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Many Vendors Still Believe It’s 2018, Whilst Buyers Think It’s 2008

A report from the Naples Daily News. “For the first time this decade, yearly median sold prices for all three of Southwest Florida’s bigger real estate groups sunk in the same month in the latest data. ‘Now cannot be compared to 2021 and 2022 when sellers were asking and getting a premium price on properties that were not in premium condition,’ said Jerry Murphy, managing broker of Downing-Frye Real Estate’s Bonita Springs office. ‘Now we are seeing a disconnect between some sellers who are still trying to do that and buyers who are not willing.’ BER has nearly 60% more homes available than a year ago with sales down 5%. The NABOR and Royal Palm supplies are up around 30%, with a drop in sales close to 20%.”

The Miami Herald in Florida. “As lawsuits, foreclosures and eviction notices pile up against a Coconut Grove developer accused of fraud, buyers who have waited years to move into their homes say the entire multimillion-dollar mess could have been averted if city of Miami officials had acted on their complaints. The case against Doug Cox, his business and live-in partner Nicole Pearl and their companies Send Enterprises and Drive Development is in Miami-Dade Circuit Court under Judge Jennifer Bailey, who in May appointed receiver Alan Fine to follow the trail of some $20 million in missing money.”

“Double and even triple purchase contracts continue to come to light as buyers claim in lawsuits that Cox and Pearl hid the fact they were signing deals for properties with existing contracts. As real estate values soared, unsuspecting buyers signed contracts for higher prices and paid higher deposits that did not go into escrow but into the pockets of Cox and Pearl, lawsuits allege. The house at 2960 Coconut Ave. has had four contracts on it, three currently, with deposits ranging from $500,000 in 2020 to $1.52 million in January.”

The Oregonian. “In the normally busy summer, the Portland-area housing market remains in something of a slump. Sales are down from the last two years, and houses are staying on the market nearly twice as long as they did this time last year. Drops in home prices aren’t enough to make up for soaring mortgage interest rates, now above 7%. Portland isn’t alone — cities up and down the West Coast are seeing home prices decline, with San Francisco, Seattle and Los Angeles seeing even bigger price drops than Portland, according to the Case-Shiller Index.”

“This May, the median sale price for the Portland area was $550,000. While prices are up from the past few months, following seasonal patterns, the median cost is below where it was this time last year, around $575,000. And homes are sitting on the market for a whopping 122% longer than they were this time last year. Chris Suarez, the principal broker of PDX Property Group, said there are two types of buyers on the market right now. The first are ready and willing to move, but can’t afford the high interest rates. The others, he said, are ready and financially able, but aren’t willing to let go of their low interest rates in order to move into a home where they’ll pay more to get less. ‘People are truly stuck,’ he said.”

Beat of Hawaii. “In the past few months, data shows a shift in Hawaii vacation rentals has started. Could Hawaii tourism be finally less robust, or is this only an adjustment in relation to the ridiculous increases the Hawaii vacation rental market has seen over pre-Covid pricing? Other places in the US that have also reported recent rate drops include Nashville, Phoenix, Myrtle Beach, and Florida beach destinations of Panama City and Orlando. Vacation rental owners feel squeezed by high costs and, in some cases, mortgages that leave them holding out for top dollar as long as possible. Vacasa said that it simply isn’t seeing the volume of return visitors to places, like Hawaii, that performed well over the past couple of years. They said, ‘We are in a very different demand environment than we were a year ago.'”

The Brooklyn Reader. “Airbnb hosts in New York City will soon find it harder, if not impossible, to open their doors to guests, as a short-term rental restriction is soon-to-be enforced. Laurie K., a superhost, does acknowledge the reason behind the city’s decision. ‘Real estate folks, developers, and individuals turned thousands of [apartments] into STR and ruined it for the tiny [home sharing] community…Yeah, I’m bitter,’ she admits.”

The Real Deal on California. “The building was an office buyer’s dream. In 2010, Union Bank Plaza, next to the 110 freeway on the edge of Downtown Los Angeles’ financial district, had ‘all the characteristics investors want,’ JLL broker David Doupe said at the time. How things have changed. The tower is now about 40 percent vacant. This past March, New York-based investor Joel Schreiber’s Waterbridge Capital picked up Union Bank Plaza for $110 million — about half what seller KBS bought it for in 2010.  Downtown L.A.’s prognosis is even more acute, with some, including Boston Consulting Group, estimating losses of up to 55 percent. That equates to a $4.6 billion loss in value for Downtown L.A.’s Class A office space, according to a TRD analysis of L.A. County data.”

“Whatever the solution, no one wants to book the loss. ‘It becomes a game of chicken,’ Joseph Faulkner, the co-CEO of brokerage NAI Capital, said. ‘Everyone has a shotgun to each other’s heads to see who blinks first.'”

The Toronto Star in Canada. “As you load up the car to head to the lake, there’s no better time to think about the legacy of your cottage — and how, with the right financial planning, you can keep it in the family for generations to come. While prices for cottages have been plummeting across Ontario, according to the 2023 RE/MAX Cottage Trends Report, the report also found that more than 50 per cent of people who own or plan to buy a cottage said the chance to pass it down to family was a key motivator in buying.”

The Telegraph in the UK. “Property sellers are being forced to slash their asking prices in droves as the housing market struggles under the weight of surging borrowing costs. A third of all homes for sale in the fourth week of June were listed with discounts on their asking prices – up from 18pc in the same week a year earlier and even higher than during the Covid crisis, according to property website Rightmove. Matt Johnson, of Johns&Co estate agents in London, said some vendors were being forced to cut asking prices by 10pc in order to secure a deal. His customers have cut prices on 160 properties in the past two months, up from 51 in the first two months of the year.”

“Some buy-to-let investors are particularly motivated to make quick sales because mortgage rate rises have hit their profit margins, Mr Johnson added. He said: ‘We have seen more people take a bit of a hit on their price because their view now is that the investment doesn’t make as good sense as it has previously.'”

“Mike Staton, of Staton Mortgages, a broker in Nottinghamshire, said there is also a huge difference between advertised prices and those which sellers are actually able to achieve – even after a cut. Mr Staton blamed ‘ridiculous marketing valuations’ for unrealistic prices that do not reflect the current state of the market. He said: ‘Many vendors still believe it’s 2018, whilst buyers think it’s 2008. We have seen a lot of down valuations.'”

The Guardian Australia. “Andre Lattouf bought his first home in the middle of last year but after facing eight interest rate rises he is already looking to sell. ‘It’s choking us,’ the father of three says. ‘It’s frustrating and sad. We spent so much time renovating this place and putting so much into it, but my mortgage repayments have almost doubled and it’s becoming a joke.’ Blacktown is one of the centres of the country’s mortgage stress and, with his plumbing business slowing down, Lattouf says he has ‘bitten the bullet’ and accepted he just can’t keep up. ‘If rates keep going up, it’s just not worth it for me. I have to think about my family.'”

“A real estate agent in the area, Riza Kamerakkas, tells Guardian Australia that 90% of his sales are due to mortgage stress, with many seeking to avert financial disaster. ‘It’s not that they are under extreme financial stress now but that they are acting preventatively, before it’s too late,’ he says. ‘They are selling because they feel they won’t be able to afford it in a couple of months.'”

“As for Lattouf, he hasn’t given up on his dream of home ownership but says he’s likely to move further west for a better price. ‘They want to stop us spending but the housing market is still on fire. People here will never stop spending.'”

The South China Morning Post. “Wang Hua is already making plans for her daughter’s education in Beijing, after delivering her second baby earlier this year. To enrol in a prestigious public school in Haidian, she would need to own a property in the district as a prerequisite. Stressed by the impact of Covid-19 on job security and economic fallout, the teacher in her 30s is struggling with the decision. ‘The pandemic has brought about too many uncertainties and I don’t feel now is the right time to buy a home,’ she said, worrying about the family’s future income stability. ‘We will just wait until we save up enough for a decent home, rather than rushing for something small and old. We don’t want to lower our quality of life.'”

“That hesitation does not bode well for China’s housing market, a pillar of the economy that is cracking under the weight of shrinking demand and weaker prices. Liquidity crunches and debt defaults among the nation’s private developers, from China Evergrande Group to Kaisa Group, have dented confidence among buyers as home delivery suffered.”

“Vivian Hu, a tutor in her 20s in Beijing, believes more Chinese women are opting to stay single, shunning marriage to avoid being tied down by mortgages. This summer, she will spend some of her income for lessons on riding a motorcycle. ‘There are many homes for rent and rents are low,’ she said. ‘Why would I need to buy one?'”

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This Post Has 87 Comments

  1. ‘Double and even triple purchase contracts continue to come to light’

    Welcome to South Florida!

    ‘‘There are many homes for rent and rents are low…Why would I need to buy one?’

    That’s the spirit Vivian!

  2. ‘Whatever the solution, no one wants to book the loss. ‘It becomes a game of chicken…Everyone has a shotgun to each other’s heads to see who blinks first’

    How do those 5% cap rates look now Joe?

    1. Everyone has a shotgun to each other’s heads to see who blinks first’

      Au contraire. In my serene, comfy rental dwelling, the only shotguns are for home security in my very safe ‘hood.

      1. “Whatever the solution, no one wants to book the loss. ‘It becomes a game of chicken,’ Joseph Faulkner, the co-CEO of brokerage NAI Capital, said. ‘Everyone has a shotgun to each other’s heads to see who blinks first.”

        . . as Mr. Faulkner speaks from the crowd of green track suit wearing “folks”.

  3. ‘It’s choking us,’ the father of three says. ‘It’s frustrating and sad. We spent so much time renovating this place and putting so much into it, but my mortgage repayments have almost doubled and it’s becoming a joke.’ Blacktown is one of the centres of the country’s mortgage stress and, with his plumbing business slowing down, Lattouf says he has ‘bitten the bullet’ and accepted he just can’t keep up. ‘If rates keep going up, it’s just not worth it for me. I have to think about my family’

    What’s chocking you is all that food you and yer family keep shoveling into yer pie holes Andre. Stop eating!

    1. ‘If rates keep going up, it’s just not worth it for me. I have to think about my family’

      Mebbe you should’ve thought about your family before buying into an insane housing bubble that was always doomed to burst.

    2. His plumbing business should be picking up soon with all the crap mortgages coming down the pipe

    3. Gotta love this pork belly guy, Andre, and his sleeve tattoos juxtaposed with that crucifix on the wall. He likes to spend that easy credit, but when he ultimately defaults he still wants to go to heaven, forgiven, all you can eat, virgins, etc., nothing but selfish hedonism.

  4. ‘Now cannot be compared to 2021 and 2022 when sellers were asking and getting a premium price on properties that were not in premium condition’

    Jerry is right. Forget about 2021 and 2022 prices like it never happened.

  5. ‘prices for cottages have been plummeting across Ontario’

    There’s a chart with all the crater at the link.

    1. Of course they are crashing. There’s a million lakes in Ontario within a few hours drive of the big cities. And the cottages are usable only a few months a year, at best. May to September, in a good year. Some of these homes are the same latitude as Eagle River, WI or Hayward, WI, similar summer home locales, and they’re only summer homes. But these Loonies are selling their cottages, on average, for half a million to 3/4ths of a US million dollars. This 2/1 on Muskoka Lake is listed for $855,000. Two beds, one bath…This is completely insane. If this doesn’t scream bubble, I don’t know what does. If the nonsense fake financing for this crap ever dried up, these would be selling for $150,000, tops, and they wouldn’t be luxury and they wouldn’t have the crazy decks. just a cottage, a firepit, and a dock, like how it used to be when families went ‘up north’.

      https://www.redfin.ca/on/muskoka-lakes/1011-Scout-Trail-Rd-P0B-1J0/home/153902880

  6. Re: “Double and even triple purchase contracts continue to come to light as buyers claim in lawsuits that Cox and Pearl hid the fact they were signing deals for properties with existing contracts.

    However, when governments do exactly the same thing, it is considered a perfectly legitimate procedure called “The Fractional Reserve System” and I am yet to see anybody going to prison for that . . .

  7. “Airbnb hosts in New York City will soon find it harder, if not impossible, to open their doors to guests, as a short-term rental restriction is soon-to-be enforced.

    Die, speculator scum.

  8. “As lawsuits, foreclosures and eviction notices pile up against a Coconut Grove developer accused of fraud, buyers who have waited years to move into their homes say the entire multimillion-dollar mess could have been averted if city of Miami officials had acted on their complaints.

    Wut? You mean to tell me there’s a downside to electing municipal officials who are in the pockets of developers?

      1. Newsom will receive enough ballots (ballots, not votes) to be installed into the White House, regardless of what happens in the alleged election.

        1. If he was 350 lbs and bald, he would never be in any elected position. Women vote for him based upon his looks.

          2. JB pritzker is 350lbs and bought his governorship with his Hyatt inheritance. He’s willing to spend it all on a presidential run.

            Newsome’s wife is pretty attractive though, unlike JB’s wife, who is a female version of him.

          3. “Newsome’s wife is pretty attractive though…”

            Agreed, a talented petite bottle blonde.

    1. “The cause of her sudden death remains unknown.”

      100% safe and effective?

      This in a country that has been effectively disarmed since 1996, and where three years ago they built quarantine camps for positive “cases” of CCP Flu.

    2. At my company of roughly 650 people, three people have died in the past 2 years. A healthy 35 year old male died suddenly, unknown cause of death. A healthy 60+ year old died of heart complications. A healthy 27 year old just died of an aggressive cancer. The 60+ year old was not young, but he was in very good shape for his age and active. At all of my prior accounting firms, nobody ever died while employed by the company.

      1. nobody ever died

        Roughly one in every hundred people die every year. They are not all 85 years old.

  13. “The first are ready and willing to move, but can’t afford the high interest rates”

    Interest rates are not the problem. Entry level homes at 500k are the problem.

  15. Are fears over China’s growth rate making you want to dump your stock HODLings?

    Count me as skeptical that most American investors follow the ups and downs of the Chinese economy.

    1. Financial Times
      Markets Briefing Markets
      European and Asian stocks fall on China growth fears
      Slower than expected expansion in services activity adds to worries over Chinese economy
      A montage of a globe and a chart
      Investors grew cautious after data pointed to China’s services sector activity expanding slower than expected in June
      Daria Mosolova in London 3 hours ago

      European stocks followed Asia lower on Wednesday, after service sector data from China fell below expectations, raising concerns that the world’s second-largest economy was struggling to recover after years of severe pandemic restrictions.

      Europe’s region-wide Stoxx 600 lost 0.4 per cent, dragged down by declines in basic materials and technology stocks, while France’s Cac 40 slipped 0.3 per cent and Germany’s Dax fell 0.7 per cent.

      The declines echoed Asian markets, where investors grew cautious after data pointed to China’s services sector activity expanding slower than expected in June, adding to signs that the economy was struggling to recover after three years of Covid-19 restrictions.

      The closely watched Caixin services purchasing managers’ index came in at 53.9 on Wednesday, down from 57.1 for May and below consensus estimates of 56.2. Readings above 50 indicate an expansion in activity.

      “The services sector recovery appears to be slowing, after the initial strong burst of growth immediately after China dropped zero-Covid policy,” said Duncan Wrigley, chief China economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

      “This warrants a measured easing approach but not a mega stimulus. Limited fiscal, quasi-fiscal and targeted monetary policy measures are likely to follow,” he noted.

      The People’s Bank of China last month cut its benchmark lending rates for the first time in almost a year, as policymakers extended cautious monetary support in an effort to spur more robust growth.
      …

    2. Financial Times
      European economy
      German bond market signals fears of eurozone recession
      Gap between short and long-term borrowing costs reaches widest level since 1992
      ECB president Christine Lagarde on Tuesday called for ‘persistent’ high interest rates to kill off a second phase of inflation
      Mary McDougall June 27 2023

      Investors in German debt are increasing their bets that the European Central Bank’s interest rate rises will push the European economy into a deeper downturn, as a closely watched recession indicator hit its most extreme level since 1992.

      The gap between 2-year and 10-year German bond yields, which serve as the eurozone’s de facto borrowing benchmark, reached a 31-year low on Tuesday of minus 87 basis points, as markets repriced for higher interest rates despite recent signs that the eurozone economy is cooling.

      The differential widened after Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, on Tuesday called for “persistent” high interest rates to kill off a second phase of inflation fuelled by rising labour costs.

      When longer-term yields sink lower than shorter-term counterparts, markets normally have increasing conviction of economic trouble ahead that will prompt rate cuts in the future. In the US, the inversion of the Treasury yield curve is closely watched because of its record in predicting recessions.

      “The message that is coming is pretty clear” said Lyn Graham Taylor, a senior rates strategist at Rabobank. “The market believes that the ECB will be determined to stick with higher rates and markedly slow the economy by doing so.”

      Germany’s yield curve has become increasingly inverted as more hawkish messaging from the central bank convinces traders to bet on rates staying higher for longer.
      …

    3. I don’t understand the implications, but it is interesting to see China playing the hair-of-the-dog monetary stimulus card while the EU and US central banks are still tightening.

    4. Let me see if I understand this Chinese culture:

      1. Families want their kids to go to prestigious schools for a good education and gain face for the family.
      2. In order to get your kid into the prestigious school, you need to buy property.
      3. In order to buy property, you have to spend more money than you have.
      4 If you spend more money than you have, you can’t afford to have the kid.

      And the few kids that *do* get through the prestigious school will be facing 20% unemployment, which means they will probably avoid marriage and kids and schools altogether.

      And this is the country that’s going to take over the world?

      1. They’re going to collapse like Japan, but they’re going to go out with a bang first.

        1. They’re going to send their incel men off to fight wars and colonize foreign lands. My guess is that they’re going to try to recolonize Africa with Chinese, having learned nothing from the Europeans 500 year disastrous foray. If the Chinese think they can do Africa, go for it, because the Europeans generally wish they could go back centuries and undo it all, especially after this week’s riots in France.

  17. – This article succinctly sums up the situation in the U.S. RRE housing market currently at the national level.

    The Oregonian. “Drops in home prices aren’t enough to make up for soaring mortgage interest rates, now above 7%. Portland isn’t alone — cities up and down the West Coast are seeing home prices decline, with San Francisco, Seattle and Los Angeles seeing even bigger price drops than Portland, according to the Case-Shiller Index.”

    “Chris Suarez, the principal broker of PDX Property Group, said there are two types of buyers on the market right now. The first are ready and willing to move, but can’t afford the high interest rates. The others, he said, are ready and financially able, but aren’t willing to let go of their low interest rates in order to move into a home where they’ll pay more to get less. ‘People are truly stuck,’ he said.”

    \\

    – STRs are a pox upon your neighborhood. The business model requires brown envelopes for local politicians to look the other way on resi. zoning laws. How else would small hotels with no front desk or other on site monitoring operate in a residential neighborhood? “Party on, Garth!” Now there’s backlash from real people; real neighbors. Who could have seen this coming? Insert my shocked face here…

    The Brooklyn Reader. “Airbnb hosts in New York City will soon find it harder, if not impossible, to open their doors to guests, as a short-term rental restriction is soon-to-be enforced. Laurie K., a superhost, does acknowledge the reason behind the city’s decision. ‘Real estate folks, developers, and individuals turned thousands of [apartments] into STR and ruined it for the tiny [home sharing] community…Yeah, I’m bitter,’ she admits.”

    \\

    – CRE is still the elephant in the room that no one is really talking about. This impacts on regional banks and many metro economies bigly. Whistling past the graveyard…

    The Real Deal on California. “The tower is now about 40 percent vacant. This past March, New York-based investor Joel Schreiber’s Waterbridge Capital picked up Union Bank Plaza for $110 million — about half what seller KBS bought it for in 2010. Downtown L.A.’s prognosis is even more acute, with some, including Boston Consulting Group, estimating losses of up to 55 percent. That equates to a $4.6 billion loss in value for Downtown L.A.’s Class A office space, according to a TRD analysis of L.A. County data.”

    – Builders are effectively dropping prices for new homes; existing homeowners are stuck in low mortgage rate prison, while existing home investors are waiting for rates to go back down to save them. Meanwhile rents are falling, and by a lot. Existing home inventory isn’t there right now for these artificial reasons, but builders are building new homes and want to deal. New home prices are falling and now almost at the price level of existing homes. There will always be those existing homeowners that have to sell. Job loss, death, divorce, etc. These sales will be the new (lower) comps.

    – So, in summary, none of this is remotely sustainable. The free $ and ultra-low rates are over due to that inflation thingy. The RRE and CRE bubbles are bursting, but they’re illiquid assets and this takes time.

    I don’t think I could screw things up here more if I tried, and it’s not like RE isn’t a huge component of GDP. The consumer is holding up for now as “excess” pandemic savings are still positive and stonks are high, mostly due to stealth QE by the Fed. I’ll give this another 3-6 months at the most, but for now: “everything is awesome!” Slow Joe says so…

    \\

    https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/biden-does-not-expect-recession-says-us-economy-is-strong-2023-06-27/

    Biden does not expect a recession, says US economy is ‘strong’
    Reuters
    June 27, 20235:56 PM MDTUpdated 8 days ago

    “WASHINGTON, June 27 (Reuters) – President Joe Biden said on Tuesday the United States economy is “strong now” and he does not expect a recession, a day before delivering an economic policy speech in Chicago.”

    “Biden delivered his remarks on Tuesday at a private fundraiser in Chevy Chase, Maryland.”

    \\

    https://www.dlacalle.com/en/how-bidenomics-generates-more-debt-and-inflation/
    How Bidenomics generates more debt and inflation
    1 July, 2023 | Daniel Lacalle

    “One of the biggest problems of this neo-Keynesian approach to government budgets is that it leaves households with less money in real terms and the “anti-inflation” measures increase debt and inflation.”

    “Launching multi-billion spending programs financed with newly created money and debt into an economy that was already running at full capacity has added to inflation and further debilitated the public finances. Meanwhile, the measures taken by the Federal Reserve to reduce the inflationary pressures -that were worsened by the government anti-inflation spending programs- make a recession more likely. The Federal Reserve must act to reduce the inflation that the government generates with its anti-inflation spending programs and by doing so, may create a recession as the rate hikes and monetary contraction hinder families and businesses. Brilliant.”

    – End of rant.

    1. existing homeowners are stuck in low mortgage rate prison

      Of their own doing…..Why is it so difficult to think out of the box? can you downsize a bedroom can you sell stuff on ebay, can you fix up the basement or attic, to have a 3% mortgage you should be jumping for happy happy joy joy.

      to me the only reason to be very unhappy is if you lost your job that was 5 minutes away and now you have to commute over an hour each way in gridlock.

    2. The Oregonian. “Drops in home prices aren’t enough to make up for soaring mortgage interest rates, now above 7%. Portland isn’t alone — cities up and down the West Coast are seeing home prices decline, with San Francisco, Seattle and Los Angeles seeing even bigger price drops than Portland, according to the Case-Shiller Index.”

      Yep, 30-yr fixed at 7.08% this morning according to Mortgage Daily News.

      1. “…cities up and down the West Coast are seeing home prices decline, with San Francisco, Seattle and Los Angeles seeing even bigger price drops than Portland, according to the Case-Shiller Index.”

        It seems like the housing markets’ porcine beauticians are conveniently ignoring the inconvenient truth that home prices are falling.

        1. Likely not during 2023, but easily a possibility in 2024 if the fed gets serious. The four economic hurdles that most families must scale are housing, transportation, upper education and health care, and each of those has experienced 10%+ price inflation in the recent past.

      3. For California, add in expensive home insurance via the California FAIR Plan since all other insurers have pulled out of the market.

    3. A 3% mortgage won’t be an impediment when housing prices crash. My 3% mortgage refi, however, will be an impediment, because I bought at the bottom of the last bubble, and will unlikely be able to time a purchase that well ever again.

  18. “‘There are many homes for rent and rents are low,’ she said. ‘Why would I need to buy one?’”

    It’s interesting to learn a woman in China is asking the same question that many posters here have asked for years. With home prices falling, the question becomes even more relevant.

  19. CNBC (7/5/2024):

    “The U.S. Department of Education will institute a 12-month “on ramp” to repayment, which will run from Oct. 1, 2023 to Sept. 30, 2024. During that period, borrowers will be shielded from the worst consequences of missed payments.”

    https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/05/biden-gives-student-loan-borrowers-some-leeway-when-payments-restart.html

    September 2024? Conveniently, when the new “strain” of whatever they’re cooking up now will be released.

    None of these loans will ever go into repayment, and with mail in “voting” the outcome of the election is certain.

    1. Your mortgage will be next. You won’t have to pay, and there will be no consequence.

      When you have criminal thugs ruling you, this is just the start.

        1. They have to be gentle because of the millenial cohort they’re dealing with, especially in the ghettos. Think about it, they’re asking them to pick another man’s cotton, and then mail the proceeds to some tall building they’ve never seen. Not happening! 🙂

    4. Possibly important detail: When will the student loans resume accruing interest?

    5. “The U.S. Department of Education will institute a 12-month “on ramp” to repayment, which will run from Oct. 1, 2023 to Sept. 30, 2024. During that period, borrowers will be shielded from the worst consequences of missed payments.”

      I hate the government. Just despise them.

    6. Almost 99% of borrowers stopped making regular payments, and in the past three years, only 17% of borrowers even made a single payment, even though interest was waived and your entire payment went to principal. Most borrowers wasted the opportunity of a lifetime to put a sizable dent in their student loans, and they squandered it.

      Which is really, the human condition. Man wasn’t meant to be in debt, and never really had been up until the modern age. The consequences of going into debt and not paying were forced slavery, death, and all the religions warned against it, and gave harsh consequences for non-payment. We had debtors prisons in the US up until the 19th century. People generally don’t pay back debt. Especially low IQ people, they can’t barely feed themselves one day to the next (food insecurity they call it) much less pay bills on time EVERY 30 days.

  20. Big Case going on where 2 states ( Missouri and Louisiana), a bunch of Doctors, a bunch of censored media, and a long list of Plaintiffs sued for violation of the first amendment and 4 other counts in lawsuit
    The Defendants are Biden Adminstration, Goverment Agencies like CDC, FBI, FHA, and other Government agencies, and Social Media Companies.
    A Federal Judge made 155 page injunction ruling stopping the Defendants from their infractions until the case is completed.
    IMHO, this case is going to end up in the High Court. .
    This is what I have been waiting for. .
    Basically the long list of Plaintiffs are suing Biden and a bunch of Government Agencies and Social Media Companies. for breaking the law regarding free speech and the 4 other counts in the lawsuit. .
    The Lawsuit isn’t completed yet, but the Injunction to stop the acts of Defendants, is like a emergency measure, to stop the acts of Defendants, , because the harm would be to great to wait until entirety of case is completely ruled on. .
    It looks like enough discovery on the evidence was completed to warrant the to warrant the Injunction Motion.
    So there might be some relief on the terrible censorship we have been under by a Government and the parties that would be in collusion with censorship …

  21. ‘Real estate folks, developers, and individuals turned thousands of [apartments] into STR and ruined it for the tiny [home sharing] community…Yeah, I’m bitter,’ she admits.”

    I guess only bitter Laurie and her community of speculator scum should be allowed to ruin neighborhoods.

  22. One of the greatest weapons of Dictorships is the banning of free speech, so they can brainwash the Public into their narrative. Hitler did it, Stalin did it, and Mao did it.
    Of course the One World Order Innsurrection wants only their fraudulent narratives, so they can rule the World.

    1. Biden doesnt have the Authority to sign the WHO Treaty along with 195 other treasonous Countries.
      Its a power grab by the unelected, corrupt WHO, who is a puppet for WEF, CCP, and guys like Bill Gates.
      The WHO by Treaty could dictate global lockdowns, mandated vaccines, marshal law, prison, camps, or any dictate under Climate Change, Panademic, sustainable earth agenda. WHO would override all Sovereign States and their Constitutions.
      Firstly, it violates the 14 th amendment, and others and the Constitution, and Biden doesnt have the Authority to sign a agreement like that.
      You know you don’t have a government anymore when Congress and Senate aren’t mentioning this treason by Biden.
      It was always the plan of the enemy, to transfer power to UN by Treaty to take all rights of humanity in epic power transfer under Global Health Policy. .
      Its Outragous and it must be stopped, voided, or Biden impeached for doing it.

      We don’t need One Commie Pig Dr Tedros, having having that kind of power

  24. Are you worried the Fed won’t stop hiking interest rates until the stock market CR8Rs?

    1. DOW FUTURES -0.39%
      S&P 500 FUTURES -0.21%
      NASDAQ 100 FUTURES -0.06%

      Stocks could crash 25% with Fed rate hikes set to trigger a recession before the end of 2023, strategist says
      George Glover
      Jul 5, 2023, 2:24 AM PDT
      Stocks could crash 25% if the Federal Reserve brings in further rate hikes, according to FS Investments’ Troy Gayeski.
      Getty

      – Stocks could crater 25% from their current level if the Fed carries on raising rates, according to FS Investments’ Troy Gayeski.

      – The US central bank’s monetary tightening could also lead to a fourth-quarter recession, he said.

      – The economy “will soon be one of the biggest threats to equity prices,” Gayeski added.
      …
      https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/stock-market-crash-recession-economy-federal-reserve-interest-rates-investing-2023-7

  25. ‘The first are ready and willing to move, but can’t afford the high interest rates. The others, he said, are ready and financially able, but aren’t willing to let go of their low interest rates in order to move into a home where they’ll pay more to get less. ‘People are truly stuck’

    Pay more to get less = winnahs! Wa happened to my sellers strike Chris?

      1. I was surprised to hear that Hunter actually lives there in the West Wing. What could go wrong?

      2. “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”

        — Upton Sinclair

  28. Things Aren’t Looking Good In Brampton, Mississauga & Durham Real Estate – June 28
    Team Sessa Real Estate
    Jul 5, 2023 CANADA

    Brampton, Mississauga, Ajax, Whitby, Pickering Real Estate Market Report for the week of June 22 – June 28, 2023.

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

    17 minutes.

  29. is extend and pretend not working? In their case not allowing redemptions. Seems like they are selling some of the better performing assets (warehouses and casinos) – so why are they holding onto shitty downtown office space.

    Blackstone real estate investment trust (BREIT), which recently made news for exercising a clause that restricted owner withdrawals for several consecutive months, has not taken the news lying down. Blackstone’s opportunistic funds recently announced the sale of $3.1 billion worth of its industrial real estate portfolio. It also is rumored to be considering a sale of its Las Vegas portfolio.
    …
    It’s no secret that Blackstone has been restricting owner withdrawals in its REIT for almost the entire year. With that in mind, it’s not hard to imagine it is under tremendous pressure to liquidate assets. Rumors are circulating that Blackstone may sell half of the $4.25 billion interest it acquired in the Bellagio Resort & Casino in Las Vegas in 2019.
    …
    Or it could be a case of Blackstone trying to liquidate some high-dollar assets before interest rates go up again, which will make these types of properties more difficult to liquidate in the future.

      1. “Blackstone Announces Major Asset Liquidations As Redemption Requests For Its REIT Continue
        Eric McConnell
        July 4, 2023, 11:08 am”

        Oh the humanity!

    2. “– so why are they holding onto shitty downtown office space.”

      If you have so much monopoly power that you own the local market, then HODLing rather than selling may effectively forestall price discovery.

      And by the way, monopoly is supposedly illegal in America.

  30. Despite Robert De Niro’s vocal political stance I would still extend condolences to his family and the other 100,000 + families who go through this during the Biden regime’s dismantling of the United States.

    Robert De Niro’s daughter claims fentanyl led to death of his 19-year old grandson

    Published July 5, 2023 1:59pm EDT

    Just days after the tragic passing of Robert De Niro’s grandson, more details surrounding a potential cause of death are being revealed.

    De Niro’s eldest child, Drena De Niro, discussed her son Leandro’s passing in the comments section of her Instagram, replying to a user who asked what happened.

    “Someone sold him fentanyl laced pills that they knew were laced yet still sold them to him, so for all these people still f—ing around selling and buying this s— , my son is gone forever,” she wrote.

    https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/robert-de-niros-daughter-claims-fentanyl-led-death-19-year-old-grandson

  31. Would you buy a home at a point of historically low affordability? I sure as hell wouldn’t.

    You would have to be an absolute idiot to make that financial mistake.

    1. Housing
      Published July 5, 2023 2:50pm EDT
      Housing affordability plummets to lowest level since 2007 as prices jump
      Home prices jump in 98% of US counties as affordability plummets
      By Megan Henney FOXBusiness
      Wells Fargo Investment Institute Head of Global Investment Strategy Paul Christopher joins ‘Morning with Maria’ to provide his outlook on the markets as the second quarter ends and the release of the May PCE.

      Housing affordability in the U.S. declined again in the spring as home prices surged nationwide, according to new data from real estate analytics firm ATTOM.

      The findings show the price of a median single-family house surged to $350,000 in the second quarter, a 10% jump from the previous quarter, one of the biggest increases in the past decade.

      That price is also 2% above last year’s peak, according to the report, before the spike in mortgage rates cooled demand among would-be homebuyers.

      The portion of average wages required to own a home, meanwhile, skyrocketed to 33% in the period from April to June. That marks the highest debt-to-income ratio since 2007, meaning the market is the least affordable for Americans in nearly two decades.
      …
      https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/housing-affordability-plummets-lowest-level-since-2007-prices-jump

      1. “The findings show the price of a median single-family house surged to $350,000 in the second quarter, a 10% jump from the previous quarter, one of the biggest increases in the past decade.”

        Based on that information, it seems like the Fed’s inflation containment efforts are an abject failure.

        1. the Fed’s inflation containment efforts

          According to Shadow Stats, the money supply is still expanding at an alarming rate.

  32. FINANCE RECESSION
    Nobel laureate Paul Krugman dismisses Elon Musk’s economic predictions, calling them conspiracy theories by a ‘recession truther’
    The Princeton economist and New York Times columnist said tech billionaires are “often, in practice, easy marks for grifters and con men.”
    BY PRARTHANA PRAKASH
    July 05, 2023 2:28 PM EDT
    Paul Krugman referred to tech billionaires like Elon Musk as “recession truthers.” Nathan Laine—Bloomberg/Getty Images

    Just a few weeks ago, a Twitter user said he was convinced that all economic data, whether job numbers or GDP growth, are all fake. Tesla CEO Elon Musk agreed, saying “the numbers don’t make sense.” With the economy’s prolonged downturn, economic indicators are all we have to look for positive or ominous signs—except for Musk, who apparently doesn’t believe them.

    In April, he had proclaimed that a “mild recession is already here,” even though government data didn’t reflect that—and in fact, economic growth was subsequently revised upward to a healthy 2% for the first quarter. Nobel Prize–winning economist Paul Krugman, a professor emeritus at Princeton and New York Times columnist, has been optimistic about the economy for years, and now he’s taking a victory lap with inflation coming down. He’s also telling his audience not to listen to “recession truthers” like Musk or the others who loudly predicted a recession and are annoyed that it hasn’t happened yet.

    “You might have expected technology billionaires to be well-informed about the world—someone like Musk could, if he chose, easily maintain a large research department for his personal edification,” Krugman wrote in a Wednesday column for the Times. “Yet they are often, in practice, easy marks for grifters and con men.”

    The veteran economist thinks that part of the reason why tech moguls, some of whom have made wild predictions about the economy, give in to such “conspiracy theories” is their ego.

    “The answer, I believe, is that technology billionaires are especially susceptible to the belief that they’re uniquely brilliant, able to instantly master any subject, from COVID to the war in Ukraine,” Krugman wrote. He said he thinks they just don’t want to be told things they didn’t want to hear in the first place. “So what happens instead, all too often, is that they go down the rabbit hole: Their belief in their own genius makes them highly gullible, easy marks for grifters claiming that the experts are all wrong.”
    …
    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nobel-laureate-paul-krugman-dismisses-182812993.html

  33. Trust The Science™

    Science Magazine — Rare link between coronavirus vaccines and Long Covid–like illness starts to gain acceptance (7/3/2023):

    “like all vaccines, those targeting the coronavirus can cause side effects in some people, including rare cases of abnormal blood clotting and heart inflammation. Another apparent complication, a debilitating suite of symptoms that resembles Long Covid, has been more elusive, its link to vaccination unclear and its diagnostic features ill-defined. But in recent months, what some call Long Vax has gained wider acceptance among doctors and scientists, and some are now working to better understand and treat its symptoms.

    “You see one or two patients and you wonder if it’s a coincidence,” says Anne Louise Oaklander, a neurologist and researcher at Harvard Medical School. “But by the time you’ve seen 10, 20,” she continues, trailing off. “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”

    Although more researchers are now taking Long Vax seriously, regulators in the United States and Europe say they have looked for, but have not found, a connection between COVID-19 vaccines and small fiber neuropathy or POTS. “We can’t rule out rare cases,” says Peter Marks, director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, which oversees vaccines. “If a provider has somebody in front of them, they may want to take seriously the concept [of] a vaccine side effect,” he says. But Marks also worries about “the sensational headline” that could mislead the public, and he emphasizes that vaccine benefits far outweigh any risks.

    Researchers studying these complications also worry about undermining trust in COVID-19 vaccines. Harlan Krumholz, a cardiologist at Yale University, says concern that the antivaccine movement would seize on any research findings made him hesitant at first to dive in.”

    https://archive.ph/oT0aQ

    Mislead the public? Undermining trust? Hesitant?

    See also: the recent Cleveland Clinic study.

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