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Bang! A Builder Has Collapsed. Bang! There Goes $120,000 And It’s Just Gone. That’s It

A report from Lew Sichelman. “If you have a fixed-rate mortgage, your payments will always stay the same, right? Wrong. Maybe you’ve heard the term PITI, which stands for the main components of a typical mortgage payment: principal, interest, taxes and insurance. And while the ‘P’ and the first ‘I’ won’t increase in a fixed-rate loan, the ‘TI’ —your property taxes and homeowner’s insurance — most assuredly will. If you are like the roughly 80% of borrowers who pay all four PITI elements together on a monthly basis, then your monthly payments are almost guaranteed to go up — possibly substantially. Toby Wells of Cornerstone Servicing in Houston says his company fields many inquiries from bewildered customers when their payments rise. ‘They’re shocked,’ Wells says. ‘They ask, ‘What have you guys done?’”

“Local increases can be staggering. One Florida policyholder hunting for a new insurer said he was quoted an annual premium of $7,200 for a policy that currently cost him just $2,200. Actually, the Sunshine State stands as a microcosm of what’s going on elsewhere. Triple-I says the average premium in Florida is now $6,000, whereas the national average is $1,700. Last year, premiums for homeowners in the state jumped 42% on average, and that’s on top of an average 33% boost in 2022.”

The Ahwatukee Foothills News in Arizona. “One of the leading analysts of the Valley’s housing market said last week that homesellers’ position is improving but it also indicated they may be facing strong headwinds throughout the year from homebuilders and new home sales. The Cromford Report also said buyers can find a little light in the housing scene with a continuing rise in the number of homes for sale to a total not seen since before the pandemic. ‘Supply has been gently increasing since the start of 2024 and has reached comfortably north of 17,000,’ it said, reflecting a total for Maricopa and Pinal counties. ‘This is still well below the long-term average but is the highest total we have seen in late March since 2019.'”

“But there also is trouble in paradise where sellers are concerned, the Cromford Report indicated. ‘Re-sales have been suffering from strong competition from new homes and this source of supply is looking stronger than last year,’ it said. ‘In February there were 2,810 single-family home permits across Maricopa and Pinal counties – which is the highest number since March 2022 and up 107% compared to February last year. Sellers should expect to be facing increased competition from the new home builders over the coming 12 months.'”

The Los Angeles Times. “It seems only yesterday that California’s population was nearly 40 million. Then more people left the state. Now we’re not even at 39 million. People have been fleeing this once-Golden State. And the exodus accelerated on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s watch. ‘The biggest reason we’re losing population is that people are moving out,’ says Hans Johnson, a demographer at the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California. ‘That has slowed, but we’re still losing hundreds of thousands to other states.’ That’s a net loss after factoring in people moving to California. And why are they leaving? Mainly because of California’s high cost of living, particularly housing. That’s the biggest reason movers cite. California loses national political clout as people leave. We’ll probably surrender two more U.S. House seats after the 2030 census. We lost one in 2020 when we were still growing.”

From Urban Turf. “The number of cranes in the DC skyline continues to drop. According to Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB), the city has about 18 construction cranes active as of this month, down 20 percent from 2023. In 2020, there were 45 cranes in the sky in DC. ‘Activity in Washington, D.C. has slowed, with hospitality, residential, cultural, and mixed-use sector projects nearing completion,’ the latest RLB survey said about DC. DC is not alone in seeing its crane numbers drop. Cities with a decrease of more than 20% include Boston, Chicago, Denver, New York City, Portland, and San Francisco.”

From Moneywise. “Billionaire Barry Sternlicht is calling out the Federal Reserve for wreaking havoc on the real estate market with aggressive interest rate hikes. Sternlicht, chairman and CEO of global real estate investment firm Starwood Capital Group, thinks the Fed is overstating inflation and hurting real estate, pointing to rent prices that have declined across America. However, he also acknowledged the Fed has no other tool to combat inflation. ‘I’ve been through five or six crises,’ he said. ‘This one feels the worst to me.’ Sternlicht believes the federal government continuing to spend heavily is contributing to the inflation problem.”

“‘You have one part of the government with their foot on the brake, the Federal Reserve and Powell, and then you have the other part of the government, the legislature, spending as much money as they can,’ Sternlicht said. ‘What [Powell] really needs to do is walk across the street and tell Congress to stop spending money like drunken sailors.'”

The Kansas Reflector. “Eight months after a bank failure shook this historic and close-knit community, new details are emerging that indicate just how deeply the bank’s collapse was felt in town. It’s a story about the theft of $47 million, which authorities allege the bank’s CEO used to cover his losses in an online cryptocurrency scam, but ultimately it’s a tale about trust and money and what happens when an institution that most of us take for granted collapses. Shan Hanes, the CEO of Heartland Tri-State Bank, is charged in federal district court with embezzling $47.1 million between May and July of last year to purchase cryptocurrency. If convicted, he could be sentenced to the maximum penalty of up to 30 years in prison. Hanes, 52, also faces 29 felony counts in Morton County District Court in connection with the same scheme, for acts officials say he committed between January and July 2023.”

“It was the fourth of five bank failures nationwide last year. A February 7 report from the Office of the Inspector General of the Federal Reserve found the Heartland Bank failed because of a ‘pig butchering’ scheme that entangled Hanes, who used his considerable influence at the bank and in the community to get by for months with illegal wire transfers and other allegedly criminal activity. Pig butchering, as I described in a September column, is a vicious online scam. The ‘pigs’ to be butchered are victims lured into investing in virtual or foreign currencies by scammers using fake identities with elaborate storylines to gain trust and fatten the stakes. These schemes are often run from Southeast Asia by organized crime gangs that exploit the victims of human trafficking, according to an alert from the federal Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.”

“On Tuesday, county prosecutor David A. Thompson held a meeting in Elkhart for those who were swindled. About 30 attended. The sense of betrayal was deep. When Thompson asked what the group of about 30 or so thought an appropriate sentence for Hanes would be, Brian Mitchell said, one response was: ‘If he was released one day before he died, that would be too short of a sentence.'”

The Globe and Mail in Canada. “50 Bartlett Ave., Th. 11, Toronto. Asking price: $1,695,000 (February, 2024). Previous asking prices: $1,695,000 (November, 2023); $1,795,000 (October, 2023); $1,795,000 (August, 2023); $1,895,000 (June, 2023). Selling price: $1,592,000 (March, 2024). Previous selling prices: $1,590,000 (May, 2019). This three-storey loft in a former yarn factory on a laneway near Bloor and Dufferin streets was listed in June last year with an asking price of $1,895,000 in the belief that it could do better than the last loft that sold in the building, which traded for $1.59-million in 2022. But visitors were sparse in the summer doldrums and then disappeared altogether, despite two price cuts of $100,000 each over the following months.”

“‘When we went on [the market], a couple of interest rates hikes had just happened, so that took a lot out of the momentum out of the process,’ said agent Christopher Bibby. ‘We adjusted to … show the market there was some wiggle room on the price. And the fall market was still very slow for everyone.’ In February, the loft was relisted at $1.695-million and managed to attract an offer, though, at $1.592-million, less than they had hoped for. Nonetheless, the seller accepted.”

Cornwall Live in the UK. “More people are moving to Cornwall rather than buying holiday homes now the Covid housing bubble has finally burst, it has been claimed. According to housing experts in the county, it is now a buyer’s market and house prices are dropping. The drop in house prices, the increased time it takes to sell a house (according to Hamptons estate agent, properties took 77 days to sell on average last year, which is the longest sell time in since 2015), sellers increasingly offering price cuts, all indicate that the Covid market madness is truly over and the property bubble has burst.”

“According to some estate agents in the county, the high end market – especially properties along the coast – has suffered the most with the most expensive properties seeing an 8.7 per cent price drop in the year to September 2023, which represents a steeper drop than the average for coastal locations across the UK, at 6.5 per cent. Jonathan Start of Start & Co in Newquay, said that up 15 per cent has already come off asking prices since 2022 and trying to sell any property over £500,000 has become more difficult.”

From ABC News in Australia. “With new suburbs being built and major infrastructure projects like light rail underway, Canberra may look like it’s in the middle of a building boom. But beneath the surface, millions of dollars of debt is having a financial domino effect throughout the construction industry. ‘I might lose everything, including [my] house and cars,’ said joiner Chris Nowaczyk, owner of The Works. ‘But why? We’ve done nothing wrong.’ This story is a familiar one for subcontractors in Canberra, who are increasingly affected by a crisis that’s shaking the foundations of the building industry.”

“Aime and Anthony Lloyd run commercial carpentry business Lloyd Constructions and have worked as subcontractors for some of the firms that had collapsed this year. ‘We’re approximately $440,000 out of pocket since August,’ Ms Lloyd said. ‘Since these collapses … we do both get a little bit edgy [wondering] is the money actually going to come in?’ Large building companies may take several years to fail, but for subcontractors the realisation they won’t be getting paid comes suddenly. ‘Bang! A builder has collapsed. Bang! There goes $120,000 and it’s just gone. That’s it,’ Ms Lloyd said. ‘You lose $120,000 in the blink of a minute, but then you’ve got three kids to feed.'”

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This Post Has 69 Comments

  1. ‘People have been fleeing this once-Golden State. And the exodus accelerated on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s watch. ‘The biggest reason we’re losing population is that people are moving out’

    That’s why you make the big bucks Hans.

    1. ‘The biggest reason we’re losing population is that people are moving out’

      “That’s why you make the big bucks Hans.”

      – Yogi Berra material here. 😂

      \\

      “We made too many wrong mistakes.”

      “The future ain’t what it used to be.”

      “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

      “It’s deja vu all over again.”

      \\

      – Hans is in a league of his own though, and not in a good way… 😂

      – Recall that refugees flee failed States like rats from a sinking (stinking) ship. California = Venezuela. 💩

  3. ‘your monthly payments are almost guaranteed to go up — possibly substantially. Toby Wells of Cornerstone Servicing in Houston says his company fields many inquiries from bewildered customers when their payments rise. ‘They’re shocked,’ Wells says. ‘They ask, ‘What have you guys done?’

    These winnahs! are fooked aren’t they Toby.

    2. The winnahs don’t really win until the mortgage is paid off. Which for many people will be, never.

      1. Unless you are blackstone, then you can default and jingle mail as much as you want and turn right around and do your biggest deal ever. Is it wrong to wish harm to them? If I owned a space laser their offices would be at the top of my list.

        1. They also qualify for too-big-to-fail bailouts when households face unemployment and foreclosure…a sweet deal if you meet the systemically risky threshhold.

    3. ‘your monthly payments are almost guaranteed to go up — possibly substantially.‘

      \\

      – Inflation is so bad that a 30 yr., fixed rate mortgage + all of the other already high carrying costs, are no longer affordable; independent of the “suddenly” high house prices and high mortgage rates. Your fixed costs are no longer fixed!

      – Your fixed rate loan has now effectively morphed into an adjustable rate loan with rising interest rates!

      – It’s now, hands down cheaper to rent than buy. Buying right now is on the order of 50% or more vs. the cost of renting, excluding the impact of inflation. Rents are actually falling.

      – Future costs of buying, including property taxes, homeowner’s insurance, HOA, COA, maintenance and repairs, are all going up much faster than expected, due to high inflation. How exactly is housing an inflation hedge?

      – Where’s the ‘buy’ value proposition? Why get locked into a white elephant with continuously rising expenses? One can no longer count on rising prices in a bursting housing bubble.

      – The U.S. (and global) housing markets have been destroyed by government, including their central banks. FUBAR!

      – Housing, through the ‘magic’ of financialization, has been converted from shelter to an expensive asset, and now into a huge liability via inflation. Intentional or unintentional? The reader can decide.

      – You will own nothing!

      – But, free markets! Awesome! 🤡 🌎

  4. ‘listed in June last year with an asking price of $1,895,000 in the belief that it could do better than the last loft that sold in the building, which traded for $1.59-million in 2022. But visitors were sparse in the summer doldrums and then disappeared altogether, despite two price cuts of $100,000 each over the following months’

    ‘We adjusted to … show the market there was some wiggle room on the price. And the fall market was still very slow for everyone.’ In February, the loft was relisted at $1.695-million and managed to attract an offer, though, at $1.592-million, less than they had hoped for. Nonetheless, the seller accepted’

    Chase that market down Chris!

  5. “‘You have one part of the government with their foot on the brake, the Federal Reserve and Powell, and then you have the other part of the government, the legislature, spending as much money as they can,’ Sternlicht said.

    What a crock. If the Keynesian fraudsters at the Fed were serious about fighting inflation, they would raise reserve requirements on banks – currently at zero. They would also get serious about QT to reduce their grotesquely bloated $8 trillion balance sheet. Meanwhile, Yellen the Felon at Treasury is engaged in a form of stealth QE to artificially suppress the debt market. Literally the 99 percent’s only defense against these counterfeiters and racketeers is to ditch our Yellen Bux for physical precious metals while we still can.

      1. It’s no different than thousands of other blockchain-driven cryptos, except it’s had more publicity and hype.

    2. “‘What [Powell] really needs to do is walk across the street and tell Congress”

      Never looked at a map of downtown DC, didja, Barry?

    1. And Ukraine, who is “losing” the war, has shifted their tactics to building and firing hundreds of thousands of cheap drones which can hit a target 700-800 miles away. For reference, that’s like firing a weapon in Oak Ridge and hitting an office building in Minneapolis.

      The Ukranians are aiming at oil refineries and transport hubs, and Russia doesn’t have to resources to protect them. If Ukraine can keep it up without being hit themselves, the Russians will run out of oil or money.

  7. ‘Bang! A builder has collapsed. Bang! There goes $120,000 and it’s just gone. That’s it,’

    Oops there goes another rubber tree plant

  9. Washington Post — Russian trolls target U.S. support for Ukraine, Kremlin documents show (4/8/2024):

    “In an ongoing campaign that seeks to influence congressional and other political debates to stoke anti-Ukraine sentiment, Kremlin-linked political strategists and trolls have written thousands of fabricated news articles, social media posts and comments that promote American isolationism, stir fear over the United States’ border security and attempt to amplify U.S. economic and racial tensions, according to a trove of internal Kremlin documents obtained by a European intelligence service and reviewed by The Washington Post.

    Russia has been ramping up its propaganda operations as part of a second front that current and former senior Western officials said has become almost as important for Moscow as the military campaign in Ukraine — especially as congressional approval for further aid has become critical for Kyiv’s ability to continue defending itself.

    “It is Russia’s top priority to stop the weapons, so they are throwing things at the wall to see what sticks,” said one Republican staffer on Capitol Hill. “We are seeing a broad-based campaign that has multiple lines of effort, some of which work better than others. The Russians don’t care. They are just trying to seed the environment.” The staffer and other Western officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive assessments.

    The campaign has attempted to paint Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as corrupt, emphasized the numbers of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, called for border security to be funded over any aid to Ukraine, and described “white Americans” as the principal losers because of foreign aid, the documents show.

    The campaign is part of an increasingly sophisticated strategy that has built on nearly 10 years of Kremlin efforts to elevate the voices of populist anti-establishment politicians opposed to the U.S. global role, analysts and former American officials said.

    With the far-right wing of the Republican Party essentially blocking passage of any further assistance to Ukraine since August, the Kremlin’s efforts to undermine support for Ukraine may have so far gained more traction in the United States than anywhere else.”

    https://archive.is/MQBjt

    I’m a U.S. citizen and I’m more than happy to help their efforts.

    The Washington Post is the enemy of the American people.

    1. The demoralization will continue.

      Russia Today — Support for ‘authoritarian’ Zelensky falling – German media (4/8/2024):

      “In an article on Saturday, Tagesspiegel reported that approval ratings for Zelensky “have recently sunk to 61%,” citing fresh opinion polls by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology. The Ukrainian leader had enjoyed the support of more than 80% of citizens in the initial months after the conflict with Russia broke out in 2022, the German outlet noted.

      In January, the New York Times reported that Ukrainians were growing weary of government narratives being pushed on TV, accusing them of painting an unrealistic picture of frontline developments.

      Tagesspiegel quoted Stefan Meister, an Eastern Europe expert at the German Council on Foreign Relations research institute, as saying that Ukrainian society has become increasingly critical of authoritarian tendencies within Zelensky’s government.

      Zelensky’s first five-year term is due to end on May 20, although he has ruled out holding presidential elections, citing martial law. He has nonetheless been busy reshuffling his administration, seeking to remove figures who enjoy any significant public support and replacing them with those “loyal to the president [and] without political ambitions,” Tagesspiegel reported.

      https://www.rt.com/news/595580-tagesspiegel-ukraine-zelensky-popularity-dwindling/

      Zelensky is a dictator and a war criminal.

      Nobody in the U.S. outside the Beltway supports Ukraine. Nobody.

    2. I’m not getting paid to demoralize U.S. taxpayers, I’ll demoralize them for free.

      Antiwar — Inside The Washington Blob There Is No Strategic Vision (4/6/2024):

      “At a recent seminar sponsored by the two primary Washington think tanks, one American and another European, the subject of the war in Ukraine was discussed, as was how two upcoming significant elections in the European Parliament in June and the U.S. President in November might affect Western support for Ukraine and thus the course of the war.

      The questions proposed for discussion were: What is public opinion on both sides of the Atlantic during these critical elections? Are Americans souring on the war? Are Europeans prepared to take the slack if the United States leaves the field? What will it take for both European and American leaders to continue supporting Ukraine?

      None of these questions was related to the search for ideas on ending this war that might escalate to nuclear WWIII.”

      https://www.antiwar.com/blog/2024/04/06/inside-the-washington-blob-there-is-no-strategic-vision/

      No strategic vision?

      Who needs that, as long as All The Right People get their brown envelopes.

      All wars are bankers’ wars.

  12. “Re-sales have been suffering from strong competition from new homes and this source of supply is looking stronger than last year,”

    Lennar and Ryder Homes are slaying existing home sellers in my hood. Massive incentives and discounts are doing a number on them.

    2. “Kenner and Ryder Homes are slaying existing home sellers in my hood. Massive incentives and discounts are doing a number on them.”

      //

      – Builders get it. Must lower prices via a combination of outright cuts + incentives, including mortgage rate buy-downs. Housing is unaffordable, courtesy of your government, including their central banks. Prices must fall, or the market stays largely frozen. First time buyers locked out.

      – Existing / Resales are still expecting to get 2021 prices when rates were <3%.

      – Rates in 2024 are now approximately 7%.

      – Prices need to fall at least 35-40%; at least back to pre-pandemic levels.

      – The housing market is currently FUBAR.

    3. Also I’m good friends with someone in our building department. Last 60 days have seen a huge drop in permits pulled for remodel/home improvement. The only ones really pulling permits are the big builders. And some our downsizing their product. This is the classic pattern at the start of the bust cycle. Same thing every time. Sorry….it ain’t different this time

  13. A reader sent these in:

    Canadian bankruptcy filings are rising aggressively

    https://twitter.com/GameofTrades_/status/1776610820916728055

    Bank of Canada rate cuts could be delayed by high government spending: Scotiabank

    https://twitter.com/financialpost/status/1776656131156308050

    Your pool guy pulls up in a Cyber Truck. What are your immediate thoughts?

    https://twitter.com/FreedomGoat_/status/1776668682342592646

    The “door bros” are going to get liquidated.
    Skyrocketing maintenance, taxes and insurance
    Exploding cap rates
    Flat to falling rent prices
    Free months rent
    Most units under construction in US history.

    https://twitter.com/GRomePow/status/1761081596193714469

    went from 2-4 properties for sale in my tiny little neighborhood to >15. prices dropping every other week. balloon mortgages, private loans ticking like time bombs. airbnbs going unrented, lawns unmowed…plantation fl

    https://twitter.com/kristinbjornsen/status/1776709239706124316

    It looks like the EV winter is real. It was telegraphed by Ford, GM & Mercedes all scaling back their EV plans. Now the pure play EV companies like Lucid & Tesla are slashing prices like it’s a going out of business sale.

    https://twitter.com/Carnage4Life/status/1776580071643353152

    October 2016 – “All Teslas are Level 5 (robotaxi) capable, pending a software download.”
    April 2019 – “One million robotaxis on the road by 2020.”
    April 2024 – “Robotaxi unveil 8/8”
    NB no year stated.🙄
    “Unveil”= Plan, concept, idea, FSD V14.8.8 Beta?🙄

    https://twitter.com/Adam_and_EVs/status/1776489078911062339

    The fact that the government will let an 18 year old take on $120,000 in student loan debt to get an English degree from a small state school is mind blowing to me
    Should this even be allowed?

    https://twitter.com/SaiyanFinance/status/1776616755810415090

    This is what happens when you bloat the economy with debt and public sector jobs. Rate cuts postponed.

    https://twitter.com/dlacalle_IA/status/1776641573909909563

    🇨🇦 is getting new mortgage news. Remember kids, extending amortizations, buying bonds, or any other debt inflation strategy is designed to raise home prices.

    https://twitter.com/StephenPunwasi/status/1776632985338454464

    Lost a $5k sale last week.

    Reason?

    They decided to work with a “more aggressive” accountant.

    At issue was whether or not this high income earner could qualify as a real estate professional.

    Qualifying as a REP will save them $100,000+ in taxes.

    Problem:

    They work a full time job.

    Zero chance they qualify.

    And we aren’t willing to take such a position on a return.

    We told them this, provided Tax Court cases supporting the position, showed them other ways we could help, they didn’t like it, and found someone who would claim it for them.

    This might sound surprising, but it happens ~2-3x per week.

    There are tax preparers out there willing to claim anything to make a sale.

    They put their clients in high-risk positions that their clients rarely fully understand.

    This person is one audit away from sleepless nights, six figures in back taxes, and tens of thousands in penalties and interest.

    Sometimes, it’s worth paying to learn why you CAN’T do the thing you are dead set on doing.

    https://twitter.com/bhallcpa/status/1776623934646972533

    Finally found a guy whose cybertruck didn’t break down

    https://twitter.com/ACABylonBee/status/1776309419959026166

    Newly late hotel loan payment.

    Per @cred_iq
    :

    – Hotel Avante in Mountain View, CA.

    – 91 keys

    – ~$15.8mm allocated loan amount (~$174K per key)

    – Loan matures on 1/9/26

    https://twitter.com/aryal1994/status/1776580693369266435

    Dear Interest Rate Should Be Zero MMTers: you along with your predecessors, the Keynesians, should take responsibility.

    Falling rates pushes up asset prices, wealth of owners, pay of CEOs and bankers. Pushes down jobs and wages.

    https://twitter.com/RealKeithWeiner/status/1776570479412654084

    I’m loving the cyber truck!

    https://twitter.com/fakeroaster/status/1776468612666040517

    currently writing a script that will scrape Zillow listings for the agents email then use chatGPT to generate a fake lowball offer letter which gets emailed from a fake email address. When the realtor replies, chatGPT replies back with an even lower offer. Become ungovernable.

    https://twitter.com/NipseyHoussle/status/1619889998379229184

    When the caffeine wears off.

    https://twitter.com/SteveInmanUIC/status/1776448042561872296

    You can tell the man has never held a hammer in his soft hands 🤣

    https://twitter.com/ClownWorld_/status/1776441693983965581

    “Bill Gates funded study” says it all

    https://twitter.com/ClownWorld_/status/1776376454022041682

    It’s the liquidity, stupid! Yellen’s stealth QE overpowering Powell’s QT. This is why risk assets, including Bitcoin, performed so wonderfully in the first quarter. (Chart via SRP)

    https://twitter.com/Schuldensuehner/status/1776723684641702314

    Here are some things that perplex me which, if there’s a cogent reason for doing them, it has not been sufficiently explained to/debated by the public:
    – emergency-level deficit spending
    – open border policy
    – ongoing level of military support for foreign entanglements
    – planned Fed rate cuts given current headline data
    – mass student loan forgiveness
    – ongoing generosity to banks of IOER/BTFP
    – endless massive stock buybacks
    What others would you add?

    https://twitter.com/menlobear/status/1777052564657496386

    Florida Active Housing Listings surpassed their pre-pandemic levels last month, up nearly 400% from the low days of ‘Florida will never have homes for sale again’

    https://twitter.com/MacroEdgeRes/status/1777054703450255529

    It’s been five months since Australia last raised interest rates and in the interim inflation has moderated and the economy slowed to a crawl. Yet Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock says the RBA can’t rule out another hike.

    https://twitter.com/MacroEdgeRes/status/1777038968594313494

    Full time employed growth has gone negative.
    Grey areas = recessions.

    https://twitter.com/NorthmanTrader/status/1776254517815672871

    went to 3 open houses this afternoon in San Diego. all 3 were very low traffic. 1st one: listed in November, asking price down 7% already and listing agent straight up told us “there’s room” for further discount. 3rd one: already down 10%, been on the market 2 weeks.

    https://twitter.com/polyminnow/status/1777132498822295636

    (some lady at the 3rd one also asked if she could bring her large dog in to the open house to walk around. I’ve been to a lot of open houses, and have never seen a buyer bring a dog to one. that was a weird scene, thankfully the agent held firm and said no.)

    https://twitter.com/polyminnow/status/1777132786920604015

    All employees eventually learn this lesson

    https://twitter.com/GRomePow/status/1777132444724125753

    1. “Your pool guy pulls up in a Cyber Truck. What are your immediate thoughts?”

      Any one pulls up in a cyber truck and my first thought is “what a d-bag tool!”

      1. Your pool guy pulls up in a Cyber Truck. What are your immediate thoughts?

        Reminds me of sn old Jay Leno joke during a previous depression: “Things are so bad that my pool guy had to fire his pool guy”

    2. I recently saw a youtube ad describing easy hacks to get an ESA emotional support animal certificate. Look man, it’s just a dog, and you can live without for a couple hours.

    1. Hardly surprising. Plus it’s an easy lie to sell.

      As younger first worlders steadily keel over, unjabbed third worlders will take their places.

          1. [Here is an interesting snip of what Wikipedia has to say about the Salton Sea. The entire Wikipedia piece is interesting but is too long to post here in its entirety.]

            In the 1950s and into the 1960s, the communities expanded as the area’s reputation as a resort destination and sport fishery grew.[25] Hotels and yacht clubs were built on the shore along with homes and schools.[26] Resorts in communities like Bombay Beach hosted entertainers such as Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys and Bing Crosby.[27] Yacht clubs held parties at night and golf courses provided recreation.[26] Many people came for boating activities such as water skiing and fishing as stocked fish proliferated.[28] Lakeshore communities grew as vacation homes were built.[22] More than 1.5 million visitors visited annually at the peak.[29]

            Catastrophic decline
            In the 1970s, scientists issued warnings about the changes coming to this lake with no outlet. Studies that started in the 1960s found a complex problem for which any remediation would be expensive.[27] The Imperial Valley has about 500,000 acres (200,000 ha) of farmland for which flood irrigation is typical.[23] Water from the Colorado River is diverted near Yuma, Arizona, into the 82-mile (132 km) All-American Canal. The canal runs west along the Mexican border and then north into 1,700 miles (2,700 km) of irrigation channels that crisscross the farms.[30]

            Gravity carries the agricultural runoff downhill through the New and Alamo rivers to the lake.[30] The water is full of salts, selenium, and fertilizers (mainly nitrates).[31] As it drains through the soil, the water leaches out ancient salt deposits that also raise the salinity. Evaporation in the desert heat further concentrates the salt. The transformation of the lake made it increasingly inhospitable to wildlife. By the late 1970s, fish started dying off and bird populations declined.[29]

            In the late 1970s, a series of heavy tropical storms caused the water level to rapidly rise and flood its banks.[29] The surrounding towns and businesses were severely damaged, many beyond repair. In 1976, Hurricane Kathleen inundated the lakeshore communities and put Bombay Beach completely underwater.[32] Tourism was drastically reduced, and many of the resorts and associated infrastructure were abandoned. The state began to issue odor advisories as the lake began to stink.[27]

            In the 1990s, the shores were littered with dead fish as the lake had gotten so salty that large die-offs occurred.[28] Fertilizers in the runoff caused massive blooms of algae. When storms churned the lake, botulism spread among the dying tilapia, which were eaten by the birds. During a four-month long period in 1996, 14,000 birds died from eating the fish, nearly 10,000 of which were pelicans. The carcasses were burned in an incinerator 24 hours per day for weeks. The resulting news coverage conveyed a simplified story that implied the lake was a toxic catastrophe filled with water that could be deadly.[33]

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salton_Sea

  17. “One Florida policyholder hunting for a new insurer said he was quoted an annual premium of $7,200 for a policy that currently cost him just $2,200. Actually, the Sunshine State stands as a microcosm of what’s going on elsewhere. Triple-I says the average premium in Florida is now $6,000, whereas the national average is $1,700. Last year, premiums for homeowners in the state jumped 42% on average, and that’s on top of an average 33% boost in 2022.”

    Still cheaper than renting!

    1. “stands as a microcosm of what’s going on elsewhere.”

      Wall-to-wall hurricanes aren’t going on elsewhere. Lump in the Floridians with the Californians and leave everyone else alone.

        1. MinnPost
          From Minnesota to Nebraska, Midwest states face early wildfire season
          “We’re seeing extreme fire behavior, red flag warnings in March, which we normally don’t see,” a Minnesota DNR official said.
          by Kristoffer Tigue 03/29/2024
          A fast-moving wildfire burned more than 1,000 acres this month near Wendell, Minnesota, about 150 miles northwest of the Twin Cities.
          Credit: Courtesy of the Fergus Falls Fire Department
          MinnPost’s Daily Newsletter

          The Midwest received some much needed moisture this week following an especially hot and dry winter that hamstrung outdoor recreation and sparked an early spring wildfire season in several states.

          Parts of the Midwest saw as much as 24 inches of snow and rain by Wednesday morning, according to the National Weather Service. The powerful storm, which worked its way west from New England, caused mayhem on the roads and temporarily knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of people.
          …
          http://www.minnpost.com/other-nonprofit-media/2024/03/from-minnesota-to-nebraska-midwest-states-face-early-wildfire-season/

    1. Economy
      A famed recession indicator is flashing red even as financial markets price in zero chance of a downturn in the coming year, economist says
      Jennifer Sor
      Apr 8, 2024, 11:08 AM ET
      Recession outlook, going out of business, economy
      Robert Alexander / Getty

      – A handful of indicators suggest a hard landing is on the way, top economist David Rosenberg warned.

      – A famed recession indicator in the job market is flashing levels similar to the last three downturns.

      – But those may be lost on investors, who are still feeling bullish on stocks and the economy.
      …
      https://www.businessinsider.com/recession-outlook-hard-landing-economy-unemployment-job-market-david-rosenberg-2024-4?amp

    2. Stock market today: US stocks end mixed as bond yields climb ahead of latest inflation data
      Filip De Mott
      Apr 8, 2024, 1:10 PM PDT
      Image of a stock trader at the New York Stock Exchange.
      Johannes Eiselle/Getty Images

      – US stocks traded mixed Monday while the 10-year Treasury bond yield reached a new 2024 high.

      – Markets think the odds of a June rate cut have declined to about 50-50.

      – Wednesday’s CPI data will be a key data point to inform the path of Fed policy.
      …
      https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/stock-markets-bond-yields-cpi-inflation-data-fed-rates-cuts-2024-4

    3. The U.S. economy still faces a recession risk: Gary Shilling
      Published Mon, Apr 8 2024 6:05 AM EDT
      Updated Mon, Apr 8 2024 9:28 AM EDT
      Andrea Miller

      The U.S. economy has avoided a recession so far but the risk of a deeper economic downturn still looms, according to financial analyst Gary Shilling.

      Take U.S. small businesses as one of the “normal harbingers of recessions, [such as] the yield curve, the leading indicators,” Shilling said.

      “Small businesses are very sensitive to economic conditions because they don’t tend to be very heavily capitalized,” Shilling told CNBC. “They are cutting back on their employment and other areas.”

      However, the labor market at large is a key reason the U.S. has thus far avoided a recession.

      “We’ve had more strength in employment than probably is commensurate with the state of business,” Shilling said.

      During the labor shortage, businesses that were hiring had to compete for workers.

      Now, those companies are reluctant to lay off staff after spending so much time and energy to hire new employees, which Shilling believes has kept the labor market stronger than expected.

      “You haven’t had that weakness in labor markets that, I think, you normally would have had and would have [caused] a recession [in 2023],” Shilling said. “That doesn’t mean we won’t have one, but it means whatever it is, it’s delayed.”

      However, Shilling is watching for signs of a slowing labor market.

      “There are a lot of preliminary signs of weakness in the labor market,” he said, pointing to wage gains, quits and service inflation.

      “It’s the service inflation [that] really is a difficulty for the Fed, and if you look at wages in the service area, they’re rising 5% or 6% year over year,” Shilling said. “Now that’s hardly commensurate with the Fed’s target of 2% inflation.”
      …
      https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2024/04/08/the-us-economy-still-faces-a-recession-risk-gary-shilling.html

    4. Breaking News
      Fernando Tatis Jr.’s blast caps epic comeback as Padres rally from eight-run deficit to beat Cubs
      Business
      California’s consumer outlook drops to 11-year low
      A woman shops in a Target store.
      (Gene J. Puskar / Associated Press)
      2024 started with ‘expectations’ off 4% in three months, down 9% in a year
      By Jonathan Lansner
      Orange County Register
      April 7, 2024 6 AM PT

      The economic outlook from California consumers starts 2024 at an 11-year low.

      My trusty spreadsheet looked at quarterly averages of the Conference Board’s consumer confidence measurements for the state. These measures, derived from public surveys, consider shoppers’ views on the future and current trends that add up to an overall index.

      The index for California consumer “expectations” for their household finances ran at 81.7 in the first three months of the year, the lowest quarterly reading since the start of 2013 — just as the Great Recession recovery was gaining steam. The yardstick is “based on consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions,” the Conference Board says.

      So, 2024 started with an outlook that was off 4 percent in three months, down 9 percent in a year, and 13 percent below the average for the pre-pandemic 2015-19 period. Let’s say psyches are strained.

      Curiously, the California consumers’ view of the “present situation” is better. The 136.3 reading for the first quarter was a 5 percent jump in three months, but that’s still off 5 percent in a year. Note: It’s off 3 percent vs. 2015-19.

      Combine those two yardsticks, and you see an overall consumer confidence index at 103.6 in the quarter. Yes, it’s up 0.4 percent in three months, but it’s also off 7 percent in a year and down 8 percent vs. 2015-19.

      And minus the weak end to 2023, early 2024 has the weakest California confidence since the mid-pandemic start to 2021.

      Bottom line

      The recent anxieties may be tied to a shaky job market, with statewide unemployment at a two-year high and No. 1 in the nation. Questions about the housing market’s future don’t help. Nor do worries about how the state government can fill the giant hole in its budget.

      And remember that squeamish consumers can impact the economy they worry about if they pull back on spending. So this may serve as a warning signal to California merchants, who have been enjoying relatively robust demand for all sorts of goods and services the past two years.

      Plus, the Conference Board notes that an expectations index below 80 “often signals a forthcoming recession.” And for March alone, the California expectations index was at 78.5.
      …
      https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/story/2024-04-07/californias-consumer-outlook-drops-to-11-year-low

  19. Losing $200 Billion, Six Chinese Real Estate Giants Face Defeat in London
    China Observer
    10 hours ago

    In the past decade, Chinese real estate giants have ventured overseas to develop property in London. The slogan “buy, buy, buy” briefly became their motto. Rough estimates indicate that the total investment has approached nearly $200 billion.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUSlu0SZsEk

    18:34.

  20. ‘They’re shocked,’ Wells says. ‘They ask, ‘What have you guys done?’

    Ancient HBB proverb: adjustable means up.

  21. ‘This is still well below the long-term average but is the highest total we have seen in late March since 2019′

    We know you write this Tina. How come you don’t quote yerself anymore?

    ‘But there also is trouble in paradise where sellers are concerned, the Cromford Report indicated. ‘Re-sales have been suffering from strong competition from new homes and this source of supply is looking stronger than last year,’ it said. ‘In February there were 2,810 single-family home permits across Maricopa and Pinal counties – which is the highest number since March 2022 and up 107% compared to February last year. Sellers should expect to be facing increased competition from the new home builders over the coming 12 months’

    Classic new builds undercutting existing shacks. It’s been going on for well over a year now. That new is 30% of market share while it’s typically half of that is a new wrinkle yet to play out.

  22. rents will never be affordable ever again….

    A Blackstone fund has agreed to acquire Apartment Income REIT Corp., known as AIR Communities, for approximately $10 billion. Blackstone Real Estate Partners X will purchase the company in an all-cash transaction, assuming its existing debt and taking it private.

    https://www.multihousingnews.com/blackstone-to-acquire-air-communities-for-10b/

    all luxurieeee
    https://www.air-nyc.com/collection/?search=filter#neighborhood=&bedrooms=&sortBy=&amp;

  23. ‘Pig butchering, as I described in a September column, is a vicious online scam. The ‘pigs’ to be butchered are victims lured into investing in virtual or foreign currencies by scammers using fake identities with elaborate storylines to gain trust and fatten the stakes’

    This is an interesting article with lots of detail.

  24. ‘You lose $120,000 in the blink of a minute, but then you’ve got three kids to feed’

    See? Always talking about stuffing expensive food down their throats. Do you and those rug rats have what it takes to be a winnah! Aime?

  25. Democarts cry foul as anti-free speech allies turn against them.

    https://jonathanturley.org/2024/04/08/devouring-their-own-democrats-cry-foul-as-anti-free-speech-allies-turn-against-them/

    Jonathan Turley: Below is my column in The Hill on the recent disruptions of events featuring leading Democrats from President Joe Biden to Rep. Jamie Raskin. After years of supporting the censoring and blacklisting of others, these politicians are now being targeted by the very anti-free speech movement that they once fostered. Hillary Clinton last week became the latest Democrat targeted by protesters in a visit to her alma mater, Wellesley College.

    Here is the column:

    You are “killing people,” President Biden told social media companies a couple of years ago. He sought to shame executives into censoring more Americans. Biden has lashed out at disinformation by anti-vaxxers, “election deniers” and others. This month, those words were thrown back at Biden himself as a “genocide denier” by protesters who have labeled him “Genocide Joe” over his support for Israel.

    After years of supporting censorship and blacklisting of people with opposing views, politicians and academics are finding themselves the subjects of the very anti-free speech tactics that they helped foster.

    Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), for example, has been a leading figure in Congress opposing efforts to curtail massive censorship programs coordinated by the Biden administration. While opposing the investigation into past federal censorship efforts, Raskin continues to push social media companies to increase the censorship and silencing of Americans. Last December, Raskin sent a letter on behalf of other Democrats on the powerful House Oversight Committee demanding even more censorship, not only on election fraud, COVID or climate change, but also on abortion.

    “We are troubled by the rapid spread of abortion misinformation and disinformation on your company’s social media platform,” he wrote, “and the threat this development poses to safe abortion access in the United States.”

    When journalists and even other members testified in favor of free speech, Democrats attacked them as “Putin lovers” and fellow travelers supporting “insurrectionists.”

    Last week, however, the left turned on Raskin. He was giving a lecture titled “Democracy, Autocracy and the Threat to Reason in the 21st Century.” According to the Maryland Reporter, the protesters accused Raskin of being “complicit in genocide.” After efforts to resume his remarks, University of Maryland President Darryll Pines finally ended the event early.

    Pines then pulled a Raskin. While mildly criticizing the students for their lack of “civility,” he defended their disruption of Raskin’s remarks as if a heckler’s veto were free speech. “What you saw play out actually was democracy and free speech and academic freedom,” he said. “From our perspective as a university, these are the difficult conversations that we should be having.”

    There was, of course, no real conversation because this was not the exercise but the denial of free speech. The protesters were engaging in “deplatforming,” which is common on our campuses, where students and faculty organize to prevent others from hearing opposing views.

    So, after years of Raskin encouraging the censorship of others, the mob finally came for him. The yawning response of the university was not unlike his own past response to journalists, professors and dissents who have come before his committee.

    The only “difficult” aspect of this conversation is for university figures like Pines who are called upon to defend the free speech rights of speakers or faculty. They need to show the courage and principle required to uphold the free speech commitment of higher education, even at the risk of being targeted themselves. That includes the sanctioning of students who prevent others from hearing opposing views in classrooms and event forums. These students have every right to protest outside such spaces, but higher education is premised on the free exchange of ideas. There is really no further “conversation” needed, just a letter of suspension or expulsion for those who deprive others of their rights.

    Deplatforming is the rage on our campuses. Universities often use it to cancel events for conservatives or controversial speakers. Often officials will sit idly by, refusing to remove protesters or deter disruptions. And that can lead to self-help measures by others.

    Last week, Walter Isaacson, former CEO of CNN and the Aspen Institute, was accused of assaulting a Tulane student protester, Rory MacDonald, during an event held off campus. Isaacson, 72, who teaches at Tulane, was attending the university-sponsored event and had had enough when MacDonald became the eighth protester to stop the event. He stood up and shoved MacDonald into the hall.

    MacDonald insisted that he and his fellow protesters were merely “peacefully interrupting” the event to stop others from speaking. He displayed slight scratch marks and is quoted as expressing a fear of returning to campus after the incident. Protests have been held on campus to have Isaacson fired.

    I have long criticized the growing anti-free speech movement in higher education. Yet these students have been taught for years that “speech is violence” and harmful. They have also been told by figures such as Pines that silencing others is an act of free speech. Academics and deans have said that there is no free speech protection for offensive or “disingenuous” speech. In one instance, former CUNY Law Dean Mary Lu Bilek insisted that disrupting a speech on free speech is itself free speech.

    Even schools that purportedly forbid such interruptions rarely punish students who engage in them. For example, students disrupted a Northwestern class due to a guest speaker from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (after the class had heard from an undocumented immigrant). The university let the protesters into the room after they promised not to disrupt the class. They proceeded to stop the class and then gave interviews to the media proudly disclosing their names and celebrating the cancellation. Northwestern did nothing beyond express “disappointment.”

    At Stanford, law students prevented a federal judge from speaking. When the judge asked for law school officials present to intervene, former Stanford DEI Dean Tirien Steinbach stepped forward and attacked the conservative judge for triggering the students by sharing his views. After a national outcry, Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne and Law School Dean Jenny Martinez issued a joint apology that notably did not include punishment for a single student.

    These schools are enablers of the anti-free speech movement as much as figures like Raskin.

    For years, academics supported such mobs or remained silent as their colleagues were cancelled or fired. Now they are suddenly discovering the value of free speech as the mob comes for them.

    Censorship and blacklisting create an insatiable appetite. While Democrats fostered such efforts to silence conservatives and dissenters on vaccines, climate change, abortion, transgenderism and other issues, they now find themselves pursued by the very mobs that they once led. Just two years ago, Biden was celebrated for denouncing social media executives as “killers” for allowing free speech. Now he, Raskin, and others are accused of killing others with “Zionist disinformation.”

    It is an epiphany that often comes too late. During the French Revolution, journalist Jacques Mallet du Pan remarked that “like Saturn, the Revolution devours its children.”

    1. After years of supporting censorship and blacklisting of people with opposing views, politicians and academics are finding themselves the subjects of the very anti-free speech tactics that they helped foster.

      AKA losing control of the Golem

  26. Refusing to drink the corporate Kool-Aid, half of Gen Zers would turn down a job that doesn’t align with their beliefs.

    https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/refusing-drink-corporate-kool-aid-180516517.html

    Like many generations before them, the current cohort of young adults isn’t necessarily looking to work for the man. The search for a stable salary and benefits, however, often poses a threat to this resolve. Gen Z is holding fast, though, trying to take hold of late-stage capitalism’s reins.

    The volatile economy and the rough hand of cards dealt to Gen Z has put extra pressure on the generation’s resolve. These young adults are particularly financially vulnerable as they deal with larger student loans, rounds of recessions, and inflation early on in their career amid attempts at wealth building. But many Gen Zers aren’t giving up on their beliefs, finding a way to solve for what is often at odds in the modern economy: mission alignment and good pay.

    More than half (53%) of Gen Zers would reject a job if the employer’s mission didn’t line up with their sociopolitical values, according to a United Way of the National Capital Area survey of 1,000 Americans, 495 of which were Gen Zers. Looking at survey responses from the fall of 2023, the nonprofit found that the desire to work for an organization where the stated values felt in accordance with one’s beliefs had intergenerational pull but was especially important for younger employees.

    While looking for a job, Sade Collier, NYU class of 2024, experienced this battle. Telling Fortune that she doesn’t think she could work for a corporation, Collier adds that sometimes she’ll find an opening that matches her experience but will look at who sponsors the company and be deterred.

    “The deeper you dive, it’s like ‘oh, no,’” they say, adding that even in the so-called good companies it’s hard to find a moral fit. “A lot of places that you would think would be kind of safe, that have spoken out in some ways…It’s like another way, they’re unethical.” It can be disheartening. “It’s really hard to have to keep x-ing jobs because so many places feel unethical or seem unethical,” Collier explains.

    Collier isn’t alone in the quest to enter the workforce on their own terms. A good 55% of Gen Zers relay the importance of their employer aligning with their beliefs, per United Way’s survey. That shifts to 45% of Gen X, 42% of millennials, and 34% of baby boomers. It’s worth noting that while more Gen Zers were surveyed for this poll, mostly half of other generations also expressed they’d walk away from an offer if the job didn’t align with their beliefs.

    As for what fuels this youngest working generation’s activism, most cite feeling like it’s the moral thing to do, followed by being motivated by their personal experiences. Atop their list of prime concerns are issues of inflation, health care access, and affordable housing.

    When it comes to human rights issues, Gen Z cares the most about racial equality and also shows greater passion for this cause than older generations. Gen Zers also reported a greater interest regarding income inequality and employment opportunities than their older peers. And the generation is looking to act on their values, as 32% of them report being regularly engaged in social justice work.

    And unsurprisingly, Gen Z is looking to get paid well. The generation that has been often forced to depend on older generations and live at home longer to afford life in the current landscape is itching for a real living wage. The generation is most motivated by salary and benefits (86%), followed by work-life balance (72%) and career advancement opportunities (46%), per United Way. It all puts extra pressure on young workers’ values and sometimes forces their hands to betray them for a check.

    Collier admits sometimes she and her friends will go on LinkedIn and kind of scoff at what her peers are pursuing, as it “feels kind of traitorous for people to go work at a certain place.” But she acknowledges that her generation is in a bind. “The market is just so dire that people are kind of willing to take what they could get.”

    1. Little do they know that they are not indispensable. There are plenty of H1-B’s eager to takes the jobs they refuse to accept. And AI is coming.

      Expect to hear them complain down the road that they got “shut out”, are working menial jobs, are broke and up to their eyeballs in debt as foreign imports who are thrilled to be here take their place.

      1. Little do they know that they are not indispensable. There are plenty of H1-B’s eager to takes the jobs they refuse to accept. And AI is coming.

        Recently I started a new job where I am not totally aligned with corporate values. No worries — I can smile during orientation and do my actual job to receive money.

        With that said, I don’t do something inherently evil like buy real estate or produce missiles to defend the empire. No offense to anyone making their money how they can.

        I have found many H1-B’s adept as producing garbage documentation. If only the MBAs weren’t so stupid as to hire them to achieve earnings management. I am not a fan of H1-B visas for anything below Executives, but of course I never speak a word professionally about it because I don’t want to be labeled a rayciss (as though race is the issue lol).

    2. kind of scoff at what her peers are pursuing, as it “feels kind of traitorous for people to go work at a certain place.” But she acknowledges that her generation is in a bind. “The market is just so dire that people are kind of willing to take what they could get.”

      This was also happening 30 years ago when I got out of school. People with 4-5 job offers were scoffing at people interviewing for jobs at tobacco and oddly enough, liquor companies. Me, he$$, at the time I would have loved to get one of those jobs.
      People don’t really change.

  27. Mass. homeowners grappling with crumbling foundations that insurance won’t cover and renders homes ‘worthless’

    https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/mass-homeowners-grappling-crumbling-foundations-151100900.html

    Jeff and Kim Haynes had their home in Rutland, Massachusetts, hoisted six feet into the air to make way for a new foundation after discovering deteriorating concrete in their basement.

    “It was about a year and a half ago that I noticed some cracking,” Jeff told WCVB Channel 5 Boston. “I obviously wasn’t thinking it was going to be this.”

    It was only after the Haynes had their basement drywall removed to inspect the issue that they found the concrete was infected with pyrrhotite — a naturally occurring mineral found in parts of New England that can compromise structural integrity if present in the aggregate material used to make concrete.

    It’s a problem that homeowners insurance won’t cover and banks won’t provide loans for, since the value of the property sinks, according to WCVB. The Haynes say they’ll be coughing up over $250,000 for the work.

    “All of the sudden, one day, you start to notice cracks in your basement, and you come to find out that your house is worthless,” state senator Peter Durant told WCVB.

    “That’s devastating for anybody to have to face.”

    Thousands of Massachusetts homes are at risk
    So far, state officials believe around 7,500 homes across Massachusetts could be at risk of pyrrhotite contamination.

    “If you are thinking of buying in this area, you absolutely have to have the seller test the concrete first,” Haynes said.

    A cluster of homes run by a condo association in Westminster, Massachusetts, has had at least 10 of 96 units, all built in the 1990s, test positive for pyrrhotite — racking up repair fees of $115,000 to $130,000 per unit — according to Spectrum News 1. This caused homeowners association (HOA) fees to skyrocket.

    “I don’t know how many increases on the HOA that I can justify,” Tammi Roscoe, who moved into her home in spring 2021, told the news outlet. “That was a huge jump. It went from $366 to $434.”

    Homeowners and state officials are calling for help
    Starting in July, Massachusetts is mandating quarries test their product to ensure it doesn’t contain any traces of pyrrhotite. However, homeowners and some state officials are calling for financial aid to help cover the costs of new foundations.

    “It’s time for legislators and the governor to act on this,” Haynes said. “There’s a very real chance there’s far more people affected by this than we even realize today.”

    Tens of thousands of homes in Connecticut constructed between 1983 and 2000 are believed to be impacted by the same problem. But the state has set up a trust fund to help — with homeowners receiving up to $190,000 toward foundation replacement.

    The fund is paid for by a $12 per year surcharge on every home insurance policy in the state.

    “Connecticut has done this; Massachusetts needs to follow suit,” Michelle Loglisci, a founder of Massachusetts Residents Against Crumbling Concrete, told MassLive. “Massachusetts is probably going to be in worse shape than Connecticut.”

    [So what’s with this pyrrhotite stuff? A snip from Wikipedia …]

    If pyrrhotite-containing rocks are crushed and used as aggregate within concrete, then the pyrrhotite creates a problem in the production of concrete.[36] Pyrrhotite has been linked to crumbling concrete basements in Quebec, Massachusetts and Connecticut when local quarries included it in their concrete mixtures.[37][38][39] Many houses in Ireland, particularly in County Donegal, have also been affected by inclusion of rocks containing pyrrhotite in concrete blocks.[40][41] The iron sulfide it contains can naturally react with oxygen and water, and over time pyrrhotite breaks down into sulfuric acid and secondary minerals like ettringite, thaumasite and gypsum.[36][6] These secondary products occupy a larger volume than pyrrhotite, which expands and cracks the concrete leading to home foundation or block failure.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrhotite

    [So how would someone know that the concrete that was poured for their houses’ foundation contained pyrrhotite? They wouldn’t, not until years later.]

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