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A Level Of Destruction That Would Make The Four Horsemen Blush

A report from KERA in Texas. “Critics of short-term rentals want Dallas officials to pass an out-right ban on the rentals in single-family zoned areas of the city. But city staff says right now, enforcement of the proposed ordinance would be difficult and costly. ‘This is not a problem I created, I should not be punished for it,’ short term rental owner Denise Lowry said during Wednesday’s meeting. ‘My intention is to run my business for the benefit of our community.’ Jack Kocks lives in District 11. He says a rental in his neighborhood was the scene of at least one party that turned into chaos. ‘The event, posted on social media, drew hundreds of underaged teens that converged on our neighborhood,’ Kocks said. ‘They brought with them guns, drugs and alcohol.’ Kocks said before the night was over, one person had been shot and yards were littered with ‘beer bottles and shell casings.'”

The Washington Post. “Across the country, there are signs that Americans are pulling back on restaurant outings, hotel stays and airline tickets, after months of exuberant consumption. Geoffrey Jaime, an Airbnb host in California, says demand for his six apartments in the San Bernardino Mountains has fallen sharply, as fewer travelers venture to the area. He’s lowered prices by 22 percent, from about $500 a week to $388, and has started advertising on other sites. Still, it’s been tough to make up for the loss in bookings that began in March 2022 and intensified this year. ‘There’s been a definite drop-off,’ he said. ‘Two, three years ago, the market was on fire. People had unemployment money, there was stimulus money going around. I remember thinking, ‘This business is incredible.’ But now it’s just completely flattened.'”

From Newsweek. “Struggling with rampant homelessness, a drug crisis, surging crime and several business closures, San Francisco is no longer the thriving city it used to be. Its decline in recent months has led some to say the city “is dying”—especially as its citizens move elsewhere. A quarter of a million people have reportedly fled the Bay Area since the beginning of 2020. San Francisco’s booming housing sector has also suffered a hit in recent months, with the city being second only to Austin, Texas, for the rate at which home prices have fallen. In April 2022—the zenith of the pandemic-era housing market boom—the median sale price of a home in San Francisco was $1.6 million, according to Redfin—11 percent more than the previous year. In April 2023, the median sale price of a home in San Francisco had dropped to $1.3 million, Redfin figures showed, 17.3 percentage points below the level reported a year before.”

“Darren Stallcup, who has lived in the Tenderloin all his life, told Newsweek that he feels ‘traumatized’ by the number of people who’s seen dying in the streets of his neighbourhood. ‘I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area, this is my home,’ Stallcup, who regularly records with his phone camera and then shares. ‘And I’ve seen my home go from being the cultural capital of the world to the technological capital of the world and then, somewhere between the homeless crisis and the pandemic, we’ve become the fentanyl capital of the world.'”

“In terms of housing, Laura Ratz, another economist at Moody’s Analytics, said San Francisco’s best days are likely to be behind it. ‘For the whole of its recent history, San Francisco has been an incredibly expensive place to buy a home and to live and to do business—and right now we’re seeing some correction,’ she told Newsweek. ‘I think that the high-flying days of the past two decades are definitely in the rearview for San Francisco.'”

From Willamette Week in Oregon. “People are leaving Portland, they’re taking their money with them, and it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Those are the conclusions of Colliers, the Toronto-based real estate firm. ‘Portland and Multnomah County face a grim near-term outlook,’ Jamison Shields and David Kotansky say in their report. ‘Vacancy rates downtown, especially among office and retail properties, will continue to climb. Concerns about a lofty tax burden, public safety, and changing realities around how and where people work has resulted in businesses looking outside of the city to the surrounding suburban counties.’ They peg the vacancy rate for downtown offices at 26.2%.”

The Boston Globe in Massachusetts. “I ran out one afternoon to grab a Diet Coke, and ran into downtown Boston’s identity crisis. In pre-pandemic days, I would head downstairs to the Martin’s News Shop in the lobby of 53 State St. for my late-day soda fix. But that closed after COVID-19 hit. So did a nearby alternative: the mini CVS on Post Office Square, which morphed into a COVID testing site, and then a Chase bank branch. Michael Nichols, president of the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District, faces the tough task of rejuvenating 34 COVID-stricken blocks spanning Downtown Crossing and much of the Financial District.”

“Consider the stats. Nichols counts 90 to 100 empty storefronts scattered throughout the BID area — three to four times as many as before COVID. That does not include the quieter stretch between Post Office Square and the Rose Kennedy Greenway, where there are many additional retail vacancies. There’s plenty of empty space upstairs, too. Real estate brokerage Colliers reports a record-high downtown office vacancy rate of 23 percent and rising. Three-plus years after the Great Exodus, most office towers remain about half-full on a given weekday (and much less on Fridays). The businesses that relied heavily on the daily ebb and flow of office workers suffer the most.”

The New York Post. “Empty office buildings have set New York on an “urban doom loop” that will destroy the quality of life in the city and drive residents out. That is the conclusion of a team of economists from NYU Stern Business School, Columbia Business School and the National Bureau of Economic Research. In 2020, office occupancy fell from nearly 90% to 10%. But it’s only bounced back to 48.4% in New York. In response, fewer companies are renewing their leases, which lowers the value of office buildings. The researchers developed a valuation model that tells us how much these properties will be worth in six years’ time — a level of destruction that would make the Four Horsemen blush.”

From Euro News. “Around the world, countries are cracking down on Airbnb. The popular platform has been accused of inflating house prices, pushing out locals, straining resources and fuelling overtourism. From Europe to the US, cities have started to place restrictions on short-term rentals in order to counteract this. Last week, Florence in Italy announced a ban on new Airbnb listings and other short-term holiday rentals in its historic city centre. The country is now considering tightening rules nationwide. It’s not the only destination to put its foot down. This week, the popular Malaysian island of Penang introduced a ban on Airbnb-style accommodation.”

“Parisians seeking to rent their primary residence on a platform like Airbnb need to register with the local town hall. Berlin previously introduced a ban on Airbnb. This has now been lifted but strict rules – enforced with hefty fines – remain. In Munich, short-term rentals of entire homes are limited to eight weeks per year, after which permission must be obtained. In Stuttgart, hosts renting out more than half of their property on a short-term basis are limited to 10 weeks per year without a permit.”

“Florence recently joined Rome in imposing restrictions on Airbnb-style rentals. The city is set to limit new tourist accommodation in its historic centre. Venice and Milan are also debating introducing restrictions. And the trend looks set to spread. Italy’s tourism ministry has drafted a law to curb short-term holiday lets across the country. In Amsterdam, hosts can only rent out their properties for a maximum of 30 nights per year. Anything above that requires a permit for short-term stays. To combat rising rental prices, Portugal has stopped issuing new licences for Airbnbs and other similar holiday lets – except in rural areas.”

“In 2021, Barcelona became the first European city to ban short-term private room rentals. Palma, the popular Mallorcan capital, has banned tourist rentals in apartment buildings. Valencia is currently battling with the courts to ban short-term holiday lets in its historic centre. In London, Airbnb hosts are only allowed to rent out their property for 90 nights or fewer per year without applying for a change of use. In Edinburgh, planning permission is required to rent out a second home on Airbnb. The city’s 10-year development plan, announced in December, could allow the council to refuse short-term lets altogether in future.”

“Canada, too, is putting its foot down on Airbnb-style rentals. Some boroughs of Montreal, Quebec have banned new short-term lets altogether to ensure there is enough housing for residents. Vancouver, too, imposes a 30-night cap on each stay and the property must be the owner’s primary residence. In Toronto, Airbnb hosts can only welcome guests for 180 days per year. In Sydney, Australia Airbnb hosts are limited to renting out their properties for 180 days per year. Bookings above 21 consecutive days are exempted from this limit.”

“Plagued by overtourism and inflated house prices, Honolulu is targeting short-term holiday lets. Hawaii has cracked down on Airbnb by banning rental stays under 90 days on the island of Oahu, home to the famous Waikiki Beach. Counties on the island are also permitted to introduce their own rules for phasing out short-term rentals as of this year. Palm Springs, California has capped the number of days that a property can be rented out short-term at 26 days. It has also limited such rentals to 20 per cent of homes in residential areas. Elsewhere in California, San Francisco has a 90-day rental limit and strict compliance rules for Airbnbs.”

From Your Tango. “A user on the Reddit subreddit r/AskReddit posed an interesting exercise to followers, asking them to list things that were normal 20 to 30 years ago that are now considered luxuries. One person shared that in the 90s, ‘paying no more than 30% of your income in rent’ was normal; now, it’s almost unheard of. Others echoed that sentiment, stating, ‘single-income families buying a home’ and ‘buying a home in general.'”

“‘A lot of double-income families struggle to own a home,’ noted one user. Someone else explained that they’re ‘Double-Income-No-Kids [and] still can’t afford a house.’ The high price of housing in our current time is coupled with the extremely high cost of having children. Another person mentioned that people used to pay ‘$1.15 average per gallon gas prices in the 90s,’ showing just how much times have changed, and how expensive modern daily life really is.”

“‘New furniture made out of real wood,’ commented one Reddit user as something that was normal in the past. ‘Nothing angers me more than paying luxury prices for fiberboard-framed garbage,’ someone else responded. ‘Good quality fabric in clothing,’ another person said. ‘I have clothes from the 90s (and 80s from my mother) that still hold up today. These days, I’m lucky if my shirt isn’t saggy and misshapen within a year.’ Another person gave the example of ‘household products that didn’t break within the first few years of use.'”

“Healthcare was another item on the list that seems like a luxury when it’s really a basic human right. ‘Going to the doctor’ was normal, explained one person. ‘I’m 28 but even when I was a kid you could go to the doctor when you were sick or hurt. Now I won’t go to the doctor unless I’m dead.‘ Most people’s complaints about modern-day life seem to revolve around the lack of accessibility to getting their basic needs fulfilled, such as taking care of their health and having a stable place to live. And though the 90s were only a few decades ago, such drastic changes have left most people bewildered.”

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This Post Has 113 Comments

  1. ‘This is not a problem I created, I should not be punished for it,’ short term rental owner Denise Lowry said during Wednesday’s meeting.

    Die, speculator scum.

  2. ‘Three-plus years after the Great Exodus, most office towers remain about half-full on a given weekday (and much less on Fridays). The businesses that relied heavily on the daily ebb and flow of office workers suffer the most’

    These giant sh$tholes really shot themselves in the fook with CCP virus. Well, at least we conquered the envelope or whatever the ever shifting goals were. Enjoy yer doom loop terminal decline!

  3. ‘The event, posted on social media, drew hundreds of underaged teens that converged on our neighborhood,’ Kocks said. ‘They brought with them guns, drugs and alcohol.’

    These Amish Rumspringa hijinks are getting out of hand. The elders need to intervene with ringleaders Elmer & Merwin to keep things in check.

  4. ‘The researchers developed a valuation model that tells us how much these properties will be worth in six years’ time — a level of destruction that would make the Four Horsemen blush’

    Remember what the NY REIC was saying a couple of years ago? Oh New York City always bounces back! Now they’re non-stop bitching about all the Guatemalans piling up.

    1. All those empty office buildings in NYC and SF can house a million Central Americans and Africans

  5. ‘Two, three years ago, the market was on fire. People had unemployment money, there was stimulus money going around. I remember thinking, ‘This business is incredible.’ But now it’s just completely flattened.’”

    No one could’ve seen it coming, right, Geoffrey? A business model that presumed an endless gusher of Yellen Bux funny money to “stimulate” the economy from the CCP virus was never sustainable in the long run.

    1. Last week IIRC we read about a couple in Austin that had a spare shanty and decided to turn it into a hotel a couple of years ago. Free money! A 500k single room hotel with yuuuge property taxes and now they are underwater. There’s no barrier to entry. Now we are just as likely to hear about ‘over-saturated’ STRs.

    1. “The price increases for homes range from 21 per cent to almost 30 per cent, according to ABC News, and will be in place in New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland from July 1.”

      These market based systems never deliver lower prices.

  7. It seems like the anti-AirB&B movement is gaining steam in many locales that used to have affordable residential housing, before every home doubled as a short-term rental.

    “‘They brought with them guns, drugs and alcohol.’ Kocks said before the night was over, one person had been shot and yards were littered with ‘beer bottles and shell casings.’”

    I suppose it is better for a scenario like this to transpire at a short-term rental unit than at someone’s owner-occupied home.

    1. STRs are bringing unwanted vibrancy into residential neighborhoods. That’s the subtext for this.

      1. Vibrancy on the one hand, and lack of affordable housing for locals, in places like Door County, WI that is frozen 8 months a year, on the other hand. It’s a scourge.

    2. How many times have you gone to a hotel and thought, I better bring a few guns and lots of ammo! At first I would post reports of shootings at STR, now there’s so many I usually don’t bother.

      I’ve never spent much time on the STR ‘debate.’ I saw how it plays out in Sedona years ago (and it’s back there.) At first the REIC is on the offensive. But slowly and surely, locals get sick of it, businesses die, tax revenue dives and out they go!

      1. Die, speculator scum. Just die already. You are a blight on the community and are driving up the price of shelter for local residents.

      2. I have to admit to have occasionally turned to AirB&B when comparable hotel accommodations would have been far more expensive, such as accommodating our entire family on a vacation.

        However, the places we have rented don’t strike me as the type that would appealto the ‘bring your guns to the party’ crowd. I am guessing those party rental properties have different screening protocols than where we stayed.

        2. Price is likely the primary factor in some of these STR shootings. Underprice to ensure steady bookings but pay the high price of violent parties.

    3. Florence and Rome.

      I remember watching Rick Steves (PBS travel guy) staying in “agritourismos,” somebody’s rural personal home in Italy. The original BnB. Even the Italian government encouraged it as a way for tourists to immerse in the culture, and for hosts to make a little extra cash.

      In everything I’ve read about AirBnB, nobody has objected to renting out rooms in a host’s personal home. It’s the party-town second homes in residential neighborhoods that are the problem.

      Recently I visited Virginia Beach. The AirBnBs all displayed a city-issued sign which said something like “This home is a short term rental; if you have a noise complaint call this number.” I suppose that’s a start.

  8. “Americans are pulling back on restaurant outings, hotel stays and airline tickets, after months of exuberant consumption”

    People can not afford FOOD or a vehicle to drive to work or housing.

    Remember what everything cost back in 2019?

    1. MarketWatch — Number of Americans saying they are worse off financially than a year ago at highest level since 2014. This may be the No. 1 cause (6/12/2023):

      “More than 1 in 3 adults (35%) now say they are worse off financially than a year ago, the highest level since the question was first asked in 2014 by the Federal Reserve in its Economic Well-Being of US Households survey, which was released in May. And for the first time since the survey began in 2013, financial well-being fell among adults with at least a bachelor’s degree, with 31% saying they were worse off this year than last, up from 13% in 2021 and 10% in 2019.

      So what gives? Perhaps the biggest culprit is inflation, the survey revealed.”

      https://www.marketwatch.com/picks/number-of-americans-saying-they-are-worse-off-financially-than-a-year-ago-at-highest-level-since-2014-this-may-be-the-no-1-cause-2bfb3fdb?mod=home-page

      Remember what everything cost back in 2019?

      1. Related article:

        “Inflation in the U.S. has slowed from a 40-year peak of 9% last year, but prices are still rising rapidly and putting great stress on household budgets.

        Topping the list is rent — the single biggest expense for people who don’t own homes. Putting food on the table, caring for young children and owning a car have also become a lot more expensive.

        The latest consumer price index, due Tuesday, is likely to show a further slowdown in inflation. Yet the cost of many goods and services remains stubbornly high and isn’t coming down as fast as the Federal Reserve would like.”

        https://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-where-inflation-is-hurting-americans-the-most-9971d2ed?mod=home-page

        Remember what everything cost back in 2019?

        All this for an alleged virus with a 99.998 survival rate.

        “This sucker could go down” — George W. Bush

        1. “The latest consumer price index, due Tuesday, is likely to show a further slowdown in inflation. Yet the cost of many goods and services remains stubbornly high and isn’t coming down as fast as the Federal Reserve would like.”

          We are now into YOYOYOY (year over year over year over year) heightened inflation. Kind of like compounding interest but in the other direction. And I’m not quite sure how the “cost of many goods and services” could ever “come down” when there is still inflation.

          1. The Fed is jawboning pretending they want low inflation or even deflation. They know it would wreck the economy, stock market, and financial system

          2. “They know it would wreck the economy, stock market, and financial system”

            These folks in fancy suits already know that a Volker style shagging with an extra helping of deflation is the only way forward with the exception of a few cherry-picked souls with blue eyes.

    2. the local Citrus Heights CA. Raising Canes drive thru empty on a Saturday lunchtime driveby, while the neighboring Lowes was packed.

      make of it what you will.

    3. Remember what everything cost back in 2019?

      That was before the FED went apechit and decided to bestow untold amounts of wealth upon the chosen few.

    4. Americans are pulling back on restaurant outings, hotel stays and airline tickets, after months of exuberant consumption

      Just for kicks I went online to check how long the lines are at Disneyworld. The Peter Pan ride at this moment is 95 minutes long.

    5. Adam Taggart at the Wealthion YT channel related a story about his $34 BLT — take out, not a sit-down restaurant. The BLT was something like $26 and then they guilt-tipped him to adding a tip on top of that. Granted, Adam lives in/near Silicon Valley, and it was a high-end BLT, but $34 is still pretty high. Adam made two points: first, small businesses have to beg for tips and charge high prices just to pay expenses. But secondly, if prices for prepared food go too high, people are just going to stop going out altogether and those small business will go under regardless. I would not want to own or be employed in a small business just now.

      2. And he admitted it? Does this clown not realize he’s the reason there’s a $34 BLT in the first place?

      3. first, small businesses have to beg for tips and charge high prices just to pay expenses. But secondly, if prices for prepared food go too high, people are just going to stop going out altogether and those small business will go under regardless.

        It’s already happening even at fast food joints like McDonald’s where a Big Mac meal in L.A. is over $10. Even with the price hikes of everything at the supermarkets, prices are still reasonable in comparison. A new Sprouts market opened recently near me. They are selling skinless chicken breast from the upscale Mary’s Chickens for $7.99/pound. You can find Prime New York steaks for $16/pound at the local Walmart.

        I took my brother out to a popular family style restaurant recently and the tab for two with tip was $60. He had a burger and I had a Reuben sandwich. One Coke a two pieces of pie also. Sixty bucks is not chump change for most people.

        1. “Sixty bucks is not chump change for most people.”

          I expect to get more than a burger, a sandwich, and pie for that kind of money.

          1. I expect to get more than a burger, a sandwich, and pie for that kind of money.

            This is L.A. Everything is more expensive here. This restaurant has been around for over 40 years, and I’ve been going to it for 30 years. It’s just a family restaurant, nothing fancy–but it’s right next to the Palos Verdes Peninsula, 90274, which has a median income of $186,000. The population is definitely on the older side, with lots of retired folks. In other words, it has wealthy people who don’t go out and spend money like drunken sailors.

            Every time I go to this restaurant, you’ll always find retired couples and families in the dining room. So it will outlast the restaurant chains and other places that don’t have an affluent clientele.

        2. “I took my brother out to a popular family style restaurant recently and the tab for two with tip was $60.”

          Indeed. It was my turn recently to pay for a breakfast with a former co-worker. The bill was over $50 for the two of us.

      4. i have no idea how most restaurants are making it. I don’t know how most people can go out more than very rarely anymore.

    6. A lot of restaurants going to go out of business. It’s too expensive to eat out. I’m a firm believer in supporting local restaurants to stay in biz but my pocket book can’t afford $100 every time my family of 5 goes to a sit down restaurant.

  10. Michael Nichols, president of the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District, faces the tough task of rejuvenating 34 COVID-stricken blocks spanning Downtown Crossing and much of the Financial District.”

    Stop peddling your worn-out lies & dissembling, MSM. Those blocks weren’t stricken by COVID – they were deliberate casualties of the massive government overreach for which the scamdemic was a pretext.

    1. 24/7 fear pronz

      Many NPC’s are still wearing masks while driving or biking. Most of them are younger

  11. “…list things that were normal 20 to 30 years ago that are now considered luxuries. One person shared that in the 90s, ‘paying no more than 30% of your income in rent’ was normal; now, it’s almost unheard of. Others echoed that sentiment, stating, ‘single-income families buying a home’ and ‘buying a home in general.’”

    Asset price bubbles are great fun for Ownership Society members while the rising price of everything is enriching everyone who got in early enough.

    The later generation of entrants is thoroughly screwed. And once asset price inflation goes far enough, almost everyone is screwed…even the bankers who own most of everything.

    ‘History has not dealt kindly with the aftermath of protracted periods of low risk premiums.’

    — Sir Alan Greenspan

    1. Apparently the US isn’t the only country where housing prices are prohibitively high for young people trying to strike out on their own.

      1. Economy
        Meet the typical South Korean millennial: educated, overqualified for the job market, and part of the ‘kangaroo tribe’ that can’t afford to leave their parents’ homes
        Matthew Loh and Reena Koh
        Jun 11, 2023, 5:45 PM PDT
        Young South Koreans in traditional clothing participate in a traditional Confucian coming-of-age ceremony on May 20, 2019 in Seoul, South Korea.
        Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

        – Almost 70% of South Korea’s millennials have college degrees.

        – But they’re overqualified for the labor market, resulting in a high unemployment rate.

        – Known as the “kangaroo tribe,” many still live with their parents because of high housing costs.

        At 28, Kwon Joonyeop is the kind of guy most Korean teenagers want to become.

        Kwon graduated in 2022 from Yonsei University, a top college where he swam on the varsity team and earned a double degree in physical education and public administration. He lives in Gangnam — Seoul’s glitzy city center — in a four-room apartment that his family has owned for generations.

        He works as a data analyst at a multinational tech firm in a country where stable, white-collar jobs are glorified as the key to a good life. On weekends, he competes in swimming competitions and is set to represent Seoul in under-30 tournaments.

        But like most young and unmarried South Koreans, he lives with his parents, and despite earning more than the national average, he won’t even consider buying his own home for the next 10 years. If he saves enough, maybe he can afford a car by then, he said.

        “It feels a bit hopeless, like we are the damned ones,” Kwon said.
        …
        https://www.businessinsider.com/south-korean-millennial-income-housing-ambitions-jobs-2023-3

        1. “Kwon… earned a double degree in physical education and public administration.”

          According to Newton’s Third Law, if you go to college for a PE major, you deserve everything bad that happens to you in life.

          1. Education is a good profession in much of East Asia — it pays decent and is stable.

            Also, they don’t tolerate violence and illiteracy the way we do in the West.

          2. I advise every kid I see to double major in college. If you plan it correctly from the beginning, you can finish both degrees in 4 years and maybe a summer or two. It helps if you have a few AP credits going in. If one of the majors is engineering you’ll need another year, but it’s worth it. It doubles your chances of getting a real job.

          3. I advise every kid I see to double major in college.

            I double majored, have used both to get a job but currently only use one officially, and graduated in 4 years thanks to AP courses.

          4. I advise most young people to go to a community college and learn a trade or skill. Don’t get a 4 year degree unless it’s STEM or accounting. Even then, spend the first two years at a local CC. Whatever you do, don’t go into debt unless you’re going to become a doctor or lawyer.

          5. “Don’t get a 4 year degree unless it’s STEM or accounting.”

            My thoughts too. However, what do you do when your wife and daughter have already settled on a liberal arts University?

          6. Liberal arts universities still offer STEM degrees for pure sciences, chem/phys/bio. But they won’t offer specialized degrees like zoology or meteorology or architecture.

            “I advise most young people to go to a community college and learn a trade or skill. ”

            I agree with this for most kids. But there is always a cohort that is truly academically minded and would do well in a four-year program. They probably want to do STEM or engineering anyway. I think that some debt is ok if you get scholarships.

        1. Seems to be in every country with a central bank. Just a coincidence I’m sure.

          Yep. We need to get rid of these scum.

  12. “Scientists in Wuhan working alongside the Chinese military were combining the world’s most deadly coronaviruses to create a new mutant virus just as the pandemic began.”

    https://twitter.com/R_H_Ebright/status/1667727668740063232

    We talk a lot about inequality. Well try these numbers:
    20 million people dead.
    1 billion sickened
    8 billion lives put into a deep freeze.
    All because 1 lab wanted to do audaciously dangerous virus experiments. And 1 US official insisted on funding it.

    https://twitter.com/AshleyRindsberg/status/1667883953171169280

    It’s an undisputed fact that China closed off Wuhan to the rest of the country yet allowed it’s international airport to fly sick people all around the globe.

    2. “All because 1 lab wanted to do audaciously dangerous virus experiments”

      I wouldn’t be surprised to know it was the US officials wanted (or forced) the lab to conduct such experiments.

    1. and how expensive modern daily life really is

      I know a lot of people who only see a dentist by the time a tooth has to be pulled.

      1. That’s just silly. A dentist compared to a doctor is relatively affordable (because dental insurance is useless and most people don’t have it). A cleaning is $50 to $120 cash.

        Costs more that that to go to a doctor esp when your deductible isn’t full. Of course if you’re on medicare/aid and it’s all free………….well.
        And the dentist isn’t pushing vaccines.

        1. Have you priced a crown?

          I do agree that getting a checkup and a cleaning isn’t going to break the bank, but most people don’t see the value in it, and avoid the dentist until it’s expensive.

          I had a root canal recently. It was about $1200, which my employer provided insurance covered about 80%. If some uninsured schmuck (the kind who can’t come up with $500 for an emergency) needs one he will probably choose to have the tooth pulled instead.

          1. “…uninsured schmuck…”

            A cursory observation of someone’s teeth can reveal much about that person’s station in life.

          2. My previous GP would ask me very year during my annual checkup if I was seeing a dentist.

          3. They charge much less if you don’t have insurance. The charge up is due to insurance companies paying a fraction of the invoice.

          4. I hear plenty of stories from the uninsured about how dentists tell them they need thousands of dollars worth of work, and offer credit applications in their offices.

  15. Why is JP Morgan Chase paying $290 million to a “Jane Doe” in the Jeffrey Epstein case?

    Where’s the client list? LOLZ

  17. Has there ever been a time that residential real estate had an insane run-up in price of 50%-100% over a short period and then those lofty valuations became the new baseline? As far as I know, RE always reverts to the mean, but maybe it really is different this time? The mean is a LONG way down from here in my region, I can tell you that.

    1. From the top of a search page.

      “Housing prices peaked in early 2006, started to decline in 2006 and 2007, and reached new lows in 2011”

      I was renting from late 2005 – June 2012. In SE Florida the prices dropped slowly at first a then IIRC the bottom fell out in 2009 before having an artificial stay in your foreclosed house for years Robo-signed floor put in under the crashing prices.

      My point being relative to 2006 the price drops have really just started.

      1. Yes sir.

        You can substitute 2022 for 20006 into your timeline to get 2022 + 6 = 2028 as a potential floor, based on last time’s and the previous time’s (1990-1996) timing.

        Why it takes real estate so long to CR8R is a bit mysterious.

    2. A some on this blog would remind us: there is an unbelievable amount of money still sloshing around.

        1. Because it’s a part time job with a lot of BS for an awful company that doesn’t pay enough to pay the rent in the urban center in which you work. $19.50 is a lot for Dayton. $19.50 at 30 hours a week in Chicago and you’re sharing a 3 bedroom with 4 roommates.

      2. unbelievable amounts of money.

        They are still snapping up homes (mostly the starter ones) here, lots go under contract in under 3 days. I want to scream. “are you stupid or something? you have no leverage” and you are destroying our tax appraisals

      3. The comments here are amazingly different than they were in 2005 (? – when I first started reading). Around that time I posted that I didn’t like the tile or Formica or whatever was in the kitchen of the place I was renting and got responses along the line of “Well, aren’t you pretentious?”

        Now I’ve been priced out of here, too 😆😂🤣 I blame those insufferable housing renovation shows. I’ve only seen a few when trapped in doctors’ waiting rooms.

  18. “A user on the Reddit subreddit r/AskReddit posed an interesting exercise to followers, asking them to list things that were normal 20 to 30 years ago that are now considered luxuries…..”

    An interesting thought: about 20-30 years ago we imported an idea/culture of optimization in business. We removed all the waste from business systems and focused solely on maximizing productivity.

    When the West monetized everything it simply optimized the model to extract the maximum amount of pain / inflict the maximum burden on people. And people are going to have to consciously decide not to play that game.

    1. We must embrace the power of ‘no’. Perhaps that is why Starbuck’s can’t fill their ‘positions’.

    2. People’s ideas of luxuries and necessities got all mixed up. Life was a lot simpler in the 90’s or 80’s. Wood furniture cost a lot and lasted a life time. Heath care meant antibiotics, not arthroscopic surgery or a knee replacement and a MRI for every minor injury. Cars had manual windows and no cd player or back up camera(s). Coffee was called a cup of joe. Homes were ugly split levels and half the size of todays tract home. Food was available only ‘in season’ and things like fresh avacados or strawberries or grapes shipped from halfway around the world in January was not a reality yet. Clothes were expensive and lasted a long time. Yes life is expensive, but people expect a lot more. It was common in the days to say that ‘we didn’t have much but we didn’t know any better’. Now nobody wants to live like that and they put it all in credit cards.

      1. “Cars had manual windows…”

        All I see these days in my small flyover town are luxury trim level cars, e.g., Limited, Platinum, Titanium, etc., which usually add about $10k to the price tag.

        1. And all you get for it are leather seats, fancier rims and some gadgets that will break and be costly to repair.

        2. Yeah, the luxury vehicle market is a bit of the chicken or the egg situation. Entry level vehicles are far less profitable for manufacturers and dealers, so they build fewer of them. One higher priced luxury SUV is as profitable as four economy cars. But did the consumer decided to stop buying economy cars with manual everything, or, did the manufacturers decide they were going to stop making them? It is probably a bit of both. Cars also last a lot longer now, the average age of a vehicle on the road is a record high, my car until two months ago was 15 years old before I replaced it.

          But what is clear is that we’re never going back to the 1970’s and 80’s sh1tbox car market with cheap jalopies that don’t make it 100,000 miles. Consumers don’t want those any more and the government safety and fuel efficiency mandates won’t let you buy them anymore.

          1. Cars also last a lot longer now

            That will change. All those 15 year old cars on the road have larger, normally aspirated engines, durable slushboxes and fewer gadgets. New cars and SUVs have tiny turbocharged GDI engines, CVTs and electronics galore. Most won’t make it past 100K miles before they need costly repairs. Think Eurotrash, but with an American accent.

    1. Did he have a stroke or something? When did he start slurring? I hate this clown so hardly ever listen to him.

      1. He’s been slurring for quite a while now — definitely since State of the Union. And I’m sure that’s why the DNC is saying “no debates” against him. Not because of some protocol of politeness to not challenge the incumbent. It’s because he can’t debate. In which case they’re going to have to complete their coup/martial law in the next year, because no way will Biden be able to debate any Republican next summer.

        1. My fear bordering on paranoia is that the Biden regime is going to get desperate and start killing people as a show of force to retain power. And who is going to stop them? Really, there no counter force strong enough in blue jurisdictions to stop them from just blasting away at trump supporters. You think an all blue jury will give the family of a trump supporter damages when bidens thugs start their massacre? You think the dem senate will impeach Biden for killing deplorables? What external force will prevent them from just going full Roman consul Sulla on their enemies? There’s nothing really anyone.

        2. The corporate presstitute media will simply lie and clathe Republican candidate refuses to have a debate

  20. Hey HBB — I recently saw something new on realtor.com and was curious about it.

    Under “contingent”, some listings now show “Contact for price”. Is this something anyone has seen before? It seems odd, if something is contingent but you still want bids, wouldn’t they want me to see the bid amount?

  22. Commercial RE biz is starting to get serious. If GS will start repricing (and not extend to pretend, or pretend to hold to maturity), then all the other firms that want to think of themselves as tier1 will have too as well.

    So ???
    1. Tier 1
    2. Pension funds that can hold on for >10 years
    3. Tier 3 will be all the rest – and that is who are going to get slaughtered


    Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said Monday that his bank will disclose markdowns on commercial real estate holdings as the industry grapples with higher interest rates.

    Solomon told CNBC’s Sara Eisen the New York-based firm will post impairments on loans and equity investments tied to commercial real estate in the second quarter. Financial firms recognize loan defaults and falling valuations as write-downs that affect quarterly results.
    …
    On top of Goldman’s lending activities, it also took direct stakes in real estate as it ramped up its alternative investments in the last decade, Solomon said.

    “We think that we and others are marking down those investments given the environment this quarter and in the coming quarters,” Solomon said.

    While the write-downs are “definitely a headwind” for the bank, they are “manageable” in the context of Goldman’s overall business, he said.

    They may be less manageable for smaller banks, however. About two-thirds of the industry’s loans are originated by regional and midsize institutions, Solomon said.

    “That’s just something that we’re going to have to work through,” he said. “There’ll probably be some bumps and some pain along the way for a number of participants.”

    1. FL put an entire causeway back through the ocean in like a week after Ian. Have you seen Philly lately tho? I’m surprised the lights are still on.

      1. Have you seen Philly lately tho? I’m surprised the lights are still on.

        The future of all Dem malgoverned metros in the country.

  26. Westword — TSA Testing Facial Recognition at Denver International Airport (6/12/2023):

    “Currently, people can opt out of the facial recognition technology at TSA checkpoints; participation is completely voluntary. However, Scheuerman says, it could eventually become the norm.

    The TSA assures people that the photos it captures aren’t stored or used for anything except immediate identity verification. It will continue to evaluate the use of biometric and digital identity technology to keep up with cutting-edge developments.

    2. “…Facial Recognition…”

      This is a fascinating corner of technology that is rapidly expanding in the security world especially live feed drone surveillance.

  29. Yahoo
    Business Insider
    Housing has become so unaffordable that over 75% of homes on the market are too expensive for middle-income buyers
    Jennifer Sor
    June 12, 2023 at 2:48 PM·2 min read

    – The housing affordability crisis has priced middle-income buyers from a majority of homes on the market.

    – Buyers earning up to $75,000 could only afford 23% of properties listed for sale in the US.

    – Affordability has been crimped by low inventory and mortgage rates at multi-decade highs.

    The US housing market is so unaffordable, over 75% of homes on the market are too expensive for middle class buyers, according to a recent report from the National Association of Realtors and Realtor.com.

    That’s largely due to the shortage of housing supply, which has hit middle income buyers the hardest. Thanks to elevated mortgage rates, the housing market is missing around 320,000 homes priced at or below $256,000 – the maximum price a middle-income buyer earning up to $75,000 can afford.

    Of the 1.1 million listings on the market in April, middle-income buyers could only afford 23% of them, the report said. That’s less than half of what the group could afford five years ago, when around 50% of all listings on the market were considered affordable for that group.

    The three metropolitan areas with the largest inventory of affordable homes are currently located in Ohio, the report added. Meanwhile, El Paso, Texas; Boise, Idaho; and Spokane, Washington have the fewest number of listing considered affordable.

    “Even with the current level of listings, the housing affordability and shortage issues wouldn’t be so severe if there were enough homes for all price ranges,” NAR senior economist Nadia Evangelou said in a statement. “Our country needs to add at least two affordable homes for middle-income buyers for every home listed for upper-income buyers.”
    …
    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/housing-become-unaffordable-over-75-214830728.html

    1. – Buyers earning up to $75,000 could only afford 23% of properties listed for sale in the US.

      The median priced car is out of reach for them, too. How about let’s get some more of that sweet MMT rolling?

      1. Some vbloggers on youtube are showing dealer lots overflowing with pickups few can afford.

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