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Piling Downward Pressures On Home Prices

It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “Courtney White and her fiancé saw one house after another go under contract before even having a chance to see the property during their house hunt earlier this year. After finally buying a house in Durant, Oklahoma, White says she feels like she settled too soon. Even the pool, which initially attracted them to the house, feels like more of a bother than what it’s worth. ‘It’s nothing I can’t live with,’ she says. But she has ‘a whole list of things I want to remodel, which pretty much adds up to the whole house.'”

“‘I thought if we had a pool … I would be in it every day, it would be used a lot,’ she says. But the pool has turned into more of a headache than anything. White says she’s swam in the pool maybe twice since they bought the house, and it takes time and money to maintain.”

“A bank may preapprove you for more than what you want to pay each month. ‘If their mortgage payment is taking up an unhealthy portion of their income from the get-go, that’s going to put them behind the eight ball,’ says Jeff Arevalo, a housing counselor at a nonprofit. ‘That’s going to … typically cause some problems right from the start, which don’t have to happen.'”

“Homes as investments don’t always pay off. Zillow Offers’ iBuying gambits put the company in the red after it outbid traditional buyers on thousands of homes across the country, in many cases for more than they could be sold even after improvements were made. Being upside down on so many properties resulted in the real estate giant shuttering the department. ‘That’s a market that’s still working itself out,’ said Edward Coulson, a professor at UC Irvine and director of research at the university’s Center for Real Estate.”

“When the market rebounded in 2012, price increases returned to those same levels; however, over the last 12 to 15 months, the increases nationwide have been closer to 8%, Coulson said. ‘People ask me, ‘Is this going to continue?’ Of course not,’ Coulson said. ‘There’s no way we could have that kind of price increase. There’s no way that continues; there just isn’t enough income capacity for that.'”

“A legal, financial and property tug-of-war has erupted over the future of a San Jose site where fraud-linked developer Sanjeev Acharya had proposed a mixed-use residential, retail and restaurant village. The battle over the property also threatens several million dollars that are still owed to Charles Johnisee, an elderly retiree who had sold the property in September 2020 to Acharya in a $9 million deal. ‘It was his retirement nest egg’ and ‘the bulk of his assets,’ according to papers that Johnisee’s attorneys filed with the bankruptcy court.”

“The attorneys for the retiree, however, appear to concede in the court papers that Johnisee and his wife won’t ever see the vast majority of what they are owed. ‘Johnisee will never be made whole,’ his attorneys stated in the court papers.”

“A major development in Aberdeen has been placed into administration following a drop in the value of property. It was ultimately intended to extend to 3,100 homes over 400 acres. An administrator FRP spokesperson told Construction News: ‘The administration was caused by the downturn in the oil and gas sector, a dramatic fall in land and property prices, and the impact of the pandemic.'”

“Private developers in Nigeria have been rushing to build homes over the past decade. But the mix of massive demand, high construction costs and poor market research by developers has resulted in a wave of new two- and three-bedroom houses that few people in Nigeria need or can afford, housing experts say. ‘There are empty houses all over the major urban centres of Nigeria,’ Timothy Nubi, director of the University of Lagos’ Centre for Housing and Sustainable Development told reporters. ‘It is illogical to say we have that housing deficit when (we) have empty houses.'”

“The rush to offload property before Christmas is well and truly on, with another weekend of Super Saturday auctions set to test the market again this weekend. Every capital city except Sydney saw a dip in clearance rates last week. Domain chief of research Nicola Powell said the flood of properties going under the hammer in the lead-up to Christmas indicated sellers were trying to get their deals done while there was still momentum in the market.”

“‘That bumper three weeks in a row really does show sellers are trying to get their deals done before we see market softness. They want to sell while the market is still strong,’ she said. ‘They’re being mindful of what’s possibly on the horizon: interest rate rises, moves from APRA. People want to sell at the peak of the market, they want to get it before prices fall.'”

“China’s property downturn is expected to continue into the first half of 2022, with home prices and sales falling as tight credit policies and a looming property tax dampen demand, a Reuters poll showed. ‘The downward trend in home prices has emerged’ due to tight quotas on home loans, worries about a property tax and weak demand, said Chen Shen, an analyst from Huatai Securities. ‘New homes may see a phased fall in prices and sales by volume’ following the announcement of the list of cities implementing real estate tax testing, said Huang Yu, vice president of China Index Academy, a Beijing-based property research institute.”

“‘That may increase supply and reduce speculative buying, piling downward pressures on home prices,” Huatai Securities’ Chen said.”

“Homeowners in Ireland living in houses built with defective blocks that ‘crumble like Weetabix’ say a compensation scheme unveiled by the government will still leave them with devastating bills of up to €80,000 (£60,000). ‘Just for the contractor alone this is going to cost me €79,000,’ said Angeline Ruddy, acting deputy principal of a school in Carndonagh in Donegal. ‘If I went to the bank looking for that they are going to laugh at me because my collateral is a house full of holes that is crumbling.'”

“‘I am absolutely disgusted,’ she said. ‘I cannot believe that after all these years trying to get redress, that the government has decided to treat us like this. This is shocking behaviour.’ Ruddy said the impact of the mica scandal on the mental health of both parents and children at her school was evident. ‘I had one child come up to me yesterday to say ‘my daddy is in a dark place’. I do not know where we go from here,’ she said.”

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This Post Has 162 Comments

  2. ‘If I went to the bank looking for that they are going to laugh at me because my collateral is a house full of holes that is crumbling’

    Would that be a laugh out loud thing Angeline?

    ‘my daddy is in a dark place’

    Well, it was cheaper than renting…

  3. ‘It was his retirement nest egg’ and ‘the bulk of his assets…Johnisee will never be made whole’

    That some red hotness right there.

  4. Libtards reaping what they voted: LA edition

    LA residents say homelessness crisis is city’s biggest problem: 40% say vagrants make them feel unsafe, and a fifth are considering LEAVING the city to escape the spike in grime and crime

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10270147/Nearly-four-10-LA-residents-say-citys-exploding-homeless-population-makes-feel-unsafe.html

    Los Angeles residents say the city’s homelessness crisis is the biggest problem it currently faces, with many saying they feel unsafe as a result – and that they’re now considering moving.

    A whopping 94 percent of people living in the City of Angels say homelessness is a serious or very serious problem.

    It was the biggest concern among residents polled, ahead of housing affordability, or traffic, air quality and climate change.

    1. You pukes stay where you voted! Keep out of Florida.

      I’ve got a liberal bitch at work who moved from Colorado and brought her politics with her. When she asked my opinion on a voter ID I said, “You don’t want my opinion you just want to give me yours so STFU bitch”!

  5. ‘she has ‘a whole list of things I want to remodel, which pretty much adds up to the whole house’

    Winnahs!

    ‘I thought if we had a pool … I would be in it every day, it would be used a lot,’ she says. But the pool has turned into more of a headache than anything. White says she’s swam in the pool maybe twice since they bought the house, and it takes time and money to maintain’

    Yer not the fist sucker Courtney. You paid extra for that!

    ‘A bank may preapprove you for more than what you want to pay each month. ‘If their mortgage payment is taking up an unhealthy portion of their income from the get-go, that’s going to put them behind the eight ball…That’s going to … typically cause some problems right from the start’

    Sound lending!

    2. I remember our rental home’s backyard in-ground pool chemicals, filters and circulation pumping costing over $120/month, and that was back in the 80’s. Never again!

      1. ex-lifeguards astonished expression when after 1st week of home w/pool:

        “wait, the pool doesn’t clean itself?!”

        guilty.

        1. Leslie’s Pool staff, just like realtors, are liars. Every visit they would tell me the person last week had given me the wrong direction/chemicals and it was another $100 down the drain…I must have averaged $400 a month and it looked like crap. Finally I re$urfaced the pool, which was a moronic thing to do, but it seemed to help a bit. When I had to put it on the market in 2014 and move out, I was shocked that a mere $125/month to a pool service took care of everything. It looked amazing even after some jackass hopped over the fence and stole the pool sweeper, which I didn’t replace.

          In the end the battle of green water really got to me. To this day I shake my head in amazement when I drive past clear ponds, lakes, oceans, rivers, or even just look at clean tap water. After fighting my pool for three years I expect any water to turn nasty green in a matter of hours.

          1. $400 a month

            Good Grief!

            I’ve had pools. Never spent half that in a season.

            When I lived in Gulf Coast Louisiana, I put in an above ground pool for the kids. Peeled off the sod and put in sand then the pool. Darned if Bermuda grass didn’t send up shoots right through the liner. That was a bit of a maintenance headache and a frequent reminder that I wasn’t from around there. The daily skimmer basket removal was quite the Zoology lesson. Has anyone else ever seen a three inch long black grasshopper?

          2. A friend of mine had a step father who grew-up in Tacoma, WA, and it was his life’s goal to own a San Diego home w/pool in retirement. Apparently he loved to sweep that pool with the long-stick brush every day basking under the blue California sky.

          3. My cousin has a huge in-ground pool in Madison Wi. He told me there were some months his electric bill was $800! He alluded to the fact it was mostly to heat the pool. I couldn’t believe it. He now has every inch of his roof covered in solar panels to help offset the energy cost.

          4. covered in solar panels

            He could have put black water pipe up there. Much more efficient and cheaper.

  6. ‘There’s no way we could have that kind of price increase. There’s no way that continues; there just isn’t enough income capacity for that.’”

    Soaring inflation thanks to the Fed’s debasement of the currency is going to further destroy the purchasing power of stagnant wages.

  7. ‘It was ultimately intended to extend to 3,100 homes over 400 acres… ‘The administration was caused by the downturn in the oil and gas sector, a dramatic fall in land and property prices, and the impact of the pandemic’

    I see now zillow is saying we might be fooked cuz of CCP virus. It didn’t have anything to do with using a magic 8 ball to overpay for shacks.

  8. Today is Friday, December 3rd, and COVID mRNA vaccines are deadly poison that will maim, paralyze, or kill you.

        1. Grade ‘F’ for retort. Reuters has ties to Pfizer, World Economic Forum (WEF) and Trusted News Initiative (TNI), an industry collaboration of major news and global tech organizations whose stated mission is to “combat spread of harmful vaccine disinformation.” “Fact Check” = Narrative Control

          2. FYI: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abl8213

            Research is starting to show that the blood clot issue from adenovirus vaccines (AZ, J&J) is caused by interaction between the adenovirus vector and blood platelets, not the piece of COVID RNA. The adenovirus can only interact with platelets if the needled pierces into a blood vessel. The blood clots are preventable by aspirating the needle to confirm that the needle has not pierced a blood vessel, and only then injecting the vaccine.

          3. Reuters has ties to Pfizer

            The CEO of Reuters is on the BOD of Pfizer. Probably just an odd coincidence.

          4. Research is starting to show that the blood clot issue from adenovirus vaccines (AZ, J&J) is caused by interaction between the adenovirus vector and blood platelets, not the piece of COVID RNA.

            Clotting has been seen across all genetic platforms with the common denominator being the in vivo manufacture of the spike protein. Just because one pathway has been shown doesn’t mean it’s the only one.

          7. Imagine that. The pharma companies donating to news organizations to control narrative. Who woulda thunk ….

  9. Poof.

    ‘Chinese tech shares briefly touched their record lows in Hong Kong, as Didi Global Inc.’s announcement to start U.S. delisting and rising scrutiny on mainland firms traded there dealt a further blow to already soured sentiment.’

    ‘The Hang Seng Tech Index, which tracks mostly Chinese technology giants traded in Hong Kong, slid as much as 2.7% before closing 1.5% lower to hover over its lowest level since the gauge was launched in July last year. Members of the index have seen about $1.5 trillion of combined market value evaporate since a February peak.’

    Taxis aren’t tech bloomberg. But is that lot?

  10. So she don’t care for the Pool ? Hardly anyone uses pools , unless they are on vacation, but they do look good in the yards ….

    1. Salt water pools with ultra violet filtering lights are the way to go. I use them regularly, sometimes multiple times a day. But yeah, most don’t seem to get used enough.

    2. I’m having a flashback to lots and lots of abandoned algae green pools in the wake of the 2007-2009 housing collapse. It was an ugly green mess.

    3. Personally, I regularly swim and love pools. I just don’t want to own one.

      Here in sunny SoCal, pools are expensive to build and maintain.

      At least here in Orange County, the folks who write homeowners insurance take a dim view of pools because they are considered to be an “attractive nuisance” and, of course, charge more for a typical H/O policy.

      I have seen more than a few homeowners who are so fed up with the never ending maintenance costs, that they drain their pool. Even that strategy has a downside, in that the local kids will soon find out about the drained pool and [while homeowners are away] use it as an improvised skate board park.

      Finally, it is almost a certainty that California will soon start imposing water usage mandates. So that expensive pool is going to get even more expensive.

      1. There is software that is able to scan aerial imagery for changes to assessed properties looking for mother-in-law cottages, swimming pools, etc., so that an increased assessment can be issued. There’s no sympathy for a man who owns a swimming pool.

  11. Every time an LA limousine liberal gets culturally enriched, an angel gets its wings.

    Celebrities among those targeted in spate of follow-home robberies, LAPD says

    https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-11-11/follow-home-robbery-spike-in-la-sweeps-up-celebrities-too

    A crew of masked robbers tracked actor and former BET host Terrence Jenkins to his Sherman Oaks home early Wednesday and attempted to block him in with an SUV, but he was able to flee in his car as shots were fired.

    Authorities say it’s the latest in a series of follow-home robberies. Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore warned that his department has seen a spike in such crimes in recent weeks in more affluent areas of the Westside.

    2. California smash-and-grab thieves were back at it on Friday — with one crew hitting up a Home Depot to steal sledgehammers, crowbars and other tools, authorities said.

      The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said the Lakewood store’s entire hammer section had been cleared out by the mob of eight during the robbery, which took place at around 7:45 p.m. local time, Fox 11 reported.

      The suspects — who range in age from 15 to 20 — fled in getaway cars parked outside the Home Depot, the sheriff’s department said.

      It was one of several brazen flash-robberies in the area on Black Friday.

      The Los Angeles Police Department said it issued a city-wide tactical alert after a large group raided a Bottega Veneta store in the ritzy Beverly Grove neighborhood, CBS LA

      1. they apparently caught many of them, but they’re all back out on the streets. They so far have stolen about $340,000 worth of goods. And they get no cash bail.

  12. Every D voter is an accessory to this.

    ‘Flash mob’ robberies roiling U.S. retailers, traumatizing workers

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/e2-80-98flash-mob-e2-80-99-robberies-roiling-us-retailers-traumatizing-workers/ar-AARqtwi

    A spate of brazen store heists, in which organized mobs have hit stores as varied as Nordstrom, Best Buy, Louis Vuitton and Home Depot, has shaken the retail industry and created fresh challenges for law enforcement.

    While large-scale “smash-and-grabs” have been on the rise this year, experts say they hit critical mass in late November, when stores were piled high with holiday inventory. On Black Friday alone, a crew of eight made off with $400 worth of sledgehammers, crowbars and hammers from a Home Depot in Lakewood, Calif.; a group ransacked a Bottega Veneta boutique in Los Angeles; and roughly 30 people swarmed a Best Buy near Minneapolis, grabbing electronics.

      1. This is redistribution of the wealth – a central tenet of all collectivist ideologies. It’s no coincidence that this is happening exclusively in Democrat-Bolshevik malgoverned municipalities with Soros-installed DAs.

      2. “On Black Friday alone, a crew of eight made off with $400 worth of sledgehammers, crowbars and hammers from a Home Depot . . ”

        no mention of stolen work gloves, boots or doritos leads to the obvious conclusion, watson.

    2. If this keeps up for much longer, retail is going to be reduced to Amazon warehouses surrounded by military guards with delivery by armored vehicles.

      1. If there is a worst R/E investment right now than commercial retail, sure would like to know what it is.

    1. And the police have taken a kneel since the riots started years ago.
      The license plates read out from mall and traffic cameras in all directions. A high percentage could have been arrested by now but have not been.
      However, every periphery Jan 6 observer has been identified and jailed.

      2. A high percentage could have been arrested by now but have not been

        It does no good to arrest them when they’ll go up before a criminal-coddling DA or face a “jury of their peers.”

    3. a delicious dish of blue plate special irony for the BLM pandering woke crowd, after chilling in the walk-in cooler for months. served-up by your friendly cafe crew of Chef Ptomaine, waitress Betty Varicose and busboy Sal Monella.

      (props to Bob Keller)

  14. Another Fear Pron story on 9News:

    158 days into hospital stay for COVID, father of 3 walks out of hospital

    And of course … wait for it:

    McWilliams was blunt as he waited for his ride home. At the time he and his wife came down with COVID, he was unvaccinated. He wasn’t against the vaccine, but he had kept putting it off.

    “People have just got to get the shot,” he said.

    And there it is.

    Funny, how the MSM never covers stories about adverse effects or people who die after getting jabbed. Nor do they cover how the American Heart Association said that the vaxx can damage your heart, nor that they were censured on Twitter.

      1. I’m getting my booster in a couple of weeks. I’ll plan to compare notes with you in six months if I am still around.

        1. For your sake I hope Deplorable is wrong.

          My BIL’s boss is still suffering from his booster shot. Day #5, I believe. Swollen eyeball (I hope he doesn’t lose it) and overall sick as a dog.

          1. Thanks.

            I was going to get it before Thanksgiving, but found it impossible to schedule a time that wouldn’t disrupt my work commitments if the side effects were bad.

            So instead I got COVID-19 at a Thanksgiving gathering. Sometimes there’s just no obvious best course of action…

          2. So instead I got COVID-19

            Being that you’re still posting, I’m going to guess that your case was very mild.

            I keep meeting people who have had it and said it wasn’t a big deal at all and who wondered “why was I so afraid of this?”

          3. “meeting people who have had it”

            I think I may have caught the coof as many as three times since January 2020. But I’ve never been tested for it, because I don’t need a swab shoved 8 inches in my nostril, and that if I tested as a positive “case” that data would only be used to promote more unscientific medical tyranny.

            This isn’t Australia, and this isn’t Europe. We are the last free nation on the planet, and if we have to kill a whole lotta globalists to keep it free, we’re gonna kill em 🙂

          4. a swab shoved 8 inches

            Not that it matters, but I got tested to go to Canada and they weren’t doing the deep dive anymore.

          5. Swollen eyeball

            My son has a new ABA supervisor. She has a swollen eye and large rash on her side. Her doctors suspect Lupus, an autoimmune disease. As health care providers, her employer required the jabs early on in the roll out. Given the timing, I suspect the booster shot.

        2. This is interesting. You are a confirmed contrarian when it comes to real estate and markets but in this matter you throw all logic out the window and eagerly let some random person jam a needle full of unknown chemicals into your arm. You state you have been “vaccinated” once and then got sick with covid anyway. This should prove without a reasonable doubt that whatever they injected you with didn’t work. It should also occur to you that since you survived covid that now you have immunity which makes a booster completely unnecessary. It doesn’t require any medical expertise to understand this, just common sense. I normally wouldn’t waste the effort but you are a confirmed contrarian so this is really bizarre behavior. How do you explain these contradictions? Mania psychology is fascinating!

          1. whatever they injected you with didn’t work

            Au contraire! “My bout with COVID would have been worse without the jab. The jabs give me more protection than my immune system alone.”

          2. It should also occur to you that since you survived covid that now you have immunity which makes a booster completely unnecessary.

            This.

          3. Professor Bear, Is it that your employer is requiring the booster? You don’t have to answer.
            I’m just a little shocked that you would want a booster .
            But it’s your life and your choice. YOU DON’T NEED NO STINKING BOOSTER, oh sorry.

          5. I think I have had COVID-19 twice already, once without the vaccine and once with. So far it’s been a much more benign experience with the vaccine.

            And so far as I know, my employer has not put any booster mandate in effect. If I get it, it will be my own choice and I will live with the consequences. That’s just the way I roll.

          6. I think I have had COVID-19

            Covid is the only thing we have left. All colds and little Flus have mysteriously gone away.

          7. So far it’s been a much more benign experience with the vaccine.

            Why would you assume it’s because of the vaccine, vs the antibodies from the first go-round?

          8. Why would you assume it’s because of the vaccine, vs the antibodies from the first go-round?

            My thought as well. If anything, the vaxx weakened his natural immunity.

        1. From The Lancet paper:

          Declaration of interests
          KCa acts on behalf of University Hospital Southampton as an investigator on studies funded or sponsored by vaccine manufacturers including AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Medimmune, Merck, Pfizer, Sanofi, and Valneva. She receives no personal financial payment for this work. SNF acts on behalf of University Hospital Southampton National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust as an investigator or providing consultative advice, or both, on clinical trials and studies of COVID-19 and other vaccines funded or sponsored by vaccine manufacturers including Janssen, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Novavax, Seqirus, Sanofi, Medimmune, Merck, and Valneva. He receives no personal financial payment for this work. ALG is named as an inventor on a patent covering use of a particular promoter construct that is often used in ChAdOx1-vectored vaccines and is incorporated in the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine. ALG might benefit from royalty income paid to the University of Oxford from sales of this vaccine by AstraZeneca and its sublicensees under the University’s revenue sharing policy. JH has received payments for presentations for AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, Ciple, and Teva. VL acts on behalf of University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as an investigator on clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines funded or sponsored by vaccine manufacturers including Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Valneva. He receives no personal financial payment for this work. PM acts on behalf of University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust and The Adam Practice as an investigator on studies funded or sponsored by vaccine manufacturers including AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Novavax, Medicago, and Sanofi. He received no personal financial payment for this work. JSN-V-T is seconded to the Department of Health and Social Care, England. MR has provided post marketing surveillance reports on vaccines for Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline for which a cost recover charge is made. MDS acts on behalf of the University of Oxford as an investigator on studies funded or sponsored by vaccine manufacturers including AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Novavax, Janssen, Medimmune, and MCM vaccines. He received no personal financial payment for this work. All other authors declare no competing interests.

          1. I agree that objective findings are hard to find! The taint of excessive financialization is ubiquitous.

          4. whats with all the hard science reading before noon, RedPillRH!? my second cuppa has not kicked in yet. and don’t even say there’s a pop quiz later so take notes, class.

          5. I’m more likely to trust a paper that was funded by so many different funding sources, than I am to trust research from only one or two sources. Really, this looks like the whole of Big Pharma is just throwing a little money into one big pot. Not much financial commitment from any single source, so it’s not as if they’re going to pull funding. And this is the ONLY way that any research is going to get done nowadays.

          6. Really, this looks like the whole of Big Pharma is just throwing a little money into one big pot.

            You’re missing the point. These authors of pharma whores.

          8. It’s a little difficult to imagine research funded by big pharma coming out with findings that seem critical of pharmaceutical company interests.

            Kind of like imagining Fed-supported research finding fault with central banking practices…

          9. This Lancet paper has 53 authors. Only 7 of the principle investigators claim any kind of interest, and even then most of them declare they received no direct compensation for this work. So what it seems like is that all the pharma companies throw money into some big pot to pay the technicians and students and lab costs. The PIs are likely paid hard money salary from the hospital or university.

            So sure, you could call them all pharma whores, but isn’t everybody who has a job a whore these days? I’m not sure you’re going to see a paper with any less direct influence.

          10. no direct compensation . . . what it seems like . . . are likely paid

            An uninformed, naive and academic view.

          12. “It’s a little difficult to imagine research funded by big pharma coming out with findings that seem critical of pharmaceutical company interests.”
            And yet you are the one who cited the article, apparently in support of your decision to get a booster, right after you caught COVID, which was after being jabbed twice. Sounds like really logical.

          14. No, not altruistic. Principle investigators are not paid through grant money. They are paid a salary by the university for their teaching duties, funded by tuitions or by state tax money, depending on the University. At hospitals I guess they are staff doctors. That’s what I meant by “hard” money. Student stipends and technician wages, however, are “soft” money. They have to be funded by either industry or government grants. The hard-money faculty PI applies for grants to pay for his students, not for himself.

            At least that’s how it is in the US. Not sure about Britain. I note that most of this research took place at University College London, and University Hospital Southampton. So I guess that academic view is the one to go with.

          15. So what it seems like is that all the pharma companies throw money into some big pot to pay the technicians and students and lab costs. The PIs are likely paid hard money salary from the hospital or university.
            You have absolutely no idea how research works in academic institutions. Your assertion that PI salaries are paid by the universities is absolutely wrong. No grants? No salary.

          17. Let’s face it. Covid is simply a global IQ test. Those who don’t get the jab pass and get more crap when the jabbed kick the bucket.

            I’ll be able to move into a mega mansion in my liberal ultra jabbed poophole in a few years!

          19. That’s the way it was at my schools, at least for tenured professors. I think there was some provision where that prof was paid out of the grant on top of his hard money salary, but his salary didn’t go to 0.

          20. need to figure out

            The definition of “unvaccinated” being used in that article.

            why “vaccinated covid deaths/hospitalizations” are being counted incorrectly

            vaccine companies, countries, and health agencies reporting “vaccine efficacy” are using definitions like “14 days after the second dose” for vaccinated. and they are calling all people who have had at least one dose but not reached the 14 day post d2 mark (sometimes 7 days) as “unvaccinated.” and this turns out to be a truly nasty sleight of hand that seriously affects the data.

          22. Red, how is it “sleight-of-hand” if every government and pharma beats it into our heads that immunity takes 2 weeks to kick in? They clearly aren’t hiding it. It’s common knowledge, and it’s true for almost every vaccine out there, including flu shots. (That’s why they want people to get flu shots in October even though peak flu isn’t until January; to make sure immunity has time to develop.)

            People were getting COVID in those first two weeks because they ripped off their masks and partied in crowds before the immunity developed. It’s their own behavior at fault. If anything, blaming it on the vaccine is the sleight-of-hand.

          23. before the immunity developed.

            Except that the shot you’re talking about definitely does not produce immunity. We were led to believe that it was an immunization, but it’s long been clear that it’s not.

          24. how is it “sleight-of-hand”

            Read the linked article. Don’t let the cat schtick fool you. The author knows what he’s talking about and was banned from Twitter.

            People were getting COVID in those first two weeks because they ripped off their masks and partied in crowds before the immunity developed.

            Your idiotic and unscientific conclusion. From the linked article:

            for the 2 weeks after you get your first covid jab, your risk of contracting covid goes up sharply. the VE is strongly negative. this means that there IS a field that you need to run across and that vaccination campaigns can act as pandemic accelerants.

          25. your risk of contracting covid goes up sharply

            That doesn’t seem intuitive. Risk up, up, up, up, then ding ding ding, you’re immune! I’d believe that you are at a greater risk of various illness right after the shot, hopefully fading with time.

          26. That doesn’t seem intuitive.

            The jabs apparently trigger immune dysregulation. What we’re told is vaccine-induced “immunity” is elevated antibody titers against a specific antigen. It’s admittedly confusing and complicated. From https://boriquagato.substack.com/p/if-unvaccinated-were-a-drug-to-stop:

            this is not just “non sterilizing” this is “virus enhancing.”

            the mechanism of this is far from settled and debate is ongoing. i suspect it may be [Toll-like receptor] suppression, at least in the short run, and likely a form of immuno-mistraining called “original antigenic sin” (OAS) in the longer run that locks you into a highly specific antibody response and prevents further adaptation to more effective modalities especially around (in this case) recognition of and resistance to the nucleocapsid in the pathogen itself. (generally the source of sterilizing immunity raising interesting questions about whether vaccination before infection will prevent or reduce the sterilizing aspects of acquired immunity)

  15. Vibrants in Democrat-Bolshevik malgoverned cities know that with fellow criminals (D) installed at City Hall and subverting the judicial system, they can cavort with impunity.

    Breaking News: Columbia University doctoral student, 30, is knifed to death in Manhattan: ‘Gang member, 25, with lengthy rap sheet’ is arrested blocks away

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10271767/Columbia-University-engineering-graduate-student-30-stabbed-death.html

    A Columbia University doctoral student was stabbed to death near the Manhattan campus on Thursday by a gang member who was arrested after stabbing a 27-year-old tourist 15 minutes later, police said.

    Davide Giri, 30, a PhD candidate in computer science, died after being stabbed in the stomach by a 25-year-old member of the Bloods gang off-shoot, Every Body Killer, who had 11 prior arrests dating back to 2012, the New York Post reported.

    1. RE: Another victim cited in the URL link”

      “Rashaun Weaver, 15, charged with fatally stabbing Barnard College student Tessa Majors to death during a park mugging was reportedly caught on a wiretap confessing to his jailed father.”

      Vibrants!

  16. Hi all. I’m back here at HBB after a decade’s absence. This summer I got all my money out of an apartment building I had owned in Maine. The Florida condo I bought in 2015 has greatly appreciated, but I can’t sell it, because where would I live in winter? I’m a private mortgage lender and have managed to keep the majority of my money deployed, but still have more cash than I would like. So, I hope for prices to hit a wall, giving me some choice of properties in Maine to acquire for personal use. For now, I’m a tenant up there, as the rents are quite low relative to prices. For example, I considered buying a $300K house until I found out that it had most recently rented out for $800/mo. (Are you kidding me?!) Somebody did, in fact, buy it, but I can’t see the prices sustaining themselves much longer. Wishful thinking on my part, I suppose.

    1. “For example, I considered buying a $300K house until I found out that it had most recently rented out for $800/mo.”

      Da gimp has been telling us this fact for years!

    2. I’m a private mortgage lender and have managed to keep the majority of my money deployed

      I’m trying to remember the screen name of the hard-money lender who used to post here long ago..was that you? (I know it wasn’t Mimi!)

      still have more cash than I would like

      Feel free to send it this way if it’s problematic for you — happy help to ease your burden! 🙂

  17. The winnahs:

    “Zillow Offers’ iBuying gambits put the company in the red after it outbid traditional buyers on thousands of homes across the country, in many cases for more than they could be sold even after improvements were made. Being upside down on so many properties resulted in the real estate giant shuttering the department.”

  18. I can’t help but wonder whether cratering housing prices In China might make it more challenging for Evergrande and other underwater developers to escape from their debt traps?

    “‘That may increase supply and reduce speculative buying, piling downward pressures on home prices,” Huatai Securities’ Chen said.”

  19. Some local news in downtown Dumver:

    “The union pointed to a Nov. 29 statement from RTD General Manager and CEO Debra Johnson, who acknowledged the “unwanted activities, including illicit drug use and the sale of those drugs, vandalism, prolific loitering, and acts of aggression and violence” that occur within Union Station and said she “witnessed these activities first-hand.”

    They also said that on Oct. 19, during a tour of the facility, Union Vice President Ronald Short and Chief Operations Officer Michael Ford “had to walk in very close proximity of a group of people actively smoking drugs in an aluminum foil pipe just to get into the bathroom to inspect the conditions” at Union Station.

    https://kdvr.com/news/local/rtd-union-calls-denver-union-station-a-lawless-hellhole/

    A lawless hellhole?

    Vote like California, become California.

    1. I’ve driven past it, but have never been in Dumver’s Union Station. The Last time I was in downtown Dumver was in 2018. I can’t think of a good reason to go back.

  20. Real Journalists.

    Salon — If America really surrenders to fascism, then what? Painful questions lie ahead (12/2/2021):

    “the mainstream news media remains trapped in obsolescent norms of “fairness,” “balance” and “objectivity,” rather than engaging in the type of pro-democracy advocacy journalism demanded by the country’s escalating political crises.

    The right-wing media and its larger echo chamber is a propaganda and disinformation machine. Its foremost role is to convince the right-wing public — and “low information” voters as a whole — that empirical truth and reality no longer exist, or are tools of a condescending “elite” and “deep state”.

    https://archive.md/2xoI8

    Archive link provided because we do not give clicks or revenue to these globalists.

    President Donald J. Trump was, in fact, correct when he stated that “the media is the enemy of the American people.”

    1. If America really surrenders to fascism, then what?

      The Dems become the Uniparty, they tear up the Constitution and send all dissidents to gulags.

    1. Ya gotta love a nonagenarian market commentator who has absolutely zero vested interests to sway the objectivity of his observations.

    2. Mr. Banker

      Thanks for posting.

      Some pretty scary charts indeed.

      No wonder many CEO’s / assorted billionaires have been recently been moving large fractions of their portfolios to cash.

      More deposits and more fees for Mr. Banker, (unless these guys use TreasuryDirect.)

      1. This recent development seems destined for an interesting resolution:

        “But, investors have poured almost $900 billion into equity funds in 2021 – exceeding the combined total from the past 19 years – according to data from Bank of America Corp. and EPFR Global.”

        1. And add in crypto..

          Since crypto markets are currently unregulated, unclear how many billions have been dumped into the (literally) thousands of crypto sites. (The most well known, of course, bitcoin).

          I read somewhere recently (I think it may of been a link posted here on the HBB) that it would take 10 years @8% growth just for the S&P at current valuation to return to normal growth.

    3. “Berkshire’s Munger…”

      Charlie is about the right age for a stacked squeeze toy who cut her teeth on Hefner’s trampoline.

      1. The Financial Times
        Markets volatility
        Omicron and US monetary policy uncertainty roil global markets
        Equities and bonds gyrate as traders decipher conflicting signals on economic outlook
        Visitors ride electric scooters near the Federal Reserve building in Washington
        The spread of the new Omicron coronavirus variant has threatened to complicate the Federal Reserve’s pullback from its $120bn a month bond-buying programme
        © Samuel Corum/Bloomberg
        Eric Platt, Kate Duguid and Joe Rennison in New York
        6 hours ago

        Financial markets have been whipsawed over the past week, with the Omicron coronavirus variant sweeping the globe just as the Federal Reserve signalled its willingness to accelerate US monetary policy tightening.

        Dizzying swings in global stock markets have wiped trillions of dollars off valuations only to partially reverse hours later — shifts that underscore how investors must now navigate an increasingly cloudy global economic outlook.

        The jolt of volatility underscores how investors are bracing themselves for the beginning of the Fed’s retreat from its massive stimulus programme, which has helped to propel stocks to records heights. A new strain of coronavirus has raised the stakes in a year when investors have pumped hundreds of billions of dollars into equities.

        “Uncertainty lifts volatility, which can cause people to stay away,” said Katie Koch, co-head of fundamental equities at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. “We have markets that have very demanding valuations and they have a lot of good news priced in, so when the news flow turns marginally negative that can be disruptive.”

        Traders and asset managers have been captivated by the shifts from the Fed, which in November began rolling back the policies it put in place to soothe markets at the depths of the coronavirus crisis last year.
        …

  24. “Courtney White and her fiancé saw one house after another go under contract before even having a chance to see the property during their house hunt earlier this year. After finally buying a house in Durant, Oklahoma, White says she feels like she settled too soon. Even the pool, which initially attracted them to the house, feels like more of a bother than what it’s worth.”

    Wife and I have been retirement house hunting in Central Texas and Oklahoma the last 2 weeks. If you thought the last bubble was bad this one will be a complete and utter meltdown. All of the Texas realtors asked me if this was a primary residence or an “investment” property. I told them it was a primary residence and they said “Oh, we’re asking because some people from up North and back East are buying multiple properties for investments.” I asked if they were cash purchases and they said “No, they’re using the low interest rates to their advantage and buying multiple properties.”

    I need to sell that building lot I bought in New Braunfels last February and buy it back for half the price in 2023. This is worse than I saw it in 2003-2006.

    1. “No, they’re using the low interest rates to their advantage and buying multiple properties.”

      If these investing geniuses get lucky, the Fed’s efforts to maintain interest rates at historic low levels forever will prove successful, even after they end their extraordinary pandemic stimulus measures and stop using Quantitative Easing to fund $40 bn a month in mortgage backed securities purchases.

    2. So even the most uninformed fully understand now is not the time to buy a house. Even more odd about you is that you post on a site where the rampant fraud, fraudsters and trolls are ripped to shreds daily.

      Strange.

      Aside from that, what is a “retirement” house.

      1. Maybe what they meant to say was “toetag house”?

        Remember the poster from a few years back who repeatedly said that was what she wanted?

          1. Not sure why you hate everybody here but it’s getting old. You headed back to Zerohedge anytime soon? Oh that’s right, you were trashed there every minute of the day. Old fat bast@rd was it?

    3. FAKE WHITE HOUSE

      Not surprising, Brandon got his fake saline solution booster on a set that was supposed to look like he was in the White House, but it looked so fake that they dropped the pretense.

    4. This seems pretty silly, Ben. Incoming craft to DCA aren’t allowed to fly in the P-56 zone over the Mall, but they do travel within a mile of the White House, at low altitude. Easily enough to make that kind of noise under the right conditions.

      And anyway, the White House press has to physically go to the White House to that room to hear Jen in person. I’m pretty sure they know which White House they’re in. So unless those reporters were transported from the real White House into some stage set without knowing it, can we discount this?

  27. ‘There’s no way we could have that kind of price increase. There’s no way that continues; there just isn’t enough income capacity for that.’

    Why do such considerations even matter when corporate investors, such as Zillow, are using dumb borrowed money, lent to them at rock bottom rates, to outbid traditional owner-occupants left and right?

  29. Boulder King Soopers shooter declared “incompetent” to stand trial, sent to loony bin for treatment.

    https://coloradosun.com/2021/12/03/ahmad-alissa-competency-ruling/

    Experts have found a man charged with killing 10 people at a Colorado supermarket earlier this year is mentally incompetent to proceed in the case, attorneys said during a court hearing Friday.

    Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, 22, is accused of opening fire at a busy King Soopers in the college town of Boulder in March, killing a police officer, shoppers and several store employees including an Olympic hopeful distance runner.

    Wanna bet if the shooter had been of an unfavored demographic he would have been found competent to stand trial?

    I’ll bet the murderer who ran over all those people in Wisconsin will also be declared “incompetent”.

    2. Mental health issues are common. In the United States, approximately 1 in 5 adults is diagnosed with a mental health disorder.

      2. “Mental health issues are common. In the United States, approximately 1 in 5 adults is diagnosed with a mental health disorder.”

        Considering all the undiagnosed folks running amok, I’d say the number’s way, way higher. Throw in the fact that a large number of these folks don’t give a sh*t about other humans any more than a bug under their shoe and you’ve got a pretty good reason to select with whom you associate very, very carefully.

        1. Some estimate that 10% of al people are sociopaths (not psychopaths). But even a sociopath knows what he’s doing, he just doesn’t care how it affects others.

  30. Today, Jim Acosta of CNN was found dead in his home. He appeared to have been smothered in his bed during a home burglary. Police have no suspects.

    I dream.

  31. Latest CoronaScam trend in New England;

    Corona cases are ramping up and most if not all of them were injected with the poison and booster-chaired.

    How can this be?

  33. This situation really is little different from being caught in an avalanche. If you are lucky enough to be near the top of the mountain , where it just begins, you may get out alive with merely a scary memory to retell. If you are towards the bottom of the mountain, and it has had time to gain momentum before reaching you, it will bury you alive in your tracks.

    He who gets out first, gets out best.

    “‘That bumper three weeks in a row really does show sellers are trying to get their deals done before we see market softness. They want to sell while the market is still strong,’ she said. ‘They’re being mindful of what’s possibly on the horizon: interest rate rises, moves from APRA. People want to sell at the peak of the market, they want to get it before prices fall.’”

    1. I just saw that, Banker. As of 6:14 am EST:

      Bitcoin USD -21.43%
      Ethereum -16.54%
      XRP -32.77%
      Litecoin -29.24%
      Monero -18.73%

      Can we consider this a “bloodbath?”

      From Yahoo: “So far I’ve seen upwards of 4000 BTC being sold that pushed the market abruptly down,” Laurent Kssis, a crypto exchange-traded fund expert and director of CEC Capital. “In fact, 1,500 BTC alone was sold in less than a minute at the time of the drop. ”Data tracked by Coinglass shows the price drop has triggered nearly $600 million worth of bitcoin futures positions in less than an hour…

      For those keeping score at home, the first day of Bitcoin futures trading was October 15. Early this morning, the sale of 1500 BTC (~$87 million) triggered the algos to sell another 2500 BTC, and additionally drop $600 million in derivatives. This is within SEVEN WEEKS of Day 0 of trading.

      Oh sure, it will pop right back up, but nobody has the stomach for this except for idiot Millenials, including that doink in El Salvador (who bought 150 BTC on the dip). I still maintain that the only reason BTC is worth anything is the expectation that BTC will become the world reserve currency. Otherwise it’s just another black market barter like Tide Pods and baby formula.

  36. “‘I thought if we had a pool … I would be in it every day, it would be used a lot,’ she says. But the pool has turned into more of a headache than anything. White says she’s swam in the pool maybe twice since they bought the house, and it takes time and money to maintain.”

    Can’t just buy a house that’s functional and affordable, we need a pool, boat and motorhome too! Never mind the latter three don’t get used with any regularity and are all atrocious, bottomless money pits.

  37. “A bank may preapprove you for more than what you want to pay each month. ‘If their mortgage payment is taking up an unhealthy portion of their income from the get-go, that’s going to put them behind the eight ball,’ says Jeff Arevalo, a housing counselor at a nonprofit. ‘That’s going to … typically cause some problems right from the start, which don’t have to happen.’”

    Anyone who falls into the lenders trap of using their gross pay as a standard to qualify for a home loan instead of their net pay is going to pay the piper.
    Lender: “Look, you can borrow this much, based on your gross income!”
    Home buyer: “I prefer to set my loan amount qualification based on my take-home pay instead.”
    Lender: “But you won’t qualify for a larger home.”
    Me: “That’s the idea, you greedy little turd…smaller home=smaller payment, less upkeep, less stress and earlier retirement.”

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