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Many Sellers Feel They Are Losing Profits Rightfully Theirs And Are Slow To Accept The New Realities

A report from Yahoo Finance. “To say home refinancing activity is a sliver of what it was two years ago is no exaggeration. ‘Lenders are hurting. We still see layoffs on a monthly basis,’ Jason Sharon, owner and broker at Home Loans Inc., told Yahoo Finance. ‘Applications are nowhere [near where they’re] needed to sustain the current workforce.'”

The Washington Examiner. “The number of job openings in construction collapsed in January. The construction industry reported just 248,000 job openings in January. That is a decrease of a whopping 240,000 jobs from the month before and represents a 37.4% decline from a year ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The plunge shows that construction jobs are evaporating as old projects come to a close and aren’t being replaced by new ones, while soaring mortgage rates have led to a dramatic pullback in home sales. ‘Today’s construction job openings number was simply shocking,’ said Anirban Basu, chief economist for Associated Builders and Contractors.”

The La Jolla Light in California. “La Jolla-based Silvergate Bank, which grew fast by catering to cryptocurrency traders, said March 8 that it is winding down operations and will liquidate amid mounting losses, customer defections and regulatory pressure. The bank’s parent company, Silvergate Capital, announced after markets closed that it had voluntarily decided to cease operations as the ‘best path forward’ given its deteriorating situation. Bloomberg News reported late the day before that officials of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. were at the bank’s headquarters in an effort to salvage the institution, but that apparently was not a viable option.”

The Lookout in California. “Santa Cruz County’s housing market is slowing as properties stay on the market for longer and fewer homes are being sold countywide. The Santa Cruz County Association of Realtors shows the median price of a single-family home fell an annualized 4.7% in Santa Cruz, from $1.6 million in February 2022 to $1.525 million in February 2023. Median prices fell 7.4% in Watsonville, from $810,000 to $750,000. Jennifer Watson, president-elect of the Santa Cruz County Association of Realtors added that she doesn’t expect those types of low interest rates to return anytime soon: ‘If we do have rates that low, then something bad happened.'”

“Some current sellers aren’t willing to reduce their asking prices enough to compensate for the changing market conditions. Some of our inventory is stuck with the peak pricing. Owners are asking the price that it may have sold before, but the market isn’t what it was last year,’ said Marvin Christie, president of Anderson Christie Real Estate. ‘I hate to say it, but it’s unrealistic sellers.'”

From Bisnow. “The office market is filled with incredible opportunities for tenants, but brokers are limited by firms unwilling or uncomfortable making long-term real estate decisions during a period of financial instability and uncertainty around the future of remote work. JLL’s Hugh Scott said in San Francisco, rents for ‘non-view’ spaces have dropped 20%-30%, free rent concessions are up 30%-40%, and security deposits for spaces dropped 50%, all in a market where seven-to-10-year leases, once standard, are being supplanted by deals for as few as five years.”

“‘I have a client who had average office space, and they offered to give it away to a tenant who would just have to pay operating expenses, and they simply couldn’t give it away,’ said JLL Executive Managing Directors Bart Lammersen.”

KIRO in Washington. “Home prices are falling in King County, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. New numbers show median homes prices are at $800,000 even in King County — down 6.73% from last year, or $57,750. Snohomish County homes fell by 7.4%, to a median price of $690,560 at the end of February. Condos are seeing much bigger price drops across the board in King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties, all plunging more than 11% year-over-year. ‘Prices haven’t come down so much that it’s a fire sale, by any means,’ said Shonna Peterson, a broker with The Warmack Group. ‘We’re still in a very, very favorable market for sellers.'”

KDVR in Colorado. “Denver is still very much a seller’s market, according to the February housing market report from the Denver Metro Association of Realtors, but buyers are still sitting on the sidelines. The median sales price for a Denver metro single-family home is $600,000, up from $595,000 in February. This includes 11 counties along the Front Range from Boulder to Douglas counties. Prices have been sliding since last April when they reached an all-time high of $680,000 for a single-family home. Since then, homes have cost roughly $10,000 less each month.”

Las Vegas Business Press in Nevada. “Despite new-home sales down 39 percent from where they were at this time in 2022 because of elevated mortgage rates, Las Vegas area builders posted their best net sales numbers since June as they continue to slow price increases, according to Home Builders Research President Andrew Smith. Smith previously noted that builders started decreasing base prices in the middle of 2022. Over the past month or two, some builders have begun to ‘inch back up slightly’ while most are standing pat, he said. Summit Homes had the biggest decrease in price between December and January at 10 percent, Smith said. They were followed by Storybook Homes with a 4.4 percent decline and Tri Pointe Homes with a 4.4 percent decrease.”

The Sun Sentinel in Florida. “Q: We have to move for family reasons and put our house up for sale. It has been several months, and we are not getting much interest. Our real estate agent keeps telling us to lower the price, but I know what our home is worth. Just a year or so ago, several nearby homes sold for more than our listing price. What is going on? — Joan. A:  The real estate market can change quickly. Due to the foibles of human nature, it takes some time for home sellers to realize that the housing market has cooled.”

“No matter what houses were selling for in the past, homes are only worth as much as potential buyers are willing to pay today. Many sellers feel they are losing ‘profits’ rightfully theirs and are slow to accept the new realities. If you want to sell your house now, ensure it shows well. Keep it clean and uncluttered, and make sure the landscaping looks nice. You may want to spruce it up with a little fresh paint. You will also need to accept that today’s prices are what matters, not what you could have sold it for a couple of years ago. Work with your agent to adjust the price to match what buyers are willing to pay now.”

The Financial Post. “It is smaller communities that are feeling the worst sting of Canada’s housing boom and bust, according to a new report by Desjardins economists Randall Bartlett and Marc Desormeaux. The pandemic fuelled a red-hot housing boom that swelled prices in some centres by more than 50 per cent. But that bubble deflated quickly after the Bank of Canada began rapidly hiking rates in March 2022 to tame inflation. All provincial housing markets have declined but Ontario and British Columbia, the provinces whose economies are most exposed to real estate, have seen the biggest drops, says Desjardins. Of the two, Ontario has experienced the largest correction so far.”

“Desjardins’ chart below shows that the outsized gains in pandemic housing prices stretched beyond communities close to the GTA to places further afield like Windsor, Sudbury, London, Kitchener and St. Catharines. Their declines since the peak to January 2023 have outstripped Toronto.”

The Montreal Gazette in Canada. “The lows just keep coming for Montreal’s residential real estate market.Home sales in the Montreal metropolitan area plummeted 32 per cent last month to a new February low of 2,996, according to Centris data compiled by the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers. Property prices continued to retreat from year-ago levels as active listings surged. All property categories in Montreal experienced year-over-year price declines last month, according to QPAREB data.”

“Active listings rose 64 per cent year over year. At 15,893, they now exceed the pre-pandemic level of February 2020. Single-family homes showed the largest increase, at 85 per cent, compared with advances of 51 per cent for condominiums and 48 per cent for plexes. The glut of properties means sellers need to be more patient.”

The Australia Financial Review. “Australia faces ‘significant pain’ in the residential construction sector as rising interest rates and uncertainty ‘play havoc’ and push down building starts, Macquarie has warned. Analysts at the investment bank told clients a backlog of work ‘will likely erode soon’ and forecast that home renovation activity will fall as fixed-rate home loans roll off into much higher variable rates. Ten successive interest rate rises are triggering a faster contraction in new home construction and renovations than previously expected. Those concerns come only days after official figures showed loans for construction of new homes are dropping quickly. ‘We think the real pressure in Australian housing is still to come. The forward-looking perspective paints a worrying picture of weak front-end demand,’ wrote Macquarie’s Peter Steyn in a note on Wednesday.”

“‘Most builders are finding it difficult to make sales at the moment,’ said Robert Lynch, the executive chairman of ASX-listed home builder Tamawood, which builds in Queensland, NSW and Victoria under the Dixon Homes brand. ‘There is going to be a lull.'”

“‘We are the latest, but we won’t be the last construction group to buckle under the weight of a broken industry and way of doing business that needs urgent reform,’ Ian Carter, the founder of PBS Building said on Monday, after he put his five companies with a collective 80 residential and commercial projects into administration.”

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This Post Has 76 Comments

  1. ‘I have a client who had average office space, and they offered to give it away to a tenant who would just have to pay operating expenses, and they simply couldn’t give it away’

    How the mighty have fallen.

  2. ‘Prices have been sliding since last April when they reached an all-time high of $680,000 for a single-family home. Since then, homes have cost roughly $10,000 less each month’

    322 pesos per day since April.

      1. Yup, nobody wants to live in Menver anymore, Colorado Springs is the hottest market now, Unforetunately it’s Menver 20yrs ago, lots of potential with few issues. And taking 34Hwy (2hrs door2door) up to Breckenridge is 10x’s better then getting stuck on 70Hwy for 4 hours.

  3. 𝗥𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵, 𝗡𝗖 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗖𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟴% 𝗬𝗢𝗬 𝗔𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝗯𝘁 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗣𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗰 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗦𝗼𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗔𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘀

    https://www.movoto.com/nc/27609/market-trends/

    𝘈𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥, “𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘩.”

  4. ‘she doesn’t expect those types of low interest rates to return anytime soon: ‘If we do have rates that low, then something bad happened’

    This reminds me of something I noted when rates first started approaching negative. In say the 1980’s, we used to read about what bonds were ‘telling us.’ And that if you asked a 1980’s bond person what near zero rates indicated, it would be something like global nuclear war.

    Janey, Jerry, Bernakie, you fooked up.

  5. ‘Our real estate agent keeps telling us to lower the price, but I know what our home is worth’

    Stay strong Joan. These UHS are knuckle dragging election denying death injection conspiracy theorists stopped clock doom and gloom perma bears. Don’t let them talk you into giving it away.

    1. “knuckle dragging election denying death injection conspiracy theorists stopped clock doom and gloom”

      LOL

  9. A reader sent these in:

    “There’s a reasonable chance that the Fed will have to bring the Fed Funds rate to 6% & then keep it there for an extended period to slow the economy & get inflation down to near 2%:” BlackRock’s Rieder. New yield-curve inversion as short-term yields soar:

    https://twitter.com/lisaabramowicz1/status/1633403933400997889

    Politicians like E Warren is why super inflation happens

    https://twitter.com/INArteCarloDoss/status/1633402560597102592

    Narrator: “He did not.”

    https://twitter.com/GRomePow/status/1633180459869011968

    I live in the sunbelt and I’m watching houses go pending and then go back on the market a couple of weeks later because people can’t get financing. That should have been happening all along. Jobs here don’t support 400k homes.

    https://twitter.com/redeemedRonin/status/1633459063496343553

    Just rewatched this…

    Yes, UE will likely overshoot the Fed’s projection. But the alternative, @SenWarren, is letting inflation run unchecked and risking it becoming entrenched, which would impact MORE Americans for longer, as Powell said.

    https://twitter.com/Stephen_Geiger/status/1633314415352193024

    Nothing spells AirbnBust like Pigeon Forge, TN. We’re staying here for spring break & this is what we’re getting for $249/night:
    – Brand new 3 story home
    – Sleeps 16+
    – Indoor pool
    – Small theatre & arcade
    $249/night! Someone is losing money!

    https://twitter.com/mhp_guy/status/1633275235595108353

    Anyone ever seen any real, data based challenges to the NAR assertion that the US is short 5+ million housing units? Curious.

    https://twitter.com/Econimica/status/1633353527211995136

    More and more PPP fraud coming to light

    https://twitter.com/GRomePow/status/1633320664114556930

    JOLTS openings in the construction industry

    https://twitter.com/donnelly_brent/status/1633487021418115074

    If only Warren showed the same awareness of how f*cked-up fiscal policies have contributed to a generational inflationary event as she seems to demonstrate when it comes to any effort to clean-up her ideological mess.

    https://twitter.com/INArteCarloDoss/status/1633149382542409729

    According to CME Fedwatch, 80% chance of a 50bps hike in the next meeting. Think this is overdone 🤔

    https://twitter.com/SpecialSitsNews/status/1633534350896553999

    CarDealershipGuy

    Most rental car companies self-insure their fleets. Why? One of the reasons is because it lets them control what gets reported to the Carfax. Clean Carfax = Higher resale value

    https://twitter.com/GuyDealership/status/1633637236196671489

    7.1% of US homes are worth at least $1 million, down from a peak of 8.6% in Jun 2022 but still much higher than the 4.2% in Jan 2020.
    Assuming 20% down…
    Monthly mortgage payment on $1 million home in Jan 2020: $3,655
    Monthly mortgage payment on $1 million home today: $5,135

    https://twitter.com/charliebilello/status/1633653652442234880

    The reason we have had not 1 but 2 property bubbles a decade apart is because of speculation. This is not a regular home buyers transaction phenomenon. The system is setup where being an RE investor is incentivized.

    https://twitter.com/goldenkazeburny/status/1633634823829848066

    Rich People: “You better keeping manipulating my asset prices higher with taxpayer welfare or I’m going to layoff poor people.”

    https://twitter.com/GRomePow/status/1633631030824558592

    Sellers starting to run for the exits? Monster 100k price reduction in one swoop. 20% drop 💥

    https://twitter.com/StealthQE4/status/1633630253049421824

    Senator Warren says 2 million people will lose their job as a result of tightening but never complained about the bubble created by massive printing. Someone tell her that the 2 million figure comes from the same place as her idea that inflation is caused by profits. Fantasy

    https://twitter.com/dlacalle_IA/status/1633601082424283137

    on a per capita basis, there have never been more housing units per capita than now…in ’23 the per capita ratio will move to new ATH’s as rate of new housing units come on significantly faster than population growth.

    https://twitter.com/Econimica/status/1633589498595643392

    FED’S POWELL: NO ONE SHOULD BELIEVE THE FED CAN PROTECT THE ECONOMY IN THE EVENT OF A DEBT DEFAULT.

    https://twitter.com/financialjuice/status/1633490983345360896

    Real Estate might be in a bubble…

    https://twitter.com/GeorgeGammon/status/1633505708044955648

    Here’s what the chart looks like if we include the early ’90s housing correction. Between May 1990 and April 1991, U.S. home prices as measured by the seasonally adjusted Case-Shiller National Home Price Index fell 2.2%.

    https://twitter.com/NewsLambert/status/1633594407059423232

    Biggest takeaway from Powell today imo is that he said the Fed is well aware of Policy lag yet 50bps is in the cards for march and 6% FFR is being talked about meaning they aren’t waiting for the effects of policy to set in and they are going to overtighten until something breaks

    https://twitter.com/eliant_capital/status/1633590947719020550

    The Kobeissi Letter

    JUST IN: Odds of a 50 basis point rate hike this month hit a new high of 75%! More shocking, the odds of TWO 50 basis point rate hikes are now 20%. Markets now see a 36% chance that rates go to 5.75% or higher. This is by far the most hawkish shift in expectations we’ve seen.

    https://twitter.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1633484348589473799

    Homebuilder sentiment tells us: mortgage delinquencies come next.
    “But people aren’t flipping houses like in 2005!”
    “Unlike back then, there is no supply!”
    It’s not about ’05-’09. It’s about a major sector that employs a ton of people going icy. Jobless people miss payments.

    https://twitter.com/JeffWeniger/status/1633593478318899202

    Tbh, this is one of the biggest reasons why I think millennials have really leaned hard into real estate investing and owning long-term and short-term rentals.

    https://twitter.com/ajlatrace/status/1633635798024179712

    🚨Number of Plan Review Cases in Austin for Single Family permits dropping dramatically. According to CoA Data.
    Nov 21- Feb 22 – 1,386 permits submitted for review
    Nov 22-Feb 23 – 444
    68% drop in permits.
    SF Construction about to screech to a halt in ATX.

    https://twitter.com/atxREpodcast/status/1633590453382660096

    90% of realtors don’t understand the real estate market.

    https://twitter.com/Cribdilla/status/1633548198852567042

    Riskier private mortgages have soared by 72% in Ontario. It definitely feels like we’re just trying to sweep our massive household debt problem under the rug, hoping it disappears. But we’re likely just setting ourselves up for bigger problems in 2024

    https://twitter.com/JohnPasalis/status/1633441681935679488

    TLDR: AS AUTO LOAN DEFAULTS ARE ON THE RISE, WE’RE GOING TO HAND OUT WORSE ONES
    “Crescent Bank will utilize its partnership with Open Lending to engage a wider non-prime customer base…we specialize in putting auto loans within reach for Americans across all credit segments”

    https://twitter.com/texasrunnerDFW/status/1633508358811537410

    1. $249/night! Someone is losing money!

      Yeah, you are, because you’re paying $8,000 per month for a Pigeon Forge, TN rental house. Math much?

      1. A somewhat rude and condescending comment. Pigeon Forge is a popular location for short term family retreats and accommodations for 16 people is not common in normal rentals. Rental prices reflect these characteristics. My extended family has rented there a few times over the last few years and thoroughly loved it. I am a retired electrical engineer so yes “math much”.

      2. A somewhat rude and condescending comment. Pigeon Forge is a popular location for short term family retreats and accommodations for 16 people is not common in normal rentals. Rental prices reflect these characteristics. My extended family has rented there (one week) a few times over the last few years and thoroughly loved it. I am a retired electrical engineer so yes “math much”.

      3. A somewhat rude and condescending comment.

        It’s in f’n TN. Who’s visiting there?! Absolutely no one I’ve ever known.

      4. IMO, 46&2 has a better grasp on reality and the remedial actions required than most. Rope and what not.

        1. “It’s in f’n TN. Who’s visiting there?! Absolutely no one I’ve ever known.”
          Even more condescending. Do a bit of checking and see how popular the region is for people who live in the southeast.

          1. I have traveled through and camped in TN. It is a very beautiful place, especially if you like mountain country. It’s not one of my destinations, but I’ve heard Nashville has some fame.

          3. for people who live in the southeast

            That’s a rather narrow pool of visitors to draw upon. Forgive me for having lived in a number of destinations of international interest.

  10. That is a decrease of a whopping 240,000 jobs from the month before and represents a 37.4% decline from a year ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    Is that a lot?

  11. Translation — “future pandemic response” = the destruction of all of your freedom, forever.

    Washington Post — Covid backlash hobbles public health and future pandemic response (3/8/2023):

    “When the next pandemic sweeps the United States, health officials in Ohio won’t be able to shutter businesses or schools, even if they become epicenters of outbreaks. Nor will they be empowered to force Ohioans who have been exposed to go into quarantine. State officials in North Dakota are barred from directing people to wear masks to slow the spread. Not even the president can force federal agencies to issue vaccination or testing mandates to thwart its march.

    Conservative and libertarian forces have defanged much of the nation’s public health system through legislation and litigation as the world staggers into the fourth year of covid.”

    Staggers? Who writes this sh*t?

    “At least 30 states, nearly all led by Republican legislatures, have passed laws since 2020 that limit public health authority, according to a Washington Post analysis of laws collected by Kaiser Health News and the Associated Press as well as the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials and the Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University.

    Health officials and governors in more than half the country are now restricted from issuing mask mandates, ordering school closures and imposing other protective measures or must seek permission from their state legislatures before renewing emergency orders, the analysis showed.

    The movement to curtail public health powers successfully tapped into a populist rejection of pandemic measures following widespread anger and confusion over the government response to covid.”

    https://archive.is/PQKqa

    Anger and confusion?

    The only response to any future lockdown, for any alleged reason, must be violence.

    Violence is the only option.

    1. The Globalists are attempting to do a power transfer by having 196 Countries, including US, sign a Treaty giving the World Health Organization total power on next Panademic response.
      This is the next little trick they plan to over
      ride Countries standing laws and Constitutions . … .

      Can a sitting President just cancel the Constitution and State Law by Treaty with a Third Party like the corrupt WHO , who is a puppet for China, the WEF, and guys like Bill Gates? And why isn’t Congress/Senate even talking about this Biden Treasons by
      Treaty.
      .And early on .Biden ,” The US should lead in the New World Order,” and no challenge to that bizarre statement.
      So , The New World Order / Great Reset, is a insurrection by the .0001% , that inflitrated Global Governments to partner in a a dictorship take over 1984 style , with probably China in on the takeover.
      They took over the news to defraud the people into being medically harmed by a fake vaccines .

      Fake Climate Change, fake racism, fake science, ,crime wave, inflation,contrived wars, attack on children, whites, religion, power grid, Russian pipe line, supply lines, looting of tax coffers, crime wave , invasion of borders, attack on farmers and small business, , contrived wars, bio-weapons, attack on guns, free speech, on and on
      All this attack so New World Order can enslave and genocide humans and be the Masters of the Universe.

  12. “‘I have a client who had average office space, and they offered to give it away to a tenant who would just have to pay operating expenses, and they simply couldn’t give it away,’ said JLL Executive Managing Directors Bart Lammersen.”

    I don’t have an economics degree like AOC, but I fear true price discovery will lay waste to the make-believe collateral valuations of CRE. This is my “gravely concerned” face.

    1. “…the make-believe collateral valuations of CRE.”

      Any idea what this does to the life insurance industry?

  13. ‘Prices haven’t come down so much that it’s a fire sale, by any means,’ said Shonna Peterson, a broker with The Warmack Group. ‘We’re still in a very, very favorable market for sellers.’”

    Whistling past the graveyard, are we, Shonna?

  14. Prices have been sliding since last April when they reached an all-time high of $680,000 for a single-family home. Since then, homes have cost roughly $10,000 less each month.”

    Gosh, my monthly rent is a fraction of that. Thankfully, most of the Denver buyers are scrupulously honest D-voters who put down 20% and would never falsify their income to get up on that housing ladder.

  15. Our real estate agent keeps telling us to lower the price, but I know what our home is worth. Just a year or so ago, several nearby homes sold for more than our listing price. What is going on? — Joan. A:

    You go gurl! Don’t let that conniving realtor feed you misleading information about the market, when you KNOW what yer shack is worth! Stick to yer guns, and it’ll all work out in the end – I swear on Dr. Jill’s honor!

      1. Computer Aided Design, Simulation and automated factories are making substantial inroads into all phases of car manufacturing from concept, design, manufacture, test and service.

        Companies such as Tesla are examples who are building ‘giga factories’ with *far* fewer people required.

        GM is substantially behind the technology curve, but doing a good job catching up.

        Bottom line: Fewer people with worn out skill sets are now needed.

        Its the end of an era.

        1. Fewer people with worn out skill sets are now needed.

          I was under the impression that most of those people had already been shown the door.

        1. Sell fewer, charge more. That’s the new business motto.

          Yes, that’s exactly what Mary Barra said. She wants to continue to increase the price of cars and limit production to maintain those higher margins. Call it the “anti-Henry Ford” model. Nothing was learned from the past. Greed rules the day. Mary Barra is a cancer.

  18. Is there really a problem with higher interest rates resulting in a housing market slowdown? The current standoff between buyers and sellers seems like a normal transition from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market. It seems peculiar for MSM financial writers to publish Chicken Little perspectives on a perfectly normal market adjustment process.

    1. The Boston Globe
      ‘Stalemate’: Sellers aren’t selling, and buyers aren’t buying. Rising interest rates are locking up Boston’s housing market.
      Nearly everyone who currently holds a 30-year fixed rate mortgage has an interest lower than they could get today. So why sell?
      Josh Stein posed for a portrait outside his home in Newton, which he bought with his wife in 2019.
      Nathan Klima for The Boston Globe
      By Andrew Brinker, The Boston Globe
      updated on March 9, 2023 | 11:10 AM

      At a time when so many are struggling to find an affordable place to live, Josh Stein and Katherine Pocius know they’re luckier than most. But the predicament they find themselves in now may still help explain why fewer homes are changing hands, and why the housing market has gone stagnant.

      The couple, both in their 30s, bought a three-bedroom colonial in Newton for $1.1 million — their first home — in 2019. During the pandemic, one of those bedrooms became a permanent office, and now Pocius is pregnant with their second child, so they need more space.

      But nothing they see on the market right now makes sense for them: homes are either too expensive or too small, and, given the runup in interest rates over the last 16 months, any new mortgage would cost them significantly more per month than they pay now.

      So instead of moving, the couple has resolved to stay put and add a fourth bedroom. It’ll be a costly renovation but far cheaper in the long run than moving.

      “We sat down and did the math, and this option, doing the renovation, is a lot cheaper for us than moving at this point,” Stein said. “A new place would have us paying a lot more than we’re willing or able to pay.”
      …
      https://www.boston.com/real-estate/the-boston-globe/2023/03/09/current-boston-ma-housing-market-march-2023/

      1. “…It’ll be a costly renovation but far cheaper in the long run than moving…”

        This is Exhibit “A” why so few homes for sale. These Owners *can’t* sell. It doesn’t make economical sense.

        However that doesn’t stop the REIConplex from interpreting lack of homes for sale as ‘demand and/or shortages’. The REIConplex doesn’t distinguish between those who *can* sell (listings on market), vs. those who *can’t* sell (economics).

        I suspect the list of those who *can’t* sell is a far greater number (at least her in SoCal Orange County).

        Some major expensive homes in this area. The owners are stuck with a capital “Fu” if cash flow to service loans goes away.. (Happening now with layoffs all over and general business decline).

        This is going to get messy.

      2. “and now Pocius is pregnant with their second child,”

        Oh F off! I hate articles like this. Not even born but already needing a room?

    2. Larry Summers warns US economy could face ‘Wile E. Coyote moment’

      Business
      Confidence in the US housing market is approaching an all-time low
      By Thomas Barrabi
      March 9, 2023 1:34pm Updated

      Consumer confidence in the US housing market approached an all-time low in February as buyers and sellers contend with a fresh spike in mortgage rates and mounting anxiety about job security.

      Fannie Mae’s monthly Home Purchase Sentiment Index fell 3.6 points to 58.0 in February, sinking close to a record low established last October when the average mortgage rate briefly topped 7%.
      …
      https://nypost.com/2023/03/09/confidence-in-us-housing-market-approaches-an-all-time-low/

  19. Number one in the country for auto theft and catalytic converter theft and this is the priority of the state legislature.

    Colorado could offer new legal protections to patients who travel to the state to access abortion and gender-affirming care under a new bill (3/9/2023):

    “As other states move to ban abortion and outlaw gender-affirming care for minors, Democrats in Colorado’s legislature want to extend new legal protections to providers and recipients who get those treatments here.

    Under the proposal, Colorado would not participate in any out-of-state investigations involving providers or recipients of abortion or gender-affirming care. That would include ignoring search warrants, arrests, subpoenas, summons, or extraditions to another state, as long as the activity took place in Colorado and there is no indication those involved broke Colorado law.

    A growing number of states are also banning medical care for trans youth, including puberty blockers or hormones. The consensus of the medical community is that gender-affirming treatments for trans youth are effective and can save lives by reducing suicides.”

    https://www.cpr.org/2023/03/09/colorado-legal-protections-abortion-gender-affirming-care-travel-bill/

    Never mind the #MurderMuhBaby part of this. What this legislation will do is legalize kidnapping and child mutilation, so some single mom (it’s always a single mom, doing it to have a pet / trophy child, and to get validation on social media) can bring her groomed child to Colorado, so groomer doctors can mutilate and sterilize it.

    Paid for by your state income taxes.

    1. are effective and can save lives by reducing suicides

      Drastically increased chance of suicide you evil basturds.

    1. “…so we’re optimistic because our crystal ball is a little clearer than it was in the third quarter last year.” —Greg Becker, CEO, Silicon Valley Bank

      How about a bottle of Windex, Greg?

      2. The Financial Times
        European banks
        European bank stocks sell off sharply after steep falls in US
        Investors offload shares after Silicon Valley Bank reveals $1.8bn loss on sale of securities portfolio
        Investors dumped shares in the biggest US banks on Thursday on the back of difficulties at the tech-focused Silicon Valley Bank
        Owen Walker and Katie Martin in London 10 minutes ago

        The $52.4bn sell-off in US bank shares spread to Europe on Friday, with Deutsche Bank stock falling 8 per cent and Société Générale and HSBC both dropping 5 per cent.

        Investors dumped shares in the biggest US banks on Thursday on the back of difficulties at Silicon Valley Bank, a small, technology-focused lender that revealed a $1.8bn loss on the sale of a portfolio of securities.

        JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo were all hit by sell-offs, which analysts attributed to investors’ fears over the value of banks’ bond portfolios and falling deposits.
        …

      1. Why jump? The worst that will happen to them is being fired. They no doubt have a nest egg most people can only dream about. The only thing hurt will be their egos.

  22. “‘I have a client who had average office space, and they offered to give it away to a tenant who would just have to pay operating expenses, and they simply couldn’t give it away,’ said JLL Executive Managing Directors Bart Lammersen.”

    Couldn’t give it away?

    Red Hot Chili Peppers – Give It Away

    https://youtu.be/Mr_uHJPUlO8?t=47

    1. They’ll only have resale value in Mexico since they “stand out” too much to be driven anywhere in the states.

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