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It’s Basically A Mass Exodus

A report from News 3 Las Vegas in Nevada. “Tom Blanchard, President of Las Vegas Realtors, dismisses any speculation that the Las Vegas real estate market is headed for a bubble. ‘There is no bubble,’ Blanchard said, ‘We are still undervalued compared to the surrounding states. Vegas is still a great deal.'”

“Local economist David Grana, however, tends to be a little less certain, citing numerous issues that could impact the nation’s economy and housing markets. ‘Those factors such as forbearance, loan modifications, unemployment benefits, the strength of the economy and the ability of the economy to bounce back- that will determine whether or not there is a bubble.'”

From Bloomberg. “A bond market once thought to be key to the futures of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — and the roughly $5 trillion of home loans they backstop — could instead find itself on the scrap heap due to their own regulator. In the past several years, so-called credit-risk-transfer securities have been a primary way for government-controlled Fannie and Freddie to offload the risk of borrowers defaulting on their mortgages to private investors. The market value of such assets, known as CRT, has grown to about $50 billion, with mutual funds, hedge funds and real-estate investment trusts among investors snatching up the bonds.”

“But a new rule proposal by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates the mortgage giants, would drastically cut Fannie and Freddie’s incentive to continue selling the bonds. ‘We think it might kill CRT, and that this might be their intent,’ said Michael Bright, chief executive officer of the Structured Finance Association. The FHFA’s treatment of the assets ‘has been taken by many housing-finance policy specialists as an attempt to deliberately render the program uneconomic and thus ensure its likely demise,’ former Freddie CEO Donald Layton wrote.”

“Layton released a separate white paper this week in which he wrote that FHFA Director Mark Calabria has expressed skepticism in private conversations over the effectiveness of CRT. Calabria, according to Layton, has sometimes compared the securities to credit default swaps, assets that didn’t provide the protection that investors expected during the 2008 meltdown and contributed significantly to the global credit crunch.”

From Senior Housing News. “The coronavirus pandemic has been the ‘unexpected shock to the economies’ that National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care Chief Economist Beth Burnham Mace feared would disrupt a boom market in January. Prior to the pandemic, the nation’s capital had the building blocks in place for a bull housing market: but the ‘peak volatility’ that seized the capital markets extended to home buying, as well.”

“Housing prices have dropped precipitously since a March average of $419,900, ATTOM’s data revealed. Some active listings in the district, as well as in neighboring Arlington County, Virginia, have seen a 30% drop in asking prices — a trend that is expected to continue well into 2021.”

“Although the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex saw housing prices increase nearly 2% from April to May, that statistic doesn’t tell the complete story. Home sales in Dallas County plummeted 35% in May, the Dallas Morning News reported. Median home prices, meanwhile, fell nearly 4% year over year. Home sales in nearby Collin and Tarrant Counties fell 29% and 28%, respectively.”

From Housing Wire. “Luxury home prices have dropped 2.3% year over year nationwide, Redfin said. In the 12 weeks ending June 14, the median sale price for luxury homes fell to $1,099,521, marking one of the biggest declines in luxury home prices since the beginning of 2015. Prices of high-end homes in Dallas sank 12% year over year in the 12 weeks ending June 14, the highest drop in any metro. Las Vegas was the second-highest, with a 6.7% drop.”

“‘The pandemic is playing an outsized role in the luxury market, as very expensive homes are particularly sensitive to periods of economic uncertainty,’ said Redfin Economist Taylor Marr. ‘Many luxury buyers are nervous about pouring money into an investment that may be difficult to sell if the economy takes a nosedive.'”

From Miami Today in Florida. “Miami-Dade communities varied widely in change in value of existing properties. In six bayfront communities existing property values actually declined year over year. The other bayfront communities where existing properties fell in value were Bal Harbour, North Bay Village, Aventura, Surfside and Bay Harbour Islands, all prized waterfront living sites. So what happened to cause areas that were most coveted to send existing properties’ values into decline?”

“‘This decline of taxable value is primarily attributed to a decrease in condominium values in areas with high concentration of residential condominiums,’ Property Appraiser Pedro Garcia explained in a news release.”

“One explanation could be that in the areas of decline new condominiums flooded the market, increasing supply and depressing the price of older units. In condos, the newest glittering units tend to attract newcomers, leaving older units with less demand.”

The Watertown Daily News in New York. “The next order of business considered by both committee and the Common Council was another new ordinance proposed by the mayor regarding ‘For Rent’ signs. In essence, the mayor’s original June 15 proposal banned ‘For Rent’ signs totally. This did not go over well with the committee and compromise was urged by a number of common councilors. The mayor explained his position this way.”

“‘This isn’t a full-out prohibition of rental advertisement in the city of Oswego,’ he said. ‘This is just prohibiting the advertisement of rental properties’ ‘For Rent’ signs in the residential neighborhoods. In my opinion, they take away from the neighborhood. I believe, the ‘For Rent’ sign, is, in itself, a source of blight. I don’t think it looks good. I don’t think it fits. When we spend millions of dollars in investment in organizations like the ORA, (Oswego Renaissance Association), I don’t think a landlord, typically from out of town, putting up a ‘For Rent’ sign, is really doing the neighborhood any favors, so, I really consider it a main source of blight.'”

“‘Lastly, the most important point. ‘For Rent’ signs are a negative indicators in neighborhoods. If you’re looking to buy a house, re-locate, or invest in the house you already own or live in, if there’s a ‘For Rent’ sign on the neighboring property or down the street, that’s a negative indicator, and you’re going to look elsewhere. And that’s just a fact.'”

The San Francisco Chronicle in California. “For landlords, squeezing a few extra dollars a month out of tenants is the least of their concerns. More pressing is the fact that, through May, landlords saw 7.5% of tenants breaking their leases, according to San Francisco Apartment Association Executive Director Janan New, who said that the city’s apartment stock could see upwards of 20% vacancy rates before the impact of the pandemic starts to ease. Prior to the pandemic, the city had apartment vacancy rates of just under 4%.”

“‘It’s basically a mass exodus,’she said. ‘And there is no job creation to bring in new people.'”

“San Francisco’s one-bedroom rents are down 11.8% compared with a year ago, the highest drop on record and the biggest among major U.S. cities, according to Zumper. The city remains the most expensive in the country. The number of rental listings has risen about 25% in San Francisco compared to the previous year.”

The Los Angeles Times California. “Finding no takers last year at $35 million, actor Matthew Perry is relisting his penthouse in Century City for $27 million. He bought the penthouse three years ago for $20 million, The Times previously reported.”

From Phys Org. “In examining one of the biggest unresolved questions surrounding the 2008 financial crisis, a new study from the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin raises red flags on risky credit practices that may have once again made their way into American business operations.”

“McCombs finance faculty members John Griffin and Sam Kruger researched two competing theories about what caused the housing boom and bust that led to the 2008 crisis—oversupply of easy credit vs. overspeculation by real estate investors—revealing issues of immediate relevance to businesses and regulators as they respond to the current pandemic-induced hobbling of the U.S. economy.”

“The researchers looked at evidence for whether the large amount of credit that began flooding the market in 2003 led to looser lending standards. They also examined the theory that steadily increasing residential real estate prices led to a kind of house investment euphoria. More and more people began looking at houses as gold mines. Since house prices had continually risen in the past, people extrapolated that they would continue to rise in the future: Homebuyers were speculating.”

“The economic fallout of the coronavirus crisis will shed light on the quality of lending standards over the past few years. ‘We will learn a lot more when we see delinquencies and defaults over these next few months,’ Kruger said.”

“Griffin said it’s likely that the kind of fraud that previously played a large role in the housing market was also present more recently in other areas of finance － leading to certain market excesses. If that’s the case, he expects price crashes. ‘I think there’s a lot of fraud hidden behind the market run-up over the past five years,’ he said, ‘and if so, that is going to be shaken out over the next year or two.'”

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This Post Has 120 Comments

  1. ‘Some active listings in the district, as well as in neighboring Arlington County, Virginia, have seen a 30% drop in asking prices — a trend that is expected to continue well into 2021’

    Eat yer crowz taxpayer.

    1. No 30% drops in my nabe, although I do expect a couple 25% drops, which were priced way over market anyway. Anything in Arlington Country is likely to be skewed, since that’s where Amazon HQ was supposed to be. For all we know, Amazon could just let everyone W@H and give up on Amazon HQ2 altogether. Someone of those sales could be speculators giving up, or they couldn’t handle the carrying costs while they waited for appreciation that might never materialize.

    2. Poor Donk.

      Clifton, VA Housing Prices Crater 14% YOY As Double Digit Price Declines Envelop Northern VA

      https://www.zillow.com/clifton-va/home-values/

      *Select price from dropdown menu on first chart

      As one DC area broker lamented, “How can we possibly sell a resale house when builders are selling new houses for 20% and sometimes 30% less?”

    3. Uh, everything around me seems to be CRAZY. Well, unless they are like the $8 million dollar palaces that the war in Iraq built.

      Lower priced stuff, like sub-$1mil seems to go fast if it’s not crazy overpriced.

      1. “CRAZY”? As is FALLING prices?

        Silver Spring, MD Housing Prices Crater 20% YOY As Northern Virginia/Washington DC Rental Rates Tank On Surging Mortgage Defaults

        https://www.movoto.com/silver-spring-md/market-trends/

        As one Washington DC broker conceded, “If you’re a buyer, the broker is lying to you. I know a liar when I hear one. I’ve been lying my entire life.”

  2. ‘Finding no takers last year at $35 million, actor Matthew Perry is relisting his penthouse in Century City for $27 million. He bought the penthouse three years ago for $20 million’

    Yeah, there’s no bubble there…

    ‘the city’s apartment stock could see upwards of 20% vacancy rates before the impact of the pandemic starts to ease. ‘It’s basically a mass exodus,’she said. ‘And there is no job creation’

    Enjoy the bust.

    1. I have yet to see any rent asking price decreases. I have seen Airbnb chopping their prices, but going from a $3,500 per month vacation rental to a $2,400 per month vacation rental is no consolation for a long-term rental.

      2. Lots of “first month free” offers right now.

        I wonder if the rent moratoriums are keeping apartments from dropping their rents fearing that when they are lifted, residents will be clambering for the lower rates to be applied on the deferred rent owed? just speculating…

        1. Not sure about that exact scenario. But until things get sorted out (moratoriums lifted, repayment plans negotiated, evictions processed), I wouldn’t expect to actually see much price discovery occurring in rents.

        2. “Lots of “first month free” offers right now.”

          In Bellingham my daughter has been looking for an upgrade to her current rental…at the same cost or lower. Since the moratoriums prevent the landlord from even filing eviction paperwork the landlords she has met with are asking for a cleaning deposit, first, last, and another 90-days up front, so call it 5-months up front. And yes, I will cover it; anything to get out of her present ordeal.

          1. the landlords she has met with are asking for a cleaning deposit, first, last, and another 90-days up front, so call it 5-months up front.

            Yeah, good luck with that.

            “You can wish in one hand and sh!t in other, and see which one fills up first.”

            They will get next to zero renters on those terms.

          2. Wow. I think it’s flat out illegal to ask for all that. And this is not just a one off?

            That has to be one of the best indicators how hard landlords are getting crunched and how scared they are by the current situation.

          3. “They will get next to zero renters on those terms.”

            The alternative is a first payment default, and they have now “dropped anchor” in your place.

      1. ‘Net leasing in Dallas-Fort Worth in the second quarter was less than a third of what it was a year ago. And rents are falling in some areas of the city as vacancies grow, according to the latest report from RealPage. D-FW net apartment leasing totaled only 3,832 units in the just-completed quarter – down from almost 13,000 units a year earlier.’

        “Demand has stumbled,” said Greg Willett, chief economist at Richardson-based RealPage. “Typical second quarter demand over the past decade about doubled the volume registered this year.”

        ‘The pandemic curtailed apartment tours and leasing during stay at home orders early in the quarter. And layoffs and job furloughs have impacted the overall appetite for apartments in the area. “Leasing activity essentially came to a halt in the first half of the quarter,” Willett said.’

        1. And while the article says average rents are up in the DFW suburbs, that’s only because of the newer, more “luxurious” complexes that have opened. Rents for existing apartments in established complexes in the northern suburbs have gone down. I live here. They were flat to decreasing last summer, and now they are really going down.

  5. ‘When Basilico’s Pasta e Vino took to social media to proclaim itself a mask-free location amid the coronavirus pandemic in late May, it prompted responses ranging from overwhelming support to stern admonishments from customers who pledged never to dine at the restaurant again.’

    ‘On Monday, officials at the Huntington Beach establishment had a message for those who have expressed anger about their policy. They updated the restaurant’s voicemail greeting, joking that they were “having some fun with the haters.”

    “As you may know, we have been recently featured in the press and with great appreciation have been receiving an overwhelming show of support by the community and even from across the state and country, so if you’re calling to place an order or express support for our position please hold or leave a voicemail,” the greeting states. “If you’re calling to place a death threat, please press 2 and leave your name, number and address so our cousin Guido and his crew can pay you a visit.”

    ‘Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes said in a statement that the department has to be practical when considering enforcement of face coverings in the sections of the county where deputies patrol. Officials said the sheriff is not taking an adversarial approach to the governor’s orders, but is operating with limited resources.’

    “With limited exceptions, not wearing a face covering is a violation of the public health order, but it is not a practical application of a criminal law violation,” Barnes wrote.’

    https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-07-08/orange-county-still-resists-masks-even-as-coronavirus-cases-soar

    Be sure to wear your mask while you wet yourself under your bed! Oh and flap yer arms.

    1. I think it’s time for businesses to start challenging this draconian subjugation by remaining open and telling the government to fawk off.

      1. They are. Individuals too. When I was i California recently I noticed even more regular faces than here in Arizona. What I don’t think most people get is this is a violation of our rights, along with pretty much every right we have. When does it stop? Oh if you want to burn down a city, go right ahead! Jeebus this is how ridiculous things have gotten.

        Once you give in to the control freaks, good luck getting it back.

        1. Well, there’s an apples-to-apples comparison: unchecked rioters vs reasonable restrictions during a pandemic.

          1. It’s not reasonable. It’s stupid.

            Show me the CCP virus exception to the bill of rights. Cuz it doesn’t exist. Have you noticed a political element to this? What could possibly be the agendas behind that? Remember when the economy started to tank we had some posters here jumping with glee? I wonder why?

          2. Other countries have adopted similar or sometimes much more restrictive measures. But I guess they only did that to snub Trump?

            The main “political element” I have observed during this pandemic is Trump and his administration turning a pandemic into a political issue. His statements sometimes conflict with or directly contradict his own administration’s health authorities.

            As for people jumping with glee about the economy tanking, is the pot calling the kettle black? A lot of people here have been rooting for the bubble to pop. Which was always likely to occur in tandem with the economy tanking.

          3. Lower shack prices are a good thing. Following this mania is a hobby. I can give you back your subscription if you like.

            Oh, wait…

          4. Show me the CCP virus exception to the bill of rights.

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compagnie_Francaise_de_Navigation_a_Vapeur_v._Louisiana_Board_of_Health

            186 U.S. 380 (1902), was a United States Supreme Court case which held constitutional state laws requiring the involuntary quarantine of individuals to prevent the spread of disease.[1] Louisiana’s quarantine laws, Justice Edward White said, were a reasonable exercise of the state’s police power that conflicted with neither the Dormant Commerce Clause nor the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.”

          5. Bzzz, wrong. Nationwide house arrest of healthy people is a sick joke. Lawsuits are coming.

          6. His statements sometimes conflict with or directly contradict his own administration’s health authorities.

            Those health authorities aren’t exactly saints here.

          7. Other countries have adopted similar or sometimes much more restrictive measures. But I guess they only did that to snub Trump?

            There is a concerted global effort to get rid of Trump.

          8. Other countries have adopted similar or sometimes much more restrictive measures. But I guess they only did that to snub Trump?

            It’s called our Constitution.

            His statements sometimes conflict with or directly contradict his own administration’s health authorities.

            Those health authorities are far from apolitical.

          10. The whole thing is insane but if they interrupt critical thinking with a campaign of 24/7 fear mongering people can no longer see their own predicament.

            You shut down all small businesses, restaurants, bars, churches, clubs, meetings of all kinds and then force every single person in the entire community to shop for everything in the same big box store where the only interaction they can have with another human being is to go to the same store as everyone else and touch all the same items on the shelf and breath all the same air as everyone else. It makes no sense. We are being conditioned to accept absurd nonsensical authoritarian orders. Today, four legs good, two legs bad. Tomorrow four legs bad, two legs good. It’s Animal Farm.

          11. ‘We are being conditioned to accept absurd nonsensical authoritarian orders’

            fe·al·ty
            /ˈfē(ə)ltē/
            noun: fealty

            a feudal tenant’s or vassal’s sworn loyalty to a lord.
            “they owed fealty to the Earl rather than the King”
            formal acknowledgement of loyalty to a lord.

          12. WTF reasonable 186 U.S. 380. Slavery was legal as well. Not very long ago Japanese Americans were put into internment camps. We are (at least I am) not a medical professional that can reasonably get a new mask every time I need to go out and not touch it, move it dispose of it, etc. The doctors and scientists I read say not to use masks (lewrockwell.com seriously read this for a week as it is APNews inoculation) .

            The conflicts of interest alone are staggering in that anything you hear from Fauci, Birx, APNewswire, CDC or the WHO must be questioned. It is those that say that quarantine and masking of the healthy that should be made to prove the exception and not the other way around. Masking is a precursor step to destroying social cohesion (among others) and it will not be the last. This is first and foremost a form of psychological warfare. None of these people give a rat’s ass about you or your health. A bit of hyperbole in the headline but the high level conflict of interest is outlined here https://www.americanpartisan.org/2020/05/bill-gates-is-setting-the-stage-for-the-mark-of-the-beast/ and there are many articles like this if you scratch the service beyond Mainstream new sources.

            I have a screen shot of Laura Birx’s (scarf lady’s daughter) LinkedIn profile which shows her employed for 6 years 9 months as Deputy Director of Strategy, Planning and Management of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

            I don’t care about the politics (because they are all useless petty tyrants on both sides of the isle) but I do care about the freedom and general well being of myself, my family and my fellow Americans and if this continues the way the planners would like, the future for all of us is in serious jeopardy and not because of a cold virus that may or may not have originated in a lab.

          13. masking of the healthy

            And, who are these “healthy” folks again? Do they have a tattoo or something?

        2. No singing allowed in church in California but you can chant “F$#k12” in a crowd of 10,000 at a BLM protest. Has anyone noticed this one very odd inconsistency: even though everyone in every town is being corralled into the same store to do all their shopping where they sort through all the same clothes on the rack, touch all the same Twinkie boxes, and breathe all the same air, NOT ONE OUTBReAK OF THIS “HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS” ViRUS HAS BEEN TRACED BACK TO A WALMART OR TARGET? Hmmm. Now that seems weird, doesn’t it? In fact, it seems almost impossible.

          2. Yep, this plandemic doesnt pass the smell test.

            Speaking of twinkies, think any are safe around the Illinois gov? LOL at him talking about hunger games, dude never missed a meal or snack in his life
            https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/illinois-gov-pritzker-says-states-were-forced-compete-in-sick-hunger-games-competition-for-ppe-without-national-coronavirus-plan/ar-BB16v08O?ocid=msedgntp

            Pritzker, Pritzker – where have I heard that name? Oh yeah, his billionaire family-funded think tank (CSIS.org) along with Bill Gates (Margaret Sanger disciple) funded Event 201, wargaming a novel coronavirus and its geopolitical and financial effects in the fall of 2019. How conveeeeeenient!

          3. TARGET

            I saw a guy in a Target parking lot this afternoon individually disinfecting his Pringles cans before putting them in his car. Another guy was wearing a respirator. These responses are ridiculous!

          4. I saw a guy in a Target parking lot this afternoon individually disinfecting his Pringles cans before putting them in his car. Another guy was wearing a respirator. These responses are ridiculous!

            At first I was disinfecting my groceries when they sounded the alarm like this virus was an extinction level event. I haven’t done it in months.

          5. “…dude never missed a meal or snack in his life.”

            Yeah, he’s disgusting; no self control there.

        3. Once you give in to the control freaks, good luck getting it back.

          The Founding Fathers knew the control freaks and the mob would try to impose tyranny. That’s why they bequeathed us the 2nd Amendment.

    2. I did not realize that county sheriffs were empowered to determine which laws they want to enforce. Furthermore, if a private business establishment decides (in accordance with local health department regulations) to require customers and employees to wear face masks, doesn’t it have the right to have anyone who chooses not to comply removed as a trespasser?

      1. “I did not realize that county sheriffs were empowered to determine which laws they want to enforce.’

        Yeah, well you need to get out a bit more.

        If you are speeding, for example, then a cop can decide to pull you over or decide to not pull you over. If he decides to pull you over then he can decide to ticket you or not ticket you.

        1. Right, police officers can exercise discretion depending on the circumstances. However, determining which laws are just and which are not is above their pay grade and a blanket refusal to enforce laws that they don’t like is not their job.

          1. A large number of Sheriff’s have said they would not support the enforcement of these laws. How about the non-enforcement of immigration laws by certain states and municipalities? Protestors were allowed to deface public and private property. I would call that systematic enforcement of the laws. A couple in CA were arrested for painting over the BL in a BLM painted mural on the street that was somehow ‘sanctioned’ by the city even though this city’s offices have been closed for months. The system is basically corrupt. If they (government at all levels) aren’t going to follow the rules (Constitutional BOR or otherwise) why should anybody else? We can chat about Kant’s Categorical Imperative but at the end of the day you must take notice that civil society is gone and that you are in a low intensity civil war.

          2. “We can chat about Kant’s Categorical Imperative but at the end of the day you must take notice that civil society is gone and that you are in a low intensity civil war.”

            Agreed. Good call.

          3. but at the end of the day you must take notice that civil society is gone and that you are in a low intensity civil war

            No worries, Disneyworld is reopening. It’s all good.

      2. I did not realize that county sheriffs were empowered to determine which laws they want to enforce.

        I believe that’s actually a complicated topic. Starting with “whose laws”? Sheriffs are kind of unique in the law enforcement world if I understand correctly.

      3. The sheriff in my county (Kane) just outside Chicago, stated he will not enforce wearing masks unless he gets a court order from a judge. Yes, a sheriff can decide which laws to enforce if they feel it’s unconstitutional. It’s called discretion.

  8. ‘a new rule proposal by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates the mortgage giants, would drastically cut Fannie and Freddie’s incentive to continue selling the bonds. ‘We think it might kill CRT, and that this might be their intent’

    Oh, that! If you read this blog and you don’t know the credit whip has swung, I don’t know what to tell you. Mel Watt is gone and is never coming back.

    1. ‘Lakers big man Javale McGee is once again trying to court a buyer in Encino. His Mediterranean-style retreat, which he bought from Marc Anthony, just returned to market at $2.695 million.’

      ‘It’s McGee’s third price cut since he originally floated the home for sale at $3.3 million last year. The veteran can still turn a profit if he gets his price; records show he paid $2.405 million for it in 2015.’

      https://www.latimes.com/business/real-estate/story/2020-07-02/lakers-javale-mcgee-slashes-price-of-encino-home

      1. It’s pretty interesting to see all these entertainment figures trying to sell homes purchased just a few years ago for millions above what they paid. Are there that many people looking in their price ranges to justify the hope for such a large gain in so short an amount of time?

        1. Are there that many people looking in their price ranges to justify the hope for such a large gain in so short an amount of time?

          I thought everybody in that price range considered that kind of appreciation to be their birthright.

    2. From Mel Watt’s wiki page:
      Racial gerrymandering
      In 1993, the design of his district was challenged as an instance of racial gerrymandering. The Supreme Court held in Shaw v. Reno that the unusual shape of the district required strict scrutiny of its racial purpose. Although it is rare for a law to survive strict scrutiny, the districting plan was upheld on remand as “narrowly tailored to further the state’s compelling interest in complying with the Voting Rights Act.”

  10. This interactive map allows you to see which of your local businesses enjoyed PPP loans. I suspected the local auto dealers who are holding the line on pricing (“not going to give it away”) in the face of cratering sales (-40% year over year) must be enjoying this largesse. I was right. All of them got millions, so they’re just kicking back paying all the bills while selling half the cars they normally do. They have no incentive to cut prices because they’re sucking off the government teat.

    https://www.openthebooks.com/maps/?Map=90013&MapType=Pin

    1. Hertz and manufacturers slashing new prices are making the market right now.

      Saturday I pick up a new 2020 Tahoe, loaded for $35k. Still too much but $15k less than 60 days ago.

      Let her rip!

      1. Saturday I pick up a new 2020 Tahoe, loaded for $35k.

        Wow. Not bad. I kind of like the Yukon Denalis with the high powered motor and AWD but the price was always ridiculous.

        1. But, but, Scotty Kilmer says all GM products are junk!

          Kidding aside, from what I’m hearing it is possible to get 30% of MSRP on many brands. I have heard that Toyota and Honda dealers aren’t budging and still want full freight, which is odd as their sales are also down 30%+

          2. Not all that familiar with it. All I know is that it isn’t a crossover, that it’s based on the Ranger. I had a 1996 Bronco. I expect this one will be more refined and won’t have a V8.

        2. I haven’t kept up…all this time I thought it was going to be F150 based similar to the Raptor, just made for low speed offroading rather than high speed. Oops.

      2. Now you just need to get $50k for your old beater, and you’ll have some change left over for Cheetos and sodas. 🙂

        1. I was hoping to get $50k for my run down 10 year pickup…

          Do you think I’ll find a buyer at that price?

          1. Adorn it with two bumper stickers: BLM and a diversity rainbow. Then it’ll qualify for special financing!

  11. ” We are still undervalued compared to the surrounding states.”

    You are a sun-blasted hellscape compared to the surrounding states.

  12. CRT’s, CDO’s, CDS’s, CLO’s… I guess there’s no chance of going (back) to a simplified finance system without all these crazy “financial instruments.” 🙁

  13. “…The Watertown Daily News in New York…”

    “…another new ordinance proposed by the mayor regarding ‘For Rent’ signs….”

    “…I believe, the ‘For Rent’ sign, is, in itself, a source of blight. I don’t think it looks good. I don’t think it fits…”

    Anybody want to give odds, that during election season, “Vote for your favorite Mayor….” signs are stuck everywhere?

    What is the mayor afraid of? Potential renters discovering that there isn’t any ‘shortage’ of rental properties.

    Anybody want to give odds that the mayor himself owns or has an interest in rental units?

    1. The Watertown Daily News

      The story is about Oswego. It’s a small dilapidated post industrial city that is a regular stop for me cruising from the Erie Canal to Lake Ontario. There is nothing vibrant there. Nothing.

  14. When are proles forced into co-living arrangements by unaffordable housing and our oligarch-looted economy going to realize the Fed and its monetary policies have taken away any prospect of ever owning their own house while employed in a living-wage job?

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-08/coronavirus-moves-nyc-affordable-housing-crisis-to-breaking-point?sref=5CqwjcI3

    Covid-19 is pushing New York City’s affordable housing crisis to a breaking point.

    Look at 25-year-old Jessica Lee and her husband, who needed four roommates to afford their $4,000-a-month four-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn’s hip Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, a relative bargain in the Big Apple. Now her husband and everyone else in the house have all lost their restaurant jobs and she’s the only one still working—at a company making hand sanitizer. The landlord is threatening legal action to collect the $20,000 in back rent. “Nobody is hiring in the food industry,” she says. “I’m on the hook, because I am the only employed person on the lease.”

  16. The Fed’s “No Billionaire Left Behind” monetary policies have further enriched the already super-wealthy, but how’s that working out for you?

    https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/unemployment-surge-billionaires-richer/

    Billionaires in the US have seen their cumulative wealth go from $2.95 trillion to $3.58 trillion over the past 12 weeks, accounting for a 21.5 percent increase. In the last week alone, their overall wealth jumped $72 billion. Conversely, 1.5 million unemployment claims were filed within the past week in the US.

      1. So tired of this “wake up” meme. What are we supposed to DO? Protest? Vote? Run for office ourselves? I have to give the statue-pullers some credit for at least doing something specific other than “waking up” and “rising up” and other useless metphors.

        2. What are we supposed to DO?

          Educate yourself and educate others. Excercise your brain and voice. Rather than passively consuming MSM or Netflix content while assuming what you’re being fed is true, research different areas of interest that impact our daily lives and existence (e.g., the consolidation of control over and manipulation of content, the Fed, the real power structure in our country). For me, I’ve had to learn history. I was too busy and interested in science and my career to care about history until the last four years. Someone else may need to learn more science rather than rely on our health authorities who are global swamp creatures. You can learn a lot by following the money.

        3. So tired of this “wake up” meme. What are we supposed to DO?

          You can stamp your little feet. Don’t hate the player, hate the game. Go ask as many random people as you can to explain the Federal Reserve to you, then get back to me.

  17. “‘It’s basically a mass exodus,’she said. ‘And there is no job creation to bring in new people.’”

    Well, they could try contacting the people they pushed out to bring in higher paying tenants, and begging them to come back.

    This has happened before, in the dot.com bubble and bust. It’s par for the course in SF. Rents soar, people are forced out, then the dream of a mega-bucks job disappears, and people go back where they came from. It gets cheap, people can move in and start businesses again, and the cycle repeats.

  18. Source: “The Week” magazine
    “The Houston Association of Realtors has retired the terms “master bedroom” and “master bathroom” because of potential slavery connotations. The terms “primary bedroom” and “primary bathroom” will be used instead. “The consensus,” said the association, “was that ‘primary’ describes the rooms equally as well as ‘master’ while avoiding any possible misperceptions.” ”
    —- A new trend developing in the real estate business?

    1. Does the same concept apply to the “Master Brake cylinder” in my truck?

      Ladies and Gentlemen: Are we taking political correctness maybe a little too far?

      1. Does the same concept apply to the “Master Brake cylinder” in my truck?

        I can’t believe you said the “M” word out loud in front of everyone here.

          1. They changed the name once before. It used to be Master Charge.

            And what about American Express? That sounds white supremacists to me.

            And Visa, borders are so imperialistic.

            Tear them all down!

  19. “Tom Blanchard, President of Las Vegas Realtors, dismisses any speculation that the Las Vegas real estate market is headed for a bubble. ‘There is no bubble,’ Blanchard said, ‘We are still undervalued compared to the surrounding states. Vegas is still a great deal.’”

    I dunno about the rest of these miscreants, Tom, but I believe you.

  20. Las Vegas is on a perpetual boom bust cycle. If there is one city where you can guarantee there will be a housing crash in the near future it is it. Followed by another rocket fueled bubble up. Followed by….well you get the point.

  21. In suburban Detroit, Michigan a mob of BLM peaceful protestors surrounded a pregnant white woman and her husband trying to get into their car at a fast food restaurant. They would not allow her to get into the car, would not allow her to move basically. also yelled death threats towards both of them. One woman especially said she would kill the bitch repeatedly. The pregnant woman pulled a gun. Didn’t fire it just pulled it and showed it to the mob.

    She is now under arrest. The rule of law means nothing any ore in blue cities. Victims are now criminals and criminals are now victims.

    2. Conversely, this is great news that solidifies how the conservative silent majority will vote this November.

      1. While I’m not a fan of Vox Day, I’m beginning to wonder if he’s right about not being able to vote our way out of this mess.

    3. The pregnant woman pulled a gun. Didn’t fire it just pulled it and showed it to the mob.

      Probably better off pulling the trigger at that point — feared for your life and were defending yourself.

      If you brandish but don’t fire, clearly you didn’t truly feel threatened (not saying I agree, but that’s pretty much how the laws are written)

  22. The Financial Times
    Peter Wells an hour ago
    California reports record daily increase in Covid-19 cases
    Peter Wells and Matthew Rocco in New York

    California reported nearly 11,700 new cases of coronavirus over the past day, a record single-day increase for any US state during the pandemic.

    A further 11,694 people in California tested positive for Covid-19 over the past 24 hours, up from 6,090 on Tuesday, governor Gavin Newsom said at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.

    Mr Newsom said the rise was bolstered by a backlog of reported numbers in Los Angeles county, which is the hardest-hit region in the US, echoing problems that states such as New York and North Carolina are experiencing where shortages of the chemicals used to process tests are leading to delays in receiving results.

    California’s one-day increase surpasses the previous record of 11,571 that New York reported on April 15 when the state, the early hot spot for the pandemic in the US, was in the depths of its crisis.

    The jump in cases lifts California’s average daily case rate over the past seven days to 8,116, with the latest number and an 11,529 increase on July 6, countering relatively lower increases around the July 4 long weekend.

    The state is now averaging more than 100,000 tests a day, but its per cent positive rate has averaged 7.1 per cent over the past seven days, compared to 5.1 per cent a fortnight ago.

    Other states in the west and south posted record one-day figures. Tennessee’s health department said there were 2,472 new cases in the state since Tuesday, surpassing its previous daily peak at the end of June. The rise in infections came as Tennessee completed its second-highest number of tests for a single day.

    Utah counties reported 722 new cases on Wednesday, a daily record for the state, according to state data and historical figures from the Covid Tracking Project.

    The data come as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the US since the pandemic began topped 3m, according to Johns Hopkins University.

    1. Oh no!!! Not more cases!!! That means tons more deaths too right? Oh wait a second. That is NOT happening. Death rate hasn’t budged even as cases have increased. Not that CNN ever bothers mentioning that part. Stop living in fear.

      1. I don’t live in fear. But then again, I don’t bury my head in the sand and hope for the best, either.

    2. a backlog of reported numbers

      Don’t let that detract from the narrative.

      Fortunately in the real world, deaths in LA County continue to drop dramatically.

  24. BOISE — In Northwest Boise, 22 nearly identical town homes sit empty.

    The brand-new Roe Street town homes, off State Street, were approved for 56 units by the city of Boise in April 2017. So far only part of the first phase of the project has been built. They are advertised on project developer CBH Homes’ website and have a price of $279,000 elsewhere online; this is well below the median price of $363,000 for a home in Ada County. The town homes are not listed on Zillow as available for purchase.

    https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/new-town-homes-sit-empty-in-nw-boise-during-housing-shortage/article_fd0856b6-06b8-5fd2-ad4a-9a6873b21957.html

    1. “In Northwest Boise, 22 nearly identical town homes sit empty.”

      That’s a great recipe for a Hunger Games downward spiral in price.

      I have to ask my buddy who likes Boise if he’s still thinking about buying up there. Sounds like future opportunities lie in store for the patient.

      1. Will there be jobs in Boise? I know that HP is in a death spiral and many are expecting the HP campus, once a stalwart of good paying jobs in Boise, to close. Boise was once LaserJet city, but most of that has gone offshore.

        1. I thought Boise was all about Micron now? I’ve had opportunities to go there to support them or work as an employee but my big interest is expat work for them overseas and they haven’t taken me up on that so far.

          1. I’ve always thought of Micron as one of those boom and bust firms. HP used to be the bastion of stability, now it’s a layoff machine. As a former HP’er it is a sad sight to see.

          2. I’ve always thought of Micron as one of those boom and bust firms.

            It traditionally was but lately data centers and flash SSD demand seem to have stabilized the memory business a lot. Their stock still seems to fluctuate quite a bit but I think their sales are steadier than they used to be and there has been a lot of growth in the last few years. Although if nobody can pay for it going forward the crash will be epic for all of us and it will look boom/bust again.

          3. “As a former HP’er it is a sad sight to see.”

            HP’s descent in Corvallis, OR was definitely gut wrenching for the employees and the city too.

          4. I remember the Carly fiasco. Did HP not make the leap to China for mfg when everybody else did? I tried to convince LSI to keep some mfg in Wichita but it was like talking to a brick wall at that time. I always wondered if there was money that nobody talked about because even if you could make the numbers above the table work they were determined to get out of the USA regardless back then…

  25. Boots on the ground: Southern Colorado is busy, busy, busy. South Fork is full of tourists and their pockets are overflowing with dollars to spend. All the RV parks are full. Rafting season on the Arkansas River is in full swing, despite the lower than average snowpack melt.

    Get out of cities. Rural and small town America is where it’s at. I spend my money there, not in Denver…

      1. She was in the backcountry hot spring pool with me, a hundred yards from our campsite.

        Life is good in the backcountry 😉

    2. Get out of cities. Rural and small town America is where it’s at. I spend my money there, not in Denver…

      Things are pretty busy in the foothills between Folsom and Tahoe too. All the locals and all the bay aryans. Everybody wants to get out of town.

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