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What Started As A Housing Slump Has Escalated Into A Full-Blown Crisis

It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “Right now, throughout central and western Massachusetts, we have seen a lot of that cash kind of dry up. So, we’re back into a market that is very normal for our geographic area,’ said Sara Lyman, owner of Athol’s Hometown Realtors. Lyman said this region has a lot of VA, USDA, and FHA buyers who are currently looking for homes. ‘We want them to be able to get a home inspection,” she said. ‘We want them to be able to negotiate around the defects that might be in the house. We want them to be able to get a home and not have to overpay 30-, 40-, 50-thousand dollars, like we’ve seen over the course of the last four years.'”

“The average sale price for a single-family home in Athol this year was $305,000, compared to $185,000-$200,000 in 2020-2021. Looking ahead to the new year, Lyman said, ‘ think we’re going to see stabilization in the marketplace. We’re probably going to see prices stay where they are, or maybe drop one and half to 2%. We’re not going to see any big gains, like we have in the past. For the first time in four years, for the last two months – and I think probably for another two months moving forward – we’ve seen buyers be able to negotiate under asking price; they’ve been able to negotiate concessions.'”

“The latest housing report for the Orlando area reflected that the Central Florida housing market has its largest housing inventory in nearly five years. The Orlando Regional Realtor Association’s November report detailed that 8,202 homes were available for sale, a year-to-year increase of 14%, and a 5% increase since October. ORRA President Lisa Hill said this is a good sign for the market going into 2024. ‘A balanced market is a six-month supply of homes. In November, for the first time since January 2019, we have more than four months of supply,’ Hill said.”

“The Victoria County real estate market fluctuated throughout 2023 with prices falling and rising. Home builders are helping to alleviate issues within real estate markets in large cities like Houston, Dallas and San Antonio where there are large subdivisions being built, which enables home builders to offer buydowns, said Veronica McCants, broker and co-owner of Remax Land and Homes. ‘As real estate agents, we have never seen this kind of market before with people stuck in homes they want to move out of but they just can’t afford it,’ said McCants. With a lack of home buyers in the market, many sellers are willing to negotiate lower home prices and even offer concessions where they offer to pay some of the buyer’s closing costs. Some sellers are even offering to buy down interest rates for buyers, said McCants. ‘Interest rates have gone up, so people’s buying dollars are smaller, and there are people buying and selling homes because they have to but the real estate market has just dried up,’ said McCants.”

“When 2022 ended, Denver metro realtors predicted interest rates would drive this year’s housing market. And while they expected the rate increases would stabilize the market, few anticipated those rates would suppress sales activity as much as they did in 2023. In the past few years, houses sold quickly, no matter their condition, but that was no longer true in 2023. Lauren Cotlar with 8z said buyers were nervous about houses that sat on the market. ‘After years of houses flying off the shelves, too much time on market became a stigma,’ she said. Sellers who wanted to maximize their potential profit wanted to price high, but Cotlar said she counseled caution. ‘You could price on the lower end and hope for multiple offers, or price it higher and know the house might sit.'”

“A custom-built Sacramento-area mansion with several over-the-top amenities — including an infinity edge pool with expansive Folsom Lake views, a 600-foot pathway winding through a landscaped garden and koi and turtle ponds — has sold in time for the new year for $3.93 million. Granite Bay artist Teresa Fike created the panels, which depict rural and domestic scenes, listing agent Deanna Erdman of Guide Real Estate told the Sacramento Bee when the home originally listed for $5.25 million in October 2022. The deal closed Dec. 22, 2023 after dropping in price to $4.25 million in October.”

“It’s probably one of Toronto’s most desired million-dollar neighbourhoods to live in. Other than the mud, discarded needles and constant screams from people ‘jonesing’ for drugs, it’s close to perfect. And the best part of Clarence Square Park’s tent city on Spadina Ave. – just north of Front St. – is that it’s affordable. There is nowhere cheaper. No one pays rent or a mortgage at this downtown housing development project, which is surrounded by buildings where people pay thousands of dollars a month. Some describe it as looking similar to the shanty towns in that part of 1930s depression-era Toronto while others say it looks like San Francisco or the east side of Vancouver. ‘No one feels safe walking through there now,’ said one resident of an adjacent building. ‘It’s ruined the area.'”

“House prices in Huddersfield grew at the fastest rate in the UK in the last year – despite a nationwide downturn – according to a report. While the Halifax didn’t publicly reveal all the areas that had seen price falls, the five with the biggest decreases had seen falls of between 13% and 15%. They included Stoke-on-Trent, Perth and Stockport where prices fell 15%, 14.1% and 13.3% respectively.”

“The housing market in Hong Kong continued to decline, with prices in November falling for the seventh month in a row to their lowest level in almost seven years, according to government data. In the first 11 months of the year, property prices fell by 5.59 per cent. Things have not improved this month, according to Derek Chan, head of research at Ricacorp Properties. ‘Home prices in December continue to fall, making a full year decline of 7 per cent,’ he said. Property prices are down about 20.6 per cent from the market’s peak in September 2021.”

“One of China’s largest investment firms, Citic Trust, had a clear pitch to investors when it was aiming to raise $1.7 billion to fund property development in 2020: There is no safer Chinese investment than real estate. The trust, the investment arm of the state-owned financial conglomerate Citic, called housing ‘China’s economic ballast’ and ‘an indispensable value investment.’ The money it raised would be put toward four projects from Sunac China Holdings, a major developer. Three years later, investors who put their money in the Citic fund have recouped only a small fraction of their investment. Three of the fund’s construction projects are on hold or significantly delayed because of financing problems or poor sales. Sunac has defaulted and is trying to restructure its debt.”

“The unraveling of the Citic fund provides a window into the broader problems facing China’s ailing property sector. What started as a housing slump has escalated into a full-blown crisis. The budgets of local governments, which depended on revenue from real estate, have been destabilized. The shock to the country’s financial system has drained China’s capital markets. ‘Three years ago, nobody would have dreamed of this amount of defaulting,’ said Andrew Collier, managing director at Orient Capital, an economic research firm in Hong Kong. ‘It is pretty staggering.'”

“Celina Zhang said she invested about $420,000, a significant chunk of her savings, into this fund in 2020, because Citic Trust was a reliable, big brand. A Citic investment manager all but assured her that she would get her principal back and annual returns exceeding 7.5 percent, Ms. Zhang said. ‘At that time, I was fairly confident in real estate,’said Ms. Zhang, 38, who lives in the southern Chinese city Shenzhen. ‘Housing prices were all rising.’ When the Citic investment matured in October, Ms. Zhang said, she received about $80,000 in payouts although it wasn’t clear to her if that was interest on her investment or part of her principal of $420,000.”

“The Citic official acknowledged that the ‘entire market is not good now,’ but she asked for patience. ‘The money has not arrived, so everyone will definitely be worried and angry — this is normal,’ she said. ‘But don’t get too angry.'”

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  1. ‘sold in time for the new year for $3.93 million. Granite Bay artist Teresa Fike created the panels, which depict rural and domestic scenes, listing agent Deanna Erdman of Guide Real Estate told the Sacramento Bee when the home originally listed for $5.25 million in October 2022. The deal closed Dec. 22, 2023 after dropping in price to $4.25 million in October’

    That’s the spirit! Low ball after the price slash!

  2. ” ‘Home prices in December continue to fall, making a full year decline of 7 per cent,’ he said. Property prices are down about 20.6 per cent from the market’s peak in September 2021.”

    Can’t wait to read about similar affordability improvements in the USA!

  3. ‘We want them to be able to get a home and not have to overpay 30-, 40-, 50-thousand dollars, like we’ve seen over the course of the last four years’…The average sale price for a single-family home in Athol this year was $305,000, compared to $185,000-$200,000 in 2020-2021’

    This wasn’t just the ‘zoom towns’. It’s every never-heard-of sh$thole across the US. You really fooked up Jerry.

    2. A few years ago the townspeople wanted to rename Athol to make it more upscale, the 2 top choices were Anuth and Penuth

          1. Say the names with a lisp (replace “th” with “s” or “s” with “th”), so “Althol” is “assh0le”. Same with the others.

            Lol again, Baron.

  4. “No one pays rent or a mortgage at this downtown housing development project, which is surrounded by buildings where people pay thousands of dollars a month. Some describe it as looking similar to the shanty towns in that part of 1930s depression-era Toronto while others say it looks like San Francisco or the east side of Vancouver. ‘No one feels safe walking through there now,’ said one resident of an adjacent building. ‘It’s ruined the area.'”

    Sounds like a Democrat’s wet dream.

    1. constant screams from people ‘jonesing’ for drugs,

      I’m sure there’s youtube video of this somewhere, but I’m afraid to look for it. Thankfully I’ve never seen anyone in the throes of withdrawal.

      1. “constant screams from people ‘jonesing’ for drugs,”

        This should be incentive enough for these people to want to get off drugs but for some reason this incentive isn’t strong enough.

        People are stupid.

      2. “I’ve never seen anyone”

        You have, but you don’t know it. For junkies it’s like the flu. For tweakers who’ve been awake for days, it’s like paranoid schizophrenia.

        1. “For junkies it’s like the flu. For tweakers who’ve been awake for days, it’s like paranoid schizophrenia.”

          And yet the demand for this sh1t never seems to diminish. Go figure.

          1. And yet the demand for this sh1t never seems to diminish. Go figure.

            I wouldn’t be surprised if the gooberment makes it available to them, knowing that they will cause mayhem and eventually OD and die.

  5. “One of China’s largest investment firms, Citic Trust, had a clear pitch to investors when it was aiming to raise $1.7 billion to fund property development in 2020: There is no safer Chinese investment than real estate.”

    Safe as houses, eh?

    1. The Fed & it’s bullion bank market manipulators are going to soil themselves when 1.4B Chinese embrace the wisdom of their ancestors and start stacking the shiny as a hedge against China’s coming economic collapse.

    1. Markets Roundup
      The latest news & analysis
      Today’s Action
      Market Data
      Stocks

      LIVE UPDATES
      Stock Market Today: S&P 500 Futures Steady on Last Trading Day of 2023
      Markets could end the year with an all-time record for the S&P 500
      Last Updated:
      Dec. 29, 2023 at 8:52 AM EST

      It’s the last trading day of a blockbuster year, and the S&P 500 is just shy of a new record.

      Stock futures held steady Friday. If stocks rise, it will be the sixth consecutive day of gains for the index. A big enough jump–around 0.3%–would take the S&P 500 past the previous high-point reached in January 2022.

      The index is poised to finish the year up 25%, defying the impact of higher interest rates, a new war in the Middle East (let alone the continuing conflict in Ukraine) and a regional banking crisis.

      The biggest gainer in the S&P 500 over 2023 was chipmaker Nvidia, which gained a stonking 240% through Thursday. Not far behind is Meta Platforms, up nearly 200%, rewarding those who had faith in Mark Zuckerberg to turn the Instagram owner around.

      Another big winner: Bitcoin rebounded 156% and trades for more than $42,500.
      …
      https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/stock-market-today-dow-jones-12-29-2023

    2. Zimbabwe had the highest performing stock market in the world in 2017 as the currency collapsed along with the underlying economy. Now the Fed and Brandon regime are hurtling us down the same road to Zimbabwe 2.0.

  8. So, we’re back into a market that is very normal for our geographic area,’ said Sara Lyman, owner of Athol’s Hometown Realtors.

    Realtor dissemblers trying desperately to convey a sense of “normalcy” returning to the housing market, but even the globalist shill media REIC hacks can no longer conceal the extent of the cratering.

  9. We want them to be able to get a home and not have to overpay 30-, 40-, 50-thousand dollars, like we’ve seen over the course of the last four years.’”

    What I’m hearing is, UHSs desperately need to be closing before their Lexus SUVs get hauled away by the repo man.

  10. Looking ahead to the new year, Lyman said, ‘ think we’re going to see stabilization in the marketplace. We’re probably going to see prices stay where they are, or maybe drop one and half to 2%.

    Stop lying, Sarah. Realtor happy talk can’t conceal the reality of a bursting housing bubble. The crater is only going to accelerate in 2024 given the free-fall of the underlying economy as millions of FBs find their financial situations becoming even more precarious.

  11. ‘You could price on the lower end and hope for multiple offers, or price it higher and know the house might sit.’”

    You stick to yer guns, greedheads, and cling to those delusional wish prices. If you can just hold on until the promised Spring Miracle Revival appears, Shirley a buyer will come along who recognizes your listing is special and is willing to overpay. So hang in there!

  12. Property prices are down about 20.6 per cent from the market’s peak in September 2021.”

    Is that a lot?

  13. Three years later, investors who put their money in the Citic fund have recouped only a small fraction of their investment.

    I love the smell of burning housing speculators in the morning. It smells like…victory.

  14. When the Citic investment matured in October, Ms. Zhang said, she received about $80,000 in payouts although it wasn’t clear to her if that was interest on her investment or part of her principal of $420,000.”

    Color your money gone, Celina.

  15. ‘The money has not arrived, so everyone will definitely be worried and angry — this is normal,’ she said. ‘But don’t get too angry.’”

    Stamp your little feet if you must, Chinese bag holders, but remember anyone who challenges the CCP is going to end up as an internment camp detainee and involuntary organ donor.

  16. Property management group offering free housing to migrant families across the Denver metro (12/28/2023):

    “Wasatch Property Group, who owns and operates several multi-family communities around the Denver metro area, is helping supply furnished housing at no cost for 15 families in need.

    “When we found out about all the migrants being just bused in over the last few weeks, we wanted to do something,” said John Kindle, who is an area leader for the company in Colorado.

    Kindle said they are providing families with a fully-furnished apartment with everything they need. Previously, the 15 families were staying at the Quality Inn in Aurora.

    Jhenny Urbana, who is currently seven months pregnant, her 11-year-old son Jefferson and her husband Luis, got the keys to their new apartment on Thursday morning.

    Urbana said this blessing came at the perfect time for her and her family, as they were about to run out of time at the shelter.

    “We were getting ready to go live under a bridge,” Urbana told Denver7, in Spanish, adding she couldn’t believe how nice the new apartment was, “[I am] immensely happy and content.”

    https://www.denver7.com/news/local-news/property-management-group-offering-free-housing-to-migrant-families-across-the-denver-metro

    1. Jhenny Urbana,

      What’s with Venezuelans and their weird , non Spanish first names? It’s the Latin American equivalent of Laquisha

    2. “We were getting ready to go live under a bridge,” Urbana told Denver7, in Spanish, adding she couldn’t believe how nice the new apartment was, “[I am] immensely happy and content.”

      I wonder what sort of legal mess Wasatch has gotten itself into. Will they be able to evict these people someday, or will they be living there, rent free, for the next 30+ years?

      1. 15 families got their “free” apartments. Now another 1,000 families will demand their “free” apartments, because reasons, and they won’t take no for an answer.

        1. Which I think is part of the plan to ignite the 2024 Summer of Love. Those who don’t get anything (the majority) will eventually riot.

          Imagine tens of thousands of these people roaming your city, venturing into your neighborhood, pounding on your door, demanding that you let them in. Hopefully your state has Castle Doctrine.

          They are invaders. We the people did not invite them to come. It was the WEF and their puppets who told them to come and who promised they would be cared for: “Nunca tendrás que trabajar, todo será gratis. Vas a vivir como un rey”

    3. ‘We were getting ready to go live under a bridge’

      I’ve mentioned before that if you leave a dog in a car in the summer, you’ll rightfully be arrested and prosecuted. If you take a child and yer unborn baby into serious harms way, yer a victim.

      2. I’m still wondering how they are flying these people all over the country on airlines, as flights are typically sold out this time of year, yet I have seen images of airport gates with tons of invaders waiting to board a flight. Are these charter flights? Even if they are, do airlines have airplanes and pilots to spare this time of year?

        And then, after flying all these people to various metros, there is no place for them to stay, so they stick them in tents, in the winter.

        1. I know that Border Patrol officials are denying that the invaders are getting $5000 upon arrival, but given how many buy beater cars right away it seems likely that it’s true. Cars that they drive unlicensed and uninsured.

  17. Washington Post (via Archive) — Justice Dept. warns it will sue Texas over state’s new immigration law (12/28/2023):

    “Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) last week signed into law S.B. 4, which authorizes local and state police to arrest undocumented immigrants and empowers state judges to order such people removed from the country.

    Abbott said the statute will “help stop the tidal wave of illegal entry into Texas, add additional funding to build more border wall and crack down on human smuggling.”

    In the letter sent Thursday to Abbott, senior Justice Department official Brian Boynton said that if Texas implements the law when it is due to take effect in March, doing so would violate the Constitution.

    Because the law “is unconstitutional and will disrupt the federal government’s operations, we request that Texas forbear in its enforcement,” Boynton wrote. He said the department “intends to file suit to enjoin the enforcement of SB 4 unless Texas agrees to refrain from enforcing the law. The United States is committed to both securing the border and ensuring the processing of noncitizens. The Texas law, Boynton’s letter said, “is contrary to these goals.”

    https://archive.is/zj8Tj

    NOTHING will stop the Great Replacement. Attorney General Merrick Garland has never seen a native white population that he didn’t want replaced, because globalists gonna globe.

    1. NOTHING will stop the Great Replacement.

      It is going into overdrive, with the afterburners glowing red hot as the conga line at the border gets bigger than ever. There are 100,000 invaders in Tapachula, Mexico, preparing to head north.

        1. Jean Raspail wrote The Camp of the Saints.

          Here’s an interesting exercise. Go to Amazon and try to buy a copy.

          2. Yup, only used copies. No one is publishing it now. I’ll bet copies previously purchased for Kindle are being removed from devices because reasons.

    1. At this point the budget deficit is going parabolic, so, why not just forgive everyone’s debts and be done with it? Sure, the ensuing CPI will be horrific, but we’re going that way anyway.

      And even if there is a successful red wave next year, the GOP won’t shrink the deficits, not in a significant way. At best they will stop it from growing even more, which means it will stay at several trillion a year. We have crossed the event horizon.

      1. Does it seem odd to go deeper into debt in order to pay higher-for-longer interest rates to bring down inflation?

        It’s questions like this which make me realize how little I understand of macroeconomics.

        1. When politics trump sound economic principles.

          Adam Smith said there is a lot of ruin in a nation. I fear we may soon run out of ruin. Some say that’s unpossible, because we are the USA; but I don’t think so.

      2. I also don’t expect the red wave to deport a single illegal. Even the ones that commit violent crimes will be allowed to stay.

        I also think that white flight will also be going into overdrive as the invaders make themselves at home in central neighborhoods.

        1. There’s a WPP (White people premium) that people pay to live in white neighborhoods in urban areas, especially for the upper middle class. Even the ‘southie’ type white trash neighborhoods in urban areas still cost more than the hispanic or black areas. The invaders are probably going to displace many working class whites (that’s what happened to my white working class subdivision in a chicago suburb) but those that can afford the WPP will pay it, and the upper class areas will thrive. Maybe I’m whistling past the grave yard here but my nice suburb of Chicago is thriving, schools are growing with students, unlike most areas that are hemorrhaging kids; people seem to be making this their refuge away from the unwashed hoardes of immigrants everywhere.

    1. Los Angeles
      Real estate
      Housing
      Americans Are Fleeing Los Angeles More Than Anywhere Else for First Time
      Dec 29, 2023 at 12:18 PM EST
      By Suzanne Blake
      Reporter, Consumer & Social Trends
      Los Angeles is no longer a destination. Instead, people are fleeing the metro in droves, according to a new Redfin report.

      Throughout November, nearly 24 percent of American homebuyers were looking to move to a new metro area, the real estate brokerage found. However, Los Angeles was not at the top of the list, instead becoming the area residents were most likely to move away from.

      “That marks the first time on record it has been the number one place homebuyers are leaving, and the first time in over two years the Bay Area has dropped out of the number one spot,” Redfin said.

      Initially, Americans started fleeing both California areas when remote work became standard during the COVID-19 pandemic. No longer tied to cities with high costs of living, many Americans settled down into new and more affordable locations.

      Behind Los Angeles in terms of top locations Americans left in November were San Francisco, New York City, Washington, D.C., Seattle, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit and Denver.
      …
      https://www.newsweek.com/record-numbers-residents-moving-away-los-angeles-1856539

      1. Just imagine how little work relitters would have if not for droves of residents fleeing cities they can no longer stand to live in.

        1. When I took my CCW back in about 21010 in Region IV the instructor was saying how you could fly airlines in the U.S. with a gun in one bag as long as the ammo was in a separate bag.

          One of the guys taking the course raised his hand and said… so if I’m flying into Laguardia, the instructor stopped him, I said the United States I didn’t say New York or California.

        2. Plenty of out-of-state plates (mostly AZ and TX but one IL) at our staycation the last 2 nights.

      3. “Behind Los Angeles in terms of top locations Americans left in November were San Francisco, New York City, Washington, D.C., Seattle, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit and Denver.”

        All left-wing sh*thole places! I hope they don’t bring their voting habits to the new places!!!

      4. Years ago, before NPR went completely bat$heet crazy leftist, I heard a story where they interviewed new immigrants about their experiences coming to America. One asian guy said he moved to Los Angeles and looked around, and the first thing he said was “where da white people at?” He expected there to be white people in southern california but there aren’t many, and they are mostly confined to areas far away from the unwashed masses and hoardes…. I don’t know what to make of that, I’ve never been to LA, but my understanding is that it is basically an entirely hispanic and black city with a few rich white folk. It takes hours to get anywhere in awful traffic. There’s a song by the ex-husband of the love interest in the Christmas move Elf called, “Why would anyone want to live here” by Death Cab for Cutie. That kind of sums up what I think of LA. Now I live outside of Chicago and everyone thinks its violent. And they wouldn’t be wrong. There’s violence all over these days. Our migrants are shooting at each other now.

        1. Los Angeles is sprawling and diverse. USC is in the sh!tty part of town whereas UCLA is in the upscale part of town. Understanding it’s satire, I suggest you watch Steve Martin’s LA Story.

  20. Economy
    China’s economy was supposed to be the comeback story of 2023. The lowest-ever foreign stock purchases didn’t help make that happen.
    Huileng Tan
    Dec 29, 2023, 12:00 AM PST
    Investors are paying attention to the stock market at a securities business hall in Fuyang, China, on December 5, 2023.
    Costfoto/NurPhoto/Getty Images

    – Foreign funds bought $6.2 billion of Chinese onshore stocks, according to Bloomberg records.

    – This is the lowest-ever amount of foreign investor purchases in mainland shares.

    – China’s economy struggles to recover post-pandemic amid a property crisis and youth unemployment.
    …
    https://www.businessinsider.com/china-economy-mainland-stocks-lowest-foreign-fund-inflows-ever-markets-2023-12

        1. Let me restate that: Foreign investor purchases in mainland China stock shares were below 6 parts per 10,000 in 2023. That’s not alot.

          Meanwhile, Pooh Bear divested from US Treasurys, which enjoyed a tremendous year-end rally. I wonder who came out ahead in this economic game of tit-for-tat?

  21. ‘As real estate agents, we have never seen this kind of market before with people stuck in homes they want to move out of but they just can’t afford it’

    Those were my winnahs! Veronica.

  22. ‘In the past few years, houses sold quickly, no matter their condition, but that was no longer true in 2023. Lauren Cotlar with 8z said buyers were nervous about houses that sat on the market. ‘After years of houses flying off the shelves, too much time on market became a stigma,’ she said. Sellers who wanted to maximize their potential profit wanted to price high, but Cotlar said she counseled caution. ‘You could price on the lower end and hope for multiple offers, or price it higher and know the house might sit’

    This is a sponsored article, the UHS paid for it.

    When the cheerleaders are on the bus, the game is over.

  23. ‘Three years ago, nobody would have dreamed of this amount of defaulting’

    That’s a load of horse hockey Andy.

    1. October home prices
      A sale pending sign is displayed in front of a home in Sudbury, Mass. on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)
      HOUSING
      Home prices continue to increase in most major cities
      By Susan Carpenter New York City
      PUBLISHED 12:50 PM ET Dec. 26, 2023

      Home prices are continuing their steady upward climb in most major metropolitan areas. National home prices were up 4.8% in October, according to the new S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index released Tuesday.

      “U.S. home prices accelerated at their fastest annual rate of the year in October,” S&P Dow Jones Indices Head of Commodities Brian D. Luke said in a statement. October marked the ninth consecutive month of price gains “and the strongest national growth rate since 2022.”

      Detroit saw the biggest jump in prices. Homes in Detroit increased 8.1% in October compared with a year earlier, followed by San Diego (+7.2%) and New York (+7.1%).

      Eight of the nation’s 20 largest cities registered all-time housing price highs in October: Miami, Atlanta, Chicago, Boston, Detroit, Charlotte, New York and Cleveland.

      The Midwest and Northeast parts of the country are the fastest-growing markets, according to the Index, while the Southwest and West are lagging.

      Portland, Ore., was the only major city reporting lower prices in October compared with a year earlier. Prices fell 0.6%.

      The October home price gains occurred even as mortgage rates peaked above 8% for the first time in decades.

      “With mortgage rates easing and the Federal Reserve guiding toward a slightly more accommodative stance, homeowners may be poised to see more appreciation,” Luke said.
      …
      https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/affordable-housing/2023/12/26/home-prices-continue-to-increase-in-most-major-cities

    2. Real Estate
      ‘The greatest real estate correction in my lifetime’: Grant Cardone sees doom and gloom ahead for US real estate — but here’s how savvy investors can use it to ‘grab trophy real estate’
      A massive correction could be devastating for property owners.
      Grant Cardone in his home office, speaking directly to the camera.
      Fox Business/YouTube
      By Jing Pan
      Dec. 29, 2023

      High interest rates have already cast a dark shadow over the U.S. real estate market. And according to real estate mogul Grant Cardone, the slump is just getting started.

      “I just want to say that we’re entering the greatest real estate correction in my lifetime,” he said in a recent interview with FOX & Friends.

      The impact may vary across different types of properties.

      “It will not include single-family homes, but it will include office where we’re already seeing that damage, and we’re going to see it across the entire apartment complex,” Cardone explained.

      A massive real estate correction can be devastating to property owners who’ve already been grappling with higher mortgage payments as a result of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hikes. However, for people with dry powder to deploy, Cardone believes the incoming setback could present an unprecedented opportunity.

      “It’s going to be a great opportunity for individuals, regular everyday people to actually grab trophy real estate from institutions. This has never happened in this country. It’s going to be at epic levels,” he added.

      Indeed, it’s now easier than ever for everyday Americans to access real estate properties that were once considered off-limits to retail investors. Here’s a look at three simple strategies to “grab trophy real estate.”
      …
      https://moneywise.com/real-estate/grant-cardone-warns-of-biggest-correction-coming

    3. Yahoo
      Benzinga
      These Three California Cities Are Forecast To See A Drop In Home Prices In 2024
      Eric McConnell
      Fri, December 29, 2023 at 8:30 AM PST·5 min read

      Meta-Description: Although California real estate remains valuable, some cities in the northern part of the state could see a steep decline in property values in 2024

      Historically, California has been considered one of the safest bets in real estate when it comes to appreciation and investor profits. However, a recent study by Realtor.com found several California cities could see property values decline in 2024. Could that be an opening for new buyers? Keep reading to find out where you might be able to find some underpriced gems in the Golden State.

      San-Francisco/Oakland/Berkeley -6.5%

      The San Francisco Bay Area has always been a desirable real estate market. This is especially true for well-heeled East Bay suburbs such as Walnut Creek and Danville and San Francisco’s wealthiest enclaves like Pacific Heights. The emergence of San Francisco as a center of the tech boom has pushed property values in the area into overdrive.

      Adding spiraling rents, low interest rates and a nearly endless supply of newly minted tech millionaires to a lack of inventory led to average home prices in the San Francisco/Oakland/Berkeley corridor increasing from $816,000 in 2016 to nearly $1.1 million by November. That’s down from an all-time high of nearly $1.2 million in May.

      A combination of increasing interest rates, an uptick in crime in the city and the rise of remote work has dented this area’s market strength. The forecast for 2024 is that prices will slide by 6.5%. The price drop combined with interest rates will not be significant enough to make buying in the Bay Area a realistic prospect for most people. The market may be permanently beyond the reach of anyone making less than $500,000 per year.

      Don’t Miss:

      Investing in real estate just got a whole lot simpler. This Jeff Bezos-backed startup will allow you to become a landlord in just 10 minutes, and you only need $100.
      …
      https://finance.yahoo.com/news/three-california-cities-forecast-see-163010655.html

      1. “Realtor.com found several California cities could see property values decline in 2024. Could that be an opening for new buyers? Keep reading to find out where you might be able to find some underpriced gems in the Golden State.

        San-Francisco/Oakland/Berkeley -6.5%”

        1) 6.5% down after a 50% increase is nothing.

        2) It seems like we have already seen reports of far larger drops in San Francisco.

        3) Realtors are…

    4. Business
      San Diego rent prices have dropped 5 months in a row. See if they dropped in your area
      One of San Diego’s newest apartment buildings, Casa Verde in North Park.
      San Diego rents are down, or flat, to end the year.
      Pictured: One of San Diego’s newest apartment buildings, Casa Verde in North Park.
      (Ana Ramirez/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
      Forecasts have rents continuing to drop in the first half of 2024. San Diego County rarely has rent drops in its history
      By Phillip Molnar
      Dec. 27, 2023 5:30 AM PT

      There’s a chance it might be easier to be a San Diego renter next year.

      San Diego County rents are ending the year down from previous highs, following a national trend. The average monthly rent for a county apartment is $2,397 a month, said real estate tracker CoStar. That’s down from $2,406 a month to start the year.

      A 0.4 percent drop in rents in a normal market would be hardly notable, but this is San Diego we’re talking about. Rent was up 13.4 percent in a year to start 2022, and it’s rare to find much historical precedent for drops. In CoStar records going back to 2000, the biggest drop was a 2.2 percent annual reduction in the third quarter of 2009.

      Most of the rent reductions have only happened in the last half of this year, with December marking five months of rent declines in San Diego County.
      …
      https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/story/2023-12-27/san-diego-rent-prices-have-dropped-5-months-in-a-row-see-if-they-dropped-in-your-neighborhoods

  25. California leavin’: How the Golden State influences Nevada’s population
    author logo
    By Patrick Blennerhassett
    Las Vegas Review-Journal
    22 hours ago

    Back in 1997, Clark County added a staggering 77,336 people to its population, with 38 percent of the newcomers hailing from California.

    More than a quarter century later, the same story is still playing out, albeit on a slightly smaller scale.

    Clark County will likely never see another population boom like 1997 again, but it has had substantial waves of people moving in since, including significant bumps in 2004, 2009 and finally in 2019, with California migrants consistently driving the growth.

    Nevada has always been an enticing place for Californians to relocate — and its more than just the geography. The Golden State has made up the majority of new Silver State residents as Clark County’s population has swelled from 2.1 million in 2015 to 2.3 million at the end of 2023. The county is expected to break the 3 million threshold sometime around 2047.

    “One of the things that people really like about Nevada is the fact that we don’t have an income tax here,” said Guy Hobbs, managing director of Hobbs Ong & Associates, previously chief financial officer for Clark County from 1980 to 1995. “And we don’t have an 11 percent income tax like California has, and by original structure, the gaming element was intended to supplant the need for something like an income tax, so the revenue from the gaming tax, which is formidable, goes to the state’s budget.”

    Hobbs said tough economic times force people to make big decisions such as moving to another state, and right now Nevada is proving to be a financially viable alternative for Californians — dealing with a high cost of living and housing — during the most recent wave.
    …
    https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/housing/california-leavin-how-the-golden-state-influences-nevadas-population-2972914

  26. Does it seem like there is no shortage of bears lurking in the woods as Wall Street celebrates yet another Santa Claus rally?

  27. Yahoo Finance
    Business Insider
    A long-time market bear who called the 2000 and 2008 crashes warns the S&P 500 could plummet 64%, bursting a historic bubble
    Zahra Tayeb
    July 25, 2023·2 min read
    Traders 2008
    (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

    – Asset-bubble expert John Hussman has issued another dire warning: the S&P 500 could crash 64% from current levels.

    – The famously bearish investor said extreme equity valuations and “unfavourable market internals” will trigger the slide.

    – Such a slump will lead to the collapse of “the most extreme yield-seeking speculative bubble in U.S. history,” he said.

    John Hussman is doubling down on his dire outlook for US stocks, even after the market defied recession predictions to notch some impressive gains this year.
    …
    https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/long-time-market-bear-called-204546163.html

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