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Evidence Of Properties Purchased Over The Last 18 Months Selling At A Loss

A report from the New York Post. “According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety, 10,824 Empire Staters swapped out their licenses in the first three months of this year. A Naples broker told The Post this week that this slowdown was inevitable, highlighting soaring mortgage rates, low housing inventory and spiking Florida home prices. ‘That was just unsustainable,’ she said. ‘I have clients who were set to move and just couldn’t make the numbers work anymore. This isn’t the same Florida as five years ago.'”

Bangor Daily News in Maine. “Agent Faith Morse called this spring’s real estate market more of a ‘Nantucket sleighride,’ lurching back and forth rather than the straight upshot it has been in recent years. Buyers had to offer at least $20,000 over asking price to even make an offer on a house last year, but that isn’t the case anymore because buyers are pinched by higher mortgage interest rates, she said. Instead of having 40 or 50 people at an open house, there might be only three. ‘The biggest thing is the unpredictability,’ said Morse, an agent in Auburn.”

“Blake Fecteau, co-owner of Hearth & Key Realty in Auburn, began seeing a market slowdown over the winter. He said it also feels like banks and home appraisers are being more conservative in their assessments to protect borrowers from getting underwater, or owing more than the home is worth. Morse agreed, saying that buyers are taking ‘a more thoughtful process’ now.”

The Oregonian. “Sales in the Portland metro area were sluggish for the first quarter of 2023, down by a third from a year ago. Even a drop in home prices hasn’t proved enough to lure buyers. The median sale price in March 2023 was $525,000, down more than 4% from $550,000 last year. ‘If we are pricing properties correctly, we see sales pending quickly,’ said Adam Shepard, a real estate broker with John L. Scott. ‘The ones we see sitting are those who still feel like it’s two years ago and they can shoot for the moon.'”

The Dallas Business Journal in Texas. “Dallas-Fort Worth homebuilders posted a solid performance in the first quarter of the year as the ‘new normal’ era of higher mortgage rates set in. Builders started construction on 9,691 homes in the quarter — up from 8,060 in the final quarter of last year but down 39% from the year-ago level of 16,014 in the first quarter of 2022, according to Dallas-based Residential Strategies Inc. Finished vacant inventory rose during the quarter to 8,595 homes. As of March 31, there were 85,205 vacant lots in the market representing a 24.1-month supply. A two-year supply is considered about right. Additionally, 80,762 lots remain under development.”

The Pueblo Chieftain in Colorado. “Affordable housing manufacturer indieDwell has temporarily shut down its Pueblo production facility due to cashflow issues, leaving 55 employees without work for the time being. Two employees of the company who asked the Chieftain to not use their names for this story confirmed that a large part of the issue that is one client in California has not paid on its contract. ‘Our whole workforce is disbanded and shattered. A lot of us are depressed, upset and mad,’ one worker said. ‘It’s a rollercoaster ride and I am trying to keep a positive attitude, but I am really kind of concerned for my future. I’ve got a mortgage, insurance costs, a car payment and now I don’t know if I can even afford my cable bill,’ one of the workers said, pointing out he, too, is looking for a new job.”

From Geek Wire. “Redfin laid off 201 employees, or about 4% of its workforce, on Tuesday as it continues to trim expenses in response to the housing downturn and ongoing economic uncertainty. This is the third time in less than a year the Seattle real estate company has conducted a workforce reduction. Redfin revenue fell 25% in the fourth quarter after mortgage rates and a sluggish market kept many buyers and sellers on the sidelines. The company also reported a net loss of $61.9 million, compared to $27 million in the year-ago quarter. A number of real estate tech companies have laid off employees in Washington state over the last year in response to the market downturn including Zillow, Flyhomes, Compass, and others.”

The Globe and Mail in Canada. “Sales in March in the GTA fell 36.5 per cent compared with March, 2022, according to TRREB. The average price dropped 14.6 per cent to $1,108,606 from $1,298,666. If the rules as proposed are implemented, federally regulated banks would be required to limit the share of highly leveraged borrowers they have in their mortgage portfolios. The OSFI is also considering tightening debt servicing metrics and toughening the mortgage stress test. Davelle Morrison, broker with Bosley Real Estate is also seeing an increase in the number of properties listed under ‘power of sale.’ In many cases, a private lender is listed as the seller, she says. ‘Some of those private lenders have taken over the house.'”

“Private lenders often provide cash for a shorter term than a conventional mortgage, she explains, and when the term is up, some lenders are deciding not to renew. Higher payments are also pushing some borrowers into defaulting on their loans. A recent search by Ms. Morrison found properties listed under power of sale appear across a range of prices, from around $700,000 to one listed for $3-million. Ms. Morrison is seeing an increasing number of such listings, but she advises buyers not to expect significant bargains. ‘They are not rock-bottom prices,’ she says.”

Scoop New Zealand. “Home values continue to drop across the Wellington region. From 1 January to 31 March, the average home value dropped across the region by 4.8% to $842,129 – a figure that is now 21.3% lower than at the same time last year. QV Wellington senior consultant David Cornford commented: “The larger than expected OCR increase last Wednesday will create greater uncertainty in the wider economy and have flow on effects for the property market over coming months. Buyers remain cautious and continue to take their time with their purchasing decisions.'”

“‘There has been an uptick in requests from lenders for forced sale valuations, indicating some homeowners are feeling mortgage pain as they come off low fixed interest rates or suffer other financial shocks,’ he added.”

“QV property consultant Derek Turnwald commented: ‘Open home attendance is dropping off now as we head into cooler weather with only an average of three attendees per open home. Auction attendance is very poor, and consequently auction outcomes are also poor. Properties with maintenance issues or unconsented work are still very difficult to sell unless they are discounted significantly. Many frustrated vendors who are unable to reach an acceptable price are pulling their properties off the market, which is frustrating sales agents,’ he added.”

“QV Nelson/Marlborough manager Craig Russell said he was starting to see evidence of properties purchased over the last 18 months selling at a loss. ‘The market continues to soften with many properties struggling to receive much attention at all from prospective buyers and sitting on the market for an extended period of time. Section sales are weak due to an oversupply of vacant land and a preference from purchasers to buy existing homes, in part due to them being far less exposed to building cost increases in this high inflation environment,’ he added.”

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This Post Has 138 Comments

  1. The REIC media (I don’t call them financial media anymore) is all about one thing: when are we gonna go back to the moon Alice? Foreclosures are just starting. No looking back at CCP virus and asking ‘what the heck just happened?’ Sure prices of shacks can go up 40-70% in 2 years and nobody loses an eye.

    1. The REIC experts have VERY short memories, and make no attempt to find the implications of recent history for what lies ahead.

    2. “The REIC media (I don’t call them financial media anymore) is all about one thing: when are we gonna go back to the moon Alice.”

      – Fed’s approx. $9T balance sheet. Full of U.S. Treas. + MBS. Drove rates too low for too long. Thirteen years since GFC. All markets distorted. Everything’s distorted globally by massive financial repression. Think Japan. 🇯🇵

      – $5T of added stimulus during pandemic alone. Predictably, asset prices soared. Asset bubbles everywhere. Clearly unsustainable. Asset bubbles always burst. This is The Everything Bubble. Think Dot Com Bubble + Housing Bubble 1.0. The bigger the boom, the bigger the bust. Soft landing / no recession… 😂

      – Clown world. 🤡

      – There will be a lot fewer Realtors going forward in my view.

      – Enjoyed the boom 💥? Now enjoy the bust ☠️.

      1. The spike protein is cytotoxic in general Getting the jab causes your body to produce billions of them in your cardiovascular system and every organ. A natural infection is mild 95% of the time and certain animal medicines can block the spike protein.

  2. It’s also not the same Florida as 35 years ago. Funny how they never mention the droves of people leaving Florida because it’s become an overpriced overbuilt shithole.

    1. because it’s become an overpriced overbuilt
      It certainly doesn’t look cheap on paper and from what I hear about S FL, the traffic is god awful. Traffic wasn’t good when I lived there 20 years ago but now I hear it’s a nightmare.

    2. I am a lifelong Floridian. From my perspective the only people leaving Florida “in droves” is the snowbirds who migrate back north after Easter. Recent reports estimate 900+ new arrivals (not tourists) per day.

      1. Those aren’t recent reports. I’ve been hearing that for 19 years. That would be just under 7 million. I don’t believe that’s supported by the facts.

        1. The 900+ per day was a recent news report regarding current 2022-2023 population growth, not for last 19 years. If it is wrong I am very happy as Florida does not need any more people. I would be happy with 900+ per day leaving.

        2. Most of them are retirees with no children, so I can believe it. They’re just dying off after 5-20 years and being replaced by more retirees. Others will leave due to the heat, humidity, and hurricanes. I’m seeing a lot of Florida plates in NTX

          2. Florida added almost 4 million between 2010 and 2020. That’s like adding a whole metro Dumver.

          3. North Texas? I thought the retirees were “halfbackers” who hated Florida and moved halfway back to Tennessee and NC? Then again, NC and TN are turning blue.

          4. I live in IL. We have the opposite problem. Everyone leaves. And the only people coming here are illegal immigrants. Outside of the upper middle class areas, the entire state is unrecognizable and run down.

          5. Outside of the upper middle class areas, the entire state is unrecognizable and run down.

            I attended a wedding in Chicago late 2019. Most of the city looked gritty and run down, as I tend to say, like a scene out of a Batman movie.

      2. “…Recent reports estimate 900+ new arrivals (not tourists) per day…”

        Per CNN
        More rain is in the forecast after substantial downpours inundated Fort Lauderdale and parts of South Florida in a 1-in-1,000 year rainfall event.

        Are the 900+ driving in or swimming in?

        The term “underwater mortgage” takes on a whole new meaning in Florida.

          1. I’m a beach person, so I would love to live in the panhandle. The problem is finding a good job and it’s gotten too crowded and expensive the past 2 years.

          2. The problem is finding a good job

            That’s already becoming a problem just about everywhere.

  5. Paid for by U.S. taxpayers:

    “At least 4,000 Ukrainians, mostly military personnel, became experimental guinea pigs as part of American research into dangerous pathogens. In the Kharkiv biolaboratory alone, about 20 soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine died during “experiments”, and about 200 were hospitalized, including because the U.S. tested unlicensed pharmaceuticals on them”, Chesnokov writes.

    One of the goals was to create viruses by means of “directed evolution” and study how the local inhabitants react to certain pathogens, Chesnokov claims.

    “With the assistance of the Kiev regime, the USA created about 50 biolaboratories in Ukraine, where illegal experiments were conducted on the residents of Ukraine”, according to Duma deputy Irina Yarovaya, a member of the biolab investigative committee, who called the bioreaaserch program “a new Manhattan Project”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/04/russian-duma-report-thousands-of-ukrainians-used-as-guinea-pigs-for-us-bioweapons-research-at-least-20-died/

  7. Slowly but surely winning:

    “Many Ukrainian soldiers are not convinced the town of Artyomovsk – which they call Bakhmut – is worth clinging to, as Russian forces are advancing street by street, the German outlet Bild reported on Wednesday.

    “Bakhmut is hell,” wrote freelance journalist Jan Humin, who visited the town last week and wrote about one 28-year-old soldier who was badly injured. The armored ambulance refused to start, so the soldier from western Ukraine had to be evacuated by a jeep on a dirt road, dodging Russian artillery fire.

    “The positive energy that surprises you everywhere in Ukraine, even when things are going badly, cannot be felt in Bakhmut,” Humin added. “Few soldiers feel like talking; while the sound of constant impacts is heard, they sit still and wait for what is to come.”

    The Russians are “slowly but surely winning” the seven-month battle for the town, with only two roads still connecting the “almost surrounded” Artyomovsk to the Ukrainian rear, according to Humin. The Russians are advancing street by street and “it seems only a matter of time” before they capture the town completely.

    https://www.rt.com/russia/574620-bild-artyomovsk-bakhmut-hell/

    1. “Many Ukrainian soldiers are not convinced the town of Artyomovsk – which they call Bakhmut – is worth clinging to,”

      “Bakhmut is hell,”

      “it seems only a matter of time” before they capture the town completely.”

      Somebody needs to tell those Ukrainian soldiers they are going to be there as long as it takes.

      Biden: US Will Support Ukraine ‘As Long as It Takes’

      February 08, 2023
      VOA News

      U.S. President Joe Biden said Tuesday the United States is united in support for Ukraine as it opposes a Russian invasion, and that the U.S. will stand with Ukraine “as long as it takes.”

      Speaking during his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress, Biden said government united NATO, built a global coalition and stood against the aggression of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

      https://www.voanews.com/a/biden-us-will-support-ukraine-as-long-as-it-takes-/6953138.html

    2. On the other side of this, is it really taking months and months for the Russians to take a single town street by street? This doesn’t sound like Russian dominance. It sounds like how the US was fighting in the Middle East, and that ended, at best, in a stalemate.

      1. Unlike Falluja or Aleppo, both sides have tanks. May as well fight it out in a destroyed city than pulling back and destroying another.

      2. Fighting in built up urban areas is incredibly difficult, painful and expensive in lives and ammo. As you bomb/shell it one hiding place in a building turns into 10 piles of rubble all of which might have another soldier/machine gun, etc

        room to room, house to house, block by block. Hasn’t changed in 100’s of years. And the Russians would rather shell a whole area back to the stone age than lose 10 soldiers to take it.

        From a strategic point of view, the Russians are willing to let Nato (errr I mean Ukrainian) troops continue to be killed as they pour into the area.

      3. The western front in Ukraine is hundreds of miles long and fighting in many areas is concurrent. During the same time period, Russia has made territorial gains in numerous areas. Ukraine has about 30k troops in Bakhmut and has been constantly sending reinforcements into the city. The most detailed and accurate updates I’ve found on the war are posted daily here.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y5RICEQYEg

        The war is continuing as it has from the beginning with Russia content to pound Ukrainian forces with artillery barrages until sufficient damage has been inflicted to minimize the risk of casualties in forward troops movements. Town by town, village by village, street by street, field by field, forest by forest, the Ukrainian forces are taking catastrophic casualties and being ground down into submission.

        And just clarify I am no Putin apologist or Russophile. This is just what reliable sources of information have been indicating since the beginning of the conflict.

      4. IMO the Russians are doing it on purpose. They could easily cut the city off and take it. They are leaving the two roads for the Ukrainians to funnel in more soldiers and equipment. Those roads have become a trail of death going in and out. Check out Intel Slava on Telegram.

      5. On the other side of this, is it really taking months and months for the Russians to take a single town street by street? This doesn’t sound like Russian dominance.

        Says the government employee with a chemistry degree. Did you have a minor in military history and modern warfare with mechanized infantry and armor as well?

        1. Oh please, I’m just speculating. I’m not a banking expert or housing expert either, yet here I am.

          1. Oh please

            It’s a traditional fish trap. You can check in but you can’t check out. Patience is a virtue.

          2. I think the Russians know what they’re doing based on WWII experiences. Those are all documented and studied in their war schools. They’re sitting back and grinding the Ukrainians and mercs down with artillery and air power.

          3. This is probably the last land war of attrition the Russians and Ukrainians will ever fight as their prime demographic cohorts are fed into the meat grinder. I saw a headline a day or two ago, World Bank will lend money to rebuild the energy infrastructure; the global financiers will bleed them dry.

    1. The Financial Times
      High yield bonds
      Investors shun riskier US corporate debt as recession fears loom
      Lowest-rated ‘junk’ bonds miss out on rebound from last month’s banking crisis
      Silicon Valley Bank headquarters in Santa Clara, California
      The growing gulf in the high-yield market comes after the failure of Silicon Valley Bank on March 10
      Harriet Clarfelt in London yesterday

      Investors are shying away from the riskiest US corporate debt as fears of an impending recession fuel a growing divide between the highest- and lowest-rated companies in the $1.4tn high-yield bond market.

      Last month’s banking crisis sparked a sell-off in so-called junk bonds of all stripes. But while higher-quality debt has clawed back its losses, investors have been reluctant to re-enter more speculative bets as they worry that an economic downturn could lead to defaults among the most indebted companies.

      “Investors do see some type of recession coming,” said Steve Caprio, head of European and US credit strategy at Deutsche Bank. “If there is going to be some US growth and earnings slowdown, they would rather be in the higher-quality securities today.”
      …

    2. The banking crisis will tilt US into recession, say Fed economists
      By Bryan Mena and Nicole Goodkind, CNN
      Updated 3:46 PM EDT, Wed April 12, 2023

      Washington, DC CNN —

      The fallout from the recent banking crisis is likely to push the US economy into a mild recession later this year, according to notes from the Federal Reserve’s March policy meeting, released on Wednesday.

      Since November 2022, staff economists at the Federal Reserve have predicted subdued growth and a weakening economy during policy decision meetings. in March, they said the banking crisis heightened that forecast to a recession.

      Taking into account “the potential economic effects of the recent banking-sector developments,” Fed economists’ “projection at the time of the March meeting included a mild recession starting later this year,” noted minutes from the Fed’s most recent two-day monetary policy meeting on March 21-22.

      This is the first time in the current hiking cycle that staff economists have forecast such a recession.

      “The main takeaway from Wednesday’s Federal Reserve minutes is that the central bank anticipates a mild recession in late 2023 and that the soft landing window seems to be closing quickly,” said Nancy Davis, founder of Quadratic Capital Management, in a note Wednesday.
      …
      https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/12/economy/fed-march-minutes-banking-crisis/index.html

    3. Home Personal Finance Real Estate
      ‘We’re definitely in a housing recession’: Multimillion-dollar property market has slowed, says real-estate mogul
      Last Updated: April 12, 2023 at 1:06 p.m. ET
      First Published: April 12, 2023 at 8:10 a.m. ET
      By Aarthi Swaminathan
      ‘Everybody’s scared of the rates,’ says Mauricio Umansky
      Mauricio Umansky: ‘The bigger problem is not only the buyers being scared of the rates, but it’s the sellers that need to sell that are sitting on sub-3% — they’re not ready to sell.’ (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Tequila Don Julio)

      The slowdown in the housing market hasn’t spared the super-rich. From the ritzy suburbs of Beverly Hills to the glitzy Manhattan skyline, luxury real-estate has felt the heat from the broader sector’s weakness.

      Particularly with mortgage interest rates double where they were last year and the flow of new listings slowing, ultra-luxury real-estate has taken a hit, Mauricio Umansky, a Los Angeles-based real-estate entrepreneur and TV reality-show personality, told MarketWatch.

      “The real-estate market right now is slow. Particularly in the high end, we’re definitely in a housing recession,” Umansky, co-founder and CEO of The Agency, said. Umansky was in New York City, speaking on the sidelines of the launch of his new book on April 11, titled ‘The Dealmaker.’

      “We’ve started to see inventory build a little bit, which is good, because once we see inventory build and we see prices drop, we’ll actually start seeing the recovery of the market,” said Umansky, who is probably known to most Americans as the husband of “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Kyle Richards.

      Aside from rates rising above 6%, the low number of homes on the market for sale is one of the biggest frustrations faced by buyers today. There were 22.3% fewer new listings on the market this March than last year, Zillow said in a separate report.

      In New York City, the real-estate market felt shivers from a gloomy first half of 2023, according to a separate report by Coldwell Banker Warburg, where activity dipped on the back of economic uncertainty.

      In the first two months of 2023, at the high end of the market — which refers to homes priced $10 million and above — few listings sold, the report noted.

      Umansky, who specializes in selling homes for over $20 million, said that part of the reason his buyers are struggling with few listings is because sellers are unwilling to give up ultra-low mortgage rates they secured during the pandemic.

      “Everybody’s scared of the rates. And that’s why you’re seeing a slowdown of transactions,” Umansky said, but “the bigger problem is not only the buyers being scared of the rates, but it’s the sellers that need to sell that are sitting on sub-3% — they’re not ready to sell.”
      …
      https://www.marketwatch.com/story/were-definitely-in-a-housing-recession-ultra-rich-property-market-has-slowed-says-real-estate-mogul-and-tv-star-598d13dc

    4. Commercial
      Published April 13, 2023 6:18am EDT
      Commercial real estate industry on edge as downtown empty office space goes unused
      Morgan Stanley analysts forecast commercial property prices could fall as much as 40%
      By Mills Hayes FOXBusiness
      Commercial real estate industry on edge as downtown empty office space goes unused

      Some financial analyst worry that the commercial real estate industry is in danger due to the increase of vacant office space with the rise of remote work.

      Some Morgan Stanley financial analysts say the commercial real estate industry could be headed for a crisis worse than the 2008 great recession. This comes after businesses have left downtowns across the country with an increase in remote work and higher interest rates.

      Many downtown buildings are owned by investment firms who rely on bank loans. But with businesses not renting as much office space and rising interest rates, some worry these firms may not have the money to pay back the banks.
      …
      https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/commercial-real-estate-industry-edge-downtown-empty-office-space-goes-unused

      1. “Many downtown buildings are owned by investment firms who rely on bank loans.”

        It sure does seem like a bunch of Wall Street investment firms used dumb, low-rate borrowing to fund bad commercial real estate investments that are now CR8Ring.

        I wonder where they wil find the money to repay the loans?

        1. I’m a CPA who specializes in CRE and construction in the DFW area at a pretty large firm. I also used to work in CRE for Big4. The homebuilders are scared shitless. Private equity is still buying, but my guess it we will be seeing lots of bankruptcies in the next few years. The same thing happened after 2008. Those who were around back then mostly wised up and started backing off in 2022. Everyone else is forked.

          All of these apartments popping up everywhere were Wall Street PE money. They develop, rent for 1-2 years, then flip for capital gains. That’s what they’ve been doing since 2016 or so. Goldman Sachs is behind much of it along with the 2 Blacks. The buyers are second tier PE and will try to flip the complex off to the next sucker and so on until it becomes Section 8 and falls apart. These are all cheap shoddy construction that look nice, but will fall apart in less than 10 years.

          1. These are all cheap shoddy construction that look nice, but will fall apart in less than 10 years.”

            They will go well with all the crappy Chinese made home appliances then

          2. It’s cheap everything, including the illegals swinging the hammers and pouring the foundations. They will all become Section 8 eyesores in suburbia and exurbia.

            My biggest PE CRE client dumped half of his portfolio on some NY PE funds in June 2022. That’s when I knew it was SHTF time because the guy is very sharp. Whatever he kept was very cash flow positive and in industries that would last through a severe recession.

          3. “The homebuilders are scared shitless.”

            They can always take up residence in their parents’ basements if the going gets tough.

  9. U.S. taxpayers you are being robbed:

    “On Wednesday, Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published a report on Substack that alleged the CIA was aware of widespread corruption in Ukraine and the embezzlement of US aid.

    The report said the Ukrainian government has been using US taxpayer money to purchase diesel from Russia to fuel its military. Hersh said Zelensky “has been buying the fuel from Russia, the country with which it, and Washington, are at war, and the Ukrainian president and many in his entourage have been skimming untold millions from the American dollars earmarked for diesel fuel payments.”

    Hersh said according to one estimate by CIA analysts, at least $400 million in funds were embezzled last year. Sources told Hersh that Ukrainian officials are also “competing” to set up front companies for export contracts to private arms dealers around the world.

    The issue of corruption was raised during a meeting between CIA Director William Burns and Zelensky in January. An intelligence official with direct knowledge of the meeting told Hersh that Burns delivered a stunning message to Zelensky.

    https://news.antiwar.com/2023/04/12/seymour-hersh-the-cia-knows-ukrainian-officials-are-skimming-us-aid/

  10. Devoid of strategic thinking:

    “Since the Russian invasion a year ago, the United States has provided Ukraine with over $32 billion in security assistance (equipment, training, maintenance, and support), to which must be added the costs for U.S. operations and maintenance required over 20,000 additional U.S. troops in Europe to support the war effort and deter Russian attacks on NATO territory.

    Although American sentiment generally comes down on the side of Ukraine [THIS IS A LIE] as it resists Russian aggression, such a sentiment does not justify a blank check to Kyiv. But this is exactly what the Biden Administration is offering. According to U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, “this new security assistance will allow Ukraine to continue to bravely defend itself against Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war . . . Russia alone could end its war today. Until Russia does, the United States and our allies and partners will stand united with Ukraine for as long as it takes.”

    “For as long as it takes” is a phrase devoid of strategic thinking. Indeed, a lack of strategic thinking has characterized U.S. support to Ukraine from the beginning.

    https://amgreatness.com/2023/04/12/ukraine-and-the-strategic-way-of-thinking/

    Russia is winning.

    1. “For as long as it takes” is a phrase devoid of strategic thinking. Indeed, a lack of strategic thinking has characterized U.S. support to Ukraine from the beginning.

      Don’t you know that this is the war strategy of all Post WWII Democrats. Liberal Democrats have never seen a war that they didn’t love when it was started by a Democrat President. It’s amazing to observe the complete silence from the Party of Peace and Justice as their leader squanders billions of dollars and is a major factor in getting thousands of people killed every month.

      And the MSM and Democrats were calling Trump a warmonger?

    1. Wonder what they were trying to do. Capitalize on AirBnB income? Counting on full-time work@home? Buying retirement home early? Or just plain flipping?

      1. Lots of AirBnB and VRBO. If you’re near a nice beach, you can make good money renting it out weekly during late spring thru early fall. Then rent it to an old snowbird for the winter. You would have to buy at a reasonable price and rates though.

    1. For the record, the other one is actually from Ookland CA and has been charged with numerous crimes over the years. So we have a cosplayer and an imposter, it’s all theater. The 3rd one involved reps Knoxville’s negro district and is a scumbag as well.

  13. If even the ultra-rich who’ve been the exclusive beneficiaries of the Fed’s “No Billionaire Left Behind” monetary policies are cutting back on their shack purchases, things must be far worse for the increasingly pauperized middle & working classes ravaged by the “cost of living crisis.”

    https://www.marketwatch.com/story/were-definitely-in-a-housing-recession-ultra-rich-property-market-has-slowed-says-real-estate-mogul-and-tv-star-598d13dc?

    1. RFK Jr is in an odd position. He’s running as a Dem to challenge Biden, but that anti-vax stance isn’t going to gain any Dem votes. His lib stance on other issues (want gun regs) is not going to gain any conservative votes. As for independents, I’m sure there will plenty of other anti-vax candidates to choose from, so RKF has no unique advantage there either. I don’t see him getting that far.

      1. RKF has no unique advantage

        1) Old school liberals were the original anti-vaxxers until COVID.
        2) RFK Jr is an old school Democrat rather than a Marxist.
        3) He’s fought regulatory capture for decades. Think “Drain the Swamp.”
        4) Having lost his uncle and father to assassinations, he has a unique perspective on the real powers at play in our country as well as around the world.

        1. In other words, he’s still the “loyal opposition”. An endangered species in a party of people like Clinton, The Squad and Fetterman.

          2. Totally agree. But I’d take RFK Jr over DeSantis any day.

            Thank you for your Kalifornian opinion regarding DeSantis.

          3. opinion regarding DeSantis

            He may be fine as a governor but he’s controlled by globalist RINOs.

          4. Climate in Crisis: Who’s Causing It, Who’s Fighting It, and How We Can Reverse It Before It’s Too Late

            Ugh! Another warmist. I’ll just go out and buy a coal powered electric car that I can’t afford and save the world.

          5. BTW, if anyone is thinking of a trip to Europe, better do it soon. Euro airports are starting to curtail flights, to reduce carbon. And even if you make it there, will tourists be allowed to travel, or will they also be constrained by the 15 minute town hunger games nonsense?

      2. IMO it’s clear he’s mounting the campaign for awareness and visibility of the complex issue.

          1. The corporate presstitute media will mostly ignore him and smear him once in a while as a crackpot conspiracy theorist. The NPC meatbots will do as their corporate presstitute media jedi masters instruct them. The data is out there for any thinking person to see that the mRNA jabs are toxic.

        2. Kuddos to him. As I’ve previously said, I’m surprised he hasn’t been taken out by now.

  15. Massive fire destroys dozens of homes under construction in Vaughan
    CityNews
    Apr 12, 2023
    At least twenty homes under construction in the Pine Valley and Teston Road area have been damaged or destroyed by fire.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXmXo0ZdOnk

    3 minutes.

    Vaughan subdivision fire | What we know about the massive blaze
    CTV News
    Apr 12, 2023
    CP24’s Scott Hurst has the latest on an investigation as to what caused a massive fire that ripped through subdivision under construction in Ontario.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Raib66GXo6U

    3 minutes.

  18. 30 year anniversary of this next week, just finished reading the book:

    “In 1993, David Koresh and a band of heavily armed evangelical Christians took on the might of the US government. A two-month siege of their compound in Waco, Texas, ended in a firefight that killed seventy-six, including twenty-five children. America is still picking up the pieces, and we still haven’t heard the full story.”

    https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250840523/waco-rising

    1. The Branch Davidians didn’t “take on the US government.” They were attacked, and they defended themselves. Big difference.

      1. The children had to be killed to be saved sort of thing.

        Vernon was no exemplar, not by a long shot.

  20. ‘I have clients who were set to move and just couldn’t make the numbers work anymore. This isn’t the same Florida as five years ago.’”

    I turned down work in Florida because the cost of living was too high and the wages offered were lower than other markets.

    1. The warm waters of the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico influence weather related disasters in the region, and it seems like Florida gets hit by most of them. Hence, Florida is experiencing simultaneous property insurance and property tax crises.

    2. the wages offered were lower than other markets

      AKA Sunshine dollars. It was the same reason pay was lower in San Diego than in LA, though that may have changed.

  21. 𝗦𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲, 𝗠𝗘 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗖𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 18% 𝗬𝗢𝗬 𝗔𝘀 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗕𝘂𝗰𝗸𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗢𝗳 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀

    https://www.movoto.com/swanville-me/market-trends/

    𝘈𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥, “𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 $500 𝘵𝘰 $1000 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧.”

  22. Why in the world would Taiwan’s Army start a new rifle training program when the old one consisted of six shots from the prone position? Didn’t they hear Joe Biden say “If you want to fight against a country, you need an F-15. You need something a little more than a gun.”

    Taiwan’s Army has demonstrated a new rifle training program

    Feb 21, 2023

    1:03

    https://youtu.be/ppc9-lshk28

  23. We’re driving through Phoenix. There is no evidence of any housing shortage in this vast poster child for unlimited urban sprawl. I hate to break it to Arizonans, but the area of Phoenix where we stopped at Walmart was a lot more sketch than most places I have visited in California, with multiple security guards patroling the floor and small items for sale stored in locked glass cases. The houses in the area all had bars on the windows. And while our early April temperature was pleasant in the low 80s, I am guessing 100+ degrees F is normal in the summer. Something tells me that not everybody wants to live here.

      1. hordes of invaders are literally dying to move there

        Some people will put up with just about anything if it means they can join the free sh!t army

    2. I recall that Sky Harbor airport has had to temporarily close because it was too hot for airplanes to take off and land.

      Not sure if it created a high risk of tire explosions or if the wings couldn’t generate enough lift to take off and land safely.

      1. Jet engines function by the first and second laws of thermodynamics, put simply cold air in the front and hot air out the back, i.e., hot days degrade performance. And you are correct regarding the wing’s lift.

      2. I recall that Sky Harbor airport has had to temporarily close because it was too hot for airplanes to take off and land.
        Density Altitude.

      3. The reason they had to suspend operations is because the performance charts for the aircraft didn’t go high enough, so even on runway with 12,000 ft of pavement, the couldn’t legally depart because there were no applicable takeoff charts to provide V speeds, balanced field length, etc.

    4. with multiple security guards patroling the floor and small items for sale stored in locked glass cases

      In my little burg at WallyMart they don’t even check your receipts as you exit. As of the 2020 census we are 0.9% black, but I have to wonder where they hide them, because I never see them anywhere.

      1. “In my little burg at WallyMart they don’t even check your receipts as you exit.”

        That’s because the cameras can see that your trousers are belted around your waist and you’re not doing the pimp roll walk.

      2. “0.9% black”

        They are white identifying as blacks. That’s why you don’t see any black folks in your burb.

    5. If you want to see real urban sprawl, go to Houston, Austin, or DFW. The neighboring counties that used to be rural are all filling up with cookie cutter subdivisions and those ugly block apartments everywhere. There’s not enough water in most of Texas for all these people.

    1. I’ve heard far too many virtue signaling libs say “Oh just plug in car in your garage overnight at off-peak rates, easy peasy.” Yeah, so how many American drivers even have a dedicated parking space, much less a garage space with a charger? Maybe 30%? And just wait until families with 3-4 drivers have to fight over the charger spot.

        1. In the almost eight years we’ve rented this house (built 1968, amazingly lax construction rules back then, here in Las Vegas), two outlets have blown out, one resulting in a pretty nasty fire 🔥. Doesn’t seem like a good candidate for a charger.

      2. Half of households live in apartments, condos, or townhouses with no garage. Even many older houses don’t have a garage or not enough garage spaces to charge up more than 1-2 cars. I think that’s their plan. Crowd everyone into megacities and cram them into mass transit with the hoodrats and thugs.

        1. I would bet that this liberal commentator lives in a condo, and suddenly figured out that within a decade, he will be hauling groceries on his bicycle. Like those 1980s-era textbook pictures of China.

          And yes, it’s becoming rather obvious that they’re going to use climate change as the vehicle to pack us into so-called “15-minute cities.”

          1. “15-minute cities.”

            AKA open air prisons. And they are already getting started in the UK. Welcome to The Hunger Games. May the odds be in your favor.

      1. The Pope & most of the Catholic clergy aren’t helping matters any. They lost whatever moral authority they might’ve had decades ago.

        1. Keep in mind, after they close or burn down all the Catholic churches, they will come for yours.

          1. When they made meeting in a building illegal here during the lockdowns, my Mennonite neighbors circled their carriages in a field. We might learn something.

          4. Mennonite neighbors circled their carriages in a field.

            I read one story where a congregation held their services inside of a Wal-Mart, since those were not locked down. Good thinking!

          5. They’ll convert the churches into mosques

            I’m quite sure that once the WEF/PTB/Globalists are successful in persecuting the church, the muslims will be of no more use to them. In fact , I think the muslims have already figured this out, as they are throwing in with the ChiComs and the Russians.

    1. “Economies with high levels of household debt and a large share of debt issued at floating rates are more exposed to higher mortgage payments, with a greater risk of experiencing a wave of defaults,” the IMF said.

      They must be consuming a lot of Zolpidem in Oz.

    1. The metro area downtown(s) will need to clear-out their homeless drug addicts before an office resurgence takes place. Downtown San Jose is at 35% of pre-covid performance, which is clearly visible in the number of storefronts still covered in plywood and sticky plumes of homeless’ urine on the sidewalks.

      1. I think the plan is to move the homeless into empty downtown office buildings, which will be an incentive for those who still conduct business downtown to leave before they find themselves in something out of a Batman comic book,

  29. Beautiful.

    Carpe Donktum🔹@CarpeDonktum
    As a 3rd grade teacher, I often talk about Jesus with my students, they are so excited to hear about my faith. They point to the cross on wall and ask me about the resurrection.

    Some have gotten baptized in the sink, as long as they don’t tell their parents. It’s our secret.
    9:57 PM · Apr 12, 2023

    https://twitter.com/CarpeDonktum/status/1646384623667036160

    1. “Beautiful.”

      +1

      “Some have gotten baptized in the sink, as long as they don’t tell their parents. It’s our secret.”

      It’s like the French Resistance operating behind enemy lines.

        1. It doesn’t do any good to ridicule them, they will continue to harm children unabated. Voting toxic school board members out is a good start, though I fear Soros and his ilk will write checks to keep those people in office.

          1. I know at least 2 of our school board trustees take D money but claim to be independent. I’d have to check on another 2, but I suspect they do as well. Out of 5 total positions, that’s not good. The fifth is a realtor and former teacher. Luckily, at least 2 of them have special needs kiddos, which is all I really care about. My son is impervious to peer pressure and indoctrination.

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