From CNBC:
US existing home sales fell 1.7% in June, vs 0.2% drop expected
U.S. home sales fell more than expected in June as a persistent shortage of properties pushed prices to a record high, suggesting the housing market was struggling to regain its footing since hitting a soft patch last year.
The National Association of Realtors said on Tuesday existing home sales dropped 1.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.27 million units last month. May’s sales pace was revised higher to 5.36 million units from the previously reported 5.34 million units.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast existing home sales slipping 0.2% to a rate of 5.33 million units in June. Existing home sales, which make up about 90 percent of U.S. home sales, decreased 2.2% from a year ago. That was the 16th straight year-on-year decline in home sales.
The weakness in housing comes despite cheaper mortgage rates and the lowest unemployment rate in nearly 50 years.
Supply has continued to lag, especially in the lower-price segment of the housing market because of land and labor shortages, as well as expensive building materials. The government reported last week that permits for future home construction dropped to a two-year low in June.
The 30-year fixed mortgage rate has dropped to an average of 3.81% from a more than seven-year peak of 4.94% in November, according to data from mortgage finance agency Freddie Mac. Further declines are likely as the Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates next week for the first time in a decade.
Last month, existing home sales rose in the Northeast and Midwest. They tumbled in the populous South and in the West.
Fixed the my SALT tax deduction problem a few days ago. His name is Tyler James, and from what I can figure, the $2,000 child tax credit more than offsets any loss from deductibility of SALT.
Congrats grim!
congrats!
Anecdotal housing as i sit in Holland Tunnel traffic this morning
My Bank is now offering me a million dollar preapproved Mortgage.
Should I feel proud that I’m a “millionaire” or worried that lending is getting loose again?
Congrats Grim!
I missed the Mueller report yesterday; how did it go?
Wow, Congrats Grim!!
You are throwing off the one child avgs…3B is going to be all types of upset.
Show me the money!! (Jerry Maguire)
Juice Box says:
July 25, 2019 at 7:44 am
Anecdotal housing as i sit in Holland Tunnel traffic this morning
My Bank is now offering me a million dollar preapproved Mortgage.
Should I feel proud that I’m a “millionaire” or worried that lending is getting loose again?
Man, trade fights breaking out all over the place. Not good for my roaring 20’s 2.0 call.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/an-old-feud-between-american-allies-rattles-tech-giants-supply-chains-11564047082?emailToken=5daa7d3687c19511c2e5711384c433a6KDyt39lbXvx+vs5xpYNMfHGDY4q47uqfaDCVeycduV0l7vSyCIhffWWEv9B2rNYD1xPQ/KBcJVC7jSS1XZiDqcP7urdQCA3f+E3LDZ86OwMKUznbbotJ/dTLahxPy+Hm67xz1Dijrdm1xlBlyhGVKg%3D%3D&reflink=article_copyURL_share
Congrats Grim! All the best to you and the family!!
To the resident Moron. You equate Grim having another child to my point and it’s true that people are having one to two kids today or one and done. You are so pitiful comparing grins happy news to housing in the suburbs. Now back to ignoring you. Sorry Joyce that stupid comment had to be addressed.
Lighten up…
Another call by the Pumpkin…3b is indeed all types of upset.
My oldest son also got that million dollar pre-approved mortgage but he followed through with it. The scary part is he put so little down, less than 10%. Doctor privilege – doesn’t pay Mortgage insurance. Got $15k moving expenses and other goodies I never saw in my lifetime.
Hey, got to be a proud papa. The kid is a 1%er for his age group.
Congrats Grim, back to no sleep :)
Interesting.
“I’m gonna keep saying this because it’s so poorly understood: Since 1981 the deficit has grown under every Republican president and shrunk under every Democratic president.”
“It’s incredible that people ever thought Republicans had an ideological commitment to lower deficits as opposed to an opportunistic opposition to fiscalstimulus that would get reversed as soon as the party took the White House.”
“This is basically what @TheStalwart was arguing back in 2012: elect Mitt Romney, and House Republicans will stop trying to cut federal spending”
I don’t even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was great.
I do not know who you are but definitely you
are going to a famous blogger if you aren’t already ;) Cheers!
3b, the <2 kid trend is a regional thing. Birth rates far lower in Northeast than other parts of country.
When NYC sneezes?
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/24/real-estate-in-the-hamptons-had-its-worst-spring-quarter-in-8-years.html
Congrats Grim. Tyler Knew, Turk 182.
Buyers market?
““You might look at Zillow and see nine properties on the oceanfront in Southampton, which looks like a lot,” said Cody Vichinsky of Bespoke Real Estate in the Hamptons. “But then you dig into it and you see that six of them are in places where you’d never want to live, with constant helicopter noise or a triple dune or encumbrances. And then the others, the price is ridiculous. When a property is priced decently, it goes.”
Vichinsky said he expects the market will pick up in the third and fourth quarter, given recent activity. He said he’s working on three deals above $20 million and that some of the wealthy are taking money out of the stock market before the election year to put into real estate.
“They know the market slows as people wait for the elections, and they see real estate as a buyer’s market so they’re jumping in,” he said.”
Muuuuuuelller…..Muuuuuuuueller….
That pretty sums it up.
More than half of the beaches across New York and New Jersey are potentially unsafe for swimmers, thanks to a poop problem plaguing waters across the United States. Nearly 60% of the 4,523 beaches tested nationwide had fecal contamination levels high enough to put swimmers at risk of getting sick on at least one day or more in 2018, according to Safe for Swimming?, a report released Thursday by the nonprofit, Environment America Research & Policy Center and Frontier Group. Of the 422 beach sites sampled in New York, 276 were found “potentially unsafe for at least one day,” including Tanner Park in Suffolk County. According to the report, the site was unsafe for 48 days – more than any other beach in the state. Other sites, including East Islip Beach, Corey Creek Beach, Sayville Marina Park, Venetian Shores, and Shirley Beach tested unsafe on at least 50% of the days sampling was performed.
Congratulations, Grim!
Only about 18 years before he goes off to college.
I guess you’ll be sleep-deprived for a while now.
congrats grim
https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazons-new-york-office-hunt-includes-wework-owned-lord-taylor-building-11564074887?emailToken=7df643a25525d4b5e11fe145da242f9ebwjL6hHgDM2wQxi9UcFXwLpdFftT36nlAPSgjS5Cuv8UQtVMAK3krQ5yjocmuyQPUQkVNqL0ETs4N6SvNdZRIndeHDRPt2s689aGSqPnXpFFpkFjLfqZuBTsmEVpx5RUsXXBX/iDa/kk+I5LKZX1Og%3D%3D&reflink=article_copyURL_share
Bystander, check out this crap.
“Tech Companies Say it’s Too Hard to Hire High-Skilled Immigrants in the U.S. — So They’re Growing in Canada Instead
Canada’s immigrant-friendly policies are drawing technology companies — and the jobs they create — away from the U.S”
https://apple.news/A34faNABWS8KENIkOjBiqHQ
Bystander, care to translate this rubbish?
“We require a very specific subset of skills, and it’s hard to find the people with the right skills,” Fachan says as he gets off the plane. “Having access to a global employment market is useful.”
Dufus, sounds like Liam Neeson’s speech in Taken. Lots of H1B are going to Canada. Why? Green card/ Citizenship is like 2 years as opposed to like 18 in US. America wants that cheap Indian labor so expect them to open IT offices in Canada where the “newest Canadian citizens will take 60k instead of 150k in US.
Did not need to read article either. I know what Canada angle is about.
LAt Bear Stearns, Mr. Epstein worked for Michael Tennenbaum, a senior executive, selling the firm’s analyses of stock options to clients. Soon, Mr. Tennenbaum learned that Mr. Epstein had padded his resumé, falsely claiming to have graduated from Stanford Univer-sity, Mr. Tennenbaum said in an interview and in a forthcoming memoir.
At Bear Stearns, Mr. Epstein worked for Michael Tennenbaum, a senior executive, selling the firm’s analyses of stock options to clients. Soon, Mr. Tennenbaum learned that Mr. Epstein had padded his resumé, falsely claiming to have graduated from Stanford Univer-sity, Mr. Tennenbaum said in an interview and in a forthcoming memoir.
Mr. Epstein was an effective salesman, say those who worked with him. He rubbed some executives the wrong way, however, becoming known for roaming the halls of the firm and treating his position with a certain nonchalance, two former execu-tives said.”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/jeffrey-epstein-burrowed-into-the-lives-of-the-rich-and-made-a-fortune-11564092553?emailToken=a5ad571067a23ea8f76f8db1d839037dqpX0f/eMRCKH89obyp7d4ImHHU8+RO34sLKZpz/tSXr8V1r3RyfCiHxpb+5/LRiqtaNABVmpUFAhpxul4NyJFsZF78CDZMZ1ywadLFU1nrHAeO0gx//ZANOSbLwDXJdAgFKLhMBihQ9YQqbf+wdPPQ%3D%3D&reflink=article_copyURL_share
Bystander, thanks. Figured you would be 10 steps ahead of this.
Even CNN admitted today impeachment fizzled based upon their headline.
Congress has just recessed for a six week vacation and we are as of today 1 year + 10o days from the election. When they return it will be full on election season, there are 33 Senate seats and all 435 House seats up in 2020.
Our own Senator Booker is going to be running for both his Senate seat and President if he does not bow out soon.
No hate crime? Oh wait, that doesn’t apply to white men getting beat by animals.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/police-searching-teens-viciously-beat-men-washington-dc/story?id=64570303
Congrats Grim
You managed that announcement and stayed on topic! LOL!
Congratulations.
grim says:
July 25, 2019 at 7:16 am
Fixed the my SALT tax deduction problem a few days ago. His name is Tyler James, and from what I can figure, the $2,000 child tax credit more than offsets any loss from deductibility of SALT.
Noice work young man. Congrats. The NEA and Childcare providers everywhere thank you for your reproduction.
“My initial reflex is that professional sports leagues are overrestrictive; salary caps, drafts, luxury taxes should all be abolished, especially since their justification is the phantom of “competitive balance.” If the Pelicans want Zion Williamson to play for them, they should compete with other teams and negotiate a contract for his services. The moral case here is that athletes, like any other applicant entering a workforce, should have a say in their employment. The practical case: History has proved that the greatest lie in sports is that workplace restrictions serve anyone other than team owners.
The overwhelming response I receive to this proposal is that sports as a business would collapse if players were actual free agents who were allowed to apply for a team the way a college graduate applies for a job. It isn’t disturbing that leagues think this way. It is disturbing that fans — who actually can choose where they want to live and work — pledge fidelity to an ostensibly un-American system, as if the NBA salary cap is designed in any way to benefit them by supposedly making for a more level playing field between large- and small-market teams. In fact, the cap, instituted in 1984, was designed to provide “cost certainty” by keeping the rogue owner from offering players outrageous contracts, and to signal to outside investors that the league was a good bet. Financial stability raises franchise values; owners and potential buyers have less risk. They know what the maximum salaries, veteran minimums and rookie contracts can be. There are no surprises.”
https://apple.news/A4yaoOv43RLC0Se4i2lWEgg
Back from NYC. Spent a few days doing face to face meetings with with a few of the millennial run startups we own in Manhattan and Brooklyn. I could not get over (again) the massive amount of new high rise construction still going on in both Brooklyn and NYC.
Research shows maybe peaking again, new construction is adding 20,000 new units a year yoy. A rental in Chelsea is now $4,100 a month for a 1 BR apt. $61.5 billion was spent on in 2018 in construction in NYC last year which was 25% higher than the previous year. Residential construction was 13 billion in 2017, 14 billion last year and projected 15 billion this year but then it might tail off 30%.
Some research
https://www.buildingcongress.com/advocacy-and-reports/reports-and-analysis/Construction-Outlook-2018-2020.html
Juice In lower Manhattan it’s everywher! It looks like they are filling in every square inch of available land. A small 3 story apartment building is torn down and replaced by a 50 story one. Trinity Church holdings building rebuilding all around the church.
3b. – yup even an old railroad flop house on varick by the holland tunmel entrance, high rise going ing up.
This is what Murphy meant by fixing NJ Transit.
Worst governor ever. Can’t say you weren’t warned. Still, no state bank. Still, no legal weed. Still no anything but higher taxes and lesser services.
https://www.nj.com/traffic/2019/07/as-nj-transit-riders-suffer-the-execs-that-run-it-get-big-raises.html
Lib do we really want a state bank in NJ?!!
Smoke’m while you got it folks.
New York City apartment construction pace nothing out of the ordinary. 15,000 to 20,000 units per year. What is different this cycle is size of buildings. A small number of visible large 100+ unit buildings instead of large number of smaller buildings.
Yo There are 6 by me on two blocks in lower Manhattan. It’s more than just a few.
That’s why it’s inevitable the surrounding metro area land values have a long way to go in terms of appreciation potential. We are still in the beginning stages of nyc becoming a mega city. At its heart (Manhattan), it is getting to a point where you can’t build higher. You see the spread happening along the nj coast line of the Hudson. From fort lee to bayone, everything is changing.
You can’t lose on real estate in north jersey in the long term. 30-40 years from now, you will look back at purchases as winning lottery tickets in the investment world. The irony is in how easy it is, just requires capital and patience. Just buy and hold.
Of course we don’t want a state bank. I can’t think of a single thing Murphy ran on that he has completed.
I think the same can be said about Trump.
Literally accomplished Nothing.
The legislation for a State Bank never made it out of committee, just like allot of legislative priorities Murphy has like the Cannabis law it’s being blocked by the leaders of their party Sweeney in the Senate and Couglin in the house.
https://www.billtrack50.com/BillDetail/925853
ExEssex- Stop being so grumpy already.
According to Article I, Section 7 checks and balances are still working for Trump just as it did for Obama.
Stop being so grumpy already.
The irony, of course, is that if there’s anyone in Washington who has struggled to walk and chew gum at the same time, it’s been Donald Trump. Obsessed with cable news and social media, he has spent most of his time and his political capital ranting about his enemies. Much of what’s gotten done in Washington has been in the shadows. The Senate, under Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, has turned into a factory for lifetime judicial appointments—and little else. At federal agencies, gutting regulations has become Job One. But, aside from a corporate tax cut aimed at pleasing conservative donors, Trump has done little of substance in the White House. And that would still be the case even if Democrats weren’t on the verge of impeaching him.
There’s no better case-in-point than the end of the latest iteration of “infrastructure week.” The very concept, as The New York Times reported on Wednesday, has turned into perhaps the longest-running joke of the Trump era. Since the first infrastructure week—way back in June of 2017—the administration has promised progress on a large, bipartisan infrastructure package that would rebuild crumbling roads, bridges, and railways across the country. Infrastructure has been widely seen as the best, and perhaps only, place for compromise between Trump and Democrats.
There was also a hope, in some quarters, that Trump’s interest in construction—and his vanity, given that one could assume he would self-brand much of the work—would allow him to maintain focus, something he has notably struggled with in most other areas. (The president is someone, after all, who spent a meeting about tax reform workshopping nicknames for Steve Bannon.) But it never made much of a difference. There have been dozens of infrastructure weeks, and they have all ended in empty chaos.
The failures, however, are revealing. Later reporting uncovered that infrastructure was not really the aim of the first “infrastructure week.” That charade was concocted by the administration to distract from the uproar that followed the firing of FBI Director James Comey. The latest iteration appears to have had a similar purpose, allowing the president to claim that the Democrats were the ones who were not serious about policymaking—and that he would not deal with them, in any capacity, until they dropped the numerous investigations they’ve begun since retaking the House.
Democrats, meanwhile, have actually been fairly busy. The number of bills passed by the House since January is roughly in line with past sessions of Congress where control of the House, Senate, and White House was divided between the two parties. Looking at the data, The Washington Post’s Philip Bump concluded “the argument underlying all of this—that the Democrats are investigating instead of legislating—doesn’t hold water.”
The Republican-led Senate has also been doing something, but it’s not legislating. McConnell has instead devoted almost all of the Senate’s time and energy to confirming as many right-wing judicial appointments as possible. This approach recently received blistering criticism from Louisiana Republican Senator John Kennedy. He chastised House Democrats for passing bills that didn’t have a chance of clearing the Republican-held Senate, but focused much of his attention on the leadership of his caucus.
“I’m not saying we’ve done nothing,” opined Kennedy on Wednesday. “I’m saying we need to do more. There are issues where our Democratic friends and my Republican friends have more in common than we don’t. We need to bring the bills to the floor of the United States Senate.”
Congrats grim!
It was extremely informative. Bob Mueller learned so much he never knew about the report.
I missed the Mueller report yesterday; how did it go?
California is the only smart state. They leave all that poop from homeless people on the street. If they hosed it down it would wash down to the beaches where employed Republicans swim.
More than half of the beaches across New York and New Jersey are potentially unsafe for swimmers, thanks to a poop problem
Financial Crisis Yields a Generation of Renters
Many young adults are priced out of the housing market. That could reshape their finances—and the economy—for years to come.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/financial-crisis-yields-a-generation-of-renters-11564228800?emailToken=0d2ef677d9777e94a8f6ec7c1d6dec09x9ceTqGhm8l77qyu8nGlFxj2sbcGFeFQB6TFHYio9Zw9kS+4FFV2lBdXMipyjhCbJW5hDOWisYlSiDeikjsCo0J9+cYXDAS1vtrNBJeSfTE%3D&reflink=article_copyURL_share