Commercial real estate values plummet again yet banks hide losses. A $3.5 trillion financial disaster in the making. We are now proud owners of an AMC theater and Chick-fil-A.
The latest data on existing home sales should tell you exactly where we are in this so called recovery. Average Americans are unable to purchase big ticket items without massive government subsidies. It is also the case that all the too big to fail banks are standing only because of the generous support of taxpayer money. Without large tax credits and the Federal Reserve buying down mortgage rates the housing market is extremely weak. Yet very few of the housing “analysts” actually bother to ask why they are weak in the first place. The employment market is in disarray and wages have fallen for everyone outside of the top 1 percent of income earners. The bailout fatigue is running out of steam but banks are using clandestine methods to offload trillions of dollars of commercial real estate to taxpayers. The next giant bailout is already happening but you probably haven’t heard about it.
For the latest month of data prices fell an additional 4 percent. Now this is coming at a seasonal time when real estate values usually see price increases. But people are pulling back and spending less money on discretionary items. This is happening for a couple of reasons including the fact that wages have been stagnant for over a decade and the underemployment rate is still near peak levels. Commercial real estate in places like Las Vegas has crashed because who is out buying million dollar condos in this market? Very few and that is why you are seeing many places having vacancy rates of 50, 60, or even 70 percent. More...
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