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A Realization Amongst Sellers That There Isn’t Much Point In Waiting For The Market To Catch Up With Their Price Expectations

A report from the Orange County Register. “Home values have declined from pandemic-era peaks in more than half the states and metropolitan areas, according to some new price data. The sharpest declines in metros were largely in California, Idaho and Nevada markets. The 10 largest dips from 2022 highs, and gain from February 2020 …Boise: Off 13.1% from peak and up 40% in pandemic. Carson City: Off 12.2% from peak and up 26% in pandemic. Austin: Off 11.3% from peak and up 43% in pandemic. San Francisco: Off 10.7% from peak and up 13% in pandemic. Coeur d’Alene: Off 10.6% from peak and up 52% in pandemic. Idaho Falls: Off 10.5% from peak and up 47% in pandemic. Sacramento: Off 9.7% from peak and up 26% in pandemic. Santa Cruz: Off 9.3% from peak and up 23% in pandemic. Stockton: Off 9.3% from peak and up 31% in pandemic. Reno: Off 9.2% from peak and up 31% in pandemic.”

The Greeley Tribune in Colorado. “The following is compiled using the latest data available from Redfin: Median sale price for homes in Greeley through February: $400,000 (+0.8% from January; -4.8% since February 2022). Median sale price in Windsor: $526,615 (-15.5% from January; -9% since February 2022).”

From KIRO 7 News. “A new housing report by the Northwest Multiple Listing Services shows the prices of homes in several Washington counties had been on a downward trend this year.  The report showed the 2023 median cost of a home in King County dropped by 9.39% from March of 2022.  Snohomish saw a 10.37% decrease and average prices for Pierce county homes dropped by 6.18%.  Matthew Gardner, Windermere Real Estate’s chief economist, said the overall drop is because mortgage rates have increased. ‘Back in March of this year the median sale price was $760,000 here in King County.  That’s down from $838,753 in March of 2022,’ Gardner explained.”

From Fox News. “The Oregonian penned an editorial about the coastal state, particularly its city of Portland that was ‘once the darling of national media,’ sees its population fleeing in droves. ‘For decades, Oregon hasn’t had to sell itself as a destination. Who wouldn’t want to live in this state of trees and mountains, drink its award-winning craft beers and enjoy its laid-back culture?’ The Oregonian’s editorial board asked hypothetically. ‘Turns out – thousands of now-former Oregonians.'”

From Reuters. “Jeffrey Haley, the CEO of American National Bank and Trust Company, saw the crunch coming at the start of 2023. Rising interest rates and a slowing economy to him meant that loan growth would likely fall by half as the Danville, Virginia-based community bank turned its focus to better-quality, higher-yielding credit, worrying little about volume. Then a pair of U.S. regional banks abruptly failed in mid-March. Instinct told him things would tighten further, with loan growth plunging to perhaps a quarter of what it was in 2022, when his bank’s loan book grew by 13% to around $2.1 billion.”

“Coming into 2023 ‘my rule of thumb was whatever you did last year you will probably do half this year,’ Haley said. ‘Based on current events … I now think it gets cut in half again.'”

Kelowna Now in Canada. “Yes, home sales in Kelowna were up in March compared to the doldrums in January and February. However, the activity is still way off what it was in March 2022 when the market was hot. As well, selling prices continue to bounce around, and are considerably below record-highs set last spring. Sellers will have to accept a price of about 15% less to sell their home compared to a year ago. The seller of a typical single-family home will not get the record-high benchmark selling price of $1,131,800 they would have gotten in April 2022.  Instead, they can expect $130,300 less, or $1,001,500, which was the benchmark selling price of a typical single-family home in Kelowna in March.”

“The sudden downturn in the housing market has been well-documented and fretted about. The benchmark selling price of a typical townhouse in the city last month was $703,200, down from $742,200 in February and off $125,800 from the record-high of $829,000 set in May 2022. The benchmark selling price for a typical condo in Kelowna last month was $492,600, down from $496,300 in February and off $64,400 from the record-high benchmark of $557,000 in April 2022.”

The Telegraph. “Across Britain, homes are getting listed at prices far below what they would have sold for during the pandemic as homeowners, buy-to-let investors and first-time buyers alike creak under the strain of high mortgage rates and the cost of living crisis. But the pain has only just begun – and it will be driven by the mortgage market. James Setright, 36, has seized an opportunity to move house while prices are falling. Setright is snapping up his five-bedroom house for just over £875,000, a discount on its £895,000 asking price, which he thinks was already cheap.”

“‘That property should be [selling for] £1.2m but the guy obviously needed to get rid of it. There is an awful lot of this happening. It’s obvious that they need to sell because they can’t afford to live there and they are moving somewhere else,’ says Setright, who works in property himself.”

“Back in October, the share of sales that were agreed after price changes was up only 2.5pc compared to the pre-Covid norm. In March, the share was up 44pc. ‘Clearly, it is price sensitive. Maybe what you’re seeing is a realisation amongst sellers that circumstances have changed, that buyers’ budgets are more constrained and there isn’t much point in waiting for the market to catch up with their price expectations,’ says Lucian Cook, head of UK residential research at Savills estate agents.”

The Korea Times. “Zigbang, the operator of Korea’s leading real estate brokerage app, is asking some of its employees to resign and offering them compensation packages equivalent to three months of wages, according to industry officials, Sunday. The request was reportedly made as the company’s financial losses have grown rapidly over the past few years. Amid the snowballing loss, Zigbang CEO Ahn Sung-woo is said to have told employees last month that he will not receive his wage.”

“Zigbang has relied on commissions from real estate agents who use its app to attract customers. The volume of housing transactions in Korea, however, halved to 508,790 in 2022 from 1.01 million in 2021, according to the Korea Real Estate Board. ‘Zigbang seems to have been too aggressive in its investments over the past few years,’ an industry official said. ‘Due to the housing market slump, investors have been reluctant to bet on real estate platform operators.'”

The Vietnam Reader. “As reported in the province’s DOC department, in the first quarter of this year, 72% of the number of real estate transactions through notarization has decreased year over year. The trend is also applied to the volume of the province’s real estate construction permits, which is dropped by 50%. As noted, the areas with a sharp decrease in transaction volume are Da Lat, Di Linh, Bao Loc, Bao Lam, Duc Trong, and Lam Ha districts. These places used to be hot spots for real estate investment in the period 2020-2021. At the time of ‘hot fever,’ some land plots were transferred to many people, and the price was inflated by 40-50% compared to the original selling price.”

“Many landowners have discounted by 20-30% for capital recovery since the end of 2022. For example, a 150 square meter lot in Bao Loc City was invested VND 1.15 billion last year. However, he has been advertising for many months now for VND 850 million, cutting a loss of 26% but no buyer to be found. ‘This year there is a sharp drop in the transaction volume, about 1/3 year over year,’ said Ms. Tham, Director of Tam Real Investment Joint Stock Company located in Da Lat City. In a plummeting market, no transactions come off. Although investors still asked for information, they find it hard to invest. ‘Bao Loc or Di Linh Districts used to be perfect destinations for estate investors. And now they can not sell them even with a 30% discount.'”

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This Post Has 99 Comments

  1. ‘Maybe what you’re seeing is a realisation amongst sellers that circumstances have changed, that buyers’ budgets are more constrained and there isn’t much point in waiting for the market to catch up with their price expectations’

    So that’s it Lucian? Yer just gonna give it away.

    1. You need to be like this investor Lucian:

      ‘a 150 square meter lot in Bao Loc City was invested VND 1.15 billion last year. However, he has been advertising for many months now for VND 850 million, cutting a loss of 26% but no buyer to be found’

      Hold the line investors!

    1. Imbeciles. The iPhone’s serial numbers are on the outside of each box, and they’re scanned as part of the inventory.

      1. A couple weeks ago I went people-watching at the Tyson’s II Galleria Mall* in Northern Virginia. Tyson’s II has the real mucky-muk stores like Christian Dior, Versace, Hugo Boss, Gucci, St. Laurent, Prada, Chanel, Saks, Nieman, Breitling, Vuitton, Balenciaga.

        Most of the stores closed at 7 or 8 pm instead of the usual 9. Every single store entrance had a guard, and some of the stores had closed doors, which the guard would open for you. The stores had very little merchandise on display, for example a few purses and one rack of clothing. They’re clearly defending against smash-and-grab.

        —————
        *Not to be confused with the regular Tyson’s mall, which is across the street, and has the typical mall stores you would expect.

  3. Major shocker: Even with CR8Ring home prices, it’s damn expensive to live in coastal California.

    1. San Diego Ranks Among Most Expensive American Cities to Live Comfortably
      Many folks believe that the salary required to live comfortably in San Diego will continue to rise
      By Kelvin Henry and Renee Schmiedeberg
      • Published April 9, 2023
      • Updated on April 9, 2023 at 3:06 pm

      A new SmartAsset study ranks San Diego second highest, just under San Francisco, NBC 7’s Kelvin Henry reports.

      A new SmartAsset study shows it requires $79,324 after taxes to live comfortably in the San Diego metro area.

      “America’s Finest City” ranks second on the list of the 25 Largest Metro Areas.

      A comfortable lifestyle is different for everyone. The study used the 50/30/20 rule to define a comfortable lifestyle.

      “The idea here is that you’re going to divide your incomes in into three broad expenditure categories,” said University of San Diego Economics Professor Alan Gin.

      “So, 50% on needs, the things that you have to absolutely have to pay like shelter and food and things like that; 30% on wants, these would be luxury type of things, gym memberships, like going out to eat, things along those lines; and then finally, 20% in terms of savings and investment,” Professor Gin said.

      The price of housing is a large reason why it requires a large salary to live comfortably.

      “A large part of that is driven by the high cost of housing. We have really high housing prices here in San Diego. So, part of being able to live comfortably is to be able to afford, you know, a place to live,” Gin said.

      Myriad San Diegans disagree with the findings.

      “I would say at least $100,000, I pay over $2,000 in rent and that’s just to live by myself for a one bedroom, one bathroom apartment,” resident Michelle Bobb said.

      It’s not hard to find San Diegans who believe that the salary required to live comfortably in the city will continue to rise.

      “San Diego calls itself America’s Finest City and, and a lot of aspects we are, it’s a really desirable place to live and so people want to live here, that drives the cost of living here up,” Gin said.

      High costs have San Diegans considering moving.

      “I will probably leave,” said resident Tricia Comey.

      “I’m already trying to find opportunities in other places. It is such a beautiful place to live in. It’s unfortunate that more of us don’t feel included in that lifestyle because a lot of people work really hard to raise their family here and it just seems harder and harder,” Comey said.

      San Francisco tops the list for another year, requiring $84,026 to live comfortably. St. Louis, Missouri, ranks as the most affordable among the 25 largest metro areas, according to SmartAsset.
      …
      https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/san-diego-ranks-among-most-expensive-american-cities-to-live-comfortably/3204904/

      1. 50/30/20? Let’s break it down on a typical $1.5M 3/2 in a SoCal house, west of the 15, where a family of 4 might live.

        With 20% down, PITI is ~$9000 a month. Wrap in groceries and a car payment and that 50% number is right around $11k. Double it and divide by about .62 (accounting for state and federal taxes), multiply by 12, and boom: $425k annual salary.

        That feels about right…

        2. Bingo! We’re a 200k So Cal family that can’t make it on that income without tapping savings. To actually save money and not watch every penny, we need double that. Have NO idea how those making less are getting by.

    2. Yahoo
      Fortune
      A professional couple who make over $200,000 combined say it’s ‘hilarious’ to think they could afford a home in Los Angeles
      Alena Botros
      Mon, April 10, 2023 at 4:57 AM PDT·7 min read

      Stan Oklobdzija and his partner live in a one-bedroom condo in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo, and he realizes he’s lucky. “We are in the top [percent] of incomes, between what I make and what she makes,” he told Fortune, adding that their earnings amount to around $225,000 per year. But they’re renting, and he doesn’t see that ever changing. “With housing costs being what they are, just the idea of us ever owning a home is absolutely, like it’s funny. It’s like, we might as well own a spaceship.”

      Each of them makes a six-figure salary, he says, with Oklobdzija, 40, being a visiting assistant professor of public policy at UC Riverside and his partner, 35, working in the digital advertising industry. They pay $2,400 a month in rent, and he tweeted late last month that “the idea that we could ever own a home here is hilarious.” If someone who makes six figures, and together with his partner makes more than $200,000, feels as though they can’t afford a home in Los Angeles, how can we expect it to be affordable for anyone making less than that?
      …
      https://finance.yahoo.com/news/professional-couple-over-200-000-115752472.html

      1. Housing is merely one component. New cars are $50k, a decent couch is $4,000, day care is $1800 a month, a new Weber grill is $1,000. Restaurants and activities for kids are about the only luxuries I partake these days and my HH makes $200k in Illinois.

        2. New cars are $50k

          There still are cars below $30K, you can get a bare bones Camry for under $30K. Still, $30K is a lot of moolah.

  4. ‘Amid the snowballing loss, Zigbang CEO Ahn Sung-woo is said to have told employees last month that he will not receive his wage’

    How can you fail with a great name like Zigbang?

  5. ‘Back in March of this year the median sale price was $760,000 here in King County. That’s down from $838,753 in March of 2022’

    Matt:

    via GIPHY

    1. Prices have been higher than ever in Pierce, King and Snohomish counties especially in King county, which is where Seattle is. But it’s also still wintery right now too, so look for sellers to get serious in late May or early June. Interest rates have been sinking gradually for the past three weeks, no telling what’s in store from Powell as the weather warms up.

      1. “Month over month home prices here in King County are up about 4.6%, they’re up about 2.3% in Snohomish County, down about 0.8% in Pierce County,” said Gardner.”

        Almost all markets found a bunch of knifecatchers a few months ago when mortgage rates fell almost a point on FED pivot hopes and dreams. These people will be crushed as well. The real declines haven’t even begun, just like the stock markets and crypto which are still flying high.

    1. We have a large group of globalist thugs who have their boots on the necks of mankind. A targeted cleansing of roughly 5,000 people would completely end this oppression. After doing the first 500, the others might fall into line. These people have no fear. That’s why they are doing what they are doing.

  9. A reader sent these in:

    Debt to income ratios on FHA mortgages just hit a record high of 44%.
    By comparison, this same ratio was at 41% in 2008. FHA loans are typically given to lower income households. Lower income households now have the worst debt to income ratio of all time. Meanwhile, inflation has been above 5% for 22 straight months and rates are still rising. How can this end well?

    https://twitter.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1644475772940308481

    Down payments on FHA loans are under 5% while monthly payments take nearly 50% of income. These loans have massive balances outstanding while wage growth is not outpacing inflation. Foreclosures are likely next.

    https://twitter.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1644476791199879168

    America went from being the country that rewarded the best ideas to the country that rewarded the best scams. TARP, PPP, SPAC. It has an acronym, its a scam.

    https://twitter.com/GRomePow/status/1644432489447034880

    “Elon Musk said he’d have a million robotaxis on the road in 2020,” says @GLJ_Research CEO @GordonJohnson19. “There’s not one robotaxis on the road today.”

    https://twitter.com/LastCallCNBC/status/1644149726059679745

    Big investors have virtually disappeared from the market – down almost 80%. We reviewed 581,000 transactions in the largest U.S. markets in Q4 2022 and Q4 2021. Surprisingly, investors who own 10-999 homes have slowed less. We know many of them, who are not “market timers.”

    https://twitter.com/johnburnsjbrec/status/1644672732892655623

    All those “cash offers” on homes in 2021. Were they really? This securities based lending report from Broadridge says leading US banks were underwriting 🚩100 BILLION 🚩in SBL loans in 2021. When the stock market was at ATHs. What could go wrong?

    https://twitter.com/texasrunnerDFW/status/1644706222761820166

    For 100 of some 435 publicly traded U.S. banks listed on major exchanges, combined unrealized losses on loans and held-to-maturity securities were equivalent to 50% or more of their total equity

    https://twitter.com/NickTimiraos/status/1644397268269670401

    Blackstone just sold Griffin Towers in Santa Ana at a 36% loss. The two, 13-story towers sold to Barker Pacific for $82M. Blackstone bought the towers for $129M in 2014. Office values in Orange County are now lower than they were in 2010 (post-crisis). A steal or bad deal?

    https://twitter.com/JtheRealEstate/status/1644740043938856962

    This will be 2H 2023

    https://twitter.com/BowTiedBull/status/1644768039081050112

    Went shopping for Dallas doomsday bunkers today. 😍

    https://twitter.com/mhp_guy/status/1644873768542654467

    Let’s just say wear no one is saying: Meta blew $30B+ into the Metaverse not because it had to, but because their pampered engineers would work for nothing short of $500k-$1m a piece, full well knowing this could never ship but their vacation home in Tahoe would be fine!

    https://twitter.com/debarghya_das/status/1644728055024476160

    Who foresaw Texas commercial real estate being such a disaster…Just beginning $ABR…

    https://twitter.com/SpecialSitsNews/status/1644521759272587264

    Interestingly, the same thing happened in 2008, a few months before the GFC and couple months after the collapse of Bear Stearns. Banks don’t pull back on lending unless there are major fears that people won’t be able to pay the loans back 🚨

    https://twitter.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1644789891627089920

    Consider what recessionary deleveraging will look like this time around: It looks like rioting, and no bailouts for you know who.

    https://twitter.com/SuburbanDrone/status/1644742899412901888

    “What did you lose your money on?” “Artificial intelligence”

    https://twitter.com/SuburbanDrone/status/1644544304126509057

    Travelling Canada has made me realize this isn’t a 1st world country.

    https://twitter.com/BenBankas/status/1644861011009359874

    $500K for 700 sq ft? Y’all are INSANE paying that much. I’ve BEEN to Toronto, it’s not THAT spectacular…😳 There doesn’t need to be a correction. There needs to be a bloody CRASH in prices. AND those condo fees. Bloody hell, those numbers are mental!

    https://twitter.com/JayPetersenYT/status/1644473095942713344

    1. There is a moratorium on student loans still
    2. Mortgage forbearance barely just ended in some states
    3. Many places saw 30-50% of sales in 2021/2022 go to investors who don’t use consumer/QM loans. That’s millions of properties backed by oddball loans not captured here.

    https://twitter.com/NipseyHoussle/status/1645098922694569986

    Easter gas prices in California. They have risen! 🙌🏼

    https://twitter.com/mike_umbro/status/1645141419022221314

    $800b PPP welfare for the rich was handed out and an estimated $520b was not spent keeping workers. $520b was spent buying houses, cars, vacations, etc. Biggest taxpayer heist in US history.

    https://twitter.com/GRomePow/status/1644790515345555456

    I don’t have access to the @nardotrealtor playbook for Detroit, but I imagine it goes something like this. Now is the BEST time to buy in Detroit – inventory is so tight there hasn’t been a single sale in MONTHS. Don’t be left on the sidelines in one of the 🔥 housing mkts

    https://twitter.com/jasonlewris/status/1645209254712803328

    “I think inflation could be higher than we think,” says billionaire Leon Cooperman. “I don’t think Powell or me knows how high interest rates have to go to stem economic growth.”

    https://twitter.com/unusual_whales/status/1645200164993515520

    Sales of rental apartment buildings are falling at the fastest rate since the subprime-mortgage crisis, a sign that higher interest rates, regional banking turmoil and slowing rent growth are undercutting demand for these buildings. – WSJ

    https://twitter.com/Mayhem4Markets/status/1644953918277812224

    CRE manipulation derived from PPP fraud. $520Bn in FRAUD (from aggregate $800Bn). Applicants bought up real estate / luxury cars at rates never seen before (including cash deals not tracked). THERE WILL BE NO “FORGIVENESS” YOU CUCKS

    https://twitter.com/iTurquoiseZebra/status/1645130855726354432

    The ZIRP backlash in one graph.

    https://twitter.com/DiMartinoBooth/status/1645085255001423873

    What I love most about markets is that they’re an eternal echo of our psyche. We’re in the “return to normal” phase with SPX, doing the things we always do during that phase:
    – looking for bottoms & silver linings
    – accusing people of being permabears
    – bull chest thumping

    https://twitter.com/coloradotravis/status/1644709365683998723

    1. ‘Debt to income ratios on FHA mortgages just hit a record high of 44%.
      By comparison, this same ratio was at 41% in 2008. FHA loans are typically given to lower income households. Lower income households now have the worst debt to income ratio of all time’

      Like 2003, subprime surges as the prime borrowers disappear. This exposes the REIC for what it really is. Sure, make shacks affordable! And when prices start to fall, here comes the guberment gravy to stupid and broke people.

      1. don’t forget that a 2008 appliance is probably still running, the 2022 appliance has already broken twice and costs money to keep repaired. Everything you buy today is not only more expensive but crappier quality than just 15 years ago. Those costs aren’t really being accounted for either. New mortgage holders errr home owners really don’t understand how maintenance costs can eat you up on houses. Esp when you are already using almost half your money just for the loan (which is ridiculous)

    2. “$520b [PPP] was spent buying houses, cars, vacations, etc. Biggest taxpayer heist in US history.”

      Danielle DiMartino Booth tells this story: In her lectures, she asks her audience: “How many of you, in the last couple of years, have seen children flying first class?” Lots of hands go up. That’s yer PPP money. Families taking VERY nice vacations.

        1. Thanks

          I don’t do reddit or twitter but like the old guy t-shirt says…

          I can write in cursive, tell time on a clock with hands and do math without a calculator.

  11. Setright is snapping up his five-bedroom house for just over £875,000, a discount on its £895,000 asking price, which he thinks was already cheap.”

    It’s going to be a thing of terrible beauty seeing these clueless knife-catchers getting impaled as shack prices keep plummeting.

  14. “Matthew Gardner, Windermere Real Estate’s chief economist, said the overall drop is because mortgage rates have increased.”

    They always make it sound as if interest rates are the only factor, like real estate prices had no ceiling otherwise. Pay no attention to the wizard behind the curtain buying mortgage-backed securities or printing gobs of money.

    1. What irritates me are these so called informative news skits regarding real estate. The real questions are never asked; it’s just more of the same old narrative pimping.

    2. “…if interest rates are the only factor…”

      Or a manufactured panic courtesy of the REIConplex.

      Just astounding how such a large fraction of the population is hypnotized by this nonsense.

    3. So conversely, prices went crazy because interest rates went to 3%. Now those rates are higher than they were pre-COIVD, so according to this relitter’s logic that would means prices should be lower than they were pre-COVID. Sounds like he’s on to something.

  15. I can only assume he wants to peacefully “Exterminate the (Republican) cockroaches.”

    Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band Guitarist Steven Van Zandt Deletes Call to ‘Exterminate’ GOP ‘Cockroaches’

    SIMON KENT
    10 Apr 2023

    Bruce Springsteen’s veteran E-Street band guitarist Steven Van Zandt issued a call to fans and supporters on social media Sunday to “Exterminate the (Republican) cockroaches.”

    His rallying cry to target GOP supporters, half of America, came during an expletive-laden exchange on Twitter.

    https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2023/04/10/bruce-springsteens-e-street-band-guitarist-steven-van-zandt-deletes-call-to-exterminate-gop-cockroaches/

    2. They always claim that the right is violent, yet it is the left who threatens and commits violence. It’s like they are goading us into reacting, and if we do I have no doubt that martial law will be declared.

      1. “They always claim that the right is violent, yet it is the left who threatens and commits violence.”

        Although I’m sure they would have been right out there burning and looting for Antifa this Trans crowd seems even more violent.

        Apr 7, 2023

        0:47

        A mob of pro-trans protesters swarmed a Riley Gaines event hosted by Turning Point USA at San Francisco State University on Thursday evening, during which she was hit by a biologically male transgender protester.

        https://youtu.be/Q20YhzCCabM

  18. The Chinese manufacture solar panels, correct? Then why are they building so many coal plants?

    1. Word is that the White House is expected to soon announce further measures to end the production of ICE cars even sooner than already planned. The anticipated move is so draconian that automakers are saying that they can’t ramp up EV production fast enough to meet the potential demand. Bottom line: if you can’t afford a scarce EV (expect their already high prices to rise into the stratosphere) you can take the bus or ride a bicycle. Only the people who matter will have a car.

      This has absolutely nothing to do with climate change. Just like how the jab had nothing to do with public health.

      3. “….Only the people who matter will have a car….”

        Similar idea for toll roads (at least here in gridlocked SoCal).

        Keep the tolls high so the regular folk can’t afford to use them.

        Thus, only the wealthy [who could care less about toll fees] use the toll roads, effectively creating a private uncrowded freeway for the rich.

        Next step. Rationing of electricity

        1. Next step. Rationing of electricity

          Actually, it has been happening in many locales for quite some time, via tiered pricing. As you mentioned regarding toll roads, the well off can afford to pay 40 cents or more per kwh, so their houses will be nice and cool in the summer. They can also afford solar panels and battery walls to cover when the inevitable rolling blackouts make their appearance.

      4. I plan on driving my old diesel trucks into the ground. I have enough to carry me to the grave. They can take their EVs and shove them right up their asz. Those pieces of sh!t don’t do the work in this country, diesel does.

        PS – They can’t outlaw old cars because then it would be obvious they are targeting the poor.

        1. They can’t outlaw old cars

          True, but they can make gas and diesel more and more expensive through taxes and regulations. Say a refinery needs a refurb to continue operating. EPA gives the operator a huge punch list of things to update and the refinery closes. Gas and diesel prices go up.

          I strongly suspect that the damage at the Dumver (Commerce City) SunCor refinery last winter, which was officially blamed on sub zero weather, was sabotage, with the hope that SunCor would just close it for good.

          1. A problem with “old cars”, especially newer ones is that they are chock full of electronics and specialized mechanical components (like turbos) and that at some point spare parts will be unavailable. I suspect that beaters will be rare in the future as it could become next to impossible to keep them running.

    2. why are they building so many coal plants?

      To manufacture more solar panels. Those things don’t make themselves. Never, anywhere.

  20. – In my view, it boils down to a question of debt/slavery vs. freedom/liberty.
    – Congress got my back, right? Hello? Bueller?

    —

    “Debt to income ratios on FHA mortgages just hit a record high of 44%. By comparison, this same ratio was at 41% in 2008. FHA loans are typically given to lower income households. Lower income households now have the worst debt to income ratio of all time. Meanwhile, inflation has been above 5% for 22 straight months and rates are still rising. How can this end well?”
    —
    “Down payments on FHA loans are under 5% while monthly payments take nearly 50% of income. These loans have massive balances outstanding while wage growth is not outpacing inflation. Foreclosures are likely next.”

    —

    “The rich rule over the poor,
    and the borrower is slave to the lender.” – Proverbs 22:7

    “There are 2 ways to conquer & enslave a nation. One is by the sword. The other is by debt.” – John Adams

    “Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt.” – Herbert Hoover

    “I’ll gladly pay you on Tuesday for a hamburger today.” – J. Wellington Wimpy

    “All crisis have involved debt that, in one fashion or another, has become dangerously out of scale in relation to the underlying means of payment.” – John Kenneth Galbraith, A Short History of Financial Euphoria

    “For a decade after the bursting of the debt bubble in 1837, business conditions were depressed in the United States. The number of banks available for financing speculative adventures declined. Then, after another 10 years, public memory faded again.” – John Kenneth Galbraith, A Short History of Financial Euphoria

    “The national budget must be balanced. The public debt must be reduced; the arrogance of the authorities must be moderated and controlled. Payments to foreign governments must be reduced if the nation doesn’t want to go bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.” – Cicero 55 BC

    “Money is a new form of slavery, and distinguishable from the old simply by the fact that it is impersonal, that there is no human relation between master and slave.” – Leo Tolstoy

    “None are more enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” – Goethe

    1. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.” – Cicero 55 BC

      And yet, at that time, Rome ruled all the lands on the Mediterranean and did not fall until centuries later.

      The American Empire won’t be so fortunate or long lasting.

  21. So, it turns out the FBI has been trying to infiltrate the Catholic Church in its quest to combat “domestic terrorism”.

    The FBI recently sought to develop sources inside Christian churches and Catholic dioceses as part of an effort to combat domestic terrorism, according to internal documents released by House Judiciary Committee on Monday.

    The internal documents — obtained last month by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., who are also members of the so-called Weaponization Subcommittee — showed the FBI planned to use churches as “new avenues for tripwire and source development.” The federal law enforcement agency also aimed to specifically target “mainline Catholic parishes” as part of its efforts.

        1. He has his hands full with a German church that is about to go into schism. He has warned German prelates that he will remove them if they start blessing same sex unions, but you have to wonder if he will make good on that threat. Plus he’s in terrible health and the rumor mill is saying that he might resign. I think this is why the German Bishops are pushing back and are saying they are moving forward with the rainbow stuff. German laity are threatening to join with the sedevacantists if the German Bishops make good on their own threat, but at this point I don’t think the German Bishops care what their flocks say. Like I said, Francis has his hands full, and he should have dealt with this years ago.

    1. The stock market’s bubble bust will only be halfway over when the Fed starts cutting rates – and there will be much more pain ahead, legendary investor Jeremy Grantham says
      Jennifer Sor
      Apr 10, 2023, 6:46 AM
      Legendary investor and co-founder of Grantham, Mayo & van Otterloo, Jeremy Grantham
      Fairfax Media via Getty Images via Getty Images

      – The stock market bubble bust will be only halfway over once the Fed starts cutting interest rates, according to Jeremy Grantham.

      – “You tell me when the first interest rate cut is, and I will tell you when the second half of the pain is going to start,” he said.

      – Central bankers have raised rates by 475 basis points to lower inflation, which Grantham says risks pushing the US into recession.
      …
      https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/stock-market-bubble-crash-fed-interest-rate-cut-jeremy-grantham-2023-4

  23. Driving around the outskirts of Phoenix in heavier traffic than I ever encounter in San Diego. Just how many Californians moved here the past few years to escape bad traffic, unaffordable housing prices, high crime rates, crazy Democratic Party policies, etc. … only to bring all of the above along with them to Phoenix?

  25. Irving, TX Housing Prices Crater 15% YOY As Borrowers Walk Away From Their Bloated Mortgages

    https://www.movoto.com/tx/75063/market-trends/

    As a renown economist stated so eloquently, “Nothing accelerates the economy and creates jobs like falling prices to dramatically lower and more affordable levels. Nothing.”

  26. Covid vaccines are poison:

    “The goal of the communications collaborative, according to PGP, is to decrease misinformation and increase vaccine demand worldwide. And it’s using social media influencers to silence vaccine detractors.

    PGP is headquartered in New York and was founded in 2013. Its current CEO is Dr. Joe Smyser, who holds a Ph.D. and master’s in public health and completed his postdoctoral training at the CDC.

    According to its website, the CDC Foundation is “the sole entity created by Congress to mobilize philanthropic and private-sector resources to support the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s critical health protection work.”

    Since its creation, the CDC Foundation has launched over 1,300 “health protection programs” and raised over $2 billion in support for the CDC.

    One of those health protection programs is PGP partner PHCC, which according to its website, was formed in August 2020 to “provide unbiased communication about the COVID-19 pandemic.” And one of the ways PHCC accomplishes that is by putting out “Misinformation Alerts,” which are powered by PGP.

    For example, on March 23, PHCC posted on its website that a “well-known anti-vaccine physician” claimed that COVID-19 vaccines caused an increase in miscarriages and stillbirths. It labeled it a “high-risk alert” and recommended, “directly addressing and debunking the misinformation.”

    That “debunking,” according to PHCC, includes using a “strong, robust social mobilization” to amplify messages from the World Health Organization and UNICEF, encouraging social media organizations to flag “misinformation,” and promoting “trusted pro-vaccine voices.”

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/cdc-partners-with-social-and-behavior-change-initiative-to-silence-vaccine-hesitancy_5175172.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge&src_src=partner&src_cmp=ZeroHedge

    You’ve been poisoned. And you’re probably going to die. On your 4th 5th 6th injection you WILL die, soon.

          1. I wonder how many Gen-Zer’s know who Koresh was? From their point of view, that all happened in the stone age.

          2. Poll time: how long do you think it will be until the government accuses some churches of hate and radicalism, and shuts them down, First Amendment be damned?

            I think it’s closer than one might think.

          3. how long do you think it will be

            Our puppet regime in Ukraine is already doing that.

            They already shut down church services here as a danger to public safety during Covidmania.

          4. They already shut down church services here as a danger to public safety during Covidmania.

            We held ours in the parking lot. After about a month the county backed down and we had indoor again, with “social distancing”. But I heard that other jurisdictions folded and churches were closed for months.

            Many Bishops granted dispensations for Sunday attendance throughout the scamdemic, which proved to be a mistake, as many got used to staying at home and did not return once the dispensation was lifted.

  28. Russia Today — Ukraine will ‘disappear’ – Medvedev (4/8/2023):

    “Ukraine will disappear because its Western backers, the rest of the world, and even its own citizens have no need for the troubled country to keep existing, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has implied.

    “Why would Ukraine disappear? Because nobody needs it,” Medvedev, who now holds the position of deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, wrote in a post on the VK social network on Saturday.

    “The prospect of decisively planting Ukrainian blood-sucking parasites on the neck of the shriveling EU” is real and, if it happens, it’s going to signal the demise of the bloc, Medvedev warned.

    https://www.rt.com/news/574402-ukraine-medvedev-us-china/

    Sounds about right. American taxpayers you are being robbed blind to pay for all of this.

    Tax slaves gonna tax slave.

  29. Housing is so unaffordable that banks are losing money for each mortgage they finance for the first time ever
    Jennifer Sor
    Apr 10, 2023, 2:13 PM
    Robert Galbraith/ Reuters

    – Housing is so unaffordable banks lost money for each mortgage they financed last year, according to a new report.

    – Independent mortgage banks and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks lost an average $301 per loan, the first negative profit recorded by the Mortgage Bankers Assocation in data going back to 2008.

    – They attribute that largely to the increased cost of financing a loan and decreased housing demand.
    …
    https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/us-housing-market-unaffordable-mortgage-rates-home-prices-inventory-demand-2023-4

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