"The following chart from Credit Suisse fully explains why the US housing 'recovery' has just ground to a halt: in a few short weeks, US housing affordability (a topic we first covered a month ago) has collapsed as a result of the monthly payment on the median home sold soaring by nearly 40% from under $800 to just shy of $1100, a level not seen since 2008. Now if only US personal incomes would keep pace, instead of doing this." Continue reading →
"The City by the Bay is going through one of its worst housing shortages in memory. With typical high demand intensified by a regional boom in tech jobs, apartment open houses are mob scenes of desperate applicants clutching their credit reports. The citywide median rental price for a one-bedroom is $2,764 a month, but jumps to $3,500 in trendy areas. One reason for the shortage? Me. I’ve recently joined the ranks of San Francisco landlords who have decided that it’s better to keep an apartment empty than to lease it to tenants. Together, we have left vacant about 10,600 rental units. That’s about five percent of the city’s total." Continue reading →
"Most people know that a mansion costs much more than a farmhouse. What many might not be aware of is that the style of a home can also have a major impact on its price. A Mediterranean-style home sold in the U.S. costs an average of $1.32 million, while a ranch-style home costs less than a fifth of that. Real estate site Trulia provided 24/7 Wall St. with data on the price and popularity of different home styles for which the average price listed by Trulia was greater than $650,000. Descriptions of home style characteristics and history came from groups including Realtor Magazine and Better Homes & Gardens." Continue reading →
"If you’re looking to buy a home right now, you'd better find some cash and you'd better find it fast. Right now homebuyers across the country, already in frenzied bidding wars for homes, are increasingly losing out to the almighty all-cash buyer. These folks are mostly investors -- but not just the monolithic, institutional investment investors that have been snapping up distressed properties and foreclosures over the past few years. There are also a slew of well-heeled individuals with extra cash to invest, and they believe the real estate market is the place to put it. In fact, many of the buyers paying cash don’t plan to actually keep all that cash in the house." Continue reading →
"Looking for a cheap fixer-upper? You might check the list of the 15 best cities for do-it-yourself housing bargains, published this week by RealtyTrac, the Irvine-based real estate data firm. Shocker: No California cities made the list. The five best cities to find a bargain home are in the Rust Belt: Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, St. Louis and Cincinnati. The rankings come from the number of bank-owned homes that were built before 1960 and are valued under $100,000. There are 3,773 such homes in Detroit, which is more than double Chicago's inventory, which is ranked just below the Michigan city." Continue reading →
"House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) has described Fannie and Freddie as the product of a ‘government laboratory’ and one that exposes taxpayers to ‘unlimited risk.' Hensarling and others in the House are working on legislation to end the companies for good. Now that the president is on board, with apparent bipartisan support, it seems that reality may not be far off. Investors appear to be speculating on news the feds may actually pay off debt to taxpayers and recapitalize. Since liquidation appears to have broad support in the government, Fannie and Freddie look like stock to steer clear of." Continue reading →
"Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are masking billions of dollars losses because of the level of delinquent home loans they carry, a federal watchdog said, and it said the companies should be required immediately to recognize the costs of some bad mortgages. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were seized by the U.S. government in September 2008 as rising mortgage losses threatened them with insolvency. The mortgage companies have cost taxpayers almost $188 billion to stay afloat. Fannie and Freddie have reduced their funds reserved to cover potential losses on bad loans due to the strengthening housing sector and higher home prices." Continue reading →
"There’s always a new elite showering themselves with unchecked dictatorial powers– from control of the money supply to control of the military. For example, four men control over 70% of the world’s money supply in our modern central banking system. They have the power to conjure unlimited quantities of currency out of thin air in their sole discretion. Meanwhile, the 'richest' countries in the world (US, Europe, Japan, etc.) are so deeply in debt that they have to borrow money just to pay interest on the money they’ve already borrowed. This isn’t rocket science. Predicting the end of this system is not attention-seeking sensationalism; it’s just common sense." Continue reading →
"If the global economy slides into recession in the years ahead, as seems increasingly likely, full-time employment in the U.S. could slip to 100 million while the number of beneficiaries continues to soar by 10+ million a decade. All the official projections assume steady, strong increases in payroll taxes and full-time employment; the system's deficits will explode higher if full-time employment sags while the number of beneficiaries increases from 57 million to 70 million and then on to 80 and 90 million. Anyone who cares about the viability of Social Security had better wake up to the widening divergence of full-time employment and SSA beneficiaries." Continue reading →
"And you thought stubbing your toe on the corner of the couch hurts bad now. Introducing the CouchBunker, a fire-rated gun safe hidden inside a custom built couch. Oh but does it get better: every CouchBunker comes with a bullet proof cushions fit with carry straps, so that they can be used as shields. The CouchBunker is the finest in lounge-centric security from the BedBunker company, which makes — surprise — safes that you can sleep on. 'If you break it down and remove the cushions, you notice it looks like a normal sofa. But open up the lid, and you have a concealed gun safe,' explained the company’s Brian Poitevent to KHOU.'" Continue reading →