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While Rents May Be Tumbling, Neighborhoods Are Still Filling Up With Moving Vans

A report from KOLD in Arizona. “John Carroll is an Tucson agent with Land Advisors Organization, and recently worked on a residential market study. Carroll said right now, there is not enough land for builders to keep up with current demand. ‘In 2006, we had 154 active communities, so it created a lot more choice for consumers to look through and to acquire, and it helped keep home prices in check because there was so much competition,’ Carroll said.”

From CBS 4 in Texas. “Many El Pasoans who took on home improvement projects said they’re coming across an unexpected issue. The latest shortage across the country appears to be lumber. ‘If you want a roof done or you want to build a house an example on just new home buildings right now is if you were building a new house your price is going to be between $5,000 to $10,000 more just on lumber alone,’ said Joe Garcia, a managing partner with Strong Roofing and Construction. ‘A house right now say a year ago say a basic 2,000 square foot house you could have probably gotten a year ago for probably about $205,000 to $220,000. Right now you’re looking at probably $250,000 to $270,000 for the same house.'”

From Connect Texas. “Newmark Knight Frank is seeking offers for The Ranch Apartments, a 243-unit, 737-bed student housing property in Lubbock. Pricing will be determined by the market. The property represents about a 66% discount to replacement costs, according to the marketing flyer.”

From Bisnow New York. “Yihai North America bought a luxury apartment building at 111 Kent Ave. for $45.3M, about $11M less than the $56M the building sold for in 2012 in a deal that was record-breaking at the time, Crain’s New York Business reports. American Realty sold the Williamsburg building, which contains 62 residential units. The deal reflects the investment market: average pricing for multifamily properties across the city dropped 50% year-over-year in the first half of 2020 as apartment dwellers leave the city in droves and rents plummet.”

From Western Massachusetts News. “The real estate market is hot here in western Mass. and across the country, as mortgage rates remain at historic lows. However, a new study shows many new homeowners are regretting diving into the market, as they struggle with financial issues thanks to COVID-19. The study shows more than half of new home buyers surveyed have buyers remorse, citing financial struggles brought on by job loss or reduction because of the pandemic.”

“A group called LendEDU said out of 1,000 recent homebuyers surveyed, 55-percent regretted buying a home during the pandemic, 30-percent citing financial struggles. The study also shows 16-percent of all homeowners have agreed to a pandemic forbearance with their mortgage lender. ‘You have to juggle, you know, what is my mortgage rate going to be, how much do I want to pay in my monthly payments,’ said REALTOR® Association of Pioneer Valley’s Brendan Bailey. ‘What can I afford as a down payment [and] what if I offer this, and that, it gets very confusing and complicated.'”

From Patch Colorado. “One of Denver’s most expensive home listings has seen a price drop of $400,000 — down to $8,850,000. The 10,100-square-foot luxury house, at 1 Polo Club Lane, sits on a 1.27-acre lot.”

From Realtor.com. “Pro golfer Jim Furyk is taking another swing at selling his lovely home in Lahaina, Hawaii. The Maui mansion is available for $4.7 million. The spectacular island getaway has come on and off the market for over a decade, with an asking price of as much as $7.5 million back in 2008. Over the years, that has been whittled down, to $6.9 million in 2012 and then two years later, to $5.9 million. In 2016, the home was listed for $5.49 million. Last summer, the price dropped to $4.7 million. It was relisted this week at that same amount.”

The Los Angeles Times on Oklahoma. “Russell Westbrook is officially out of Oklahoma. A year after being traded to the Rockets, the NBA star has finally sold his estate near Oklahoma City for $1.03 million — nearly half of the $1.945 million he paid for it back in 2012.”

The Los Angeles Times on California. “Justin Bieber is doubling down in the 90210. A year after buying a 1930s Colonial-style home there for $8.5 million, the singer and his wife have dropped $25.8 million on a Beverly Park estate, The Times has confirmed. The 2.5-acre property has been waffling on and off the market for the past two years, originally listing for $42 million in 2018.”

From CBS Bay Area in California. “Leading the price decline of cities at the top are San Francisco and New York, the nation’s two priciest cities,’ Zumper said in a Tuesday news release. ‘Both San Francisco and New York reached the lowest price points they ever have since Zumper started tracking median prices in 2014. Median 1-bedroom price in San Francisco last month was $3,040, a 14.1% decrease from a year ago.'”

“But while rents may be tumbling in San Francisco, neighborhoods are still filling up with moving vans on most weekends. ‘One of the reasons that a lot of the things that drew us to San Francisco, we want to be close to the symphony and opera here, want to be close to Hayes Valley, all the small businesses,’ says Hajo Schiewe. ‘And basically, nothing is there anymore, everything is closed.'”

“Of course, not every departure is voluntary. ‘A lot of people don’t want to leave, but people are losing their jobs,’ said mover Ali Phelps. Phelps has been moving people in and out of San Franciscans for about 20 years. Has he ever seen anything like this? ‘No,’ he answers. ‘Not really this big boom of people just moving all at once.'”

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  2. ‘The study shows more than half of new home buyers surveyed have buyers remorse, citing financial struggles brought on by job loss or reduction because of the pandemic’

    ‘A group called LendEDU said out of 1,000 recent homebuyers surveyed, 55-percent regretted buying a home during the pandemic, 30-percent citing financial struggles’

    Oh dear…

    More on this later.

    1. Buy a house during the pandemic? Heck, I’m hesitant to buy a car, even though I can pay cash. Right now I’d rather have the cash in the bank.

    2. Good grief – are we, the cautious and fiscally responsible, just stupid.

      Is there a skew mix? I dont have another explanation – and it is killing my analytical side. Unemployment at high levels, bankruptcies increasing …. and yet

      —–

      U.S. house prices were up 5.4% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2020, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index report released Tuesday.

      Sustained Housing Growth: Home prices increased in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. on a year-over-year basis, the agency said.

      This increase continues the trend of house prices rising for 36 straight quarters.

      House prices also increased in 99 of the 100 largest metropolitan areas nationwide. Urban Honolulu, Hawaii experienced the largest increase, at 11.7%. San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, California experienced a 0.3% decrease in home prices.

      https://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-housing-prices-create-sellers-204207384.html

      hile the coronavirus pandemic has hit the U.S. economy hard since February, one market that saw a noticeable bounce-back in July was the existing housing market. A report released Friday by the National Association of Realtors said sales jumped 24.7% from June to July, the biggest increase since December 2006.

      Prices were up 8.5% from the same period in 2019.

      https://www.ibtimes.com/coronavirus-couldnt-keep-us-housing-market-experiencing-record-surge-july-3032544

      1. A lot of people are in some degree of panic mode.

        From hording TP, cleaning products and food to buying RVs to “bugging out” of the urban cores, they are reacting without the usual reserve and caution. But later, they stare at the ceiling at 3am and ask themselves “What Have I Done???”

        It’s not ‘everyone’ obviously. At any given (normal) time it’s a small percentage of people who are relocating. And right now, a similar “small percentage” of the overall population has gotten weirded out, panicky and decided to act now out of FOSB (Fear of Something Bad) coming soon. So they make up a nice chunk of those people buying houses right now and the majority of those who went out further on a limb and/or second guessing themselves.

  3. ‘the NBA star has finally sold his estate near Oklahoma City for $1.03 million — nearly half of the $1.945 million he paid for it back in 2012’

    ‘bought a luxury apartment building at 111 Kent Ave. for $45.3M, about $11M less than the $56M the building sold for in 2012 in a deal that was record-breaking at the time’

    The winnah!

    ‘The deal reflects the investment market: average pricing for multifamily properties across the city dropped 50% year-over-year in the first half of 2020 as apartment dwellers leave the city in droves and rents plummet’

    But half off is unrealistic? Measure a mania anyway you like and there’s no question NYC had a bubble and it has popped.

      2. Here’s one:

        ‘The Ranch Apartments, a 243-unit, 737-bed student housing property in Lubbock. The property represents about a 66% discount to replacement costs’

        Recession proof!

    2. $2M for a shack, albeit a very big and fancy one, in Oklahoma City? Just how many people there could afford that? This is the epitome of fly over country.

        1. an OK paper did a report on million $ shacks I wonder how many (or if) any of those overpriced shacks have built-in fire suppression systems and tornado-resistant building standards?

  5. ‘if you were building a new house your price is going to be between $5,000 to $10,000 more just on lumber alone…a basic 2,000 square foot house you could have probably gotten a year ago for probably about $205,000 to $220,000. Right now you’re looking at probably $250,000 to $270,000 for the same house’

    So a 10k increase in sticks turns into a 50-60k more expensive shack.

    2. 10k increase in sticks

      As we learned it isn’t a price increase in sticks, it’s speculative crack up in futures. How could that increase the cost of an already built house?

      1. How could that increase the cost of an already built house?

        Because “replacement value.” That’s the justification for all overpriced existing houses.

    3. Any info on the price of composite/synthetic wood? Thinking about redoing my deck and wondering if I should wait.

          1. Stuff like trex is more than just extruded extruded polyethylene. I have no idea of what the demand is for it at this time. Perhaps the lumber yards have it piled to the rafters, or maybe it’s selling than it can be manufactured. I don’t know.

          2. more than just extruded polyethylene

            I thought it was a mix of HDPE and organic fiber. I doubt the price of sawdust or hulls is going through the roof.

      2. Yeah, like Trex. I think there are several other brands right now.

        The old treated pine deck just takes a constant beating from being under the shadow of 100’+ trees plus PNW rain and needs constant maintenance. I replaced the upper portion of the deck on my house in TX 15+ years ago with Trex. The North Texas summers would just trash treated pine within a year or two despite tending to it, but when I saw the photos of it from a forclosure listing a decade later, the composite half was still looking like new.

        I don’t think I’ve talked about it much here, but I’ve been fixing up Casa Spiffy for the long haul (new roof, chimney cap, skylights, gutters, that sort of thing) and want to minimize total maintenance needed over time.

        1. The old treated pine deck

          You’re on Mercer. That’s not pine, it’s doug fir or cedar. Whatever the case, I would not devalue that house by using fake wood. Refinish the deck as it deserves, and maintain it once a year.

          1. It’s def not cedar. It was always pine at my last house, just assumed it same.

            It needs some maintenance even if I leave the rest unchanged. The problem was the spot maintenance prior to our getting here.

          2. It’s probably Douglas fir. Have the deck properly washed, sanded (and stripped if necessary), and refinished. It will be beautiful.

          3. I’ll give it fair consideration. I’ve got some rot to deal with, and the hot tub (was broken when we moved in) will be going bye-bye. I’m taking some time to plan it all out.

          1. skylights…minimize total maintenance

            One of these things is not like the other.

            Eh, the bigger ideal is not cheaping out. From what I can tell, a couple of them had been replaced in the decade prior to our arrival, and done on the cheap. Like so many things, the quality difference was obvious. When it comes to the water integrity of a house, that’s not something I’ll mess around with or short.

          3. > He might have thought you decided to install them.

            Nope. They’re original to the house. Triple 4×8′ skylights in the living room to go with the floor to ceiling windows for starters. (got some great views)

            > They are definitely a high maintenance item in the PNW.

            I have them washed and the roof cleaned regularly. It comes with the huge trees.

  6. ‘In 2006, we had 154 active communities, so it created a lot more choice for consumers to look through and to acquire, and it helped keep home prices in check because there was so much competition’

  7. ‘Both San Francisco and New York reached the lowest price points they ever have since Zumper started tracking median prices in 2014′

    The lowest in 6 years didn’t happen since this spring. Rents in many metros have been falling for years.

    1. ‘Phelps has been moving people in and out of San Franciscans for about 20 years. Has he ever seen anything like this? ‘No,’ he answers. ‘Not really this big boom of people just moving all at once’

      Nobody wants to live there?

      2. Nobody could afford to live there — until recently. Here is the view on the ground.

        https://granolashotgun.com/2020/08/14/the-great-reshuffling/

        “These were not San Francisco people. They might drift in for a while, build up their careers, and make some easy money. But they were never going to remain for long. They were always destined for a suburban life elsewhere. And the stock talk reflected the reality that financialization had funneled wealth to flow to some individuals and locations selectively while many others were outsourced into the minimum wage gig economy and unemployment.”

        “As this marginal demographic departs the city a void is being created and it’s providing wiggle room for people who genuinely want to be here. The city has needed this correction for years and there’s a collective sigh of relief that it’s finally arrived. It’s true that city dwellers can leave and continue to work from home in a distant suburb or rural retreat in another state. But it’s also true that people trapped in the burbs against their desires are slightly more able to move in to the city.”

        1. Thanks Larry – that was a good read.

          There is a lot of nuance to the changes going on. I’d still say that the city needs a lot more correcting – we’ll see how it plays out.

        2. “Seems like people from outside aren’t welcome. Well I’m sure they don’t care. The fact is that SF has become uninhabitable. The exodus is being sped up by Covid but it’s been going on for a couple years. Now that these tech companies know they aren’t welcome and their employees know they can work from home I expect SF to be a ghost town for occasional tourists. In the end you’ll get what you want “San Francisco people” and homeless. It’s too bad because it used to be such a great city but it’s not anymore and it’s not the fault of the people who moved there for work.”

        3. From the comments: “It’s still the most beautiful city in the US. You don’t walk around here, you float. What is astonishing is that the collapse of everything has been compressed into a few months.”

      1. Tesla Inc.
        Open
        Last Updated: Sep 2, 2020 11:44 a.m. EDT Real time quote
        $422.98 -52.07 -10.96%
        Previous Close
        $475.05
        Automotive -7.04%

          1. Tesla’s stock sinks into correction territory after disclosure of another large seller
            Published: Sept. 2, 2020 at 2:11 p.m. ET
            By Tomi Kilgore
            Baillie Gifford’s Tesla stake decreased by more than 19 million shares since the end of June, but the value of that stake increased by nearly 50% as prices more than doubled.
            …

          3. Marketwatch.com
            Market Extra
            A Tesla triple-leveraged fund is finally having a day in the sun, soaring 40%
            Last Updated: Sept. 2, 2020 at 4:50 p.m. ET
            First Published: Sept. 2, 2020 at 3:41 p.m. ET
            By Mark DeCambre
            …

          4. Tesla’s stock sinks into correction territory after disclosure of another large seller

            Do you think the recent buyers who just took a 20% hatchet wound are happy?

      2. Did people just wake up to realize that we no longer need cars?

        I need a car, I just don’t need a new one.

          1. Even if I was offered a very good trade in for the current car, plus a hefty discount on its replacement, it’s still money down the drain. The current car has only 45K miles and runs like a clock. Why replace it? if it had 200K miles and was a money pit, maybe then; but that won’t be for a looooong time.

          2. The current car has only 45K miles and runs like a clock. Why replace it?

            Yeah, why replace it? I’m only buying a new vehicle because my current one is at 170k and is a few decades old. It’s time. I have been putting it off a couple years.

          4. Geez, it’$ a conundrum, my “leave.it@thee.train.station” 1999 Saturn station.wagon (x1 owner), bought for $600.00 x6 years has 449,000+ mileage ($77 CA regi$tration + x1 oil change per year $35) … The conundrum? No long.distant Amtrak train travel since March 15th 2020.

            Gue$$ eye’ll try to manage the carrying cost$ fer x1 year, iffin’ thee.deeth.👾 doesn’t latch on to me in the mean while!

          5. “The current car has only 45K miles and runs like a clock. Why replace it?”

            I’m on the same page, but I suspect we are outliers.

          6. “my current one is at 170k and is a few decades old.”
            and
            “I drove mine past 300K! It “didn’t owe me anything”.”

            I have a 2004 at 175K. I’m about to drop $2,500 on it for some needed maintenance and upgrades. That should allow me to run, other than typical maintenance (fluids, wipers, etc) at very little cost for the next 5 years. I’ll check back in with dealers then to see if my cash means anything to them.

          7. I have a 2004 at 175K. I’m about to drop $2,500 on it for some needed maintenance and upgrades.

            I am still keeping my old truck for work.

      3. Oil Markets
        Summer Fuel Demand Disappoints, Challenging Economy
        Oil prices stay in tight range as coronavirus fears fuel caution among consumers
        By Amrith Ramkumar
        Updated Sept. 1, 2020 4:27 pm ET

        A swift recovery in fuel consumption by U.S. drivers is petering out, posing new challenges to the oil market, economy and global energy industry.

        After demand for gasoline surged from mid-April to late June, consumption has stayed relatively flat in the past two months and remains well below its prepandemic levels, government data show. The fizzling rebound highlights the lingering effects of coronavirus precautions and travel restrictions. Even as some states advance business-reopening plans, rising cases in other parts of the country are fueling caution among consumers.

        Many companies have delayed plans to reopen offices, while many school districts and colleges around the country are opening with hybrid or remote instruction, taking a bigger bite out of fuel demand.

        Combined with other data points showing that improvements in consumer spending and hiring are cooling, the slower increase in fuel demand illustrates that the next phase of the economic recovery could be more difficult.

        The trend is a threat to the economy because people tend to spend more money when they are moving around and engaging with businesses. Some analysts think gasoline demand will need to rise for the economic recovery to continue at its current pace, especially with many Americans avoiding public transportation because of coronavirus concerns and seeking to take vacations before summer ends.
        To Read the Full Story
        Subscribe
        …
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        How Energy Got So Cheap
        An abundance of fossil fuels combined with advances in technology to harness wind and solar power has sent energy prices crashing around the world this year. WSJ explains how it all happened at once. Photo illustration: Carlos Waters/WSJ

        1. As regulars here are well aware, all asset price bubbles eventually pop, no matter how much market rigging is used to undepin their prices.

    1. It sure seems to me that they want to use Medical as a means to control the populations.

      Cullen is great at adding up evidence and taking it to it’s logical conclusion.

      1. Yes, there is little doubt that they see Medical as the easiest way. Maybe they could get it done another way, but all other paths have been slow and difficult for them. They have to instill fear to get fast results. Then they keep adding disinfo to make it harder to figure out what they’re really doing.

        1. Yes, I agree with you. The disinformation and suppression of facts is really geared up now to a degree I have never seen before.

          The last thing in the world I want is Big Government in conjunction with the Medical Cartel taking control by these means.

          1. Yes, I agree with you. The disinformation and suppression of facts is really geared up now to a degree I have never seen before.

            It went into hyperdrive during the covid “crisis”. We started not being able to trust any of the “facts” we were given. This disinfo is going to hurt all of us in many ways in the long run. The entrusted officials that intentionally lied should be put in prison, if not worse.

          2. “This disinfo is going to hurt all of us in many ways in the long run”

            Thee.🍊.jesus: Eye $peak.thee.truth$, & only thee.truth$, so help.me.Czar.Putin!

      2. Yep, I just came back from a trip to the mainland and am in mandatory quarantine for 2 weeks because of Hawaiis stupid policy to kill off any semblance of an economy. In screening I showed the national guard at the airport my “dumb” phone so I wouldnt have to install an app on it. They said next time I travel I would have to do something on the computer to register, so I would look to do it at a library or some other place but the big brother aspect of this is getting insane.
        Note that both apple and google are pushing apps to your “smart” phone that uses bluetooth to track if you might have come in close proximity to someone who tested positive. Given that much of the testing is a joke, I wouldnt even consent to a test at this point.

        1. “but the big brother a$pect of this is getting in$ane”

          Eye’m thinkin’ of yer pain$ in particular of this day …the day that Japan signed their National SURRENDER to U$A in WWll.

          Sorry yer suffering $o, … $ad

        2. “Given that much of the testing is a joke, I wouldnt even consent to a test at this point.”

          Donate blood, and you’ll get the antibody test included.

  10. Carroll said right now, there is not enough land for builders to keep up with current demand.

    I received a invitation to participate in an “affordable housing” survey.

    The survey was obviously skewed towards supporting non profits like Habitat and .gov building affordable housing, with donations and taxpayer money.

    In the comments section I wrote that if they get rid of the artificial land shortage that the market would making housing affordable.

    Of course that means everyone’s house will drop in price, and we can’t have that, can we? I’m sure the people who sent out the survey are very happy with the absurd appreciation on their own houses. Not to mention that if housing was affordable here then there wouldn’t be a need for a local Housing Authority, and they would be unemployed.

  11. Book review of “The Stakes: America at the Point of No Return” which was published yesterday. Here, excerpts about government and economy (the whole review is worth reading):

    “The most plausible outcome would be a return to the “neoliberal” consensus and trajectory circa 2015. A more precise name might be “managerial leftist-libertarianism,” for this governing ideology is top-down, bureaucratic, and anti-democratic, committed to social engineering and grievance politics, while undermining virtue and promoting vice. But that’s something of a mouthful, and “neoliberal,” for better or worse, has gained widespread acceptance.

    Neoliberalism elevates as a matter of “principle” the international over the national; it rejects the latter as narrow, particular, cramped, even bigoted, and celebrates the former as cosmopolitan and enlightened. Neoliberalism is (for now) forced to tolerate nations and borders as unfortunate and unhelpful obstacles but it looks forward to a time when such nuisances finally are behind mankind forever.

    Until that time, neoliberalism works to warp state power into instruments whose primary mission is not to secure the well-being or interests of individual peoples or nations but instead to enforce the international neoliberal order—in particular the movement of capital, goods, and labor across borders in ways that benefit the transnational neoliberal ruling class. In practice, this amounts to widespread, close-knit cooperation between business and government—or what neoliberals euphemistically refer to as “public-private partnership.”

    The real power in the neoliberal order resides not with elected (or appointed) officials and “world leaders”; they—or most of them—are a servant class. True power resides with their donors: the bankers, CEOs, financiers, and tech oligarchs—some of whom occasionally run for and win office, but most of whom, most of the time, are content to buy off those who do. The end result is the same either way: economic globalism and financialization, consolidation of power in an ostensibly “meritocratic” but actually semi-hereditary class, livened up by social libertinism.

    This consensus and the people who profit from it are still very much in charge of America today. They control everything: corporations, banks, tech firms, media (legacy and social), universities, primary and secondary schools, foundations, mainline religious organizations, and of course the entire federal bureaucracy. They also control, in all but the very reddest counties and municipalities, local governments and agencies.

    The economy will become even more artificial and jury-rigged. We shall test supposed iron laws of economic gravity—for instance, whether it’s possible to maintain a fiat currency indefinitely with endless money printing and whether the dollar can long maintain its global reserve status. The longer the rigging goes on, the more rigging will be required.

    Overall, the economy will become more techified, more financialized, more concentrated at the coasts, and more unequal. Expect the rich to get a lot richer and the middle class to disappear. Wages will fall.

    Since small businesses are one of the last redoubts of the middle class (owing to the disappearance, via outsourcing and immigration, of middle-income American jobs at big companies), expect what’s left of the middle class to shrink further. If it seems incredible—as it should—that financial markets are at or near all-time highs when GDP has plunged, unemployment reached levels not seen since the Great Depression, and our cities and towns have been repeatedly sacked, looted, and burned for three straight months, the biggest reason is the consolidation of corporate control over the economy.”

    https://amgreatness.com/2020/08/28/a-tyranny-perpetual-and-universal/

    1. 401, nice post.

      I keep saying that these powers already took over at the expense of the middle class worker which I assume are the Trump voters.

      It’s pretty weird when you break down what are the different powers that vie for control of the USA.

    2. “A good parasite does not kill the host.” That’s what occurs to me when I consider modern economic / monetary policy.

      1. “A good parasite doesn’t kill the host”

        That’s the part that has always baffled me also. But, I suppose the parasite thinks it can jump to another host once it sucks the life out of the current host. What comes to mind is emerging markets that can be the new host.

    3. I had to stop in the middle because I realized how confusing this must be for the vast majority of the readers.
      Liberalism as in Europe( and I remember how confused I was when I moved to this country) has a whole different meaning that the one used in US, it is almost the opposite. In Europe is used more in association with free economy and small government, free capital movement, non interventionism. More like the big Corporations should make the laws and rules.
      In US it’s used more in the form found even in Machiavelli’s works, LIBERO(free) spending. Governments to spend easy money on citizens to buy votes. Kind of…

      “In the United States liberalism is associated with the welfare-state policies of the New Deal program of the Democratic administration of Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt, whereas in Europe it is more commonly associated with a commitment to limited government and laissez-faire economic policies”

      So just throwing and mixing those concepts results in a big salad that does not make any sense…

    4. I guess that what that article implies is that the road of corporate capitalism eventually leads to a complete enslavement of the government to the corporations. This is the road proposed by some of our republicans. Which has nothing to do with Roosevelt and his idea of liberalism and in personal freedom and the right of humans to not be slaves to the masters. And also, that everyone should have a right to be free and pursue happiness, hence the government’s roles should be as an arbiter between corporations and people, to make sure that the corporations cannot enslave the people and take advantage of them.

    5. “They control everything: corporations, banks, tech firms, media (legacy and social), universities, primary and secondary schools, foundations, mainline religious organizations, and of course the entire federal bureaucracy. They also control, in all but the very reddest counties and municipalities, local governments and agencies.”

      If they could only get rid of that pesky Second Amendment

      A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

      1. If they could only get rid of that pesky Second Amendment

        It’s telling that Antifa thug who executed a Trump supporter in downtown Portland last weekend had previously been arrested for carrying a firearm at a violent protest, but when it comes to firearms offenses, liberal DAs are blind in the left eye.

        Comrade Michael Forest Reinoehl, a true exemplar of Democratic values and virtues, would’ve made an ideal Comandante in one of Comrade Beto’s future Peace Force goon squads conducting raids to disarm the kulaks. He certainly possessed the moral character for the job.

        https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8686973/Sister-turned-Portland-antifa-brother-reveals-estranged-family.html

  12. That Polo house in Denver is pretty nice. Oh look, it’s got a Wall of Wine. I guess that’s trendy now. But this one is pretty cool. It’s a climate controlled room just off the main living area. A guest can walk right in a choose a bottle. I LIKE it.

    Plus it’s got all the nice amenities. But the downsides are 1) practically no land 2) 8 million bucks (I’d pay about 1/3 that) 3) No matter how you slice it, Denver is still Denver. It’s a nice enclave, but well within protesting distance of major arteries.

    1. No matter how you slice it, Denver is still Denver

      Being that close to downtown is a huge liability as far as I’m concerned.

  13. “The deal reflects the investment market: average pricing for multifamily properties across the city dropped 50% year-over-year in the first half of 2020 as apartment dwellers leave the city in droves and rents plummet.”

    The deal indicates a 19 percent decrease in price. What is down 50 percent, according to a linked article, is the total volume of transactions — and frankly, I’m surprised it isn’t down more.

    And I don’t think an actual 50 percent decrease in purchase price, were one to occur, would be a bad thing. We had that kind of decrease, after adjustment for inflation, in the early 1990s. Those who bought real estate at the time actually made money.

  15. I’ve been to Springfield, MA – which is ridiculously affordable compared to the Greater Boston area – but I’m not interested in living there. Other parts of Western MA are quite lovely, bucolic you might say.

    Elsewhere in MA, reportedly the housing market on Cape Cod is “red hot” and breaking records. I’m heading to the Cape tomorrow for the long weekend.

    https://www.barnstablepatriot.com/news/20200818/cape-cod-housing-market-continues-unprecedented-pace

    1. “according to a statement released Monday by the Cape & Islands Association of REALTORS®.”

      Zero sales for Feb, Mar, April, May and June. And we’re to be surprised of a jump in sales in July?

      YTD demand is down…. and falling.

      Realtors really are liars.

      1. aNYCdj, all those savings someone gets with buying an inexpensive house, they could hire a security team to patrol their block(s).

    2. I used to live in a hardwood floor apartment on DeBaliviere Place just north of Forest Park. Had a day job two miles away, an easy five minutes commute. At one point my neighbor upstairs left the water running in her tub, which leaked through my ceiling and destroyed the beautiful flooring. Later the apartment across the hall from me had the door broken down and the contents cleaned out.

      But aside from these minor annoyances of city living, life was pretty good for me several decades ago.

  20. The deal reflects the investment market: average pricing for multifamily properties across the city dropped 50% year-over-year in the first half of 2020 as apartment dwellers leave the city in droves and rents plummet.”

    But…but…we were told that 50% drops were un-possible. But at least the De Blasio administration has finally moved decisively to curb rampant crime and vagrants using the Upper West Side as their outdoor toilet and heroin shooting gallery.

    Oh, wait….

  21. I’m seeing more red flags in the Fed’s Ponzi markets. Even though “the markets” had a huge run up today, volatility, i.e. bets against the market, also closed up, i.e. UVXY and TVIXF (pink slips). That’s not normal, and suggests somebody – Fed insiders? Robinhood momentum chasers? – is starting to place bets against the Ponzi.

  22. Inside the mind of a delusional, wicked, entitled, deranged lib:

    “I take responsibility for falling for a setup. And that’s all I’m going to say on that.”

    “I think that this salon owes me an apology, for setting me up,”

    “Asked how she was set up, Pelosi bristled, asking reporters in turn, “Do you have any questions about how people are dying?”

    “There’s more to this that I’m not going into as to the motivation of a salon to say to me, ‘Yes come in’ … it was clearly a set up. I take responsibility for falling for a setup,” she said. “I take responsibility for trusting the word of the neighborhood salon that I’ve been to for years.”

    2. So this old cadaver, a lawmaker who is pushing COVID shutdowns, didn’t know the law and went into a hair salon because they told her it was ok? I’m calling MAJOR BULLSH!T on this b!tch.

      1. I’m guessing the “setup” was that they assured her it would be handled discretely and encouraged her to come in for a secret touchup and then screwed her over by letting video get out.

        The fact that it was illegal is meaningless…that stuff is for the little people.

    3. “Asked how she was set up, Pelosi bristled, asking reporters in turn, “Do you have any questions about how people are dying?”

      Oh yeah, PEOPLE ARE DYING! Go choke on a piece of gristle you old hag.

      2. “Asked how she was set up, Pelosi bristled, asking reporters in turn, “Do you have any questions about how people are dying?” Reply to that: “Do you have any answers to my original question, or are you trying to avoid something?”

    4. FYI, she could have worn a mask, even when she was having her hair washed. You can simply tape the mask to your face so you don’t need to use the earloops, plus it ensures a tight fit. I’ve been taping a mask to my face since March. The only time I’ve gone without a mask is at the dentist, and the dentist was covered enough for both of us.

      1. I’ve been taping a mask to my face since March.

        I’d like to see this. Not sure I’ve seen anybody around here doing that.

        1. And goggles too, chemistry-lab goggles. I’m rather petite, so masks don’t fit very tightly anyway. I feel better taping the mask around the bottom and sides. I don’t have to tape the top edge because the goggles are pretty tight. I guess it does cut off some oxygen because after about 90 minutes I feel a little weird, but I’m getting used to it. I’m sure it’s overkill, but I feel very protected.

          1. after about 90 minutes I feel a little weird

            That’s not good.

            You are obviously not making a fashion statement, so get a P100 mask. It has a rubber seal so that (unless you are growing a beard) it seals and you don’t have to fuss with the edges. It has more filter surface area so you can breathe better. I have worn such a mask in poison gas situations numerous times and was fine. You cut down the surface area of the mask with the tape. N95 is a fool’s mask anyway, because it lets 5% of crap through, by design! P100, something like 0.01%

          2. Maksks like that are still not available to buy. And I’m not sure I would trust what is coming out of China these days anyway. When there’s high demand and money to be made, that’s when even the honest Chinese cheat. Exhibit A: Chinese drywall. Exhibit B: pet food.

            And FYI, even Chinese mothers don’t trust Chinese baby formula. There’s a huge black market in smuggling American baby formula into China. That’s why the baby formula at grocery stores is kept in a locked case next to customer service.

            So, I’ll use the masks that I bought; they were likely manufactured before the pandemic joshua-treed the supply. I’m trying to make those masks last until there’s a vaccine for the health-care workers. That’s when I expect real supply to come back online.

          3. still not available to buy

            McMaster-Carr Half-Face Respirators P100 size = small NIOSH approved delivers tomorrow.

          5. I used medical type paper tape on the top edge of medical N95 masks due to fogging of my glasses. I don’t think the part of the mask resting on our skin plays any role in air filtration, that is where I applied the tape. Paper tape was the only kind (for me anyway) that I could wear all day and not get skin irritation.
            For me a definite side effect of any kind of face mask is over-heating. The surface of my head seems to work like the radiator of a car. Cover a portion of it and I get too hot, too fast. Really bad under summer heat & humidity. Maybe that is the “weird” feeling.

          6. There are at least 2 kinds of chemistry lab goggles, one with the framework full of holes for better ventilation, the other with about 4 holes with fabric filters inside, and caps on the outside to deflect a massive liquid splash. The ones with the 4 vents get really hot.

      2. Tape your face? I guess the upside is that you can plead not guilty by reason of insanity for any crimes you might commit (or have perpetrated).

    5. “I take responsibility for falling for a setup. And that’s all I’m going to say on that.”

      Salon owner was just on Tucker Carlson’s show. She said she was receiving threats to burn down her Salon along with death threats. I won’i be holding my breath waiting for Pelosi, Hiden, Coma-la or any of the buck stops here Demo-crats to condemn these threats.

      1. And nothing is complete without a salute to the ‘crat leader, Hiden-Biden, super stroker extraordinaire!

      2. What theyve done to her is shameful….. Absolutely shameful. Now multiple that by a few million… maybe tens of millions.

    1. Yes, i’d heard about that one, and many others too. But i hadn’t seen “Coma-la” before. Very creative.

      1. One of the Dems explained that Harris’s name was pronounced “Comma, like the punctuation, followed by la.” So, I guess everyone is allowed to say Comma-la. Or, Coma-La when she’s asleep.

          1. I want to make a point that George Washington didn’t like this concept of Political Parties to begin with.

            What evolved was Political Parties with their power factions, verses just power to the people to vote for their self interest.

            So, this is where you can get a small special interest group like Big Money hijacking the Political Parties.
            The middle class worker was the biggest voting block here in the US for many years. Than the smaller in number special interest 1 percenters (big money interest), and welfare crowd hijacked Political parties.
            In theory the power that should of been the biggest voting block was betrayed in favor of the self interest of smaller groups that got in bed with each other.
            So example, the Globàlist got in bed with the Commies and welfare State , and ilegals( who shouldn’t even be a voting block to begin with).
            So now you got the Dem party sounding so un-american because of the groups that own them.

            You got Globalist in the Rep Party also and they don’t like the outsider Trump.

            So, this is were you can get the Political system not voting for the welfare of the majority in US.
            So, it’s a corrupt power struggle where Globalist/Wall Street/Big Corporations/welfare State/Commies/ilegals non Citizens want Trump taken out, and their thugs are willing to attack half the Country that voted for Trump.
            The corruption of Political parties has created a set up for Civil War.

          2. I want to make a point that George Washington didn’t like this concept of Political Parties to begin with. Has there every been a type of government without something that amounts to political parties, outside of dictatorships? I think George was naive on this topic.

          3. I think George was naive on this topic.

            Maybe so. I think he had hopes that they were setting up something so special that people would appreciate how different and better it was and guard it extra carefully. And maybe he knew that there was no solution to human nature beyond the checks and balances already designed and nothing lasts forever due to that? Maybe we’re the naive ones thinking what he designed could be preserved indefinitely?

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