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Some Sell At 75 Per Cent Of Value Just To Get Rid Of Them

A report from Community Impact in Texas. “The latest report from the Austin Board of Realtors shows the average price of homes in Round Rock in May sat at $547,953, which represents an 11.6% decrease from May 2022, when the average home price was $592,653. The average home sales price in in Hutto fell 10.2% from last May, dropping from $436,295 to $394,963. Pflugerville had the sharpest decline, as home prices there dropped 15% year over year. In May 2022 the average home sold for $512,364 compared with $434,765 this May. Additionally, the market in Round Rock has become more favorable for buyers than last year, at least in terms of the amount of inventory available. In May 2022 in Round Rock, there were only 0.9 months of inventory, or the amount of time it would take to sell all of the homes for sale in a given area. This May, there were 2.4 months of inventory in Round Rock. Similarly, Pflugerville had 0.6 months of inventory in May 2022 compared with 2.5 this May.”

The Orange County Register. “California housing’s stumble off its pandemic peak means an owner with a mortgage lost $59,600 of equity in the past year. And it’s not just California. Home equity dropped in 13 others states plus D.C. for the year ended in the first quarter. The average U.S. dip of $5,400 was the first such decline since 2012. Only Washington state’s $74,300 equity drop was larger than California’s decline. Next came Utah, off $37,700, Nevada, off $32,800 and Idaho, off $32,500. Or look at the tumbles on a percentage basis: California’s 9.7% drop was topped only by Washington (off 15%), Nevada (off 11%), Idaho (off 11%) and Utah (off 10%).”

Business Insider on California. “Downtown San Francisco’s fall from grace is unfolding quickly. Landlords large and small are waving the white flag over the increasing pressures facing the city. The capitulation of some of real estate’s most sophisticated players after tech job cuts and a growing permanence of remote work is a dark omen for the city’s downtown. Real-estate defaults have been long expected, but not all at once. ‘San Francisco is in a sinkhole that’s growing bigger by the day,’ Manus Clancy, a senior managing director at Trepp, which tracks corporate and commercial real-estate debt, told Insider. ‘Store closings, crime, and other quality-of-life issues are leading to an epidemic of negative headlines that are keeping tourists and workers away. It will probably get worse before it gets better.'”

“With housing demand down, median home prices inflated during the pandemic have dropped nearly 18% in the year through April, nearly triple the declines in Manhattan. Jeff Burg, a real estate investor who had been buying and renting out small apartment buildings since 2002, said he’s given up on the city, citing burdensome regulation. ‘I have unloaded all of my San Francisco rental properties in the past year and just moved my family out for good,’ Burg told Insider. ‘After 23 years, we’re moving on with our lives. Whatever is going on in San Francisco, we are not interested in being part of that any longer.'”

The New York Post. “After a decade of much-hyped and buzzed-about condo developments hoping to attract buyers with sleek designs and a bevy of amenities, the top end of the city’s real estate market is gravitating towards rentals of the same caliber instead. The reasons? Ongoing high interest rates and overall economic uncertainty. Matt and Kelly, a couple currently renting a three-bedroom in One Boerum Place, relocated to New York from Washington DC in 2022. They didn’t want a long-term financial commitment and sought a rental for their new home. ‘We have seen instances of family and friends who couldn’t resell their homes, and we didn’t want to be in the same situation given that our long-term plans are uncertain,’ said Matt.”

News 4 Jax in Florida. “‘We’re hearing from realtors that are extremely concerned that they cannot close on properties they are selling because the homeowner will be unable to obtain property insurance to make that sale go forward,’ said Mark Friedlander, spokesman for the Insurance Information Institute. ‘So that’s very concerning as we’re just getting into hurricane season. Potentially, we could see more failures this year.'”

“Houses being used as short-term rentals are also being rejected by insurance companies and some carriers are refusing to write policies for homes with solar panels installed. Friedlander said families that are already in their homes, facing huge policy increases, are also being forced out. ‘Certainly, we are hearing now from homeowners that can no longer afford their properties,’ he said. ‘They can’t pay the insurance bill. They need to sell their homes.'”

KUTV Salt Lake City in Utah. “The iconic Coachman’s Dinner & Pancake House made headlines when it closed in April 2021. After a year, Mike Nikols, the property owner, received approval to construct a condominium complex on the premises. However, over a year has passed since then, and there has been minimal progress made on the project. Other big housing development projects across the area are also dead or in limbo because of the financial climate. ‘I think it’s financing right now,’ said Dejan Eskic, a senior research fellow and scholar at the Gardner Policy Institute. ‘I feel confident with just our demand over the next five to ten years, those apartment projects will see light. Really, we’re in a pause and hold stage right now with big development projects.'”

The Wall Street Journal. “Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic Bank disappeared this year. So did the investments of many of their employees. The two California-based banks encouraged workers of all levels to buy company shares, and top employees often received a big chunk of their pay in stock awards. Both lenders served tech-sector clients, which also nurtured a culture of employees as shareholders. Now shares of both banks, which once traded for hundreds of dollars each, are worth pennies in over-the-counter trading. Employees are facing the whirlwind loss of money they planned to use for retirement, kids’ college educations and other big-ticket expenses, according to interviews with more than a dozen current and former workers. Some have also lost their jobs.”

“On a message board called Blind, employees and former employees commiserated. ‘My diet went from steak and caviar to cup-o-noodles,’ one wrote. A poll there of 41 First Republic employees found that 18 had paper losses of $50,000 or more as of May 9.”

The Toronto Star. “Major banks are forecasting another rate hike from the Bank of Canada next month, increasing pressure on homeowners with variable-rate mortgages and those looking to renew. Economists at Canada’s major banks say another 0.25 percentage point rate hike is likely, given the Bank of Canada’s recent remarks about raising rates further, with inflation still off its two per cent target. A homeowner who put a 20 per cent down payment on an average Toronto home of $1.14 million will see their variable rate shoot up to 7.11 per cent, resulting in a $6,482 monthly payment.”

“CIBC’s Benjamin Tal forecasts the next rate hike will be in September when the Bank of Canada has more information on the economy. ‘There won’t be enough data in July to make the call,’ said Tal. ‘We are in the early stages of overshooting the monetary policy.’ To stop rate hikes, May’s inflation number needs to be below four per cent, said David Macdonald, senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. By raising prime rates, the Bank has contributed to higher mortgage costs, which in turn keeps inflation sticky. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy, Macdonald said, and a ‘dangerous cycle to get in.'”

This Is Money in the UK. “Landlords are warning that their finances are on the brink of crisis as surging buy-to-let mortgage rates wipe out profits and force growing numbers to sell at discounts of up to 25 per cent. Lenders have withdrawn more than 275 buy-to-let deals and hiked interest rates by up to 1.57 per cent in just two weeks. Rising costs mean that profits are quickly evaporating – and some landlords are now plunging into the red. David Coughlin, who runs Landlord Sales Agency, which helps landlords to sell out of the market, says that he has seen some sell their portfolios at 75 per cent of their value just to get rid of them as they are no longer financially viable now rates are rising.”

“They’re willing to do a deal just to get properties sold, says David, 53, who is based in Chester. ‘They’re more worried about getting the property sold quickly than they are about price.’ Vanessa Warwick, landlord and co-founder of Property Tribes, says the current situation is like ‘facing the four horsemen of the buy-to-let apocalypse’. She says: ‘These are rising mortgage rates, increasing taxation, increasing legislation and an economic downturn.'”

The Daily Mail. “Aggressive rate hikes from the Reserve Bank have caused house and unit prices to fall back below $1million in more than 250 suburbs. While real estate values are now recovering, they are still significantly weaker than a year ago, with double-digit falls occurring in idyllic beachside areas. In Sydney, Australia’s most expensive housing market, median property prices fell below $1million in 78 suburbs. The Sydney declines included Seven Hills, in the city’s west, where the mid-point house price fell by eight per cent to $929,102, down from $1,009,471.”

“The slump was even more severe at Hoxton Park, near Liverpool, where house prices fell by 9.7 per cent to $948,608, down from $1,050,956. In the city’s south-east, Maroubra’s median apartment price slipped by 7.6 per cent to $982,942, down from $1,063,918. Umina Beach house prices on the Central Coast plunged 18.4 per cent to $973,280, down from $1,192,813. Regional NSW also had its share of decline with 47 suburbs falling below seven figures, including Lennox Head, near Byron Bay, where apartment prices fell 23 per cent to $999,452, down from $1,297,826.”

“At Malua Bay on the South Coast, house prices fell 15.7 per cent to $890,800, down from $1,056,750. Brisbane saw 41 suburbs go backwards including Annerley in the city’s inner south where house prices fell 18.6 per cent to $938,453, down from $1,153,055. In regional Queensland, 23 suburbs dropped from favour including a 14.3 per cent drop at Tewantin near Noosa on the Sunshine Coast, taking prices down to $916,576 from $1,069,779. The Gold Coast also fell with house prices at Biggera Waters dropping by 11 per cent to $993,459, down from $1,115,929.”

“Melbourne had 30 suburbs fall out of the seven-figure range, including a 19.9 per cent drop at Tootgarook on the Mornington Peninsula, which saw house prices drop to $941,133, down from $1,174,456. Regional Victoria saw 11 suburbs go outside seven figures including a 13.7 per cent drop at Portarlington in Geelong, taking house prices down to $893,640 from $1,036,063. Canberra had 15 suburbs fall below $1million, with house prices at Kaleen falling 15.8 per cent to $951,572, down from $1,130,344.”

Stuff New Zealand.”Some of the the largest losses being made on property are in Auckland, and in affluent, ‘blue-chip’ suburbs that market commentators often claim are more immune to dramatic house price falls. Six of the top eight property losses made recently were in Auckland, and all had one thing in common – they were bought and sold in the space of two years. CoreLogic’s recent Pain and Gain Report showed the number of properties selling at a loss has hit a seven-year high, with investors were losing money more often than homeowners, and Auckland sellers were losing money more than any other region.”

“The property that topped the list of losses made this year was a four-bedroom Bucklands Beach property in Manukau, which lost the owner $1.6m in the space of six months. The property, on Clovelly Rd, sold in mid-April for $2.5m. Its previous owner had bought it in October the year before, for $4.1m. The property that made the second-largest loss was a three-bedroom 1920s villa on Bishop St in the Auckland suburb of Epsom. It lost the owner $770,000 in the space of two years. Last bought in March 2021 for $3.9m, it sold in March this year for $3.13m. The ad posted on Barfoot and Thompson’s website stated the house had been renovated recently.”

“The third-biggest loss was not far behind the second, with this four-bedroom Wheturangi Rd home in Greenlane making a $760,000 loss. The owner had purchased the property in October 2021 for $3.01m, and sold in February for $2.25m. Next on the list was a five-bedroom on Lake Rd in Hauraki on Auckland’s North Shore, which sold in January at a $650,000 loss.”

“CoreLogic chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said the key factor in big losses was hold period. ‘Of course the buyer still wants to get the best deal possible, and if they somehow knew the seller was in a little trouble, logic dictates that they’d aim for a discounted price,’ he said. ‘ It’s also worth pointing out that when you look at house prices by value band over the last 12 to 18 months, we’ve seen falls across the board – upper quartile, median, and lower quartile.'”

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This Post Has 110 Comments

  1. ‘Other big housing development projects across the area are also dead or in limbo because of the financial climate. ‘I think it’s financing right now’

    Wa happened to my shortage Dejan?

    ‘Of course the buyer still wants to get the best deal possible, and if they somehow knew the seller was in a little trouble, logic dictates that they’d aim for a discounted price’

    That’s the spirit buyers!

  2. ‘Houses being used as short-term rentals are also being rejected by insurance companies’

    ‘My diet went from steak and caviar to cup-o-noodles’

    via GIFER

    1. “…and some carriers are refusing to write policies for homes with solar panels installed.”

      Solar panels are a tremendous liability risk. If they aren’t meticulously maintained, someone could get injured. We’re not talking about a slip and fall accident. Electrocution can be fatal.

      Then there’s the risk of vandalism and malicious mischief. Solar panels are delicate, expensive and an easy target. A few teenagers with a handful of rocks can cause tens of thousands of dollars in damage to your array in a matter of minutes.

      2. I also wonder if high winds could dislodge them and turn them into deadly projectiles.

      3. I also wonder how those solar panels are fastened to the roof. Any penetration into the shingles is a potential leak.

  3. The insanity continues in middle TN.

    Here’s a new listing in my ‘hood…bought in January for $1.85M, put up some fencing and what looks to be a canvas/temporary horse barn and now re-listed for $2.5M. No actual improvements to the house, best I can tell: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/7720-Smith-Rd-Primm-Springs-TN-38476/108838441_zpid/

    Meanwhile, the property next to mine sold at auction for $30k less than the gentleman bought it for back in september (after failing to sell for his initial ask of $400k more than he paid). He probably put $50k into fencing and clearing.

    Other neighbor’s house has been for sale since January with no reduction in price.

    1. An inflation calculation from 2005 to 2023 puts that depreciating asset at about $300K.

    2. I know some people who sold their overpriced mcmansion in Granite Bay, CA at the pinnacle peak last spring, then bought 10 acres in TN to build their retirement home on. Their friends did the same and bought the neighboring 10 acre parcel.

      The husband was telling me all of this while his wife (very attractive woman) did very little talking. After listening to their plan I chimed in with something to the effect of “I like the west coast and all of the outdoor activities I enjoy. I would never go somewhere like that just to try to get a better priced house.”

      The wife looked like she had seen a ghost, was nodding her head in agreement with me, then looked at her husband with almost a look of terror in her eyes. I could tell with absolute certainty that she did not like the plan. I see a divorce in their future, and her returning from whence she came, especially after TN prices crash into oblivion.

      1. I don’t miss the west coast’s weather at all. There are many things I don’t miss about the west coast: the crime, the high cost of living, the taxes, the “diversity” and the corruption, to name a few.

      3. Many parts of TN easily rival CA’s natural splendor and surpass it in many respects. They can probably build a mansion and live like kings on their 10 acres with what they took out of their CA bag holder. While we may not have an ocean we have massive TVA waterways that are way more useful and wont run out of water. Please don’t move here tho, it is a racist homophobic incestual backwater red state and you will hate it here. (traffic is bad enough already)

        1. it is a racist homophobic incestual backwater red state and you will hate it here

          This is very true. Don’t forget misogenistic and white supremasist! Californians will hate it here

        2. YouTube reelfoot lake tornado and tell me how TN is a destination again? Thanks but no thanks.

          1. Let me also mention the time we dug up a bit of the lawn to put in a horseshoe pit. Mid June mind you. After about 15 minutes and the wonderful humidity I had to shower and throw my clothes in the dryer. Thanks….. but NO thanks!

          2. You’ll have to deal with tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, droughts, floods, extreme cold or heat no matter where you live for the most part.

          3. Cold?….I can wear a good down jacket here in CO. tornados? Not sure that’s quite the same level of “discomfort” as I can turn my home heat on. Humidity? Guaranteed every single summer in southern states. Earthquakes? When was the last CA damaging quake again? Apples to oranges

          6. The most visited National Park is not in CA it is in TN. We could pick spots in CA like Death Valley and compare heat indexes but that would be silly. I stand by my statement that parts of TN easily rival CA in natural splendor. Personally, I plan my outdoor projects for when they are in season. To each their own.

          7. “The most visited National Park is not in CA it is in TN.”

            Likely due to proximity to population density.

      4. I like the west coast and all of the outdoor activities I enjoy.

        Yah know, if the West coast is unaffordable, your friend and his very attractive wife might consider the hated state of Maryland. You can drive 2-3 hours one way and be in the mountains, or you can drive 2-3 hours the other way and wade in the Atlantic Ocean. No lack of outdoor activities, no lack of water, and no lack of historical towns and museums and markers to visit. And it’s the commie blue that they like.

  4. ‘I have unloaded all of my San Francisco rental properties in the past year and just moved my family out for good,’ Burg told Insider. ‘After 23 years, we’re moving on with our lives. Whatever is going on in San Francisco, we are not interested in being part of that any longer.’

    When reading these stories try mentally substituting Mogadishu for San Francisco. Then the piece makes more sense.

      1. Talk of financial reparations, particularly in a non-slave region of the country, is just noise intended to stir angst in the black community and resentment toward the GOP. It’s a great political maneuver.

      2. It is also leading to many new arrivals who are seeking said reparations. Win-win or something.

        1. Yep I hope California, NY, NJ, MA all promise to pay black residents $75K a year for the rest of their lives.

    2. Whatever is going on in San Francisco, we are not interested in being part of that any longer.’

      This is the thing I’m understanding more and more about libtards: they simply do not understand cause and effect. Guaranteed they’ll vote exactly as always and be mystified in the future about the effects of their voting.

    1. Such a ludicrous valuation is only possible in a financial system awash with Yellen Bux funny money.

      1. Let’s call them Powellbux. Because this dude went apech!t with the money printer. Nobody in history went as big as Jerry.

        1. Haha. $50k might be a bit rich, huh? I’ve only been through there once or twice in my life.

    3. Has anybody else noticed that most of the properties that Ben posts in the comment sections looks like something a serial killer would be living in?

      Happy Father’s Day to those of you so blessed and good memories for those of us whose fathers are no longer living.

      1. Well, hasn’t the HBB comments gone all JC Penny on me. So a spacious, northern Arizona serial killers shack with good bones and a garage isn’t good enough for ya? Just so I’m clear, is it serial killers or serial killings your trying to stay away from?

        2. Sorry Ben, my bad. I just rechecked and it has no basement and I have it on good authority that serial killers prefer a houses with a basement.

          Would you happen to know if it has a “crawlspace”?

  6. Are you counting on the AI investing craze to keep the US out of recession?

    Seems kind of dumb.

    1. ‘Fundamentals still matter’: A portfolio manager at a firm managing $17 billion warns stocks are due to sink 15% as AI hype fuels the current rally and drowns out recession alarm bells
      William Edwards Jun 17, 2023, 2:00 AM PDT
      stock trader sad
      Spencer Platt/Getty Images

      Stocks are once again in a bull market, with the S&P 500 now up more than 20% since October’s lows.
      Phillip Wool, a portfolio manager at $17 billion asset management firm Rayliant, would add four letters to that description: “Stocks are in a bull@#$! market,” he wrote in a June 12 note to clients, the censors his.
      …
      https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-crash-recession-signals-artificial-intelligence-hype-sp500-rayliant-2023-6

    2. The Financial Times
      Market Questions Capital markets
      Will the US Treasury yield curve invert further?
      Market Questions is the FT’s guide to the week ahead
      Kate Duguid in New York, Mary McDougall in London and Hudson Lockett in Hong Kong
      3 hours ago

      The gap between short- and long-term US government borrowing costs this week reached its widest point since the banking turmoil in March, a spread which may widen further next week as investors coalesce around the view that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for longer.

      The US yield curve — which measures the difference between two- and 10-year Treasury yields — reached a three-month low on Friday of minus 97 basis points. This pattern, known as an inverted yield curve, is closely watched because it has preceded every US recession in the past 50 years. The curve has been inverted since last year.

      Two-year yields move with interest rate expectations, while 10-year yields move with growth and inflation. So when investors see higher interest rates crushing economic growth, the yield curve inverts. The depth of an inversion does not indicate the severity or length of a recession, but it does suggest increasing conviction in the market that the Fed’s rate-hiking will hamper economic growth.
      …

    3. How people are using AI for stock market picks
      Meghan McCarty Carino and Daniel Shin 1 month ago
      Heard on:
      A screen displaying the logo of ChatGPT, the conversational artificial intelligence software application developed by OpenAI, cased inside a orb-shaped object.

      The popularity of ChatGPT has exploded since the artificial intelligence chatbot was released to the public last fall. In just a matter of months, it’s gained more than 100 million users.

      It can write haikus, pass law school admissions tests and help plan your dinner, but can it make you money in the stock market?

      It’s a prospect a lot of people are intrigued by, according to a new survey from The Motley Fool.

      The investment advice platform polled 2,000 Americans about their interest in using ChatGPT for picking stocks.

      Asit Sharma, a senior analyst with The Motley Fool, says the practice is already widespread. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino recently spoke with Sharma about the survey and his analysis of the results.
      …
      https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-tech/how-people-are-using-ai-for-stock-market-picks/amp/

    4. Brett Arends’s ROI
      Opinion: Will AI help investors beat the stock market? Don’t count on it.
      Last Updated: June 17, 2023 at 1:35 p.m. ET
      First Published: June 16, 2023 at 10:42 a.m. ET
      By Brett Arends
      There is every reason to question whether artificial intelligence will help regular investors outperform the market over time
      Will this bright, shiny thing actually help investors?
      Courtesy Everett Collection

      Other people may get excited about what AI means for the stock market or investing, but you can count me out.

      This “exciting” new artificial intelligence technology may spark a juicy, profitable bubble that we can trade for a quick buck (thank you, NVIDIA! NVDA, +0.09% ) but there is every reason to question whether it will help regular investors outperform the market over time.

      Not that this will stop people trying, of course.
      …
      https://www.marketwatch.com/story/will-ai-help-investors-beat-the-stock-market-dont-count-on-it-62f00839

  7. Speaking of unloading, here’s another story for ya. My nephew calls me yesterday to tell me his landlord approached him about buying the place he’s renting. My nephew asks why he’s selling and his reply was that he is liquidating all his properties so he can give his kids their inheritance early. Fortunately my nephew has a pretty good BS meter. It’s happening folks.

    2. Complete BS as selling would trigger tax gains on those properties. If he waits until he dies, the kids would get a stepped up basis on all the properties and no tax gains if they sold immediately. No depreciation recapture either. He probably got in over his head on new deals and needs to raise cash by selling some rentals with equity.

  8. Never mind Father’s Day.

    Tomorrow is George Floyd Day.

    Banks are closed. Post Office is closed. Useless government employees all get a paid day off. But taxpayers still have to go to work. Those reparations aren’t going to pay for themselves.

    1. But taxpayers still have to go to work.

      Actually, we get the day off at Big Red. I think most of the Fortune 100 have jumped on the bandwagon and give Juneteenth as a paid holiday.

      1. Your ESG score would likely reflect failure to provide a paid day off for this most sacred of holidays.

          1. Don’t forget to genuflect before the icon of St. Greta displayed prominently in your cubicle.

          2. No cubicle, no St. Greta icon. The firm pays lip service to warmism, but doesn’t do anything about it. For instance, the last time I was at the Broomfield campus I didn’t see any solar panels.

    2. I’m private sector and get the day off. I did enjoy the company’s attempt to explain the holiday as though it has been celebrated for a century by all American blacks.

      I never heard about this holiday until white Progressives told me about it.

      1. I think I first heard of it 10-15 years ago. I didn’t expect it to rise to prominence. Now waiting for them to come up with a National Hispanic Day. It will be tricky to come up with a holiday that celebrates black Puerto Ricans and white Argentinians. Speaking of Argentina, I have seen distribes by wokesters demanding that Argentina allow blacks to move there, because Argies are not diverse, unless one counts ethnic Italians as diversity.

        1. …unless one counts ethnic Italians as diversity

          Didn’t Italians just become white a few decades ago?

      1. I get tired of this nonsense of expecting “someone else” to mete out some vigilante justice. It hasn’t happened yet, has it? Perhaps you could lead the way by example?

    2. The data from the recent Cleveland Clinic study finds that the more “vaccine” doses you receive, the more likely you are to get CCP Flu.

      “100% safe and effective”

      1. Some jabbed and boosted relatives have finally seen the light and admit they made a big mistake.

        1. Mine still won’t admit they got duped. They’re still mad that I didn’t take the Fauci Kool-Aid and convinced my 84 year-old mom not to take it. The funny part is we did just fine while they all got sick like dogs.

          IT WOULD HAVE BEEN WORSE!!!

      1. Some heavy hitters are throwing their support behind the idea of an honest debate between “the experts” and the “misinformation superspreaders.” Safe prediction: the “experts” will claim that such a debate would “give credibility” to guys like RFK jr., knowing full well that RFK jr. would wipe the floor with them now that the wall of lies shielding the guilty is starting to crumble.

        https://twitter.com/BillAckman/status/1670223599808962564?

    1. Dumped doesn’t seem like the right word. The containers are stacked. This took quite a while to do. When I think of dumped I think of tossed off the back of a moving truck or a dump truck tilting its bed and unloading them all at once.

      This looks like several semis pulled up, were unloaded and their cargo was carefully stacked in the field. Must have happened in the wee hours of the morning, since no one saw it.

    1. only for them. For everyone else it’s a gift and what SHOULD be happening as mankind gets more and more efficient. Life should get better as things become cheaper to obtain. That’s how it worked up until oh about 1970 or so. Huh, I wonder what changed………………

    1. “When did living in your car get normalized?”

      But they look so happy!

      Of course I would like to see what one of them looks like on the second day of a four day stomach flu she has been battling in her Tesla.

      Maybe they just use Public Restrooms cause like she said “Its the feedom that matters”.

      1. One of the predictions for the future is that indoor plumbing will become a thing of the past, so I guess they are trailblazers.

    2. Just how many bottle-blonde beach-waved young women — who just happen to be wearing a crop top to show off her waspy waistline — are living in vans? Yeah… no. 90% of this is fake.

  17. First time since before the stolen election, the scamdemic and they both bought a bunch of North Dakota land.

    “Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft (MSFT) and world’s fifth-richest man, is in Beijing this week for his first trip to the Chinese capital since 2019, before the pandemic.”

    China’s Xi greets ‘old friend’ Bill Gates in first meeting with a US business magnate in years

    Michelle Toh
    Fri, June 16, 2023

    During their meeting, Xi called on Gates to help promote US-China relations, greeting the tech tycoon warmly. “I am very happy to see you. We haven’t seen each other for more than three years … and you are an old friend of ours,” Xi said, according to Chinese state media.

    Xi went on to tell Gates that he was “the first American friend I’ve seen this year.”

    “I always believe that the foundation of the US-China relationship is in the people. I am placing my hope in the American people,” the Chinese leader was quoted as saying.

    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-xi-greets-old-friend-080817970.html

  19. Stonewalling: DOJ Rejects House GOP Request for Information on FBI’s Mar-a-Lago Raid

    by Jamie White
    June 18th 2023, 1:47 pm

    House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) had sent a letter to the DOJ on June 6 requesting information about the classified documents seized by the FBI, including communications between the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the U.S. Secret Service.

    But the DOJ rejected that request on Friday, claiming it couldn’t provide privileged information about an “ongoing criminal investigation and prosecution by a Special Counsel.”

    Jordan outlined in his letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland concern about the DOJ and FBI’s conduct, citing former Washington Field Office Assistant Director in Charge Steven D’Antuono, who played a key role in the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago raid, coming forward to claim the FBI’s raid was illegally conducted.

    This also comes on the heels of damning findings made by Special Counsel John Durham showing the years-long Russia collusion allegations against Trump was a frame-up contrived by the Hillary Clinton campaign with the help of none other than the DOJ and FBI.

    The rejection fits a pattern of hostility to transparency by the DOJ amid an ongoing dispute between House Republicans and the FBI over a whistleblower form alleging a foreign bribery scheme involving Joe and Hunter Biden.

    https://www.infowars.com/

  23. ‘I feel confident with just our demand over the next five to ten years, those apartment projects will see light’

    Maybe Dejan but those winnahs! will be gathering shopping carts in 2 or 3.

  24. ‘The property that made the second-largest loss was a three-bedroom 1920s villa on Bishop St in the Auckland suburb of Epsom. It lost the owner $770,000 in the space of two years. Last bought in March 2021 for $3.9m, it sold in March this year for $3.13m’

    We’re getting dangerously close to wiping out the CCP virus in New Zealand!

  25. ‘With housing demand down, median home prices inflated during the pandemic have dropped nearly 18% in the year through April, nearly triple the declines in Manhattan. Jeff Burg, a real estate investor who had been buying and renting out small apartment buildings since 2002, said he’s given up on the city, citing burdensome regulation. ‘I have unloaded all of my San Francisco rental properties in the past year and just moved my family out for good,’ Burg told Insider. ‘After 23 years, we’re moving on with our lives. Whatever is going on in San Francisco, we are not interested in being part of that any longer’

    ‘Matt and Kelly, a couple currently renting a three-bedroom in One Boerum Place, relocated to New York from Washington DC in 2022. They didn’t want a long-term financial commitment and sought a rental for their new home. ‘We have seen instances of family and friends who couldn’t resell their homes, and we didn’t want to be in the same situation’

    Years ago, in 2005 I think, one of the first interstate discussions at the HBB happened thusly: New Yorker: California may fall but New York City never will. Bay Aryan: That’s what everyone tells me in reverse.

  26. CDC Director Is A Lying Sack Of Sh*T!
    The Jimmy Dore Show
    Jun 18, 2023
    CDC Director Rochelle Walensky used to insist that vaccination would prevent individuals from hospitalization or death from COVID, but now she’s changing her tune a bit. Asked in a Congressional hearing whether she knew of any vaccinated Americans who had nevertheless been hospitalized, she responded — unbelievably — that the CDC simply didn’t have that data.

    Jimmy and Americans’ Comedian Kurt Metzger discuss how it could be possible that the CDC neglected to collect data on vaccinated hospitalizations.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDtoAU5lEjM

    13:19.

    1. There are still plenty of people wearing masks around Denver. And yes, that also includes walking on the sidewalk, or driving in their car alone.

      1. Fall 2021 into winter 2022 was when I perceived the worst of the state / corporate manufactured hatred of the purebloods.

        Every basement dwelling loser on Reddit saw themselves as the Savior of humanity for getting shot up with the Jim Jones juice. And the attitude and rhetoric towards those that chose not to was like 1930s Germany or Russia.

        No amnesty.

          1. When I first read about how the at the time still unreleased jab was supposed to “work” I was horrified. But they proudly trumpeted that mRNA jabs would become the norm and transform your body into a “vaccine factory”.

    2. Some people are wondering if the Deagle predictions of 2/3 of Americans dying by 2025 might come true. I hope not, but who knows?

  28. Our excitement last night: Poway: 2nd Alarm Residential Fire 06172023 (UPDATE) A friend lives across the street. Thankfully, she and her family were out of town for the weekend. The fire was HUGE with TONS of black smoke! Not only was the house condemned, it was foreclosed on and sold in April for $1,035,100. The resident has some serious mental health problems.

    1. Economy
      Brits are facing a major mortgage crisis as lending rates soar
      Published Mon, Jun 19 2023 5:46 AM EDT
      Updated 12 Min Ago
      Jenni Reid

      Key Points

      – The average two-year fixed rate mortgage on a residential property in Britain rose from 5.98% Friday to 6.01%, its highest level since Dec 1.

      – “We are now in the unenviable position of staring over the abyss where the bodies of the over-leveraged, under-saved, landlords, renters and owners of discretionary spend businesses are beginning to pile up,” said Martin Stewart, director of mortgage advisory London Money.

      – Short-term U.K. bond yields are at a 15-year high and markets are pricing in peak interest rates of close to 6%.
      …
      https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/19/brits-are-facing-a-major-mortgage-crisis-as-lending-rates-soar.html

    2. AP
      HOUSING SLOWDOWN
      Housing slowdown leads to first annual drop in US homeowner equity since 2012
      By ALEX VEIGA Associated Press Jun 17, 2023

      LOS ANGELES — For the first time in more than a decade, the average U.S. homeowner with a mortgage has less home equity than they did a year earlier.

      Among the roughly 63% of U.S. homes with a mortgage, average homeowner equity per borrower was $274,070 in the first quarter, down 1.9% from the same quarter last year, according to real estate data tracker CoreLogic.

      The last time average homeowner equity fell year-over-year was in the first quarter of 2012, when the housing market was still regaining its footing after the mortgage meltdown and ensuing foreclosure crisis that helped trigger the Great Recession.
      …
      https://www.stltoday.com/news/housing-slowdown-leads-to-first-annual-drop-in-us-homeowner-equity-since-2012/article_deeedeac-7dcb-542f-a4ae-760fa171449f.html

      1. “Among the roughly 63% of U.S. homes with a mortgage, average homeowner equity per borrower was $274,070 in the first quarter of 2023, down 1.9% from the same quarter last year, according to real estate data tracker CoreLogic.
        Gene J. Puskar, Associated Press”

        $274K does not seem particularly impressive as the proceeds of a highly-leveraged gamble. A relatively modest price decline in home values could entirely wipe out a huge share of home equity gains.

    3. Exclusive: 64% of Americans would welcome a recession if it meant lower mortgage rates
      Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy
      USA TODAY
      Published June 16, 2023

      Buying a home has become so unaffordable that most prospective homebuyers wouldn’t mind a recession if it meant lower mortgage rates, according to a new survey.

      Sixty-four percent of Americans say they are “ready for a recession” if they are better able to afford to buy a home, according to a study conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of Credit Karma, designed exclusively for USA TODAY.

      As homebuyers grapple with near 7% mortgage rates and home prices continue to hold firm due to a lack of inventory, the picture is looking grim for those looking to buy a home.

      Not surprisingly, 82% of those surveyed believe the country is facing an unprecedented housing affordability crisis. Perhaps that’s why more than 3 in 5 Americans who have never purchased a home (61%) don’t think they’ll ever be able to afford to do so.
      …
      https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2023/06/16/recession-lower-mortgage-rates-prospective-homebuyers-say-yes/70322476007/

      1. “…more than 3 in 5 Americans who have never purchased a home (61%) don’t think they’ll ever be able to afford to do so.”

        It’s amazing how many people readily assume present circumstances will last indefinitely.

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