thehousingbubble@gmail.com
Blog

It Feels Like You’re Paying Into Nothing

A report from ABC News. “Sky-high mortgage rates have helped slam the brakes on the housing market, recent data shows. The home resale market, meanwhile, slowed in July to its lowest rate since 2010, National Association of Realtors data showed on Tuesday. Contrasting the current market with the low-mortgage rate environment that took hold during the COVID-19 pandemic, Bess Freedman, the CEO of real estate firm Brown Harris Stevens, told ABC News: ‘It’s not champagne and caviar anymore. The party is over.'”

The Bradenton Herald in Florida. “In July, for the third consecutive month, the sales of existing single-family homes in the Bradenton area increased while the median price fell. Sales were up 10% to 624 homes, while the median price fell 1.2% to $515,000, compared to the same month a year ago, the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee reported Tuesday. In May, more homes changed hands in the Bradenton area than in any month since June 2021 while the median price fell 6.4% to $515,000. The trend continued in June with 17.7% more homes — 759 — selling than in the same month a year ago. June also saw a decline in the median price from $550,000 to $525,000.”

“The median number of days from the listing date to contract date continues to increase year-over-year. Manatee homes went under contract within a median of 29 days, a 222.2% increase from last year. The condo market showed the highest number of days from listing date to contract date since 2020, with 47 days reported in Manatee County (a 422% increase) and 36 days reported in Sarasota County (a 260% increase).”

The Dallas Morning News. “Two Dallas-area cities are rated as the best real estate markets in the country. And four of the six top U.S. property markets are in North Texas, according to WalletHub. It’s no surprise three of Collin County’s fastest growth cities are at the top of the real estate ranking. Real estate costs in the area are moderating after several years of soaring prices. D-FW area home prices were down 1% year-over-year in the latest survey. ‘There is no crash coming, and it is too expensive to boom anything. What we see is that exorbitant increases are stabilizing, and the entire housing market is getting less volatile and more predictable,’ San Jose State University professor Kelly Snider said in the report. ‘That is good for the economy and good for employers who want a stable cohort of employees. The housing recalibration is very good for long-term stability in the U.S.'”

From Market Place. “Existing home sales for July were way down, about 17% from a year ago, the National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday. A familiar refrain is reentering the chat for would-be homebuyers: ‘Well, you can always refinance.’ Date the rate, marry the house, aka eat the high monthly payment to get a foot in the door and then refinance after the Federal Reserve declares inflation officially whipped. Sacramento real estate agent Erin Stumpf isn’t a fan. Stumpf said even if mortgages get cheaper, so might homes, which would complicate a refi. And she’s still scarred from that ‘you can always refinance’ mantra that contributed to the foreclosure crisis. ‘You know, 2007 was 16 years ago. I think that maybe has faded a bit from people’s memories a little bit more, but I certainly remember what it was like,’ Stumpf said.”

CBS Sacramento in California. “Rising mortgage interest rates are having a dramatic impact on the Sacramento region’s real estate market. Last week, the interest for a 30-year mortgage rose above 7.3%. Rates have not been this high since the year 2001, back when the cost of a home in Sacramento was a lot lower. ‘The median price was just under $200,000 and that’s even hard to comprehend since now it’s about $590,000,’ said Ryan Lundquist, a Sacramento real estate analyst. ‘I think that almost everyone got their rate predictions wrong this year.’ Real estate experts say about 40% of home sellers are also making concessions on the price for repairs, rate buydowns, and closing costs.”

The Real Deal on Illinois. “Record-seekers are getting real and buyers are holding out in Chicagoland’s high-end home market. The result has been another round of big money price cuts on luxury homes from Bucktown and the Gold Coast to the North Shore and out to the western suburbs, as sellers anxious to land deals before the wintertime market freeze show buyers they’re serious about wanting out. In Lake Forest, a buyer in recent days exited a deal that was struck last month for the 15,000-square-foot home at 255 North Green Bay Road when it was listed at $7.9 million, according to listing agent Jennifer Ames of Engel & Voelkers Chicago. Her client since decided to drop the price by another $500,000 last week to just less than $7.5 million for the 1934-built home designed by noted architect David Adler, one of multiple reductions for the listing.”

“Sellers are keeping an eye on each other, too. Less than a block north of the Wicker Park listing, Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty agent Ryan Preuett has a client with a big Bucktown house at 1806 North Wood, where the ask has been dropped by nearly $300,000 to $4.5 million on the same day last week as Compass broker Brad Lippitz’s price cut. Preuett is also representing a Gold Coast listing at 1451 North Astor Street that shaved $505,000 off its asking price on Friday to just under $6 million. ‘These are both higher end. Neither of them necessarily have to sell but they would both like to,’ Preuett said.”

Canadian Mortgage Trends. “Detached home prices in Toronto and Vancouver posting year-over-year declines in the first half of the year. RE/MAX found that detached homes in nearly 93% of the 82 districts it analyzed in both cities—which included downtown neighbourhoods and exurbs—were cheaper in the first half of 2023 compared to the previous year. The exact amount varied between as little as 1.5% in West Vancouver to a whopping 25.6% in the Toronto exurb of Brock. In Toronto, prices in the district encompassing the Don Valley Village and Henry Farm neighbourhoods—among the cheapest in the downtown core—dropped by 10.8% to nearly $2 million in 2023. In the previous year, prices in the district had jumped by 17.4%, from $1.87 million to $2.1 million.”

“Vancouver East saw an 8.1% price drop in 2023, but that followed last year’s whopping 17.3% price gain. And when it comes to towns outside of Toronto and Vancouver, the situation is even more stark. In the Whistler/Pemberton area, outside of Vancouver, detached home prices declined 24.8% between 2022 and 2023, according to RE/MAX data. However, they also rose by 39.3% the previous year, more than cancelling out any benefits from this year. Detached home prices in Orangeville, outside of Toronto, dropped by 14.3% in 2023, but they had shot up 26.47% the previous year.”

“‘When we start to compare them over three years, we see virtually no price reduction because of what pricing was in 2020-2021 to where it is today,’ Elton Ash, executive vice-president of RE/MAX Canada, told CMT in an interview. ‘Ultimately, if you purchased a home prior to 2020 and you sell today, you’re likely going to sell for higher than what you paid for it.'”

The I in the UK. “Heena Patel and her partner Demi D’Cunha were so excited to buy their first house together in November 2021. But fast-forward almost two years and it’s a bleak picture financially – a steep increase in their mortgage interest rate could mean they may have to sell their beloved home when their two-year fixed rate ends. The couple were paying £1,100 a month and are now facing finding an extra £800 when their payments shoot up to £1,900. One of the options the couple are considering is selling their house – which they bought for £398,000 – and moving back in with their parents – which Ms Patel says feels like a ‘huge backward step’ at age 29.”

“‘Over the next two-year period, our home would cost us an extra £20,000,’ said the fashion buyer, from Lewisham, southeast London. ‘That’s a hell of a lot of money. It’s devastating, we never expected this would happen with our very first home. That £20,000 is money we would have used to get married but those plans are having to go out the window now. We’re considering extending our mortgage terms but our mortgage adviser was against that. We’re also thinking about switching to interest only, but it feels like you’re paying into nothing.'”

From Reuters. “At an unfinished Country Garden residential complex on the outskirts of the northern Chinese metropolis of Tianjin, construction has slowed to a dull whirr and a few idle workers roam a near-empty site. ‘They haven’t paid us since Chinese New Year (in January). We are all worried,’ said a labourer surnamed Wang, 50, who said he had stopped work at the Yunhe Shangyuan site last week. ‘I’m under a lot of pressure,’ said a worker at the Yunhe Shangyuan site surnamed Wei, also in his 50s, who added that he had only received a one-off living stipend of 4,500 yuan ($618) so far this year. ‘I have a wife and kid who’s about to return to school, as well as elderly parents … Workers can’t live on this.'”

From Newsweek. “As real-estate developers struggle in a slowing market, local governments are losing money on their land sales, developing a concerning amount of debt. This debt, in turn, puts more pressure on Chinese banks and weakens the government’s ability to improve its public services—exacerbating the risk of a financial crisis in the country. Land sales typically amount to 40 percent of local government. China’s outstanding government debt was over 123 trillion yuan—or $18 trillion—last year. Almost $10 trillion of this was what’s known as ‘hidden debt,’ contracted by local government by financing platforms backed by cities or provinces.”

“‘A working-age population that peaked in 2011 at more than 900 million will have declined by nearly a quarter, to some 700 million, by mid-century,’ the Brookings Institute, a Washington-based nonprofit, wrote. ‘These workers will have to provide by then for nearly 500 million Chinese aged 60 and over, compared with 200 million today. America’s social security challenges seem like a policy picnic by comparison.'”

The New York Times. “As China faces another period of deep economic uncertainty, policymakers are drawing on elements of its crisis playbook, but with little sign of the same. More than 50 real estate developers have run out of money and defaulted or stopped payment on bonds. The companies have left behind hundreds of thousands of unfinished apartments that many predominantly middle-class families had already purchased, taking out mortgages to do so. results. It has become considerably harder for China to borrow and invest its way back to economic strength. ‘The traditional way of stimulating the economy, through a credit boom and leveraging, has reached an end,’ said Zhu Ning, a deputy dean of the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance.”

“Apartments were bought as investments to rent out, including by many Chinese families who saw an opportunity to accumulate wealth. But as more and more apartments were built, their value as rentals declined. Investors were left with apartments whose rent wouldn’t pay for their mortgages. Because rents are so low, many investors have not bothered to finish apartments over the past decade, holding newly built but hollow shells in the expectation of flipping them for ever-higher prices. By some estimates, Chinese cities now have 65 million to 80 million empty apartments. Prices for existing homes have fallen 14% in the past 24 months. Prices of new homes have not fallen as much, but only because local governments have told developers not to cut prices drastically. Sales of new homes have plunged as a result.”

Channel News Asia in Malaysia. “A bustling, futuristic metropolis with spacecraft-shaped towers draped in greenery is what the area around the Forest City residential project in Johor Bahru should look like today. But it remains a mirage for Singaporean Chee Pei Lin, four years after moving into her two-bedroom apartment there that she paid RM700,000 (S$204,779) for in 2019. Ms Chee, who works in finance, adds that the recent news of the project developer’s parent company Country Garden in China edging towards financial default exacerbates her concerns.”

“Specifically, she fears that construction for the remainder of the Forest City development may not be completed and that the area she lives in will continue to be a ‘deserted ghost town.’ ‘The reports are very worrying. I think it raises a lot of questions (on) whether the developer in Malaysia also has cash flow problems, and if they will be able to finish what they planned to do?’ she adds.”

“According to news reports in Australia, the beleaguered China company is putting up for sale a 150-hectare undeveloped portion of its Windermere estate with an asking price of A$250 million (S$218 million). A report by Financial Review also quoted the developer as saying that it plans to ‘divest’ its last remaining project in Australia – the A$2 billion Wilton Greens Estate in Sydney.”

“According to the developer, a total of 28,000 residential units have been completed and to date, around 9,000 residents live in Forest City. Forest City has also been infamously reported by various media outlets as a ghost town – in reference to how the area is largely deserted, with a large number of residential units remaining unoccupied. When CNA visited Forest City recently, the housing estates seemed quiet and mostly unoccupied. Singaporean Ms Chee, who lives in Ataraxia Park, tells CNA that she feels it will be ‘extremely unlikely’ that Forest City’s construction will be eventually completed.”

“‘What I’m concerned about is the impact on my property’s value. I bought the unit at around RM700,000 but now they are worth only (around) RM400,000,’ adds Ms Chee, who bought the apartment partly for investment. ‘I fear that with this news of potential default, the Malaysian developer will cease construction of the remainder of the project and we will see the value drop even more in the coming months.'”

“Another property owner Hong Li Wei, who owns a three-bedroom apartment at Starview Bay in Forest City, tells CNA that the recent financial woes will likely hit his rental rate. The Malaysian citizen bought the 1,130 sq ft property at around RM1 million in May 2019. With the lack of progress in construction of amenities near his estate, he fears he can no longer convince tenants to continue paying the same amount. ‘The market rate for units of this size has dropped to around RM900 a month because the amenities around Forest City have not been built as promised. There are no major grocery stores or cineplexes in the estate,’ says Mr Hong. ‘When I read that Country Garden is having financial issues, I am afraid the rent may fall more and my investment would not be worth it anymore,’ he adds.”

“Singaporean Mr Mukhzin Hamid has also not received his strata title, despite having completed the purchase of his seaview three-bedroom apartment unit in 2015. He fears a scenario that his apartment may be seized by the government or liquidators. ‘It seems unreal that this can happen to us. We have already paid hundreds of thousands of ringgit but something basic like the house deed cannot even be settled yet,’ said the 52-year-old retiree.”

Related Posts
This Post Has 150 Comments

    1. Washington Post — Why do Republicans disproportionately believe health misinformation? (8/22/2023):

      “In recent days there has been a resurgence in the idea that the government is attempting to manipulate the citizenry through covid-19, with “I WILL NOT COMPLY” trending — yes, in all caps — on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday morning. That refusal to comply centers on nonexistent or theoretical mandates, which doesn’t seem to have dissipated the energy.

      It also comes as new research shows the extent to which Republicans are disproportionately credulous about health-related misinformation. It’s not just that there is an uprising against an imaginary imposition, it’s also that Republicans are consistently more likely to express belief in false claims related to covid-19 and other things. Greene is by no means alone.

      Asked about false claims that have been made about covid-19 and other vaccines, Republicans were on average 20 percent more likely to state that they believed the false claims were accurate. Foremost among them: the regularly debunked idea that the coronavirus vaccine has caused thousands of deaths in otherwise healthy people. Nearly half of Republicans think that’s true.”

      The Archive website works on my phone but not on my laptop browser, so no link provided. We don’t give traffic to the Washington Post website.

      “nonexistent or theoretical mandates?”

      This fall and winter will bring the greatest assault on your freedom that you have ever known.

      Do not underestimate what these globalists are willing to do, including mass famine and death from hypothermia.

      1. “nonexistent or theoretical mandates?”

        There was a truckload of them last time. Fortunately courts overturned most of them, though some remained.

        This fall and winter will bring the greatest assault on your freedom that you have ever known.

        I’m sure they are making and weighing their plans.

        2. “weighing their plans”

          The election is still over a year away. IMO this new talk of mandates is mainly a trial balloon to

          1. Test loyalty (WaPo, The Hill, and Lion’s Gate Studios pass!)
          2. Sell vaccines.
          3. Serve as a cover to keep Biden away from public appearances and to hide his ever-more frequent and intensive health care.

          If the lefty Illuminati, or whoever they are, tried to deploy any truly serious tactics right now, they would peak too soon. They still might try to impose something next year, but time and nature are against them. COVID has already devolved into just another cold for most people and it will be even weaker next year. I don’t think anyone is going to believe any of this s$!t, unless and until we see real hospital data.

          1. ‘IMO this new talk of mandates is mainly…’

            Clickbait. I’ve lost count. How many times will people fall for it?

  2. ‘There is no crash coming, and it is too expensive to boom anything’

    I’m not sure what you mean Kelly, but that’s why you make the big bucks.

  3. ‘Sellers are keeping an eye on each other, too. Less than a block north of the Wicker Park listing, Jameson Sotheby’s International Realty agent Ryan Preuett has a client with a big Bucktown house at 1806 North Wood, where the ask has been dropped by nearly $300,000 to $4.5 million on the same day last week as Compass broker Brad Lippitz’s price cut’

    That’ the spirit sellers, fight it out, to the death!

    ‘Preuett is also representing a Gold Coast listing at 1451 North Astor Street that shaved $505,000 off its asking price on Friday to just under $6 million’

    It’s raining a$$ pounding in Chicago.

  4. ‘Ultimately, if you purchased a home prior to 2020 and you sell today, you’re likely going to sell for higher than what you paid for it’

    Elton is right, forget about the minor respiratory illness years, those guys are fooked.

    1. People who bought before 2020 will make money…..for now. Better hurry up and sell because we’re gonna blow right by 2020 on the way down….and 2019, and 2018, etc. It’s called a reversion to mean. You can’t fight fundamentals. They always win.

  5. ‘That’s a hell of a lot of money. It’s devastating, we never expected this would happen with our very first home. That £20,000 is money we would have used to get married but those plans are having to go out the window now’

    Ah-HA! A wedding. I suppose you were going to stuff yer face with cake. You can’t eat and be a winnah! too Heena.

    1. Let them eat cake. People making Interest only payments have failed basic financial literacy. Negative amortization is even worse. At that point why not just rent? At least you eliminate repairs and property tax.

      2. They’re treating it as a leveraged investment instead of a home. If it goes to crap, they jingle mail or stop payments until they’re evicted

    2. “That £20,000 is money we would have used to get married”

      Partner obviously fails the McDonald’s test.

  6. ‘I’m under a lot of pressure,’ said a worker at the Yunhe Shangyuan site surnamed Wei, also in his 50s, who added that he had only received a one-off living stipend of 4,500 yuan ($618) so far this year. ‘I have a wife and kid who’s about to return to school, as well as elderly parents … Workers can’t live on this’

    Wang, Wei, just keep refreshing yer phones, bloomberg will report a last minute payment any time now.

  7. ‘As real-estate developers struggle in a slowing market, local governments are losing money on their land sales’

    How do you lose money on something you didn’t pay for?

    ‘developing a concerning amount of debt. This debt, in turn, puts more pressure on Chinese banks and weakens the government’s ability to improve its public services—exacerbating the risk of a financial crisis in the country. Land sales typically amount to 40 percent of local government. China’s outstanding government debt was over 123 trillion yuan—or $18 trillion—last year. Almost $10 trillion of this was what’s known as ‘hidden debt,’ contracted by local government by financing platforms backed by cities or provinces’

    Is that a lot?

    ‘A working-age population that peaked in 2011 at more than 900 million will have declined by nearly a quarter, to some 700 million, by mid-century,’ the Brookings Institute, a Washington-based nonprofit, wrote. ‘These workers will have to provide by then for nearly 500 million Chinese aged 60 and over, compared with 200 million today. America’s social security challenges seem like a policy picnic by comparison’

    I’ve mentioned this before. China had a population boom when the globalist scum opened up trade, but the one child thing means there’s not many kids to support them. It’ll probably be fine.

    1. Peter Zeihan has been banging on about this for years. In the early 90s, Clinton and the globalists gave away the store to a bottomless well of Chinese slave labor. Well, those laborers are all now age 50-60 with worn-out bodies and few kids. There aren’t enough kids to take care of parents, the kids don’t have enough jobs or money to consume products, and the few who did have any money lost it all in a crumbling house from Evergrande and Country Garden. It’s not going well for them.

    2. while enjoying a rare lunch at the local NationsBurger w/my youngest son yesterday, using a buy one, get one for a $1.00 coupon, I notice a group of workers exiting 2 brand new shiny vehicles & come inside to order/eat lunch.
      closer examination of the parking lot shows both of the brand new shiny vehicles were marked with San Juan School District Maintenance logos.

      yep, obviously spent that COVID money gusher. I also notice ALL the utility field workers in the Citrus Heights area always drive brand new shiny vehicles. SMUD. PG&E. Water Co. City Workers, Fire, Police, etc. the list goes on.
      i suppose it just wouldn’t be acceptable to make-do with a slightly used (gasp) vehicle?!
      oh no no no noooooo, that would decrease status.

      but by golly it seems every year those same organizations are whining & bleating about “increasing costs” so doggone it they are forced to float bonds / raise prices / taxes . . . you understand.

      NEVER a word about increasing salaries & new vehicles. Just the same BS about “leaky roofs” (schools), outdated buildings, always with the infrastructure improvements where they attempt to justify higher rates while hiding & folding the hefty salary / previously mentioned brand new shiny vehicles into the propaganda.

      but being in the capitol city area, it’s understood that “you scratch MY back / I scratch YOURS & don’t make a fuss over benefits” since a large majority work for the gov. in some capacity.

      I’m expecting the usual “WE NEED A RAISE” round robin game to start up pretty soon among the N. CA. public safety gov unions.

      1. Just the same BS about “leaky roofs” (schools), outdated buildings

        Speaking of buildings, a few years ago my little burg wanted to demolish a perfectly good fire station and replace it with a bigger one, instead of expanding the current one. It, along with some other projects (2nd library, 2nd rec center) that would be paid for with a sales tax increase, went down in flames at election time. The backers pouted, saying that all these projects were very necessary and that voters were being short sighted and stingy.

      2. “I also notice ALL the utility field workers in the Citrus Heights area always drive brand new shiny vehicles.”

        Up here in the Columbia Basin it’s pickup trucks, and it better have a turbo diesel and leather seats. Most of these debt slaves are labor class, chewing tobacco types, and these trucks probably cost upwards of $1,500 per month!

      3. I do recall the brouhaha at my local volunteer fighter station when it was suggested the Town couldn’t afford a shiny new firetruck and they should buy used.

        Oh the SHAME to be seen in someone else’s old truck!

  8. ‘What I’m concerned about is the impact on my property’s value. I bought the unit at around RM700,000 but now they are worth only (around) RM400,000,’ adds Ms Chee, who bought the apartment partly for investment. ‘I fear that with this news of potential default, the Malaysian developer will cease construction of the remainder of the project and we will see the value drop even more in the coming months’

    You tell em Chee, borrow some money and finish this ghost town dammit!

  9. “Well, you can always refinance.’ Date the rate, marry the house, aka eat the high monthly payment to get a foot in the door and then refinance after the Federal Reserve declares inflation officially whipped”

    Fortunately there is enough people who understand just how much BS this is. Every time I see this brought up on social media it gets slammed with the truth.

      1. It’s probably mostly insurance for the clubhouse and pool. Get rid of the pool and bulldoze the clubhouse while you’re at it.

        $700 a month? Good grief.

    2. “a detached 2-car garage, wet bar and an inside laundry room.”

      I’ve heard of outside laundry rooms in tropical countries like Indonesia. But, California? Are there really enough outside laundry rooms that it’s worth mentioning an inside laundry? And what is the appeal of a detached garage?

        1. The custom designed house I was raised in had separate laundry room for two side by side washer-dryer stacks, a janitors’ sink, two wall mounted ironing boards (one for sleeves) both behind cabinet doors, a long large built-in folding table, two racks for coat hangers, four flood lamps and an extra large skylight with ceiling exhaust fan to clear any moisture. Juxtapose that with my spec house laundry room can barely fit a side by side, wash-dryer set on pedestals, and it is the hallway to the garage.

          3. For 1957, that’s a rarity. My 1926 rental had an awesome laundry room despite the house’s overall small size. That was back in my single professional days when I had far more dry cleaning. Post-kiddo, I briefly had a laundry room in a condo from hell.

    3. A short sale of $630,000 when the last and only prior sale was $299,500 in 2023. The owner must’ve continued leveraging to the hilt in order to be upside down.

  11. CNBC — Foot Locker shares plunge more than 30% as it slashes guidance and blames ‘consumer softness’ (8/23/2023):

    “Foot Locker reported another quarter of falling sales and slashed its outlook for the second time this year on Wednesday as inflation-weary consumers think twice before shelling out for footwear and apparel.”

    Inflation weary = Broke A.F.

    “The sneaker giant’s adjusted fiscal second-quarter earnings were in line with Wall Street’s expectations, but fell short of analysts estimates on sales and saw another quarter of slimmer margins due to promotions and higher shrink.

    Shrink, a retail industry term that refers to merchandise lost by theft, damage or other means, also weighed on profits, Foot Locker said.”

    https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/23/foot-locker-fl-earnings-q2-2023-.html

    Shrink? More like reparations.

    Are they “youths” or “students” or “spring breakers” that are stealing all those shoes (checks Associated Press Style Guide for correct terminology).

    Expect to see hundreds more articles like this, because this economy is collapsing.

    Printing trillions of dollars has consequences.

    1. another quarter of slimmer margins due to promotions and higher shrink

      So, in other words their customer base has chosen to award themselves reparations instead of, you know, paying for the shoes.

  12. A reader sent these in:

    California has spent $17.5 billion on homelessness over the last 4 years … where has that money actually gone? The problem is worse than ever. Is this money being laundered in some way into the pockets of politically connected people and not on the issue? 🚨

    https://twitter.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1693548504788988089

    Justin Trudeau has destroyed the Canadian economy, and people can barely make a living and survive. 🔊 Canada is now one of the most expensive places on earth to live, in both food and housing expenses. Canada also has some of the highest taxes on the planet.🚨🚨🚨 People are struggling.

    https://twitter.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1693408786784903524

    At the request of JPOW, Timmy became a retail analyst to spoon feed y’all!

    https://twitter.com/INArteCarloDoss/status/1694085017645809847

    Higher Inflation Target Would Add Risk Premium For US Debt

    Market discussions about a higher inflation target helps Treasury yields to rise, Apollo’s Torsten Slok says. “If you announce that the inflation target is not 2% but 3%, the result is that long-term interest rates jump immediately by 100 basis points, because now I need to be compensated as an investor for higher inflation risk,” he says. No Fed official has publicly raised the possibility of a higher target, but “trading floors are discussing it as we speak,” Slok says. “Investors might begin to worry about the Fed’s commitment” to the 2% target, he says. The 10-year Treasury yield is at 4.32%.

    https://twitter.com/DeItaone/status/1694021569708748852

    Sam Bankman-Fried has been subsisting on a bread-and-water diet and can’t adequately prepare for his upcoming trial without access to evidence and his medication, his lawyers told a judge during his first court appearance since he had his bail revoked.

    https://twitter.com/DeItaone/status/1694007562201334077

    Housing Affordability: something will have to give. Bear in mind that Incomes haven’t even started to contribute.

    https://twitter.com/INArteCarloDoss/status/1694053213953986954

    Realtor here. On the ground I can confirm. Still a *little* supply missing.
    But buyers are pretty much all dried up. My main buyers were all cash, OR out of state-ers, OR those “desperate” types (unexpected 4th kid, moving for work etc – ppl who HAVE to buy). Market feels like a game of chicken on what gives first.

    https://twitter.com/louied777/status/1694091798140907827

    Those calling for the Fed to abandon the 2% inflation target are primarily concerned with potential perceived benefits of less restrictive monetary policy on their portfolios than the long term corrosive impact to society and our currency.

    https://twitter.com/BlacklionCTA/status/1693944259584405984

    US Existing Home Sales fell 17% over the last year, the 23rd consecutive YoY decline. That’s the longest down streak since 2007-2009.

    https://twitter.com/charliebilello/status/1694187958671212801

    US housing affordability is worse today than the peak of the last housing bubble. The median American household would need to spend 43% of their income to afford the median priced home.

    https://twitter.com/charliebilello/status/1693608898438279410

    Got carrying costs @t1alpha asks: “With 30-year mortgage rates >7%, a house purchased for $500k w/20% down=finance charges of 207k just 24 months ago…same purchase today=finance fees of 600k over 30 years. So, a $500k house now effectively costs $1.1M over its financing period.”

    https://twitter.com/DiMartinoBooth/status/1693987764478640275

    Are you an aspiring homebuyer discouraged & angry at the unaffordability of today’s high housing prices? Well, this chart shows why you’re entirely justified to feel that way

    https://twitter.com/menlobear/status/1694089410357403994

    Incredible chart on mortgage rates:
    The effective rate on all mortgages across the US is currently 3.60%.
    That’s 52% below the current average 30-year mortgage rate of 7.5%.
    90% of ALL borrowers currently have a mortgage rate below 5%.
    26% of all borrowers have a mortgage rate below 3%.
    This is why people are “trapped” in their homes and don’t want to move.

    https://twitter.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1694041196987928933

    1. “Is this money being laundered in some way into the pockets of politically connected people and not on the issue?”

      Yes.

      The Homeless Industrial Complex exists only to shower riches on unemployable snowflakes with useless Victim Studies degrees. With of course the appropriate amount of kickbacks being funneled back up to their bureaucrat paymasters.

      1. “…the appropriate amount of kickbacks being funneled back up to their bureaucrat paymasters…”

        Per Google:

        An estimated 172,000 people are homeless in California.

        Per Twitter video:

        (($ 17,500,000,000 spent / over 4 years) / 172,000 homeless) ~= $25,426 homeless / year.

        Now I understand who is paying to fill up the fuel tanks of all those paymaster yachts in Newport Bay.

        1. $25,426 homeless / year.

          Dumver is talking about spending that much on little prefab huts for the homeless. I’m sure those things will be trashed/burned down in no time.

          2. Most homelessness is caused by substance abuse and lack of family support. Not many Asians get into drugs and most have strong support from family.

    2. “This is why people are “trapped” in their homes and don’t want to move.”

      Okay, I’m likely wrong, but I’m thinking this whole “golden handcuffs” argument that says inventory will not rise because folks won’t give up their low rate is given too much credence. It doesn’t account for massive speculation over the last several years and a glut of homes non-owner occupied investment properties, including all the STR’s that are currently losing boat loads of money. Many of these bought with cash. But even if you did get a low rate as an investor, losing money is losing money. You’re still gonna cut and run regardless of that low rate.

      1. Per AirDNA there are about 1 million STR’s in the US. A good chunk of those will eventually hit the market.

        1. “….1 million STR’s in the US…”

          And if those STR’s lose just $100k in valuation (not an unreasonable estimate), that’s a $100 Billion loss.

          Someone is going to holding a lot of very expensive brown paper bags.

      1. needs > wants

        Exactly. And regardless of those that don’t need to move and therefore stay put, those that do need to move will be setting new sales and comps. So even if someone is standing pat with their low interest rate, their equity is being whittled away.

    4. “US housing affordability is worse today than the peak of the last housing bubble.”

      Says it all. We’re STILL in the pre-game show.

  13. MarketWatch — Republican debate: Why you may hear big numbers like 19% inflation, and how to make sense of it all (8/22/2023):

    “Economists don’t much like presidential-campaign seasons. For them, it’s a bit like seeing their manicured gardens getting trampled by schoolchildren having a water-balloon fight.

    Robert Brusca, the president of consulting firm FAO Economics, predicted that the political discussion of the U.S. economy in the 2024 campaign would be “a farce.”

    Talk of inflation is likely to dominate the Aug. 23 Republican debate, for example.

    Republicans, eager to lay the blame for higher prices at the feet of President Joe Biden, are going to make the strongest case they can for that. For them, it is a happy coincidence that inflation started to pick up right when Biden was sworn into office.”

    https://www.marketwatch.com/story/republican-debate-why-you-may-hear-big-numbers-like-19-inflation-and-how-to-make-sense-of-it-all-988ac9e2?mod=home-page

    Discussion of the stagflationary depression that this country is collapsing into is hate speech.

    There are riots breaking out at food banks.

    Robert Brusca cited in the article is someone with soft city boy hands who has never worked a real job a day in his life. You, sir, are a farce.

      1. If you’re single, from what I have heard, the SNAP benefit is a bit sparse, $281 a month. It would only cover a fraction of my monthly grocery bill.

        I haven’t heard about any food bank riots in my neck of the woods, but I have read that their shelves are pretty bare these days.

          1. Empty calories are cheaper than healthy food. I picked up some nice peaches at Sam’s Club, $12 for about 8. A big bag of Member’s Mark potato chips is about $2.50

    3. There is no mention in that article of the impact of trillions of economic stimulus dollars on inflation.

  14. What, no FBI SWAT raid at her home?

    Woman threatened to shoot Donald Trump, son Barron ‘straight in the face’: feds

    By Chris Nesi
    August 23, 2023

    “I will state that I will shoot Donald Trump Sr. AND Barron Trump straight in the face at any opportunity I get!” Fiorenza allegedly wrote in one unhinged email May 21 — following up with a second one June 5 saying she would “slam a bullet” into Barron’s head “with his father IN SELF DEFENSE [sic].”

    The US Secret Service contacted Fiorenza later that month to arrange a meeting at its Chicago field office, and when Fiorenza was presented with the emails, she admitted to having sent them from her home in Plainfield, Ill., the complaint said.

    Tracy Fiorenza wrote two frightening emails to the headmaster of 17-year-old Barron Trump’s school in May and June, according to a criminal complaint filed earlier this month.

    After the meeting, she was charged with transmitting threats to kill or injure another person in interstate commerce, a rap that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

    Prosecutors had asked she be detained until she is transferred to Florida for a criminal hearing because Barron Trump is a minor, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

    Her arrest comes during a period of high political tensions in the US, with Trump, a current GOP presidential candidate, facing four criminal cases in four cities and a highly contentious presidential election just 14 months away.

    On Aug. 9, FBI agents shot and killed Craig Robertson, an armed 75-year-old Utah man, while attempting to serve arrest and search warrants at his home.

    https://nypost.com/2023/08/23/woman-threatened-to-shoot-donald-trump-son-barron-straight-in-the-face-feds/

  15. Associated Press (8/23/2023):

    “Those who disobeyed the barricaded road closures during the Maui fires survived the disaster, while many of those who heeded orders to turn around perished in their cars and homes with no way out, The Associated Press reported.

    At least 114 people were killed in the fires earlier this month, and the FBI is estimating that up to 1,100 more are unaccounted for. Officials are facing increased scrutiny for the emergency response, including why the emergency sirens were not set off and whether closing the roads prevented people from getting to safety.

    In the early hours of the Maui fires, there were more than 30 power poles downed alongside the Honoapiilani Highway at the south end of Lahaina — a historic town that was decimated in the fires earlier this month. Officials closed Lahaina Bypass Road due to the fires, blocking the only way out of Lahaina to the southern part of the island.

    Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said during a news conference that officers never stopped people from leaving the area, but the AP report suggests that residents were discouraged from disobeying the barricade.

    One family swerved around the barricade set up to escape the flames, while another resident took a dirt road uphill to climb above the fire, according to the AP. However, many others who stayed in the cars on that road were stuck in a gridlock, with fires surrounding them on most sides with the ocean on the remaining side.

    Nate Baird and Courtney Stapleton recounted their experience to the outlet, saying they loaded the car up with their two sons, Baird’s mother and one dog to escape the flames. When they turned south to escape Lahaina, they were met with cones and were told to turn around to Lahaina, which was already burning.

    Instead of turning around, they swerved past the cones and escaped to a neighboring town.

    “Nobody realized how little time we really had,” Baird said. “Like even us being from the heart of the fire, we did not comprehend. Like we literally had minutes and one wrong turn. We would all be dead right now.”

    Baird told the reporter that if they had 10 more minutes, they could have saved children who were left home alone in their neighborhood during the fires.

    https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4166222-maui-residents-who-disobeyed-barricade-survived-fires-ap-reports/

    Nobody from the government is coming to help you, ever.

    You are on your own.

    1. When they turned south to escape Lahaina, they were met with cones and were told to turn around to Lahaina, which was already burning.

      This is simply outrageous. Turn around and go back? How am I supposed to not think that the authorities wanted to kill as many as possible? This goes beyond incompetence and displays malice.

        1. I don’t have a bug out bag

          IMO everyone should have several — one always in your vehicle, and a one-minute and one-hour bag in your house (depending on how fast you need to evacuate). And a list/plan for if you have 24 hrs to evacuate.

          1. I’m thinking of being forced to evacuate on very short notice from a mass fire, like the Marshal fire that destroyed a thousand homes in just a few hours.

          2. Someday the Cascadia Subduction Zone fault will rupture stranding hundreds of thousands if not millions from Portland, Seattle, etc., without electricity and natural gas, so no fresh water, sanitation, cooked food, etc., and the elevated freeways will likely have collapsed, so the imminent gridlock will prevent access or egress. Like Katrina, the authorities will be too busy saving their own families to help anyone else.

          3. I’m thinking of being forced to evacuate on very short notice from a mass fire, like the Marshal fire that destroyed a thousand homes in just a few hours.

            Check out this page (I may have shared this before): https://theplacewithnoname.com/blogs/klessons/p/0007.html

            It’s long, but reading through the whole thing is worth it IMO. But specific to the bug-out-bag, the linked page is a good starting point.

    4. Nobody from the government is coming to help you, ever.

      You are on your own.

      No, the Government is now killing people directly. The Covid-19 lock downs, fake vaccine and closing down most of the healthcare facilities in this country killed countless people. With this Lahaina fire the government is trying to hide over 1,000 dead people.

      The trouble with dying in this and all civilized countries, is that in order to be called dead, you need a death certificate. You can’t “unperson” a person like Stalin did–this is turning into the most disturbing and dangerous act the left/dems/msm/commies have committed during their take down of America.

  16. Income taxes.
    Inflation.

    Russia Today — US ‘cannot afford’ to fund Ukraine war – think-tank chief (8/23/2023):

    “The US should reduce the assistance it’s providing to Ukraine because it cannot maintain its current level of support, the head of a leading conservative think tank has said. European nations need to do more so Kiev can keep fighting Russia, added Kevin Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation.

    He set out the case for stopping the flow of aid on Tuesday. The Washington-based think tank prides itself on its ties to the presidency of Ronald Reagan, Roberts said during an appearance on Fox News, but much has changed in America since he was in power.

    “The US is much weaker economically than it was. It’s impossible for us to prosecute military interventions in multiple places around the world,” he said. Consequently, Reagan’s ‘peace through strength’ principle needs to be adapted to new realities, Roberts argued.

    “The US simply cannot afford the level of support that it is giving the Ukrainians. The American people are saying that,” he stated, citing recent opinion polls in the US, which indicated that the US public was turning against the continued bankrolling of Kiev.”

    https://www.rt.com/news/581703-us-aid-ukraine-unsustainable/

    Nobody outside of the Beltway supports Ukraine. Nobody.

    1. Related article.

      Russia Today (you’ll get more truth from Russian state media than you ever will from the globalist scum New York Times or Washington Post) — Zelensky admits Kiev’s counteroffensive ‘very difficult’ (8/23/2023):

      “We can see in which directions… we are moving forward. It’s very difficult for us, because there is heavy mining, thousands of mines,” the Ukrainian leader said during a press conference on Wednesday, when asked about the armed campaign against Russia.

      Nevertheless, the Ukrainian leader – speaking alongside visiting Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo in Kiev – insisted that judging by reports from the military, “we are gradually moving forward. Slowly, but in the right direction.”

      The Ukrainian government launched its much-hyped counteroffensive against Russia in early June, but has so far failed to breach Russian lines or make any significant territorial gains. According to Moscow’s military estimates and reports in the Western media, Kiev has sustained significant losses.

      According to the Russian military’s most recent assessment, Ukrainian losses since the start of the counteroffensive stand at over 43,000 military personnel and nearly 5,000 units of military equipment, including at least 25 Leopards and 21 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles.”

      https://www.rt.com/russia/581706-zelensky-counteroffensive-difficult-progress/

      Over 43,000 is that a lot?

      They are fighting (and losing, badly) under conditions similar to World War I. This phony war is nothing more than a corporate welfare program for defense contractors, all of which is paid for by you, the U.S. taxpayer.

      1. all of which is paid for by you, the U.S. taxpayer

        And you the US dollar holder (via money printing/inflation)

  18. Another house on my block is up for sale. I saw them move out, followed by a couple of renovators doing some paint-and-carpeting work and a little landscaping. The house hit the market two Fridays ago and it went pending within 3 days, at asking price. So I guess somebody can pay these prices.

    2. Definitely not seeing that in the hoods I watch. Some worse than others. Do I doubt what you say? No. But you definitely have to look at macro, and not micro markets like the one you’re currently living in. Even what you describe is just like it played out last time. And thank god. Because I was late to selling in November of ‘06, but fortunately lived in one of those places you describe. I got out. But it too eventually crashed….hard!

  19. Home Purchase Applications Plummet To 28 Year Low As Nobody Can Afford To Buy A Home Anymore

    WEDNESDAY, AUG 23, 2023 – 09:58 AM

    To all Americans hoping to be able to buy a home some time soon, or at least afford to do so once in their lifetimes, we have bad news.

    On Wednesday, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that US mortgage rates rose to the highest level since late 2000 last week, sending a key measure of demand down to the lowest in nearly three decades. The contract rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage increased 15 basis points to 7.31% in the week ended Aug. 18.

    https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/home-purchase-applications-plummet-28-year-low-nobody-can-afford-buy-home-anymore

    1. Why am I reminded of the first line of this Zeppelin song?….. “If it keeps on rainin’, levee’s goin’ to break”

        1. “There’s a California rain and a Gulf Coast rain, two very different events.”

          True, but in this case it’s referring to US mortgage rates not rain or storm surge.

          “that US mortgage rates rose to the highest level since late 2000 last week, sending a key measure of demand down to the lowest in nearly three decades.”

    2. “the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that US mortgage rates rose to the highest level since late 2000 last week”

      IIRC late 2000 is right about the time housing bubble 1 began in my part of Region IV

      It blew up through late 2005 – early 2006 floated in a no buy no sell level for a year or two and then popped causing mass financial carnage.

      But that’s just the way I remember it.

      1. That’s what I remember. And that ‘05 thru ‘06 period reminds me so much of right now. There is seemingly differences between the two bubbles on how we got to the top. But underneath it all the principles and the engine that drove both bubbles are exactly the same. Sorry, it’s not different this time.

  20. Waiting for the inspector to show up for a final inspection means there’s no work left to be done, just waiting.

    Propaganda and lies from Salon, this garbled mess of hot garbage titled “The mainstream media is winning the war against “fake news” (8/23/2023):

    “Continuing to expose “factual truth” keeps the American majority in the world of reality where democracy lives and breathes. In this realm, engaged citizens, the fourth estate, and the justice system are aligned in the goal of preserving our constitutional republic. People with their feet on the ground can distinguish fact from fiction, witch hunts from legitimate prosecutions of a former president determined, in his own words, to “terminate the constitution.”

    In dictatorships, autocrats first seize control of the sources of information, particularly newspapers, television stations, and channels of social media. This is a worldwide strategy. But in the U.S., not only do we have a rigorous First Amendment guarantee of free press, but data show that there are ample sources of accurate information to counter Orange Man Bad’s drumbeat of “big lies.” This is particularly important for the prospects of enabling the American voters to make an informed choice in 2024 based upon access to truthful information about the character and behavior of the competing candidates – to the extent that the voters care about such matters, as the Framers of the Constitution expected that they would.

    A right-leaning survey asserts that the news coverage of all four of the four national newspapers are “leaning left” (NY Times, Washington Post, and USA Today) or “center” (Wall Street Journal). In reality, that means that they are mainly focused on the center or, in the case of the Journal, the rational right. That the far-right views the three national television networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) plus NPR as “left-leaning” also translates as them focusing on the moderate middle audience. The national news magazines (Time and Newsweek) are similarly evaluated as leaning left or center, as are major streaming services such as AP, Axios, Politico, Bloomberg, The Hill, and Yahoo News. Not surprisingly, two of the major cable news outlets are identified as leaning left (CNN) and or just plain left (MSNBC).

    We have every reason to keep our faith in the good judgment of the American people – if we have access to enough factual information “to sort out truth from falsehoods. We do. The antidote to would-be autocrats is the “mainstream media,” protected by the First Amendment. More truth is the remedy for falsity. Broad access to the facts is what enables informed voters to ensure that we keep a government of, by, and for the people.”

    No link provided to this joke of an article.

    The Washington Post is the CIA, the New York Times is the Obama State Department i.e. the Deep State.

    DJT was, in fact, correct when he eloquently stated that “the media is the enemy of the American people”

  21. The Federalist — These 14 American Cities Have A ‘Target’ Of Banning Meat, Dairy, And Private Vehicles By 2030 (8/19/2023):

    “Fourteen major American cities are part of a globalist climate organization known as the “C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group,” which has an “ambitious target” by the year 2030 of “0 kg [of] meat consumption,” “0 kg [of] dairy consumption,” “3 new clothing items per person per year,” “0 private vehicles” owned, and “1 short-haul return flight (less than 1500 km) every 3 years per person.”

    C40’s dystopian goals can be found in its “The Future of Urban Consumption in a 1.5°C World” report, which was published in 2019 and reportedly reemphasized in 2023. The organization is headed and largely funded by Democrat billionaire Michael Bloomberg. Nearly 100 cities across the world make up the organization, and its American members include Austin, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Seattle.

    Media coverage of C40 Cities’ goals has been relatively sparse. The few media personalities and news outlets who have discussed it have been heavily attacked by the corporate “fact-checkers.”

    In 2020, the World Economic Forum (which promotes C40 Cities on its website) introduced “The Great Reset,” which seeks to use the Covid-19 pandemic as a point from which to launch a global reset of society to supposedly combat climate change. This reset, however, has far more to do with social control than it does with the climate.

    As the WEF plainly stated in a 2016 promotional video, by 2030 “You’ll own nothing, and you’ll be happy.”

    Climate activists are also advocating for “climate lockdowns,” in the same way there were Covid lockdowns. Ideas floated for a climate lockdown have ranged from shuttering people in their homes and restricting air travel to providing a Universal Basic Income and introducing a maximum income level.

    Climate dystopianism doesn’t end there. WEF-linked “bioethicist” Dr. Matthew Liao has proposed the idea of scientists genetically modify humans to be allergic to meat. Liao has also discussed shrinking the physical size of humans via eugenics or hormone injections so they consume fewer resources.

    Ultimately, the climate coalition’s goals are inherently anti-human.”

    https://thefederalist.com/2023/08/19/these-14-american-cities-have-a-target-of-banning-meat-dairy-and-private-vehicles-by-2030/

    1. Austin, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Seattle

      Why is Seattle not in alphabetical order like the rest?

    2. “Banning meat, dairy, cars, limit to clothing.”
      Don’t forget they want to dramatically wipe out rice production and other crop stables for their CO2 . What will be left, bugs and fake food?
      All life emits carbons, and has been for millions of years. So, the solution to “climate change” another natural cycle thing for thousands of years, is to eliminate all that sustains life.
      The disaster that would result from this eliminating carbon emissions doesnt matter to these science fraudsters .
      Its about a One World Order control of all resources and homicidal deprivation and enslavement of the global populations.
      Its about taking sustainable life away from world populations for a Great Reset into hell for humanity.
      And if your Government signed on to the UN 2030 agenda, than your government has been captured by the biggest fraudulent power grab civilization has ever been subjected to.
      They tell you what they are going to do, so don’t think they must be kidding, its all part of the plan.

      1. And you believe all that. I remember when Michael Bloomberg tried to ban the very large big gulp type cups for soft drinks….for health reasons. People lost their mind So they didn’t do anything. Lol.

        1. And you believe all that.

          Yeah, this is just like the right-wing nut jobs saying that the Deep State would remove Donald Trump by stealing the 2020 election. And then try him in multiple kangaroo courts before throwing him in jail to prevent him from running again in 2024.

          There were probably Jews in Germany who had your attitude–“There’s nothing to worry about We’re being taken to camps for our own protection….”

    3. “3 new clothing items per person per year,”

      As the saying goes: When someone says they want to kill you, believe them.

      1. “3 new clothing items per person per year”

        One pair of socks, one underwear, and a belt.

        Or for a female, a bra instead of a belt.

        Who needs pants and shirts, they are overrated and passé.

    1. Maui Police Chief John Pelletier coincidentally led the response to the 2017 Las Vegas shooting.

      1. “Maui Police Chief John Pelletier coincidentally led the response to the 2017 Las Vegas shooting.”

        Really?

        That seems a smidge more than strange.

          1. He’s in a Cover His @ss mode. The number one thing government officials there are trying to do right now is figure out how to make 1,000 deaths palatable to the public, and how to minimize or deflect and blame anything except corrupt and incompetent officials. And how to cover-up the prior motives of developers who were trying to get their hands on the land in Lahaina.

            Pelletier and the MSM were successful in rabbit holing the Las Vegas disaster, but that’s not going to be possible this time with Lahaina.

        2. When someone has that talent to use smoke and mirrors to hide the truth I guess his services are in demand.

    2. “One of the biggest challenges to the recovery of these remains in the ruins of Lahaina will be in finding and accurately counting them. The missing currently number over a thousand, and when decedents are located in the rubble, their bodies may not have any identifying features due to the destructiveness of the blaze. Fires rarely incinerate human bones completely, but under the temperatures that the Maui fires generated, bones will become very fragile. They look like black chalk, and are hard to distinguish from surrounding debris like concrete and charred drywall. Over 40 trained cadaver-detection dogs have been brought into Lahaina and are currently doing their job, guiding forensic anthropologists — experts in the identification and recovery of human skeletal remains. When bones and other remains are found, the anthropologists will have to first confirm they are human. Then they will work carefully to contain the immolated remains of each person along with any identifying property, so the fragments stay together throughout the recovery process. There are limited numbers of people with the skill set to do this, and well-meaning volunteers might end up inadvertently complicating or even ruining the identification process if they try. If victims of the fire had huddled together for safety and died in groups, then the commingling of their body parts will make the separation of the remains and the identification of each and every person more difficult.

      Given the news reports of the geographic scaleopens in a new tab or window of the devastation (over 2,000 acres and 2,200 structures, most of which are residential), it may be many weeks to months before everyone is even found. Given the intensity of these fires, some bodies may not be identifiable at all using scientific modalities; fire can destroy everything we’re made of, even our DNA. We also know there were many people who escaped the fires by jumping into the ocean under a nightshade of black smoke, into waves whipped up by hurricane winds. Many of them will have perished there, and some of their bodies may have been swept away forever. So we might find, as we found during the recovery effort after the September 11 attacks, that some of the victims might need to be presumed dead based on circumstances, and declared legally dead without evidence of a body….”

      This is from an expert forensic pathologist. The reason for all the secrecy regarding missing persons, is that there are a thousand or more remains out there that they have no way of identifying yet.

  23. Realtor friend of mine here in FL said they’re being told to steer clients away from condo purchases and to encourage clients with condos to sell asap (due to the impending condo reserve funds policy to take effect end of 2024, which will increase HOAs). Yikes.

    1. steer clients away from condo purchases and to encourage clients with condos to sell asap

      So who will buy them if they tell clients not to buy?

      Anyway, this violates the “always be closing” rule and “it’s always a good time to buy”

  25. Jesse Watters
    @JesseBWatters
    The government is disrespecting us once again. FEMA has turned the Hawaii tragedy into a vacation. According to a report and photos obtained by the Daily Mail, FEMA officials booked themselves into 5-star luxury Hawaiian resorts, where they relaxed at cocktail bars, 45 minutes away from Lahaina. They’re shacking up beachfront at hotels that go for $1,000+ a night, filled with all the luxuries you could imagine. While they live in luxury, FEMA’s administrator, Deanne Criswell, is complaining they don’t have enough money and need more taxpayer cash.

    https://twitter.com/JesseBWatters/status/1694149086402732490?s=20

    1. I couldn’t finish watching all of this now, but think about that if true, they burned hundreds of children alive.

      Marxist globalists and the World Economic Forum want to burn children alive, and under the right circumstances, they will.

      Jeff: I passed final inspection today.

      1. Marxist globalists and the World Economic Forum want to burn children alive, and under the right circumstances, they will.

        They’ve been mass killing children in utero for decades. By some estimates the worldwide number is a billion.

      1. FWIW, this was 10 days ago

        But 10 days later still no word on how many remains have been discovered or how many children are missing. To put 1,000 deaths into perspective, on the USS Arizona 1,177 men died when it was sunk on December 7th. The Battle of Savo Islands in 1942 the Allied Navy (US Navy and Royal Australian Navy) lost 4 heavy cruisers (3 USN, 1 HMAS) and 1,077 men died. This is considered the worst defeat in US Naval history on the high seas. The loss of life was considered devastating and there was only one other naval engagement where more men were killed in action (Battle Off Samar 1944). But these were in combat in World War II! You expect lots of men to be killed in war. You don’t expect large numbers of civilians to die in one night in an American city.

        Lahaina is turning literally turning into a Titanic size disaster, but this time the governments of Maui and Hawaii may have caused many or most of the deaths. Now the government is trying to hide mass murder. How much lower are we going to sink in this country?

        1. The Marshall fire was bigger and the death toll was two. I know that many evacuated with only minutes to spare. It started at 11 AM, Dec 30, 2021

        2. “But 10 days later still no word on how many remains have been discovered or how many children are missing.”

          The Hawaiian islands are probably like the middle-east, i.e., everything needs to be flown or shipped there because the only thing produced locally are babies. The locals need to calm down, and let their benefactors finish their work. FWIW, a poor country would simply bulldoze the place.

    2. Something like this still work but it needs to get replaced

      That’s always good for a fire. I just repaired a melted 60 amp fuse holder on a solar array with some corroded #8 AWG that looked just like that. Surprised the whole sh!thouse didn’t burn down.

  29. ‘These are both higher end. Neither of them necessarily have to sell but they would both like to’

    We’ve hemorrhaging cash here folks.

    ‘The traditional way of stimulating the economy, through a credit boom and leveraging, has reached an end’

    Again Zhu, China-ron hasn’t been around long enough for anything to be considered traditional. This is a 30-40 year old globalist scum experiment and it looks like it’s headed to the commie sh$tcart it was destined for.

  30. Congressman CONFIRMS RFK’s Targeted Bioweapons Theory!
    The Jimmy Dore Show
    5 hours ago

    Remember when RFK Jr. was raked over the coals in the media and called an antisemite for suggesting that biological agents were in development that could target specific demographic groups? Well, it turns out he was 100 percent telling the truth, something as diverse sources as the U.S. Navy and Democratic Congressman Jason Crow have publicly acknowledged.

    Guest host Craig “Pasta” Jardula, along with Jimmy Dore and Americans’ Comedian Kurt Metzger discuss the possibility of bioweapons capable of targeting individuals by their unique DNA.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rdYyuLys34

    20:36. The ‘inverse of medicine’ at 15:20.

      1. FWIW, I have Jewish family members. My uncle married the daughter of a Holocaust survivor; he converted to Judaism for her. As the son of missionaries to Africa, it created decades of family drama. I’ve also lived in LA, Boston and NYC. A large number of my friends and colleagues are or have been Jewish.

      2. “I’ve come to learn that not all Jews are equal.”

        Sure, they were scattered around Europe and elsewhere when the Romans emptied Judea and created Palestine, annexation.

          1. History is written by the victors, so one has to be mindful when digesting information. That said, undergraduate world history in the U.S. has been undermined, IMHO.

          2. History is written by the victors, so one has to be mindful when digesting information.

            That I do know.

        1. Over the centuries religion has been successful at promoting tribal cohorts and the philosophy of conqueror takes all. Europe and Asia still suffer from this affliction.

  32. It’s devastating, we never expected this would happen with our very first home.

    So they expected interest rates would never rise from record lows never seen before. No one could have seen it coming.

  33. ‘They haven’t paid us since Chinese New Year (in January). We are all worried,’

    I would have been worried after the first missed payroll, and would have left after the second one, if not before.

    What is it with Chinese laborers working for months without being paid? Half a year?

Comments are closed.