Opening Comments
Video of the Day
Labor Market
Hit By A Fish
Quick Bites
Markets, Crypto, HY, Business Travel
Fed on Risk, Chip Capacity, Cyber Attack, Inflation, Commodity Prices
Delivery Costs, CRT, Times Square Shooting, China Bio-Weapons/Virus
Nature Kids, Eating Rotten Meat, $1mm Bottle of Space Wine
Virus/Vaccine-US improving, vaccine roll-out slowing. India under pressure
Real Estate
My General Comment-Crazy South Florida Examples
Barry Sternlicht-Views on NY R/E Laws
Greenwich, CT April Sales Record
East Bay on Fire-$2mm Homes Selling for $3mm
Opening Comments
Happy Mother’s Day.
I went fishing on my friend’s boat on Thursday. The conditions were epic. Deep blue water, lots of big seaweed clumps, birds flying and diving for bait. However, the fishing was unusually slow. The current was barely moving and fish seem to eat more when there is current flowing. Shockingly, we only caught one small dolphin (mahi-mahi). I changed fishing hats 3x convinced it was the hat. No joy. Looks like I need to rotate a new cap because we know it can’t be my fishing skills.
I played tennis the other day at 5pm. Bad idea. It was 92 degrees with insane humidity. I stopped 4x in an hour lesson. I was breathing like a 5 pack a day smoker and I have never tried a stick in my life. By July, I would not last 30 minutes in that heat.
Jill and I attended a Cinco de Mayo party held at a friend’s house with about 25 people. It was outside and we had so much fun. Gracious hosts and interesting conversations. Given the pandemic took so much of our socialization activity away, it was nice to be around friends and meet new people. Jack and I went to a Walker Cup party as well on Saturday evening. Lots of fun and Jack was in heaven talking about golf for a couple hours. If this is any indication, this summer is going to be filled with parties. Last summer, we traveled and did not attend one event or party.
If for some reason you don’t receive an email from me, go to Substack.com and find the Rosen Report. My pieces that I have sent from Substack are archived website. I will do my best to get them out Wednesday and Sunday evenings. Thanks again for all the readers who send me articles. Some email systems truncate the Rosen Report. In Gmail, you need to click “View entire message, “ to see it all. Sign up here.
Labor Market
Today, many of the stories are about pricing and labor. It was initially not intentional, but I kept uncovering more. The last note had an ample section on inflation, as I am growing concerned about it.
Economists had expected to see 1 million new jobs last month, so the government’s report of just 266,000 was a gut punch to the view that the economy is rebounding in a smooth upward trajectory. The anticipation for a big jobs number also had put the spotlight on the Fed’s easing programs The unemployment rate rose in April to 6.1% from 6%. The bulk of hiring was in the leisure and hospitality sector, which added 331,000 jobs as pandemic restrictions on restaurants eased.
Another article from the WSJ entitled, “Millions are Unemployed. Why Can’t Companies Find Workers?”The top reasons are fear of COVID, lack of child care and enhanced unemployment benefits. I know of numerous companies looking to hire and they cannot find people. I don’t understand how these statistics will not lead to increased wages to attract talent. These charts are pretty compelling.
From time to time, I put in an excerpt from Jim Reid (DB Economist). A recent note of his was entitled, “Help! We can’t find help.”
“Small Business job openings hard to fill” index is at record highs. This is a level much higher than normally seen at the end of a cycle let alone at the start. We get the latest print next week so we’ll see if anything has changed. Logistics around hiring in a pandemic are part of it but the reality is that unemployment ex-furlough remains quite low in the US. The same survey also said that the quality of labor is the biggest issue.
What is the Rosen Report take on jobs? I fear the Morphine Drip of free money is a big driver keeping people from accepting jobs. Too many of my contacts cannot hire despite elevated unemployment rates and rising wages. If you pay people to not work, it has a funny way of making people not want to jump into the work force. My personal view is we are overstimulating the economy and creating perverse incentives with the constant stimulus. I agree the government needed to take aggressive action when the world markets were seizing last spring. That is no longer the case and do not feel this round was necessary. Stocks at all-time highs, housing prices through the roof, bank balance sheets strong and the unemployed have no inventive to take jobs.
Prices of used machinery at auction have plummeted in many cases as employers cannot find people to work the equipment. I spoke about the Cobra Effect in my last piece, one of my personal favorites. Theses government stimulus programs are creating unintended consequences in my opinion. I have a few charts above which are telling. The last one shows that small businesses are having the hardest time (since 1973) filling job openings. Remember, pre pandemic, unemployment was 3.5% and it is now 6.1%. Why is it harder today to find labor than when unemployment was lower? Maybe free money has something to do with it. The unemployed are getting an extra $300 a week in federal benefits through Labor Day. That’s on top of state unemployment benefits averaging about $320 per week. It all adds up to an average of $638 per week in combined federal and state unemployment payments. In 2019, that combined amount averaged out to $348 per week.
Video of the Day
A loyal reader shared this video with me in Phoenix. It shows homeless camps in downtown Phoenix. These are homeless Americans living in tents, many of them vets. The commentator drives to a hotel which was rented by the Federal Government to house illegal immigrants. They have beds, three meals a day, access to swimming pool…. How is it that we are treating people who are not citizens and broke the law better than Americans, many of which served our country? I had written that in San Diego, California, teachers were working with migrant children in person, but CA residents had to go to school remotely. These examples are quite frustrating to me.
Hit by a Fish
A couple years ago, I took my son, Jack, to Bimini on my boat, something we would do a twice a year. It is about 58 miles and we can get there in two hours or less if the seas are calm. I bring a young man, Dustin, who is a great fisherman and boater to help fish and in case of an emergency as during the crossing we are basically 30 miles from either shore. Dustin is a very accomplished diver and takes Jack spearfishing while I stand on the boat to look for toothy predators.
Although Jack has largely given up on fishing for golf, he asks about going back to Bimini given we catch so many fish and have a blast. Unfortunately, the pandemic has made it harder to go over there due to travel restrictions.
Back to the story. We went over to fish and generally catch a lot of wahoo in season (November-March). We also can catch some nice snapper and grouper. We caught a ton of wahoo which is always exciting. They swim 60 mph and when they hit your line, it is like a train wreck. Line screams out of your reel and it requires a great deal of strength to bring them into the boat. Below are wahoo and a huge amount of yellow eye and queen snapper.
We decided to try to night fish for mutton snapper despite fishing all day long. We were anchored and fishing with the lights on the inside and outside of my boat. Apparently, flying fish are attracted to the lights and they kept flying into the boat. We ducked trying to not get hit. Well, my bob and weave only lasted so long and I got clocked by a big flying fish that fell to the floor. These flying fish are a beautiful almost incandescent blue. I angrily picked up the fish, threw it on a hook and dropped it to the bottom. In about a nanosecond, my fishing rod bent sharply and I caught a beautiful mutton snapper. Note to self, flying fish make good bait… if you can catch them.
In an interesting turn of events, these pictures were taken just over two years ago. Note that I am a solid foot taller than my son. Well, that is no longer the case. Jack is now officially over one inch taller than I am, due to a combination of an insane growth spurt and the old man getting shorter.
Shockingly, the 1st and 2nd pictures are the SAME fish. One was taken the second I caught it late and night and other the next day with some color enhancement; being on ice overnight changes the color of the fish. I made fresh snapper ceviche and sauteed it with olive oil, lemon and garlic. The bottom picture is a wahoo. Be careful! They have sharp teeth. Yes, that was my lucky fishing hat which was lost at sea and my luck has never been the same.
Quick Bites
U.S. stocks jumped to record levels on Friday even after a disappointing April jobs report as the weak number made investors believe easy monetary policies that powered the market’s historic rebound will stay in place for longer. Some investors also dismissed the report as a one-time blip that doesn’t signal any slowdown in the economic recovery. The S&P climbed 0.7% to 4,232, hitting a record high. The Dow rose 229 points, or 0.7%, to 34,777 to reach another closing high. The tech-heavy Nasdaq popped 0.9% to 13,752. For the week, the Dow rallied 2.7% to break a two-week losing streak. The S&P gained 1.2%, while the Nasdaq shed 1.5% this week. The 10-year Treasury is at 1.58% and oil is just under $65/barrel. interestingly, on the jobs report, the 10-year yield fell to 1.47%, but backed up to close at 1.58%.
Crypto continues to become more mainstream. Major successful investors have bought, Tesla bought $1.5bn of Bitcoin, more companies are accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment, major dealers have supported crypto investments and now Goldman Sachs unveiled a new crypto trading team according to this CNBC report. The bank informed its markets personnel that a newly created cryptocurrency desk had successfully traded two kinds of bitcoin-linked derivatives. The crypto team exists within the firm’s global currencies and emerging markets trading division. Goldman said it is also seeking to broaden its market presence by “selectively on-boarding” crypto trading institutions to expand offerings. Bitcoin is at $57.5k, while Ehtereum is on a tear trading at $3.8k and is up 68% in a few weeks.
Whereas bitcoin has a capped supply of 21 million coins, there is currently no limit to the number of dogecoins that can be created. As of May 7, dogecoin is up nearly 25,000% in the last six months, outpacing percentage gains in bitcoin and ether. However, post SNL with Musk, Dogecoin dropped sharply. It was 72c and fell to 42c given a “Weekend Update” skit about Dogecoin. The crypto was down almost 40% by mid day Sunday, but back up to 54c by 2pm.
According to the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance (CCAF), Bitcoin currently consumes around 110 Terawatt Hours per year — 0.55% of global electricity production, or roughly equivalent to the annual energy draw of small countries like Malaysia or Sweden.
The US HY market remains hot. The JPM HY index is now yielding 4.5% with BBs a 3.4% and CCC 6.99%. Given rule differences, the Barclay’s index is more indicative of the markets and is trading at 3.97%. Below is the Barclays HY chart outlining yields by rating and all time tights. All the components are near the all time tights. In speaking with credit traders, given the lack of interesting yield opportunities, the dregs are moving up in price including illiquid instruments and post reorg equities.
Business travel continues to lag the leisure recovery, but Hilton CEO Christopher Nassetta sees reasons for optimism. While overall it’s back to about 50% pre-Covid levels, Nassetta told CNBC it’s more like 75% in some markets. I was shocked by these numbers. This is a positive sign. I don’t know many people travelling at 50% of pre-pandemic levels.
A rising appetite for risk across a variety of asset markets is stretching valuations and creating vulnerabilities in the U.S. financial system, the Federal Reserve said in its semi-annual financial stability report. “Vulnerabilities associated with elevated risk appetite are rising,” Fed Governor Lael Brainard, the head of the Board’s financial stability committee, said in a statement accompanying the report released Thursday. “The combination of stretched valuations with very high levels of corporate indebtedness bear watching because of the potential to amplify the effects of a re-pricing event.” In this environment, prices may be vulnerable to “significant declines” should risk appetite fall, the Fed report noted.
This is a very interesting Bloomberg article surrounding the issues with chip capacity. I have been writing extensively about inflation and price increases and chips have been in limited supply. I am hardly a tech person, and found this piece and picture interesting. I did not comprehend how challenging chip making was. Lots of great pictures in the link. Shortages of semiconductors are battering automakers and tech giants, raising alarm bells from Washington to Brussels to Beijing. The crunch has raised a fundamental question for policymakers, customers and investors: Why can’t we just make more chips? There is both a simple answer and a complicated one. The simple version is that making chips is incredibly difficult—and getting tougher. “It’s not rocket science—it’s much more difficult,” goes one of the industry’s inside jokes. The more complicated answer is that it takes years to build semiconductor fabrication facilities and billions of dollars—and even then the economics are so brutal that you can lose out if your manufacturing expertise is a fraction behind the competition. Former Intel Corp. boss Craig Barrett called his company’s microprocessors the most complicated devices ever made by man.
A cyberattack forced the shutdown of one of the largest pipelines in the United States, in what appeared to be a significant attempt to disrupt vulnerable energy infrastructure. The pipeline carries refined gasoline and jet fuel up the East Coast from Texas to New York. The operator of the system, Colonial Pipeline, said in a statement late Friday that it had shut down its 5,500 miles of pipeline, which it says carries 45 percent of the East Coast’s fuel supplies, in an effort to contain the attack on its computer networks. This Bloomberg article suggests the disruption may lead to price shocks just as peak driving season starts.
I have written extensively about my inflation fears over the past couple months. This CNN article is entitled, ‘Prices are rising everywhere you look.” I found at least a half dozen similar articles this weekend. Some are tied to commodities, which are getting snapped up as the global economy emerges from its long slumber. Lumber prices are at an all-time high thanks to an epic home-building boom. Copper and steel prices have also reached records. Agricultural products aren't exempt. The price of corn is at its highest level since 2012. Same goes for soybean prices. Even sales of block cheese futures have been soaring in anticipation of grilling season. Then there's consumer products. Diaper prices have gone up in the past year, and two major producers — Kimberly-Clark (KMB) and Procter & Gamble (PG) — have warned customers that fresh hikes are coming. Shortages of computer chips, meanwhile, are helping to push up car prices, and could soon do the same for electronics and household appliances.
Bank of America commodity strategist Michael Widmer highlighted copper inventories measured in tons are now at levels seen 15 years ago. Given the fundamental environment and the depleted inventories, Widmer said copper may spike to $13,000/t in the coming years after recently notching $10,000 for the first time in a decade. David Neuhauser, founder and managing director of U.S. hedge fund Livermore Partners, told CNBC that copper is “the new oil.” After bottoming out around $460 last year, US benchmark hot-rolled coil steel prices are now sitting at around $1,500 a ton, a record high that is nearly triple the 20-year average.
The average prices in March of 2021 for pork chops and chicken breasts are both up more than 10% compared to March of 2020. Eggs and cheddar cheese are both up 6%. Looking at all consumer goods as a whole, the latest inflation data in the Consumer Price Index from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the largest month-to-month increase in almost nine years. The chart below shows the average price increases for March 2021 over 2020 levels. This WSJ article title is “Chicken Shortage Sends Prices Soaring and Restaurants Can’t Keep up.”
Interesting WSJ article on rising food delivery costs with DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber eats. Some amazing interactive charts which I cannot share. It shows how fees and commissions have changed over the past few years as you scroll down the large chart. There are various fees such as “regulatory response fee,” and other related to driver benefits in some states.
Several states are considering legislation to ban controversial Critical Race Theory (CRT) education in public schools. Lawmakers are debating and voting on legislation aimed at CRT in states including Tennessee, Texas, Georgia, Arkansas, South Dakota, and Arizona.
Three innocent bystanders — including a 4-year-old girl who was toy shopping with her family — were shot Saturday in Times Square when a man arguing with three other people wildly fired into the late afternoon crowd, according to police and sources. The bullets flew at 4:55 p.m. outside of 1515 Broadway, along West 44th Street, when the dispute turned the Crossroads of the World into a shooting gallery and shocked even hardened members of New York’s Finest. The suspect, Frarrakhan Muhammad was aiming for his brother according to reports. I hope when they catch this guy, there will be a large bail. This will not be the suspect’s first brush with the law according to reports.
China has been preparing for war with biological weapons according to this article. According to the piece, the US State Department has documents suggesting China has been developing biological weapons for 6 years. In my writings, I have been highly critical of the Chinese government. The handling of the pandemic, the lies about it, not allowing access, buying up all the PPE and screwing the rest of the world, the cover up, erasing doctors who warned about the virus in its early stages, the treatment of citizens, stealing of intellectual property, pollution, work conditions and the list goes on. The pandemic could have gone a very different way and there have been ZERO consequences for the Chinese leadership. I do not know the right answer, but to me, it cannot be the status quo.
A biotech research analyst who is very savvy and has helped me in some of my more technical writings sent me this link, “Origin of Covid-Following the Clues.” It is a serious paper, but worth a glance. Interestingly, it pokes holes in some of the papers suggesting the “wet market” theory. There are serious conflicts of interest on two of the main papers who wrote against the theory about escaping from a lab. I do not have proof, but my personal belief is the lab either accidentally or deliberately released the virus. I do not believe in the “wet market” theory after all that I have read. Given the countless bad acts out of the government of China, nothing would surprise me at this point.
As technology seems to consume more and more of a child’s life these days, getting them out into the fresh air can be a priority for many parents. Now, a recent study finds growing up around nature may be even more important to a youngster’s development. Researchers in Denmark say children who grow up with plenty of green spaces around are less likely to have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). I can speak from experience here and feel that being outside and not being in a major city has helped our kids a great deal. There were months of the year where due to cold weather, it was hard to be outside and play. Now, the kids are golfing, tennis, beach, swimming, biking… all year round and outside and so much happier. Unfortunately, the screen time issue remains a battle, but am convinced given they are outside so much, they are using screens less than many other kids trapped inside for months at a time.
People are forcing down chunks of rotten, raw meat in a bid to get high in the latest bizarre social media trend. People who have tried the raw, rotten meat have also experienced "explosive incontinence." Those taking part in the trend have dubbed it as "high meat" and use meat that has been left to rot over a period of weeks, months and in some cases years. The participants don't cook the meat, and instead eat the grey flesh raw. The meat used is often covered in slime and little patches of grey mold - with some of the meat even having turned grey or brown as it decomposes. The stupidity of people never cease to amaze me. People who deliberately eat moldy meat to get high deserve whatever happens to them. Social Darwinism strikes again.
A bottle of Bordeaux wine that was aged for 14 months on the International Space Station (ISS) is up for sale -- and it could fetch $1 million. The Château Pétrus 2000 was part of an experiment carried out by start-up Space Cargo Unlimited to see how conditions in space affect wine. Auction house Christie's said in a statement that it is offering the bottle for immediate sale, rather than at auction, and the proceeds will be used to fund future space missions. I love wine. I am not the biggest fan of Petrus and feel it is overpriced at $4,500/bottle. Probably some crytpo or Reddit person will buy it for $1mm. Young with money to burn.
Virus/Vaccine
Cases and hospitalizations continue to improve despite the significant slowdown in the vaccine roll out. Cases were down 15.6% to 42k for the 7 day average. Hospitalizations were down 6.1% and now total 39.7k. Deaths have been a bit sticker and were only down 2.3 to 675 for the 7 day average. The Johns Hopkins Positivity Rate is down to 3.4%, the lowest since the pandemic began. It was 13.9% in February.
More than 1.28 billion doses have been administered across 174 countries, according to data collected by Bloomberg. The latest rate was roughly 19.7 million doses a day. In the U.S., 257 million doses have been given so far. In the last week, an average of 1.98 million doses per day were administered. The chart below is concerning as the doses per day is down 41% since April 13th. I have spoken with many people who just refuse to get vaccinated and the lines down here no longer exist to get a shot. 80% of those who have not been vaccinated say that there is nothing that will change their minds. Herd immunity will be challenging if we cannot step up the vaccination rates and get more people fully vaccinated.
I was a bit shocked to see the massive uptick in cases in India in graphic form. I had written about it, but seeing it in graph form is far more powerful. I do not have test details and presume increased testing can account for some of the jump. In Goa, India, 50% of people are testing positive. The healthcare system is at its breaking point. On Saturday, more than 4,000 people died in India for the 1st time.
As experts grow concerned about a possible Covid-19 surge in the winter, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may try seasonal vaccine boosters. "We are doing the studies on boosters to see if we will need them, and that is six months, one year, two years -- we don't really know," Walensky said. "But we want to be prepared for them should we need them."
The head of the CDC said Friday that the agency will look “carefully” at a new report that claims the true number of COVID-19 deaths in the US is more than 36 percent higher than the official total. The analysis released Thursday by the University of Washington School of Medicine’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation gave the number of coronavirus deaths in the United States since March 2020 as 905,289 against an official total of 574,043.“We’ve known that the toll of this pandemic is not necessarily just those who’ve passed from COVID-19 specifically, but excess deaths relating to access to care, not presenting to care, and many other things,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told reporters Friday. “
This article suggests studies find that bald men can spend twice as long in the hospital with COVID-19 than those who still have a full head of hair. Bald men also have higher admittance to ICU.
Real Estate
My General Comments
In the past few weeks, I wrote of a house on North Bay Road in Miami. It was listed for $16mm 6 months ago and someone bid $17mm. The owners declined and took it off the market. They put it back on the market for $25mm and sold it in days at the full asking price. They paid $13mm for it two years ago. In another Miami story, there are 4 contiguous lots on Sunset Island facing west (bayfront). They total two acres+. Someone offered $125mm for the land. This equates to approximately $50mm/acre. The owner did not accept the offer. For perspective, I saw a 2 acre prime parcel with an old house offered at 29.5mm on the ocean in Southampton. Ascribing zero to that house, it is under $15mm/acre for oceanfront. In another crazy story, someone just paid $9.8mm for a 10,000 ft lot on the Venetian Islands. It sold for $5.4mm less than 60 days prior. Remember, an acre is 43,560 ft, so 10,000 ft is less than 1/4 acre. My friend who bought a place for $13mm on North Bay Road about 18 months ago could likely now sell the house for between $40-45mm. In Palm Beach, Allan Jones flipped a home in 4 months. He paid $26.1mm and sold it for $41.7mm for a 60% profit. In my life, I have never seen more R/E deals re-trade within days or weeks at 50-100% price appreciation. It is now common. A broker called me and said, “Eric, I don’t get it. Why is everyone bidding on houses like they need to move today? There is such a sense of urgency out there from the buyers.” Couple that with almost zero inventory and you have bidding wars and prices doubling in weeks/month for sought after locations.
In my neighborhood in Boca another $15mm home sold for about 2,000/ft. Not a new house. On water, but a canal, not intracoastal. No inventory. What is interesting to me, is it is at all price levels from $500k to $50mm+. The overpriced house I mentioned last week was listed for $25mm. I believe it is worth $17 or 18mm. I am told there have been showings, but I do not believe any offers. If this house on a canal sells for $20mm, I will be shocked. Houses in West Boca (10 miles from beach) are up 75% in a year in some cases. People bought for $1.5mm and can sell before taking delivery at $2.5mm+ in these gated communities. There are more homes being sold in gated communities in Central Boca for $5mm+ today. When I moved here 4 years ago, that kind of level to be that far from the ocean was almost unheard of.
The other day, I looked at a house on the water and loved the view and the wide intracoastal view in a no wake zone, but felt the house needed some work due to finishes and the layout. It had been on the market a while, largely because it was overpriced and it was by FAR the best house on the block. I looked at it 3x and told the broker, “When no one shows up near your price, call me and I will make an offer.” Let’s just say that was an ineffective strategy. On Wednesday, two buyers offered a little below ask. Oh well, I would have NEVER paid that price and been the most expensive house on the block by 40-50%. That was before I put money in to make it right. Although I envisioned a great time with a boat, paddle boards and an electric surfboard behind the house, I could not get comfortable with the price disparity on the street.
The There are lots of South Florida haters. I get it. The real money is relocating down here. Sorry, DeBlasio, Cuomo, AOC, anyone who can do it should relocate for 6.5 months (November 1 to May 15th) down here. Better taxes, business friendly, weather, quality of life. With taxes and estate taxes increasing in NY and the city being run so poorly, why stay unless you must? The crime rate in NYC continues in the wrong direction and more innocent victims are being injured or killed. In April 2021, the NYC crime index rose 30% compared with 2020. Grand Larceny+66%, felony assault +35%, Robbery +29%, shooting +166%. Only burglary was down 26%.
I did speak with a NYC broker who told me things are heating up. More bidding wars and the Hamptons remain hot. He rented a 5,500 square foot house for a client for $350k in Southampton for the summer. Pretty good location.
I spoke with a friend from Westport. His neighbor put the house up for sale. 37 showings and 11 offers basically immediately! Housing market is hot everywhere.
Barry Sternlicht
I have a GREAT DEAL OF RESPECT for Barry Sternlicht (Miami resident). There is a Real Deal article entitled, “Tsunami of Change” in blue states a “Dangerous Game,” about Barry’s views. He talks about NY rent laws placing so many restrictions on building owners that a friend of his, a landlord worth billions, refers to himself as a “janitor.” “You can see the future if it doesn’t change,” Sternlicht said. “Go to Mumbai,” where landlords have no incentives to fix up their buildings and many are falling apart. My last piece was called the “Cobra Effect.” Here is another perfect example of unintended consequences for a moronic government policy. These idiot politicians are making it worse for the people they believe they are helping. I am hearing there is actually going to be an attempt to make all rents effectively stabilized, even free market apartments. Brilliant idea. If I owned a building in NYC (I do not), what would my incentive be to fix an apartment if I can’t ever raise rents? I truly hope this idea does not get more legs. Some R/E people I spoke with believe it is a very possible 2022 event. Wait, why are the wealthy leaving NYC in droves? I just heard of a story where a man bought a home and rented it out. The renters stopped paying rent. The owner had to pay his mortgage and taxes and was unable to do so given NY would not allow him to get out the squatters. He lost his home, spent a ridiculous amount on legal fees and has done nothing wrong. The Cobra Effect strikes again. Remember, for Real Deal, you can get the app for free, but if you look at the articles on the computer, it costs money.
Greenwich, CT April Sales-Mark Pruner
88 sales this April which is a new record. The 20 year average is 49 sales and the previous record for sales in April was 67 back in April 1999. So this month is 80% above average and 31% above our previous record.
East Bay R/E Market
The market is so hot, houses are selling for more than $1mm over ask. These are for $2mm homes! When a house in Berkeley sold for more than $1 million over its list price in late March 2021, it was covered in media outlets across the Bay Area. While the Berkeley sale was particularly sensational — it sold for double its list price and received 29 offers — these individual stories are becoming more common in today’s real estate market, according to recent data and anecdotes from real estate professionals. And that's especially true in the East Bay. “People are not surprised when a home goes $1 million over,” said Josh Dickinson, the founder of real estate agency Zip Code East Bay. “When my clients see a house for $1.9 million they’re almost conditioned to think it'll go over $3 million in Piedmont or North Berkeley.”