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They’re Getting Their Sanity Back

A report from the San Francisco Chronicle in California. “Bay Area home prices stalled out for a second straight month in April. ‘We are seeing more price reductions, more contingent sales, we are not having the spring we had last year,’ said Joan Ulibarri, a Compass real estate agent on the Peninsula.”

“Compass agent Virginia Supnet put it another way. ‘Buyers are being a lot pickier,’ she said. ‘They’re getting their sanity back.'”

“Supnet has a listing on Miramar Drive in Half Moon Bay that’s been on the market since December. After two price drops, it’s listed at $2,390,000, with 4,140 square feet of space, ocean views, a home theater, gym and wine cellar. ‘People love it,’ she said, ‘but it’s either not in their price range or they could afford it but they think, ‘Do I really need all this space?’”

“‘There are more active listings, a lot more to choose from’ in the Bay Area, said Jordan Levine, the association’s deputy chief economist. There has also been a shift in the mix of sales, with fewer high-end sales and more entry-level sales. That puts downward pressure on the median price, which is the price at which half of homes sold for more and half for less.”

“According to the California Association of Realtors, the median price paid for an existing, single-family home in April fell 2.2% year-over-year in the Bay Area.”

The Bay Area Newsgroup. “The weakness in prices for previously owned residences surfaced in six of the nine Bay Area counties during April, compared with April 2018, according to the CoreLogic report.”

“Median prices for re-sold homes fell in Santa Clara County, Alameda County, Contra Costa County, Marin County, San Francisco, and Sonoma County. The worst home price decline surfaced in Santa Clara County, where median prices lurched 7.7 percent lower, CoreLogic’s report revealed.”

“Double-digit declines in sales occurred in Santa Clara County, Sonoma County, and Contra Costa County in April compared with the year before.”

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This Post Has 98 Comments

  1. ‘Median prices for re-sold homes fell in Santa Clara County, Alameda County, Contra Costa County, Marin County, San Francisco, and Sonoma County. The worst home price decline surfaced in Santa Clara County’

    Eat yer crow Thornberg!

    1. “The worst home price decline surfaced in Santa Clara County”

      But…but…what about their fantastic weather?

  3. ‘‘There are more active listings, a lot more to choose from’ in the Bay Area’

    Wa happened to my shortage bay aryans?

  5. Zildo has changed many market forecasts from falling to flat. I was amazed to see the falling forecasts in the first place (as was another poster) because of the ramifications. And I’m not at all surprised with the flat revisions.

  6. They are shaking their heads out there, but when you think about cycles, which are just manifestations of human nature, it really is just a predictable thing. Late comes to the market will lose big once the down cycle accelerated and a whole litany of predictable side effects will take hold. Lots of pain. The things coming to light now are kind of early few stages.

    Anything progressing over past 6 months or so really surprise anyone here? Lots of denial going on from those who will be hurt in the process, but reality trumps denial every time. It’s almost like you can fill in the blanks for future events and somehow look brilliant when the time comes. Is really just taking the rose tinted shades off. No big wisdom there. There will be good opportunities coming. Stay tuned.

    1. There will be good opportunities coming. Stay tuned.

      If you think we are in some sort of decade long predictable cycle alone, there might be a fleecing waiting for you. Every bad idea imaginable has been financed at this point. Bad ideas at a “good price” could be what draws in most of the previously patient.

      I’ve been fascinated by this massive credit expansion now for over 15 years. I have no idea what things will look like after it is retired. However, I have found good opportunities along the way already and now only have to worry about enjoying them as much as possible.

    2. It’s almost like you can fill in the blanks for future events and somehow look brilliant when the time comes.

      It’s all fun and games and looking brilliant until the Fed steps in and starts shooting foam in all directions.

  7. ‘Do I really need all this space?’

    Of course they do…provided prices are rising at 10%+ per year.

    If prices are falling, not so much space is needed.

    1. Also do they need that second or third “investment” properties now that prices are dropping. It’s funny that they don’t ask these questions during the bubble years!

      1. It’s also funny how quickly a perceived inventory shortage can melt away as specuvestors dump those second and third properties before they turn into falling knives.

    2. Did she mention to her FB over the past few years that they were insane to purchase at that time?
      I don’t think so

  8. ‘They’re getting their sanity back.’

    One by one…just like the saying goes.

    ‘People love it,’ she said, ‘but it’s either not in their price range or they could afford it but they think, ‘Do I really need all this space?

    I bet if they were sure they were going to make a bunch of money on it right away those things wouldn’t be obstacles.

  9. “Compass agent Virginia Supnet put it another way. ‘Buyers are being a lot pickier,’ she said. ‘They’re getting their sanity back.’”

    READ: We are running out of greater fools in Tech Valley! Don’t worry SoCAL, LV, Denver, Seattle, etc. Coming to Y’all soon.

    “‘There are more active listings, a lot more to choose from’ in the Bay Area, said Jordan Levine, the association’s deputy chief economist. There has also been a shift in the mix of sales, with fewer high-end sales and more entry-level sales. That puts downward pressure on the median price, which is the price at which half of homes sold for more and half for less.”

    So so so last year write love letter and skip the useless home inspection…. now it’s a mix problem? Was there a mix problem too last year or was it just a Bubble all this time?

    I thought they can’t afford to build affordable housing? Was that just a load of CRAP? Where did all these entry units came from? Were people holding them off and were trying to time the market? Sound like they were gambling with shacks just like during the last Housing Bubble.

    1. “Don’t worry SoCAL, LV, Denver, Seattle, etc. Coming to Y’all soon.”

      Denver = CRATER.

      “This sucker could go down” — George W. Bush, 2008

  11. ‘There has also been a shift in the mix of sales’

    The MIX! With a shift no less.

    1. ‘There has also been a shift in the mix of sales’

      The REIC dissembling is getting more nonsensical as the cratering gains force.

  12. Well, it’s not all bad news. I refied last month, lopping off 75 basis points & PMI, otherwise leaving it unchanged. They asked if I wanted to cash out, to which I replied “why in the world would I want more debt?” They did seem rather eager to get it done.

    1. Well you did say at the time that it might go up, when I thought you were buying at peak debt mansion. Good for you getting your sentence reduced a tad.

      1. Thanks,

        We didn’t really get to choose the ‘when’ for the original purchase if we wanted this particular house – which we did – given the circumstances (owner became a widow, 6-figures of medical bills from husband’s death, etc).

        We closed February of last year, right after rates had spiked up.

        I was in my bank last month, and let them sales pitch me – genuinely surprised at how good a deal they offered – 840 credit score and $70k average cash on hand in accounts with them didn’t hurt, but the important factor seems to just have been the random timing of it – rates had swung down at that moment.

        Maybe I’ll be carried out of this house in 2060 on a stretcher or maybe something will happen to the best laid plans. who knows?

        It still could turn out that we bought right on the peak for the decade, but it doesn’t matter that much to us – we have to live somewhere, and we like and value living here – a hella lot of privacy and convenience for being so close to 2 major downtown areas. For now it’s working for us, and price wise after tax dedications, which the SALT cap barely effects us, we’re a little cheaper than most comparable rentals in this area. We’re old fashioned – it’s a home, not an ‘investment vehicle’ to be financialized.

        1. We’re old fashioned – it’s a home, not an ‘investment vehicle’ to be financialized.

          I admire the honesty and clear-eyed perspective you have on housing.

          1. Thanks.

            I’ve mentioned my ‘tragic backstory’ before (Doofenshmirtz approved) which definitely shaped my outlook and approach to things.

            Just in case you missed it: tl;dr Blue-collar upbringing in small town outside of Detroit. College dropout after repeated assaults. Working in a loan origination office almost 30 years ago. Buying too much house at wife’s insistence in Texas when the good times arrived. My marriage blowing up thank to my ex taking up polyamory. Finding Ben’s blog before the ’08 crash, and realizing I had to sell that albatross of a house right now(tm). Selling just before the crash revved up, despite taking a big loss on it. Losing my job in the crash along with a thousand others. Getting sodomized in family courts. Meeting Mrs. Spiffy 2.0, who had been through similar trials. Spending the last decade furiously digging out from a multi-decade fiscal setback. Trying to prepare for being ‘too old’ in my chosen fields and give myself a chance to slow down in my old age.

            All those experiences contribute to my view on things and why I’m not as blindly optimistic as many fools who haven’t known bad times.

          2. “College dropout after repeated assaults.”

            That’s sad.

            But I find great inspiration in your resilience in the face of adversity. Congratulations on a life well lived, thanks to your wellspring of courage and determination to overcome the challenges that life tossed into your path.

          3. Well, I can clarify the college assaults a bit. I was in a bit over my head going off to UM Ann Arbor – really not well prepared for it – and in 1985 I wound up not an engineering/nerd dorm, but thanks to a quirt of the housing lottery, in the dorm that housed the Basketball team. Only geek on a floor full of jocks. That was the first year of 5 in a row that team would make the NCAA finals including 7 guys who went on to play in the NBA.

            You can imagine some of the jocks found it amusing to toy with me, the computer nerd. They were above reproach and could do pretty much what they wanted with impunity. Though the worst actually attack was carried out by a couple members of the lacrosse team. I packed up a few weeks before finals, and didn’t set foot in the state for a decade.

          4. “Well, I can clarify the college assaults a bit.”

            The college campus liberals were probably full of themselves placing a computer geek in a building full of emancipated jocks.

          5. MGSpiffy, that’s the worst college dropout story I’ve ever heard. I took my share of nerd abuse, but the bullying ended after junior high. It’s ashame your college studies were disrupted by physical abuse.

          6. rms,

            Nahh. That was my own fault and I’m not going to retcon it away. I really wasn’t prepared to leave a town of 4000 people for a campus of 45,000 students and didn’t know what I was doing.

            I had forgotten to renew my dorm lease/request the previous year when I was living on North Campus because I was basically scatterbrained. Once the dorms filled up, there was a lottery for the 1300 or so rooms that remained. I got #3 pick in the housing lottery and took a single room that was around the corner from the front of the student union – thought it would be cool. I knew nothing about the quad, who lived in it, or its reputation.

            I still had a lot of growing up to do. And as for the assaults – they shouldn’t have happened, but this was back when Animal House and Revenge of the Nerds were cool – movies which would be a complete no-no today due to their attitudes to lots of things. Not excusing them, but the culture (and administration) then took a blind eye and wink-wink to stuff like that. Students also had to purchase CPU time on the Amdhal mainframe(s) with real money …. It was the stone age.

          7. Professor Bear,
            Since you replied while I was typing up my reply to rms – I should clarify I was taking responsibility for the dorm room I wound up in, but I agree 100% – the assaults – there 4 of them in addition to the pranks I think – memory fades. Those should never have happened, but I didn’t know enough – remember this was pre-internet, and when TV was 3 main stations and a couple others – even cable was only 20 channels or so – it was time when we didn’t talk about a lot of stuff, or know to educate our children about abuse, etc. Now we’ve almost gone too far with zero-tolerance (which bullies still get away way).

            There were a couple other incidents that stood out. A week or so before I finally left for good, I came back from class to find my entire dorm room cleaned out – all my stuff, and the furniture was gone. 3 days later it was found in a locked storage area. no one got in trouble or was even blamed.

            A couple months earlier, some of the jock paid a hooker to come to my room to f*ck me. Not sure what they thought, but it didn’t work out – mostly because every alarm bell was going off in my head that something was wrong and a big set up.

            I was basically a source of amusement – didn’t have anything to relate to most of the guys with.

            Also, I pissed a few of them off over the year, buy making sure some very drunk girls made it back to their rooms – floors 3 and 4 above mine – My room was on the corner, closest to a main entrance of the quad on that side, so I’d hear them pounding to get in when they couldn’t find their keys, or when they were puking in the hall, etc. In the process, I thwarted a few guys hopes of taking advantage of drunk girls, and apparently to having a nerd cock-block you from raping a passed out person made you look bad to your peers.

          8. “I really wasn’t prepared to leave a town of 4000 people for a campus of 45,000 students…”

            My children are also “small town mice.” My daughter has been away for a few years now, and while she loves the progressive western Washington (think Bellingham, Seattle and Olympia corridor), she has become aware of the insane cost of living there; she now realizes why her parents moved to “flyover.” My son is still local at a junior college, so he hasn’t yet “seen the light.”

        2. we wanted this particular house

          The pictures to which you linked were cool. It looks like you live in a tree house!

          1. Thanks.

            Everyone who visits calls it “tree house” too and that’s also the name of our wifi hotspot 😀

            I forgot which picture(s) I’ve linked – Was it just the pic of the home office or an imgur album that I shared here? I don’t mind sharing – it’s fun – but I’ve tried not to out/dox myself, nor do I want to come off a braggart. b, redmondjp, and others in this area would be first to tell you there are ton of more unique, larger, cooler and/or more expensive homes in this area, but we like this one and enjoy living it a lot, and don’t want to fall prey to envy (which would be super easy – I can name 3 former co-workers of mine who are in the 9-figure club today).

          2. and don’t want to fall prey to envy (which would be super easy – I can name 3 former co-workers of mine who are in the 9-figure club today).

            Also a wise approach to life. No matter where you are in the economic pecking order, there will always be people above you and below you. Contentment is a virtue.

          3. Also a wise approach to life. No matter where you are in the economic pecking order, there will always be people above you and below you. Contentment is a virtue.

            OneAgainstMany,
            I am not charmed. One thing I have learned is that there will be ups and down economically. On everything from the national level to the personal level.

            It pisses me off when ‘financial professionals’ try to sell me (or anyone else) on a simplistic view where assets and returns (or income) always go up in value. The first big windfall I ever had (company purchased by MSFT), I was soon introduced to a good-old-boy blowhard who worked for Merrill Lynch who figured I was a financial know-nothing and patronizingly showed me a graph of how my stock would perform if left with him – it was a simple curve. Listening to him talk to me like I was third-grader I nearly punched him in the mouth, but instead I just left and told everyone else to avoid him. Anyway…

            The Mrs and I have made a calculated choice in buying this house, one that we *think* will work out, but has no guarantees. That’s one of the reasons I’ve shared so much here – most people would look at us and think we’re doing great, but truth is we have to roll the dice some and make compromises. That said, there’s a lot of choices we make that either help or hurt the odds, and we try to land on helpful side as often as possible.

            It’s midnight, and I shouldn’t be allowed to post when I’m feeling punchy and coming down sick.. I blather on too much.

          4. Was it just the pic of the home office or an imgur album that I shared here?

            Dining room turned gym and home office.

          7. Looks like a great place to stare out the window and enjoy a cup of MarketSpice tea on a rainy day.

          9. Thanks for the compliments guys.

            It really only shows the garage end of the house – it’s kind of long as follows the hillside. On the far side from the garage, where the office and deck are, it’s all trees and privacy. The lot is 3/4 acre and adjacent to a city protected ‘open space’. The closest neighbor is the one next to the driveway, and no else within 700 ft has any sort of reasonable line of sight into it.

            For whatever reason, it it was one of the least expensive homes in the entire zip code, yet it is one of the most private, so I at least you can see we didn’t desire to live in a cookie-cutter sort of place.

    2. “why in the world would I want more debt?”

      If you listen to any Denver radio station, the airwaves are saturated with commercials for American Financing dot net. Today I heard the pitch of how buying with zero down is possible, and it’s cheaper than paying deposit, first month, last month rent.

      The cash-out refi commercials from them are the majority I hear from these shady used shack salespeople, buy with zero down would suggest they’re running out of suckers.

      REALTOR, in case you forgot, I have so much money after “throwing money away on rent” every month that I don’t know where to throw it.

      But I’ll tell you where I’m not throwing it, not into some rotting, depreciating shack and overpaying by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

      Get used to the taste of ramen, REALTOR. Unless you get a real job soon you’ll be living in your car 🙁

      2. Middle Sis hinted at her regrets that her Governor’s Place penthouse-level condo isn’t currently on the market. She must sense the turnover of the cycle in the Denver condo market.

    3. Some people (who some admire) built a gold toilet type lifestyle borrowing and not paying it back.

    2. Bahaha! She says “some buyers may be concerned they would be catching a falling knife”… well well well how the attitude has changed for the potential FBs. Would the disappearing act from Chinese money laundering “investors” possibly be impacting pending home sales???

    3. I’m surprised the editors let her say, “falling knife.” Next Monday’s meeting that comment will be on the agenda.

  15. Another Spring ’19 selling season update. Next month is last month. June ’19 PHS, NHS data (both leading) released in late July.

    Pending home sales (PHS) for April ’19 data were released today. Pending is a leading housing indicator. Housing is a leading indicator of U.S. economy as a whole. MoM is more noisy data, while YoY is less so, and so a better trend indicator.

    https://www.nar.realtor/newsroom/pending-home-sales-trail-off-1-5-in-april?random=8164098

    “Month-over-month (MoM) fell 1.5% to 104.3 in April, down from 105.9 in March.”

    “Year-over-year (YoY) contract signings declined 2.0%, making this the 16th straight month of annual decreases.”

    – And this is from the NAR presser, no less. If you’re waiting for better prices, it looks like the trend is (still) your friend. This is also sort of obvious, since prices are still ridiculously expensive.

    Also a link here over at zerohedge.com, but they tend to have a generally negative bias on most everything. FYI.

    https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-05-30/pending-home-sales-suffer-worst-decline-streak-financial-crisis

    Enjoy your weekend.

    2. “Year-over-year (YoY) contract signings declined 2.0%, making this the 16th straight month of annual decreases.”

      Well, this was unexpected

    3. I’m seeing a lot of “worst (whatever) since 2007” in the MSM financial press these days.

      But not to worry…this time is different! (Or so I’ve been told…)

      1. I’ve come to the realization that the whole stawk market is a circus orchestrated by our presidents tweeters. If I only knew what he was going to tweeter next I could be rich!!!

      2. I think this is perhaps the best use of presidential powers yet. You have to align the interests of Mexico business elite and with those who are most impacted by illegal immigration and this is one way of tying the two fates together in order to solve the problem. I would advocate a similar approach to housing: raise property prices until housing becomes affordable. The property owners who witnessed unearned equity will come to the table and hammer out a solution once they share the pain.

        1. I agree. Additionally, As the globalists, pull out all the stops to go after him, he goes after them. He warned companies not to move production to Mexico, they should have listen. Trump intends to turn the rust belt red.

    2. I smell a massive stock market rally taking shape going into the 2020 election season…

          1. I don’t think they will venture outside their perceived mandate, which includes lowering interest rates as needed to keep the economy humming.

          2. The Federal Reserve as one of the first globalist organizations definitely would like to bring Trump down. However, when they did it in the Fall of 2018, they did far more damage to the world’s economy than they did to our economy. As far as the stock market, if the trade war with China and the Mexican tariffs cannot drop the market far more than it has fallen then the market is due to sent new all time highs. We have not even reached correction territory. Every day the supply chain adjusts so the impact on China grows more severe while the impact on the US economy diminishes. Some jobs are moving back to the US and more are moving to other countries which are more likely to trade fairly with the US. I think Mexico will decide to slow, sharply immigration from Central America so the tariffs there will probably not even occur.

          3. I guess in AlbuquerqueDan’s world, the Fed is culpable for the current stock market crater.

      2. FT Swamp Notes
        US politics & policy
        The problem with Trump’s inverted curve
        The economic path could lead the way for another two-term President
        Edward Luce — Rana Foroohar 25 minutes ago

        Here’s a thought to make Donald Trump’s ill-wishers squirm. The US economy will continue to fire on most cylinders for the next 18 months and Trump will be re-elected. No matter who Democrats put up, whether it is the moderate Joe Biden, or the radical Elizabeth Warren, they cannot defy political gravity.
        …

        1. Mauldin thinks the “fed.gov” is going to print what ever they need to muddle-along. I think I read a guesstimate of another $20T by 2030, or something like that…incredible I realize. The major issues were entitlements, longer lifespans and the middle-east, IIRC.

  19. The Fed is laying the groundwork for a path to ever lower rates from current historically low levels. Buy bonds now, or get locked into ultra-low yields, FOREVER!

    Clarida says low inflation, global risks could get Fed to cut interest rates
    By Steve Goldstein
    Published: May 30, 2019 4:17 p.m. ET
    Bloomberg
    Richard Clarida, vice chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve

    The vice chairman of the Federal Reserve on Thursday identified factors that would cause the central bank to lower interest rates — but didn’t point out what could cause it to move rates in the opposite direction.

    The speech from Richard Clarida to the Economic Club of New York appears to be moving the Fed slowly in the direction where markets already are, toward an interest-rate cut at the end of the year.

    Clarida did say the U.S. economy is in a “very good place.” But he quickly added what could cause the Fed to alter its stance, which has been unchanged since December.

    “However, if the incoming data were to show a persistent shortfall in inflation below our 2% objective or were it to indicate that global economic and financial developments present a material downside risk to our baseline outlook, then these are developments that the Committee would take into account in assessing the appropriate stance for monetary policy,” he said.
    …

  20. How are your sh!tty assets holding up?

    The Financial Times
    High yield bonds
    Investors beat a retreat from US junk bonds
    High-yield bond funds suffer fourth week of outflows as economic worries mount
    © Reuters
    Joe Rennison in New York 8 hours ago

    Investors have pulled money out of US junk bond funds for the fourth consecutive week, as deepening concerns over global growth, spurred on by the country’s ongoing trade war with China, has soured sentiment toward riskier corporate debt.

    Funds that invest in US junk bonds suffered $2.8bn of outflows for the week ending May 29, according to data from EPFR Global, taking investor withdrawals that began at the start of the month to $6.5bn.

    That is the longest streak of outflows for the asset class since December’s sharp downturn in stock and bond prices.
    …

    1. fastFT Capital markets
      German 10-year yield hits record low in global shift to safety
      Donald Trump’s Mexico threat adds to investor unease over world trade
      Adam Samson in London
      30 minutes ago

      Germany’s benchmark medium-term government bond yield has struck the lowest level on record while global stocks sustained a fresh blow after Donald Trump’s threat to hit Mexico with tariffs deepened concerns over world trade.

      The 10-year Bund yield fell as much as 2.6 basis points (0.026 percentage points) to minus 0.202 per cent in morning dealings in Europe. The yield, which moves in the opposite direction to the price, now sits at the lowest level on records that stretch back to the reunification in 1990, according to Bloomberg data.

      Friday’s rally in German debt has sent the yield below the previous trough hit in 2016, not long after the European Central Bank launched its vast bond-buying programme.

      US Treasuries, which like Bunds are seen by investors as essentially risk-free, have also rallied sharply this month. The 10-year yield fell 3.7 bps on Friday to 2.1766 per cent, the lowest level since the autumn of 2017.

      Other perceived havens, such as the Japanese yen and gold, also advanced on Friday. At the same time, major equities bourses in Europe and Asia dropped.
      …

  23. They fled the country to escape their student debt
    https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/25/they-fled-the-country-to-escape-their-student-debt.html

    (snip)

    “He struggled to come up with the $300 a month he owed upon graduation. The first work he found after he left the University of Northern Colorado in 2011 — when the recession’s effects were still palpable — was on-again, off-again hours at a factory, unloading trucks and constructing toy rockets on an assembly line. He then went back to school to pursue a master’s degree in comparative literature at the University of Colorado Boulder.”

    Comparative literature. 😁

    “After that, he tried to make it as an adjunct professor, but still he could barely scrape a living together with the one class a semester he was assigned.”

    1. Nothing wrong with comparative literature. Education should be practical but also expansive. Learn to code, but also learn to appreciate the classics. Best course I ever took for my personal fulfillment was an upper-level Spanish course where we read the entire Don Quijote in original text. It didn’t have much bearing on my professional life, but it made me re-evaluate the narrative of my life, including a very serious relationship.

      1. “Learn to code”

        I hear that the CNN reporters were really butt hurt when people commented that they should learn to code in stories announcing their lay offs. That was the advice given in stories by CNN and other liberal writers to coal miners when they were facing job losses due to Obama’s policies.

  24. Are the currently-floated 15% – 16% stock market selloff scenarios plausible?

    1. And what about a 10-year Treasury bond yield below 2%, thanks to a short squeeze?

      Who knew bond market short sellers could ever get squeezed?!

          1. Would you perhaps buy at 2% if you believed 1% yields were coming in the near future? (Too hard to compute the capital gain that you’d receive, but it’s alot.)

          2. I gotta think the ultimate effect of all these tariffs will be undeniable (by the Fed) inflation. Possibly unemployment as well, then what? A return to stagflation? Stock market PE sinks to 7 or so? Interest rates rise?

          3. undeniable (by the Fed) inflation

            We’ll see. Hard to imagine it will put more money into circulation. If you mean your spending, how much do you think it would possible go up? Would we notice, compared to the tens of Trillions the fed has belched out recently?

          4. Tariffs can drive supply side inflation, by driving up the costs of imported prduction inputs, and demand side inflation, due to tariffs increasing the prices of imported goods and encouraging domestic producers of the same imported products to charge higher prices. Both of these fundamental responses to tariffs are inflationary, contractionary, and operate at a fundamental level without requiring any action by the Fed.

            The overall consequence is stagflation: A combination of higher consumer prices, lower producer profits, and shrinking production and consumption.

          5. e is stagflation: A combination of higher consumer prices, lower producer profits, and shrinking production and consumption.

            Less junk for Marie Kondo to rid Americans’ homes of, including their garages chock full of worthless stuff and storage garages scattered all over with rotting possessions.

  25. Comment filed under ‘Socialism’ or ‘Real Estate’, I couldn’t decide really. Juxtapose luxury apartments in DTLA against the pestilence, and when I speak of pestilence, again, can’t decide on which category; the former leading to the latter. Who in their right mind would want to live there? Property values tend to crater during outbreaks of bubonic plague, typhoid fever, typhus, tuberculosis, etc. Third world indeed. Rather another ‘Socialist utopia.’ Channeling Venezuela. Coming soon: “Bring out your dead.” HT: Monty Python.

    https://www.foxnews.com/health/dr-drew-says-third-world-countries-would-be-insulted-to-be-compared-with-los-angeles
    Fox News Flash | Published 9 hours ago
    Dr. Drew says LA public health in ‘complete breakdown’: ‘No city on Earth tolerates this’

    “We have a complete breakdown of the basic needs of civilization in Los Angeles right now,” Pinsky told host Laura Ingraham. “We have the three prongs of airborne disease, tuberculosis is exploding, (and) rodent-borne. We are one of the only cities in the country that doesn’t have a rodent control program, and sanitation has broken down.”

    “This is unbelievable. I can’t believe I live in a city where this is not Third World. This is medieval,” Pinsky said. “Third World countries are insulted if they are accused of being like this. No city on Earth tolerates this. The entire population is at risk.”

    “California can’t handle the current situation, let alone allow tens of thousands of illegal immigrants with no health records to flood its major cities, Pinsky added.”

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