Policies Aimed At Spurring A Housing And Credit Bubble Of Epic Proportions
A weekend topic starting with the Philadelphia Inquirer in Pennsylvania. “Philadelphia developer Eric Blumenfeld has lost control of the landmark Marine Club condo building at Broad Street and Washington Avenue amid an ongoing financial crisis involving upward of $200 million in debt. The property, a 120-year-old office and warehouse complex that was converted into a 295-unit residential complex in the 1980s and renovated in 2000 by Blumenfeld, has been at the center of multiple, yearslong disputes — in the form of both legal claims from investors and complaints from residents about the building’s neglect as Blumenfeld’s finances have collapsed.”
“Still, residents described themselves as cautiously optimistic about the new management company after enduring years of neglect. Troy Feldman, who’s lived in the Marine Club since 2020, said he has no plans to move from a unit he got at a deeply discounted price — $160,000 — that sits above SEPTA’s Broad Street Line and within walking distance to both Passyunk Avenue and Rittenhouse Square. ‘The location is fantastic,’ Feldman said. ‘The market’s going up. They’re putting up an apartment building across the street. I purchased it knowing that my value should go up a lot, given that the building gets into a stabilized state.'”
From Newsweek. “Gen Z is looking forward to a housing market crash, according to a new study from LendingTree. Housing prices reached their highest levels in two decades this year, pricing out most Americans. Younger people are particularly hopeful that prices crash, opening the possibility of homeownership to them, according to the LendingTree report. Fifty-three percent of Gen Z respondents to the poll said they want the housing market to crash. By comparison, 43 percent of millennials and 46 percent of Americans with children under 18 are hoping the housing market crashes, according to the study. The study found that 35 percent of Americans overall want the housing market to crash.”
“‘Right now, home prices are high, as are mortgage rates,’ LendingTree senior economist Jacob Channel said in the report. ‘With that in mind, I can understand why some might wish for a housing crash that brings lower prices. Unfortunately, if the national housing market were to crash, odds are that it would bring down the rest of the economy with it.'”
“One Reddit user pointed out recently that his generation graduated into a world of COVID-19 and canceled job offers, and many missed out on the chance to buy homes five to 10 years ago when prices were affordable and rates were low. ‘I hear my [girlfriend’s] family members talk about buying a $150,000 lakefront condo not too long ago [in Ohio maybe 10 years ago], and now it’s worth $450,000,’ Reddit user DynamicHunter posted. ‘We just have no chance, especially with the double whammy of COVID surge in price and current interest rates with very little pay increases.'”
Community Impact in Texas. “According to Austin Board of Realtors officials in a news release, there were 2,337 total sales across the MSA in October, indicating that buyers are still ‘finding value in the market.’ Along with more sales and listings, median home prices dipped by 7.5% to $435,000. ABoR housing economist Claire Losey noted in the release that the decrease in year-over-year median sale prices ‘pales in comparison’ to the housing equity gained over time. ‘The median price is still 44% higher than it was in September 2018,’ Losey said. ‘Homeownership is still the best way to create generational wealth.'”
Blog TO in Canada. “A home near Toronto that’s been listed multiple times and sold on three occasions in the past six years shows just how much real estate prices in the GTA market can fluctuate on a year-to-year basis. The four-bedroom, four-bathroom detached home, located at 28 Fitzmaurice Dr. in Vaughan, boasts 3,300 square feet of living space and a two-car garage. The property was first listed on the market on March 18, 2017, and sold just six days later for $2.15 million. Just a year later, the home was listed for rent at $3,700 a month, and eventually sold again in February 2022 for $2.55 million. The home was unsuccessfully listed for sale in November 2022 for $1.99 million, nearly $600,000 below what it was sold for just a few months earlier.”
“In March 2023, the home’s price was hiked up once again when it was listed for $2.59 million. After sitting on the market for roughly three months at this price, the home was relisted and sold for $1.95 million in November 2023 — well below its sale price in both 2017 and 2022.”
From David Rosenberg at the Globe and Mail. “There may be lies, damned lies, and statistics as Mark Twain posited. But statistics, as flawed as they may be, are all we have to go by. And the statistics show a Canadian economy that very likely has already slipped into a recession, even as Tiff Macklem doth protest too much. The Bank of Canada will be singing like a canary within the next several months. The recession here promises to come earlier and be far more severe than what we will see unfold south of the border — that won’t be a pretty picture, either — with negative implications for the loonie, but highly positive implications for the long end of the government of Canada bond market as inflation completely melts away by the time spring arrives.”
“But an even more deeply rooted problem is that we have had a government that caused the economy to become addicted to debt and excessive house price inflation, and papered over these problems by promoting an immigration boom. But the issue with the unprecedented population growth is that it isn’t paying for itself (quite the opposite). That is my opinion.”
“Instead of promoting productivity and capital investment, the Canadian government for years, if not decades, has pursued policies aimed at spurring a housing and credit bubble of epic proportions, and now it is time to pay the piper. Household debt relative to disposable income has mushroomed to 172% — that is about 30 percentage points higher than the epic credit bubble peak in 2006-07 in the U.S. that brought the house down (both literally and figuratively). Remember — this is an aggregate statistic. The number is even higher when you consider that nearly one-third of Canadian households are debt-free — for the other two-thirds, a dire situation has taken hold. Delinquency rates are on the rise and the banks are now being forced to bolster their loan loss reserve provisioning in anticipation of a recessionary default cycle.”
“We have reached the point where nearly 15 cents of every after-tax dollar are being drained from household pocketbooks to service the mountain of debt — right where this ratio was prior to the 2001 and 2008 economic downturns. In fact, the total debt-service ratio for the personal sector is higher now than it was in the spring of 1990 when it was 12.7% — Canada was in the midst of a horrible recession back then. But what is key is that the BoC policy rate was 13% at a time when the household debt ratio, at 89%, was about half of today’s disturbing level. Today, we have a 5% interest rate doing the damage a 13% interest rate used to unleash because of the fact that the debt has ballooned as much as it has.”
“This debt bubble is now set to unwind, and likely not in a very orderly fashion. And the property bubble is already being burst —the YoY trend in the new house price index moving from +11.5% two years ago to +5% a year back to nearly -1% currently. There is so much air underneath the residential real estate market that just to mean-revert the homeowner affordability ratio would require a 20% plunge in home prices — and that is a conservative estimate.”
The Herald Scotland. “As central banks hike interest rates to levels not seen in decades, it is fair and appropriate to ask: what were the policy mistakes that contributed to the current painful inflationary period? Experience and wisdom come from failure, and central banks need to learn from their mistakes in the run-up to this inflationary period, so they are better prepared for the next economic shock, which is sure to come.”
“A report the Group of Thirty released on November 30 is part of that self-analysis process. The study led by former central bank governors Jacob Frenkel (Israel), Raghuram Rajan (India), and Axel Weber (Germany), with a working group of 18 other former governors and policymakers, including Mervyn King, calls for a humble approach to central banking. The authors say we should be going back to basics, core principles, and economic approaches. Doing so, they say, will strengthen central banks at a juncture when tightened policy and interest rates put them under increasing political pressure.”
“Being humble also means central bankers should avoid committing to large-scale long-term interventions in the economy, as intended and unintended effects are hard to predict, and the longer they are in place, the higher the likelihood of poor outcomes. Those poor outcomes are visible in pumped up equity prices, in housing markets over stimulated with nearly free money, in poor outcomes for savers and those on fixed incomes. Often the applied monetary cure can have serious deleterious spillover effects.”
“To be sure, maintaining greater room to manoeuvre, anticipating the next economic shocks, still requires central banks also to be clear they are ready to ‘do whatever it takes’ as Mario Draghi did, to avert the Euro crisis. But central banks must also articulate their exit strategies. The economy must not become addicted to endless central bank intervention. An extended period of aggressive central bank interventions and unconventional measures to widen and deepen central bank actions in the economy should not become the norm.”
“Perhaps the inflationary spike, now gradually being subdued, in Britain and elsewhere, with much higher interest rates will help spur a return to more normal policies. I hope so. We would all benefit if central banking was boring again, as my former mentor the late Paul A Volcker, former chair of the US Federal Reserve System, who slayed America’s inflationary dragon of the 1970s and 1980s, preferred it to be.”
“We would be better off too if central bankers and the public took a more limited view of central banks’ tasks, abilities, and effectiveness. Being realistic may be disappointing or frustrating for those who still erroneously believe central bankers can help cure all ills, monetary, fiscal, or industrial. They cannot.”
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Pod Life: come for the cheap rent, stay for the gulag.
NPR — A year after lifting COVID rules, China is turning quarantine centers into apartments (12/9/2023):
“During the global coronavirus pandemic, China built dozens of makeshift hospitals and state quarantine centers, some out of steel container boxes. They became closely associated with the anxiety of mass testing and the fear of sudden lockdowns.
Now, cities are turning the huge centers into affordable housing units for young workers in an attempt to revive the country’s economy post-COVID.
Just over a year ago, these apartments were used very differently: for medical triage and quarantine facilities. Beijing alone built 23 of these makeshift facilities, designed to hold up to 23,000 people at a time.
“It was not very cold yet but they told me to pack my belongings,” remembers Hudson Li, a Beijing resident who was quarantined in one of these facilities, called fangcang in Chinese, in October 2022.
During the 10 days of quarantine, Li’s movement was limited to a 190 -square-foot room with all the windows locked. Eventually, he was able to open the window a crack to let in fresh air. “They worried that I would escape from the window. It was like prison life,” Li told NPR.
Starting in 2020, China closed its borders and required 2-4 week hotel quarantines for anyone able to enter the country. Within the country, it would lockdown entire cities if a handful of residents tested positive for COVID-19 and would isolate close contacts in the fangcang especially-built for this purpose. In 2022, larger cities began requiring negative COVID tests from residents if they wanted to leave their apartments.
Less than two months after Li was quarantined, Beijing lifted most of its COVID restrictions. Li says he still associates the fangcang with a feeling of helplessness and fear: “It has been over a year already, but I definitely have PTSD from the pandemic, from the fear of scarcity and having to stock up on a lot of medicine and food.”
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/12/09/1216925936/china-covid-quarantine-apartments
Taxpayer funded NPR wants this here in the United States.
Related article, this is the Election Year Variant.
MSN — The CDC director is once again asking Americans to mask up (12/8/2023):
“America’s leading public health official is recommending Americans to wear a mask this flu season to stop the spread of illnesses such as COVID, the flu and RSV.
Mandy Cohen, M.D., MPH, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said in the video posted to her social media accounts that Americans could take precautions to protect themselves against respiratory illnesses heading into the holidays.
“To protect yourself and your family this holiday season, take the steps that we do every year to protect ourselves. Get your updated COVID and flu vaccines and your RSV vaccine if you’re over 60. It’s not too late to get vaccinated if you haven’t already,” she said.
She continued: “Use additional layers of protection like avoiding people who are sick, washing your hands, improving ventilation and wearing a mask.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/cdc-chief-asks-americans-to-mask-up-again/ar-AA1ldRT6
It starts with a mask, and it ends with stolen elections and your incarceration in the gulag.
Related article, you will own nothing.
Russia Today — Americans running out of savings – JPMorgan (12/9/2023):
“Most Americans have already drained the excess savings they made during the Covid-19 pandemic, Marko Kolanovic, a senior stock strategist at JPMorgan bank, said in a note this week.
According to Kolanovic, inflation-adjusted liquid assets such as deposits and money market funds of nearly all US consumers will be below 2019 levels by mid-2024.
“It is likely that only the top 1% of consumers by income will be better off than before the pandemic,” he warned, noting the recent surge of credit card and auto loan delinquencies and a growing number of bankruptcy protection filings.”
https://www.rt.com/business/588783-us-consumers-drain-savings/
Only the top 1%.
All intentional and by design, the greatest wealth transfer in history from the middle class and working class to billionaires and multi-millionaires, 40% of all dollars in existence printed in the last 3-1/2 years.
Must be another one of those “we’re all in this together” kind of things.
The wall of lies is starting to crumble.
https://twitter.com/zerohedge/status/1733474105020538941?
Child Mask Mandates Have No Clear Benefits And Cause Harm, BMJ Review Finds
The folks I see masking up nowadays are predominantly very old or Asian. Caucasians have pitched them.
The neurotic tatted up millenail with purple hair still wears them shopping at retail stores. Saw a handful at the mall today.
The CDC director is once again asking Americans to mask up
🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕
The doc said to me that COVID rates are on the rise, but it’s not really showing up in the stats because so few people are getting tested specifically. Instead, COVID, RSV, and seasonal colds are getting all mixed in. So a lot of people are just getting congestion. My guess is that this is what I’ve been having… back to back respiratory viruses. Pseudoephedrine* is working like a charm, and the congestion is improving slowly.
I also read (somewhere) that the uptick in flu cases in China and Europe appear to be existing strains, nothing really new. So I’m not at all worried. I think we’re just making up for lost years of colds.
—————
*The other day, Redhead said that Phenylephrine isn’t effective, which is why people turn to Pseudoephedrine. I looked it up. Mostly correct. The phenylephrine chemical is effective, but so much of the oral pill is digested in your stomach that there’s not enough to left to be effective. They’re now putting it in a nasal spray to avoid digestion, where it seems to be working better.
Pseudoephedrine* is working like a charm, and the congestion is improving slowly.
When I had Covid back in 2021, all it took to clear me up 100% was plain old tussin cough syrup.
Redhead said that Phenylephrine isn’t effective
Pretty sure I didn’t say that. IIRC, I said pseudoephedrine > phenylephrine. When you have kids, you learn the handful of active ingredients in OTC medicines.
tussin cough syrup
Dextromethorphan. Kinda scary mechanism of action.
Afrin nasal spray works amazing. But be careful, it’s addictive!
BTW David Rosenberg is an economist who gets away with calling out guberment BS.
Unfortunately, if the national housing market were to crash, odds are that it would bring down the rest of the economy with it.’”
Maybe our Fed-juiced economy is built on a foundation of sand.
a foundation of sand
Rather, way out on the fragile tips of the branches of a dying tree of debt.
Let it fall, we’ll be fine.
‘The median price is still 44% higher than it was in September 2018,’ Losey said. ‘Homeownership is still the best way to create generational wealth.’”
Tell that to eight million FBs who lost “their” shacks to foreclosure during the implosion of Housing Bubble 1.0.
After sitting on the market for roughly three months at this price, the home was relisted and sold for $1.95 million in November 2023 — well below its sale price in both 2017 and 2022.”
But…but…muh generational wealth-building!
Propaganda and lies.
Washington Post (via Archive) — How good is the U.S. economy? It’s beating pre-pandemic predictions (12/8/2023):
“Americans might be loath to believe it, but on paper, the U.S. economy is doing pretty well. So well, in fact, that we’re outperforming forecasts made even before the pandemic began.
The nation’s employers added another 199,000 jobs in November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday. This is slightly better than Wall Street expectations. More significantly, it means that overall employment is now 2 million jobs higher than was expected by now in forecasts made way back in January 2020 by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office …
If you had asked me back in, say, January 2020 how Americans might feel about an economy with an “extra” 2 million jobs, unemployment less than 4 percent, and inflation just over 3 percent, I probably would have guessed the public would be pretty content.
Well, obviously, that would have been the wrong call. People are still furious about the extra price growth they’ve already endured to date, and unimpressed by all that extra job growth. Maybe voters just don’t like surprises. Or maybe it’s human nature for people to view better jobs or pay as things they’ve earned, while painful price hikes are things inflicted upon them — even if both are, to some extent, two sides of the same coin.”
https://archive.is/vJAEk
Inflicted upon them.
CCP Flu didn’t destroy the economy, government destroyed the economy.
Americans might be loath to believe it, but on paper, the U.S. economy is doing pretty well
yeah, “on paper”, with juiced, bogus numbers.
Here is what I am seeing:
-Headhunters rarely call me anymore.
-People I know, who have solid career records and who can ace those “exercises” interviewers give, have been unemployed for months.
-No waiting lists at restaurants.
-Prices through the roof and still rising
-No one got a raise this year at the office. (If you don’t like it, go find another job. We double dog dare you.)
-House prices, even though for sale inventory is low, are dropping.
-Clownifornia is facing a $60B+ deficit. I’m old enough to remember when that was the national budget deficit, and was cause for concern.
-People are maxing out their credit cards.
Yeah, right, the economy is doing “pretty well”.
“…No one got a raise this year at the office…”
Even stealth salary *cuts* via reduced benefits.
ie. Increased medical deductions and increased out-of-pocket minimums
Increased medical deductions and increased out-of-pocket minimums
Fortunately, benefits were left unchanged at the office, and the RSU awards were still granted. But a lot of people complained over the lack of raises.
If the numbers are made up what is the benefit and to whom? Will it mean inflation will plateau? The argument could be to keep making up rosy numbers till Nov 2024, but before that something has to give.
If there are back door payments that keep unemployed persons from seeking jobs, the labor participation rate would drop. But where and how the government still funnel directly to the peeps? SSI?
IMO, if these jobs were really created the Fed cannot drop interest rates.
If the numbers are made up what is the benefit and to whom?
Need you ask?!
The Canadian Real Estate bubble is pretty bad…..The good news is that a third of Canadians are debt free…My nephew is a realtor ,in Waterloo Ont. , who kept talking about “Rolling up the Equity ,to buy another property”, to build wealth….
When I chided him about it, like a good uncle should , he replied …”I don’t do that myself, that’s the way I make my living, urging other people to buy ,buy , buy”……Yeah ,that makes sense …..
Local news — Welcome To Denver Edition.
Homeless encampment has Uptown residents prepared to break leases (12/7/2023):
“When a homeless encampment appeared at 18th Avenue and North Marion Street near Saint Joseph Hospital on Oct. 4, neighbors hoped it would be short-lived.
Instead, residents from the upscale Kendrick apartment buildings told the Problem Solvers it’s been a downward spiral of safety concerns.
“Drug dealers are coming by. Drug deals are happening, open drug use, there’s needles and human waste everywhere. We’ve had residents report that they found people in stairwells doing fentanyl,” said Corinne, a recent transplant from San Diego.
The 36-year-old is one of three Kendrick residents who spoke to FOX31 but requested we not use their last names because of safety concerns.
“I feel unsafe in my own home scenario because I can’t go outside without a new thing happening. We’re right next to a hospital. We thought we were going to be safe living near here,” said Connie, a 33-year-old transplant from Chicago.
“Just recently, I was walking my dog and made it maybe 40 feet from the building and watched a man brutally beat another man with a crutch. So that was pretty terrifying for me,” said Reed, a 32-year-who moved to Denver from Dallas.
Corinne, Connie and Reed all moved to Denver in the last year because they each work remotely and chose to live in Denver.
“We can no longer safely go outside by ourselves without feeling very concerned for our safety, as most of us, myself included, have been followed, we’ve been yelled at,” Connie said. “I lived in Chicago for eight years. I never felt the amount of, like, fear for my safety as I have felt here since I moved in.”
https://kdvr.com/news/problem-solvers/homeless-encampment-has-uptown-residents-prepared-to-break-leases/
Fear for your safety?
At least there’s no more mean tweets now, Connie.
More local news.
On RTD, high schooler used to dodging fentanyl, chaos (12/6/2023):
“It’s the season of holiday cheer and fun family activities downtown. But the RTD train ride home from the Parade of Lights last Saturday night was anything but joyful for mother Cindi Clark and her daughter.
“My daughter starts yelling, ‘Quit doing fentanyl on the train,’” Clark said. “And we turn around, and they’re sitting like a foot away from us.”
Clark’s daughter, Aaliyah Villarreal, said she’s now used to the smell of smoke on the train as she and her friends use RTD often.
“Lately, it’s really bad,” Villarreal said. “Like every time we’re on there, someone’s either smoking fentanyl or it’s just chaotic on there.”
It’s gotten to a point where the sophomore in high school knows how to react.
“If it gets too like clouded up in there and, you know, you can’t breathe, you get off at your next stop, you get on the next car and hope to God there’s no one smoking on there,” Villarreal said. “It’s just, it’s so scary.”
Villarreal said she’s seen concerning things, like blood in foil.
“It’s so disgusting,” she said.
https://kdvr.com/news/local/on-rtd-high-schooler-used-to-dodging-fentanyl-chaos/
The state legislature decriminalized possession and use of fentanyl in 2019. The state legislature which is now permanent, one party rule, by a party which shall not be named (stop noticing!) …
And I’ll bet the Villareal family votes Dem in lockstep every election. But as we like to say here, no more mean tweets!
I wonder how the Villareal family (which I will assume is Mexican) will react as Venezuelans and other non Mexican Nuevos Americanos, start moving in on their turf. Don’t believe for a second what the MSM says about all Latinos being one big happy family. They despise each other.
Illinois is a one-party super majority state too. All kinds of nonsense. The worse it gets, the more the legislature doubles down on stupid.
Connie & Co. just need to break into a chorus singing “Uptown Girl” and dance their troubles away!
here, lemme git the flashmob started:
“Uptown Girl –
she’s been living in her uptown world
and maybe someday when my ships come in . . .
something something doo doo dah . . ”
* yeah, I always forget the lyrics
9News — People living in hotel say they were pushed out to make room for migrants (12/4/2023):
“Denver’s approach to sheltering migrants so they don’t end up on the streets is now pushing other vulnerable people onto the streets.
As the migrant crisis collides with the city’s homelessness problem, the impacts are spilling over into other cities. People who’d been living in a hotel in Aurora for months say they were pushed to the street this weekend after the City of Denver bought out all the rooms for migrants.
“Our family, we’ve been sleeping in the car for a couple of days,” said Joe Sauceda, who used to live at a Quality Inn in Aurora.
When Denver leased the hotel for the migrants, the hotel kicked out people like Sauceda. He said he’d lived at the Quality Inn for almost a year. His room key is no longer useful as he sleeps in his ’97 Lincoln with his partner and dog.
“I don’t think it’s fair at all. Because where do I go?” Sauceda said. “Why are we taking precedence over hardworking people that have been living here and are citizens of Aurora? Why are they pushing us out to bring other people in here?”
https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/people-living-in-hotel-say-they-were-pushed-out-make-room-for-migrants/73-7ce94fb5-befa-4cad-9d9d-f195245446df
Joe, you’re gonna need to cool it with all that #Noticing and stop asking those pesky questions.
Jonathan Greenblatt hand rubbing intensifies…
Joe Sauceda
Sauceda is a Hispanic name of Basque origin. I’m gonna guess that old Joe is Mexican and now has to move into his car to make room for the Venezuelans. This just goes to show that the city of Dumver’s budget is exhausted if they are kicking Mexican-Americans to the curb to make room for Venezuelans.
They aren’t just going to replace blancos, they are here to replace Mexicans too, and at the rate they are entering soon half of Venezuela will be here.
Did I read that right? A 2 million dollar home renting for $3700?
Prices are in Yellen Bux funny money.
Yes, you did.
If my maths are right, that’s a rent of 2.22% of market value.
Does that pencil out when Treasury bills are paying out 5%?
Yep. If I’m looking to reside in a two million dollar home I’m renting that baby every day of the week and then some. I rent and then taking my 2 mil I could’ve used to buy my 2mil house and making $7500 a month at 4.5%. You pay your rent with that and still pocket 4K.
In the 21st century the Sixpacks are supposed to labor for their money, not enjoy interest income.
I’m doing that while waiting for the $2M house to correct.
And that’s the problem. Folks today don’t do math, just hype.
Oh dear….
https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/eerie-pics-expose-malaysias-sick-projects-problem/news-story/91156ee32d02d1ec8b24d76d0d21b6b5
Do you worry about losing money if you buy a house now?
New Homeowners Lose $122,000 as Housing Prices Drop
Dec 07, 2023 at 3:12 PM EST
…
https://www.newsweek.com/housing-market-drop-new-homeowners-loss-equity-freefall-1850573
Fake “wealth” created by fake money melting away like FB tears in the rain as true price discovery stalks the Fed’s asset bubbles & Ponzi markets.
“Owners who battled historic mortgage rates to purchase their homes are now facing a market in retreat as single-family homes shed up to $223 daily in value.”
Would you rather lose $223 a day by living in a dumpy home you probably shouldn’t have bought, or pay $223 a day to live in a nice luxury hotel and forego all the headaches snd expenses of homeownership, including the need to cover PITI, in addition to the $223 daily calital loss? LOL!
I see my metro area (Las Vegas) made the list, though only NLV and Henderson are mentioned by name. IIRC, Vegas led the nation in foreclosures during the last housing bubble implosion.
Remain calm – all is well!
https://confoundedinterest.net/2023/12/09/running-on-empty-us-bank-deposit-outflows-continue-to-shrink-as-regional-stress-accelerates-mortgage-rates-up-151-under-biden/
https://twitter.com/willscharf/status/1732961193587884495 (w/ intro only): I have reviewed the new Hunter Biden indictment. As a former federal prosecutor, and someone who has followed the Hunter saga quite closely for years, here are my initial reactions:
From what I read he evaded payroll taxes on over $2 million. The IRS would typically body slam you over that, cuz they see it as stealing from social security and medicare. They’ll take yer shack in a heartbeat.
Ok, so in 1997 ,193 Countries agreed with UN to implement the 2021 UN Sustainable Earth Agenda, with 17 basic goals.
It was a compenhensive blue print to replace Respresentive Government, for unelected Entities to dictate a global New World Order. The objective was basically,
Control of all land use.
GLOBAL control of food.
GLOBAL, CONTROL OF EQUITY.
Global control of information.
Global control of School programs
GLOBAL Control of health
GLOBAL CONTROL of sustainable development.
GLOBAL CONTROL OF EVERYTHING. A One World Order in which the UN 2030 Sustainable earth agenda was just a added extention of the UN 2021 SUSTAINABLE EARTH Agenda.
Basically the majority of Countries, including the US, sign on to a One World Order, by unelected Monopoly Corporations, Rich Elites, Banks, private party organizations, etc, in a fasist/Communist partnership with United Nations and Governments of World.
The United Nations would dictate policy for World.
So, just saying the global governments betrayed humanity in 1997 when they all signed on to UN 2021 Sustainable earth agenda. Most people were not aware of all our rights under the Constitution being signed away to a One World Order UN Sustainable earth plan of control of all resources, control and surveillance of humans, control of all production and consumption.
Congress just introduced Bill to withdraw from UN , but the chances of it passing is ZERO, with corrupted Politics.
Biden is puppet for New World Order, and has done everything to advance the Agenda, and destruction of US, as we knew it.
The Climate Submit taking place right now, is just the usual suspects, screaming about speeding up solutions to Climate Change Emergency.
In spite of ever increasing dispute to Climate Change Emergency by thousands of scientists now, as well as their solutions being ” perposterois” the dispute is censored and obstructed.
ZERO co2 by 2050 is insanity and that would cause a epic disaster to earh and humans.
Just saying that the treason was done way back in 1997 with Countries signing onto the UN 2021 Sustainable earth blue print for take over of globe by unelected parties, Rich Entities and monopolies, Banks and medical system and private party foundations and organizations.
A way of taking over the World, without firing a shot.
By transferring power to unelected corrupt UN and all the private parties acting in collusion with the fasist/ Communist take over, with Global governments in collusion with the One World Order Plan.
Biden said, ” US should lead in One World Order.”
Did they ever talk about if you wanted the 2021 UN Sustainable earth agenda in 1997, when the government agreed to this take over of the World, control of all resources, control of all humans?
They want to move all humans to City Centers and eliminate all urban and rural living as part of the plan. (15 minute cities)
You will eat bugs and fake food, as current food, meats and crops are said to emit to much Co2.
Vaccine mandates will be enforced.
AI and robots will replace 50 % of human jobs within 12 years, rendering that many people dependant wards of the STATE.
INDIVIDUAL rights and freedoms eliminated for the collective, whereby the dictorship will determine the consumption of humans.
A total elimination of upper and middle class with all resources distributed in accordance with equity. WITHDRAW of fossil fuels, cars, allowance of travel, with digitization currency controlling consumption by Banks.
24/ 7 surveillance of humans , hacking humans, no freedoms or rights for the individual. BASICALLY no ability to get out of deprived and limited lifestyle , basic slavery.
The evidence shows they are depopulationist, and want a reduced population by a variety of mass murder schemes like killer vaccines, famine, freezing, wars, etc.
Just saying.
“GLOBAL CONTROL OF EVERYTHING.”
“16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave,[a] to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18 This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.” – Revelation 13:16-18, English Standard Version
– I’m sure it’s just a coincidence.
We haven’t even started crashing Claire.
It seems like some places already have started to crash.
Of course a recession could really kick the pace of price declines into overdrive, especially if investors who only bought for financial gains, not because they needed a place to live in, decided to bail before the truly serious price declines occured.
And don’t buy into the story that low interest rates will somehow save housing. For starters, low rates are an unlikely scenario, given persistently high inflation rates, the Fed’s “higher for longer” policy response, and gargantuan US debt levels which don’t comport with low inflation.
Secondly, when housing is massively overvalued, even low interest rates can’t save it, as Japan learned in its 1990-2000 housing bubble collapse, and China is learning presently. Once the CR8Ring process begins, it’s best to stand by, stand back and watch in awe until all is settled, just as you would do in case of a landslide or avalanche.
…
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=p7kqVNbx5PA
San Francisco
Housing
Housing Market
House Prices Plunge to Levels Not Seen for 10 Years
Dec 08, 2023 at 11:41 AM EST
By Giulia Carbonaro
US News Reporter
The median price of condos in downtown San Francisco, one of the most overvalued cities in America during the pandemic boom, has now plunged to the same levels they were a decade ago, according to recent data.
A chart updated to November 2023 and released by Compass, a website which provides real estate market data and insights, found that the price of condos in downtown San Francisco are now the same as they were in January 2014—just about over the $800,000 mark.
In the rest of San Francisco, condos tend to be much more expensive, for a median sale price of more than $1,200,000, as shown in a graph shared by the company in its report. The graph was also shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, by vacation rental investor Rohin Dhar.
…
https://www.newsweek.com/house-prices-plunge-levels-not-seen-10-years-1850713
From Newsweek. “Gen Z is looking forward to a housing market crash, according to a new study from LendingTree. The study found that 35 percent of Americans overall want the housing market to crash.”
– We’ve had three asset major bubbles in the past 20-odd years:
1. Dot-com (tech) Bubble. – How it ended: Tech stonks crashed
2. Housing Bubble 1.0 – How it ended: House prices crashed, but guberment intervened around 2010-2012 to put a floor under the market, creating Housing Bubble 2.0.
3. Everything Bubble. Aka Central Bank Bubble. This is a combination of (1) and (2), above, plus just about any other asset class thrown in for good measure. The housing bubble component is global. How it ended: Current bursting in real time. Slow motion train wreck. Much worse than just a dumpster fire. Oh, and don’t forget CRE and the MUCH larger sovereign debts in the system now.
“‘Unfortunately, if the national housing market were to crash, odds are that it would bring down the rest of the economy with it.’”
– It’s different this time. /s
“‘I hear my [girlfriend’s] family members talk about buying a $150,000 lakefront condo not too long ago [in Ohio maybe 10 years ago], and now it’s worth $450,000,’ ‘”
– It’s not the current “worth” of the assets, but rather the current “worth” of the fiat currency, which has been debased 97% since the Fed was founded in 1913. The trend accelerated after Aug. 15th, 1971 under the watch of Richard Nixon when the gold standard ended. It’s all about purchasing power of the fiat $. End game ensues. Reference: John Law and The Mississippi Bubble.
when the gold standard ended
By executive order!
Which means any subsequent President can undo it with a stroke of the pen.
Clown World gonna clown.
HuffPaint — Pregnant Trans Men Feel Alone And Mistreated By America’s Health Care System (12/7/2023):
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/pregnant-transmasculine-health-care_n_6570d2dbe4b0a10def8b55f0
Keep paying those property taxes, you’re paying to promote this in the public schools that your property taxes are paying for.
Pregnant men.
This world is too crazy for me, is there another one I can move to?
Was the 30-year mortgage the culprit in creating the current US housing market disaster?
Or was it more due to the Fed partnering with the evil twins, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to use interest rate suppression and government guaranteed mortgages to create a massive price bubble in US residential real estate which cannot be unwound without causing lots of financial pain?
Financial Times
Opinion On Wall Street
US market distortions put spotlight back on 30-year mortgage debate
Americans love long, fixed-rate loans but they can make homes less affordable for low income earners
Jennifer Hughes
Homes in Rocklin, California,
Since 2012, low-priced homes tracked by the American Enterprise Institute, have seen prices rise 150 per cent, about half as much again as houses in a medium-high priced bucket
Jennifer Hughes yesterday
There are many metrics to show how distorted the US housing market has become. Despite borrowing costs hitting 20 year highs, prices are hovering near record levels with benchmarks of the affordability of home ownership at the lowest levels in more than 30 years. Sales activity has slumped to levels not seen outside major financial crises.
Could an unusual but much lauded feature of the US housing market have contributed to the situation?
Thirty-year, fixed-rate mortgages dominate in the US and are chosen by around 90 per cent of all homebuyers. To their fans, they are a cornerstone of the American dream. In almost everywhere else in the world, home buyers can only dream of one as they pay mostly floating rates or face shorter repayment terms. In the US, they are largely possible only through government intervention, since many of the loans end up being guaranteed by government agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
But they have become a hot topic in the US because of the sharp drop in houses for sale. With about three-quarters of homeowners paying 4 per cent or less on their mortgages, they are “trapped” in their current homes because a new mortgage means paying more than 7 per cent. This has depressed the number of houses for sale, supporting high prices.
A recent critical column in the New York Times on 30-year mortgages prompted a punchy response in The Nation days later from economist James Galbraith. Supporters such as Galbraith contend that homeowners deserve protection and that lenders have far more ways to lay off the risks of a loan.
“It just reduces the uncertainty of homeowning, which of course was the point,” he says. “What you get as the borrower is assurance that for whatever indefinite period you (choose) . . . you’re not subject to the downside risk.”
Detractors warn that apart from limiting supply of properties on to the market when interest rates are rising, 30 year mortgages can push up house prices since spreading repayments over a longer term, than say the 20 years more common in other countries, raises the total amount a borrower can afford to borrow, allowing them to bid more.
…
Is a soft landing in the bag?
Fed PolicyHousing Market
The Fed was wrong about jobs and inflation
We didn’t need a job-loss recession to cool down the growth rate of inflation
December 8, 2023, 3:03 pm
By Logan Mohtashami
After today’s jobs report, which showed unemployment at 3.7%, it’s now clear that the Federal Reserve does not need to create a job-loss recession to bring down the growth rate of inflation. The Fed has much to answer for after their massive rate hikes and quantitative tightening policy. These were created to bring down inflation by impacting the labor market but they disproportionally affected housing in a negative way. The groundwork for rate cuts are now in place for 2024.
To understand what the Fed should do next, let’s do a quick review of the economic markers that got us to this point.
…
https://www.housingwire.com/articles/the-fed-was-wrong-about-jobs-and-inflation/
NO
Scroll through nitter.poast.org/GRomePow for c2006 articles calling for a soft landing.