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People Are Saying, Wait A Minute, Do I Want To Do This?

A report from Fox 35. “The president of Florida’s Senate has confirmed that no special session will be convened to reconsider condominium safety legislation. ‘For many years, people have elected to kick the can down the road,’ said John Cadden, who runs the Condominium Advisory Group. ‘It was pay now or pay later, and later is here.’ Deborah Alejandro, a condo owner in Kissimmee, is facing a $3,000 special assessment from her HOA. ‘No one has that type of money!’ Alejandro, a single mother working two jobs, exclaimed. Real estate attorney Karen Wonsetler warns that many condo owners could face similar situations. ‘If you can’t afford it, you’ve got to sell your condo or watch it go through foreclosure. There’s not much in between.'”

WRAL in North Carolina. “You might notice more ‘For Sale’ signs in your neighborhood staying up longer than they might have in recent years. The end-of-month total inventory was the highest it has been in 5 years in July compared to the same time in 2023, according to real estate appraiser Stacey Anfindsen. I’m seeing more inventory,’ said real estate professional Tammie Harris. ‘We used to put a house on the market. Zero days on the market, we got multiple offers,” she said. ‘Now that interest rates are up and job security is a question, people are saying, ‘Wait a minute. Do I want to do this?'”

“The median sales price for the market was $475,000 in July, according to Triangle Multiple Listing Services. Anfindsen also found a 74% increase in end-of-month listings with at least one price drop compared to last year. ‘Some, such as myself, view it as a positive. If sellers did not adjust prices downward to meet market expectations, in theory, there would be fewer listings with a status change to ‘sold.’ ‘There are still too many sellers and listing agents who are unaware of market conditions within their sub-market, and thus set initial list price above market,’ Anfindsen wrote in his report.”

The New York Post. “A record 60,000 homebuyers pulled the plug on their deals in July, shattering previous records, according to a new report. This mass exodus, accounting for 16% of all contracts inked that month, is the highest July cancellation rate since Redfin started tracking this data in 2017. The carnage was most brutal in regions where builders have been going gangbusters in recent years, flooding the market with new homes. Tampa and Fort Lauderdale in Florida, and San Antonio in Texas, led the charge with the highest rate of busted deals, according to Redfin.”

“With inventories swelling, sellers were forced to swallow their pride and slash prices. Zillow reported that over 26% of homes on the market in July saw price cuts, the most significant share since 2018. For those still in the game, this oversupply spells opportunity — not just in negotiating prices, but even squeezing out lower commissions. So, what’s driving this buyer’s remorse? ‘When rates finally dropped, buyers got excited, and we saw more activity,’ said Nicole Stewart, a real estate agent with Redfin in Boise, Idaho. But now, she says, many are hitting pause because ‘a lot of people are also concerned about the political climate.'”

The Wall Street Journal on California. “In 2020, tech mogul Elon Musk agreed to sell one of his Los Angeles homes to filmmaker Jordan Walker-Pearlman and his wife, Elizabeth Hunter, for $7 million. Walker-Pearlman had grown up in the Bel-Air house—the longtime home of his uncle, the late actor Gene Wilder—and Musk agreed to loan the couple most of the money they would need to buy it. Four years later, an entity tied to Musk has filed a notice of default on the property, the first formal step in the foreclosure process, property records show. Meanwhile, the couple has listed the house for $12.95 million with Drew Meyers of Westside Estate Agency. The filmmaker said the prolonged writers’ and actors’ strikes in Los Angeles last year played a role in the couple falling behind on the payments. The property is held in Hunter’s name, and she felt particularly uncomfortable missing payments, he said.”

The San Francisco Chronicle in California. “The number of Bay Area homes sitting on the market for more than 30 days is increasing, a new real estate report shows. Real estate agents refer to these properties as ‘stale’ homes because sellers struggle to find buyers quickly in several Bay Area counties, according to Redfin data viewed by SFGATE. San Francisco had 69.7% of homes remaining on the market for more than 30 days, according to the data. Janice Lee, a real estate agent in a San Francisco office for Coldwell Banker, told SFGATE that condos in the city often take longer to sell because of high inventory, especially in downtown areas such as SoMa.”

The San Francisco Examiner. “While some San Francisco buildings have recently sold at fire-sale prices, private valuations of numerous other distressed properties in The City have plunged, according to real-estate market experts. ‘It gives you a feeling as to how much pressure the owners are under, in that because of the way the economy has moved, the value they have in these buildings has been seriously eroded,’ said Nigel Hughes, senior Bay Area director of market analytics at CoStar Group. The distress has been most acute in sectors reliant on traffic in downtown San Francisco, said Hughes, who did a recent survey of strained commercial mortgage-backed security loans in which the loan servicers asked for appraisals and found resulting valuations that had fallen between roughly 20% to 80%.”

“Among major markets, the San Francisco metropolitan area had the third-highest percentage of distressed loans tied to commercial mortgage-backed securities, 35% of $21.9 billion, KBRA reported this month. Chicago and Denver had the top two positions, said the company, which includes loans in default as well as loans exhibiting other signs of stress. In dollar terms, Hughes said the largest single decline in appraised value — $930 million since 2016 — was recorded at the downtown mall and office complex now known as the Emporium Centre San Francisco, which was placed into receivership last October after the owners stopped loan payments.”

The Baltimore Banner in Maryland. “The only criminal case against a real estate investor accused of running a Ponzi-style international investment scheme that affected thousands of homes in Baltimore and Philadelphia is underway this week in Baltimore District Court. Jay Walsh, who ran ABC Capital until it filed for bankruptcy, looked on as a former client testified that he purchased a home in West Baltimore with the promise that $20,500 of his investment would be used to renovate the property. ‘Did the defendant complete the services that he was contracted to?’ asked Assistant State’s Attorney Samantha Danzinger. ‘No,’ replied the investor, Fernando Iacomacci, an engineer who works in Colombia and Venezuela.”

“ABC Capital sold more than 1,000 homes in distressed areas of Baltimore to far-flung investors with the promise of fixing them up and generating guaranteed income. In dozens of civil lawsuits, Walsh has been accused of not following through on promised repairs, leaving his investors — many of them in foreign countries — grasping for help and causing city neighborhoods to fall into further disrepair.”

The Denver Gazette in Colorado. “Denver officials identified 15 apartment complexes with a high concentration of immigrants with tenants facing eviction — the latest focal point in a city whose finances have been stretched thin to pay for the influx of people from America’s southern borders. Last week, Aurora officials evicted more than 50 families from an apartment complex on Nome Street and Colfax Avenue with a history of health and safety code violations. The landlord of Aspen Grove Apartments — a 98-unit complex operated by CBZ Management — has blamed the shoddy conditions on the presence of the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua, also known as TDA, saying it poses a danger to staff and residents.”

“After originally pushing back on the Aurora landlord’s narrative about the Venezuelan gang, Ryan Luby, a spokesperson for the Aurora Police Department, said Tuesday that he had ‘never denied the possibility of gang activity’ but that it was ‘immaterial’ to the living conditions. Tuesday’s presentation also included a tally of the number of bus, plane and train tickets purchased for immigrants looking to settle down elsewhere. This year alone, Denver has bought nearly 6,000 tickets, according to a report released Tuesday.”

Richmond News in Canada. “Ontario is revamping its approach to the drug crisis by banning consumption sites that are close to schools, introducing a number of treatment hubs and ending the practice of safer supply, Health Minister Sylvia Jones said Tuesday. The province will shut down 10 consumption and treatment sites – more than half of the provincially funded locations. ‘People are not going to die. They are going to get access to treatment,’ Jones said. ‘I do not call watching someone inject an illicit drug to be health care in the province of Ontario. We need to do better, and we can do better.'”

“Karolina Huebner-Makurat had been walking through her southeast Toronto neighbourhood of Leslieville shortly after noon on July 7, 2023, when she was shot as a fight broke out between three alleged drug dealers. The pending closures are welcome to those living near South Riverdale Community Health Centre, where Huebner-Makurat was shot, said Derek Finkle. Finkle, who lives across the street from the site and is a journalist who has written about the issue, said he has seen open drug use, fights, drug deals and tons of used needles. There are two schools nearby and six daycares, he said. ‘One inevitable consequence of these sites is that it draws a number of drug dealers, some of whom carry guns and some of whom get into fights and then kill innocent passersby,’ he said. ‘It makes no sense that South Riverdale exists at an address that the province would prohibit from having a license to be a cannabis dispensary.’ Provincial regulations state cannabis shops must be no closer than 150 metres to a school.”

The Globe and Mail in Canada. “People who complain to the Law Society of Ontario about lawyers alleged to have acted unethically, unlawfully or who were incapable of providing proper counsel can wait more than 2½ years before their case is argued in front of a panel. A law society committee report provided to The Globe and Mail shows that serious and complex cases can take 940 days on average to be referred for regulatory action, which can involve a hearing and may include disbarment. The law society’s disciplinary procedures are in the spotlight in the wake of the death of Arash Missaghi, whose killing in June uncovered decades of alleged mortgage fraud schemes. The law society eventually disciplined five lawyers for assisting Mr. Missaghi, but a Globe investigation revealed that he quickly found new ones to work with.”

“Alisa Pogorelovsky, whose husband Alan Kats killed Mr. Missaghi after her family was allegedly defrauded by him of more than $1-million in life savings, filed a complaint with her husband about the two lawyers earlier this year. Christian Leuprecht, a security expert at Royal Military College and Queen’s University, said the delays in resolving complaints provide incentives to bad actors. Regulators ‘want to ensure due process, but this is too long,’ he said. ‘This is what the bad actors count on: to outrun the administrative clock.'”

From Interest New Zealand. “Construction giant Fletcher Building is seeking partners for its residential development business as the company reports a $227 million loss for the financial year ending June 2024. ‘Following a challenging FY23, New Zealand housing market conditions showed initial signs of improvement through HY24. In the second half, record market house listings, elevated interest rates and broader economic uncertainty adversely impacted buyer sentiment and urgency,’ the company said.”

Western Australia Today. “More than 150 Nicheliving clients trying to claim insurance for incomplete home builds remain in limbo after a marathon seven-hour hearing over the company’s registration status failed to yield a resolution. Lawyers for the embattled builder gathered at the State Administrative Tribunal on Wednesday in an 11th-hour bid to stop the cancellation of its building registration. The Building Services Board ruled not to renew Nicheliving’s registration over its growing debt, which the tribunal was told was now almost double the value of the group’s assets.”

“Willetton resident Kathy Ellis told this masthead the tribunal’s inability to come to a timely decision on the registration matter was ‘a slap in the face,’ especially given she had been rendered homeless by the saga. Ellis claims her incomplete Canning Vale home remains in lockup, as it did almost two years ago, with mould now spreading to every room due to water damage. ‘I am exhausted,’ she said. ‘I’m going to sleep in my caravan tonight without a heater, so I hope they’re really comfortable with that.'”

“In response to comments by that clients could choose to terminate their contracts and change builders, 27-year-old Brayden Munroe told media outside the tribunal that would not be possible without the insurance money. ‘We can’t afford to fix all the defects, afford to fix our home and get it to completion,’ he said. ‘The banks won’t give us an extension in the loan to do so, so we’d be completely stuck without [the insurance] kicking in.'”

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This Post Has 85 Comments

  1. ‘Ryan Luby, a spokesperson for the Aurora Police Department, said Tuesday that he had ‘never denied the possibility of gang activity’ but that it was ‘immaterial’ to the living conditions’

    Somebody is a lion.

    ‘Tuesday’s presentation also included a tally of the number of bus, plane and train tickets purchased for immigrants looking to settle down elsewhere. This year alone, Denver has bought nearly 6,000 tickets’

    Yer criminalizing Venezuela gangs Denver!

  2. ‘for $7 million…Four years later, an entity tied to Musk has filed a notice of default on the property, the first formal step in the foreclosure process, property records show. Meanwhile, the couple has listed the house for $12.95 million’

    Still looking for that sweet equity!

  3. Florida needs to become more affordable as it has always historically know for it’s affordability. I’ve known several people who, in the past couple of years, have tried to move to Florida but either returned, or rented, because it was too unaffordable. Many midwesterners would snow bird on the gulf coast in a small condo and then return home in the summer to see family but that dream has all but disappeared with insane condo prices.

  4. It’s been truly amazing to witness how quickly and rapidly San Fran collapsed under progressive leadership. I can’t think of any city other than maybe Detroit that collapsed so quickly and decisively with no glimmers of hope that things would ever turn around again.

    2. Not sure how ‘quickly’ is defined. Seems like both Detroit and ST collapsed over many decades.

        1. I’d argue the initial collapse already happened but the slow decline afterward will take decades to play out. Going to be difficult to overcome a 36.8% office vacancy rate that keeps creeping up. Condo values falling rapidly too. Friends and family no longer interested in San Fran vacays any more either, that was a real thing. I got engaged in SF.

  5. [It is Fun Wednesday and here is a fun article that just my tickle your fancy (it certainly tickled mine.)]

    University Of California Bans Encampments, Face Masks.

    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/university-california-bans-encampments-face-masks

    The president of the University of California (UC) said on Monday that the 10-campus university system would enforce policies banning encampments and the wearing of masks to conceal identity in response to pro-Palestinian protests across the country.

    In a letter to the university community, UC President Michael V Drake said that his office and campus leaders have reflected on “the events of the past year” and sought ways to strengthen policies and procedures.

    They found that while the “vast majority” of protests held on UC’s campuses were peaceful and nonviolent, some activities over the past year were not.

    Drake said that “consistent application of policies and laws” is needed to balance protecting free speech rights with ensuring the safety of students and maintaining critical university operations.

    He said the policies would prohibit encampments, unauthorized structures, and restrictions on free movement on university property. They will also ban the use of masks to conceal identity and prohibit people from refusing to identify themselves to university personnel.

    Drake said the university will also develop a framework for consistent enforcement of its policies and responses to policy violations, as well as launch a campus climate initiative.

    “Our ultimate goal is for all of our community members to feel supported in their ability to express themselves, and to pursue their studies, research, patient care, and other work on our campuses,” he stated.

    In a separate letter to campus leaders, Drake said the university will implement a “consistent tiered response” for those who violate institutional policies.

    Individuals who violate campus policy will first receive a warning. If the conduct persists, the UC police department or campus fire marshal will assess the situation and may issue an unlawful assembly notice.

    In the final phase of the tiered response, those who continue to break the law “may be cited, detained and arrested for unlawful behavior, or subject to other police actions.” Stay-away orders may be issued for “higher severity violations” and repeat offenses.

    This came a week after a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit filed by three students, prohibiting the University of California–Los Angeles (UCLA) from providing programs and access to buildings if Jewish students were blocked.

    The students sued UCLA in June for allowing protesters to barricade the center of the campus and establish an encampment that obstructed passage to campus facilities.

    In his 16-page ruling on Aug. 13, U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi described the situation at UCLA as “unimaginable” and “so abhorrent to our constitutional guarantee of religious freedom.”

    The university is among the many campuses in the United States where demonstrators have set up encampments to protest the war in Gaza, which was Israel’s response to the Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023.

    1. UC was overrun with commies 40 years ago. There was even a restaurant on the UCSD campus called The Che Cafe.

  6. CNBC — Macy’s cuts sales forecast as department stores struggle to draw shoppers (8/21/2024):

    “Macy’s cut its full-year sales forecast Wednesday, as the department store operator said it is contending with selective shoppers and more promotions.

    The retailer posted a mixed quarter, as it topped Wall Street’s earnings expectations but missed on revenue.”

    https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/21/macys-m-q2-2024-earnings.html

    Selective shoppers?

    Spinal Tap — More Selective:

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UZ6JxAgmxXg&pp=ygUZc3BpbmFsIHRhcCBtb3JlIHNlbGVjdGl2ZQ%3D%3D

    2. I never understood Macy’s. I shop there rather frequently but it’s a weird place. The mens’ clothing section is stocked to the gills with all of this name brand fashion but it’s super expensive, unless on sale, and most, but not all, of the brands seem to be geared toward the Eastern European clubber crowd. The racks are just packed with merchandise. The housewares sections in the basement are also packed with consumer goods and it’s always empty down there. There’s 40 different spatulas, dozens of different dinnerware sets, old stale packaged food items. The upstairs is the furniture and rug sections, takes up 20000 sq feet in these stores, and it’s empty. Dead empty. Rarely even an associate up there. The toy section at christmas is stocked, overstocked really, with the same stuff you can buy at target but for 1.5x the price, and it doesn’t look like anyone buys any of it. The toy section utterly fails to recreate the magic that toy sections used to have when I was a kid at christmastime

      I feel like they could reduce the sq footage of the stores by half, reduce inventory by half, and make the stores feel more crowded. I don’t particularly like going there, or to the mall in general, but I do buy work slacks there, and other occasional gifts for the women in my family, just to kind of try and recapture that department store shopping experience.

  7. Would you be upset if you owned a home in an area where prices dropped by $30,000 … In one month?

    2. ** ” would you be upset … price dropping $30K .. ?”

      that depends on if I purchased the property as an investment or as a residence.

  8. ** “Tampa and Fort Lauderdale in Florida, and San Antonio in Texas, led the charge with the highest rate of busted deals, according to Redfin.”

    ” Bust a deal, face the Wheel!! “

    1. Real Estate
      Economic Report
      Mortgage rates fall, but buyer demand drops to 6-month low
      Home buyers might be ‘more selective’ as inventory levels rise, industry group says
      By Aarthi Swaminathan
      Follow
      Published: Aug. 21, 2024 at 7:00 a.m. ET

      Mortgage applications are an early indicator of sales activity in the housing market.
      Photo: Getty Images
      The numbers: Applications for mortgages plunged as home buyers and homeowners retreated from the housing market.

      The 30-year rate fell for the third week in a row to the lowest level in 15 months, yet that failed to spur more buying and refinancing activity.
      …
      https://www.marketwatch.com/story/mortgage-rates-fall-but-buyer-demand-drops-to-6-month-low-d08482f6

      1. I’d like to see a statistic on how many rate daters are calling in only to be told that they cant do a rate and term refi without the necessary equity. All you no to little down FHA/VA loan folks are starting to realize that realturd who introduced you to the “date the rate” term was a con man/woman. You’ve been schlonged!

    2. It ain’t over until the Fed monetizes office towers!!!

      This could be a 2-phase decline. The next around 2027 or so….

      da bear

  10. ** ” I am exhausted,’ she said. ‘I’m going to sleep in my caravan tonight without a heater, so I hope they’re really comfortable with that.’”

    the phrase ” stamp your feet ” really applies here to this clueless gold star participation trophy winner: newsflash
    this is BIDNEZZ, not mommies kitchen. and to answer your whiny question, Yes!. “They” will sleep very soundly tonight.
    “and tomorrow. and tomorrow and tomorrow
    it is too late. he drags me down.
    I sink
    my soul is lost.
    forever ”

    Macbeth W.S.

  11. 3:30

    Steve Cortes
    @CortesSteve

    🚨NEW VIDEO🚨

    The DNC is more secure than America’s border.

    When a Venezuelan migrant tried to get into the DNC, he was denied due to lack of ID, failure to submit an application, and no credentials.

    Why is Kamala enforcing the rules at her convention but not at our border?

    7:54 AM · Aug 21, 2024
    ·
    https://x.com/CortesSteve/status/1826226313847329187

  12. Are we paying off their student loans?

    Ford Fischer
    @FordFischer

    2) The protesters set fire to a American-Israeli flag.

    As they were about to set fire to an American flag,
    @BenBergquam
    attempted to confront them but was pushed away.

    The flag was set ablaze as an organizer declared “the only acceptable American flag is one burned to char!”

    12:57 AM · Aug 21, 2024
    ·
    https://x.com/FordFischer/status/1826121478376411167

  13. A reader sent these in:

    Travel demand is falling:

    Visits to websites of top Airlines and Cruise Lines brands declined by 4.6% and 4.4% in July, respectively compared to last year.

    At the same time, accommodation websites recorded a 3.7% year-over-year drop.

    Furthermore, the average trip length is down 14% year-over-year from 7.8 days to 6.2 days, on average.

    Moreover, Airbnb, $ABNB, shares plunged on August 7th by the most in 2 years after the company warned of slowing demand for bookings.

    The boom in travel is officially over.

    https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1825919769221943351

    ABSOLUTELY COOKED.

    https://x.com/bennyjohnson/status/1825745525913616568

    For a while, it was only the Manufacturing side of the US economy that crumbled. But macro data indicating a weakening of the Services sector is spreading.
    This is the Philadelphia Non-Manufacturing Activity Index ⬇️

    https://x.com/jsblokland/status/1825881771562459198

    US new bankruptcy filings hit 6,276 in Q2 2024, the highest level since Q2 2017.

    The number of companies declaring bankruptcy has DOUBLED in just 2 years.

    Chapter 7 filings, also known as liquidation bankruptcies, reached a whopping 3,151 in Q2, the most since the 2020 Pandemic.

    Chapter 11 cases hit 2,462 last quarter, exceeding every other quarter over the last 10 years.

    Furthermore, Chapter 13 and other bankruptcies rose to 469 and 194, respectively.

    Bankruptcies have been rising at a pace seen during major economic downturns.

    Is a soft landing still attainable?

    https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1825695530510598184

    Gains from the panic lows two weeks ago…
    Nvidia $NVDA: +43%
    Tesla $TSLA: +22%
    Bitcoin $BTC: +20%
    Nikkei 225 $NIKK: +20%
    Meta $META: +18%
    Amazon $AMZN: +18%
    Netflix $NFLX: +17%
    Apple $AAPL: +15%
    Nasdaq 100 $QQQ: +14%
    S&P 500 $SPY: +10%
    Microsoft $MSFT: +9%
    Google $GOOGL: +8%

    https://x.com/charliebilello/status/1825635426075340820

    The average annual cost of auto insurance in the US has moved up to a record $2,329, 50% higher than what it cost just 3 years ago ($1,550/year).

    https://x.com/charliebilello/status/1825196436369150252

    Horrible take by this “economist”, let’s take a look why:
    The US housing market is already massively subsidized by the existence of GSEs and 30y fixed rate mortgages which don’t exist in Singapore, not to mention the mortgage interest deduction and a capital gains exclusion on the first 250/500k of a sale.
    The idea that a home should “create wealth” is an economic fallacy as homes don’t produce anything and can’t reinvest and compound capital in themselves and therefore can’t sustainably grow faster than rents and ultimately incomes without an increase in density that pushes up desirable land values.
    The perception that houses “create wealth” is a function of cheap borrowing, declining interest rates, population growth in certain markets and inflation.
    Putting housing at the center of the economy has repeatedly caused financial instability, calls for endless subsidies and inflationary monetary policy.
    It’s time to end the nonsense of ever growing housing subsidies, which do little but raise home prices, enrich extant homeowners and lead to further calls for subsidies.

    https://x.com/sidprabhu/status/1825896186718597133

    It should be clear that most, if not all, of the supposed improvement in borrower credit quality between now and 2008 is the result not of actual quality improvements, but of regulatory changes to credit reporting, says @MarkCalabria
    , former FHFA director.

    https://x.com/NatMortgageNews/status/1825865417941811228

    Ladies and gentlemen, the economy!

    https://x.com/RudyHavenstein/status/1825921160015761760

    About 59,000 home-purchase agreements were canceled in July, which equals 15.8% of homes that went under contract that month … highest percentage of any July on record per ⁦@Redfin
    ⁩
    https://x.com/LizAnnSonders/status/1825855794308342210

    Who Will Bail Me Out? The Generational Trap of Boomer Finances:

    As a Canadian boomer, I’m staring down the barrel of a retirement I can’t afford, a scenario I never thought I’d face. Like many in my generation, I used my home as a financial springboard, tapping into its equity to fund vacations and buy the latest cars. The plan seemed flawless: enjoy life now, cash in later. My house would be my golden ticket, my safety net, my retirement fund. But here I am, ready to retire, and I’m stuck in a game where only other boomers can afford to buy my house—and they’re not buying.

    This isn’t just a personal crisis; it’s a generational quagmire. My financial reality is intertwined with broader economic forces that are locking younger people out of the opportunities my generation took for granted. With no buyers in sight, I’m left holding the bag, forced to keep working. My continued presence in the workforce means younger generations, who should be stepping up to take my place, are instead stuck in lower-paying jobs with no room for advancement. It’s a vicious cycle, one that seems to benefit only one group: the banks.

    The banks, of course, have played this game masterfully. Every policy move from the government seems designed to ensure their profits remain untouched. Interest rates were low when I was leveraging my house, encouraging me to borrow more. Now, as I try to sell and retire, those same rates have climbed, making it harder for others to afford the house I’ve invested so much in. It’s a double-edged sword, and the banks are holding the handle.

    Who’s going to bail me out? Certainly not the government, whose policies have only deepened the financial quagmire for people like me. They’ve propped up a housing market that was unsustainable from the start, and now that it’s teetering, it’s the banks, not the average Canadian, who are being protected.

    The younger generations, already struggling with high rents, student loans, and stagnant wages, aren’t in a position to help either. They’re victims of the same system that encouraged my generation to spend and borrow with abandon. They can’t afford to buy my house, nor can they afford to take on the burden of my generation’s retirement needs. And why should they? The system wasn’t designed for them to succeed; it was designed to keep the wheels of profit turning for the financial institutions.

    The harsh truth is that the promise of the Canadian dream—the one where you work hard, buy a home, and retire comfortably—has been hijacked by a financial system that prioritizes short-term profits over long-term stability. As boomers, we bought into this dream, and now we’re paying the price. But the real tragedy is that our financial decisions, driven by a system designed to encourage debt and consumption, are now locking younger Canadians out of the future we promised them.

    So, who will bail me out? Perhaps it’s time to stop looking for a bailout and start questioning the system that put us here in the first place. If we don’t, the cycle will continue, and the next generation will be left with nothing but the bills.

    https://x.com/TdLeaker/status/1825517628808389024

    Home Depot and Lowe’s are telling the truth. The housing market is frozen. People are maxed out and cannot spend for improvement. Everything else is fluff.

    https://x.com/TradeCrowded/status/1825947627596427452

    A $370M loan tied to this 1.2M SF skyscraper in Chicago has moved to special servicing, signaling the owner/borrower is likely to default on the debt, per TRD 😲

    Address: 330 N Wabash (AMA Plaza, previously IBM Building)

    https://x.com/TripleNetInvest/status/1825683414319562816

    NY Fed survey shows the share of individuals who reported searching for a job increased to the highest level in the 10-year history of the survey

    Among those with jobs, the average expected likelihood of becoming unemployed also jumped to a series high

    https://x.com/NickTimiraos/status/1825838939145379982

    Looks like, in addition to a material downward benchmark revision to last year’s payrolls, we can expect to see a further collapse in full-time jobs. The Philly Fed report showed a 10pt drop in full time hiring, taking the index to levels only seen twice before–Covid and the GFC. Still believe in the ‘soft landing’ fairytale??

    https://x.com/spomboy/status/1825889916225528242

    What a coincidence that the nominal value of all these things is hitting $1 million at the same time! Perhaps $1 million ain’t what it used to be. Thanks Fed!

    https://x.com/sidprabhu/status/1825678985482863083

    1. Like many in my generation, I used my home as a financial springboard, tapping into its equity to fund vacations and buy the latest cars.

      I think Aesop had a fable with an ant and a grasshopper that covered this.

      1. Debt donkeys gonna donk.

        Have fun spending the rest of your life eating cat food and cutting your pills in half, stupid leaf.

    2. Travel demand is falling:

      I read that airlines are cancelling flights as they can’t book enough passengers. And this has only just begun.

    3. As a Canadian boomer, I’m staring down the barrel of a retirement I can’t afford, a scenario I never thought I’d face. Like many in my generation, I used my home as a financial springboard, tapping into its equity to fund vacations and buy the latest cars.

      Sorry for your bad luck but I read the Housing Bubble Blog every day and I won’t have any trouble retiring. As a matter of fact, I’ve stopped working and unless I do something extremely foolish I’ll have enough funds to hold me over until I’m 97. If I last that long I’ll just become a ward of the state.

      1. I too am a boomer. Our “allowance” is just $176,000 per year before 33% set aside for taxes and insurance and other costs for routine Maintenace on our 4 rental properties. 4 rental properties,4 cd’s funded to the max. 3 pensions. and 2 social security checks. We still drive that 1989 SUV and that 2010 sedan, and have no desire to try to impress the neighbors with a new Belch-Fire v-8 . While family and friends were like the grasshopper, we planned for the future like the Ant. Unbeknownst to our grand-daughter, we are funding our Great-Grand-daughters future with a rental property with a 15 year mortgage that will be paid off from the rental proceeds when she finishes a 4-year college program. I remember when Michelle Obama said that in order for everyone to have a piece of the pie, someone will have to give up a piece of their pie. It is all about planning for the future, not next month or next year , but way beyond the horizon. If a Dem and a Repub were to sit across the table from each other, make a list of their own top 5 wishes and hopes for America, those lists would probably mirror each other. The difference would be on how they would accomplish those wishes. Politics boil down to compromise, not winning for the party but what is best for the Nation and the Citizens of the Nation. Go in peace my brothers and sisters. If you are hungry, you can sit at my table, if you are thirsty, water will be provided, and if you are weary, you can rest by the fire and regain your strength for tomorrow. If we stand alone the problems may be unsurmountable, but by standing together, we can overcome the major obstacle’s.

  14. BHPian Smartomotive recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

    Rant: I kinda started to regret buying this vehicle. It’s been like things have been going down hill with this vehicle (or EVs in general).

    So I bought it in Dec. There were price cuts in following months and then, a new model with minor feature changes got launched and even a variant with sun-roof which used to be on higher variant is now available in lower trims and what not basically leaving the top-end model for only folks that need ADAS and other things that would not be really used as much.

    Essentially devaluing existing vehicles value significantly just within a few months and now there’s news about the CUV launch which would be under 20L and similar battery pack and range. So that should further kill the value of ZS EV.

    I know prices can go down and they do (and It may also be good overall for the EV market) but the value drop of this vehicle is kinda higher than others. Resale value is so low that the losses outweigh the savings from EV compared to ICE.

    The seats are not so comfy either which has been a major issue for us.

    Overall, this is starting to feel like a bad choice. In terms of running cost, it’s a no brainer it is actually saving and the driving pleasure of EV, there’s no question. Unless we keep this for a long-term, this may not be a worthy purchase and it doesn’t look like we’d be keeping it for long considering other EV launches which seem much better upgrades, we’d likely have to take a hit on this one.

    It sure was overpriced and it did correct multiple times but it keeps correcting its price. It’s a free-fall at this point which is not good for the owners.

    In my particular case of XUV700, I got mine at introductory price due to which I’m not losing as much value despite the price correction and usage for a good 3 years.

    In case of this EV, I’m getting offers in range of 7.5L to 11.5L for a 5-6k KM driven vehicle which is just ~7 months old and a top-end. Sure I understand vehicle value depreciates but to this level? It’s a combination of battery prices going down, price correction in general by MG and overall EVs market which makes this whole sector seem like its better to stay away until things are ICE level and stable.

    I do have an itch to upgrade but looking at how this vehicle has ended up economically speaking, it seems like a bad idea to upgrade to another EV (I was looking at moving to a luxury EV and hold on to it for a few years).

    ZS EV may have some good features but it definitely isn’t good in terms of ride quality/comfort due to their seats. It’s a decent city vehicle. Going outskirts with it for a long drive and on Indian roads, it does cause fatigue more than it should driving a SUV. This is obviously based on my ownership experience in last several months having driven and used various cars of different sizes.

    Anyway, This vehicle was purchased during a time when my XUV700 was being repaired due to an accident and I needed some vehicle urgently at the time and EV had caught my attention. It served its purpose. It def. caused more losses than anticipated.

    For new buyers: unless you’re looking to hold on to your EV for long-term, you should be very cautious due to market uncertainty and especially MGs multiple price corrections which may look good for new buyers but good luck to the new owners

    And it may seem like you’re saving good with EVs (which you would actually in long-run) but when prices correct so many times and you lose value significantly, all your savings get flushed down the drain and it just feels like any other ICE car would’ve been far more worthy even if it was gulping fuel and you’d get mileage in single digits like with XUV700 Petrol, it would still be far better. It’s just a heads up to prospective buyers based on personal experience. Otherwise, it’s a decent vehicle without a doubt!

    https://www.team-bhp.com/news/mg-zs-ev-falling-resale-value-raises-questions-buying-another-ev

    1. but when prices correct so many times and you lose value significantly, all your savings get flushed down the drain

      If you’re planning on driving it into the ground, why does this matter? If you have it to show off how wealthy your are, and want to trade it in every 3 years for a new one with the latest and greated features, then yeah, you’ve been schlonged.

      And while you’re at it, pray that it doesn’t spontaneously catch fire (park it outside).

  15. TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The owners of sushi and Thai restaurants in Florida have been charged by criminal complaint with harboring undocumented workers for commercial advantage and private financial gain, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Tuesday.

    U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg said Hua Yao Ke, 38, and Ping Ping Zheng, 37, who owned and operated restaurants in Ponte Vedra Beach and Jacksonville Beach, employed workers who were “unlawfully present” and “not legally authorized to work in the United States.”

    The DOJ said Ke and Zheng also owned residences that provided rent-free housing and gave the workers free transportation between the homes and the restaurants.

    They are also accused of paying the workers in cash and not withholding taxes and other payments from the workers’ wages, as well as giving them free food.

    The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Border Patrol, the DOJ said.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/florida-restaurant-owners-charged-for-harboring-undocumented-workers-doj/ar-AA1p8w1m

    1. This used to be called indentured servitude and it was completely legal. Get with the times, DOJ!

    2. So I’m wondering, what did these guys really do to get busted? It’s not like restaurants all over the country don’t hire illegals.

      1. My guess this started out as a income tax issue that spiraled into this. The IRS has the 1099’s from Toast and the payment processors showing what kind of income the business was taking in. And assuming the guy filed taxes, he either lied about the revenue, which tripped an automatic flag in their system, or, he had all kinds of deductions that he couldn’t account for, especially if he’s paying employees in cash. Because those 1099’s are the keys to the kingdom for the IRS, it helps them follow the money trail. He couldn’t document the cash he was paying out to the employees, therefore, all that income was then attributable to him. He likely got whacked or will get whacked with a major income tax bill, and then it started spiraling out of control from there. That’s why paying employees in cash is the dumbest thing ever. The IRS counts those cash payments as income to the employer, and the owner, and the tax man cometh.

        1. If you don’t pay withholding taxes, the IRS will drop on you like a ton of bricks. I agree it was likely taxes that triggered this. The IRS can look at yer revenues and ask, how do you sell $100,000 of tacos and you got no employees?

      2. “They are also accused of paying the workers in cash and not withholding taxes ”

        It’s the taxes. Government don’t GAF as long as they get their tax money.

  16. Downtown Chicago is screwed and is officially in a doom loop. I don’t know how urban planners ever expect people to cram into crowded train cars or sit in 60+ min traffic twice a day to get downtown. I used to go downtown every day for many years, until Lori Lightfoot, the former mayor, locked down Chicago completely – in the name of health equity of course – and suddenly, 1,000,000+ people a day just completely stopped going downtown. It seems like more than half of them rearranged their daily routines to never have to go into downtown Chicago ever again. My employer’s office moved from Chicago to the suburbs, which cut my commute time by 2/3rds. I drive 80 mph to a suburban office now instead of taking a train and walking across the Loop. The office market in the suburbs is a sad sight to see too, however, as I commented a few months ago, I could see from my office windows, *as I was typing the comment*, the two distressed buildings one of the linked articles spoke about. My particular building is more than half full which is great and people, mostly men, come in every day, but the rest of the surrounding offices are nearly vacant. I’ll tell you there’s absolutely no reason I’ll ever get back into that rat race, spending nearly two hours a day door to door, sitting on some cramped train, walking in -10 degree windchill in work clothes and work shoes, across the downtown to some office to sit in a cube (or office) for 9 hours and then make the trek back again. Hundreds of thousands of other people came to the same conclusion at the same time in March of 2020 when Lori shut down Chicago. And now, I honestly believe, that it will be nearly impossible to ever fill those office buildings again. For 150 years downtown Chicago existed as a central hub for the entire region, with 1 in 10 people or so going downtown on a regular basis. And Progressive Lori, for health equity, shut it all down overnight.

    1. “I honestly believe, that it will be nearly impossible to ever fill those office buildings again“
      How about mushroom farms.

      I heard someone is growing mushrooms inside a decommissioned Titan silo,

      Better to grow mushrooms than to make mushroom clouds, I always say.

  17. Harris Perilously Rejects the Wisdom of Milton Friedman

    In her economic plan announced last Friday, Vice President Kamala Harris rejected the insights of Milton Friedman. Among her most notable departures from Friedman’s wisdom is her promise to a) attack inflation by banning price gouging on groceries while b) creating 3 million new homes and subsidizing their purchase with a government-funded $25,000 gift to first-time home buyers.

    Vice President Harris and President Biden have clearly failed in their 3.5 year battle with inflation and Harris should revisit Dr. Friedman’s tenets. Friedman won his 1976 Nobel Prize in economics for demonstrating how fiscal policy (government spending) and monetary policy (the Federal Reserve or FED) caused economic expansions and contractions. He famously opined: “Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon, in the sense that it is and can be produced only by a more rapid increase in the quantity of money than in output [of goods, services and/or assets].”

    According to the Federal Reserve’s M2 metric there has been a 50% increase in the money supply after 2020. While some of the increase is owed to spending during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Biden-Harris team added to it with reckless spending such as the ironically titled “Inflation Reduction Act.”

    Biden cannot pass the buck from his policies to the FED. Friedman died in 2006, of course, but candidate Biden knew that Friedman’s ghost haunted his economic plans. Biden therefore tried to intimidate the FED’s Chairman Powell even before being elected. In April 2020, Biden told Politico, “Milton Friedman isn’t running the show anymore.” In September 2019 Biden asked a group of reporters, “When did Milton Friedman die and become king?”

    Biden’s thumb on the monetary policy scale drove price inflation on an annualized basis from 1.4% in January 2021 to 9.1% by the summer of 2022. Though the FED and Biden’s Treasury Department asserted that higher prices were transitory, even economic advisors from the Obama-Biden administration, luminaries like Larry Summers to Steven Rattner, argued that the inflation was not transitory. By March 2022, the FED woke up, but the damage was done: higher prices and higher interest rates for automobiles, home mortgages, and credit cards crushed consumer purchasing power.

    While Biden-Harris asked Americans to believe in a pipe dream economy not fed by real growth, consumers saw prices rise 20.25% from January 2021 to date, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Inflation Calculator. Growth and wages have not kept pace: average American wages adjusted for inflation declined by at least 2% over the same period. By contrast, real wages grew by roughly 6% with inflation only 7.8% over the whole four years of the Trump administration.

    Dr. Friedman demonstrated that the only cure for a runaway increase in the money supply is a faster increase in production, emphatic that government must not manage that increase. He joked that “if the federal government was ever placed in control of the Sahara Desert, within five years there would be a sand shortage.” Harris is mesmerized by a mirage that the government rather than the free-market can out-produce inflationary pressures.

    Her mirage includes price controls under the guise of punishing “price gouging.” Jonathan Miltimore’s demonstrates how such controls brought down the Babylon and the Greek and Roman Empires, caused mass starvation in the British colony of India, and catalyzed the French Revolution. More recently, President Nixon’s 1970s price controls caused hours-long gas lines, and Communist price controls forced shortages on millions. In 1989, during travels to China and Poland one of us (Tim) personally witnessed the shortage of food, toilet paper, and other household staples in Beijing and Krakow.

    Political leaders promise price controls because they are ignorant of basic economics or to seek political gain, but in doing so they disrupt the best means of information for producers and consumers. Prices send signals to regulate supply: what should be produced and how much, where it should be sold, and how much investment should go into production. Prices also regulate demand, telling consumers to increase or decrease consumption. The most important signal is sent to entrepreneurs who gauge the demand for invention. Would the great tech innovations of the last half-century such as the cell phone have been launched if the government dictated how much profit could be made on them?

    Vice President Harris’s proposed $25,000 gift to first time home buyers demonstrates how easy it is to be well-intentioned with other peoples’ money while concealing the predictable consequences. Just as “student loan forgiveness” had non-college graduates and older Americans subsidizing young Americans with high earning potential, existing homeowners — including those whose savings or frugality enabled homeownership — will subsidize these handouts along with everyone else shouldering Washington’s $35 trillion debt and annual $2 trillion deficits. The relief from this wealth redistribution will likewise be a mirage; the one certain result will be higher prices, especially for starter homes that first-time homebuyers want most.

    We join the bipartisan critique, including the National Review calling Harris’s plan “economically illiterate,” The Atlantic calling it “economically dumb” or The Washington Post’s editorial board calling it a gimmick. Though Harris has been compared to Obama, Obama administration economist and Harvard faculty member Jason Furman told the NY Times that Harris’s plan “is not sensible policy.” The consensus demonstrates that Friedman was right. His ghost may have haunted Biden, but it can still enlighten Harris.

    https://townhall.com/columnists/timothynash/2024/08/21/harris-perilously-rejects-the-wisdom-of-milton-friedman-n2643650

    1. We join the bipartisan critique, including the National Review calling Harris’s plan “economically illiterate,”

      A lot of deadbeats and true believers will lap it up and pull the D lever.

      There was a local discussion on NextDoor a few months ago. It was shocking to see how many posters there firmly believe that inflation is caused by gouging and not by the money printer working overtime.

      1. I have pretty much stopped reading NextDoor posts because they are basically limited to three types:

        1) I heard sirens and saw a bunch of squad cars and/or fire engines rushing somewhere
        2) Help me, I lost my job, my landlord is kicking me out, etc.
        3) Someone broke into my unlocked car and stole my tools/computer/etc. that I had left in there.

      2. Everyone knows that inflation is not caused by gouging,

        I am surprised Harris didn’t blame it on too many trees, and cheap printing paper.

    2. “Harris Perilously Rejects the Wisdom of Milton Friedman”

      – Harris-Walz is the Socialist / Communist ticket. Is there any difference, really? They would never embrace free market economics. They’re planning to steal what’s left of your $ and take away what’s left of your freedoms. Any true American that would vote for this deserves a Venezula dystopian future. I’m not sure if these people are stupid or ignorant, or just brain washed from our Communist .edu indoctrination system. Maye some combination of all three? Reference articles here:

      https://www.theepochtimes.com/opinion/john-robson-what-milton-friedman-said-5-decades-ago-about-government-spending-still-holds-true-today-5708293?src_src=partner&src_cmp=ZeroHedge

      John Robson: What Milton Friedman Said 5 Decades Ago About Government Spending Still Holds True Today

      “As was his wont, Friedman compressed much potentially complex truth into short, clear, vivid words, immediately adding, “There is no such thing as an unbalanced budget.” Which is not addled but Chestertonian in its paradoxical brilliance because, Friedman went on, “You pay for it either in the form of taxes, or indirectly in the form of inflation or debt.””

      https://www.dlacalle.com/en/sanctions-did-not-destroy-venezuela-socialism-did/

      Sanctions did not destroy Venezuela. Socialism did.
      28 July, 2024 | Sin categoría | Daniel Lacalle

      “Nine million Venezuelans have been condemned to emigrate; poverty levels exceed 80 percent, according to the National Survey of Living Conditions/Encovi; and Chavism has destroyed the national currency, the bolivar, with a monstrous collapse of purchasing power. In the last 14 years, 14 zeros of the currency’s nominal value have been removed.”

      https://www.shootingnewsweekly.com/2024/07/30/the-real-lesson-of-venezuela-never-ever-give-up-your-guns/

      The Real Lesson of Venezuela: Never EVER Give Up Your Guns
      Lee Williams | July 30, 2024 | 7:00 am

      “Venezuela should be one of the wealthiest countries in the world. It is literally floating on a sea of oil. However, decades of government corruption have forced most of the population into poverty – corruption that was enabled by disarming the people.”

      Everyone except our Vice President seems to recognize that Maduro cheated – by force of arms – and will now serve another six-year term, his third. There is little the Venezuelan people can do to contest Monday’s election results. They have nothing to fight back with. All of their guns were confiscated and destroyed.”

      “Venezuela is the latest example of the need to protect and defend our Second Amendment rights. Rather than focusing solely on how they intend to disarm us, we should focus on why our politicians – including Harris – want a disarmed populace. It is certainly a question worthy of a response. Venezuela is the latest example of what happens to a disarmed populace.”

      https://www.dlacalle.com/en/american-peronism-kamala-harris-radical-left-plan-to-ruin-america/

      American Peronism. Kamala Harris’ Radical Left Plan to Ruin America.
      18 August, 2024 | Sin categoría | Daniel Lacalle

      “Price controls, higher taxes, government intervention, and subsidies paid for by printing a constantly devalued currency.”

      “These are the essential pillars of “21st century socialism” and the radical left Peronism that obliterated Argentina. These are also the main elements of the economic plan presented by Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party. Undoubtedly, this is the most radical socialist economic plan ever announced by the Democrats.”

      “According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), Harris’s proposals will cost $1.95 trillion over 10 years. However, it emphasizes that if certain measures become permanent, this figure could increase to $2.25 trillion.”

      “The Harris campaign has stated that these costs will be offset by a classic excuse of socialism in any election: “higher taxes on corporations and high earners.” This is, obviously, ludicrous, because there is no revenue measure that will cover the already bloated $2 trillion annual deficit and an added $2 trillion. The mantra of “higher taxes for the rich” always means higher taxes and more inflation, a hidden tax, for you.”

    3. “there has been a 50% increase in the money supply after 2020”

      And fiat continues its irreversible trajectory toward its ultimate intrinsic value: Zero.

      Got physical precious metals?

  18. Don’t buy an EV. Lease it. Incredible deals out there. Especially in states that offer their own tax credit. $200/mo will lease a mid-sized EV for 2 years. With very little upfront money.

  19. ‘Real estate agents refer to these properties as ‘stale’ homes because sellers struggle to find buyers quickly in several Bay Area counties, according to Redfin data viewed by SFGATE. San Francisco had 69.7% of homes remaining on the market for more than 30 days, according to the data. Janice Lee, a real estate agent in a San Francisco office for Coldwell Banker, told SFGATE that condos in the city often take longer to sell because of high inventory’

    That’s quite a change from the ‘if we had more shacks to sell, we could sell all of them’. 30 days is a red hotcakes sellers market, or that’s what All Time High Larry says. Could the high inventory be a result of the pricing Janice?

    1. Maybe I”m just old, but 30 days isn’t “stale”. It used to be 3 months (90 days) or even 180 days.

      The market has gotten completely away from reality. Unique individual very expensive things should take longer than 30 days to sell on average,that just makes sense.

      Now if your house has gotten no showings in 30 days, ti’s not stale, it’s overpriced. As long as people are looking at it, your price is about right.

  20. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/mortgage-rates-fall-but-buyer-demand-drops-to-6-month-low-d08482f6

    Economic Report
    Mortgage rates fall, but buyer demand drops to 6-month low
    Home buyers might be ‘more selective’ as inventory levels rise, industry group says

    By Aarthi Swaminathan | Published: Aug. 21, 2024 at 7:00 a.m. ET

    “The numbers: Applications for mortgages plunged as home buyers and homeowners retreated from the housing market.”

    “The 30-year rate fell for the third week in a row to the lowest level in 15 months, yet that failed to spur more buying and refinancing activity.”

    “The pullback in demand sent the market composite index — a measure of mortgage application volume — down in the past week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association on Wednesday.”

    “The market index fell 10.1%, to 225.8, for the week ending Aug. 9 from a week prior. A year ago, the index stood at 184.8.”

    – Not rocket science. A 6th Grader could understand the math.
    – Mortgage rates fell, but mortgage purchase applications fell by 10%.
    – Hmmm. Maybe shack prices are still too darn high? 🤔
    – Prices are still at sub 3% mortgage rates, but mortgage rates are still more than twice as high as then at 6.5%. Not low enough to make a difference.
    – Rates are never (read not in my lifetime) going back to sub 3%.
    – Prices need to adjust (much) lower. Affordability is dead. The math says prices need to drop 35-40% to get back to some reasonable level of affordability.
    – Don’t forget, all of the other carrying costs are way up as well…
    – The housing market is frozen and will be for some time now as buyers wait for prices to fall significantly. Housing is (still) unaffordable. What a mess. Thanks .gov, including the Fed. Central planning has consequences. Just another housing bubble slowly deflating. FUBAR.

  21. Why is this swallow their pride? Many bought the home years ago – it has done well price wise. They cant compare with pandemic prices – that is gone.

    “With inventories swelling, sellers were forced to swallow their pride and slash prices. Zillow reported that over 26% of homes on the market in July saw price cuts, the most significant share since 2018. For those still in the game, this oversupply spells opportunity — not just in negotiating prices, but even squeezing out lower commissions. So, what’s driving this buyer’s remorse? ‘When rates finally dropped, buyers got excited, and we saw more activity,’ said Nicole Stewart, a real estate agent with Redfin in Boise, Idaho. But now, she says, many are hitting pause because ‘a lot of people are also concerned about the political climate.’”

    1. Probably because they bragged in social settings about how much equity they had. A lot of people like to put on airs. Having to discount the shanty is a reminder that perhaps the shouldn’t have blown their equity on cars, vacations and bewb jobs.

      1. “blown their equity on cars, vacations and bewb jobs”

        ^The Denver Metro Front Range consumer economy, in a nutshell.

        “This sucker could go down” — George W. Bush, 2008

  22. Today’s Democratic Party

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

    19 hours ago

    My father and my uncle were members of a Democratic Party that was at the forefront of making sure that every American could vote for the candidate they wanted to.

    Today’s Democratic Party is doing the opposite.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24kYp7506aQ

    8:50.

  23. DJT Jr regarding RFK Jr: “I love the idea of giving him some sort of role in a 3-letter agency and letting him blow it up.”

    1. I think that in the battle between the Kennedys and the three letter agencies, the Deep State has so far been dominating

      1. In Colorado – obviously agree.

        Having been born and raised in a failed state (NY), I have the utmost sympathy for you. I had no idea it was that bad.

        “As a REDDITOR, GAMER, and SWIFTIE, I’m excited by Kamala Harris” | Memeology 101, 2 hours ago
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wwa-8KYxTX4

        Ah, YUM!!!!

  24. $5 Trillion List of Tax Hikes Kamala Harris Just Endorsed

    Mike Palicz
    08/21/2024

    Vice President Kamala Harris wants to extract a $5 trillion tax increase from American households and businesses, her campaign confirmed on Monday.

    The Harris campaign officially endorsed the laundry list of new and higher taxes included in the Biden-Harris administration’s fiscal year 2025 budget, a plan that would increase taxes by $5 trillion over ten years.

    The burden of Harris’s tax increases will hit households in the form of diminished wage growth and higher costs of goods and services. These Harris tax increases will make the U.S. less competitive vs. our adversaries.

    Harris also endorsed further increasing the size and power of the already-supersized IRS and erode taxpayer rights by watering down procedures designed to protect taxpayers from abusive and dishonest IRS agents (details below.)

    https://www.atr.org/5-trillion-list-of-tax-hikes-kamala-harris-just-endorsed/

  25. ‘It was pay now or pay later, and later is here.’ Deborah Alejandro, a condo owner in Kissimmee, is facing a $3,000 special assessment from her HOA. ‘No one has that type of money!’

    Yer exactly why this commie urban living scam doesn’t work Deb. Yer broke a$$ losers and you can’t pay to keep yer airboxes right.

  26. ‘found a 74% increase in end-of-month listings with at least one price drop compared to last year. ‘Some, such as myself, view it as a positive. If sellers did not adjust prices downward to meet market expectations, in theory, there would be fewer listings with a status change to ‘sold.’ There are still too many sellers and listing agents who are unaware of market conditions within their sub-market, and thus set initial list price above market’

    That’s the spirit Stacey, talk em down outta that tree!

  27. ‘Among major markets, the San Francisco metropolitan area had the third-highest percentage of distressed loans tied to commercial mortgage-backed securities, 35% of $21.9 billion, KBRA reported this month. Chicago and Denver had the top two positions, said the company, which includes loans in default as well as loans exhibiting other signs of stress. In dollar terms, Hughes said the largest single decline in appraised value — $930 million since 2016 — was recorded at the downtown mall and office complex now known as the Emporium Centre San Francisco’

    A mighty a$$ pounding.

    1. Emporium Centre is on Market St. Anyone that wants SF and its people to succeed should take note of this. Downtown SF is apparently in a lot of trouble (more than we know)

      1. i stand corrected – i have not been there since before Covid. How much things can change in 4.5 years – WOW!

        https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/san-francisco-downtown-mall-what-it-is-like-now-19425463.php

        https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/sf-westfield-centre-new-name-emporium-centre-18697011.php

        In the wake of a recent waterfall of retail closures in the space, the owners are also launching a plan to revitalize the shopping center, including choosing tenants focused on “experiential,” entertainment and food options, increasing the number of events and community partnerships and improving security.

        “During the Centre’s 128-year history, it has evolved with the times to sustain and reinvent itself as a community gathering place,” Gregg Williams, principal receiver of Trident Pacific, said in the release. “We’re committed to working with our existing retailers and restaurants, the City, and the community to ensure that this historic location has a new foundation to succeed.”

        This is Trident Pacific’s first big announcement about the future of the mall since it was appointed as its receiver last October, after Westfield and partner Brookfield Properties turned it over to their lender in June 2023. While stores such as Hollister, Madewell, Adidas, Lucky Brand and Aldo have closed in recent months, retailers like Bloomingdale’s, Coach, American Eagle and Kate Spade have retained their outposts.

  28. ‘The only criminal case against a real estate investor accused of running a Ponzi-style international investment scheme that affected thousands of homes in Baltimore and Philadelphia is underway this week.

    See Jay get the soap!

  29. ‘I do not call watching someone inject an illicit drug to be health care’

    Lots of people call this safe and they are using cartel mixed powders. In any imagined legalization this is unacceptable and easily prevented. So why did they unleash cartel hard drugs at the same time as they created the Homeless Industrial Complex? Less than a year ago addicts could legally smoke crack while in the hospital in Toronto.

  30. ‘The law society eventually disciplined five lawyers for assisting Mr. Missaghi, but a Globe investigation revealed that he quickly found new ones to work with…Alisa Pogorelovsky, whose husband Alan Kats killed Mr. Missaghi after her family was allegedly defrauded by him of more than $1-million in life savings, filed a complaint with her husband about the two lawyers earlier this year. Christian Leuprecht, a security expert at Royal Military College and Queen’s University, said the delays in resolving complaints provide incentives to bad actors. Regulators ‘want to ensure due process, but this is too long,’ he said. ‘This is what the bad actors count on: to outrun the administrative clock’

    Exhibit one million: K-da is a deeply corrupt country.

  31. ‘told this masthead the tribunal’s inability to come to a timely decision on the registration matter was ‘a slap in the face,’ especially given she had been rendered homeless by the saga. Ellis claims her incomplete Canning Vale home remains in lockup, as it did almost two years ago, with mould now spreading to every room due to water damage. ‘I am exhausted,’ she said. ‘I’m going to sleep in my caravan tonight without a heater, so I hope they’re really comfortable with that’

    It was cheaper than renting Kathy. That’s all you need to know.

    ‘In response to comments by that clients could choose to terminate their contracts and change builders, 27-year-old Brayden Munroe told media outside the tribunal that would not be possible without the insurance money. ‘We can’t afford to fix all the defects, afford to fix our home and get it to completion,’ he said. ‘The banks won’t give us an extension in the loan to do so, so we’d be completely stuck without [the insurance] kicking in’

    Yer in luck Brayden, the success rate of FB’s in yer sh$thole for construction defects is world-renowned.

  32. Will The Condo Board Pay For That? (GTA Condo Real Estate Market Update)

    Team Sessa Real Estate TORONTO

    17 minutes ago

    In this episode we take a look at the current GTA Condo Markets – Toronto, York Region & Peel Region for week ending Aug 14, 2024. We also discuss why it’s important to ask your condo board for some repairs because you never know what they will cover.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UQm7i5jhI0

    8:47. 65 downtown airboxes sold!

    1. speaking of canadian condos …

      Condos have once again seen prices turn negative. Annual growth has decelerated for five consecutive months. It’s the sharpest decline since June 2023, only a little over a year ago. No record for the size of decline, but the duration is treading new territory. This is the first recorded double dip for annual growth—two periods of declines separated by less than a year of positive growth.

      https://betterdwelling.com/canadian-condo-prices-see-first-double-dip-decline-on-record/

  34. Do all the recession signals that recently appeared make you wonder if the stock market’s happy days may soon come to an unhappy end?

    1. Economy
      The economy is flashing a recession signal that’s only been seen 4 times in the last century, veteran economist Steve Hanke says
      Jennifer Sor
      Aug 20, 2024, 8:23 AM PDT

      – A recession looks likely for the US economy by early 2025, according to Steve Hanke.

      – That’s evident in the contraction in the money supply, a rare signal that’s only flashed four time in the last century.

      – A contraction in the money supply was followed by a recession or depression in every instance, Hanke said.
      …
      https://www.businessinsider.com/recession-outlook-hard-landing-economy-inflation-job-market-signal-slowdown-2024-8

    2. American Institute for Economic
      A Recession the Yield Curve Predicted (Again)
      Richard M. Salsman
      – August 19, 2024
      Reading Time: 6 minutes

      There’s strong and growing evidence that the “next” US recession has begun — or will begin soon. Of course, many economists will remain unsure about it, having not forecasted it, or because they refuse to forecast, or because they don’t believe something’s real until it passes them by (perhaps not even then). Similarly tardy will be the National Bureau of Economic Research, but that’s by design, because it assigns “official” dates to the start and finish of each recession and wants to be sure about the final status of oft-revised economic data before it makes its public pronouncements. Such “back-casting” and even “nowcasting” (offered by the New York Fed) are little help to those who prefer foresight and time to adjust before trouble begins.

      Roughly a year ago, I reminded AIER readers that the US Treasury yield curve was inverted (i.e., the 10-year bond yield was lying below the 3-month bill rate), that all eight US recessions since 1968 were preceded (12-18 months) by such an inversion (with no false signals of recession arising without a prior inversion), and that another recession would likely begin in 2024. I wrote:

      No better, more reliable forecaster of the US business cycle has existed in recent decades than the initial shape of the US Treasury yield curve, and since last October it’s been signaling another US recession that’s likely to begin in 2024. This is important, because recessions have been associated with bear markets in stocks and bull markets in bonds. Moreover, if a recession arrives early in 2024 it may affect the US elections in November.

      The fact that the yield curve signal works so well for recessions is one thing, but why does it work so well? In September 2019, while forecasting the recession of 2020 (which was deepened but not caused by COVID-19 “lockdowns), I explained the logic in some detail to AIER readers:

      First, a sharp decline in bond yields means a sharp rise in bond prices, which suggests a big demand for a safe security, reflecting a desire by investors to immunize against trouble ahead. Second, the longer the maturity at which one lends, the greater (normally) is the yield one receives (due to credit risk and/or inflation risk), so if bond yields are below bill yields it signals materially lower short-term yields in the future (i.e., Fed rate-cutting), which occurs during recessions. Third, the essence of financial intermediation is institutions “borrowing short (term) and lending long (term).” If longer-term yields are above shorter-term yields, as is the normal case, there’s a positive interest-rate margin, which means lending-investing is fundamentally profitable. If instead longer-term yields are below shorter-term yields, there’s a negative interest-rate margin and lending-investing becomes fundamentally unprofitable or is conducted (if at all) at a loss. When market analysts observe credit markets “seizing up” before (and during) recessions, it reflects this crucial aspect of financial intermediation.
      …
      https://www.aier.org/article/a-recession-the-yield-curve-predicted-again/

    3. Yahoo Finance
      The Sahm rule and the economy’s ‘statistical regularities’
      There are ‘rules’ and then there are empirical regularitie
      Sam Ro·Contributor
      Sun, Aug 4, 2024
      15 min read

      Just because something happened a bunch of times in the past doesn’t mean it must happen again in the future.

      This is what Fed Chair Jerome Powell communicated when asked about the “Sahm Rule” recession indicator, which has revealed that recessions historically started when the three-month moving average of the unemployment rate rose 0.5 percentage points or more above its 12-month low.

      “A statistical regularity is what I call it,” Powell said on Wednesday. “It’s not like an economic rule, where it’s telling you something must happen.”

      Claudia Sahm, the economist whom the indicator is named after, would agree.

      “Indicators of economic downturns like the Sahm rule are empirical regularities from the past, not laws of nature,” Sahm wrote last November.

      On Friday, we learned that the unemployment rate rose to 4.3% in July. This caused the three-month moving average of the unemployment rate to breach that 0.5 percentage point threshold for the first time in this economic cycle.

      Sahm has been arguing that her namesake indicator triggering could be a false positive due lingering pandemic-related economic distortions.

      “The Sahm rule is likely overstating the labor market’s weakening due to unusual shifts in labor supply caused by the pandemic and immigration,” Sahm recently said.
      The economy is more than a few metrics

      All of this speaks to TKer’s Rule No. 1 of analyzing the economy: Don’t count on the signal of a single metric.

      It’s a lesson that’s been learned following false positive recession signals from the yield curve and the Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index.

      The economy is complex with countless numbers of moving parts, and sometimes some of those parts will be behaving so abnormally that it will force time-tested indicators to break down.

      For example, the current economic cycle has come with an unusually high number of job openings: a sign of abnormally strong demand. At its peak in March 2022, there was an unprecedented two job openings per unemployed person.
      …
      https://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-sahm-rule-and-the-economys-statistical-regularities-171715582.html

    4. Yahoo Finance
      US employment falls by 818,000 in latest government revision
      Josh Schafer·Reporter
      Updated
      Wed, Aug 21, 2024, 10:54 AM PDT
      3 min read

      The US economy employed 818,000 fewer people than originally reported as of March 2024, showing the labor market may have been cooling long before initially thought.

      The revisions are a yearly practice from the Bureau of Labor Statistics; final revised numbers are expected to be released early next year.

      The report, released Wednesday morning, showed the largest downward revisions to the professional and business services industry, where employment was revised down by 358,000 during the period. Leisure & hospitality saw the second-largest downward revision of 150,000.
      …
      https://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-employment-falls-by-818000-in-latest-government-revision-144414848.html

    6. Financial Times
      US economy
      Cooling US jobs market looms over central bankers at Jackson Hole
      The Federal Reserve has brought down inflation but must now steer the economy away from recession
      SteelStacks in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The site is dedicated to arts, culture and family events
      Colby Smith in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
      yesterday
      …

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