skip to Main Content
thehousingbubble@gmail.com

It’s Becoming Clearer That A Three-Month Forbearance Is Not Really Going To Satisfy The Situation

A report from Denverite in Colorado. “For the first time in a decade, rents went down in metro Denver. ‘For rents to go down is unusual,’ said Mark Williams, executive vice president of the Apartment Association of Metro Denver. He said other reasons for the drop include that building of new units was finally catching up with demand.”

From NECN on Massachusetts. “With thousands of college students expected to remain off campus this fall due to the coronavirus pandemic, apartments in Greater Boston are losing out on renters. Without students moving into apartments as they normally would before the start of the school year, rental prices — infamously high in the area — are going down. Since March, Rent Source in Cambridge has had a harder time finding tenants for the buildings they work with in that city, as well as Somerville and Medford.”

“‘The market has been terrible,’ said Tyler Munroe, who runs the real estate brokerage. While many in real estate had hoped the summer months would improve, it has only worsened. ‘Really, the whole summer demand has been way down,’ Munroe said. ‘I think March and April really saw a drop off with the onset of COVID, and now landlords are really desperate.'”

The New York Post. “Manhattan apartment rents are falling for the first time since the Great Recession — and with less reason to think they’ll rebound any time soon. That signals big trouble for the entire city. Collapsing demand is behind the second-quarter drop, notes StreetEasy Market Reports: Residents, especially high-income ones, continue to flee the pandemic.”

“This leaves landlords in dire straits. Property values are sinking, and the city will have to admit that sooner or later and accept a distinctly smaller tax take. Indeed, commercial rents are likely hit even harder.”

From Bloomberg. “More than US$32 billion of hotel and retail real estate was newly distressed in the first half of 2020, as rent delinquencies soared and borrowers missed payments, according to RCA. Approximately US$90 billion more of commercial real estate is ‘potentially troubled,’ RCA reported, meaning it’s in a forbearance plan, suffering rent collection problems or early-stage delinquencies. That includes US$14.5 billion for offices and US$20 billion for apartments.”

“Still, delinquent borrowers don’t face pressure to sell yet. Lenders are focused on ways to buy time, delaying distressed property from coming to market, according to Lisa Pendergast, executive director of the CRE Finance Council. ‘It’s becoming clearer, especially with the resurgence in cases across the country, that a three-month forbearance is not really going to satisfy the situation,’ she said. ‘So there are other things that can be done. A lot of that has to do with loan modifications.'”

From Bisnow. “Concessions and vacancy in D.C.’s struggling office market have risen to all-time highs as landlords try to lure tenants without bringing down a building’s base rent, but one Pennsylvania Avenue owner is pursuing a different strategy. EastBanc announced Tuesday it is reducing the triple-net rental rate at 1875 Pennsylvania Ave. NW from about $60 per SF to $29 per SF while offering no concessions and a flexible lease term.”

“Average asking rents in the District last quarter were $56.62 per SF, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s Q2 report. The D.C. office market had a record-high vacancy rate of 16.3% in Q2, according to the report, a metric that was already elevated before the coronavirus as new supply outpaced demand.”

From Heavy on California. “On tonight’s episode of Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles, Josh Flagg faced the challenge of trying to sell the historic Casa Oceana property in Long Beach. Flagg listed Casa Oceana in August 2019 for $11.995 million. There was a price reduction in December 2019. The listing on Flagg’s website shows the price was eventually lowered to $10,995,000.”

“But that was not enough and Flagg was eventually replaced as the listing agent. The price was dropped again, to $9.995 million, in January 2020, according to Redfin. The home finally sold for $7.25 million in June 2020. The final price was nearly $5 million less than the number Flagg originally tried to reach for the house.”

From TMZ on California. “Britney Spears’ old digs is back on the market, and anyone who still has millions of bucks can now get it for a steal. The pop singer’s former Beverly Hills mansion — where she lived after her divorce from Kevin Federline until 2012 — is up for grabs for $6.8 million … a pretty significant reduction from $9 mil when it was put up for sale in 2018.”

The Houston Chronicle in Texas. “Home foreclosures often conjure images of dilapidated tear-downs, or houses in severe need of repairs and renovation. However, the Bayou City is teeming with turn-key ready, luxury properties under foreclosure from the suburbs to the Heights. On the market now is a foreclosed property that spans 7,373 square feet. The five-bedroom home, built in 2003, is situated in the prestigious ‘The Estates’ section of Royal Oaks Country Club. The Mediterranean-style residence has been on the market for more than a month and has already seen a slight price cut. It’s currently listed at $1.85 million.”

From CBS 5 in Arizona. “The cars stretched out of the gated driveway, bodies clad in bathing suits packed the hot tub, and the sound of music and laughter reached into the neighboring properties. Some houses across the Phoenix area see these parties almost daily. ‘These are pretty big parties with a lot of people,’ said Ian Jeffrey, who lives in a Scottsdale neighborhood.”

“Jeffrey has counted more than 20 short-term rentals in his area of the city but says two or three of them are real problems. He says neighbors have taken to videotaping the crowds and the antics, then reporting the incidents to police. But he says it rarely results in action. ‘This guy had people urinating and defecating on the street, right in the view of his house. He had a video of that, and the police were not interested,’ said Jeffrey.”

The Molokai Dispatch in Hawaii. “Four homeowners on Molokai along with the Maui Vacation Rental Association have filed a federal lawsuit against the County of Maui for its bill banning short term rentals on the island. ‘Most people on Molokai didn’t even know it was on the table to shut them down,’ said Dayna Harris of Molokai Vacation Properties, one of the affected businesses. ‘Some prominent business owners didn’t even know they are no longer allowed. I am still getting Molokai people wanting to book short term homes for next year and I have to tell them sorry, Molokai people don’t want them, don’t you know?'”

“Molokai resident Mahina Poepoe supported the zero cap, creating a petition to Maui County lawmakers that received nearly 900 signatures. She also pointed out that 16 of the 17 permitted homeowners do not live on Molokai, and most don’t even live in the state.”

This Post Has 167 Comments
    1. Unfortunately buying a house at a discount without them is nigh impossible due to how rigged the system is. Few homes are for sale by owner. Listing agents refuse to sell direct as they take double cut if you buy without an agent.

      1. After moving in 1998, and renting for 5-yrs, I bought my slice of spec-heaven in early 2003, FSBO, toward the end of the depth of the .com fallout just after Greenspan convinced Congress to backstop the HELOC market. I paid $80/sqft for 1-yr/old spec rancher with central air and insulated garage in a better than average neighborhood, and paid it off within 9yrs. It was easily one of the smarter things I’ve done.

  1. ‘For the first time in a decade, rents went down in metro Denver’

    Rents in Denver have been sinking like turd in well since 2016.

    1. Nearly as fast as Denver housing prices.

      Denver, CO Housing Prices Crater 17% YOY As One Broker Shared, “If You Have A House In The Denver Area, Dump It For Whatever It Will Fetch And Do It Soon”

      https://www.zillow.com/denver-co-80202/home-values/

      As one noted economist questioned, “Why buy a house when you can rent one for half the monthly cost?”

    2. “Denver Mayor Michael Hancock joined 13 other U.S. mayors in calling for federal law enforcement and military to stop their deployment to cities in response to protests.”

      https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/denver-mayor-michael-hancock-13-other-mayors-call-for-federal-forces-to-leave-u-s-cities

      Mayor Hancock, I am going to continue stopping the deployment of my dollars spent in your city, no sales tax revenues for you. I will deploy my dollars in Arapahoe County where I live.

  2. ‘the Bayou City is teeming with turn-key ready, luxury properties under foreclosure from the suburbs to the Heights’

    Wa? But tight lending? Shortage? UHS!

  3. ‘This guy had people urinating and defecating on the street, right in the view of his house. He had a video of that, and the police were not interested’

    ‘Most people on Molokai didn’t even know it was on the table to shut them down…Some prominent business owners didn’t even know they are no longer allowed. I am still getting Molokai people wanting to book short term homes for next year and I have to tell them sorry, Molokai people don’t want them, don’t you know?’

    I wonder why…

    1. How could anybody knowingly buy in Molokai without knowing how unwelcoming the natives are to outsiders? If we did that we would be rayciss.

    1. We have a wildfire roughly 30-mi away that is generating a layer of smoke dense enough to obscure the Comet NEOWISE. Last week it was brilliant to the naked eye.

  4. ‘More than US$32 billion of hotel and retail real estate was newly distressed in the first half of 2020, as rent delinquencies soared and borrowers missed payments, according to RCA. Approximately US$90 billion more of commercial real estate is ‘potentially troubled,’ RCA reported, meaning it’s in a forbearance plan, suffering rent collection problems or early-stage delinquencies’

    I said this was going to happen. No crystal ball. They were gambling with borrowed money that prices would go up.

  5. “…Property values are sinking, and the city will have to admit that sooner or later and accept a distinctly smaller tax take…”

    A major large elephant in the room, completely ignored by REIConplex happy talk.

    How are all those bloated city salaries/pensions going to be funded if property tax revenue falls?

    Underfunded pensions? No. That can’t be.

    1. Colorado was making “catch up” payments to the state pension fund (PERA). Those abruptly ended with the new budget crisis.

      PERA is one of the worst funded pensions in the country.

        1. I tell young people considering a career as teachers in the Centennial State that PERA will be long gone by the time they retire. Of course, by that time there might not even be a US of A anymore.

          1. There will be poetic justice in seeing the teachers in our NEA indoctrination mills discovering the pensions they were promised would be waiting for them after decades of faithful service to the DNC and globalists, to discover they were sold a bill of goods.

  6. Brookline MA moved to ban oil and gas pipes in new buildings. MA Attorney General says they can’t.

    In a long-anticipated decision Tuesday afternoon, Attorney General Maura Healey blocked Brookline’s bylaw aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from taking effect, ruling that the ban conflicted with superseding statewide building and gas codes, as well as the Department of Public Utilities’s authority to “comprehensively” regulate the sale and distribution of natural gas.

    1. “Passed overwhelmingly by the Brookline Town Meeting last November, the legislation would have prohibited the installation of oil and gas infrastructure in most construction and major renovations, forcing new buildings to rely the state’s lower-emission — and increasingly cleaner — electric grid for virtually all energy needs.”

      And this increasingly cleaner electric grid produces its electricity by the application of magic.

      1. We’re doomed to a future of high energy costs if the Democrats get back into power.

        1. if the Democrats get back into power

          When the Dems win elections, they are “in power”, when the GOP wins they are “in office”

      2. “In 2018, Massachusetts generated 67% of its electricity from natural gas and none from coal, making Massachusetts the third New England state without coal-fired generation. Almost all the rest of Massachusetts’ electricity generation came from nuclear power and renewables.Jul 18, 2019”
        https://www.eia.gov › state › sid=MA
        Massachusetts Massachusetts Profile – EIA

        😁

        1. Amazingly, a state so dependent on natural gas is one of the most hostile to natural gas and natural gas pipelines. Massachusetts imports 12% of its natural gas from Vladimir Putin et al…

          source Plus a big chunk of MA home heating comes from good old #2 fuel oil, delivered by the $$$$ gallon.

      3. “…produces its electricity by the application of magic….”

        Per https://www.eia.gov/, in 2016, natural gas-fired generators accounted for 42% of the operating electricity generating capacity in the United States.

        Please don’t tell the Brookline Town council, it will be our little secret!

        1. the Brookline Town council I lived there 50 years ago while working just after college. People there seemed intelligent enough then, but things must have gone downhill big time.

        2. It is much simpler to build out and upgrade electrical infrastructure at all scales, from the SFR to the region, than it is to do with gas. The smart solution is to put in fewer large gas pipelines to clusters of NG generators that serve electric-only regions. You get the best of both worlds when you do that as you can tack on electrical supply with renewable sources at will and still have a stable base of generation.

          I wouldn’t outlaw gas into homes though. I think the market will drive things to more electric and that’ll put a cap on residential gas.

          1. “The smart solution is to put in fewer large gas pipelines to clusters of NG generators that serve electric-only regions.”

            This is the model (gas Cogen)and what is typically designed and built already anyways. NG to the curb is optional but a feature provided to the customer.

          2. I’m in an all-electric spec house with nearby hydro-power. We use the central air heat pump w/R-410A to cool the house, and several oil filled electric radiators during the winter.

          3. The PNW has an advantage in water for hydro power relative to other parts of the U.S. And I guess the enviros don’t mind killing off their native salmon populations by impounding free flowing rivers as a sacrificial offering on the altar of St. Greta.

      4. Brookline has so many Ph. Ds, the BS is MS and Piled Higher & Depper, too.

        Serving as a residential zone for nearby academic and medical institutes such as Harvard Medical School and Boston University, the town of Brookline was reported as the city with the most doctoral degree holders (14.0% of the total population) in the United States.

  7. ‘Tom Carroll, 35, went to a local bagel shop and posted a photograph of himself without a mask on a Costa Mesa public forum page. “Currently sitting at Shirley’s Bagels on 17th street with no mask with 2 other people … $300 in fines up for grabs for the city if they want to send the cops out to fine us,” he wrote.’

    https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/story/2020-07-20/costa-mesa-warns-unmasked-citizens-could-be-fined-100-though-none-have-been-punished

    1. ‘California’s next big Covid-19-related trauma is fast approaching, officials warn: a potential tidal wave of tens of thousands of evictions that could hit the state when eviction moratoriums expire — as soon as next month. Gov. Gavin Newsom, in his regular briefing Wednesday, cited “growing recognition in Washington, D.C. that we are walking towards the edge of a cliff.”

      ‘Indeed, Senate Democrats are already warning of the “potential catastrophe” that looms nationally as 12 million Americans have signaled they were unable to pay the rent last month. Dr. Tim Thomas, who heads the Urban Displacement Project at the University of California, Berkeley, yesterday warned of possibly devastating effects on vulnerable communities if rent protections do not continue, ABC News reported. “If this moratorium doesn’t pass, you’re going to have a lot of landlords that have not been paid in awhile — and there’s going to be a mass eviction,” Thomas said.’

      https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-playbook/2020/07/23/schaaf-warns-of-housing-armageddon-newsom-on-eviction-time-bomb-dolores-huerta-endorses-karen-bass-for-vp-iconic-ca-naturalist-john-muir-racist-cagop-to-evict-leading-latino-strategists-mike-madrid-luis-alvarez-489867

      ‘If this moratorium doesn’t pass, you’re going to have a lot of landlords that have not been paid in awhile’

      How does a moratorium pay landlords?

      1. In no other business besides landlording could the customer reasonably expect to get free service, in case he has no means of paying.

        1. Dumb question of the day:

          Are California and the other governments imposing foreclosure moratoriums planning to repay landlords all the rent they were prevented from collecting?

        2. In no other business besides landlording could the customer reasonably expect to get free service, in case he has no means of paying.”

          Hospital emergency rooms

          1. Fair enough.

            And IIRC, this law is a major reason why hospital emergency rooms tend to struggle with achieving their primary purpose, which is to provide rapid medical assistance in case of an emergency.

          2. rapid medical assistance in case of an emergency

            In my sadly plentiful experience, a trip to the ER is at least 4 hours.

          3. It was some years ago. I think it took less than 2 hours, and that included an ultrasound that confirmed the clot. They gave me blood thinners and sent me home. My primary care physician did the follow up. I was on Xarelto for a couple of months. No clots since then.

      2. On one of the videos of the Portland sh!t show, there was “END RENT” spray painted on a building.

      3. It looks like an acknowledgement that landlords haven’t been paid and evictions will follow without the moratorium. Poorly worded quote.

          1. I read so much poorly written/edited content these days that I find my own writing deteriorating.

          2. That’s interesting.

            Reminds me that I have been subjected to a lot more bad piano playing this year than in previous ones, as my wife has been doing student evaluations evaluations online since COVID-19 instead of driving somewhere for the day to do them in person.
            She prefers to share her pain rather than use headphones. The experience has considerably heightened my awareness of the difference between good and bad musicianship!

      4. “‘Indeed, Senate Democrats are already warning of the “potential catastrophe” that looms nationally as 12 million Americans have signaled they were unable to pay the rent last month.”

        Last month, and the month before that and the month before that and the month before that and the month before that.

        Eviction Moratorium Information for Landlords and Tenants

        The County’s eviction moratorium has been extended through August 31, 2020. Tenants now have up to 6 months after the moratorium expires or terminates to repay at least 50% of the past-due rent, and up to 12 months after the moratorium expires or terminates to repay in full the past-due rent.

        On March 24, 2020, the County Board of Supervisors enacted a moratorium ​on “no-fault” evictions and evictions for non-payment of rent for tenants who have incurred substantial income loss and/or substantial out-of-pocket medical expenses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This moratorium applies throughout Santa Clara County, including Cities, and protects both residential as well as small business tenants.

        https://www.sccgov.org/sites/osh/EvictionMoratorium

      5. FU Gavin. You shoved residents off the cliff. You did that and don’t ask us to bail you out.

        1. And he provided an implicit pass on his COVID-19 Stay at Home order for BLM protesters.

          The virus doesn’t care if SJWs are out in the street with hankies over their faces to join other SJWs in a self-righteous looting spree.

    2. “I was trying to incite someone to report me to someone from the city to give me a ticket. I want to have a discussion with the authority who’s going to write me a ticket and talk about those exemptions,” he said of his experience. “I got a couple of dirty looks from people, but no one said anything.”

      Hmmmm … if other people are wearing masks then how would he know if they were giving him dirty looks or not?

      Also, how can one eat a bagel while wearing a mask?

      1. better question ho do you open those produce plastic bags on a roll without taking your mask off and wetting your fingers?

          1. One thing I noticed in Europe, the supermarkets don’t have showers built into the produce displays like we do.

          2. Yep. I always touch something wet in the produce area. Otherwise I can barely open those things.

      2. Also, how can one eat a bagel while wearing a mask?

        This is what’s so stupid – you have to remove the mask to eat, so everybody is without a mask while eating.

        1. how can one eat a bagel while wearing a mask? Stuff the bagel into the mask & chew it up inside the mask. You know, like horses do while wearing feed bags.

          1. Stuff the bagel into the mask & chew it up inside the mask. You know, like horses do while wearing feed bags.

            Meanwhile, the mask is protruding from one’s face due to an enormous bagel, rendering it completely ineffective. But I do like the thought, especially since I’m sure some Karen would be filmed screaming “put your feedbag on!”

    3. Kind of refreshing to see the Toms of the world giving the Nanny State and the collectivist control freaks the middle finger.

  8. Believe it or not, China has an epic property bubble that may even exceed the one here in the US!

    1. The $52 Trillion Bubble: China Grapples With Epic Property Boom
      Real-estate surge eclipses the one in U.S. housing in the 2000s; desperate buyers undeterred by Covid pandemic
      By Stella Yifan Xie and Mike Bird
      Updated July 16, 2020 11:22 pm ET

      Even the coronavirus hasn’t stopped the world’s biggest asset bubble from getting bigger.

      After a brief pause during coronavirus lockdowns in February, a Chinese property boom in some megacities that many thought was unsustainable has resumed its relentless upward climb, with prices rising higher and investors chasing deals despite millions of job losses and other economic problems.

      1. “Real-estate surge eclipses the one in U.S. housing in the 2000s;…”

        Did they mean to say the 2020s?

    2. True. But their people carry little debt. So even if their bubble pops it may not have the same effect as here. I’m looking at our 1930s as a possible worst case model for them…lots of factory workers headed back to the farm until their kids get called up for the war effort.

      1. Chinese under 40 generally carry a lot of debt. The older generation is relatively debt free because they got access to subsidized prices to buy during the real estate market opening in the 90s. The last decade has not been cheap relative to wages

        1. Chinese under 40 generally carry a lot of debt.

          OK. The people I know well enough to know about their finances are all over 40 or under 20. The ones I know don’t have debt. But with the overpriced houses and needing a house to get a wife I can see how that could happen for the young adults whose parents don’t have much if the credit is available.

      2. I suspect there’s a lot more Chinese debt than we think…it’s just hidden (and I suspect that’s true for Silicon Valley Chinese, too).

  9. My small TX town has plenty of older, frame homes from the 1920s. Most original layout. Almost all of the modest ones have two front doors on the front porch. Back in those days, many homeowners rented out a room for extra income. Thus the secondary door to the rental bedroom. (Not sure how they handed the bathroom?)
    This arrangement might return to modern day usage… except for the fact that most folks are EXTREMELY unreliable, and shifty today. Druggies, drama-mommas, heavy boozers, thiefs, etc.
    And if they’re not, likely their friends are.

    1. And if they’re not, likely their friends are.

      IMO nothing is more heartbreaking than watching someone do everything in their power to get their lives together and have it torpedoed by their friends and relatives. Especially the relatives that were the reason they were trying so hard in the first place…

  10. I am optimistic about a housing crash in the Austin area.

    “EXAS, USA — The coronavirus pandemic slowed real estate sales the first part of the year –down 5.2%.

    However, June proved strong. The latest numbers from the Austin Board of Realtors show the Austin-Round Rock area continues to be a boomtown.

    Home sales in June increased 9.3% year-over-year. Home prices are up, too. The median price for a home is up nearly 5% to $340,000.”

    https://www.kvue.com/article/money/economy/boomtown-2040/austin-suburbs-seeing-double-digit-home-sales-growth/269-a4f4d9ce-78db-48d3-a84b-02995700ec81

    1. Optimistic it will happen, and restore affordability? Or optimistic it will not happen, and you can still sell to an equity locust from California and move to San Antonio?

  11. “The latest numbers from the Austin Board of Realtors”

    Realtors are liars.

    Georgetown, TX Housing Prices Crater 11% YOY As Austin Area Housing Market Turns Toxic On Rampant Mortgage Fraud

    https://www.zillow.com/georgetown-tx-78628/home-values/

    *Select price from dropdown menu on first chart

    As a distinguished economist said so eloquently, “Nothing accelerates the economy and creates jobs like falling prices to dramatically lower and more affordable levels. Nothing.”

  12. Got this hype mailer from Fineman Suarez, a “luxury” real estate team in South Bay, Los Angeles:
    _______________________
    A Remarkable Recovery For The Housing Market!

    For months now the vast majority of Americans have been asking the same question: When will the economy turn around? Many experts have been saying the housing market will lead the way to a recovery, and today we’re seeing signs of that coming to light. With record-low mortgage rates driving high demand from potential buyers, homes are being purchased at an accelerating pace, and it’s keeping the housing market and the economy moving.

    Here’s a look at what a few of the experts have to say about today’s astonishing recovery. In more than one instance, it’s being noted as truly remarkable.

    Ali Wolf, Chief Economist, Meyers Research
    “The housing recovery has been nothing short of remarkable…The expectation was that housing would be crushed. It was—for about two months—and then it came roaring back.”

    Fannie Mae
    “Recent home purchase measures have continued to show remarkable strength, leading us to revise upward our home sales forecast, particularly over the third quarter. Similarly, we bumped up our expectations for home price growth and purchase mortgage originations.”

    Javier Vivas, Director of Economic Research for realtor.com
    “All-time low mortgage rates and easing job losses have boosted buyer confidence back to pre-pandemic levels.”

    James Knightley, Chief International Economist, ING
    “At face value this is remarkable given the scale of joblessness in the economy and the ongoing uncertainty relating to the path of Covid-19…The outlook for housing transactions, construction activity and employment in the sector is looking much better than what looked possible just a couple of months ago.”

    Bottom Line
    The strength of the housing market is a bright spark in the economy and leading the way to what is truly being called a remarkable recovery throughout this country. If you’re thinking of buying or selling a home, maybe this is your year to make a move after all.

    *Excerpts from Keeping Current Matters

    https://www.sellbuyla.com
    ______________________________

    1. “The housing recovery has been nothing short of remarkable…The expectation was that housing would be crushed. It was—for about two months—and then it came roaring back.”

      “And his deadly wound was healed; and all the world wondered after the beast” (Revelation 13:3)

      1. “The housing recovery has been nothing short of remarkable…The expectation was that housing would be crushed. It was—for about two months—and then it came roaring back.”

        The FED’s financial heroin has spread far and wide.

  13. I read the comments here sometimes and wonder who these right wing nut jobs think currently control 83% of the federal government branches….

    1. You say “right wing nut jobs,” but I seem to recall you’re from southern California – the land of Maxine Waters. It would be harder to find a bigger nut job than her. Are you just doin’ the partisan rant thing?

      1. Anyone who is paying the slightest attention to current events knows who the nut jobs are in US politics.

    2. Have you considered going back to Reddit?

      They have a downvote button there so you don’t have to engage with any content that triggers you.

    1. I have memories of a girl from Westport, CT that cratering house prices could never take away.

  14. “Ventura County, Calif. resident Alexandra South was shocked to see a $400 monthly rent hike when her lease is up for renewal in August. “It just didn’t seem like the time or place to be instituting that kind of thing,” she said. “Even in normal circumstances, it’s a ridiculous increase.”

    South and her husband, who have a two-year-old daughter, both work in the public sector. “At the end of the day I feel extremely fortunate that we’ve been in a position of employment,” she said, but she added that a rent hike on top of the $3,250 the couple already pays diminishes their ability to save for a down payment. “The prices are so high here. We have student loan debt and some other personal debt that would make it hard to save that kind of cash right now,” she said. “We weren’t quite ready.”

    1. With two naval stations and a high density Latino population Ventura County is largely blue collar, 3/1 Stuccos and muscular pit bulls around Oxnard. Great weather though…lots of fresh ocean air!

  15. US mortgage rates rise for the first time in 6 weeks, jumping above 3%
    Carmen Reinicke
    Jul. 23, 2020, 06:48 PM
    – The rate on the popular 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased to 3.01%, according to Freddie Mac data released Thursday.
    – It’s the first time in six weeks that US mortgage rates have increased – the rates have been held down by low US Treasury bond yields and near-zero interest rates.
    – Mortgage rates remain near a historic low, and have driven a strong rebound in the housing market. Still, economic uncertainty could derail the housing recovery going forward.

  16. Imagine shelling out millions to buy your own private island in order to escape COVID-19, only to discover the virus followed you there and you have no access to medical care!

    1. The Financial Times
      Coronavirus business update 30 days complimentary
      Prime property
      Wealthy buyers snap up ‘safe haven’ private islands to flee pandemic
      Demand surges for private hideaways even as global economy goes into a deep recession
      Fiji’s Mai Island, one of a host of offshore retreats being marketed to the super-rich
      © Platinum Luxury Auctions
      Jamie Smyth in Sydney yesterday

      With its pristine beaches, coral reefs and 32 acres of lush tropical gardens, Fiji’s Mai Island could be the perfect place to hunker down and see out the coronavirus pandemic. And for a few million dollars it could be yours.

      The island, which has previously been on the market for just over $4m, is one of a host of offshore retreats being marketed to the super-rich as ideal spots to escape the ravages of Covid-19.

      The South Pacific, Caribbean and remote parts of the US and Europe are among the most popular destinations, according to real estate agents who are rushing to tap the surge in demand for private hideaways even as the world economy goes into a deep recession.

      Trayor Lesnock, founder of Platinum Luxury Auctions, which is conducting the online sale of Mai Island on Saturday, said the pandemic had led people to reassess their lives and pursue the things they had fantasised about but always held off from doing.

      “Owning an island has long been considered cool and desirable but it’s often been a whimsical dream,” he said. “But with Covid-19 it’s starting to look a lot more practical, as people rush to find private spaces for themselves and keep a distance from others.”

    2. have no access to medical care! Easy peasy solution. Spend a few more millions on a first class medical facility, recruit & hire a full time staff to care for you when/if the need happens. If the island is that nice, it shouldn’t be a problem to entice medical personnel to live on your island. Royalty of ancient times used to do things like that. It’s only money.

      1. Good point. Establish your own plantation, complete with slaves of all skillsets needed to support your isolated life of luxury, and you can live out your remaining days on the planet care- and COVID-free.

    3. It’s going to be funny when the Great Reset comes and the oligarchs who have been pillaging our economy pile into their Gulfstreams and wing their way to their hides-holes in New Zealand, only to discover NZ proles are waiting for them with pitchforks and torches.

  17. Another day, another fundamental reason for the stock market to crater which Wall Street’s band of Millennial day traders will blithely ignore…

    1. The Financial Times
      Coronavirus business update 30 days complimentary
      Chinese politics & policy
      Markets fall as China closes US consulate in response to Houston move
      Analysts warn of new cold war after Beijing tells Washington to shut its Chengdu mission
      Visitors wait outside the Chinese consulate in Houston, which on Tuesday was given 72 hours to close
      © AP
      Ryan McMorrow in Beijing 33 minutes ago

      Beijing has ordered the closure of the US consulate in Chengdu in retaliation for Washington shutting its Houston mission, raising fears of a new cold war and buffeting global stock markets.

      China’s benchmark CSI 300 index closed 4.4 per cent lower following the announcement and London’s FTSE 100 was trading down 1.2 per cent as tensions between the superpowers rose to their most dangerous level in decades.

      Beijing said it notified the US embassy on Friday that it had revoked the Chengdu consulate’s licence to operate. It said the decision was “a legitimate and necessary response to the unreasonable actions of the United States”.

      Analysts warned that tensions between the world’s most powerful countries had risen dramatically following clashes over the coronavirus pandemic, trade and a crackdown on Hong Kong’s autonomy.

      China did not provide a timeline for the Chengdu closure, but Hu Xijin of the state-owned Global Times newspaper said the US was given 72 hours. Mr Hu on Wednesday said China had been given 72 hours to close its Houston consulate.

  18. Are you a doomed debt donkey, using dumb borrowed money to gamble on overpriced stocks, home ownership, or AirBnBs? If so, Uncle Warren has some timeless folk wisdom for you to ponder, as you watch your HODLings sink deeper underwater and realize the Fed has no further bailouts to offer:

    My partner Charlie Munger (Trades, Portfolio) says there are only three ways a smart person can go broke: liquor, ladies, and leverage. Now the truth is – the first two he just added because they started with L – it’s leverage.

    — Uncle Warren

    1. The Financial Times
      Coronavirus business update 30 days complimentary
      US economy
      Investors brace for consumer debt defaults if US relief stalls
      Delinquencies on car loans, credit cards and student loans have remained low so far
      Lawmakers are locked in talks over further stimulus to replace the pandemic unemployment assistance payments, which are due to expire on July 25
      © AFP via Getty Images
      Joe Rennison in London and James Politi in Washington 53 minutes ago

      Analysts are warning of a surge in defaults in consumer debt in the US if Congress fails to extend the programme of increased unemployment benefits that was put in place to ease the effects of the coronavirus outbreak.

      Lawmakers are locked in negotiations over further stimulus to replace the pandemic unemployment assistance payments, worth $600 per week for each claimant, which are due to expire on July 25. Proposals are also being discussed to repeat the tax rebates that sent up to $1,200 directly to people earning up to $99,000.

      While the deadlock endures, analysts are growing nervous that a big rise in consumer defaults could be just around the corner.

      Household debt in the US, excluding mortgages, stood at a record $4.2tn at the end of March, according to the New York Federal Reserve — more than 50 per cent higher than the previous peak in late 2008.

  19. ‘For rents to go down is unusual,’ said Mark Williams, executive vice president of the Apartment Association of Metro Denver.

    Not when a Bolshevik mayor and city council are running your city into the ground.

    1. ‘For rents to go down is unusual,’

      Riiiiight, but it’s not unusual for them to more than double over the course of several years, completely outpacing wages.

  20. ‘Really, the whole summer demand has been way down,’ Munroe said. ‘I think March and April really saw a drop off with the onset of COVID, and now landlords are really desperate.’”

    For years these greedy landlords have had students and their middle class parents over a barrel. How the worm has turned…I look forward to the bankruptcy auctions with undisguised glee.

  21. Collapsing demand is behind the second-quarter drop, notes StreetEasy Market Reports: Residents, especially high-income ones, continue to flee the pandemic.”

    The MSM keeps beating the “fleeing the pandemic” mantra. Of course any Real Journalist who wants to keep his or her paid globalist shill job doesn’t dare put into print what residents are really fleeing from.

    1. I saw an article on CNN Money that linked rising PM prices to Covid. Of course, telling the truth would never get past the editor and cost the article writer his job.

  22. EastBanc announced Tuesday it is reducing the triple-net rental rate at 1875 Pennsylvania Ave. NW from about $60 per SF to $29 per SF while offering no concessions and a flexible lease term.”

    Oh dear. Neighboring commercial landlords will now have to slash even more to stay competitive. I fear a vicious cycle of sawin’ and slashin’ for the dwindling pool of renters who can actually honor their financial obligations may be in the offing.

  23. The home finally sold for $7.25 million in June 2020. The final price was nearly $5 million less than the number Flagg originally tried to reach for the house.”

    Does the evaporation of trillions of Yellen Bux have any impact on climate change?

  24. The pop singer’s former Beverly Hills mansion — where she lived after her divorce from Kevin Federline until 2012 — is up for grabs for $6.8 million … a pretty significant reduction from $9 mil when it was put up for sale in 2018.”

    2018 was a world away from 2020. As progressive-maladministered cities like Los Angeles spiral deeper into dystopia, that “pretty significant reduction” is going to seem laughable, especially when a multimillion dollar mansion makes you a prime target for a future Purge Night.

  25. ‘This guy had people urinating and defecating on the street, right in the view of his house. He had a video of that, and the police were not interested,’ said Jeffrey.”

    Once the brown envelopes have been delivered to the appropriate local officials, police are going to turn a blind eye to such citizen complaints.

  26. “Molokai resident Mahina Poepoe supported the zero cap, creating a petition to Maui County lawmakers that received nearly 900 signatures. She also pointed out that 16 of the 17 permitted homeowners do not live on Molokai, and most don’t even live in the state.”

    Die, speculator scum. The sooner your overpriced shacks head for bankruptcy auctions, the quicker they can re-emerge as more affordable housing for those who actually turn houses into homes.

  27. Would it hurt the stock market if Uncle Sugar stopped regularly handing out Powell bux in brown envelopes to Millennial day traders?

      1. Suddenly Wall Street is infested with a bunch of worrywarts. Be happy for lower prices and buy yer dip.

        “Wall Street has been heartened by quarterly results that have exceeded a low bar in the middle of pandemic, but a run-up in gold prices to a near record and super-low yields in government debt imply that investors fret that the market remains vulnerable to pullbacks after the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 index posted their worst daily drops since June 26 on Thursday.”

    1. To me this Portney guy looks like Judas Goat used by the Wall Street-Federal Reserve Looting Syndicate to lure the greedy and stupid into Wall Street’s rigged casino. The average age of a Robinhood trader is 31: this is a generation devoid of critical thinking skills, thanks to our NEA indoctrination mills. (If you don’t know what a Judas Goat is, it’s what slaughterhouses use to lure nervous cattle into calming down and trustingly following that friendly goat leading them through the gates that lead to their demise.)

      https://www.marketwatch.com/story/all-i-hear-is-old-timers-say-that-the-retail-bros-are-going-to-get-crushed-the-supreme-leader-of-stock-market-day-traders-saysbut-im-beating-them-like-a-drum-2020-06-26

    1. It was much worse in 2005, when Florida orchard owners were cutting down orange groves to build suburban crapshacks. When asked, what about the orange juice, they answered, Meh, we’ll just get it from Brazil. That’s your globalists at work.

  28. The fake news has gone to a new level of constant false narratives.

    And ,it becomes so obivious that it’s just all these powers that didn’t like the Trump election don’t want any change to their highjacking of the Government.

    To be so dismissive to about half the Country who voted for Trump is like nothing I have ever seen before.

    Than the Resistance and their goon armies of brainwashed Commies are vicious .
    Anybody with half a brain should see that China unleashed the virus, yet Pelosi calls it the Trump virus.
    The Resistance and their news coverage of events is so telling as to what took over the Government, that it can’t be viewed as anything democracy. The Globàlist who are no different than slave holders don’t want any correction of their overtake of the Government. The Commie brainwashed with their highjacking of the educational system and the welfare State don’t care that about half the Country doesn’t like their vision of transforming America, especially using false narratives.
    Joe Biden is their canadates and that’s all you need to know as to how far the Dem party has fallen into a cult-like force for Insanity.

    The Dems want to steal the election, and if anybody isn’t outright alarmed by their tatics , they should be.

    The Billionaires/ and the Commies unite with the Media being the brainwashing wing of their campaign. It’s insulting.

    1. The Billionaires/ and the Commies unite with the Media being the brainwashing wing of their campaign. It’s insulting.

      It’s also very effective.

      1. That’s the thing that’s baffling is that this insanity is effective. Like how do you get people to vote against their own interest and contribute to their own enslavement.
        But, these tatics have been used before by some of the most evil men in history.
        Now white people evil. They always have to have a made up enemy.

        1. Like how do you get people to vote against their own interest and contribute to their own enslavement.

          Easy, 12-16+ years of indoctrination at “school”

          As Apt 401 correctly points out, they will be very disappointed after the revolution succeeds and they are handed a pick and shovel and told, at gun point, to get to work.

          1. Colorado,

            So true that these people will not realize how bad it will be until it’s to late.

            That would be the pity of it all when they realize they were a army for their own enslavement.

          2. they will be very disappointed after the revolution succeeds and they are handed a pick and shovel and told, at gun point, to get to work. They will be even more disappointed when they are told to kneel on the edge of the grave they just dug for themselves.

    1. I seem to recall reading that in socialist countries (like Sweden) that the government owns most of the rental flats. So maybe they just hate competition.

    2. ” What do the Democrats have against landlords?*

      I would say that they don’t like any group that is not dependant on them. Not that the landlords aren’t buying into the rigged financial Ponzi Schemes.

      Look, they don’t even like law and order, they want to close jails and mob rule run wild. The Mayor of New York would usually be some insane villian in some movie but he’s a real life character like so many of these people in power are in these nut job Cities. All you got to do is listen to their perception of reality and it’s actually like something out of a bad movie.
      People that are insane or evil or brainwashed in power or leadership positions. I don’t know how they got to leadership positions but you judge a tree by the fruit it bears.

      1. they don’t even like law and order

        They don’t even like the Constitution even when it’s the only thing keeping them alive. They’ve put a lot of thought into fairness issues, but otherwise not deep thinkers.

  29. The Financial Times
    Peter Wells 2 hours ago
    Emoticon
    Florida case tally tops 400,000 after reporting large jump in infections

    Florida became the third state in the US to confirm more than 400,000 cases of coronavirus after reporting another large jump in infections on Friday.

    A further 12,444 people tested positive for Covid-19 over the past 24 hours, the state’s health department revealed, from 10,249 on Thursday.

    That was the state’s fifth-biggest daily increase on record and pushed the total number of cases to 402,312. Only California and New York have confirmed more coronavirus cases, with the former overtaking the latter on Wednesday to become the US state with the highest number of infections since the pandemic began.

    A further 136 people died, down from a record 173 on Thursday, but the fatalities for the fourth day in a row have risen by more than 100.

    1. I have read a lot about the Covid-19 cases being faked.
      I don’t believe anything anymore.

      It’s not that I don’t think that the virus exists. It’s the bizarre reaction to it and all the lies and political use and apparent money grab ,and outright evil streaming from it .
      Ok, it’s almost like the earth stood still so the evil vampires could reek their madness.
      There is nothing about this that rings right. NOTHING!

      1. “There is nothing about this that rings right. NOTHING!”

        Come on it’s not like they are adding gunshot wounds to the head
        to the COVID death list or anything. Oh wait

        by Danielle WaughFriday, July 24th 2020

        WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Palm Beach County Chief Medical Examiner is adding more layers of quality assurance checks to the office’s COVID death list after a CBS12 News I-Team investigation found mistakes in their records.

        In a spreadsheet of 581 COVID deaths the office provided, we found eight cases in which a person clearly died of something else, like a gunshot wound to the head.

        http://cbs12.com/news/coronavirus/i-team-palm-beach-medical-examiner-adding-quality-assurance-checks-to-covid-death-reports

        PS

        Notice this article said “clearly died of something else, like a gunshot wound to the head.”

        A couple of days ago in an article from this news channel and this same story which I posted here there was a woman who had looked into this 581 COVID death list and said she had found something like 370 more cases that looked like the cause of death was something else, but for some reason I can’t find that article now.

Comments are closed.