Last couple of days, I’ve given presentations and sat on a panel discussion talking about the class action lawsuits against NAR over the issue of commissions. I thought most people knew about these all-important cases that are making their way through the federal courts. Apparently, only about half of the REALTORS had even heard about … Read more
It appears that Opendoor has preemptively caved in to the Federal Trade Commission, agreeing to a consent order. As is usually the case, the Complaint was filed along with the Consent Order agreement earlier today. I initially thought, “Oh wow, this is bad for Opendoor.” Then I read the Complaint and the Consent Order, and … Read more
From Prof. Anthony Sanders over at Confounded Interest, one of the best housing economics blogs out there, we get this story: Miami, Tampa, Dallas and Phoenix (red states) are growing at over 30% YoY. Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Minneapolis, New York, Portland and Washington DC (blue states) are all growing at over 10% YoY. Cleveland … Read more
Tyler Okland, Stanford-educated surgeon and Opendoor bull, who I interviewed in a Notorious POD a few weeks ago, has published an eye-opening article on Datadoor.io, the company he founded to track Opendoor’s iBuying operations. You should read the whole thing, because it’s excellent and filled with real data. Since I too am a big Opendoor … Read more
I had originally planned on the Four Horsemen series to be five parts: the four Horsemen, plus a wrap-up laying out the consequences for the real estate industry. But as I mentioned in part 5, a couple of you have asked for a slightly medium-to-longer term post-apocalypse outlook on the industry. Once the dust settles, … Read more
At last, we come to the end of this dismal series. While it has been dismal, some of your emails and private messages have been very kind and encouraging. Dark these thoughts may be, but some of you share them and there is a comfort in knowing we’re not alone. (Update: but see below in … Read more
And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, … Read more
In Fortune, we get this story about 40 regional housing markets that are super overvalued where home prices might fall over the next year: Among those “overvalued” housing markets, which ones are actually likely to see home prices fall? In order, Zandi points to these “juiced-up” regional housing markets: Boise; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Las Vegas; … Read more
I haven’t written in a while. Part of it is being extremely busy with work, which I hope to be able to tell you all about soon, but a big part of the reason is dread. I keep looking for white pill stories, visions of a bright future, or at least some kind of a … Read more