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There’s No One In The Market Wanting To Buy Them, At Whatever Terms

A report from the New York Times. “In the class-action suit, a federal jury in Missouri ruled that the National Association of Realtors and several real estate brokerages had conspired to fix prices. ‘Brokers are nervous that they won’t make as much money. Instead of $65,000 a year, they’ll make $45,000. And they go, ‘OK, then I have to get a job at Walmart,’ said Antonio del Rosario, an associate broker with Brown Harris Stevens, in New York City. Stephen Brobeck, a senior fellow at the nonprofit Consumer Federation of America, who has been drumming for reforms since the 1990s, sees the verdict as a watershed opportunity to clean house. ‘This glut of agents is killing the industry,’ he said.”

“When Moya Skillman, a real estate broker with Compass in Seattle, goes out with friends, they’ll often dish about the latest episode of ‘Million Dollar Listing.’ Everyone knows reality TV isn’t real, right?’ Skillman said, sounding unconvinced. ‘Right? You don’t just negotiate a deal over speakerphone and all of a sudden collect $500,000.’ Del Rosario, in New York, put it more bluntly. Real estate ‘is looked at as a shady business,’ he said. ‘We’re right there with the used-car salesman.'”

The Dallas Morning News. “The latest sign in the North Texas home market says ‘New Price.’ More Dallas-Fort Worth area home sellers are adjusting their prices as the market heads into the traditionally slower winter market. About 27% of D-FW homes listed for sale with real estate agents had price reductions as of October, according to Realtor.com. Nationwide, 18.9% of homes in October had price cuts. ‘Price reductions are because the demand is lower due to interest rates,’ said real estate agent Scott Schueler with Keller Williams Realty. ‘Sellers still pricing at the top of the price comps are starting to come to reality that the market has already peaked.'”

From Point To Homes. “The American housing market is not for the faint-hearted. Point2 analysts discovered that price corrections are pummeling condo owners in 36 cities and single-family owners in 25 markets. Single-family homeowners in these cities have been losing up to $223 in value every day since they bought their homes last year, while condo owners have been bleeding even more money: The $336 that the average San Francisco condo owner lost daily would add up to a total of $122,500, which is perilously close to the city’s median income (nearly $182,000).”

“Single-family homeowners: Prices fell in 25 cities with eight more staying put for the whole year. Memphis leads the way with the biggest percentage drop (-17.1%), while San Francisco saw the largest net price decrease (-$81,250), followed by Oakland, CA (-$62,988). Condo homeowners: Prices plunged in 36 cities, with Henderson, NV; Memphis, TN; New York City, NY; San Francisco, CA, all seeing drops of more than -10%. Again, San Francisco recorded the most significant net loss, at -$122,500 in just one year. Memphis recorded the most significant single-family price drop, as well as the second-biggest condo price drop. This could be due to the fact that rising inventory is transforming Memphis into a buyers’ market: With a 24% year-over-year increase in inventory, Memphis is second only to El Paso, TX, where supply jumped 36% year-over-year.”

“Aside from San Francisco, where condos are depreciating at the fastest pace, condos in Henderson, NV; Oakland, CA; and New York City, NY lost $110, $118 and $219 every day since September 2022, totaling $40,000, $43,000 and $80,000 in losses, respectively. Following a 4% drop in price, it’s the Manhattan condo owners who were the hardest hit. Those who bought a condo last year would have to sell at a loss one year in. Single-family homes and condos in the Bronx both recorded price drops, followed by single-family home prices in Queens, which also depreciated in the past months. This means that buyers here, if forced to sell, would simply lose money. Some homes in Brooklyn are also worth less today than they were one year ago.”

The Real Deal on Florida. “An unfinished penthouse at the Villa Valencia condominium in Coral Gables has a leading role in the latest chapter of the legal drama starring disgraced developer Rishi Kapoor. Mironest CG, an entity under contract to buy a top-floor unit in the 13-story mid-rise at 515 Valencia Avenue, is suing Kapoor and his former company, Coral Gables-based Location Ventures; Miami-based One Sotheby’s International Realty; Miami-based Winmar Construction and private lenders Martin Halpern and Robert Gutlohn. Mironest CG alleges it is in danger of losing the unfinished penthouse because the Location Ventures affiliate that developed Villa Valencia is insolvent. Further, the unit could be lost to foreclosure before the buyer can close on its purchase, the lawsuit alleges.”

“Halpern and Gutlohn, who are based in Coral Gables, should have known that Location Ventures was in despair, but that the duo still provided the financing because they knew they could foreclose on the penthouse and other unfinished units if the loans were not repaid, the lawsuit alleges. ‘Worse, the entities threatening to foreclose are all insiders who must have known of Villa Valencia’s shaky finances and red flags in Mr. Kapoor’s business practices,’ the lawsuit states. ‘As lenders and stakeholders, they received regular reports on all construction progress and budget deviations. Unsatisfied with their ill-gotten gains, defendants are still trying to line their pockets with the few unencumbered assets Location Ventures has left.'”

The Wall Street Journal. “The office sector’s credit crunch is intensifying. By one measure, it’s now worse than during the 2008-09 global financial crisis. Only one out of every three securitized office mortgages that expired during the first nine months of 2023 was paid off by the end of September, according to Moody’s Analytics. That is the smallest share for the first nine months of any year since at least 2008 and well below the nadir reached in 2009, when 47% of these loans got paid off. Many office owners can’t pay back their old loans because they can’t get new mortgages. Remote work and rising vacancies have hit building profits, making it harder to pay interest. Higher interest rates have pushed debt costs up and building values down. ‘People just don’t want to touch it,’ said Alex Killick, managing director at CWCapital, a company that handles troubled CMBS loans.”

“The office sector relies on a steady stream of debt. Landlords typically buy buildings with big mortgages, and when they mature they pay them off by taking out new loans or by selling. That worked well when buildings were full and loans cheap and plentiful. In 2018, Kushner Cos. and RFR Realty borrowed $480 million against four Brooklyn office buildings. By 2023, occupancy had slipped to around 78%, partly because co-working company WeWork moved out, according to data from Trepp. When the balloon mortgage came due in September, the owners didn’t pay it off and defaulted.”

“‘The borrower engaged various lenders to secure financing but was unable to obtain any loan commitments,’ the company handling the loan on behalf of bondholders wrote in a commentary. When the loan was issued in 2018, the buildings were valued at $640 million, according to Trepp. An appraiser recently cut the value to just $207 million.”

The Vancouver Sun in Canada. “In fall 2022, investors who had poured hundreds of millions of dollars into short-term loans with mortgage broker Greg Martel were nervous. They had been collecting high returns on the basis that their money was pooled to provide bridging loans for real estate development, often for less than 90 days, to allow projects to secure permanent financing or pay off a current loan. But when there were delays in payments and some investors started calling for their principals to be returned, Martel balked and asked for more time. ‘I was desperate for the repayment … as my financial situation was rapidly deteriorating,’ Victoria resident and investor Laurel Rayani said in an affidavit filed in B.C. Supreme Court.”

“Martel had rented a 9,500-square-foot, ground-level office with bays for vehicles, and a series of expensive houses and condos along the California coast between San Diego and L.A. He lived the high life, flying on private jets and buying high-end cars. But that has come to a crashing halt. Investors now believe they are victims of a massive Ponzi scheme, according to lawsuits filed in B.C. Supreme Court, U.S. courts and information provided to the B.C. Financial Services Authority. Martel has denied he ran a Ponzi scheme.”

“Investors claiming losses include those in Vancouver, Burnaby, Coquitlam, North Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna and Prince George, and also in Alberta, California and as far away as New York. Martel was declared bankrupt in B.C. Supreme Court at the end of August and there are warrants for his arrest in Canada and the U.S. for contempt of court because he has failed to properly provide answers and information on what happened to the money. After telling investors in a series of online videos this spring that they would get their money back, Martel fled to Thailand and disappeared, according to U.S. court filings. If the investment turns out be a Ponzi scheme with $300 million owing, it would be the largest ever in B.C. and one of the largest in Canada.”

“Ron Usher, general counsel for the Society of Notaries Public of B.C., is involved in the receivership of the last massive Ponzi scheme in B.C. of former notary Rashida Samji. She was sentenced to six years in prison in 2016 for duping nearly 300 investors out of $110 million between 2003 and 2012 for a supposed winery expansion. The largest Ponzi scheme in B.C. is the Eron Mortgage scandal, where investors lost more than $175 million in the 1990s. Usher said it isn’t as hard as people believe to fall under the quasi-hypnotic spell and promises of those who run Ponzi schemes. ‘These things collapse ultimately when the in (of dollars) doesn’t match the out,’ said Usher.”

From Building in the UK. “There is a phrase you hear a lot in the residential development sector right now, with firms hunkering down to face a grim winter in the industry. No one quite knows who first said ‘survive until ’25’, but the meaning is plain enough. However, even that bleak, Hobbesian slogan does not quite express how much of a slog the sector is in for, given many do not expect a strong recovery until much later than that. Bob Weston, founder of £240m turnover Essex-based builder Weston Homes says his version is: ‘Survive until ’25, and revive in ’27 – There’s nothing round the corner.'”

“Far from improving in the past six months, he believes that market conditions have only got worse. ‘I don’t think anyone in government knows or – dare I say – cares, how vulnerable SME builders, indeed anyone ranked below the top 20 biggest, are at this point.’ For Weston, looking for investor buyers for completed schemes, the reality on the ground is more stark still. ‘We’ve got quite a high level of stock. And there’s no one in the [corporate] market wanting to buy them, at whatever terms,’ he says. ‘So, we’re having to drop anchor and stop building. We will survive of course. But will we end up half the size? It’s a realistic option.'”

ABC News in Australia. “A former client liaison officer with Niche Living says she was dealing with distressed clients, who had been waiting years for their homes to be completed, on a daily basis. ‘These are clients that have been waiting for a long, long time, [it was] affecting their mental health, unable to pay a mortgage or rent,’ Sandra, who did not want to give her real name, told Nadia Mitsopoulos on ABC Radio Perth. ‘These were desperate people. They put all their money into this and some of them are never going to realise this dream of owning their own home.'”

“Customer Richard Hamilton said he decided to buy a new-build house in a Niche Living development in Orelia, south of Perth, at the end of 2020. He said he had great difficulty getting the company to answer his emails and phone calls about completion. By January 2023, Mr Hamilton had been paying a mortgage on the unbuilt house for several years and had given up his rental property in the expectation of being able to move in in early 2023. Instead, he has relied on friends and a series of house-sitting opportunities, the latest of which ends in January 2024.”

“‘I’ve been facing the threat of homelessness for the whole year,’ he said. He said he could afford to rent if worst came to worst but it would be a great increase in financial pressure. ‘I’m feeling desperate, I’m feeling really stressed out,’ he said.”

South China Morning Post. “The default rate for Chinese high-yield property dollar bonds will remain elevated next year as property sales continue their slide, putting more strain on already stressed liquidity conditions, according to Goldman Sachs. China’s default rate for high-yield property bonds has reached 42.2 per cent so far this year, slightly below a record 46.8 per cent in 2022, Goldman strategists including Kenneth Ho said in a report to clients over the weekend. The rate is likely to hit 35 per cent in 2024, they predicted. ‘Our China property team expects difficult market conditions to continue,” the US investment bank said. Primary property sales will decline by 5 per cent year on year in 2024 as increasing supply in the secondary market adds to pricing pressure, which could create a negative feedback loop on price and volume in the primary market.'”

“China’s dollar-denominated high-yield bonds, dominated by property-sector issuers, have handed investors a 23.2 per cent loss so far this year, after a 33 per cent slump in each of the past two years, according to the ICE Bank of America Index. The turmoil has pushed some money managers to move away from China’s broken property market and seek income outside the country.”

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This Post Has 74 Comments

  1. ‘Real estate ‘is looked at as a shady business,’ he said. ‘We’re right there with the used-car salesman’

    Yer words Tony.

  2. From the Vancouver article:

    ‘In the last $900,000 investment that Rayani, the Victoria resident, entered into with Martel, for example, she was to be paid a 14 per cent return in 29 days, equivalent to an annual return of more than 160 per cent, or more than three per cent a week. Others, including investors in Metro Vancouver, Alberta and the U.S., signed up for similar returns’

    So Laurel, just what did you think this clown was doing that could pay you 3% a week? You screwed yer greedy self.

    Here’s a video the ‘angry investors’ posted:

    https://vimeo.com/824454159

    1. Zero pity for these greedy speculators. Those promised rates of return & lack of surety should’ve been a huge red flag for any prudent investor.

  3. “‘Brokers are nervous that they won’t make as much money. Instead of $65,000 a year, they’ll make $45,000. And they go, ‘OK, then I have to get a job at Walmart”

    Get a real job, parasites.

  4. I post only negative economic news, nothing positive, only negative.

    The Joe Biden economy.

    Food Bank of the Rockies serving 60% more people as Thanksgiving approaches (11/20/2023):

    “Food Bank of the Rockies is both feeling and seeing the impacts of inflation, a decrease in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and a high general cost of living.

    “We are seeing so many more people than we ever have before at a Thanksgiving distribution,” said Erin Pulling, CEO of Food Bank of the Rockies. “Over the course of a year, we’re serving upwards of 350,000 people in Colorado and Wyoming. And right now, we’re seeing higher food insecurity rates than we have seen since 2014.”

    “We used to spend about $300,000 to $400,000 every month on food. Now that number is $1.5 million every single month, and that’s because of the increased need. So increase in the amount of food we’re distributing, as well as the decrease in USDA food available and the inflation,” said Pulling. “SNAP cuts, inflation, general cost of living, more and more people just aren’t able to make ends meet, even though they’re working multiple jobs.”

    https://www.denver7.com/news/local-news/food-bank-of-the-rockies-serving-60-more-people-as-thanksgiving-approaches

    1. My daughter volunteered last Summer to work at a local food bank. She said most of the “needy” were driving late-model cars & SUVs. Maybe the real problem is the freeloading mentality that has overtaken society.

      2. “Maybe the real problem is the freeloading mentality that has overtaken society.”

        When my kids were in high school 2008 – 2015 they told me a bunch of the girls that got free lunch carried $500 designer hand bags through the lunch line.

  5. The Joe Biden economy.

    Inflation-Battered Americans Raiding 401k’s To Pay Mortgages And Rent (11/21/2023):

    “Americans outside the wealthiest quintile have run out of extra savings generated early in the pandemic and now have less cash on hand than they did when the pandemic began,” notes Bloomberg’s Alexandre Tanzi, citing Fed data.

    According to Fidelity, 2.3% took a hardship withdrawal in the third quarter, up significantly from the 1.8% rate observed in the same quarter of 2022. The top two reasons given for the third-quarter hardship withdrawals: avoiding foreclosure/eviction, and medical expenses.

    Withdrawals aren’t the only way to crack the 401(k) piggy bank. Fidelity says 2.8% took loans from their retirement balances, up from 2.4% last year. Even more concerning: Fully 17.6% of workers now have an outstanding loan against their 401(k).”

    https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/inflation-battered-americans-raiding-401ks-pay-mortgages-and-rent

    1. ” Fully 17.6% of workers now have an outstanding loan against their 401(k).”

      Wow, and that’s expected only to rise as more and more workers take out more loans.

  6. “…Stephen Brobeck, a senior fellow at the nonprofit Consumer Federation of America…” “… ‘This glut of agents is killing the industry,’ he said…”

    It was noted here in the HBB a few days ago that the total population of REIConplex agents in the USA was about 3 million. (Exclusive of escrow agents, attorneys and the like).

    Think about that. 3 million!. How many agents is that per square foot?

    1. For reference:

      US military, active and reserve: 2.24 million
      US fedgov workers, civilian: 1.87 million
      Realtors: 3 million

      1. I think that was me — posting similar to the following. I now see that besides this number from , our friends at NAR are now only claiming 1.6 M due paying members.


        There are between 2.5 million and three million active real-estate licensees in the U.S., including individuals and firms, according to the Association of Real Estate License Law Officials. The number of active real-estate licensees roughly corresponds to the number of active real-estate agents, a spokeswoman for the organization said.

        About 1.6 million of those roughly three million licenses are held by Realtors, dues-paying NAR members who abide by its code of ethics.

        http://ereader.wsj.net/?publink=188c85cfd_134adf4

        This is what blew me away – $120B in realtor fees.


        The 1.5 million-member National Association of Realtors spent $81.7 million on political lobbying in 2022, more than any other business group. Behind the teachers unions, it ranks as the most powerful special interest in the country. Though it claims to help consumers, it is a cartel that seeks primarily to enrich its members by expanding government control over middle-class Americans’ largest source of wealth: their homes.

        Consider Burnett v. NAR, a federal class-action suit that Missouri home sellers have brought against the association. The case, which went to trial last week, presents an existential threat to the cartel. If the plaintiffs prevail, home buyers and sellers could save $120 billion in fees each year. Half of the country’s real-estate agents who work as buyer brokers might have to find another, more economically productive line of work.

  7. Another Language Police™ article.

    New York Times — Trump’s Dire Words Raise New Fears About His Authoritarian Bent (11/20/2023):

    “Donald J. Trump rose to power with political campaigns that largely attacked external targets, including immigration from predominantly Muslim countries and from south of the United States-Mexico border.
    But now, in his third presidential bid, some of his most vicious and debasing attacks have been leveled at domestic opponents.

    During a Veterans Day speech, Mr. Trump used language that echoed authoritarian leaders who rose to power in Germany and Italy in the 1930s, degrading his political adversaries as “vermin” who needed to be “rooted out.”

    “The threat from outside forces,” Mr. Trump said, “is far less sinister, dangerous and grave than the threat from within.”

    https://archive.li/btVC8

    The enemy is within.

    And that enemy is all of the D.C. Deep State, the globalist scum media, all of academia, and domestic terrorist organizations the Southern Poverty Law Center and Anti Defamation League.

    1. Related article.

      Was that a Threat? Far-Left Democrat Dan Goldman Says President Trump “Has to be Eliminated” (11/20/2023):

      “Did the former lead counsel in President Trump’s first sham impeachment call for his assassination yesterday?

      Former Barack Obama press secretary Jen Psaki was hosting Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) on her MSNBC show, “Inside with Jen Psaki,” Sunday to discuss the recently released January 6 tapes when he made some disturbing remarks which are now going viral on social media.

      Goldman said yes and went on to blame Trump for “riling up” and “inciting” his supporters. He also states that “every time he (Trump) talks, he’s putting himself into a bigger criminal hole” and “his objective is purely political.”

      “His rhetoric is really getting dangerous, more and more dangerous… and we saw what happened on January 6th when he uses inflammatory rhetoric. That man cannot see public office again.

      He is not only unfit, he is destructive to our democracy. He has to be eliminated.”

      https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/11/was-that-threat-far-left-democrat-dan-goldman/

      This type of language is always acceptable when spoken by Democrat Party.

      They want you eliminated as well…

      1. I hope one of the few hundred soy boys watching Jen’s show doesn’t suddenly grow some stones.🙄

    2. The idea of the enemy being within is not new:

      “From whence shall we expect the approach of danger? Shall some trans-Atlantic military giant step the earth and crush us at a blow? Never. All the armies of Europe and Asia…could not by force take a drink from the Ohio River or make a track on the Blue Ridge in the trial of a thousand years. No, if destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of free men we will live forever or die by suicide.”

      Abraham Lincoln, 1838.

  8. Real estate ‘is looked at as a shady business,’ he said. ‘We’re right there with the used-car salesman.’”

    The Used Car Salesman Anti-Defamation League has a slam-dunk case if they decide to sue these UHSs for such slanderous comparisons.

  9. Single-family homeowners in these cities have been losing up to $223 in value every day since they bought their homes last year, while condo owners have been bleeding even more money: The $336 that the average San Francisco condo owner lost daily would add up to a total of $122,500, which is perilously close to the city’s median income (nearly $182,000).”

    Yellen bux “value” created by the Fed’s gusher of funny money was never sustainable in the long run.

  10. Memphis leads the way with the biggest percentage drop (-17.1%), while San Francisco saw the largest net price decrease (-$81,250), followed by Oakland, CA (-$62,988).

    Is that a lot?

  11. When the loan was issued in 2018, the buildings were valued at $640 million, according to Trepp. An appraiser recently cut the value to just $207 million.

    Ben, the HBB needs to crowdsource a memorial for all those dear departed Yellen Bux that’ve winged off to whatever afterlife awaits evaporating fictitious “value.”

  13. Point2 analysts discovered that price corrections are pummeling condo owners in 36 cities and single-family owners in 25 markets.

    I don’t mean to get way out ahead of Ben & the HBB, but it seems to me that what we’re looking at here may very well be a bursting housing bubble.

    1. I still remember pundits saying that sanctions would bring Russia down and that NATO troops would march into Moscow. That hubris is long forgotten. I also remember the gloating when Mickey D’s closed it’s Russian stores, which were quickly converted into a Russian fast food chain. Then there was the fictional “Ghost of Kiev”.

      Zelensky should be making his final cash transfers out of the country and packing his bags. Where will he go? I predict his exile will take him to the US.

      1. Note to ukrop mothers and now single wives: DC isn’t even phased that over 400,000 of yer men aren’t coming home ever. There’s women too, I saw a dead ukrop woman in the trenches the other day. No regrets from the laptop bombardiers, globalist scum media.

        Remember that: DC will send you off to die with no chance in hell and you won’t be an afterthought. Also note there’s no discussion of “we gotta fight them over there so we don’t have to fight them here.” Are we loading up the airplanes to go fight Russia? No the US guberment is begging it’s cannon fodder to reenlist!

        Globalism has failed. Neoliberal imperialism has been defeated, and the brave Russian people killed it at great cost.

  16. ‘Sellers still pricing at the top of the price comps are starting to come to reality that the market has already peaked.’

    Sellers are here:

    denial
    anger
    bargaining <-
    depression
    acceptance

  17. In 2018, he was recorded as the economist with the most interviews and minutes on air in Argentina—by a wide margin.

    Mr. Milei won Sunday’s election by effectively conveying two issues to the public and “confronting the deep-rooted elites,” Roderick Navarro, a political analyst at the Miami-based media, PanAm Post, told the Epoch Times.

    The first issue was to defeat “the political class that impoverished Argentina,” and the second is to “lead the country with a plan of free-market reforms,” Mr. Navarro said.

    The reforms, he said, would “lay the groundwork for Argentina to become a world power in 35 years.”

    “This made him a popular—not a populist—leader. It turned him into the man that put an end to an era of political decay in Argentina and started a new era of prosperity, safety, and decency,” Mr. Navarro said.

    Mr. Milei’s push for free-market reforms is backed up by his background in economics. The Argentinian is the author of more than 50 academic papers and myriad books on the matter, and has two Master’s degrees in economics.

    He taught for over 20 years as a university professor of macroeconomics, economics of growth, microeconomics and mathematics for economists.

    A viral video shows him stripping off the names of government departments from a white board.

    “The state is not the solution, the state is the problem,” Mr. Milei says, as he proposes to cut federal departments from 19 to eight.

    The 11 dashed agencies include the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development; the Ministry of Women, Gender and Diversity; and the Ministry of Education called by him “the Ministry of Indoctrination.”

    “The challenge is good government,” Carlos Sanchez Berzaín, Bolivia’s former minister of defense and now head of the Interamerican Institute for Democracy, told the Epoch Times.

    He says Mr. Milei will face not only economic hurdles, but strong opposition from “Castro-Chavism,” the region’s deeply-ingrained “21st century socialism” ideology.

    “The failures of non-socialist presidents due to bad governance are several and repeated in Latin America. The change begins in Argentina but so does the conspiracy of Castro-Chavism. This result liquidates Kirchnerism. The defeat of 21st century socialism depends on Milei’s good [governance],” Mr. Sanchez Berzaín said.

    “Kirchnerism” is a label associated with former leftist presidents Nestor and Cristina Kirchner, the socialist-leaning couple who have dominated Argentina’s politics over the past decades. Mrs. Kirchner is the current vice president.

    The country has had a unique economic history, swinging from fortune to tragedy. In the early 20th century, it was one of the world’s rising superpowers, rivaling the United States. It was richer than Germany and France—in Paris some joked about being “as rich as an Argentinian.”

    It is now nowhere near its former self among the world’s economies. But its rollercoaster ride through history has profoundly shaped Argentinian’s outlook on themselves.
    Mr. Milei’s political coalition “La Libertad Avanza,” which translates to “Freedom Pushes Ahead,” describes its mission to “promote pro-freedom policies that aid the economical, political, and cultural development that Argentinians need to get back to being the country we once were in the beginning of the year 1900.”

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/article/5-things-to-know-about-argentinas-new-president-5533130

    1. The first issue was to defeat “the political class that impoverished Argentina,”

      The Peronists have destroyed Argentina over the decades, turning it into a permanent basket case, with inflation that is currently exceeding 100%.

      President AMLO of Mexico, a leftist populist whose party (MORENA) is not all that different from Peronism, had a hissy fit over Milei’s victory, saying that Argentinian voters had scored an “own goal” by electing him.

    1. The Deep State must be very worried that they will lose power should the orange man return, as they accuse him of what they do.

      1. as they accuse him of what they do

        This is my thought exactly. They accuse him of this because it’s what they’re thinking and planning. They are sowing the seeds for some bad stuff.

    2. It’s not so bad at 1.75x speed. That said, how did the TDS get so bad? Even if Joe is just a paid actor to say this stuff, there’s got to be some nutjob writing the paying him.

  19. The 2:56 video is well worth watching.

    Watch: Soldier Shocked To Discover He’s Being Charged THOUSANDS for Gear Left in Chaotic Afghan Withdrawal

    by Adan Salazar
    November 21st 2023, 12:44 pm

    A US Army soldier exiting the military filmed his frustration as he was informed he’d have to foot the bill for equipment left in Afghanistan during the botched withdrawal in 2021.

    In the footage going viral on social media, the 82nd Airborne Division soldier, identified as “Michael” on his name tape, revealed it’s his “gear turn-in day” and that he’s being charged thousands of dollars by the Army for equipment he was told to leave behind.

    “Two years ago, my unit deployed to Afghanistan for the Afghanistan withdrawal. We spent a few weeks over there. It was hectic. It was chaotic. It was disgusting, and it made me very disappointed in our government. Today, I’m reminded of how disappointed I am in our government.”

    “Go to turn in my gear, [and] they want to charge me five hundred to a thousand dollars for gear that I was ordered to leave in Afghanistan two years ago,” he said, adding, “because as the last two birds were sitting on the tarmac ready to leave there wasn’t any room for extra gear extra weight. Therefore, we were told to leave it.”

    The soldier mentioned he and other “lower-enlisted dudes” questioned the orders, aware of the fact the gear was very expensive.

    “We’re like no this stuff is expensive. I’m not leaving this, I’m gonna get charged for this when it comes time to leave,” however, he was reportedly told, “Don’t worry. We’re gonna catch you on the back end.”

    It turns out the soldier was correct, as years later upon his equipment return he was handed a bill for over $3,500.

    https://www.infowars.com/posts/watch-soldier-shocked-to-discover-hes-being-charged-thousands-for-gear-left-in-chaotic-afghan-withdrawal/

    1. LOL! And they want those discharged for refusing the jab to return?

      And good luck drafting the Nuevos Americanos. As soon as they get their notice from the draft board they will high tail it back to wherever they came from.

  20. Why can Argentina count 25–30 million paper ballots in hours, while blue US swing states take DAYS with machines? (11/21/2023):

    “It’s quite astonishing that the United States of America, one of the most powerful nations in the world, struggles to hold streamlined elections. We’ve gone from having election results on the same night or in the early hours to prolonged counts of sketchy ballots behind closed doors, with the winner remaining unknown for days on end. And these types of rinky-dink elections with long “third world” delays are being normalized, but it’s far from normal, and we all know it. This unacceptable stark contrast was glaringly obvious during the recent presidential election in Argentina, where they efficiently tallied 25 to 30 million paper ballots within hours. Meanwhile, certain blue districts in the United States, using machine ballots, take days to count a fraction of that number. How does one reconcile this?

    Perhaps it’s worth considering the idea of outsourcing our elections to Argentina’s capable hands? That might ensure we learn the results within a day and alleviate concerns about Democrats cheating. What an embarrassment we’ve become.”

    https://revolver.news/2023/11/why-can-argentina-count-25-30-million-paper-ballots-in-hours-while-blue-us-swing-states-take-days-with-machines/

    1. It’s quite astonishing that the United States of America, one of the most powerful nations in the world, struggles to hold streamlined elections.

      It takes time to stuff the ballot box. Perhaps the US needs international observers when the votes are counted.

  21. Everyone knows reality TV isn’t real, right?

    I’m glad you understand that. Now extend that insight to the “news” broadcasts on TV and we can start to make some progress.

    1. “news” broadcasts on TV”

      I don’t know what that is. Seriously. I think the last one I actually saw was PBS News Hour over a year ago while visiting elderly family.

      BitChute and Rumble

  22. ‘Agents also pay fees for licensing, insurance, and to rent a desk at a brokerage. And once a deal closes, the brokerage takes a percentage of the commission, a fee that can vary wildly depending on the firm and the experience of the agent. A few relinquish nothing, many pay around 20%, and some hand over as much as half of their earnings, Brobeck said’

    Sounds like the brokers are the ones to get hammered first. Their fee structure sux.

    ‘And many saw the verdict as targeting a profession people love to hate: the superfluous real estate agent who collects a hefty commission for merely opening a door’

    I’ve had many a beer with my UHS friends and they’ll admit there are people who have a beef with their industry. That doesn’t bother them a bit. It’s this big blob of the way it’s always been. It’s a monopoly, or that’s what it’s based on. They don’t have that tight grip like just a few years ago. Good luck with that. But this ‘profession people love to hate’ comes from many sore points. Jonathan Miller called their booster-ism ‘cartoonish’, and it is. Can anyone deny that the REIC doesn’t play an inflating bias role in the bubble?

    But yeah, a lot of the animosity comes from the not so long ago when they exercised their monopoly of the MLS to consumers disadvantage and charged way too much in the process.

    1. It is ironic that people will hate the broker when they are paying 100% extra of the ridiculous price of the house to the bank in interest for their own folly.

  23. ‘Prices fell in 25 cities with eight more staying put for the whole year. Memphis leads the way with the biggest percentage drop (-17.1%)’

    And they’re off!

  24. ‘An unfinished penthouse at the Villa Valencia condominium in Coral Gables has a leading role in the latest chapter of the legal drama starring disgraced developer’

    This is one of those and then…and then… tales with the ubiquitous south Florida fraud, political corruption and backstabbing.

  25. ‘Many office owners can’t pay back their old loans because they can’t get new mortgages’

    I’ve long said this business of not making money is a cancer. Where are yer reserves? All that money you’re supposed to put away for long term repairs? When you gotta a 5-4-3 cap rate or even less (I’m looking at you bay aryans), you are a moonraker. One variable change can rip yer face off.

  26. Image file for Jeff — Tuesday Edition:

    https://ibb.co/2jTKKLH

    This photo is from June. Most of the debris is gone but those last few walls and rooms still need to come down. That will be a next year project.

    1. Fantastic progress!

      Especially for a one man gang who also holds down a full time job. You sir are old school.

  27. ‘So, we’re having to drop anchor and stop building. We will survive of course. But will we end up half the size? It’s a realistic option’

    And that’s how recessions start.

    1. At 14 minutes, zero percent of York Mills/Rosedale sold at list price or more. I’ve never seen that before in k-da.

  29. There’s been some interesting news coming out of this real estate debacle. AARP says 2024/25 will see a spike in inventory as boomers downsize. I guess they surveyed their members. Bloomberg reports 40% of home-owners are mortgage free. That kind of puts paid to the ‘locked-in’ theory that claims high mortgage rates alone have paralyzed the market. Mark Zandi (Moody’s) claims we won’t be out of the woods until 2028, such is the “mess” we’re in. I’m curious how he arrived at that date. Fannie Mae believes the paralysis is more nuanced stating home-owners just want to stay put in old age, so aren’t planning to downsize.

    If things get nasty, either the government (and Fed) will step in to buoy prices, kicking the very battered can down the road, or they take a bet on the severity of political consequences as home equity rapidly evaporates. Or, a bit of both.

  30. GREEN AGENDA FALLING APART: Trudeau Liberals environment plans have backfired
    Toronto Sun
    3 hours ago

    Sun columnist Lorne Gunter explains how after Canadian courts have struck down two of Liberals’ green initiatives, it’s obvious that Justin Trudeau has failed to read the room.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lw3yZbFaQrM

    3:44.

  31. It’s worth clicking this link just to see the picture of Buttigieg with his arm slung around the shoulder of his good friend not to mention transcripts of conversations they had.

    Democrat Mayor & Pete Buttigieg Protégé Who Victimized 500 Children Receives 30-Year Sentence in Child Porn Case

    by Adan Salazar
    November 21st 2023, 7:00 pm

    Well, this is awkward.

    Former Democrat College Park, Maryland, Mayor Patrick Wojahn, who was once a protégé of Joe Biden’s Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, was sentenced to 150 years in federal prison on Monday.

    Wojahn pled guilty in August to 140 counts of possessing and distributing child pornography.

    The Baltimore Sun listed Wojahn’s crimes as: “possession, possession with intent to distribute and distribution of material that exploits children — a mixture of misdemeanors and felonies with maximum penalties ranging from five to 10 years’ incarceration.”

    Prosecutors argued Wojahn had victimized over 500 children worldwide, 52 of which were identified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

    The judge suspended Wojahn’s sentence down to 30 years after she was satisfied with the level of remorse he’d shown, but cautioned he could be sent back to prison to serve out the other 120 years left on the sentence if he violated conditions of his 5-year parole.

    https://www.infowars.com/posts/democrat-mayor-pete-buttigieg-protege-who-victimized-500-children-receives-30-year-sentence-in-child-porn-case/

  32. “This Is Going To Expose Everything”: Mike Lindell Says Georgia Voting Machine Ruling “Opened The Door That No Man Can Shut”

    by ZeroHedge
    November 21st 2023, 4:34 pm

    MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell has vowed to ‘expose everything’ following last week’s massive ruling by an Obama-appointed judge in Georgia, Amy Totenberg, who agreed with Lindell’s legal team that electronic voting machines used by the state of Georgia have substantial flaws.

    According to Totenberg, there is sufficient cause to believe that there may be “cybersecurity deficiencies that unconstitutionally burden Plaintiffs’ First and Fourteenth Amendment rights and capacity to case effective votes that are accurately counted.”

    What’s more, in a footnote within her 135-page ruling, Totenberg said the evidence in the case “does not suggest that the Plaintiffs are conspiracy theorists of any variety.”

    “Indeed, some of the nation’s leading cybersecurity experts and computer scientists have provided testimony and affidavits on behalf of Plaintiffs’ case in the long course of this litigation,” she wrote.

    https://www.infowars.com/posts/this-is-going-to-expose-everything-mike-lindell-says-georgia-voting-machine-ruling-opened-the-door-that-no-man-can-shut/

    1. Fortune
      POLITICS ELECTIONS
      After Amsterdam told young British men to ‘Stay Away,’ the Dutch housing crisis prompts a new message: Less sex, drugs and profits
      The center-right leads as voters go to the polls for Wednesday’s elections: “Not everything can be done everywhere at the same time.”
      BY APRIL ROACH , DIEDERIK BAAZIL , SARAH JACOB , CAGAN KOC , AND BLOOMBERG
      November 21, 2023 7:10 AM EST
      Amsterdam
      A man cycles past Martin Escher-inspired pictures of the Dutch parliament on hoarding surrounding a part of the parliament building that is being renovated, on November 20, 2023 in The Hague, Netherlands. Carl Court/Getty Images

      For centuries the Netherlands got rich by being open to the world.

      Known for its permissive attitude to sex, drugs and corporate profits, in economic terms the small, waterlogged country has punched above its weight. As an expansionist trading power it spawned the world’s first multinational corporation, and remains Europe’s biggest stock-trading hub.

      Now, faced with housing shortages and tensions over immigration, there’s a new consensus against unbridled growth at all costs. As voters go to the polls the candidates for Wednesday’s elections are competing to close their country off.

      The outgoing government has set the others a high bar. To complement Amsterdam’s “Stay Away” campaign aimed at young British men, they’ve designed policies to deter the expats for whom the country has long been so attractive. They’re planning to cut flights, cut migration numbers and cut tax breaks for foreign workers.

      And it seems to be cutting through. According to most surveys published ahead of the election, the center-right incumbents are ahead in polls. One rival has a slogan summing up this new era of modest ambition: “Not everything can be done everywhere at the same time.”

      That’s not been the prevailing attitude in the European Union’s 5th largest economy, much of which is built on land reclaimed from the sea. Until a few years ago, the Netherlands’ reputation among the most business-friendly nations was intact.

      Now, “the bigger the challenges,” said Sandra Phlippen, chief economist at ABN Amro, “the more we look inward.” In a country whose fragmented electoral system makes coalition governments inevitable, consensus matters, and right now it’s aligning around a recalibration of the Netherlands’ open-to-all image.
      …
      https://fortune.com/europe/2023/11/21/dutch-elections-housing-shortage-immigration-drugs-amsterdam-stay-away/

  34. Any thoughts on why stocks are suddenly sliding back into the CR8R, following a brief erruption of irrational exuberance?

      1. Fear & Greed Index
        Business / Tech
        Sam Altman returns to OpenAI in a bizarre reversal of fortunes
        By Clare Duffy and David Goldman, CNN
        4 minute read
        Updated 2:40 AM EST, Wed November 22, 2023
        Samuel Altman, CEO of OpenAI, appears for testimony before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on May 16, 2023 in Washington, DC.
        Win McNamee/Getty Images

        New York CNN —

        Sam Altman has agreed to return to lead OpenAI, the company said in a Wednesday post on X, just days after his surprise ouster as chief executive and an employee backlash that threatened to undermine what has been the leading company in the fledgling artificial intelligence industry.

        “We have reached an agreement in principle for Sam Altman to return to OpenAI as CEO with a new initial board,” the company said, adding that the board will be chaired by Bret Taylor, a former co-CEO of Salesforce. Other members include Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.

        “We are collaborating to figure out the details.” it said.
        …
        https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/22/tech/openai-altman-returns-hnk-intl/index.html

  35. Fortune
    Housing market analyst ‘Poison Ivy’ Zelman, who called the 2008 bust that led to the Great Financial Crisis, sees ‘extremely depressed levels’ of existing home sales for years
    Alena Botros
    Tue, November 21, 2023 at 11:35 AM PST·4 min read
    Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images
    Ivy Zelman is a financial analyst with a reputation for delivering bad news, especially about housing. Dubbed “Poison Ivy” for accurately calling the 2008 housing bust, the chief executive of Zelman and Associates looks out at the current market and doesn’t see a recovery for months, if not years, to come.

    “Existing home sales are right now probably at the lowest since the GFC,” she said in a recent interview on CNBC, referring to the Great Financial Crisis. She added that she sees existing home sales remaining at “extremely depressed levels” through to 2025. In other words, housing activity, at least on the existing-homes side of the market, will largely remain frozen as homeowners hold onto their homes amid potentially higher-for-longer mortgage rates.

    The data doesn’t lie
    …
    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/housing-market-analyst-poison-ivy-193516774.html

    1. ‘Poison Ivy’

      Anyone who points out the facts about the real estate CR8R formation process underway is vulnerable to personal attacks and name calling by the REIC.

    2. “…‘extremely depressed levels’ of existing home sales for years…she sees existing home sales remaining at “extremely depressed levels” through to 2025…”

      I see what they did there.

      For those who care, the bust underway since earlier this year would last until at least 2029 if it followed similar timing as the previous two (1990-1996, 2006-2012). In both cases, home sales didn’t pick up again until after prices dropped by alot.

    1. Updated Wed, Nov 22 2023 8:45 AM EST
      S&P 500 futures gain as 10-year Treasury yield hits 2-month low: Live updates
      Hakyung Kim
      Sarah Min
      NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 15: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on November 15, 2023 in New York City. The Dow was up again in morning trading after news of lower than expected inflation readings encouraged investors.
      (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

      Stock futures rose slightly on Wednesday as yields fell to their lowest level in two months.

      Futures tied to the S&P 500 futures
      climbed 0.3%, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 43 points, or 0.1%.Nasdaq 100 futures
      gained 0.4%.

      The yield on the 10-year Treasury declined by more than 2 basis points to 4.394%. Yields fell across the board, with the 30-year Treasury falling by nearly 4 basis points to 4.54%, its lowest point since Sept. 22.

      The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite on Tuesday ended a five-day winning streak, as the blistering November rally took a pause. The Dow also closed lower.

      Those moves came after the Federal Reserve signaled in its latest meeting notes that monetary policy will remain restrictive, and gave no indication of cutting interest rates anytime soon.
      …
      https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/21/stock-market-today-live-updates.html

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