From Fortune:
Zillow just raised its home price forecast, seeing a 3.7% jump in 2024, and it’s all because of ‘external factors’
Just as things had started looking up for the U.S. housing market, with mortgage rates dropping modestly, on Thursday Zillow revised its outlook for home pricesin 2024. Its previous forecast had called for home prices to stay flat this year, but now it sees home values rising 3.7% this year.
Zillow said its revision is based on “external factors,” including a decline in mortgage rates and an improved inflation outlook from the Federal Reserve. In other words, it’s not a big change within the composition of housing itself or the activity of homebuyers—like some kind of huge rush of inventory or a sellers’ market suddenly morphing into a buyers’ market. The recent decline in mortgage rates means that monthly payments on a new mortgage for a typical home are now $1,790, which is $413 cheaper than in October 2023, Zillow senior economist Nicole Bachaud tells Fortune.
“This unlocks some more buyers to be able to shop for a home if rates stay lower this spring, which will increase competition,” she says. An improved inflation outlook could mean mortgage rates “staying off their peaks and floating down to a small degree,” which would “also bring both buyers and sellers back to the market, putting some upward pressure on home prices.”
Redfin also reported on Thursday that home prices were up 5.1% during the four weeks ended Jan. 21, the biggest increase since October 2022. Asking prices were up 6.5%, also the largest jump since October 2022. However, Redfin predicts a 1% decline in home prices year over year in the second and third quarters of 2024, marking the first time prices would decline since 2012, chief economist Daryl Fairweather tells Fortune.
“However, there is much uncertainty,” she notes. “Although I think a price decline is more likely than a price increase, a price increase is still possible.”
First
How did Zillows prediction it would make money buying houses work out?
Its previous forecast had called for home prices to stay flat this year, but now it sees home values rising 3.7% this year.
That means a 7.4% rise for houses in the NJ/NY/CT sphere. A German car in the driveway and a unicorn sighting in the neighborhood equates to a 10% rise.
Fast: I think having a Merry Maids van driving around the neighborhood too would add another 1 or 2 percent.
Yes, Merry Maids… an apt name as it suggests various menu options.
Ha! :)
You guys see Poplin around yet? Thought that was interesting. Uber for laundry. Some gig person shows up, picks your laundry, returns it the next day washed and folded. I have no context for whether or not there is some value there, the price is by pound, and I’ve never weighed laundry before. I’d imagine it’s a hell of a lot cheaper than the pick-up service from the dry cleaner (do dry cleaners even exist anymore?).
When I spent some time in India a few years back, they looked at me a bit funny when I talked about doing laundry. Clearly I was speaking with some upper caste folks. One young guy joked that he’d never even seen a laundry machine in his life.
Is this going forward or going backward? If I had to make a choice, I’d rather have someone do the laundry than mow the lawn.
I don’t know why laundry is my topic of the day (probably because I’m doing some now), but laundry detergent is a complete scam and money grab.
When I saw my wife throw 3 Tide pods into the laundry, I nearly fell over. What the serious f?
Working on mixing up my own, I have an account at the big chem supply house in Newark. Just need to get the fragrance right, but that’s easy enough.
Don’t get me started on those wax fragrance bead things, which are an upsell on the money grab. That bottle contains about 5 cents worth of fragrance and a few more cents worth of wax beads. You can very, very easily add fragrance to epsom salts and save a small fortune.
Another interesting trend, is adding ozone to the water to reduce detergent usage. It’s a bit harsh of an approach, but I suspect once the first washer company markets a machine with a built-in ozone generation unit, they all will, and the battle between the appliance makers and detergent makers will begin.
Thus concludes your NJ laundry report.
Local laundromat owner picks up and drops off everything every other week for my mother. I think it’s $1.75 a lb for wash, dry, fold pick up and drop off included. He can’t be making money. Does this for all the seniors in the area.
Grim: I think it’s going backwards, but what do I know. I understand the time savings of having someone pick up laundry and then return it the next day clean and folded. I would think especially for parents with young children. But, it’s another expense, and might lead to a degree of self-importance, as in er are simply too educated too important to do mundane things like laundry, or clean the house and mow the lawn. Our immigrant upbringing simply prohibits us from wasting money on house cleaner and someone to wash our clothes.
3b – laundry is in basement, dear old mom cannot handle stairs anymore and she won’t let me install a washer dryer upstairs, so the compromise is wash and fold. It was like pulling teeth to get her to agree.
Of course you want someone doing your laundry. This way you have time for your day drinking and sex with your neighbor before the husband comes home.
That and Merry Maids and you have the whole calendar free for hookups. He is a good provider, but at 5’7″ he never made you moist. And the balding head, that’s the last straw.
Juice: I can totally understand that, and it makes sense. No way old folks should be lugging laundry baskets up and down basement stairs. I am happy that she agreed to a compromise. As you know, those Irish immigrants from that generation are a tough independent bunch, and don’t like to be told what to do. My Dad had no problem spending money on top quality food, and my Mom would never buy meat from the supermarket, it had the he from the butcher. My Mom was also not a fan of the dishwasher even though she had one, she would not use it much, she preferred doing the dishes herself. And, she was not a fan of the clothes dryer either, she preferred to use the clothes line. As she got older she would use the dryer, especially for sheets and towels.
Brass Balls Biden. You label China an enemy, you disrupt their trade, you restrict their chips, you threaten to tariff their goods and ruin them economically, and then you expect them to help you. They should tell you to suck the biggest D on the planet.
But the talks ended with no sign that China is willing to take decisive steps to use its economic influence on Iran — which funds and equips Yemen’s Houthi militia — to stem the threat to global supply chains.
Those attacks, which began two months ago, have prompted multiple U.S. and British air strikes on Houthi positions in Yemen in recent weeks.
“Beijing says they are raising this with the Iranians … but we’re certainly going to wait before we comment further on how effectively we think they’re actually raising it,” a senior administration official told reporters during a call on Sullivan’s meeting on Saturday.
The Biden administration has been making the case to Beijing that it should help “in terms of quieting some of those attacks, but whether it chooses to use that leverage in that way I think that remains to be seen,” the official said.
The Biden administration is also hitting a brick wall in trying to prod Beijing to convince close ally North Korea to scale back its nuclear weapons program, curtail support for Russia’s war on Ukraine and ease up on its increasingly hostile rhetoric toward South Korea.
Local laundromat owner picks up and drops off everything every other week for my mother. I think it’s $1.75 a lb for wash, dry, fold pick up and drop off included. He can’t be making money. Does this for all the seniors in the area.
Agree, curious the scale of his machines, if he is running large scale equipment, it may simply cost him even more money to run it with less volume.
Poplin is $2 same day/overnight or $1 next day. That’s someone doing it out of their own house, they’ve got none of the overhead of the business.
My response:
Hey you old f’n goats. I married your daughter, not you. Go find your own f’n life and stay the f out of ours. A quote from the wedding song:
When a man shall leave his mother, and a woman leave her home. They shall travel on, to where, the two shall be as one.”
Do you get it old goats? The song doesn’t mention you. You are a guest, and should stop nagging, the poor guy will already get that from the woman he marries.
Dear Jane,
My relationship with my parents has been blown apart recently thanks to my husband’s complete inability to keep his mouth shut – and I’m at a total loss for how I can repair it.
He started getting increasingly annoyed with my mom and dad’s comments and questions about our future – when we’re going to buy our own home, why we haven’t decided to move out of the city yet and – the real sticking point – why we haven’t had kids.
Hiring a lawn service was the best investment I made last year. It was under $40 every time they mowed the lawn. It would take me under an hour to mow and edge by myself, but my asthma has gotten so bad I would be wiped out for hours afterwards and feel bad for a few days.
My wife has said she would love to outsource the laundry. Family of 4 would be way too expensive for us. We just fold while we watch YouTube or a tv show we don’t have to closely pay attention to.
Use the landlords machine, and the landlords free water.
Profit.
Poplin is $2 same day/overnight or $1 next day. That’s someone doing it out of their own house, they’ve got none of the overhead of the business.
Pretty sure my wife and daughter go through 100 pounds of clothes a day.
I had a line on a really nice double commercial unit, 2 large washers, 2 large dryers, stacked up in a 2×2. Speed Queen coin op style units that were supposed to be installed in a big apartment complex.
Problem is, I didn’t have the gas line for them. I would have had to rip apart the basement to run a whole new line to the units, which would have cost more in time, effort, and plumbers than the units did
Would have been nice though to load up two washers, flip to the dryers, and be done with the laundry in one shot.
What’s the ‘perv’ coefficient of some stranger washing your undergarments?
Fast
Depends if they have Covid nose or not.
Our Laundry runs everyday. I have replaced the dryer drum once and the belt and wheels twice until I could find ones that don’t wear out.
Upgraded wheels etc.
https://www.amazon.com/DC97-16782A-DC93-00634A-Belt6602-001655-AP5325135-AP4373659/dp/B07M87YFJS/ref=asc_df_B07M87YFJS/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=241917938064&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3117055558271103602&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9003689&hvtargid=pla-612656298840&mcid=b60d511c3a553fca8bce168befd19cf5&gclid=CjwKCAiAk9itBhASEiwA1my_6_bzxIUBmgQ1rnnrqe1Wv6S5FlXf4tPUMYiXvFe9QfBYPSkuaj_yWBoCkWUQAvD_BwE&th=1
I think you are safe. And if not you should consider yourself lucky.
Fast Eddie says:
January 28, 2024 at 11:26 am
What’s the ‘perv’ coefficient of some stranger washing your undergarments?
When I was single in NYC laundry service was very efficient. Picked up laundry, work shirts (mostly $175 Thomas Pink shirts) and returned to my apartment a few days later folded and ironed. Priced by weight, everybody in my building used service.
Nowadays I pay for all sort of household services, but laundry is not an issue. I use dry clean for my Ermegildo Zegna suits, shirts and local place is always packed with upper income liberal people.
Currently looking for a part time chef to mostly prepare our dinners. Not for fancy service, but aiming for consistent health and nutrition menu.
A former Goldman Sachs banker who retired at the age of 34 with a net worth of $3 million says his family of four now needs an income of more than $230,000-a-year in order to live comfortably.
Sam Dogen quit the rat race in 2012 to live on the west coast in pricey San Francisco and has managed to provide his family with everything they need, thanks to passive income garnered from stocks, bonds, and real estate.
Although Dogen doesn’t specifically state how much he had to put away in order to generate impressive yearly returns, in a recent post to his Financial Samurai blog he notes how he has now jeopardized his family’s financial independence.
Dogen reveals how he was ‘forced to liquidate a significant portion of his investment portfolio’ in order to buy property – the family home where he now lives with his wife and two children.
I totally regret upgrading to Samsung when my old Maytag unit died. I put them on the street, my dad saw them, bitched me out, took them home and fixed them (probably for 25 bucks in parts). They spent the next 7 or 8 years in one of his rental houses, not a single problem. They were still there when we sold the place late last year.
In one of the other houses, there was a speed queen set that was there since the late 80s, still working.
I ran into the tenant that used them for a few years before he bought his own place, he told me he missed them. Same story, bought the most expensive Samsung set, and they suck at actually cleaning clothes.
The buyers of the house wanted them all gone. Asked them if they were sure, yep. I should have called the guy to see if he wanted to buy them. We put them out on the street, they were gone in an hour. I would have took them home but the bottoms had rusted out from that big storm a few years ago. If not for the rust, they would have outlasted me. I bet you could mix concrete in the washer and it would be fine.
Good answers, guys. ;)
Unless, of course, hot-looking ‘maids to order’ decide to parlay their services.
Okay, this conversation is close to derailing totally. Lol!!
What about exposing laborers to the toxicity coefficient of your undergarments.
A Human Rights abuse
Fast Eddie says:
January 28, 2024 at 11:26 am
What’s the ‘perv’ coefficient of some stranger washing your undergarments?
Bombers will be flying soon.
https://apnews.com/article/biden-american-service-members-killed-jordan-iran-5cb774fd835a558d840ae91263037489
Phoenix: What exactly is the point of that 34 year old ex Goldman guy? He retired in
2012, over a decade ago at 34, and then bought a house in San Francisco, did he buy it a decade ago, recently, is he working now, why didn’t he buy in a less expensive area?
Navarro Is Sentenced to 4 Months in Prison for Stonewalling Congress.
By Zach Montague
Reporting from Washington
Jan. 25, 2024
Peter Navarro was found guilty in September of criminal contempt of Congress, making him the second Trump aide to face penalties related to one of the chief investigations into Jan. 6.
A female pedestrian was struck and killed by a train in my town yesterday afternoon. This seems to be happening more frequently.
I’m never buying a Samsung product again.
Our LG washer dryer is far superior to the Samsung set it replaced and at a fraction of the cost. Samsung fridge we bought is a pos and I want to replace it.
When our dishwasher went we got an LG.
3 US service members were struck and killed by a drone attack in Jordan on the Syrian border, by Iran backed Islamic militias. I wonder what Biden is going to be told he should do?
Hold: I read somewhere that Samsung products were known for quality until they outsourced production to China.
34 posts on a Sunday morning. WTF?
3b
That sounds right. Not as good as they used to be.
LG fridges are fuct. Customer service kicks ass because they were called to account.
https://www.consumerreports.org/lawsuits-settlements/lg-settles-class-action-lawsuit-over-refrigerator-compressors/
Enhanced customer care, guys were at my house the following morning and swapped out the compressor. Gone by 11AM. No charge. That said, lost all perishables. Shouldn’t happen to a 22 month old fridge.
3b says:
January 28, 2024 at 12:13 pm
3 US service members were struck and killed by a drone attack in Jordan on the Syrian border, by Iran backed Islamic militias. I wonder what Biden is going to be told he should do?
We are z police of z world. We vill make you pay. We vill control you financially, strangle your country with sanctions, un tarriffs, we vill meddle in your elections, and execute anyone around the world ve don’t like vis a push of a button.
Just buy a used almond or avocado green fridge from the eighties.
You will die before it does. And make your own ice cubes you lazy WFH meatball.
How hard is it to fill a tray with water. Don’t break a nail.
You bought it for it’s looks. Things you choose for that reason are very expensive.
Chicago says:
January 28, 2024 at 12:38 pm
LG fridges are fuct. Customer service kicks ass because they were called to account.
https://www.consumerreports.org/lawsuits-settlements/lg-settles-class-action-lawsuit-over-refrigerator-compressors/
Phoenix: Don’t forget harvest gold appliances from that era.
Joe Biden says Donald Trump is the ‘SITTING President’ as confused 81-year-old stumbles through economic speech in South Carolina trying to shore up support for another term Hehe.
Yeah he is confused all right.
to this: yeah, forgot about that color. You are right. Only thing you ever replace in one of those is a defrost timer and the light bulb.
They used real copper back then with silver solder.
3b says:
January 28, 2024 at 12:48 pm
Phoenix: Don’t forget harvest gold appliances from that era.
UK Boomer Talk:
At this point it’s clearly obvious that we’re very close to a major world war breaking out. So In order to fight effectively alongside our American allies the uk needs to bring back conscription and run alongside the professional element of the forces, that’ll solve a lot of the troop shortage. At least if required to mobilise, we’ll have trained fighters. I highly doubt Russia, Chi_na or Ir_an will wait while the UK decides to mobilise and train people for war..
Grim – Here comes AMD.
AMD’s MI300X Accelerator: Poised to Dominate the AI and HPC Landscape
The landscape of AI and high-performance computing (HPC) is in the midst of a seismic shift, and AMD’s brand-new MI300X accelerator stands at the epicenter. Packing a punch of cutting-edge technology, the MI300X promises to redefine performance benchmarks and challenge the established dominance of Nvidia and Intel. This report delves into the MI300X’s key features, analyzes its competitive edge, and explores how AMD is poised to become the chipmaker of the future.
MI300X: A Technological Tour de Force
Built on the formidable CDNA 3 architecture, the MI300X boasts an arsenal of game-changing technologies:
Matrix Core Technology: Optimized for AI workloads, these specialized cores deliver up to 2.7x higher performance per Watt compared to prior generations.
HBM3 Memory: Boasting a colossal 1.5TB capacity and up to 3.44 TB/s bandwidth, HBM3 fuels data-hungry AI and HPC applications with unprecedented efficiency.
Advanced Precision Support: From the energy-efficient INT8 and FP8 formats to the demanding FP64, the MI300X seamlessly adapts to diverse computational needs.
These advancements translate into tangible benefits:
Generative AI Breakthroughs: The MI300X excels in tasks like large language models and image generation, paving the way for revolutionary AI applications.
HPC Supremacy: With its raw power and efficient memory utilization, the MI300X tackles complex simulations and scientific workloads with unmatched speed.
Facing the Titans: MI300X vs. the Competition
Nvidia’s A100 Tensor Core GPU has long been the reigning champion, but the MI300X offers a compelling challenge:
Performance: On key AI benchmarks, the MI300X matches or surpasses the A100, while boasting superior performance-per-Watt.
Memory Advantage: The MI300X’s HBM3 technology outstrips the A100’s GDDR6 in both capacity and bandwidth, crucial for data-intensive tasks.
Price Competitiveness: AMD’s aggressive pricing strategy makes the MI300X an attractive alternative for cost-conscious HPC and AI projects.
Intel’s Xeons, while strong in traditional HPC, struggle to compete with the specialized architectures of AMD and Nvidia in AI workloads. The MI300X further widens this gap, solidifying AMD’s lead in the AI-infused HPC future.
AMD: Chipmaker of the Future? 4th Quarter Projections Tell a Story
Analysts predict a phenomenal Q4 2023 for AMD, with revenue growth exceeding 40% driven by strong demand for the MI300X and EPYC Genoa processors. This surge is expected to continue into 2024, fueled by:
Cloud Adoption: Hyperscalers are increasingly embracing AMD solutions for their AI and HPC infrastructure, thanks to their performance and cost advantages.
Enterprise AI Boom: Businesses are rapidly deploying AI across various sectors, creating insatiable demand for high-performance accelerators like the MI300X.
Scientific Supercomputing: The MI300X’s prowess in HPC is attracting leading research institutions and government agencies, further solidifying AMD’s presence in this critical domain.
These trends paint a clear picture: AMD is at the forefront of the AI and HPC revolution, and the MI300X is a key driver of this growth.
Projecting AMD’s Q1 2024 Stock Performance:
With the positive tailwinds mentioned above, analysts forecast continued momentum for AMD’s stock in Q1 2024. Projections suggest:
Earnings per Share (EPS) growth: 50% or higher compared to Q1 2023.
Stock price increase: Potential for a 20-30% rise, reaching the $180-$200 range by the end of Q1.
While market fluctuations are always a possibility, the underlying fundamentals point towards a bright future for AMD in the near term.
Conclusion:
AMD’s MI300X is a technological marvel, redefining the boundaries of AI and HPC performance. Its competitive edge, combined with AMD’s strategic focus and the booming AI/HPC market, paints a compelling picture for the company’s future. Q1 2024 is primed to be a stellar quarter for AMD, potentially propelling its stock price towards new heights. With its unwavering commitment to innovation and a product portfolio brimming with cutting-edge solutions, AMD is poised to solidify its place at the top of AI processing.
They are going to need to invest an amount greater than they invested into the development of that hardware, into the development of the software necessary to make use of it.
AMD for AI is BARELY supported today, and nearly all of that support is on Linux, not Windows. Gaming is a no brainer these days, software support is nearly universal. This isn’t the case when we are talking AI, NVIDIA owns this ecosystem.
Anyone looking to use that hardware is going to have to build the underlying software infrastructure to be able to even use it. Compare this to NVIDIA where you are talking plug-and-play. Ok, maybe Microsoft or Google scale companies can afford to do it, but if they can afford to do it, why would they bet on AMD, versus just developing their own proprietary hardware?
Getting back to Linux, the only reason there is limited support for AMD, is that their cards are cheaper than NVIDIA, and you’ve got an open source community that’s looking at the lower-cost as an advantage. The minute NVIDIA gets cheaper, nobody is going to care.
I use dry clean for my Ermegildo Zegna suits…
LOL. And me and Eva Mendes are having a torrid affair.
If you think the youngins can’t handle the workplace stress, wait til we send them off to war.
My new fridge from Frigidaire has been a POS. The water line freezes so much, I had to insulate it from the inside to prevent it. The icemaker makes about 4 glasses worth of cubes a day. I bought a separate machine that makes 20 pounds of ice a day.
Fast: Who is still wearing suits today, unless it’s a social function that requires one.
Who is still wearing suits today..
Liberal elites, cruising the globe, sipping Chardonnay, preaching doom while “rescuing” democracy.
Fast Eddie says:
January 28, 2024 at 6:16 pm
Who is still wearing suits today?
Donald J Trump.
J for jailbreaker. Hehe.
As a former Lincoln Tech student I already advised you.
Make your own ice cubes. Hehe.
BRT says:
January 28, 2024 at 5:17 pm
My new fridge from Frigidaire has been a POS. The water line freezes so much, I had to insulate it from the inside to prevent it. The icemaker makes about 4 glasses worth of cubes a day. I bought a separate machine that makes 20 pounds of ice a day.
BRT says:
January 28, 2024 at 5:10 pm
If you think the youngins can’t handle the workplace stress, wait til we send them off to war.
They will be fine with your robot/WFH war. But will tell you to go suck one if you put them in a Ukraine/Russia type grind.
VSG
Did you get your clothes at TJ Maxx or Kohls?
Phoenix,
when I took my latest job, I had 3 monetary sacrifices I was willing to make to improve my life.
1. Eating steak whenever I want (well that one just went away with the latest bout of inflation)
2. Unlimited Reggiano Parmagianna & Grana Padano
3. I’ll never make my own ice cubes again
Enjoy your ice maker.
It’s not much to ask.
Dedicated to HMB:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2i-m8ROfdv/?igsh=MTJ3MHJiNXozNTVkdg%3D%3D
American governments bail out the scum using taxpayer dollars, the Chinese tell the scum to GFY. Well done China.
Months after China Evergrande ran out of cash and defaulted in 2021, investors around the world scooped up the property developer’s discounted I.O.U.’s, betting that the Chinese government would eventually step in to bail it out.
On Monday it became clear just how misguided that bet was. After two years in limbo, Evergrande was ordered by a court in Hong Kong to liquidate, a move that will set off a race by lawyers to find and grab anything belonging to Evergrande that can be sold.