thehousingbubble@gmail.com
Blog

Preparing For The Borrowing Bubble To Burst

A report from Kelowna Now in Canada. “Canada’s most expensive rental markets in Toronto and Vancouver continue to report a downward trajectory in prices. Toronto’s one and two-bedroom prices are down 10% and 12%, respectively, since this time last year. Meanwhile, Vancouver’s one-bedroom rent has fallen 9.1% and two-bedroom rent has even dropped into the double digits with a 14% year-over-year dip. ‘The 2 most expensive markets continued to hit record dips in prices. While Toronto one and two-bedroom rents were down 10% and 12%, respectively, since this time last year, Vancouver one and two-bedroom rents have fallen 9.1% and 14.1%, respectively,’ reads PadMapper’s report.”

From Blog TO in Canada. “How low can rent go in Canada’s largest and most expensive city? We have yet to find out, according to Ben Myers of Bullpen Research and Matt Danison of TorontoRentals. ‘The average asking rent for condo apartments in Toronto in August reached its lowest level since January 2019 at $2,273 per month, well below the average ($2,538) and recent market peak in August 2019 ($2,707),’ reads the report. In one downtown Toronto neighbourhood, condo rents are down a whopping 16 per cent, year over year.”

“This equates to about $440 per month in savings for an average tenant of The Waterfront Communities, an area that encompasses CityPlace, Fort York, the Entertainment District and everything else that falls under an M5V postal code. Not coincidentally, this area was known for its high density of ghost hotels (read: Airbnb units) prior to the pandemic.”

From The Khaleej Times on UAE. “In the face of challenges the pandemic has brought, a certain market trend has emerged as a silver lining: Housing rents are falling in the UAE. And realty experts believe this will continue towards the end of the year and run into 2021. In Dubai, according to the data available, the average apartment rents fell by about four per cent quarter-on-quarter and over nine per cent year-on-year, across all areas.”

“Big movement is seen in Corniche and Marina Square, where rents for high-end apartments have plunged by 15 and 10 per cent compared with the same period in 2019. In Abu Dhabi, on an average, there is a one to two per cent difference between rents in the first two quarters of the year, but a comparison with the same period last year reveals ‘startling’ figures, experts said.”

“With the dip in prices becoming more noticeable, people have started moving. Some cut down on expenses and relocate to cheaper areas, but then there are also those who are making the most of the drop by upgrading to bigger homes. Dinesh Krishnan, who lives in Abu Dhabi with his wife and three kids, was among those who recently bid apartment living adieu.”

“‘I was paying Dh66,000 for a two-bedroom apartment, but I now moved to a villa in Khalidiya area, where I have taken a portion of a villa for Dh60,000,’ Krishnan said. ‘I have spacious rooms, more storage areas, and two balconies in each bedroom, and a mango tree with chirping birds evokes nostalgia every morning.'”

From Standard Media on Kenya. “All is not well for the property sector in Nakuru County. The high number of vacant houses has forced landlords to accept new tenants without the earlier compulsory payment of rent deposits, which act as a goodwill for new clients. ‘The situation is tough for us and the homeowners as we depend on each other in the property industry,’ said Elly Ogutu, the managing director of De-Negotiators Enterprises, a commercial agency operating in the county.”

“As a result, he told Home & Away the property owners have reduced their rent by between 25 and 30 per cent to survive. This applies to the upmarket Kiamunyi and a number of middle class estates including Racecourse, Langa Langa, Freehold, Shabana, Koinange and Pangani. Ogutu said the pandemic had caused a significant drop in their commissions from landlords.”

The Sydney Morning Herald in Australia. “Experts suggest housing price bubbles that have popped up in Sydney regions in the past 20 years may be a thing of the past as immigration slows and COVID-19 lifestyle changes prompt people to move away from the city. Chief economist at AMP Capital, Shane Oliver, said the inner city was out of fashion and the new appetite for living further from work would revolutionise the market and stamp out price bubbles, after new research showed they occurred in some sub-markets of Sydney.”

“‘That could be something that breaks down the bubble mentality,’ Mr Oliver said. ‘If you can live in the Blue Mountains and only have to come into the city one or two days a week or not at all, then that’s going to revolutionise the Australian property market and make it harder for bubbles that have been concentrated on city-centric areas because people have more choice about where they live.'”

The Market Herald in Australia. “Bank of Queensland has upped its loan impairment charge amid concerns Australia is heading for a credit implosion. The lender, headquartered in Queensland, tabled a $175 million expense to cover souring loans in its FY20 financials. As part of that figure, BOQ has set aside $133 million to cover COVID-19-related expenses. It’s a huge jump on the bank’s original coronavirus provisions, which totalled just $10 million back in April.”

“The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority reported 10 per cent of all housing and small business loans — valued at a whopping $266 billion —had been deferred in late May. With softening restrictions to credit access and a rise in deferrals, it seems Bank of Queensland is preparing for the borrowing bubble to burst.”

The South China Morning Post. “New Zealander Darryl Parrant was pleased when he renewed the lease on his 800 sq ft flat in Hong Kong’s affluent Mid-Levels area. He received a 20 per cent discount and will pay HK$40,000 (US$5,128) a month for the next two years, which means saving HK$120,000 a year. ‘It is a pretty good deal,’ said Parrant. ‘When I came to Hong Kong two years ago, the rental market was at the peak.'”

“He said his expatriate friends had also seen their rents fall by thousands of dollars when extending their contracts recently. Aside from paying less, many can now afford to move into popular areas such as Causeway Bay and Tsim Sha Tsui, which used to be beyond their reach. Landlords there have begun offering steeper discounts to longer-term tenants.”

“Briton Roddy Allan, who has lived in Hong Kong for 13 years, was pleased to pay 15 per cent more to clinch a Mid-Levels flat 40 per cent bigger than his previous place. He and his partner moved into the 1,200 sq ft flat in August, and although he declined to say how much he was paying, he said it was 20 per cent lower than the asking price.’Landlords and agents I spoke to offered more discounts,’ he said, adding that this was something not seen since the 2008 global financial crisis.”

From The Epoch Times. “A new study on China’s real estate market reported by state media paints a bleak picture: 76 of the biggest real estate developers need to repay 2,500 trillion yuan ($367 trillion) in the next 12 months, including 177 trillion yuan ($25.69 trillion) in interest. Such enormous debt has prompted real estate firms to refinance. Property developers also gave big discounts to new buyers, and sought to restructure to pare their debts.”

“The Nandu study found that Evergrande needed to pay 395.7 trillion yuan ($58.1 trillion) in debt with interest in the next 12 months. China’s second-largest property developer by sales volume, Country Garden, has to pay 105.8 trillion yuan ($15.53 trillion), third-largest Vanke has to pay 96.8 trillion yuan ($14.21 trillion), and fourth-largest Sunac has to pay 140.6 trillion yuan ($20.64 trillion).”

“In 2019, Evergrande slashed the price of condos to promote sales but angered buyers who had paid full price for the properties. Evergrande reportedly hired thugs to beat up people who asked for refunds. This year, Evergrande’s situation is worse due to China’s declining economy, exacerbated by the CCP virus pandemic and widespread flooding. In an attempt to attract more business, on Sept. 7, Evergrande announced a 30 percent discount on all their real estate products until Oct. 8.”

Related Posts
This Post Has 97 Comments

  1. ‘I have spacious rooms, more storage areas, and two balconies in each bedroom, and a mango tree with chirping birds evokes nostalgia every morning’

    That’s the spirit!

  3. Toronto’s one and two-bedroom prices are down 10% and 12%, respectively, since this time last year. Meanwhile, Vancouver’s one-bedroom rent has fallen 9.1% and two-bedroom rent has even dropped into the double digits with a 14% year-over-year dip. ‘

    Is that a lot?

  4. ’76 of the biggest real estate developers need to repay 2,500 trillion yuan ($367 trillion) in the next 12 months, including 177 trillion yuan ($25.69 trillion) in interest’

    DONG!

    2. Staggering. Is that level of debt even possible? The interest alone is twice the size of their GDP. Perhaps an Epoch error in decimal point placement.

      1. Yes – i am thinking that they mean Billions (they way we understand it) instead of Trillions. It does not seem possible to pay $15.53T to service debt for one company

        —-
        “China’s second-largest property developer by sales volume, Country Garden, has to pay 105.8 trillion yuan ($15.53 trillion)”

    3. Those are crazy big numbers. It’s hard to imagine this episode of financial history ending in anything other than a horrific economic collapse, the likes of which the world has never previously seen.

  5. “All is not well for the property sector in Nakuru County. The high number of vacant houses has forced landlords to accept new tenants without the earlier compulsory payment of rent deposits, which act as a goodwill for new clients.

    Oh no, not Nakuru! I thought it was different here.

    1. a lot of ‘fixers’ live there. I mean from a political standpoint as it was the hometown of the first president (Kenyatta).

      So there probably was need for a few upscale houses – but of course the builders and investors went nuts and overbuilt 10X

  6. “Experts suggest housing price bubbles that have popped up in Sydney regions in the past 20 years may be a thing of the past as immigration slows and COVID-19 lifestyle changes prompt people to move away from the city.

    Gosh, in such a scenario, I fear someone might have overpaid.

  7. “Bank of Queensland has upped its loan impairment charge amid concerns Australia is heading for a credit implosion.

    A credit implosion after all the trillions the central banks have pumped into their global asset bubbles? Oh dear….

  8. “The Nandu study found that Evergrande needed to pay 395.7 trillion yuan ($58.1 trillion) in debt with interest in the next 12 months. China’s second-largest property developer by sales volume, Country Garden, has to pay 105.8 trillion yuan ($15.53 trillion), third-largest Vanke has to pay 96.8 trillion yuan ($14.21 trillion), and fourth-largest Sunac has to pay 140.6 trillion yuan ($20.64 trillion).”

    I think if Evergrande might need to have a few bake sales and car washes.

  9. “In 2019, Evergrande slashed the price of condos to promote sales but angered buyers who had paid full price for the properties. Evergrande reportedly hired thugs to beat up people who asked for refunds.

    Throw ’em under the bus, then stomp ’em when they complain. That’s the spirit!

  10. These people bragging about 10-20% off rentals are knife catchers.

    I expect the second wave of rental crater stories to be from those who regret renting too early in the bust. As well as stories of 30-60% off the current listings.

    1. Yup I saw a listing go from 500k down to 450k here in Fair Oaks, CA recently. Patiently waiting as many homes go pending fast then half fall out of escrow for whatever unknown reason to resurface online and list at discount.

    2. But it might take a year (or longer) for the rental prices to bottom out. Folks need to live somewhere – i am ok with the initial reduction bragging if it gets the word spread widely. They all renters will start looking for deals and will hasten the rental crater

    1. burning the furniture Mother did just that one cold day when my dad had been laid off during the recession of 1958. Our bed frames were next on the list when dad went back to work.

        1. the hardwood flooring Come to think of it, we had many cardboard boxes full of new oak flooring (12″by12″) waiting to be installed in the living room. Either it never got that cold, or mother didn’t think of it. One June day in 1963 I wound up laying down that material to finish off the room. I walked back & forth on the new floor, then went out to the drive, got in the station wagon with the folks, and we left town forever.

  12. I am patiently waiting for the northern California bubble to pop in real estate prices that are way inflated in Sacramento, Yolo, and Placer counties. Low inventory is big problem as well.

      1. He is just another realtor troll doing his song and dance promoting “to the moon, buy now or be priced out forever, RE only goes up, FOMO BS. Guy is prob in a bush staking out his next meal

          1. He could be… but i watch his area (have relatives that live their) and prices are dropping and shacks are not selling, most of the ones that have gone pending show back up on the mls a month later either discounted or at the original wish price. With the fires ( insurance companies are raising rates and some not insuring at all because of the high risk) Sac and surrounding counties will crater like they did last bubble. Unless he is 100% focused on a specific neighborhood, he is wrong. People dont want to invest or even live in a fire / flood zone. Coastal CA, yes, they want that security and well being. Arm pit sac… 👎

  15. Joe “Diapers” Biden already lost his cool:

    “Would you shut up, man?” he says, after calling the President “unpresidential.” WOW.

    1. I’m listening on and off. Basic observations:

      1. Joe is good for about 40 minutes before he starts crashing.
      2. Dems aren’t saying anything new. Usual promises.
      3. I haven’t seen anything to change any votes.

      1. Biden has been in politics for 47 years. Yet he wants the incredibly stupid to believe he now has “a plan” to fix the corrupt crony capitalism he embodies.

        Yeah, right.

      2. “….Dems aren’t saying anything new….”
        How could Biden say anything new with Trump talking over him all of the time.

        1. Yes, that’s what all the new stories are saying this morning. Not much on policy, it was all about Trump dominating. If I were to guess, Trump’s handlers encouraged Trump to talk over Biden in an effort to make Biden stumble. Dirty trick?
          Yes, it was. Biden held it together, but overall he was weak tea.

          2. Not much on policy, it was all about Trump dominating. If I were to guess, Trump’s handlers encouraged Trump to talk over Biden in an effort to make Biden stumble.

            That debate was a hot mess! Trump was trying to trigger Biden not just get him to stumble. Hunter usually does it but Wallace came to the rescue. Trump missed some easy opportunities to defend himself but may have done some damage to the cohesion of the Democrat base.

    3. Thats better than having your hair sniffed by pedo joe.

      As usual the average voter is the loser. 2 minute responses when vying for the highest job in the country? Media need to be thrown into wood chippers.

      1. Biden, pure SCUM. What a insult that this senile creep is the candidate.
        The American people need to take out all this treasonous scum like Joe Biden.

          1. less a liar

            What an odd thing to say.

            The perception of truth for most is simply alignment with what we’ve previously been convinced of by hearing it repeated relentlessly.

          2. hearing it repeated relentlessly

            By 5-6 corporations controlling 90%+ of the media in America.

    6. Eye thought dtRumpsis said his opponent is: “Sleepy.joe” … Sad & total name.slur.failure … & fail!

      “Quit.yer.yappin’ man.clown!” Biden.my.time

      Seems only the 🍊.Jesus was thee.only.one to 🐝 scolded for bulling.vocal.groping bye thee Faux.news.traitor.moderator!

      Sad.

      FBI Director Wrong.Way.Stay will bee gone x1 day after Nov. 4th … Sadly, tripped right in front of the circling @realdtRumpsisstandbyebus! @ thee very,very.White.White.House.

    7. It wasn’t really a debate, but rather a challenge match between two aging white men to try to make the other seem more unhinged. Both of them scored points.

    8. That debate, and those candidates, are an embarrassment to the human race. We are far down the road to idiocracy.

      Trump was talking constantly during Biden’s time. The moderator couldn’t get him to shut up. What was Biden supposed to do, sit there and listen to the spew until his time was up? At least Biden would shut up when the moderator asked him to.

      Pathetic.

      2. Biden could have responded to what Trump said as a way to show Trump was wrong, but instead he kept repeating his memorized slogans.

    1. Love Louis. Much earlier videos he made about his childhood, teenage years (bullying) and early business experiences are touching and interesting.

    1. Disney to cut 28,000 jobs at US theme parks
      4 hours ago
      Getty Images

      Walt Disney has announced it will lay off 28,000 employees, mostly at its US theme parks.

      Disney cited the parks’ limited visitor capacity and uncertainty about how long the coronavirus pandemic would last as reasons for the layoffs.

      The company’s theme parks have taken a major hit from the pandemic.

      Disney shut all its parks earlier this year as the virus spread, but only Disneyland in California remains closed.

      “We have made the very difficult decision to begin the process of reducing our workforce at our Parks, Experiences and Products segment at all levels,” Josh D’Amaro, chairman of the parks unit, said in a statement.
      …

      1. ‘Montreal restaurateurs say they don’t understand why the provincial government is ordering their businesses to close even though there have been no COVID-19 outbreaks tied to the city’s famed restaurant industry. On Monday, authorities moved Montreal and Quebec City to the highest COVID-19 alert level, banning private indoor gatherings and shutting bars, cinemas and restaurant dining rooms for 28 days.’

        https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-montreal-restaurateurs-in-shock-after-provincial-government-orders-2/

          1. Their deaths

            Total since the beginning doesn’t help much when you want to know if it is over or not. Deaths with Covid in Canada has been over since July. The current hysteria lies in the rise of positive tests.

            The government says that more and more tests have to be done to stop the virus, yet as the number of positives goes up with the number of tests, the government starts screaming lockdown.

    1. Yup we have Pelosi and McConnell and Schumer and…

      Obama is about my age. When he was elected I thought good, regardless of party, at least hopefully screwed later born generations will soon be in charge…

  20. ‘Senate Bill 1079, introduced by state Senate Majority Whip Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, requires foreclosed homes to be sold individually at auction rather than bundled and sold to a single buyer.’

    ‘Following the Great Recession, corporations snatched up large numbers of homes in bundled foreclosure sales. Between 2006 and 2012, the number of owner-occupied single-family homes in California dropped by 320,000, while the number of renter-occupied single-family homes jumped by 720,000, according to the senator’s office.’

    “SB 1079 sends a clear message to Wall Street: California homes are not yours to gobble up; we won’t tolerate another corporate takeover of housing,” Skinner said in a statement.’

    https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2020/09/29/moms-4-housing-inspired-law-regulating-sale-of-foreclosed-homes-signed-by-newsom/

    It’s pretty amazing that myths are used to create actual legislation. Shacks have to be auctioned one by one, by law. That is the foreclosure process. The only “bundling” that was done was selling the loans in packages by Fannie and Freddie. That’s not a foreclosure. And these packages, as I’ve mentioned, were terrible deals. Plus they were a tiny fraction of defaulted loans because they were terrible deals.

    So you have to wonder: why perpetuate this myth? To keep the big bad boogie man thing going?

    2. from the same article. There might be a ramification of the following. If i am a mortgage servicer etc., if i have to pay $60K/month for a blighted property, i might not foreclose right away. Or i might not foreclose houses that are a mess – just the good looking ones.

      So if i am behind on my mortgage, do i buy a rented out junker for $200 and put it front lawn and let the grass and dandelions grow.

      —-
      SB 1079 will also allow cities to fine corporations up to $2,000 a day on a property that is blighted.

      Many properties were left blighted following the housing crisis and the Great Recession.

      “Corporations that do own homes, need to be good neighbors and keep those homes maintained and occupied,” Skinner added.

    3. “SB 1079 sends a clear message to Wall Street: California homes are not yours to gobble up; we won’t tolerate another corporate takeover of housing,” Skinner said in a statement.

      Wow, this smacks of Antisemitism!

  21. From the Economist:

    “NEITHER JOE BIDEN nor President Donald Trump is known for his oratory. But one might still have expected them to manage a few coherent sentences during their first presidential debate ahead of the election in November. Yet rather than an exercise in deliberative democracy, it was the least dignified and most dispiriting debate of the modern era of American politics—a snarling, shouty, excruciating affair, marred by Mr Trump’s verbal incontinence.”

    I didn’t watch it. Haven’t watched these things for a decade or two.

    But just for my information, did anyone ask, or talk, about the fact that each generation of Americans has been worse off on average than the one before starting with those born in 1958?

    And that the entire global economy is therefore facing a crisis of demand and has been floated by soaring debts, with Americans selling off the future — individually and collectively — to get through today?

    And that later born generations are facing a future of worse public services, lost public benefits and higher taxes because of the debt being dumped on them?

    And that the sexual and family choices made be Generation Greed resulted in those born after 1958 growing up in far less stable families as children, on average, than the families that had been provided to Generation Greed a generation earlier?

    And that despite this Trump and Biden and everyone in their generation, a decade or two from now, will be fully expecting someone else to change their diapers, with whatever money is left?

    Nobody dares to talk about anything real.

      1. The real question in this election, after they kicked the can in 2008, is who would be better able to kick the barrel.

        By turning into a million gallon storage tank that would hopefully come crashing down on later born generations after Generation Greed is gone.

        1. It does seem like the Fed’s hair-of-the-dog remedy for any and all economic woes facing America is beginning to lose its heft. The last round started circa 2009, never ended, and recently increased enormously, making it more closely resemble an endless, progressive drinking binge than a hangover cure.

        2. It seems like the only way to sustain the game without outright defaults on a mass scale would be a return of 1970s style inflation. But this in turn would throw so many struggling seniors of limited financial means under the bus. Moreover, the near-zero interest rates (aka “low risk premiums”), that seem to want to go ever lower, encourage ever more reckless borrowing, bad gambling, and debt buildup. A return of high inflation would increase risk premiums to levels resulting in stock, bond and housing price collapse.

          It’s quite a conundrum!

          1. It seems like the only way to sustain the game without outright defaults on a mass scale would be a return of 1970s style inflation.

            It’s quite a conundrum!

            Conundrum? Sounds like a goal to me. It’s the only way for People Who Matter to stay in control. If they can’t pull it off and we go deflationary GD2 they might lose their heads.

      2. And the next shoes to drop after that will be the bailouts targeted at collapsed financial entities. For political reasons these may be understated or even unannounced. Never mind the Unlimited (and untargeted) one that already started up six months ago.

        I’ve seen this movie before several times by now since the Long Term Capital Management too-big-to-fail bailout in 1998.

    3. “And that the sexual and family choices made be Generation Greed resulted in those born after 1958 growing up in far less stable families as children, on average, than the families that had been provided to Generation Greed a generation earlier?”

      This reads like 50-yrs of the missionary position. WTF?
      https://imgur.com/a/7q7FgvR

    4. I didn’t watch it. Haven’t watched these things for a decade or two.

      I watched it, but it wasn’t as entertaining as I had hoped. Biden actually surprised me with his limited amount of incoherent rambling, though when he started in on his climate change garbage he lost it for a while. Like this gibberish:

      He’s absolutely wrong, number one. Number two, if in fact, during our administration in the recovery act, I was in charge able to bring down the cost of renewable energy to cheaper than are as cheap as coal and gas and oil. Nobody’s going to build another coal fired plant in America. No one’s going to build another oil fire plant in America. They’re going to move to renewable energy. Number one, number two, we’re going to make sure that we are able to take the federal fleet and turn it into a fleet that’s run on their electric vehicles. Making sure that we can do that, we’re going to put 500,000 charging stations in all of the highways that we’re going to be building in the future. We’re going to build a economy that in fact is going to provide for the ability of us to take 4 million buildings and make sure that they in fact are weatherized in a way that in fact will they’ll emit significantly less gas and oil because the heat will not be going out. There’s so many things that we can do…

      Gas and oil because the heat will not be going out. There’s so many things that we can do now to create thousands and thousands of jobs. We can get to net zero, in terms of energy production, by 2035. Not only not costing people jobs, creating jobs, creating millions of good-paying jobs. Not 15 bucks an hour, but prevailing wage, by having a new infrastructure that in fact, is green. And the first thing I will do, I will rejoin the Paris Accord. I will join the Paris Accord because with us out of it, look what’s happening. It’s all falling apart. And talk about someone who has no relationship with foreign policy. The rainforests of Brazil are being torn down, are being ripped down. More carbon is absorbed in that rainforest than every bit of carbon that’s emitted in the United States. Instead of doing something about that, I would be gathering up and making sure we had the countries of the world coming up with $20 billion, and say, “Here’s $20 billion. Stop tearing down the forest. And If you don’t, then you’re going to have significant economic consequences.”

  22. Speaking of unreal, the link below might show a search for 1 BR apartments in NYC for between $1,100 and $1,200 per month, equivalent to what we paid in Brooklyn in 1986, in a 400-sf apartment in an unfashionable but stable neighborhood.

    Look how few units there are east of the Hudson River until you go very far out. How far do things have to fall, given that today the average young adult was paid less than the average young adult of our generation — before the pandemic? There may be talk about how rents are cratering, but that’s from a bubble reference point, not from any foundation of reality.

    https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_rent/1-_beds/?searchQueryState=%7B%22isMapVisible%22%3Atrue%2C%22isListVisible%22%3Atrue%2C%22pagination%22%3A%7B%7D%2C%22mapBounds%22%3A%7B%22west%22%3A-74.36124358152193%2C%22east%22%3A-73.27909026120943%2C%22north%22%3A41.19444964164746%2C%22south%22%3A40.46082822172468%7D%2C%22filterState%22%3A%7B%22price%22%3A%7B%22min%22%3A295616%2C%22max%22%3A354740%7D%2C%22mp%22%3A%7B%22min%22%3A1000%2C%22max%22%3A1200%7D%2C%22beds%22%3A%7B%22min%22%3A1%7D%2C%22fsba%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22fsbo%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22nc%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22fore%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22cmsn%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22auc%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22pmf%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22pf%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Afalse%7D%2C%22fr%22%3A%7B%22value%22%3Atrue%7D%7D%7D

  24. What other parts of the country are seeing these historic price increases?
    —————-
    Central Texas housing numbers soaring despite the pandemic

    AUSTIN, Texas — New housing numbers released Thursday show the housing market in Central Texas is faring pretty greatly despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

    In the city of Austin, critically low levels of inventory drove the median home price up 14.9% year over year to $435,000 – an all-time high for any month on record.

    Monthly housing inventory decreased 0.5 months year over year to 1.5 months of inventory.

    https://www.kvue.com/article/money/economy/boomtown-2040/austin-board-of-realtors-august-report-2020/269-4758f5a7-8c7e-4a91-ae13-cc4f0e066e82

    1. When you read something like that, ask yerself, just how does something appraise 14% higher in a year? It can’t, unless there’s fraud.

      1. I fully agree with you.

        The pandemic has created a scenario where ‘middle class’ families from the East/West are migrating in huge numbers to desirable, less expensive cities as they feel/think WFH is here to stay. The distortion in the market is all too real at this moment. I was hopeful the pandemic would slow down the price gains in Central TX, but it’s been the complete opposite.

    2. The Financial Times
      Markets Briefing Equities
      US stocks set for worst month since March as election jitters build
      Brent crude under pressure while dollar climbs higher
      Investors remain on guard for markets to stay choppy until after the November US presidential election
      © JUSTIN LANE/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
      Naomi Rovnick in London and Hudson Lockett in Hong Kong
      8 minutes ago

      US stocks were on course to seal their worst month since March with deepening worries about the election weighing on investor sentiment.

      Solid gains in early trade on Wednesday were not enough to offset the declines recorded since the benchmark S&P 500 index notched a record high on September 2. The index has fallen about 4 per cent since the end of last month, halting a strong rally from the virus-induced lows in March.

      Markets had been bolstered in the late spring and summer by stimulus measures from the Federal Reserve and federal government, combined with a weakening dollar. However, sentiment has soured in recent weeks and investors remain on guard for markets to stay choppy until after the November presidential election.

      In a chaotic first debate between Donald Trump and challenger Joe Biden on Tuesday evening, the US president, when asked repeatedly whether he would commit to respecting the results of November’s election, instead reiterated his assertions of widespread voter fraud.

      “Trump clearly did not assuage concerns about a contested election, should he lose,” said Supriya Menon, senior strategist at Pictet Asset Management.

      The prospect of a disputed election has increased speculation that US stock markets will be volatile after the vote. Futures contracts pinned to the Vix, the index known as the markets’ “fear gauge”, suggest it would hit readings of 30 or more between October and December. When markets are calm, the Vix usually trades at 20 or below.
      …

      1. Civil war is bad for business? They should look at the bright side… all the stuff that gets destroyed will need to be rebuilt.

    3. Economic Report
      Historic decline in U.S. GDP in the second quarter 31.4% annual pace
      Published: Sept. 30, 2020 at 9:22 a.m. ET
      By Jeffry Bartash
      GDP to show comeback in third quarter, but economy still weak
      Employees at Spectrum Solutions prepare COVID-19 saliva test kits. The U.S. economy is finding ways to get back to business despite the prevalence of the coronavirus.
      Getty Images

      The numbers: The record decline in the U.S. economy in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic was lowered slightly to a 31.4% annual pace — setting the stage for a big rebound in the third quarter.

      The decline in gross domestic product, the official scorecard of the U.S. economy, was previously put at 31.7% during the months of April, May and June.

      The economy has been on a comeback since the start of the summer and GDP is expected to show a big snapback in the third quarter. Economists polled by MarketWatch predict the U.S. is likely to expand at a record 25% annual clip during the July-to-September time frame. Third-quarter GDP will be released at the end of October.

      Even a rebound of that size, however, will leave the economy in a shrunken state compared to before the pandemic began in March. Most economists think a full recovery could take a few years.

      GDP is a health report of sorts for economy, measuring consumer spending, business investment, government outlays and other contributors to growth.

      Previously GDP had never shrunk by more than 10% on an annualized basis in any quarter since the government began keeping track after World War Two.
      …

  27. I’m sick of bought off nuts telling me I’m going to die in 10 years because of Climate Change, or that the Nation needs to be shut down over Covid-19 . Disgusting Big Government bought off creep Politicians that need to be taken out for their betrayal of USA Citizens in favor of Monopolies and Globalist Looting and Ponzi Schemes, while the homeless shit in the streets.

    Of course these circumstances are going to
    bring out the Commies with their fake narratives, while the rich Corporations donate to these Looters to distract from the Globalist looting of the USA.

Comments are closed.