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This Has Left Buyers High And Dry

A report from the Daily Mail on the UK. “As Rod Stewart might have sung, the price cut is the deepest. But it seems to have had the desired effect. The singer has sold his Essex mansion. But Sir Rod was forced to slash the original £7.5million asking price by almost half to shift the property, finally selling for £4.1million – a £3.4million loss. He put six-bedroom Wood House on the market in 2016 but struggled to sell it despite reducing the price three times.”

From Arabian Business. “Landlords in Dubai are being more lenient and reducing rent by up to 50 percent in areas like Business Bay, according to the CEO of Addmind Hospitality Group.”

“‘Landlords and companies are being much more lenient than before in that angle. They know everybody is struggling. So they’re being a bit more lenient and flexible on that. If you go now and rent, of course rents have dropped. Now, we have so many good deals everywhere. It’s totally different than four years ago,’ he said.”

From The News in Pakistan. “There is no doubt that there is acute shortage of affordable housing for 65 percent urban population, but on the other hand, there is a glut (call it over supply) of housing for the middle and higher income groups, because of flawed policies, lax implementation and collusion of all powerful groups, a strange situation has emerged.”

“About 35-40% urban population in Pakistan lives in katchiabadis, but on the other hand, over a million plots in public/private housing schemes, and cooperative housing societies are lying vacant. In addition, in Karachi alone over 50,000 flats remain unoccupied, for one reason or the other, and the main reason for shortage of affordable housing is speculative market where land is not treated as a social good, but has become a tradeable commodity.”

From Pandaily on China. “For average working professionals in Beijing, Shanghai, or Hong Kong, buying a place for themselves would be a mission impossible. Yet in the other parts of the country, housing markets seem to be on the total opposite: With low demand and shrinking population, these houses are now on the list for 50% off discount, and some of them even start to worth less than $3,000 for a whole department.”

“Hegang, a city located in the Northeastern Heilongjiang province of the country, became one of the most prominent examples of the declining housing markets in China’s less developed regions. A 46 square meter apartment is only listed at 16,000 RMB, a value that is less than $3,000. Imagine that you can buy an apartment in urban areas with merely one-month salary, here you have it, in China’s shrinking smaller cities.”

The South China Morning Post on Hong Kong. “Prices of new flats in Lohas Park in Tseung Kwan O have fallen to near 2017 levels despite soaring land costs in the area, contradicting a strong recovery in the world’s most expensive property market. Alex Leung, senior director at CHFT Advisory and Appraisal, said the decoupling of land costs and selling prices will be more profound in areas with abundant supply.”

“‘[The relatively low price] is due to direct competition between various developers,’ said Leung.”

From Devi Discourse on Singapore. “Developers Astoria and Lerida, which have the same owner, are now insolvent, with accounting firm KPMG acting as the receiver. This has left buyers who bought units before construction started high and dry and hoping the receivers are able to raise sufficient funds to complete the project without having to make them ‘top-up’ what they have already committed to paying in order to complete the building of their houses.”

The Australian Financial Review. “The housing downturn has claimed another scalp, with Chinese developer Sunglow shelving plans to build apartments in the growth suburb of Macquarie Park in Sydney’s north amid weak sales. The group, backed by its Chinese parent, Shanghai Sunglow Investment Group, has been axing staff in recent months and is understood to be behind in some creditor payments.”

“Its development plans came to a standstill amid the housing downturn last year. The apartment market has struggled, particularly in Sydney as house prices continue to slide. Sydney prices have now fallen about 14.5 per cent since peaking in 2017.”

“Off-the-plan apartment sales in Sydney and Melbourne have slowed, if not halted completely. Fears of defaults have descended on the industry ahead of upcoming settlements at big projects such as Lendlease’s Darling Square.”

“Sunglow’s apartment departure is not unexpected after an analysis by The Australian Financial Review showed nearly half of new apartments approved for construction in Melbourne and about a third of apartments approved in Sydney at the height of the housing boom in 2014 and 2015 – potentially worth close to $10 billion – have not been completed or have stalled.”

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This Post Has 46 Comments

  1. ‘Prices of new flats in Lohas Park in Tseung Kwan O have fallen to near 2017 levels despite soaring land costs in the area, contradicting a strong recovery in the world’s most expensive property market’

    The REIC in Hong Kong has been working day and night to conjure up articles saying their market hasn’t cratered.

    1. I live in Hong Kong. I don’t see any price drop in Hong Kong housing, just increase with a slower pace. My children want to emigrate from HK but they have no qualification. Just in Hong Kong their wage can’t afford a 100 sq. feet room.

  2. ‘With low demand and shrinking population, these houses are now on the list for 50% off discount, and some of them even start to worth less than $3,000 for a whole department’

    The doom poster says 50% off is unrealistic. Eat yer crow!

    2. He’s gone. He was trolling here for a while then disappeared like all of them do.

  3. ‘About 35-40% urban population in Pakistan lives in katchiabadis, but on the other hand, over a million plots in public/private housing schemes, and cooperative housing societies are lying vacant. In addition, in Karachi alone over 50,000 flats remain unoccupied, for one reason or the other, and the main reason for shortage of affordable housing is speculative market’

    Readers of the HBB knew there was a housing bubble in Pakistan back in 2005.

  4. ‘Sunglow’s apartment departure is not unexpected after an analysis by The Australian Financial Review showed nearly half of new apartments approved for construction in Melbourne and about a third of apartments approved in Sydney at the height of the housing boom in 2014 and 2015 – potentially worth close to $10 billion – have not been completed or have stalled’

    Still not using the B word.

    1. Those Australians have not experienced a bust in the memory of anyone alive, let alone their grandparents. Before that it was all convicts (some of my cousins). It must be a real mind bender.

    1. just watched this 12 minute video… not sure it’s worth the time. They talked about corruption, a “reputable” peer to peer lending company absconding with investor money and high debt levels (you don’t say)

      1. I was watching it too. You can skip to 3:45 to start. I’ve followed these guys for a few years.

      2. The one dude had a cavalier attitude about his wife losing “a whole bunch of money” through the peer to peer scheme.

      3. Makes one wonder if perhaps some of that p2p or shadow bank money from China landed in the US RE market…

        1. Or Sh!tcoin, which is rocketing the past few months. It’s now back over $6,000, and the talks are $10,000 and beyond in the short term.

    2. It could get interesting over there if trade talks fail to reach a favorable deal for China.

      The Financial Times
      US-China trade dispute
      US accuses China of ‘reneging’ on trade promises
      Impasse raises risk of collapse in bilateral talks to end trade war
      Liu He, Chinese vice-premier, right, gestures as Steven Mnuchin, US Treasury secretary, centre, chats with Robert Lighthizer, US trade representative, before they proceed to their meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on May 1. There has been an abrupt shift in tone in US-China negotiations in recent days

      James Politi in Washington an hour ago

      Senior US officials accused China of backtracking on its pledges in talks to end the trade war between the world’s largest economies, raising the risk of a collapse in the negotiations between Washington and Beijing.

      In a briefing on Monday, Robert Lighthizer, the US trade representative, and Steven Mnuchin, the US Treasury secretary, said the Trump administration was prepared to move ahead with higher tariffs on $200bn of Chinese imports as early as Friday morning, in response to the impasse in the talks.

      “Over the course of the last week or so we have seen an erosion in commitments by China,” Mr Lighthizer said. “Really, I would use the word reneging on prior commitments.” Mr Mnuchin described a “big change in direction for the negotiations”.
      …

    1. Lol! WTH is going on. I can’t even try to rationalize these lenders behaviors. My only thought is they think the worlds ending soon and they want anyone that breathes to own a loan.

      1. Perhaps they assume that when the whole Ponzi housing market finance scheme blows up again, they will either qualify for a bailout or otherwise will figure out a way to take the money and run.

        Or perhaps they respond to the financial incentives created by low interest rates and extreme governmental interference in the housing market without thinking.

  8. The whole 5:16 is worth it but 2:25 is priceless

    Parts of San Francisco resemble the poorest slums in the world — even though the city is one of the richest in America.

    John Stossel asks: “why does such a rich city have a huge problem with homelessness?”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9pgh5EO6lw

    1. It wasn’t ever supposed to be a full time job or career for anyone.

      It’s exactly what the article says — the drivers are just temps until the company gets autonomous vehicles. They’re all getting thrown under the bus after that.

      I just hope I’m taking a dirt nap when we get to the point that the have-nots outnumber the haves enough that the rioting and destruction starts, and we hit the bottom after this whole race to it.

        1. Some really stupid people are driving that stock price.

          Tesla: “Hey, we are going broke so need to borrow another $2.7 BILLION after losing $700 MILLION last quarter.”

          Investors: “Hooray, time to buy!”

          1. Tesla is getting $2 billion from Fiat/Chrysler for selling its emission credits so Fiat/Chrysler can avoid penalties from the EU.

            Tesla seems to be taking the Amazon approach: build the platform and build a user base. They will likely monetize at the EV charging station with v3 charger, selling insurance based on data and their repair costs, ride hailing, and selling attention/entertainment in their cars.

          2. EV charging station with v3 charger, selling insurance based on data and their repair costs, ride hailing, and selling attention/entertainment in their cars.

            Very little obvious there that competitors with less overhead couldn’t take away if they wanted to.

            Tesla is getting $2 billion from Fiat/Chrysler for selling its emission credits

            An ironic double con.

          3. An ironic double con.

            Subsidy truffle hound working both ends of a con. What a surprise.

  12. RE: On selling Sir Rod Stewart’s house. Cut, slash, hack, etc. “It’s only a flesh wound.”

    Bravely bold Sir Rod
    Rode forth from Camelot
    He was not afraid to die
    Oh, brave Sir Rod
    He was not at all afraid
    To be killed in nasty ways
    Brave, brave, brave, brave Sir Rod
    He was not in the least bit scared
    To be mashed into a pulp
    Or to have his eyes gouged out
    And his elbows broken
    To have his kneecaps split
    And his body burned away
    And his limbs all hacked and mangled
    Brave Sir Rod

    1. Sir Rod (how the hell did such a wanker ever get knighted?) no longer has a reason to believe.

    2. Purplebricks shuts down Australian operations
      TheBull.com.au-2 hours ago
      In one of the first major casualties of the current housing downturn, British online real estate agents Purplebricks have confirmed they are shutting down their …

      1. “BTC Could Tank Below 1k if We Don’t Act Quickly”, Senior Bitfinex …
        CoinCodex-59 minutes ago
        Also, it’s claimed that the executive from Bitfinex did not get the funds from Crypto Capital, while at the same time, the price dropped from $6400 down to $4000 …

  14. Part 2:
    (Credit to “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”, Brave Sir Robin)

    Brave Sir Rod ran away
    (No!)
    Bravely ran away away
    (I didn’t!)
    When danger reared its ugly head
    He bravely turned his tail and fled
    (No!)
    Yes, brave Sir Rod turned about
    (I didn’t!)
    And gallantly he chickened out
    Bravely taking to his feet
    (I never did!)
    He beat a very brave retreat
    (All lies!)
    Bravest of the brave, Sir Rod!
    (I never!)

    1. (Apologies to Rod Stewart’s “I Was Only Joking.”)

      Ever since I was a kid at school
      Realtors took me for quite the fool
      Apologize then realize
      This listing isn’t special after all

      Me and my fellow FBs thought we had it sussed
      Future bag holders, all of us
      The HBB said we were ridiculous
      But boy we slayed some Yellen Bux

      And I was only joking, my dear
      Looking for a way to hide my fear (of getting schlonged)
      What kind of fool was I?
      We FBs could never learn….

  15. “…the main reason for shortage of affordable housing is speculative market where land is not treated as a social good, but has become a tradeable commodity.”

    I wonder if this might explain the lack of affordable housing in other parts of the world besides Pakistan?

  17. Zillow bullsh*t: Housing slowdown likely to pass as second wave of Millennials enter housing market
    3.11 million first-time buyers are projected to enter the market by 2028
    excerpt:
    “From 2019 through 2028, 44.9 million people will turn 34, the median age of current first-time home buyers,” Zillow writes. “That’s an increase of 7.4% from the past 10 years, when 41.8 million people passed that threshold.”

    While it’s not certain if each of these people will purchase a home, Zillow claims the sheer heft of their numbers will impact the market.

    “It’s a comforting idea in a quickly cooling housing market that there is significant structural, long-term demand moving into homebuying,” Zillow writes. “This increases our confidence that the slowdown will correct itself before too long.”

    1. More attempts by REIC shills to drown out downturns in RE on the MSM. I could counter there assumption with a larger number of millennials that will be so upside down in student debt that they won’t be able to afford even renting a bed in a room.

    2. One thing’s for certain: These millennials are some kinda stupid when it comes to borrowing money, whether it be houses, autos, college, etc. They have driven prices into the absolute stratosphere with their debt binging.

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