’$ $pring, hurry, hurry, hurry!!!

    (Just tryin’ to help with yer hou$ing $hortage Mr. Ben.)

  5. Geez, iffin’ ya don’t 1$t $ucceed, try, try … again!

    (Farmer$, Rancher$, all acro$$ America, love gettin’ Federal, State, county a$$istance to $olve environmental i$$ue$.)

    Why is CRP important?
    Signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1985, CRP is the large$t private-land$ conservation program in the United $tates. Thanks to voluntary participation by farmers and land owners, CRP has improved water quality, reduced soil erosion, and increa$ed habitat$ for endangered and threatened $pecies. For succe$$ stories, click here:

    Con$ervation Re$erve Program$
    CRP Continuous Enrollment Period
    US$DA’s Farm Service Agency (F$99America 9) is holding a continuous signup period for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)

    (The $hort li$t)

    CRP Initiatives
    Bottomland Hardwoods Initiative
    Duck Habitat Initiative
    Floodplain Wetland Initiative
    Highly Erodible Land Initiative
    Honeybee Habitat Initiative
    Longleaf Pine Initiative
    Non-Floodplain and Playa Lakes Wetland Initiative
    Pollinator Habitat Initiative
    State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) Initiative
    Upland Bird Habitat Initiative

    1. I don’t understand how you can launder money through houses. It’s so easy for the government to say, “hey, where did all this cash come from?” Makes no sense whatsoever. I understand laundering it through legitimate businesses, etc. That would be hard to trace.

      But, you don’t just plunk down a million in cash on a house. There’s no way. It has to go through a bank. Putting ill-gotten cash into a bank in order to facilitate that transaction is a surefire way to bring heat upon yourself. It was only possible because the government was asleep at the switch. Money laundering through real estate should be one of the most easily detectable transactions.

        2. Plus, so many eager realtors willing to aide and abet in order to get their slice. They aren’t going to blow the whistle on dirty money.

      2. Putting ill-gotten cash into a bank in order to facilitate that transaction is a surefire way to bring heat upon yourself.

        Sure, walk into a bank with a duffel bag of 100s and everybody has questions. But send a bank 5 grand every month as a house payment and who asks any questions? Do it with 20 houses and who asks any questions? I thought that was where they were going with it.

      3. One reason is that houses (and especially condos in wealthy areas) are purchased via LLCs and shell companies. This obscures where the actual money is coming from. That is why there has been a push for a “register of beneficial ownership” by some (and I personally am for this) so that the true buyers can’t hide behind layers of LLCs and launder money with impunity.

  9. “As we reported in our preview post, Wall Street was expecting revenue of about $5.779 billion for the quarter and a loss of $1.21 per share.

    Tesla announced that it made $4.5 billion in revenue and a loss of $4.10 per share – way below expectations on both counts.”

    https://electrek.co/2019/04/24/tesla-tsla-q1-results/

    One million robotaxis next year will save the day! Plus Musk is a visionary leader!

      2. “visionary leader!
        Insanity is very attractive, until it’s not.”

        You’re … Right!

        Long-serving Iowa GOP legislator leaves party, cites Trump as reason

        DES MOINES, Iowa — AP NewsSO

        The longest serving Republican in the Iowa Legislature announced Tuesday that he’s becoming a Democrat, saying he didn’t want to remain in a party led by President Donald Trump.

        Rep. Andy McKean said he made his choice after returning to the Legislature after years away from politics and finding the GOP had changed. Another significant factor, he said, was the presidency of the Republican Trump. He said if the president’s behavior and leadership is the new normal, “I want no part of it.”

        “Unacceptable behavior should be called out for what it is and Americans of all parties should insist on something far better in the leader of their country and the free world,” said McKean, 69, a retired attorney from the eastern Iowa city of Anamosa.

        He pointed to Trump’s $pending deci$ions, and what McKean called the president’s “erratic, de$tabilizing foreign policy,” choices regarding the environment and “disregard for the truth.”k

        1. In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations, and epochs, it is the rule.

          — Friedrich Nietzsche

      3. Ford just plunked down $500 million in Rivian, the EV pickup startup. Ford is going to be making an EV truck with Rivian apparently. That is on top of Amazon’s $700 million investment in Rivian a few months ago. Seems like even Ford knows EVs are the future. We are about to see the S curve adoption happen in the next 5-10 years as all vehicle manufacturers start shifting away from gas engines to EVs.

        1. Twice now, I’ve had to deal with a Tesla driver on the freeway behaving like a jackass. They were both doing the same thing – slowing down below the speed limit, then accelerating rapidly to somewhere approaching 90, then repeating the process. The problem was that they kept slowing me down to where I had to brake. I cannot stand people like that.

          1. Sometimes I begin to suspect the $100,000 car drivers hit the brakes in the hopes of drawing a rearend collision and claims collection.

          2. slowing down below the speed limit, then accelerating rapidly to somewhere approaching 90, then repeating the process

            Odd. I wonder if they were trying to check the effectiveness of regenerative braking?

          3. Honestly, they probably were just getting used to autopilot. The first week that I had autopilot I didn’t quite get how the self-driving worked and sometimes I would shift in and out of autopilot in an awkward way. It made me feel a bit like the first week when I had a stick shift.

        2. 1960’s Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft) : “plastic$”

          2020’$ Elon Mu$k: “lithium, copper, cobalt”

          (+ THC + auto.drive)

    1. Okay, so I’m experiencing cognitive dissonance. This says FHA underwriting standards are about to get tougher, yet the HBB’s resident REIC slugs, before Ben puts salt on them and makes them ooze away, have been assuring all and sundry in here that lending standards have been much tougher ever since 2009. My hitherto unshakable faith in these REIC trolls is being tested, as I sense they were a bit too sanguine about supposedly tighter lending standards.

  12. It was actually the Mr. McGuire character (Walter Brooke) who uttered that famous line.

    I’m sorry, just being pedantic. One of my favorite movies.

  13. Around the World, Buyer’s Remorse Sets in for Costly Clean Power
    Bloomberg-36 minutes ago
    Two decades ago, governments and utilities around the world began offering above-market rates and contracts to fuel the rise of clean energy, helping wind and …

    1. B…b…but if we don’t implement a carbon tax (just don’t ask about the beneficiaries) and stop eating meat, our planet only has 11.5 years left! Have you ever tried to get an 11.5 year mortgage on an overpriced shack, Mr. Jones? Didn’t think so.

    2. LOL @ Bloomberg

      Two headlines on the front page:

      “Young People Can’t Buy Homes Until Older Owners … Move On”

      “Unsold Luxury Homes Are Piling Up in the Hamptons”

      You couldn’t make this stuff up.

      1. Young People in our Oligarch-Looted Economy Can’t Buy Overpriced Shacks

        Unsold Luxury Homes Piling Up EVERYWHERE

        (There, corrected those headlines to reflect the reality that Bloomberg and other corporate media will never acknowledge.)

        1. Young People in our Oligarch-Looted Economy Can’t Buy Overpriced Shacks

          This problem could so easily solve itself…if somebody takes the losses.

        2. This dovetails perfectly with the blog link you posted earlier — how speculative asset inflation has completely distorted the housing market, creating a massive disconnect between what buyers want to buy and what sellers want to sell.

          The buyers are *never* going to catch up to the expectations of the sellers, so it’s just a matter of time now before the wheels come off of this thing.

    3. Green subsidies can only get you so far with the real cost of exploiting inferior energy sources.

    4. Costly Clean Power

      Is it “remorse” when you realize you’re paying four times as much for something called “clean” when it is the “dirty” way to produce something? Sort of like buying a $100,000 electric vehicle and realizing all that money has gone to burning more coal and gas.

  14. Oh dear. The Plunge Protection Team better jump in to halt this morning’s cratering in these algo-driven “markets.”

    1. No sooner than the robotraders drive the market indexes to unprecedented heights, they proceed to kick them back towards terra firma even faster than a bunch of panicked human sellers would! Thank heavens there is a Plunge Protection Team standing by with firehoses in hand.

  15. Can you decrypt the Santa Cruz market report. “It’s going up, but it’s down…”

    The real estate market in Santa Cruz County is beginning to heat up for three reasons. First, spring is when the market typically becomes more active. Two, mortgage rates are at 15-month lows. Third, IPOs have started creating instant millionaires.

    While Santa Cruz County won’t be impacted as much as Silicon Valley and San Francisco by the IPO millionaires, some of them will be able to afford second homes by the beach.

    We expect 2019 to be a very strong year for the real estate market.

    Home sales were down, year-over-year, for the eighth month in a row. There were 108 homes sold in Santa Cruz County last month. The average since 2003 is 158.

    Sales prices, meanwhile, bounced back after dropping in January. The median sales price for single-family, re-sale homes was up 2.4% in March from last year. The average sales price fell 12.2%.

    Inventory continues to expand. It has been higher than the year before nine months in a row. Last month, it was up 28.6% over last year.

    http://landes.rereport.com/market_reports

    1. The median sales price for single-family, re-sale homes was up 2.4% in March from last year. The average sales price fell 12.2%.

      Median and average are different numbers. Could be the top end is getting pancaked.

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