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There Is An Unforgivingness To Being Overpriced

A report from Zillow. “Metro-level discrepancies exist as well, especially in San Francisco and New York, showing that not all urban cores are keeping pace with hot suburban markets. In Manhattan, home values have dropped 4.2% since last year and homes are staying on the market two months longer than a year ago, according to StreetEasy. In San Francisco, list prices have fallen 4.9% year over year and inventory has risen 96% with a flood of new listings.”

From Live Trading News on Florida. “Real Estate genius and the mind behind some of Palm Beach’s best real estate Robert V Matthews shares some of his inspiration. ‘it is a buyers market now, if you ever wanted to acquire something special real estate wise the timing has never been better’ says Matthews.”

Two reports from the Los Angles Times in California. “Actor Eddie Kaye Thomas has sold his canal-view home in Venice for a little over $2.55 million. He bought the place in 2016 for about $2.59 million, The Times previously reported.”

“Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have purchased a home in the heart of Montecito, according to people familiar with the matter who weren’t authorized to speak publicly. Area real estate agents point to a $14.65-million estate, which closed in an off-market sale in June. Tax records for the 7-acre property, which was previously listed for as much as $34 million.”

From Vice Magazine on California. “Among the many unsolvable mysteries on Netflix’s Selling Sunset—What the hell is going on with 1021 North Beverly Drive, and why is it listed for $75 million? Here’s a brief primer: Davina Potratz, an agent at the Oppenheim Group with a disfigured chunk of coal for a heart, is trying to sell a giant-ass house in the heart of Beverly Hills. The property’s owner, Adnan Sen, insists on pricing it at $75 million, and Davina caves to this demand.”

“She devotes a preposterous amount of time to trying to sell it, but (spoiler alert!) she never succeeds. It’s been on the market since 2019, and—while it has sparked rumors online about potentially being part of a money-laundering scheme—it still hasn’t sold. I called up four luxury realtors in Beverly Hills who specialize in properties with multi-million dollar price tags. The reason it’s still on the market is simple, they said: It costs way, way, way too much for what it is.”

“‘It’s an outrageous asking price,’ said Marc Noah, a realtor for Los Angeles luxury brokerage Hilton & Hyland. ‘They’re asking $4,200 a square foot. That’s on par—or even more expensive—than oceanfront, prime Malibu. Where? How? Why? As far as a justification goes, I can’t give you one.'”

“Despite the list price, you’d expect at least a few offers to roll in, even if they’re for less than $75 million. But over the course of Selling Sunset season three, that never happens. Steve Frankel, a luxury realtor for Coldwell Banker in Beverly Hills, told VICE that won’t change until the Oppenheim Group slashes the price.”

“‘There is an unforgivingness to being overpriced,’ Frankel said. ‘Buyers are very leery about making lowball offers because they feel that the seller is not realistic. So that’s a huge hindrance. They’ve got to get a price reduction to start getting some activity on the property.'”

“For Noah and Frankel, $50 million still feels high. Frankel said he’d slash the asking price in half, dropping the property down to about $37.5 million. Noah said he’d go as low as $30 million. ‘There’s definitely a chance that it never sells,’ Noah said.”

The San Francisco Chronicle in California. “A new report confirms what many have been talking about for weeks: There is an exodus out of San Francisco, and the numbers are staggering. Zillow’s ‘2020 Urban-Suburban Market Report’ reveals that inventory has risen a whopping 96% year-on-year, as empty homes in the city flood the market like nowhere else in America.”

“The astronomical cost of owning a home in the San Francisco city limits — which has been sky high for over a decade now, since the second tech boom — had to break at some point, and the coronavirus seems to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

The Orange County Register in California. “Lending Tree Chief Economist Tendayi Kapfidze expects disinflation to occur over the next few years. About one out of every three U.S. workers, or 56 million, filed unemployment claims since the beginning of the pandemic. ‘There will be significant, permanent changes to the economy, 6-7% unemployment compared to 3.5% pre-crisis,’ said Kapfidze. The current inflation of assets and housing side assets are not sustainable, he said. ‘There is a downside risk of home prices dropping 5% across the U.S. next year,’ he added.”

“How long will the government continue to provide helicopter money, virtually dropping money from the sky to keep the economy afloat? ‘We are in a period of stagflation right now — that is, slow growth with rising prices,’ said Michael Pento, president and of Pento Portfolio Strategie. Pento pointed out the U.S. has $74 trillion of total debt. The national debt is 130% of GDP. The Fed’s balance sheet was $800 million in 2008 and $7 trillion today.”

“In addition, the Treasury Department expects to borrow $4.5 trillion by the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, 3 ½ times last year’s total of $1.28 trillion. At what point does printing U.S. currency become worthless? ‘When the market for U.S. dollars loses faith in its purchasing power,’ said Pinto.”

“Pento foresees the 10-year Treasury rate at sub-zero and 30-year mortgage rates dropping below 2%. ‘Massive defaults are coming with corporate debt at the nucleus,’ he said. Another example Pento offers is today’s stock prices. Today, the market cap of equities is 177% of GDP. At the height of the Nasdaq bubble, it was 140%, said Pento. ‘It’s a ping pong of recession, depression and stagflation.'”

“While nobody expects a depression, whoever is president will need to continue to spend money, said Anil Puri, director of Cal-State Fullerton’s Wood Center for Economic Analysis and Forecasting. ‘To alleviate short-term pain, money needs to be spent now,’ he said. Modeling of past statistics is not a good guide for this event. This is a black swan event.”

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This Post Has 81 Comments

  1. ‘The astronomical cost of owning a home in the San Francisco city limits — which has been sky high for over a decade now, since the second tech boom — had to break at some point, and the coronavirus seems to be the straw that broke the camel’s back’

    Prices in SF have been sinking like a turd in a well for a long time. Eat yer crowz Thornberg.

    2. for san fran,
      are they talking about old fashioned san fran townhouses, or the thousands of new airboxes with super expensive trim.

      airboxes – especially around the south of town (Moscone center) are super hosed. This is where the trendy folks were buying and picking up the fancy company buses to FB or Google campuses

  2. ‘sold his canal-view home in Venice for a little over $2.55 million. He bought the place in 2016 for about $2.59 million’

    Personally I don’t care about celebrities doing this or that. These snapshots show how much bubble air has gone out over different time periods.

    ‘in the heart of Montecito,…a $14.65-million estate, which closed in an off-market sale in June…which was previously listed for as much as $34 million’

    1. I’ve said it here before to not to read too much into what “celebrities” or other outliers do when it comes to real estate. Yes they make amusing stories to read on tmz or whatever, but for everyone one of them taking a haircut there 10,000 more regular buyers and sellers who don’t live such distorted bubbles out there that are actually moving the needle and creating the mess that’s unfolding.

  3. ‘There is a downside risk of home prices dropping 5% across the U.S. next year’

    I wonder if Ted is still doing the 3% down thing?

    1. Just imagine the degree of underwaterness in a couple of years if Biden-Harris get in and their selected finance minions try to foam the runways with 3% downpayment subprime mortgages…

  5. “The Fed’s balance sheet was $800 million in 2008 and $7 trillion today.”

    $7,000,000,000,000 ÷ $800,000,000 = 70,000/8 = 8,750X larger in 12 year’s time.

    Is that alot?

    2. It’s why the stock market is in blast-off mode. In my opinion, they’ve failed as an organization. We need to get rid of them. They’ve done nothing but ruin society. Until there are real conversations about the damage this cabal of bankers is causing, nothing will change.

      1. I’m wondering if it is necessary for them to keep up this unprecedented rate of balance sheet expansion in order for the epic stock market rally to continue?

        Also curious about whether anything limits the Fed’s discretion to do so?

        And if they did continue at this pace of balance sheet expansion, or even accelerated it as needed, is there some tipping point in Mr Market’s future beyond the Fed’s ability to control it? Or do they truly maintain unlimited full control, as some seem to believe?

        1. A big part of the problem is that other countries allow it, as their central banks are doing the same thing. So, it’s a race to the bottom with fiat until we all go back on the gold standard or something.

          But it can’t go on forever. If it could, then why doesn’t the FED just give everybody 10 million dollars and call it good? The reason is there’s no such thing as printing your way to prosperity. The FED’s picking winners and losers, making preferred parties whole while parking their putrid “assets” on the FED balance sheet, where they’ll stay for perhaps ever.

          1. “If it could, then why doesn’t the FED just give everybody 10 million dollars and call it good?”

            I honestly haven’t paid much attention to the whole Modern Monetary Theory discussion, which seems at first glance an academic scam. But isn’t the basic premise that the Fed can use its printing press to create money out of thin air and dole it out wherever with no cost to anybody?

            Please feel free to correct me if I got this wrong…

  6. Saturday night in Chicago, Illinois, USA, and all of the Loop and downtown is closed off except for residents and people working there. This is the third largest city in the United States in the year 2020.

    How much more of this do you want?

    You keep voting for it, and you’ll only get more of it…

    1. Chicago….isn’t that the site of the “attempted modern-day lynching” of Jussie Smollett that Kamala Harris spoke of? Oh, that’s right, he’s going to trial for fabricating the entire thing. Has anybody heard from Kamala on this lately?

      1. Has anybody heard from Kamala on this lately?

        You assume 1) they are taking questions and 2) Real Journalists would ask such a question.

        1. It was rhetorical, as I have no doubt she will never be asked any tough question or be made to answer for her race-baiting.

  7. ‘it is a buyers market now, if you ever wanted to acquire something special real estate wise the timing has never been better’ says Matthews.”

    “Now would be the worst possible time to buy,” said no realtor ever.

  8. “Despite the list price, you’d expect at least a few offers to roll in, even if they’re for less than $75 million. But over the course of Selling Sunset season three, that never happens.

    No, I wouldn’t expect even lowball offers to roll in. Who wants to waste their time with greedhead sellers and realtors who go along with their delusional wish prices?

  9. While nobody expects a depression, whoever is president will need to continue to spend money, said Anil Puri, director of Cal-State Fullerton’s Wood Center for Economic Analysis and Forecasting.

    Why is it that all these neoliberal think thanks funded by globalists always come up with the same “solutions” for economic ills: lavishing more money on the oligarchy and its hirelings?

  10. Oh dear…more landlord dreams of effortless riches turning into bleached bones by the side of the trail.

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-economy-landlords/for-chinas-landlords-rent-to-riches-dreams-fade-in-red-flag-for-fragile-economy-idUSKCN25A0WL

    Li, who declined to give her full name, said she had to almost halve the rent at one of her apartments between February and May to hang on to a tenant, while her own salary was slashed 25% as her employer made coronavirus cutbacks.

    “I must pay the rent of my room in Beijing, and monthly mortgages for the two apartments,” she said.

  11. “Pento foresees the 10-year Treasury rate at sub-zero and 30-year mortgage rates dropping below 2%.”

    It’s not too late to dump your stock HODLings and seek refuge in Treasurys.

    “‘Massive defaults are coming with corporate debt at the nucleus,’ he said.”

    Small wonder Uncle Warren recently pruned his Megabank, Inc HODLings.

    “Another example Pento offers is today’s stock prices. Today, the market cap of equities is 177% of GDP. At the height of the Nasdaq bubble, it was 140%, said Pento.”

    Sounds like the biggest stock market bubble in history is coming into plain view. Maybe it will continue indefinitely, and maybe not.

    1. It’s not too late to dump your stock HODLings and seek refuge in Treasurys.

      Seek “refuge” in debt that’s going to be printed away by the Fed? No thanks.

      Silver, Bitchez….

    2. Finance
      Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Unloads Bank Stocks
      Investment firm drops its holdings in JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, but adds to Bank of America
      By Ben Eisen
      Aug. 14, 2020 5:07 pm ET

      Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. unloaded billions of dollars of bank stocks as the U.S. economy reeled during the coronavirus lockdown.

      Berkshire’s holdings of Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. stock dropped by more than $3 billion apiece in the second quarter, according to regulatory filings made public Friday. The company also dissolved its stake in Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which was worth about $300 million at the end of the first quarter.

      The conglomerate has simultaneously been adding to its ownership of Bank of America Corp. in recent weeks and now owns roughly 12% of the company, according to FactSet.

      Bank stocks have taken a big hit this year as the largest set aside tens of billions of dollars to account for potential loan losses. Bank executives have said they believe the current recession will now be deeper and longer than initially expected. The KBW Nasdaq Bank Index has fallen by 31% this year.
      …

      1. Oh…

        It’s Time to Build Cash to Take Advantage of Stocks’ Coming Tumble
        By Randall W. Forsyth
        Updated Aug. 15, 2020 3:34 pm ET / Original Aug. 14, 2020 8:34 pm ET
        Thursday marked the 100th day since the S&P 500’s low of March 23. Its 50%-plus rebound since then marks the index’s best 100-day gain.
        Kasto80/Dreamstime

        Summertime, and the livin’ is uneasy. Stocks are jumpin’ and the market is high. So, hush, all you skeptics, don’t you whine.

        With apologies to the Gershwins and DuBose Heyward, this mangling of the lyrics of “Summertime” from Porgy and Bess seems appropriate, as the stock market’s benchmark, the S&P 500 index, is on the verge of reclaiming its record peak in this summer of our disquiet, if not discontent.

        Stock market highs are associated with upbeat songs, such as Irving Berlin’s “Blue Skies,” to cite another tune from that bygone era. “Never saw the sun shining so bright, never saw things going so right,” went this popular 1929 ditty.

        With the S&P 500 ending the week a fraction of a percent below its Feb. 19 high close of 3386.17, the disparity between the equity market and the real economy, which is struggling to cope with the coronavirus pandemic, remains stark.

        As a measure of how far we’ve come, Thursday marked the 100th day since the S&P 500’s low of March 23, writes Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist of LPL Financial, in a research note. The 50%-plus rebound since then marks the best 100-day gain for the big-cap benchmark, “while millions of people have lost their jobs and tragically more than 160,000 Americans have lost their lives,” he adds.

        In the past, large 100-day rallies usually were followed by continued gains, with stocks higher a year later in 17 out of 18 instances, Detrick adds. But other market observers see more risk than reward as the S&P 500 approaches its previous highs.
        …

      2. I’ve been getting crucified in cash for over a decade now. My friends were all right, I was wrong. They levered up on houses, stocks and everything else under the sun, and the carnage that I warned of never came.

        1. “My friends were all right, I was wrong.”

          Patience. Your friend’s wives will be monkey branching for greener pastures and taking the 401-k accounts with them while you will be ready to shop the fire sales.

          1. A friend was talking about buying a large amount of Tesla stock last year, and I warned him that the company’s financials suggested bankruptcy was a real possibility. He went ahead anyway and the stock increased almost 8x over the price he got in at. That investment alone almost paid off the overpriced McMansion I warned him against buying. I look like a fool.

          2. Be wary of easy success. Your friend will double-down on the next bet and lose it all…including the wife.

            “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” —Proverbs

          3. Hey rip, let’s face it: noone could have seen the COVID-19 financial crisis, and the ensuing unprecedented monetary response, coming, not even the monetary masters at the Fed.

    4. I have been resisting all the refinance offers I’ve been getting. I’ve been paying down extra on principle, so I’ve already headed off enough much interest that it might not be worth the expense to refinance. But if mortgage interest rates run below 2%, I will ask somebody to at least run the numbers for me.

  12. https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/coronavirus-prompts-record-colorado-home-sales

    According to this article:

    As the coronavirus prompts exoduses from New York and California, more and more people are committing to buying homes in Colorado.

    If people are moving to Denver to escape the wokeness, they will be very disappointed.

    And of course, they will continue to dutifully pull the D lever on election day, just as they did in the sh!tholes they are fleeing.

  13. Checked out latest U-Haul Rates. 26 ft truck San Clemente to Austin $3800. Reverse trip Austin to San Clemente $900. Looks like So Cal exodus is gaining speed!

    2. Back in the mid 90s, during a previous California downturn, U-haul rates from Portland Oregon to anywhere in California were $99. People in California were freaking out about everyone leaving. People in Oregon were freaking out about everyone moving in. Somehow no one’s sky fell.

      1. no one’s sky fell

        A few years ago I had the privilege of visiting Portland. I likened it to going on safari. Beforehand, I checked to make sure I was current on my shots, and once downtown, I carefully watched my step as I walked, pointing and exclaiming “Oh look! There’s one!”

        The sky has fallen pretty hard there. And these issues didn’t suddenly appear in the lab in Wuhan. They have been building for a long time.

    1. Adnan Sen is an exemplar of the globalist oligarchs who have used the super-rich set’s access to unlimited FedBux to build obscene fortunes.

      From what we’ve been able to find, Adnan Sen is Turkey native who has managed to make a name for himself in America by being a luxury home developer, based in Beverly Hills. He buys properties and lands, and then, turns them into lavish mansions for the richest of individuals- selling his handiwork in the tens and hundreds of millions of dollars.

  15. I’m wondering if San Francisco is somehow unique, or if the mass exodus may prove contagious to the numerous other overpriced “Sans” that dot the California coastline (Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, San Diego etc.)?

    1. I expect Silicon Valley in general to be a bit unusual due to the entire industry in a very high cost area suddenly allowing work from home. Are there many other places that are similar? Maybe Manhattan?

  17. BREAKING NEWS!

    (snort)

    Hollywood Apocalypse: The rich and famous are fleeing in droves.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8631063/Hollywood-Apocalypse-rich-famous-fleeing-droves.html

    (snip snip snip)

    Junkies and the homeless, many of whom are clearly mentally ill, walk the palm-lined streets like zombies – all just three blocks from multi-million-dollar homes overlooking the Pacific.

    Stolen bicycles are piled high on pavements littered with broken syringes.

    TV bulletins are filled with horror stories from across the city; of women being attacked during their morning jog or residents returning home to find strangers defecating in their front gardens.

    Today, Los Angeles is a city on the brink. ‘For Sale’ signs are seemingly dotted on every suburban street as the middle classes, particularly those with families, flee for the safer suburbs, with many choosing to leave LA altogether.

    O’Brien, 58, who moved to LA from London 34 years ago, is also planning to move to Tennessee.

    (HBO readers are advised to prepare themselves for the following startling revelation …)

    ‘Liberal politics has destroyed this city,’ he says.

    (there. who could have predicted such an outcome? moving on …)

    ‘The homeless encampments are legal and there’s nothing the police can do. White, affluent middle-class folk are getting out. People don’t feel safe any more.’

    ‘Hollywood has always been the wokest of the woke, so politicians have done nothing to stop people sleeping on the streets. It’s not illegal and the weather’s nice, so they keep coming.

    ‘There is insufficient housing, inadequate mental health care. Add in Covid and it’s a perfect storm.

    ‘When I first arrived in LA 40 years ago, the town smelled of orange blossoms. Now the streets stink of urine. There is a beautiful park in Westwood but you can’t go there because there are people slumped on the ground and you step on a carpet of needles.

    ‘White flight is real. The elites and middle classes are leaving. People are taking losses on the sales of their homes to get out.’

    (amazing)

  18. Dude got his panties in a knot over the pronunciation of Cabala Harris’s name.

    Tucker Carlson responds to guest correcting pronunciation of Kamala Harris’s name: ‘So what?’

    BY MORGAN GSTALTER – 08/12/20 10:48 AM EDT

    Richard Goodstein, a Democratic strategist and former adviser to Hillary Clinton, appeared on Carlson’s show and offered up advice for the Fox News host and his colleagues.

    “Her name is pronounced ‘Comma’ — like the punctuation mark — ‘la,’” Goodstein said. “Seriously, I’ve heard every sort of bastardization of that. That’s how it is. ‘Comma-la.’”

    “OK,” Carlson said with a knitted brow. “So what?”

    “I think out of respect for somebody who’s going to be on the national ticket,” Goldstein responded. “Pronouncing her name right is actually kind of a bare minimum.”

    https://thehill.com/homenews/media/511657-tucker-carlson-responds-to-guest-correcting-pronunciation-of-kamala-harriss

    1. “I think out of respect for somebody who’s going to be on the national ticket,” Goldstein responded.

      Gotta say, I agree with Goldstein on this one. Not a fan of Harris, but basic civic virtues are still in order here, especially if she becomes VP.

        1. Tucker Carlson Gets the Last Laugh in the Faux Controversy Over How to Pronounce ‘Kamala’ (with video clips)

          During a recent interview on his show with Democrat campaign strategist Richard Goodstein, Tucker reffered to Kamala Harris in a quick monologue before asking his guest a question about her.

          “How can someone who said she believed that Joe Biden committed sexual assault against various women serve as his running mate?” Tucker asked. “Sincere question.”

          Goodstein clearly didn’t want to answer the question and chose to filibuster and race-bait. “Tucker, can I just say one thing? Because this will serve you and your fellow hosts on Fox. Her name is pronounced ‘comma’ — like the pronunciation mark — ‘la.’ Comma-la.”

          “So what?” asked Tucker.

          “That’s how it is: Kamala,” Goodstein replied, before adding, “I think, out of respect for somebody who’s going to be on the national ticket, pronouncing her name right is actually not — it’s kind of a bare minimum. That’s all.”

          Tucker wasn’t so amused. “OK. So, I’m disrespecting her by mispronouncing her name unintentionally. So it begins. You’re not allowed to criticize Kamala Harris or Kamala Harris or whatever.”

          “Kamala. No, no, no, it’s Kamala.”

          And so on…

      2. Awesome reference. Just last night I spotted a copy of that book at my daughter’s place.

        1. It amazes me that anyone would name their daughter Kamala. I’m not sure it’s even a real name. My understanding is that Kama means “lust”. In addition to Kamala there was another character, a businessman named Kamaswami, which roughly means master of lust.

  19. The USA was at it’s best with a strong middle class. Now the middle class is the target group for Commie groups, yet the productive middle class keeps everything going.

    Why a Country would turn on the productive sector of the population in favor of people demanding free shit is sucide. The Globàlist Looters are just as bad in the guest for excessive unearned profits in the looting of the hard working people by their monopolies.

    The Rich and the poor are killing the middle which will turn this once great Nation into a Country that isn’t sustainable. The Communist and Countries that want to see the USA fall are inches away from their goals.
    Biden/Harris will polish off anything that America stood for . It’s discussing that fake narratives are used to overtake a once great Nation in favor of failed ideological ideas like Communist propose.

    In Seattle the mob is screaming for hard working people to give up their homes to these worthless violent Commies who claim equity is their goal.

    How does everyone like Big Government now, who support the Looter Globalist and free stuff Looter crowd.

    It’s all very hard to watch

    1. I believe the middle-class has been without an economic pulse since the seventies, and they’ve been masking reality with debt.

    1. I’m sick of a jerk like Biden telling me that his deranged ideas are what America is all about.

  21. Just seems a little odd after watching months of coordinated attacks on U.S. cities that were defended and cheered by the MSM and some elected officials, a chick and her husband who made a video in which she interviewed contractors who she claimed were “hired by government officials to frame the Trump campaign, set him up for the Russia collusion investigation, provided witnesses for the impeachment hearings and provided administrative support services to the Department of Justice during the Mueller investigation.” and that “contractors” were responsible for creating the “fake news in mainstream media.” and alleged that the “shadow government” was responsible for spurring the recent nationwide protests and promoting the “defund the police” movement were arrested on Friday at her house after a grand jury handed up a secret indictment charging her with robbery and domestic violence,

    By Cory Shaffer, cleveland.com

    CLEVELAND, Ohio — A correspondent for InfoWars, the far-right website that peddles debunked conspiracy theories and fringe political commentary, was arrested on Friday at a house in Portage County after a grand jury handed up a secret indictment charging her with robbery and domestic violence, according to officials.

    Millie Weaver: Filmmaker Arrested Hours Before ‘Shadow Gate’ Documentary Release

    15 hours ago

    Millicent Weaver and her husband, Gavin Wince, were both arrested by the Portage County Sheriff’s Office on August 14. Inmate records show they were booked into the Portage County Jail around 1:50 a.m.

    Heavy confirmed with the Portage County Jail, over the phone, that Weaver and her husband are both facing four charges:

    Robbery
    Tampering with evidence
    Obstructing justice
    Domestic violence

    Weaver has visited the White House at least twice. She shared on Instagram in January that White House staff had invited her to tour the West Wing. She wrote in part, “I’m glad to see that my hard work is recognized and appreciated! We truly have the greatest country and the greatest President! #Trump2020.” Weaver posted about another visit on March 7, writing, “It was nice to be back at The White House. Big things coming! Stay tuned.”

    https://heavy.com/news/2020/08/millie-weaver/

  22. The Financial Times
    Coronavirus business update 30 days complimentary
    The Big Read Property sector
    ‘New York City Lite’: after coronavirus, will business flock to the suburbs?
    As the pandemic prompts a migration from cities, companies are debating whether to follow the people
    Joshua Chaffin in Stamford
    5 hours ago
    …
    The past 20 years has been a golden age of great cities such as New York and London. As talented young workers migrated to such hubs, companies followed, attracting more talent in turn. What resulted from that dance were vibrant, productive — and pricey — metropolises that have been the global economy’s centres of gravity.

    In New York, one need only look to the torrid expansion over the past few years of large tech companies — Google, Facebook and Amazon — that has fast remade the west side of Manhattan.

    But coronavirus has, almost overnight, thrown this dynamic into question by rendering some of these cities’ great attributes — their density and rich cultural offerings — unappealing or off-limits. That is precipitating an exodus to suburbs that had wilted in their shadows.

    “It’s unlike anything I’ve seen and I’ve been doing this for 20 years,” says Carolyn Fugere, a Sotheby’s broker in Stamford. In July, the number of single-family homes under contract in the wider Fairfield County rose 63 per cent compared to the previous year. The value of those contracts was up 104 per cent. Reports of rising crime in a fraying New York City, Ms Fugere adds, are prompting young families to “accelerate life decisions”.

    In south Florida, developer Alex Yokana believes the recent craze for urban living is over, likening luxury apartment towers in a pandemic to fancy jails. “They’re basically locked into their apartments. They can’t go out any more,” he says of residents. Mr Yokana is now hoping to sell homes on two-acre plots that offer a sense of safety and seclusion. “You can even build your own office compound,” he says of his new project, AKAI estates.

    On the other side of the ledger, RealPage, a property analytics company, recorded a net loss of 6,786 households in the New York metro area in the second quarter. It had gained 3,730 in the same period a year earlier. (Los Angeles lost 6,347). The flight has been so dramatic that Governor Andrew Cuomo recently pleaded for New Yorkers to come home.
    …

    1. If Covid is really chasing businesses and people out of the “great cities” then they are in for a world of hurt, as it it appears that the virus will be with us for years.

      Of course, we know the real real reason for the exodus, and that won’t be changing anytime soon either. Big city crime and lawlessness isn’t a bug; it’s a feature.

      1. I am surprised that protesters in Portland and Seattle have the audacity to stage protests at someone’s personal residence, and that they don’t see they’re doing anything wrong. Furthermore, where are the police for phuc’s sake? Unreal!

        1. , and that they don’t see they’re doing anything wrong

          For them the end justifies the means. This isn’t about playing fair or “losing with honor”. Like all totalitarians they seek victory at any cost. Lying, double crossing, treachery are all tools they are comfortable using. And they aren’t interested in sharing power with the legacy left. Those people will be the first to be purged should the new brown shirts succeed in taking over despite their pleas that “we’re on your side!”

          1. BLM protesters see no need to observe the rule of law. And for good measure, they push Democrat-supported measures to defang and defund the police, in order to pursue their power grab unimpeded.

            Clever strategy, if it succeeds.

          2. Also, the MSM glommed onto academic “studies” that demonstrated street protests while wearing handkerchiefs had no impact on COVID-19 spread. These studies were quite miraculously completed, published, and widely reported before any data on which to reasonably draw such conclusions even existed.

            So BLM protests get a blanket pass from Democratic politicians to conduct mass street protests and looting during an ever-worsening pandemic, while churches and businesses are subjected to crippling shutdown regulations to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

            I smell a rat.

          3. PS Capture culture and political correctness considerations suggest that I have no constitutional free speech right to point out what is really happening.

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