A report from News 4 San Antonio in Texas. “According to a new study, homes put up for sale in San Antonio over the summer are taking longer to sell, compared to last year. ‘The market just isn’t as red hot as it used to be,’ said Thomas Tunstall, Senior Director for Research at the UTSA Institute for Economic Development. ‘We’re coming off of a really hot housing market where homes were selling, you know, very quickly, very briskly. And you know that that that sort of situation, you know, just can’t be sustained.’ Professor of Management at the University of the Incarnate Word, David Vequist said it’s important to note that most of the time, the longer a home stays on the market, the more price drops it will see. ‘People are waiting for interest rates to go lower and obviously, with the building boom that’s been going on, potentially, some of these newer properties will have to be discounted at some point in time,’ said Vequist.”
From CBS News. “Jeff Rapkin admits that he prayed for the ‘untimely demise’ of the adjuster who examined his home after it was devastated by 2022’s Hurricane Ian. Rapkin, a Florida resident and father, said the adjuster told him his house would likely need to be entirely rebuilt. So Rapkin was shocked when Heritage Property and Casualty Insurance, his insurance company, sent him just $15,000, minus their deductible. As it turns out, the adjuster, Jordan Lee, was also shocked, as he wrote in his report that he believed the Rapkins were owed $231,368.57. Lee says he later learned dozens of his damage reports had been materially altered. ‘It was basically all of them,’ Lee said.”
“At the Rapkins’ home, mold and mother nature are gnawing away at what’s left. The home’s split roof is an open wound for the family, who still have to mow the lawn and make mortgage payments on their rotting home every month. They’re also paying rent on an apartment nearby and $4,000 a year to Heritage for home insurance, even after the premiums went up. ‘And can’t get another insurance company, obviously,’ Rapkin said. Rapkin originally believed there may have been an innocent mistake made, but he no longer feels that way. ‘This is a con. That’s what this is,’ he said. ‘This is, ‘make them go away at all costs. We’re not paying.’”
The Sun Sentinel. “Becoming familiar with two structural inspection reports that condo associations are required to submit this year can save buyers money or help them avoid making an expensive mistake. If the structural reserve study finds that each owner will be assessed hundreds of thousands of dollars to maintain structural soundness of a building, they can use that information to negotiate lower prices. Sellers can use the information to help determine whether their buyer will even be able to find a lender willing to issue a loan for the seller’s asking price. In the past, buyers have only cared whether they can get a mortgage loan and paid little attention to what was in the documents the law requires them to have, said Suzanne Hollander, an attorney and professor who teaches real estate law at Florida International University in Miami. ‘They look like a big stack of documents, right? They look like a lot to read,’ Hollander said. ‘I think, unfortunately, most people don’t even read their purchase and sales contract.’”
“Ryan Paton, president of Coconut Creek-based Capitol Lending Group, a mortgage brokerage that finds lenders for condo buyers, says lenders take the amount of structural damage into account when deciding whether to approve a mortgage loan on a condo unit. Some won’t lend if the reserve study identifies an assessment that would be difficult for the buyer to handle, along with the mortgage payment and monthly condo dues, he said. Disclosure of the inspection reports will reduce the selling price of condo properties that are in poor condition and require substantial repair and boost values of properties in good condition with managers and governing board members who have ‘been pragmatic’ in reserving for future repairs, said Orest Tomaselli, president and CEO of New York-based Strategic Inspections.”
The San Francisco Chronicle in California. “With mortgage rates ticking down this year, the housing market in parts of the Bay Area has started to heat up again, and ZIP codes in the East Bay and Silicon Valley are showing some of the biggest rises in home values. Not every Bay Area ZIP code — or city — has seen values increase, however. Oakland’s typical home value continued its slow decline this year, from $772,000 in January to $762,000 in August. Oakland’s 94612 ZIP code, which includes its downtown, Uptown and Lakeside neighborhoods, has seen the steepest decrease in home values of any of the 200 largest Bay Area ZIP codes, dropping 3.3% from $618,000 in January to $597,000 in August. It was followed by several other Oakland neighborhoods, including West Oakland’s 94607 ZIP code.”
“Zillow estimated that San Francisco’s 94108 ZIP code, which includes parts of Chinatown and Nob Hill, had the third-largest drop in home values, at 2.2% from $893,000 to $874,000. Piedmont, a wealthy enclave completely surrounded by Oakland, also saw values decline by 1.4%, from $1.45 million to $1.43 million. San Francisco and Oakland home values have been declining for years, a trend largely driven by the pandemic-related push toward buying homes outside urban cores — sometimes called ‘the donut effect.’ Real estate agents have cited the cities’ sometimes-unearned reputations for crime as a factor. California’s insurance crisis has also affected the East Bay hills particularly hard, drastically raising fire insurance costs for many homeowners.”
House Beautiful. “It’s fairly common for HOAs to spell out guidelines for things like exterior paint colors, fence heights, and how long you can park a boat or RV on the street. But sometimes HOA rules go a little too far, fining residents for obscure violations. Lisa Harris, an agent with RE/MAX Center in Braselton, Georgia, says her gated neighborhood has progressed from simple speed bumps to full on speed enforcement, with speed tables and three hidden cordless speed detection devices on tripods. ‘These devices are randomly hidden around the neighborhood, and if you’re caught speeding, [the HOA] mails you a ticket,’ she says. And, if you exceed your allotment of violations, they’ll even revoke your security gate access in the gated neighborhood.”
“Johnny Austin, a real estate agent and investor in Tacoma, Washington, recalls an HOA he dealt with that had a ridiculous rule that grass could only be between two to three inches tall. ‘If it went even a half-inch over, homeowners got fined,’ he says. ‘The kicker was if the grass got too short, they’d fine you, too. People were out there with rulers trying to make sure their lawns were the ‘perfect’ height.’ During rainy seasons, it was tough to keep up with the standard and caused homeowners a lot of stress, Austin says.”
Yahoo Finance. “Cash-strapped Americans are using their homes to pay down debt and keep up with the rising cost of living. Use of home equity lines of credit — a type of revolving loan that developed a troubled reputation for its role in the 2008 financial crisis — is on the rise after hitting post-crisis lows two years ago. The products have long been a popular means of financing home renovation projects, but lately, mortgage lenders say many of the applications that cross their desks are for debt consolidation.”
“‘It’s so much easier,’ said Rochelle Adamson, a self-employed hairdresser, virtual assistant, and content creator who consolidated more than $55,000 of debt across seven credit cards with a HELOC she took out on a rental property last year. ‘You’re taking it a little more seriously because it’s not like you can just pull this card out and go to the store,’ she added. ‘It’s attached to your bank account. You have to log in. It’s attached to your home.’”
“As consumers’ home values were rising, so too was their consumer debt. Credit card debt nationwide topped $1.14 trillion at the end of June, up 5.8% from a year earlier, according to New York Fed data. Auto loan debt has also been on the rise, totaling $1.63 trillion. ‘People are really struggling,’ said Sarah Rose, senior home equity manager at Affinity Federal Credit Union. ‘Credit cards, personal loans — the rates on those are just astronomical. Consolidating that debt into a lower rate over 30 years is a winner for a lot of people.’”
The National Post. “The federal Liberals are proving that big government does indeed impoverish the populations they govern. Canada’s in the throes of a seemingly endless cost of living crisis, and while it’s doubtless a consequence of federal policies like mass immigration and the increasingly punitive carbon tax, the country’s over-inflated civil service is an outsized factor. It’s worth noting the post-2015 deficit per employed person would be much higher without Canada’s recent population boom, prompting the question: are the feds bloating the population through immigration, even though it’s immiserating Canadians, because they’ve lost control of the deficit?”
“Consumers’ waning spending habits and mounting debt signifies they’re struggling to meet basic living needs, elucidating the depth of Canada’s cost of living crisis. But it didn’t occur in a vacuum. In the wake of COVID-19, in tandem with generous income subsidies, the Bank of Canada plunged its policy rate to 25 basis points in March 2020. It remained there for 18 months, sparking a housing rush. The rapid escalation in home prices was driven by asset-rich Canadians who were able to borrow for pennies on the dollar. And there were many more of them than previously thought, as household savings were in excess of $90 billion by November 2020. Moreover, the money used to inflate asset valuations can also be traced back to the federal government, which exercised little oversight when granting CERB and Canada Recovery Benefit payments. And yet the Bank of Canada kept its policy rate at an historic low, even while the cost of living rose sharply.”
“Private sector productivity shortfalls have adversely affected the country’s GDP and stripped Canadians’ earning potential. But you wouldn’t know it looking at unemployment figures — and that’s because the government is juking the numbers by growing both the civil service and the country’s fleet of food delivery couriers, who are typically desperate newcomers. And in contrast to the former, the latter live in abject poverty like most of their new compatriots.”
From BBC News. “Residents in Aberdeen whose homes could be demolished due to the presence of RAAC – a cheaper type of concrete which is at risk of collapse – have told BBC Scotland News of their anger and disappointment about the compensation they might receive. Aberdeen City Council is hoping to purchase 138 privately-owned homes in Torry affected by the potentially dangerous concrete. In response to a number of questions asked by the Aberdeen RAAC support group for residents, the local authority says the home loss payments would be up to £15,000. Homeowners told BBC Scotland News this was not enough, and that more funding, clarity and timescales were urgently needed.”
“Torry resident John Meiklejohn fears he could lose more than £70,000 on his property. ‘The stress that this is putting myself and the other householders under is unbearable,’ he said. ‘We go from flitting between anger and just complete depression. It’s very difficult because there’s too many unknowns. The only thing we do know is we’re going to be left with a huge shortfall on equity on our properties – that’s more than likely going to prevent us from getting back onto the property market.’”
Radio New Zealand. “The Kiwi dream of owning a home has turned into a nightmare for some flood-affected first home buyers who bought in the last few years. Now in negative equity, they are unable to live in their category three homes, owing the bank thousands of dollars because their property is now worth less than their mortgage. A West Auckland resident, who RNZ has agreed not to name, had not been back to her family home since the Auckland Anniversary floods 18 months ago. ‘Everything was gone, everything in our house, we’ve been back to check the letter box, that’s about it.’”
“She estimated they will owe the bank just under $100,000. ‘It’s a crazy situation and I kind of want to say I refuse to accept it, but we’ve been backed into a corner we can’t refuse it because if we don’t accept the buyout, we won’t be able to get house insurance.’ The couple are in their 30’s and first home buyers with a toddler. She said they worked extremely hard to get on the property ladder and were now giving up on being able to own their own home again. ‘To be left owing to the bank and having lost our deposit, there’s no way that we can ever own a property again … I am going to try and not get emotional while talking about it.’”
From ABC News. “They are billed as a retiree’s utopia: A playground for adults that is fun, safe and can even help you live a longer, healthier, and happier life. Retirement villages are home to more than 250,000 older Australians, drawn by polished marketing that promises independent living in a safe community environment. But ABC Investigations and 7.30 have uncovered another side. One retirement village resident, 89-year-old Joan Green, sees it as a form of robbery. After buying in 11 years ago for $384,000, she will walk out with $81,000 after the retirement village operator deducts its various fees. ‘I feel … like I’ve been robbed,’ she says. All up, she stands to lose about $300,000, or 80 per cent of what she originally paid to buy into the village. The village operator expects to resell the home for $675,000.”
“Lynette Anderson is still smarting over the cost of ‘reinstating’ her mother Ruth’s apartment after informing her Living Choice retirement village at Twin Waters on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast that she had to move into aged care after a series of strokes. Living Choice, which is also a licensed builder, determined what needed to be done and quoted a staggering $167,000 to do the job. The contract also requires Ruth to pay an exit fee of 35 per cent and an additional $15,400 fee to Living Choice for selling the house. The operator expects the home to sell for about $700,000, which will leave Ruth with $257,962, a fraction of the $564,950 she paid for the place in 2015.”
“‘When you buy a home, you don’t expect to lose half your money when you leave,’ Lynette Anderson says. ‘It’s heartbreaking.’”
From Reuters. “Animal spirits are back in China’s stock market as investors rush into equities, galvanized by Beijing’s policy bonanza and driven by fear of missing out on what some see as a rally of historic intensity. ‘Deposit rates are too low, and real estate investment is no longer safe,’ said 30-year-old office worker Darren Wang, who started buying stocks using borrowed money. ‘There’s no other way to be rich other than redoubling bets on stocks. The market craze you see this time could be unprecedented.’”
“Veteran individual trader Wu Jie, 48, said he felt bewildered by the sudden change of mood. ‘The economy remains in bad shape,’ said Wu, who is currently light in his stock position. ‘But if you look at the trading volume, the rally will likely be sustained. I have cash ready, and I’m waiting for a major correction so that I can get in.’”