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Price Reductions Are The Norm As Sellers Try To Navigate What It Will Take To Sell

A report from the Miami Herald. “It seems like the perfect storm right now for South Florida’s high-rise market. Condo deals in Miami-Dade and Broward counties fell double digits in June, according to the latest real estate report — just as condo owners become increasingly strapped by rising homeowners association fees aimed at meeting new legal requirements to maintain larger maintenance reserves. Buyers also are facing a more challenging landscape, as interest rates have held steady — despite expectations that they would fall early this year — and insurance costs have skyrocketed, according to real estate experts. Rising HOA and insurance costs have many buyers on the sidelines, said Ilene McMenamin, a real estate agent with the Oakland Park-based real estate brokerage and property management firm McElliot Properties. ‘People are afraid to buy a condo,’ McMenamin said. ‘What’s the advantage of it? The equity isn’t there. The maintenance fees are high.'”

Wink News in Florida. “‘Cape Coral is hot right now,’ said Scott Riddle, real estate agent and co-founder of Southwest Florida REGroup at MVP Reality. ‘Just look at the statistics. I mean, there’s close to 1,000 brand-new homes built in 2023 and newer on the market right now.’ A growing city that also drew first-time home buyer and now real estate broker Dirk Fischer. But he said he quickly found himself underwhelmed. ‘I moved from Germany to the United States in 2008,’ Fischer said, partner at 5th Homes LLC. ‘And Cape Coral has a very good reputation in Germany, in Europe overall. You have the palm trees; you have the canals. And then that was the big awakening, when you live there, when you actually do live there, and you realize that this is nothing but a huge area that has house, after house, after house, but there’s nothing to do. There’s no social life.'”

The Denver Post in Colorado. “Despite a 22% increase in active listings statewide year-over-year, closed sales dropped 14% over the same period. Summer’s busy sales season appears to have peaked early, said Denver-Douglas County realtor Cooper Thayer. ‘Market activity showed a sharp decline in June, indicating we’ve reached this year’s seasonal peak,’ Thayer said. ‘With more homes on the market and less incentives for buyers to move quickly, we can expect prices to cool quickly entering the fall.'”

“Fort Collins has more than three months of inventory compared to less than two weeks at the beginning of 2022, said realtor Chris Hardy. ‘Sellers have had to make quick adjustments to their sale expectations as many homes have lingered on the market for weeks and even months, which is far beyond the days or hours it took to sell an average home just a year and a half ago,’ Hardy said. Bidding wars seem to be a thing of the past, said Boulder/Broomfield-area realtor Kelly Moye. ‘The tables are starting to turn for buyers and sellers in Boulder and Broomfield counties,’ Moye said. ‘Price reductions are the norm as sellers try to navigate what it will take to sell. Once priced properly, homes are selling pretty close to their list price.'”

From Realtor.com. “Not even the rich and famous are exempt from the chill of the ongoing housing market cooldown. These conditions have also forced some big-name homeowners to significantly lower the prices of their elegant spreads. Celebrities—they’re just like us! (kind of). ‘”In a notable shift, the housing market is showing signs of cooling, making high-profile celebrities like Kanye West and Jim Carrey reduce the asking prices of their luxurious properties,’ says Raleigh Realty owner and agent Ryan Fitzgerald. California sellers have struggled the most with estate price cuts, Fitzgerald adds. ‘Even 12 celebrity properties in the state have seen major reductions, totaling an incredible $133,275,000 loss from their initial listing prices,’ he says.”

“The Steve Wynn mansion in Beverly Hills, CA, is still on the market after a more-than-50% price cut. In 2021, Hilton and Hyland Real Estate founder Rick Hilton and his former “Beverly Hills Housewife” spouse Kathy Hilton (the parents of Paris Hilton) finished building this shiny new spec mansion in Bel-Air. They spared no expense and put it on the market for $55 million. It languished there for four years before it sold in an all-cash deal for $25 million in 2024—a 55% discount, according to the Robb Report. It’s been five years since Sugar Ray Leonard and his wife listed their Pacific Palisades home for $52 million. Since then, it’s been on and off the market at increasingly reduced prices, settling near the $40,000,000 mark. A buyer has yet to emerge, though.”

“It seems Billy Joel has been trying to unload his 13,349-square-foot, oceanfront Palm Beach, FL-area mansion for the longest time, and even a $10 million price cut hasn’t moved it so far. NASCAR legend Tony Stewart is still trying to cross the finish line on the sale of his 415-acre spread in Columbus, IN. He built the striking estate known as Hidden Hollow Ranch in 2011. So far, even a 25% discount hasn’t attracted a buyer. Jim Carrey bought his Brentwood, CA, oasis almost 30 years ago and is finding it’s not so easy to leave. The five-bedroom, nine-bath estate first hit the market in February 2023 for $28.9 million. The price dropped in April 2023 to $26.5 million, then lowered again in October 2023 to $23,950,000. Now it’s now down to $21.9 million.”

Click 2 Houston in Texas. “The Arlington Place Apartments on Edgebrook Drive, the center of multiple KPRC 2 reports, has filed for foreclosure. According to the Harris County Clerk’s Office, the foreclosure was filed on Tuesday, July 16th. The sale of the complex is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 6. For months, residents dealt with piles of trash after Waste Management removed its dumpsters. The company didn’t disclose why, but Houston’s Department of Neighborhood said the owners, the Chetrit Group, abandoned the property. Before the dumpsters were removed, the trash overflowed. Tenants told KPRC 2′s Rilwan Balogun that in February, they had no choice but to leave the trash out since they were still paying for it. ‘If we’re constantly giving you money every month, you can’t tell me that we’re giving you this amount of money every month and someone can’t come and get this trash,’ Monica Winfree asked. The Chetrit Group’s other Houston-area property in Baytown, Forest View Apartments, also filed for foreclosure.”

Global News in Canada. “The greater Kelowna, B.C., area has a growing number of vacant apartment units on offer, potentially tipping the market in favour of buyers. ‘I’ve never seen this many vacant places for sale and I think it’s primarily provincial government policies,’ said Andrew Smith of Royal LePage in Kelowna . He attributed the glut of unoccupied apartments for sale to two government policy changes that have recently taken effect. The first was Airbnb regulations that came into being last March. Smith said both together mean that anyone who was once renting out a unit for the sake of making some money is finding ample cause to sell. ‘Buyers usually win these wars,’ he said. ‘At some point, you’re a business person, you’re still paying insurance and property taxes and strata fees, it’s a non-performing asset if nobody is living in it and it’s not going up in value.'”

CBC News in Canada. “Relatively very few people are buying newly built and presale condos in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area — but even with supply now at a record high, prices haven’t budged much. Sales figures were especially notable for presale condos. Of the 3,265 units put on the market, only 17 per cent were purchased — the lowest second-quarter uptake in 25 years. The dramatic slowdown in the new and presale condo market means supply in the region has reached an all-time high of 25,893 units. ‘When measured against sales over the past 12 months, unsold inventory equalled 34 months of supply — roughly three times higher than a balanced level of 10-12 months,’ the update said.”

This Is Money in the UK. “When selling a home, everyone wants to get the best price possible. But shooting for the moon can have unwanted consequences – especially if the price has to be reduced later on, according to research by Rightmove. Properties that have been discounted are twice as likely to see sales fall through, take much longer to sell and are more likely to not be sold at all, according to its analysis of sales over the last five years. And despite today’s lukewarm property market, the property website claims many sellers continue to ask for far more than their home is really worth. ”We’re hearing that some sellers have struggled to adjust from the pandemic frenzy market mindset, into the calmer market mindset of the last 18 months or so, and are being over-optimistic on the price they think they can achieve,’ says Tim Bannister, a property expert at Rightmove. ‘Pricing competitively and not having to reduce is key, but, where needed, do it as early as possible, do it once and make it meaningful,’ says Bannister.”

“Potential buyers deem price reductions, coupled with the months of marketing, as a clear sign there must be something wrong. Who wants to buy something that clearly nobody else does? Jonathan Handford, managing director of Fine & Country estate agents in Leamington Spa thinks a 5 to 10 per cent price cut is usually necessary. ‘Buyers can easily spot an overpriced listing and will likely skip over it entirely,’ says Handford. ‘By the time the price is reduced, the listing appears stale, causing buyers to wonder what’s wrong with the property or they assume that the seller is greedy or unrealistic.'”

The Daily Telegraph in Australia. “Hardworking apartment owners are being slapped with soaring strata fees boosted by general inflation, rising insurance levies and building defects. Although there is no official data source for strata levies, anecdotal evidence suggests fees increased 15 to 20 per cent on average over the past year, but up to 40 per cent in some cases. When Josh Stubing and Emily Abbey bought their one-bedroom unit in Kellyville Ridge seven years ago, the then 20 and 19 year olds thought they were taking the right financial step onto the property ladder. Their quarterly strata fees began at a manageable $600, but have ballooned to $3500 thanks to defect rectification work and the need to replace now illegal cladding.”

“‘We’ve been trying to keep up with it, but it’s running us into the ground with the expense of the mortgage too. I’ve been pushing back on the strata company asking ‘how do you expect everyone to pay this much money?’ It’s so unmanageable,’ he said, adding that the couple had to move out of the property to keep up with the bills. ‘Now, because we couldn’t pay the special $20,000 levy upfront, a garnishing order has been put on the rent. We don’t get any rental income either, and there are also lawyer’s fees.’ Mr Stubing said the pair, who are hoping to get married next year, are trying to sell but the high fees are putting off buyers. ‘We’re also renting elsewhere. Our monthly expenses are now so high we may as well have a $1 million house.'”

“Built approximately 12 years ago, the Kellyville Ridge apartment complex has a long list of defects and was built using external cladding that has since been banned in NSW due to fire safety risks. ‘We bought when we were so young and thought strata fees were just about maintaining the cleanliness of the unit complex. The building has no amenities, so we never imagined it could get this expensive. The real estate agent advised us of the quarterly fees, but apart from that we didn’t look into it. Unfortunately, we made a bad decision,’ he said.”

From Sky News. “In Changchun, northeast China, sits an apartment complex owned by Evergrande Group. There are dozens of buildings and tens of thousands of flats. But it was eerily quiet when we visited. One couple told us they can’t move into their flat because it isn’t finished and the developer has told them they have run out of money to work on it. They were nervous to speak to us and feared criticising the government. ‘I’m upset and disappointed, because we trusted this developer, Evergrande,’ Sunny, not her real name, told us. ‘What’s happening now is really heartbreaking. I’m having a hard time turning our lives around because I’m paying so much money into it. It is bleak.'”

“People were not only sold homes, they were also sold a lifestyle. The grand entrance includes a statue of half a dozen iron horses, there’s a row of shuttered shops with Western names, foreign restaurants that never opened, an overgrown playground and a theme park. Buyers were told the development would include a school and a hospital, but they were never built. The couple have young children and can’t live in the flat. It is too far from the city and there are no facilities. I asked Tony, not his real name, if he felt the government had sold him a false dream about China. ‘Exactly, it was not realistic at all,’ he replied. ‘I’m very worried about the pressure of life, about the apartment. This is unliveable. I feel I was lied to.’ The couple are in a deep financial hole. They must rent somewhere else and have lost all their savings.”

“Outside the neighbouring city of Shenyang, we came across another unfinished housing estate. There were rows of grand crumbling villas, weeds grew through cracks and the concrete was beginning to crumble. It’s another blighted symbol of China’s construction boom that has turned to dust. Greedy developers built too many homes too quickly. Analysts estimate there are between 60 and 80 million empty apartments across the country. ‘Sunny’ imagined her home would lead to a secure and settled future, instead it’s a daily struggle. ‘The original plan was that after this we would have other family purchases, bigger properties, cars and things like that, or even a second, or third house, but none of it is possible now,’ she said.”

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This Post Has 105 Comments

    1. “With more homes on the market and less incentives for buyers to move quickly, we can expect prices to cool quickly entering the fall”

      At least it was cheaper than renting.

      The Denver / Metro Front Range consumer economy *IS* mortgage equity withdrawal, local median incomes do *NOT* support the inflated used house prices. Debt Donkeys gonna Donk, until they can’t. Then the spousal arguments about money start, no more money for all the toys and bo0b jobs and phony debt based InstaLife, foreclosure, divorce, and all manner of hilarity ensues…

      1. Manitou Springs is a bellwether for the Front Range RE market. Greedhead delusions are particularly strong there, with sellers expecting half a million dollars for literal shacks. It used to be a great little mountain town, but the legalization of pot brought an influx of riffraff and crime rates have quadrupled in recent years. IIRC correctly, during the last housing bubble bust the tipping point came when shack inventories reached 100, and suddenly the greedheads and FBs who overpaid got a reality check as greed gave way to panic.

        https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/Manitou-Springs_CO

      2. The Spring Miracle Revival that was an article of faith for Colorado Springs greedheads has failed to materialize, and now reality is setting in, at least for homebuilders who are sitting on new-build shacks they can’t unload. Any buyer looking at a shack thrown up since the scamdemic needs to retain the services of a hyper-competent building inspector, since I suspect the vast majority of these developments are riddled with construction defects and shoddy workmanship. Inventories are rising at an accelerating pace, and the price reductions, while still piddly, suggest builders are getting more anxious to offload their inventory before the bottom drops out of the market.

        https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/Colorado-Springs_CO/sby-6

        1. “construction defects and shoddy workmanship”

          Commercial electrician here: outside of very high end new builds, residential construction is, in the words of our esteemed blog host, “stapled together by Guatamalans.”

          Electricians who work in resi as installers for the big corporate builders do that because they aren’t competent enough to do commercial and/or can’t pass the journeyman license exam.

    2. Fort Collins has more than three months of inventory compared to less than two weeks at the beginning of 2022, said realtor Chris Hardy

      I know people who kept losing bidding wars in Ft. Collins. It was insane.

  2. ‘Cape Coral is hot right now…Just look at the statistics. I mean, there’s close to 1,000 brand-new homes built in 2023 and newer on the market right now’

    That’s quite a shortage Scott.

    ‘I moved from Germany to the United States in 2008…And Cape Coral has a very good reputation in Germany, in Europe overall. You have the palm trees; you have the canals. And then that was the big awakening, when you live there, when you actually do live there, and you realize that this is nothing but a huge area that has house, after house, after house, but there’s nothing to do. There’s no social life’

    That was my experience living on a coast Dirk.

    1. you realize that this is nothing but a huge area that has house, after house, after house, but there’s nothing to do. There’s no social life’
      Dirk, have you thought about moving to the Villages? I hear you can find almost any kind of social life you want there.

  3. The Atlantic — The Urban Doom Loop Could Still Happen (7/20/2024):

    “San Francisco, which famously experienced a major exodus of workers during the pandemic, was long considered the doom-loop poster child. If it could rebound from its struggles, then perhaps the rest of America’s cities would also avoid that fate.

    But the comeback is not what it seems, and a doom loop is still possible. Historically, a booming economy has reliably translated into a booming commercial-real-estate sector. Now, however, San Francisco and other so-called superstar cities have entered a kind of Schrödinger’s economy, booming and busting at the same time. City leaders must come to terms with the fact that pre-pandemic office demand is never coming back, and plan accordingly.

    In the first quarter of this year, the national office-vacancy rate reached 20 percent, the highest level on record—even higher, slightly, than during the 2022 doldrums. In San Francisco, more than a third of all office space was vacant.

    Four years after the initial COVID-19 lockdowns, more than a quarter of all paid workdays are performed from home, according to an ongoing survey by the Stanford economics professor Nicholas Bloom and others. The main reason companies are reducing their office footprint is because they can. As more leases come up for renewal, vacancy continues to rise. Even without a recession, this trend is likely to endure as tenants continue to express a desire to cut down or let go of existing offices ahead of a wave of lease expirations in 2025 and 2026.”

    https://archive.ph/WdDUV

    “This sucker could go down” — George W. Bush

    1. But the comeback is not what it seems, and a doom loop is still possible.

      Two things:

      1. The Atlantic is a globalist scum media mouthpiece that aims to influence rather than inform

      2. The globalists won’t get their Great Reset until their “progressive” termites in the foundation cause the whole rotten edifice to collapse. There will be no “comeback” unless millions of libtard voters grow a brain, and the doom loops in Democrat-malgoverned urban centers are only going to accelerate from here.

    2. Now, however, San Francisco and other so-called superstar cities have entered a kind of Schrödinger’s economy, booming and busting at the same time

      I am confused? What part of San Francisco is booming? The fentanyl Market?

      1. The Comrades of Proven Worth (D) at City Hall managed an impressive clean-up operation when Emperor Xi came calling to relay his orders to the CCP’s ideological junior partners.

      2. I am confused? What part of San Francisco is booming?

        Quick Google Search: ‘The average total compensation of a Software Engineer in San Francisco Bay Area, US is $255,000. ‘

        1. The average total compensation of a Software Engineer in San Francisco Bay Area, US is $255,000. ‘
          Yeah but a lot of them are leaving or allowed to work from home as companies close office space. Check out all the companies closing their SF offices.

          1. As of today, some of the nation’s best wages are in San Francisco. That can and will likely change. But right now, you cannot earn those salaries in bum-EF nowhere.

            For the record, I don’t like SF and loathe when my work makes us go there.

          2. For the record, I don’t like SF and loathe when my work makes us go there.
            Market Gains is the You Tube channel that documents all the companies leaving SF. Lots of big companies leaving.

    3. and a doom loop is still possible

      Pretending that San Francisco hasn’t been in a death spiral for years is risible.

  4. Washington Post — Leaked memo shows J.D. Vance’s anti-woke ideology on foreign affairs (7/19/2024):

    “Trump’s VP pick froze dozens of ambassador nominations over issues like gender transition care and diversity hiring, offering a glimpse into his anti-establishment views.”

    Establishment views, did you say? The “views” that nobody outside the Beltway wants, as evidence by your disappearing subscribers?

    “Before J.D. Vance became Donald Trump’s pick for vice president, he was known in the most powerful offices of the State Department as the single biggest obstacle to confirming career ambassadors in the Senate.

    Armed with a questionnaire on hot-button social issues about gay and lesbian rights, gender transition care and hiring practices related to diversity, equity and inclusion, Vance (R-Ohio) held up for more than a year the nominations of dozens of diplomats assigned to serve in posts across the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

    A copy of Vance’s questionnaire, obtained by The Washington Post and published here for the first time, asked would-be ambassadors if they would increase the number of “gender-neutral bathrooms” in U.S. embassies, boost resources for “gender dysphoria and gender transition care” and raise the “Progress flag” during “regional Pride celebrations.”

    “The publics of many of our allies, and those countries we seek to build stronger relationships with, have traditional Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or Hindu moral values,” Vance wrote in the questionnaire he provided to all nominees. “If confirmed, how would you explain to them what the United States’ promoting ‘human rights for LGBTQ people’ would look like in their country?”

    https://archive.ph/YqIUp

    1. Related article.

      Wall Street Journal — Inside the Strange New World of Tucker Carlson (7/18/2024):

      “What ensued was an extraordinary five-hour discussion of his familiar and less familiar preoccupations, ranging from his critique of what he calls U.S. imperialism and “gay race ideology,” to his disgust with America’s current political system.

      Untethered from mainstream TV, Carlson has become a tribune for those whose disillusionment with U.S. politics and America’s global hegemony has turned into a surprising conviction: that Putin’s Russia, autocratic as it may be, now stands for order and traditional values, while America has degenerated into an agent of chaos. Moscow is clean, safe and the prettiest city he’s ever been to, Carlson says, while American cities are dirty, decaying and crime-ridden.

      “Gay race communism isn’t an appealing export to anyone, and that’s what we are exporting,” he says, referring to what he sees as the social agenda of America’s cultural and media establishment and, to some extent, the U.S. government. “The purpose of empire cannot be to make other people’s children transgender.”

      https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/inside-the-strange-new-world-of-tucker-carlson/ar-BB1qcljd

      1. The pearl-clutching and hyperventilating of the uniparty movers and shakers inside Panem on the Potomac suggests the selection of JD Vance for VP was absolutely the right move. I just wish Trump & Vance would publicly acknowledge that the Fed’s debasement of the currency is the #1 cause of the destruction of the 99 percent’s purchasing power & standard of living.

      2. “Gay race communism isn’t an appealing export to anyone, and that’s what we are exporting,”

        Or as other countries’ governments say: “All we get from Americans are lectures”

        1. And all the foreigners want are trade agreements, financing agreements, infrastructure agreements… Ya know, business and development.

    2. Related article for the pearl clutchers.

      HuffPaint — JD Vance Is The GOP’s Next-Gen Authoritarian (7/16/2024):

      “Vance’s vision was of a vengeful president disposing of democratic norms and tossing aside the checks and balances of America’s three branches of government. “I tend to think that we should seize the institutions of the left,” he said at another point. “And turn them against the left. We need like a de-Ba’athification program, a de-woke-ification program.”

      [Jack] Posobiec has spoken in deeply alarming terms about a potential second term for Trump. “President Donald J. Trump is waiting in the wings,” he said at the annual National Conservative Conference just one week ago. “And when he assumes office again, let me tell you, the globalists and their entire regime will be smashed to pieces and scattered to the winds.”

      He later added, in even more explicitly fascist language: “We don’t negotiate with unhumans because that’s the stakes of this — humanity versus unhuman; populist nationalist versus atheistic Marxist; strength, beauty and genius versus weakness, ugliness and stupidity; civilization versus barbarism; crime and chaos versus law.”

      https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jd-vance-authoritarian-rnc_n_66969677e4b0e5ea1d600462

      Marxists aren’t human? Sounds about right.

  6. Paul Krugman muh best economy ever?

    Wall Street Journal — The White-Collar Hiring Rut Is Here. That’s Bad News for Young College Grads (7/19/2024):

    “Hiring for roles that usually require a bachelor’s degree has dropped below 2019 rates in recent months, new data from payroll provider ADP show. The drop has been steeper for 20-somethings, who are running into a bottleneck of entry-level openings as more established professionals stay put in the jobs they have, according to payroll information on more than 16 million people across 31,000 U.S. employers.

    Over the second quarter, confidence about employment prospects among job seekers with bachelor’s degrees fell more steeply than among any other group of workers, apart from those with no formal education credentials at all, according to survey research by jobs website ZipRecruiter. More job seekers overall expect the number of available jobs to fall, not rise, through the end of the year.”

    https://archive.ph/Agb0l

    1. I’m seeing a lot of “I got laid off none months ago and can’t find a job” threads on OpenDoor

        1. The Bay Area experienced a burst of job gains in June, largely due to an upswing in the East Bay that was offset by employment losses in the region’s tech-dependent South Bay and San Francisco.

          Employers added 2,200 jobs in the Bay Area in June, a report released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows.

          The East Bay gained 1,800 jobs in June, while the South Bay lost 1,200 positions, and the San Francisco-San Mateo metro regions lost 200 jobs, according to the new report from the federal agency.

          California added 22,500 jobs in June. The statewide unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.2% from May and was slightly better than the 5.3% jobless rate for California that was reported for February, March and April.

          Over the first half of 2024, the Bay Area added 7,400 jobs, paced primarily by steady increases for the six months in the South Bay and the East Bay.

          So far this year, the South Bay has gained 5,300 jobs, while the East Bay has added 6,300 positions. In sharp contrast, the San Francisco-San Mateo region lost 3,500 jobs over the first half of 2024 and has shed workers every month this year.

          “This past week’s announcement by Elon Musk that he is moving X (Twitter) out of San Francisco, among other things, completes the hollowing out of the once-vibrant tech hub in the mid-market area of San Francisco,” said Michael Bernick, an employment attorney with law firm Duane Morris and a former director of the state Employment Development Department.

          Yet the X (Twitter) cutbacks are just the latest in a series of blows that tech cutbacks have dealt to the San Francisco metro area.

          “X’s exit completes the exodus started by Uber in 2019, followed by Block, formerly Square, in 2022, and Reddit in 2023,” Bernick said. “Thousands of tech jobs have left or will be leaving” San Francisco, he added.

          https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careers/bay-area-adds-jobs-in-june-but-tech-dependent-regions-lose-workers/ar-BB1qjxZP

        2. Big tech is doing a lot of hiring in Eastern Europe, India and other sh!tholes.

          Maybe I should start learning Polish.

  7. WSJ, breaking: “The gunman who tried to kill Donald Trump was able to fly a drone and get aerial footage of the western Pennsylvania fairgrounds shortly before the former president was set to speak there, law-enforcement officials briefed on the matter said, further underscoring the stunning security lapses ahead of Trump’s near assassination.”

    https://x.com/joshkraushaar/status/1814442398597984446

    1. At some point, the systemic failures start looking less like incompetence, even with the DEI factor, and more like something more sinister.

  8. ‘At some point, you’re a business person, you’re still paying insurance and property taxes and strata fees, it’s a non-performing asset if nobody is living in it and it’s not going up in value.’”

    Few things are as heartwarming as watching greedy wanna-be real estate moguls getting financially drained, month after month, by their holding costs, while renters refuse to sign leases for landlords trying to gouge them.

  9. The real estate agent advised us of the quarterly fees, but apart from that we didn’t look into it. Unfortunately, we made a bad decision,’ he said.”

    If stupid didn’t hurt, fools would never learn, Josh.

  10. I asked Tony, not his real name, if he felt the government had sold him a false dream about China. ‘Exactly, it was not realistic at all,’ he replied. ‘I’m very worried about the pressure of life, about the apartment. This is unliveable. I feel I was lied to.’

    A single tear runs down my cheek as my empathy with this young couple who trusted the promises of a corrupt, repressive Communist totalitarian regime gets the best of me. You were lied to, “Tony,” and the evil regime that sold you a bill of goods deserves to be overthrown.

  13. ‘The original plan was that after this we would have other family purchases, bigger properties, cars and things like that, or even a second, or third house, but none of it is possible now,’ she said.”

    Cry me a river, “Sunny.” Sounds like your dreams of effortless riches from being a real estate mogul have died in the arse. Maybe your kids will rediscover the Confucian moral rectitude that stood your wiser ancestors in good stead, before decades of “socialist morality” destroyed China’s moral fiber.

  14. ‘People are afraid to buy a condo,’ McMenamin said. ‘What’s the advantage of it? The equity isn’t there. The maintenance fees are high.’”

    1. Sorry my bad, what I meant to add was:

      No one should buy a condo in FL for at least the next year or two. Too much unknown risk.

  15. “Hardworking apartment owners
    Ever notice that everyone everywhere is always a hardworking person but something is always going wrong.
    Apparently nothing bad ever happens to lazy slackers.

        1. Indeed, she looks and sounds healthier too. That said, I agree with her anti-trust views and lagging unemployment assessment. Once this election year deficit spending dries up, $1Trillion every 100 days, the economic landscape will change.

    1. In 2014 I happened across this place, came back to this blog and said, I’ve seen the bubble and it’s in Prosper Texas! It’s too far from jobs that would support those prices. I also mentioned the zero or low down ads from builders on billboards.

  19. What does the One World Order have to accomplish is the question.

    -Take the first amendment, take the second amendment, take medical freedom and Transfer by Treaty unlimited power to UN and WHO to override all Constitutional protections and any Sovereign Country for 2030 UN Sustainable Earth Agenda.

    IMHO, they will try to make this a shooter event rather than a political shooter event , giving grounds to finally stamp out the second Amendment.
    Shooter had pictures of Both Biden and Trump. Shooter was Registered Republican. Shooter looked up prior mass shootings. Trump just happened to get caught up in a mass shooting event .
    Invasion of US Borders, Censorship of news, wars and more wars, reduction of energy and needed supply chain of food, inflation and destruction of small business , transgender assult on minors , and mandated killer vaccines.
    Had Trump been killed, Biden would of come out with the Unite the Country with this mass shooter event that requires taking the second amendment.

    We need to save the Country from shooters, Panademics, Climate Change, Racism, and invasion of US borders is in protection of “Our Democracy.”

    And once the guns are taken, than the set up for the One World Order Dictorship is complete .

  20. A reader sent these in:

    This chart is pretty striking. Shows the share of new 90 day delinquencies citing unemployment for reason of delinquency of FHA single family loan.

    https://x.com/AnnaEconomist/status/1814383200321581258

    I was told rate cuts would save the world

    https://x.com/DonMiami3/status/1814437112533659768

    Real estate is fun until it’s completely illiquid. Noticeable BoC overnight activities… Canada GFC? Things that make us go hmm…

    https://x.com/DonMiami3/status/1814437646925811875

    1. The last comment was about this:

      Bank of Canada INJECTs $31.5B into Repo Market : Banks ‘Hoarding’ Cash

      Mark Mitchell – Mortgage Broker London Ontario

      4 hours ago

      The Bank of Canada injected 30+ billion dollars in overnight loans into the banking system on July 17th, 18th, and 19th, with CIBC saying that some banks are “hoarding” cash.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBSt6x5KavY

      9:11.

  21. We don’t need to be saved from shooters, Panademics, Climate Change, racism , etc. etc etc

    Humanity needs to be saved from a pre planned warfare to implement a One World Order Dictorship , Great Reset take over planned for decades by a evil that knows no bounds.

  22. Establishment Democrats and their media allies have spent the better part of a month trying to remove President Joe Biden as their presidential nominee. They care little about disenfranchising millions of fellow Democrats who voted for Biden during the party’s primary elections. They have no qualms about actively subverting the democracy of the primary process in what amounts to an intra-party insurrection.

    But the ground continues shifting beneath Biden’s feet. A sizable majority of rank-and-file Democrats are now joining liberal elites in the Dump Biden Movement. A recent survey by AP and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that 65% of Democrats now want Biden to voluntarily remove himself from the party’s ticket.

    As a candidate – a political product if you will – Biden is not performing as designed or advertised, and a growing volume of polling data indicates he is headed for defeat in the general election. Given his poor performance, ordinary Democrats now want a replacement product. Whether through personal introspection or persuasion by their party’s national and congressional leadership, two-thirds of the president’s base has come to the conclusion that they were sold a lemon.

    Pretty much everybody who has ever shopped for a pre-owned car has either bought or knows someone who bought a lemon. They didn’t intentionally buy one; they were deceived by a sleazy used car salesman lying about a vehicle they knew wasn’t up to snuff. But in Biden’s case, there was a gaggle of used car salesmen pitching a lemon to their own party members.

    The Democrat Party leadership and nearly all of the elite media pitched Biden to the base of his party, and the base bought it. Now, there’s so much buyer’s remorse that two-thirds of Democrats want him to step aside. Their mistake was to believe the con job that was peddled to them by the grifters running their party.

    Like members of the Soviet Politburo in the 1970s urging Leonid Brezhnev to cling to power as general secretary, with full knowledge of his deteriorating health, Democrats propped-up Biden and deceived primary voters about what’s happening to him. They sold a lemon to millions of Democrats and now, they want a new model. Whether they get one remains to be seen.

    https://townhall.com/columnists/scotthogenson/2024/07/20/joe-biden-american-lemon-n2642229

  23. San Francisco Mayor London Breed is preparing to clear the city of most homeless encampments.

    Breed, who was at a mayoral debate Thursday, said despite the city’s efforts to provide more housing options and catered services, it’s not enough,

    “The problem is not going to be solved by building permanent supportive housing or shelter alone; we have to start cutting off the opportunities that exist in San Francisco,” she said.

    Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that cities can ban people from sleeping and camping in public spaces. The 6-3 decision overturned a lower court’s ruling that deemed it cruel to punish people for sleeping outside if they have nowhere else to go, citing the Eighth Amendment.

    The ruling also changes laws across the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes California, where a large portion of the county’s unhoused population resides. The ruling now grants local governments the right to enforce more local powers as cities, like San Francisco, grapple with record high rates of homelessness.

    Breed thanked the Supreme Court for its decision and said in the coming weeks, city officials are going to begin moving encampments.

    “Effective August, we are going to be very aggressive and assertive in moving encampments, which may even include criminal penalties,” Breed said.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/san-francisco-to-begin-clearing-homeless-encampments-in-august-mayor-says/ar-BB1qhmhF

    1. Surely the highly esteemed mayor of San Francisco, London Breed, can easily see the most logical solution to the homeless solution is to simply deport the huge number of Illegal Immigrants living in the San Francisco area. Issue a directive that those individuals have a fortnight to leave, and anybody assisting those individuals, supplying housing-jobs or financial assistance, will be delt with heavy fines. By making the housing and jobs available to the currently homeless, then we will know who is truly homeless by reason of financial calamity or just a desire to remain on the streets by their own choice. And start by having the recipients of gov’t aid, whether Federal-State-County or City verify they are indeed entitled to such aid.

  24. ‘The Arlington Place Apartments on Edgebrook Drive, the center of multiple KPRC 2 reports, has filed for foreclosure. According to the Harris County Clerk’s Office, the foreclosure was filed on Tuesday, July 16th. The sale of the complex is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 6. For months, residents dealt with piles of trash after Waste Management removed its dumpsters. The company didn’t disclose why, but Houston’s Department of Neighborhood said the owners, the Chetrit Group, abandoned the property. Before the dumpsters were removed, the trash overflowed…The Chetrit Group’s other Houston-area property in Baytown, Forest View Apartments, also filed for foreclosure’

    Related link:

    https://www.bisnow.com/houston/news/multifamily/houston-property-in-chetrit-groups-troubled-481m-portfolio-slated-for-foreclosure-auction-125134

    Forest View Owner LLC borrowed the money from JPMorgan Chase to buy the complex in Baytown, according to a July 16 substitute trustee’s sale notice filing. Forest View Apartments is part of a 43-property portfolio owned by New York City-based Chetrit Group, public records show.

    Chetrit Group took out the $481M loan in June 2019 for a portfolio of multifamily and student housing properties throughout the Sun Belt, New York, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, totaling 8,681 units. The floating-rate loan was originated at an 84% loan-to-value ratio.

    That loan was transferred to special servicing when it reached maturity default in July 2022, according to special servicer comments.

    As of January 2023, Chetrit Group was looking to sell portions of the portfolio as default loomed. It managed to offload some properties, including a three-complex portfolio in Memphis, Tennessee.

    A forbearance agreement was executed in June 2023, but Chetrit Group defaulted under that agreement, and the properties were placed into receivership in November, according to special servicer comments. A receiver now has possession and control of the collateral properties, according to the commentary.

    Chetrit Group continued to sell parts of the portfolio this year, including two properties in Jacksonville, Florida.

    The loan has an outstanding balance of $221.1M, with interest bringing the total exposure to $224.5M, according to Morningstar Credit data. The occupancy of the portfolio in March 2022, the most recent record available, was 71%.

    The Chetrit Group didn’t respond to a request for comment, and JPMorgan Chase declined to comment.

    The Harris County foreclosure auction is scheduled for Aug. 6, though a substitute trustee’s sale notice filing doesn’t ensure foreclosure will happen on that date. Forest View Apartments is a 157-unit garden-style complex that was built in 1976 and remodeled in 2008, according to Morningstar Credit data.

    There is at least one other foreclosure sale notice filed for a Texas complex in the portfolio, a student housing complex in San Marcos called Riverside Ranch, online records show.

  25. US President Joe Biden is reportedly “fed up” and “irritated” with Democratic allies, including Barack Obama, for attempting to force him to step down from the presidential race due to concerns around his age and mental fitness.

    The New York Times reports that Biden, who is recuperating from COVID-19, is annoyed with party leaders who, according to insiders, have engaged in discussions about the 81-year-old POTUS quitting as the Democratic nominee.

    The report comes as several Democrats have raised their voice against Biden’s nomination following his lackluster performance in the first presidential debate, pleading with the president to halt his campaign. However, Biden’s closest supporters, including Obama and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have refrained from openly criticising the president, whose campaign has always maintained that he will continue to run.

    Citing sources, Times reported that Biden views Obama “as a puppet master behind the scenes” of talks about his campaign.

    https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/world/joe-biden-fed-up-with-barack-obama-amid-pressure-to-step-aside-sees-him-as-a-puppet-master-behind/ar-BB1qjyQg

  26. Bend the knee, kiss the ring, or get arrested:

    “Speaker Mike Johnson on Netanyahu’s upcoming visit and potential protests: “We’re going to have extra sergeants at arms on the floor… we’re going to arrest people if we have to do it”

    https://x.com/TrackAIPAC/status/1814168832673788368

    Rep. Thomas Massie might want to stay home in Kentucky that day, lest he get vanned by some Mossad goons in Washington DeeCee…

  27. ‘It seems like the perfect storm right now for South Florida’s high-rise market. Condo deals in Miami-Dade and Broward counties fell double digits in June, according to the latest real estate report — just as condo owners become increasingly strapped by rising homeowners association fees aimed at meeting new legal requirements to maintain larger maintenance reserves. Buyers also are facing a more challenging landscape, as interest rates have held steady — despite expectations that they would fall early this year — and insurance costs have skyrocketed, according to real estate experts. Rising HOA and insurance costs have many buyers on the sidelines, said Ilene McMenamin, a real estate agent with the Oakland Park-based real estate brokerage and property management firm McElliot Properties. ‘People are afraid to buy a condo,’ McMenamin said. ‘What’s the advantage of it? The equity isn’t there. The maintenance fees are high’

    Counties down there are huge. Three big ones are sinking like a turd in a well.

  28. ‘Sellers have had to make quick adjustments to their sale expectations as many homes have lingered on the market for weeks and even months, which is far beyond the days or hours it took to sell an average home just a year and a half ago’…Bidding wars seem to be a thing of the past, said Boulder/Broomfield-area realtor Kelly Moye. ‘The tables are starting to turn for buyers and sellers in Boulder and Broomfield counties,’ Moye said. ‘Price reductions are the norm as sellers try to navigate what it will take to sell’

    I hope no one overpaid in such an environment Kelly!

  30. https://nitter.poast.org/WallStreetApes/status/1814528734982181158#m (58s):

    Donald Trump Ended The RNC With The Song ‘Nessum Dorma’

    This song played at the end of the movie The Sum of All Fears where after a failed assassination attempt all Deep State actors were executed

    ‼️ Trump Communications Team member CONFIRMS the connection. “I’ll leave you with this. President Trump did say last night for far too long, the American people have expected and accepted far too little from their own government.

    We know part of his message is to drain the swamp and return government to being formed by the people. And, uh, how poetic and operatic is that?

    Yeah. And, of course, uh, deep state actors beware.“

  31. ‘When measured against sales over the past 12 months, unsold inventory equalled 34 months of supply — roughly three times higher than a balanced level of 10-12 months’

    Relisting at lower prices isn’t working any more.

  32. ‘Potential buyers deem price reductions, coupled with the months of marketing, as a clear sign there must be something wrong. Who wants to buy something that clearly nobody else does?…Buyers can easily spot an overpriced listing and will likely skip over it entirely,’ says Handford. ‘By the time the price is reduced, the listing appears stale, causing buyers to wonder what’s wrong with the property or they assume that the seller is greedy or unrealistic’

    That’s the spirit Jon, keep up the good work!

  33. ‘We’re also renting elsewhere. Our monthly expenses are now so high we may as well have a $1 million house’

    Sounds like you can’t afford yer rent or a one million peso shack Josh..

  34. ‘Buyers were told the development would include a school and a hospital, but they were never built. The couple have young children and can’t live in the flat. It is too far from the city and there are no facilities. I asked Tony, not his real name, if he felt the government had sold him a false dream about China. ‘Exactly, it was not realistic at all,’ he replied. ‘I’m very worried about the pressure of life, about the apartment. This is unliveable. I feel I was lied to.’ The couple are in a deep financial hole. They must rent somewhere else and have lost all their savings’

    Dan:

    via GIPHY

      1. Did something she did lead to his killing, or was it just a matter of unfortunate timing for her?

        1. It was a dangerous outpost run on a shoestring without an adequate backup plan should things go sideways. The Dept. of State dropped the ball, IIRC.

        3. Why the Benghazi Attack Still Matters

          Thanks for the refresher!

          I recall that the members of Christopher Stevens’ security detail had their security clearances revoked when they went public with the actual version of events.

    1. From the research I’ve done, particularly into his white mother, I’m going with Muhammad Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo. That would make BHO not half black but half Indonesian.

      1. Sure. You just have to look at Muhammad Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo’s (thanks for not making me look that up) picture.

      2. RR, did you ever see the video of Loretta Fuddy going down? Everyone else in that plane crash survived. A diver may have helped her along. Couldn’t tell you where I saw the video. In any case, people are certifiable these days. The plane you were in just crashed, you’re bobbing around in the water and you’re filming it 🤦🏼‍♀️

        1. One more – I always thought it was quite convenient for Obama that Grandma croaked right before the election ☠️

        3. “…Loretta Fuddy…”

          Those who can’t swim can easily panic becoming incoherent and struggle violently with rescuers despite floatation gear.

          2. At 2:00, slow the video to 0.5x speed. At 2:20-2:22, look carefully a finger’s width above “on tape” and you’ll see a diver.

          3. I can believe a couple of rescue swimmers in the water after being dropped from a helicopter. I’ll have to read the NTSB report later today.

            I’ve been walking Ruby early, after dawn, but before sunrise to beat the heat. It’s 77-degrees F @ 0430. Here’s a shot from yesterday morning:

            https://imgur.com/a/RPoN2NT

    1. Stock Market Today: Stocks Tumble After Spectacular Global Internet Crash

      Market participants rushed out of risk assets to end a wild week of trading.
      By Dan Burrows
      published 20 July 2024

      The rotation out of tech stocks intensified Friday after a botched software update from cybersecurity provider CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD) caused Microsoft (MSFT) Windows computer systems to crash globally. Disappointing earnings reports from several blue chips also weighed on equities.
      …
      https://www.kiplinger.com/investing/stocks/stock-market-today-stocks-tumble-after-spectacular-global-internet-crash

    3. Yahoo Finance
      Fool.co.uk
      Here’s how I’m trying to prevent a stock market crash from ruining my portfolio
      Jon Smith
      Fri, 19 July 2024 at 6:54 pm GMT+8·3-min read

      This week hasn’t been a great one for stock markets around the world. On Wednesday (17 July) the Nasdaq index had the worst day since 2022. Here in the UK, the FTSE 100 has fared better, but is still on track to end the week lower than where it started it.

      With renewed chatter about a stock market crash, here are the actions I’m taking.
      …
      https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/m-trying-prevent-stock-market-105453884.html

    4. DOW 30 -0.93%
      S&P 500 -0.71%
      NASDAQ 100 -0.93%

      Stock market today: Stocks tumble as the S&P 500 caps off its worst week in 3 months
      Matthew Fox
      Jul 20, 2024, 4:05 AM GMT+8
      Trader NYSE green
      Lucas Jackson/Reuters

      – US stocks closed lower Friday, marking the worst week for the S&P 500 since mid-April.

      – A global IT outage caused by a Crowdstrike update exacerbated Friday’s stock market decline.

      – Next week, investors will focus on upcoming earnings from Tesla and Alphabet, as well as economic data releases.
      …
      https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/stock-market-today-sp500-worst-week-since-april-amid-rotation-2024-7

      1. “Stocks tumble as the S&P 500 caps off its worst week in 3 months”

        Notice how it’s a major freakout moment when Mr Market goes down by less than 1%?

        I was working in the financial sector on Black Monday in October 1987, when stocks sold off by 20% in one day. My supervisor at the time had some prescient advice: “Now is the time to buy, if you have the guts.” Shortly thereafter, the Greenspan Put was born, and stock market selloffs have never been the same as they once were.

  38. Do you worry that if you buy a house today, its value may soon plummet, leaving you holding the bag on an underwater mortgage?

    Try not to catch yourself a falling knife. 🔪🗡️🗡️🔪

    1. 10 Housing Markets That Will Plummet in Value Over the Next 5 Years
      Sean Bryant
      Sat, Jul 20, 2024, 9:00 PM GMT+8
      5 min read

      Are you looking to purchase real estate? Whether you are a seasoned investor looking for your next buy or a prospective retiree trying to find a stable home out of state, understanding where the market is headed is important. In this article, we’ll cover ten housing markets that will likely plummet in value over the next five years, helping you make an informed purchase decision.
      …
      https://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-housing-markets-plummet-value-130034897.html

    2. L07-18-2024
      NEWS
      The mortgage market is passing through one of its biggest downturns in history

      While national home prices and single-family homebuilding have proved resilient, the mortgage market remains in the dumps.
      BY Lance Lambert
      1 minute read

      While nationally aggregated home prices and single-family homebuilding have proved fairly resilient, all things considered, through the recent interest rate shock, the mortgage market hasn’t been as fortunate.

      In fact, the U.S. mortgage market is experiencing one of the biggest downturns in history.

      Layoffs and mergers continue to mount in the mortgage industry, and mortgage purchase applications have been hovering around multi-decade lows since 2022.

      The decline in mortgage purchase applications isn’t just due to priced out buyers; it also stems from the mortgage rate shock coinciding with decreased turnover among existing homeowners, known as the lock-in effect. Some would-be sellers can’t afford to sell and buy something else at current rates, while others simply refuse to trade their 2% or 3% mortgage rates for rates of 6% or 7%. Thus fewer mortgages are being issued.
      …
      https://www.fastcompany.com/91157434/housing-market-mortgage-market-biggest-downturns-in-history

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