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The Real Estate Debt Cycle Has Entered A New Phase

It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “The number of active listings in the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors region at the end of September was down 5.6% from a year ago, but an encouraging sign for potential buyers is that new listings rose by 30%, with more than 3,000 homes coming on the market in September. NVAR predicts the pace of sales will slow slightly in the coming months with more listings on the market. ‘This is particularly true in the upper end of the market for single-family homes over $2 million and condos priced above $1 million, where inventory has entered a more balanced, or possibly even buyer’s market,’ said Derrick Swaak, the 2020 NVAR president-elect.”

“In the Boston metro area, some student apartments that are usually leased out by May or June for the next semester were still vacant in July, causing landlords to panic and start looking to sell, said broker Tina Bacci. ‘Some of the landlords have just thrown up their hands and put it on the market,’ she said.”

“There are vacancies and deals to be had in Seattle’s luxury condominium sector, but for different reasons. When Forrest Moody, a listing agent with Redfin, moved to Seattle three years ago, he recalled, ‘you couldn’t find a one-bedroom condo for under $500,000,’ and most listings had multiple offers over asking price. In contrast, the city had roughly nine months of condo supply on the market as of August, Seattle Met Magazine reported. ‘You can now find condos for $400,000 when that was never the case before,’ Mr. Moody said. ‘Right now if you’re a smart investor, you would be buying.'”

“The median rental price in Manhattan was down 7.1% in September compared to the same time last year, according to a report from real estate appraisal and consulting firm Miller Samuel Inc. and real estate company Douglas Elliman. Median rents for studios were down 17.1% in September compared to the same time last year, with median rents at $2,184, while the median rents for one-bedrooms decreased by 14.7% to $2,977, according to the report. ‘We have the highest vacancy rate we’ve ever tracked, at 5.5%,’ says Jonathan Miller, president and CEO of Miller Samuel Inc.. ‘The amount of inventory – at almost 16,000 – is a record and it’s tripled from last year. So, we’re seeing rents fall.'”

“The city of Rancho Mirage is set to discuss plans to phase out short term rentals in public neighborhoods by the end of the year. Homes in Magnesia Falls Cove in Rancho Mirage are just one of the neighborhoods that could phased out as the city looks eliminate short term rentals by 2021. ‘That effects about 121 homeowners, 121 mortgages, we felt like we should have been told so that we can try to come up with a plan,’ said Dennis Cooke, a short-term rental homeowner.”

“The price just kept plummeting for this Bel-Air abode, which hit the market at $27 million last spring. After it resurfaced for sale at $18.9 million in May, Darius Mir, founder of office furniture manufacturing company 9to5, bought it for $17.7 million, records show.”

“Steven McGee, of New York City, sold his Unit 24 condominium at 834 Evergreen Way to Thomas and Mary Reedy, of St. Louis, for $407,000. Built in 1991, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,440 square feet of living area. It sold for $475,000 in 2007.”

“Kekoa Lansford used to earn about $1,600 per week working in marketing and sales for Maui Tickets For Less in his hometown of Lahaina. Lansford said he’s living in survival mode. And he said he’s angry. To get by, Lansford is deferring payments on his mortgage and car loan. ‘It’s been pretty devastating,’ Lansford said. ‘Our entire industry is gone. I’m just suffering. They don’t want us to work so I’m just sitting on my ass here waiting for $232 a week.'”

“A red-hot housing market helped drive the vacant ‘zombie’ foreclosure rate to new lows in the first half of 2020, even as the coronavirus crisis threatens to trigger a resurgence in these vacant properties stuck in foreclosure limbo. However, that trend quickly changed in the third quarter, when the zombie foreclosure rate jumped to the highest level in three years, according to ATTOM Data Solutions. Additionally, seriously delinquent loans secured by vacant properties could represent a more significant rise in zombie foreclosures soon.”

“Although there is no definitive data on vacant properties with mortgages that are at least 90 days late, applying the same 3% ‘zombie’ foreclosure rate to the 1.8 million mortgages that were seriously delinquent in June—that according to Black Knight—would translate into an additional 56,000 zombie foreclosures waiting in the wings. Given the recent sharp rise in seriously delinquent loans, that 56,000 would represent a 197% increase from the previous month and a 312% increase from a year ago.”

“Net immigration to British Columbia has gone negative, plunging 111 per cent in the first half of this year compared to the first six months of 2019. ‘Condo rents in Vancouver are down 17 per cent in the third quarter of 2020 compared to the third quarter of 2019,’ the study found. What Mark Goodman, a multi-family specialist, and other agents are seeing is an ‘avalanche’ of apartment buildings hitting the Vancouver area. ‘Some long-time landlords are getting out of this market,’ he said.”

“The UK Commercial Real Estate Mid-Year Report by The Business School shows that lending volumes fell 34% in the first six months of 2020 compared with the same period last year. Some lenders are only considering business with existing clients, and 22% of lenders have not undertaken any lending at all during the first half of the year. Dr Nicole Lux, author of the report, warned that the ‘short-term effects of the coronavirus pandemic have only just become visible,’ and more disruption was to come. Lux said ‘the real estate debt cycle has entered a new phase.'”

“In Finland at the end of last year, there were about 300,000 vacant dwellings, according to Statistics Finland. The number means that about one in ten dwellings is not permanently occupied by anyone. The number of empty dwellings has increased significantly in the 21st century, by almost 130,000 dwellings. ‘There are alarming signs in the Finnish housing market or a part of it when the number of empty apartments and the share of the housing stock is so large,’ writes the group manager Paula Paavilainen Statistics Finland. Finland is urbanizing at a rapid pace, and therefore entire apartment buildings are now being sold for EUR 35,000 – ‘It is difficult to find a purpose for those apartment buildings.'”

“For several landlords and property agents, the new normal is owed rent. A Lagos realtor, Jimi Oni, stated, ‘I have a tenant, who asked me for a discount of 20 per cent from his usual rent. We are not saying increment now, we are talking about just the rent. He wants us to give him a discount before he can pay the rent.'”

“A report by weforum said real estate assets have fallen by 25 per cent. Real estate expert Adama Salihu, said, it is a reality. ‘There is a very high default rate, at least based on my personal experience, around 80 to 90 per cent.'”

“A deeper correction in Hong Kong’s residential rents lies ahead in the last quarter, property agencies said, as its economic outlook gets gloomier. Last week, a flat in Aqua Marine in Cheung Sha Wan was leased for HK$20,000 a month, after its asking rent was cut by HK$3,000 a month, according to Jason Man of Hong Kong Property Agency. A shoebox flat at High One in the same neighbourhood was leased for HK$10,500, a 14 per cent discount, more than a month and a half ago, Hong Kong Property’s Ray Fong said.”

“China Evergrande Group, the country’s most indebted property developer, on Wednesday said it has raised $555 million in a slimmed-down share sale after initially targeting up to double that amount. China’s second-biggest developer by sales sold 260.65 million shares at HK$16.50 ($2.13) each, the low end of a price range flagged by its bankers in a term sheet. The developer has been scrambling to raise cash as China’s government tackles what it considers excessive borrowing in the real estate development sector with new debt-ratio caps.”

“Since August, the firm has taken steps including raising $3 billion from selling a stake in a property management unit ahead of the unit’s planned initial public offering, giving a 30% discount on properties to boost sales. Market concern has mounted in recent weeks that Evergrande was headed for a cash crush if it could not get government approval for a backdoor listing in Shenzhen that has languished for four years.”

“Unit rents across inner Sydney are at their cheapest in years with prices falling to a six-year low, new data shows, the deepest decline over two consecutive quarters in at least 16 years. In one recent case a landlord opted to drop the asking rent for a two-bedroom city apartment from $1050 to $850 a week to get tenants interested, said Ray White’s chief executive of property management Emily Sim. ‘The vacancy rate in city areas is high, and the only way to overcome it is to reduce rent to meet the market,’ Ms Sim said. ‘There are no new tenants, no planes landing with anyone from interstate or overseas … tenants are simply moving from property to property to get a better deal.'”

“Almost half of Australian home loans deferred due to the coronavirus pandemic are now being repaid, but that also means half are not. West Australian worker Dave isn’t pleased with what he’s been offered so far. When the father of four saw his work hours and income slide, he deferred the mortgage on his family home. ‘The initial deferral was simple,’ he said. But coming out the other side has been harder.”

“With work picking up — but still greatly uncertain — Dave was offered to shift to an interest-only loan, but at a worse rate than what he previously had. ‘They said ‘you can go on interest only, it’s 5.42 per cent’ but I’m currently paying 3.58 per cent,’ he said, describing his principal and interest arrangement — loans that are typically priced lower than interest-only. ‘I told them, that’s just not on. It seems to me to be profiteering.'”

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This Post Has 122 Comments

  1. ‘the real estate debt cycle has entered a new phase’

    Yeah, if you need a loan, it’s the put yer head between yer knees and kiss yer a$$ goodbye phase!

  2. ‘new listings rose by 30%, with more than 3,000 homes coming on the market in September’

    Where did all these shacks and airboxes come from?

    ‘NVAR predicts the pace of sales will slow slightly in the coming months with more listings on the market’

    Wa? But days on market, UHS can sell more if there wasn’t a shortage?

    Eat yer crowz taxpayer!

      1. Why do they lose money on every shack they flip? I heard they stopped showing some prices. Probably more so on yer shack.

        Eat yer crowz!

        1. Re ‘Arlington, VA Housing Prices Crater A Whopping 36% YOY As Inventory Doubles’. Supply All condo/airshacks… Usually the first wave so number is skewed. Big deals on multis and sfr a year from now.

  3. ‘tenants are simply moving from property to property to get a better deal’

    ‘I have a tenant, who asked me for a discount of 20 per cent from his usual rent. We are not saying increment now, we are talking about just the rent. He wants us to give him a discount before he can pay the rent.’

    That’s the spirit!

    ‘A report by weforum said real estate assets have fallen by 25 per cent…‘There is a very high default rate, at least based on my personal experience, around 80 to 90 per cent’

    Oh dear…

  4. The crater only grows. I had to put off the CRE smoldering pits til this weekend.

    ‘that trend quickly changed in the third quarter, when the zombie foreclosure rate jumped to the highest level in three years, according to ATTOM Data Solutions. Additionally, seriously delinquent loans secured by vacant properties could represent a more significant rise in zombie foreclosures soon’

    Shadow inventory is a conspiracy theory, zombie shacks are a REIC statistic.

    2. When is all this crater going to actually show some actual defaults and fire sales? We’ve been seeing the same zombie cycle over and over again: revenue can’t cover costs, take out debt to cover costs, fall deeper in debt, take out more debt… They’ve been stringing this along for years, like a MGTOW trying to squeeze a few more squeezes out of his ring-hungry squeeze before dumping her and moving on. When are we gonna see some real ACTION?

      2. When is all this crater going to actually show some actual defaults and fire sales?

        Until it’s legal to foreclose and evict, nothing can move.

        1. Until it’s legal to foreclose and evict, nothing can move.

          And even that doesn’t prevent shenanigans to keep the cheap foreclosed inventory off the market.

        2. Re when fire sales… If Biden, he will follow Obama 2008 playbook when he inherited a huge POS. If trump, who knows? More stimulus and denial?

          1. Stop. My sides. Are you implying Ovama fixed this? Getouttaheah with that bs. Zero perp walks under Holders DOJ. FHA standards lowered. “Foam the runway” for the banksters. Be gone, THOT.

  6. “..The city of Rancho Mirage is set to discuss plans to phase out short term rentals in public neighborhoods by the end of the year…’

    “….we felt like we should have been told so that we can try to come up with a plan,’ said Dennis Cooke, a short-term rental homeowner….”

    Dennis Cooke, Here is the plan: You going to take a big bath. Get over it. BTW, thanks for your speculation and pushing prices up for others who actually want to live in your STR.

  8. No “pent-up demand” for $500,000 starter homes happening here:

    “As Congress remains deadlocked on a new coronavirus economic stimulus package, two new studies show at least 6 million more people in the US are in poverty due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

    A study from Columbia University published on Thursday found that the number of Americans in poverty grew by 8 million since May.”

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/15/coronavirus-pandemic-plunges-millions-of-americans-into-poverty

    Note that this article does not mention once re-opening the economy or people going back to work, only gibs from Uncle Sugar.

    1. We’re in the process of discovering who’s essential, and who isn’t. Those jobs aren’t coming back for at least a few years.

  10. “With work picking up — but still greatly uncertain — Dave was offered to shift to an interest-only loan, but at a worse rate than what he previously had. ‘They said ‘you can go on interest only, it’s 5.42 per cent’ but I’m currently paying 3.58 per cent,’ he said, describing his principal and interest arrangement — loans that are typically priced lower than interest-only. ‘I told them, that’s just not on. It seems to me to be profiteering.’”

    From a bankers point of view this is is a nifty deal. The increased interest rate will add value to the loan thus a higher price can be obtained by the banker when the loan is sold off to a schmuck, er, sold off to an investor. Plus the banker gets to collect a hefty fee or two for his troubles.

  12. Fake news and the suppression of real news, and control of the narratives might put a Corrupt Biden and puppet fake Harris in the White House.
    This is getting really scary that they might win, according to the polls.

    Goes to show how effective fake news brainwashing is.
    The ideas the Resistance have are top down control by Commie Gov and Globalist one World order economy control by rigged monopolies. Also social engineering by these forces.

    This doesn’t even come close to the Government that was set up by the Founders.

    1. Aside from the (((fake news))) polls, every single bit of evidence indicates Trump is going to crush Biden. Boat parades, social media (when not suppressed), caravans, signs/hats/shirts, voting registration – the passion is off the charts and across all demographics, even more so than 2016.

        1. Lol, so many people showed up conditions got dangerous. Trump is like a rock star and the crowds are yuuuuge. Biden cant draw flies (although I suspect he will soon, along with worms too 😉

          Superfluous poster, the next four years is gonna be rough on you – much worse than the last 4. Most of your heroes will be in jail or gas chambered for fraud, drug/human trafficking, etc. You got any skeletons like your heroes? Seems like a lot with a raging case of TDS have “iss-yous”.

          The new fashion/culture trend is obvious: orange (man) is the new black.

          2. Beregera – wow relax. Are you in the right place? Any of your stuff have to with housing costs or the market? Are property taxes going to be magically lowered because of election? No. Current government is adding 7 trillion to the debt for what? Goldman Sachs that’s what. Pretty obvious you think a president, whoever they are, actually helps anything.

          1. Indeed. Without political diversity there can’t be freedom. True Liberals champion your right to your opinions. I am one of these Liberals. The so-called “Liberals” hate freedom.

    2. “This is getting really scary that they might win, according to the polls.”

      FWIW, the polls are fake too.

      Focus on the larger picture, e.g., the NBA will drop the kneeling nonsense next season because ratings are down, way down!

  13. I’m afraid I’m going to have to stop buying Patagonia gear. I’ve been using it since the early 1990s, but now they’re a little too political and woke for my tastes. Their website says “Elect Climate Leaders Now!” Sorry, you’re a clothing maker, not some political arm.

    1. ’m afraid I’m going to have to stop buying Patagonia gear

      I’ve never purchased any of their overpriced junk.

      1. Searching for “Patagonia brogrammer” returns no results but typing in “Patagonia tech bro” auto-fills to “Patagonia tech bro vest.” I am friends with people who have climbed and skied mountains in Patagonia and I’ve never seen any of them wearing Patagonia tech bro vests.

        1. The tech bro vests are swag that is given away at developer conferences. I see that stuff all over. Heck, I still have fleece vest and jackets from the early naughts.

      2. I’ve never purchased any of their overpriced junk.

        It’s actually not junk. I have skied and snowboarded in their clothing for years. It has kept me alive. Interesting what you call junk.

  14. – Record low mortgage interest rates are pushing prices unnaturally high. Forbearance is preventing distressed sales and foreclosures, for now, but the clock is ticking as forbearance is not permanent, and all of the missed payments will be due when it ends. Tick tock.
    – Prices have reached the point where affordability is an issue again, esp. for first time buyers, which drive the overall market. Do I dare say prices have reached a “permanently high plateau?”
    – So, there’s still a limit to house price in a finite world, as set by the monthly mortgage payment that the buyer can afford. This has been pushed up to now record highs for those buyers still employed and with good credit. It just means more debt, higher property taxes, and all of the other costs associated with a higher house price. The low end is being shut out due to tightening credit standards (credit cycle).
    – These unnatural interventions in the housing market are designed to keep prices only going up, but have resulted in an incredibly distorted market, including removing any hope of actual price discovery based on free markets, natural interest rates, etc. Must keep inflating the housing bubble, but bubbles always pop. The higher it goes, the worse the fall.
    – Central banks are all-in and doubling down on this one. The crash has been delayed, deferred, and postponed, but like forbearance, not prevented. The process is taking an incredibly long time however, and each intervention requires larger amounts and more debt. Housing bubble 1.0 is going to look like a picnic compared the the epic unwind of this one.

    https://twitter.com/drsparwaga/status/1316768293747863552
    Tweet
    Dr Sandeep Parwaga
    @drsparwaga
    Yep, the higher it goes the worse the crash. The closer to the crash you bought the harder you get screwed.

    Quote Tweet
    David Rosenberg
    @EconguyRosie
    8:21 AM · Oct 15, 2020·Twitter Web App
    One result of the pandemic and the gov’t response is the mother of all housing bubbles. Look at Canada — a 46% YoY sales frenzy that boosted prices an eye-popping 18%, more than triple the average wage gain. The inevitable burst is going to be more than a touch problematic.

    9:50 AM · Oct 15, 2020·Twitter Web App

  15. I got this email:

    Amazon Censors Streaming Release of Illegal Immigration Documentary America’s Forgotten
    Amazon refuses to stream controversial “America’s Forgotten” after previous commitment

    Washington, D.C. –A controversial new illegal immigration documentary America’s Forgotten, directed by Namrata Singh Gujral, was set to stream for purchase on Amazon today, however to date, Amazon has refused to release the film, a display of Big Tech censorship of conservatism. Director Namrata Singh Gujral has reached out to Amazon several times with no answers as to why the release has been pushed back. This censorship is affecting the promotion of the film as Uniglobe Entertainment previously highlighted its availability on Amazon.

    The film has been widely covered by major conservative outlets such as FOXNews.com, The Daily Caller, Newsweek and The Daily Wire. Ms. Gujral has done interviews with Kyle Olson, Newsmax, Steve Gruber, Heidi Harris, Lars Larson, and Joyce Kaufman. However, major media platforms are refusing to promote the release or stream the film. This is another example of Big Tech’s censorship of conservative voices.

    In an exclusive interview with Hollie McKay from Fox News Online, Ms. Gujral states, “…when I started making this, the things I found were eye-opening. I realized the narrative I had been sold and supported was not the real truth. Illegal immigration is a terrible practice that should not only be discouraged, but it should be stopped.”

    Because of heartbreaking stories uncovered in the documentary that highlight the unintended consequences of illegal immigration, Director Namrata Singh Gujral addresses her change of political affiliation after uncovering the devastating effects of illegal immigration in her new documentary America’s Forgotten. Ms. Gujral encourages Democrats to face the harsh reality that their policies regarding immigration are doing more harm than good, “The Democratic Party has gone way left. Until people like me in the Democratic Party that are more American than Democrat stand up and speak out against it, America is going to be in a free fall, highjacked by extremism.”

    The film is available for nationwide streaming on Vimeo, SalemNow and iScreeningRoom.

    1. “Amazon Censors Streaming Release of Illegal Immigration Documentary America’s Forgotten”

      – Not to worry! I’m sure our duly elected Representatives and Congresspersons are right on it, along with trust-busting of the Silicon Valley tech. sector. Oh wait. “We’re all in this together” says one Congressman to any Tech. Oligarch. Congress has you back? Well, not so much really. The Second Amendment is there for a reason…

      “He that pays the piper calls the tune.” – Proverb

  16. Housing will crash when forbearance ends!!!!!

    Or maybe it won’t if the Fed further lowers 30 year mortgage rates to below 2%. Negative anyone??

    “There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image, make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur, or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat: There is nothing wrong with your television set. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to… The Outer Limits. “

  17. “In Finland at the end of last year, there were about 300,000 vacant dwellings, according to Statistics Finland. The number means that about one in ten dwellings is not permanently occupied by anyone…”

    Absolute. Insanity.

    Meanwhile, closer to home, the Nevada eviction moratorium expired this week. Of course the CDC eviction moratorium is in place, but will everyone get the word about that? Or qualify for it? I’m waiting to see if the much-ballyhooed eviction apocalypse actually occurs.

    https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/eviction-mediation-program-begins-following-the-end-of-nevadas-eviction-moratorium/

      1. It will be interesting to see what other contracts the government will decide it has the authority to abrogate. Will they ban car repossessions? Will they decide that credit card debt need not be repaid?

      3. What jurisdiction does the CDC have to usurp contract law?

        The same “jurisdiction” as FDR had when he voided “gold clauses” in previously valid contracts shortly after he took office. His act (INMSHO) was clearly unconstitutional and yet it was approved by the US Supreme Court.

    2. What landlord would risk this? It seems the CDC moratorium is all that matters.

      A person that violates the CDC Order may be subject to a fine of up to $100,000 and up to one (1) year in jail if the violation does not result in a death, and up to $250,000 and up to one (1) year in jail if the violation results in a death or otherwise as provided by law. An organization that violates the CDC Order may be subject to a fine of up to $200,000 per event if the violation does not result in a death, and up to $500,000 per event if the violation results in a death or otherwise as provided by law.

  19. Here is a fifty minute video featuring one of my hero’s who talks of mortgage fraud, real estate fraud, and other creative endeavors. Definitely banker material.

    Enjoy.

    Watch “Con Man interview-Matthew Cox” on YouTube
    https://youtu.be/EQ2gQZrsmas

      1. Thanks for that.

        Yeah, he’s a scumbag, but I liked his closing comments about being happy, making money doing something that you love doing so that it doesn’t feel like you’re working when you [are] working.

        1. being happy, making money doing something that you love doing so that it doesn’t feel like you’re working when you [are] working.

          This is hardly ever possible for most people, and when you turn your hobby and love into your job, sometimes you get sick of it, too.

    2. Mr Banker

      Thanks for posting

      Really interesting and educational.

      An hour well spent.

      No different than a video about how to identify poisonous snakes.

      Have met a few of these guys in my life.

      What do they have in common?

      They are incredibly slinky and smooth. (and they bite)

    2. They’ve gone remote

      The next step is to be converted to a contractor without benefits. The step after that is to not be guaranteed any specific amount of “work”. The step after that is to be offered “hours” to train newbies.

      2020 has been interesting. 2021 will be more so.

      1. The next step is to be converted to a contractor without benefits. The step after that is to not be guaranteed any specific amount of “work”. The step after that is to be offered “hours” to train newbies.

        That’s exactly what happened to me in 2016 after the Koreans bought my employer while I was in China. It was good while it lasted. If I find a way to go back I’ll start an American restaurant this time while I’m doing tech work from “home”…

      2. “The step after that is to be offered “hours” to train newbies.”

        I had that exactly that offer. But I was debt free, and I had money saved in addition to multiple benefits due me; told ’em, “go fish!”

  24. Do you find it curious when pyromaniacs fret over the possible negative consequences of constantly playing with fire?

    1. The Financial Times
      Steer from crisis to recovery with the FT
      US financial regulation
      Federal Reserve debates tougher regulation to prevent asset bubbles
      Officials worry that low interest-rate policies could encourage excessive risk-taking
      Eric Rosengren, president of the Boston Fed, says the US central bank lacks the tools to ‘stop firms and households’ from taking on ‘excessive leverage’
      © Reuters
      James Politi in Washington
      33 minutes ago

      Senior Federal Reserve officials are calling for tougher financial regulation to prevent the US central bank’s low interest-rate policies from giving rise to excessive risk-taking and asset bubbles in the markets.

      The push reflects concerns that the Fed’s ultra-loose monetary policy for struggling families and businesses risks becoming a double-edge sword, encouraging behaviour detrimental to economic recovery and creating pressure for additional bailouts.

      It also highlights fears at the Fed that the financial system remains vulnerable to new shocks, despite massive central bank intervention this year to stabilise markets and the economy during the pandemic.
      …

      1. “Officials worry that low interest-rate policies could encourage excessive risk-taking.”

        This statement is missing something. Here, allow me to fix it …

        Officials worry that low interest-rate policies using money that belongs to somebody else could encourage excessive risk-taking.

        There. More better.

  25. ‘Censorship power, like the tech giants who now wield it, is an instrument of status quo preservation. The promise of the internet from the start was that it would be a tool of liberation, of egalitarianism, by permitting those without money and power to compete on fair terms in the information war with the most powerful governments and corporations.’

    ‘But just as is true of allowing the internet to be converted into a tool of coercion and mass surveillance, nothing guts that promise, that potential, like empowering corporate overloads and unaccountable monopolists to regulate and suppress what can be heard.’

    ‘To observe that those who are cheering for this today because they happen to like this particular outcome are being short-sighted and myopic is to woefully understate the case. The only people who should want to live in a world where Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai and Jeff Bezos have a stranglehold on what can be said and heard are those whose actions are devoted to the perpetuation of their power and who benefit from their hegemony.’

    ‘Everyone else will eventually be faced with the choice of conformity or censorship, of refraining from expressing prohibited views as the cost for maintaining access to crucial social media platforms. The only thing more authoritarian than the acts of Facebook and Twitter yesterday is the mentality that causes ordinary people to cheer it, to be grateful for the power and control they have long wielded and yesterday finally unleashed.’

    https://theintercept.com/2020/10/15/facebook-and-twitter-cross-a-line-far-more-dangerous-than-what-they-censor/

    1. Twitter Locks NY Post Account, Still Blocking One Hunter Biden Article – Variety
      https://variety.com/2020/digital/news/twitter-blocking-nypost-china-hunter-biden-account-locked-1234808416/

      Twitter is keeping itself in front of the political firing line by inconsistently applying policy to a series of unconfirmed reports by the New York Post about Joe Biden’s son Hunter — moves Republicans have slammed as censorship and election interference.

      The social network initially banned the Post’s story Wednesday about Hunter Biden’s alleged attempts to influence his father, Joe Biden, to try to shut down a probe into Ukrainian energy company Burisma and another claiming Hunter tried to leverage his father’s status as VP in the Obama administration to boost his compensation from Burisma. Originally, Twitter said the Post’s stories — based on info furnished by Rudy Giuliani, President Trump’s personal lawyer — violated its “hacked materials” policy, as they included information purportedly harvested from a laptop of uncertain origin. Twitter did an about-face Friday to allow users to tweet them.

    2. Re censorship: These platforms are just advertising companies. Basically news 2.0. You can opt in or out to their terms. Asking for “fairness” in private companies is 100% socialism. What I DONT want: US govt in business telling anyone what can be said or not. Do they tell Home Depot how to sell tools? Or Elon how to sell a car? You have total socialism when we govern these platforms, take govt stakes in businesses (bonds), bail out big debt companies, 5Trillion ‘stimulus’, etc. forget about election, we are on our way, comrades lol.

      1. Or Elon how to sell a car?

        Actually, they do. In many states automakers are not allowed to own or operate dealerships nor sell cars directly to individuals.

      1. According to the Liberal mind, doesn’t a racial product, no matter how old, make Disney a racist institution? Or is it just too much fun?

        1. Anything can be forgiven for a comrade. And nothing can be forgiven for a “fascist”. That’s all that matters. Look at how unwoke some of the arrest records are for some of these antifa guys. Yet nobody cares. As long as they are down with the cause now.

  28. ‘Some of the landlords have just thrown up their hands and put it on the market,’ she said.”

    That’s the spirit!

  29. ‘You can now find condos for $400,000 when that was never the case before,’ Mr. Moody said. ‘Right now if you’re a smart investor, you would be buying.’”

    No, Mr. Moody, a smart investor would run like hell from that socialist paradise before it spirals into complete dystopia.

  30. Median rents for studios were down 17.1% in September compared to the same time last year, with median rents at $2,184, while the median rents for one-bedrooms decreased by 14.7% to $2,977, according to the report.

    Is that a lot?

  31. ‘That effects about 121 homeowners, 121 mortgages, we felt like we should have been told so that we can try to come up with a plan,’ said Dennis Cooke, a short-term rental homeowner.”

    Foreseeing just such a contingency, the brain trust here at the HBB has come up with just the plan you need for this scenario, Dennis. It’s called “dump your speculative property post-haste before the bottom drops out of the market.”

  32. “Steven McGee, of New York City, sold his Unit 24 condominium at 834 Evergreen Way to Thomas and Mary Reedy, of St. Louis, for $407,000. Built in 1991, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,440 square feet of living area. It sold for $475,000 in 2007.”

    Back to 2007 pricing is swell, but I’m thinking shack prices need to be rolled back to oh, say, 1989 prices.

  34. ‘Our entire industry is gone. I’m just suffering. They don’t want us to work so I’m just sitting on my ass here waiting for $232 a week.’”

    Sounds like your entire industry wasn’t really essential, Kekoa. Maybe you should learn a more recession-proof trade or skill.

    1. And don’t forget to re-elect the leftist nutjobs who locked down your economy, destroyed your job and sent you to the poorhouse. Because they care about you. Did I mention they’re still getting paid while you only get $232 a week?

  35. Finland is urbanizing at a rapid pace, and therefore entire apartment buildings are now being sold for EUR 35,000 – ‘It is difficult to find a purpose for those apartment buildings.’”

    The globalist Quislings in Finland, like their counterparts elsewhere in Scandinavia and Western Europe, are flooding the country with Third World benefits spongers. There’s your purpose for all that empty housing. These asylum-seekers are a fecund bunch who will set about out-breeding their hosts as soon as they’ve signed up for all the generous welfare benefits the Quislings are dangling before them.

  37. The Dem party has already proven that their policies don’t work. These corrupt Politicians made a mess out of America and they refuse to have any discussion on the obvious damage to the United States by what they support.
    Open borders, backing the rise of China that took our manufacturing, hijacking the welfare system and the education system, false narratives to keep their power structures going. Support of Globalism that is just as destructive as Commie take over which is anti USA worker in favor of Top down control by One World order Looters and Commie equity Looters.
    Monopoly price gouging health care system designed to loot Americans based on their income and maintain price gouging by income enforced by the IRS.
    Every dollar that is looted by Commie type monopoly control of pricing is wealth extraction by rigging.
    Capitalism in American kept prices down, competition up, and prices tracking with wages.
    We don’t even have capitalism anymore. What could be worse than rigged Monopolies and Commie Government.
    It’s all about controlling what populations get . Working people gained by capitalism being operative here, but it limited the profit margins of the Big business and Wall Street. Government involvement in industry just corrupted capitalism.
    Companies use to pay for worker health care and it was cheap. Now it’s based on income as a wealth extraction tax.
    Medicare for all would just transfer the rigged pricing to the government collecting by taxes. Prices wouldn’t go down, it’s just the government would collect the tax.
    Monopolies love to use the government as a agent to prop up rigged pricing.
    A family of 4 paying 25 to thirty thousand a year for health care is a looting.
    Everything the government touches raises the price .
    Than the damage that is created by Government involvement raises welfare costs . Globalism created a monopoly on low wage labor world wide that guts all competition. Not only are wages transferred to places like Communist China ,but manufacturing in USA is gutted. This is a transferring wealth production in USA to China at the expense of USA , while the Globalist take a greater profit by this monopoly arrangement. They should not even be considered American Companies anymore.
    So, I would argue that Globalism created a Monopoly on wage labor that gutted America and any ability to compete that destroyed capitalism. The Politicians betrayed the US worker by not taxing or tariffing this looting of America that increased wealth for big companies and the rise of power for Communist China as a manufacturing monopoly.
    The Globalist monopolies own the news and control the news.
    Trump voters apparently want to take back America from the so called Resistance, that have become so anti American that it’s a joke. Now it’s attack American culture by false narratives, false racism claims, attack whites, attack history, and bring on Commie BS and keep Globalist Monopoly control.
    These power forces need to be stopped and no doubt the Dem party and Biden are aligned with these USA enemies.
    Sorry, for the long post , but I’m so convinced that Citizens need to stop this take over of America and reverse the damage done by these traitors who want to take your freedoms and lifestyle.

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