The Explosive Surge of Mortgages for “Second Homes”: Housing Bubble Math by Wolf Richter • Apr 1, 2021 • 257 Comments No housing market can produce enough homes when homes are massively used as vacant investment speculations. This creates an artificial shortage.
US Dollar’s Status as Dominant “Global Reserve Currency” Drops to 25-Year Low by Wolf Richter • Mar 31, 2021 • 183 Comments Central banks getting nervous about the Fed’s drunken Money Printing and the US Government’s gigantic debt? But still leery of the Chinese renminbi.
The Most Splendid Housing Bubbles in America: “House-Price Inflation” in all its Glory. March Update by Wolf Richter • Mar 30, 2021 • 270 Comments Dollar’s Purchasing Power Swoons, but CPI ignores house price inflation.
In Housing Market Gone Nuts, Condo Prices Sag in San Francisco Bay Area, Hover in 3-Year Range in New York, Rise at Half Speed in Los Angeles by Wolf Richter • Mar 30, 2021 • 83 Comments But low-tier prices of single-family houses in the vast New York City metro explode by 15%, powered by fleeing Manhattanites?
Archegos Implosion is a Sign of Massive Stock Market Leverage that Stays Hidden until it Blows Up and Hits the Banks by Wolf Richter • Mar 29, 2021 • 202 Comments Banks, as prime brokers and counterparties to the hedge fund, are eating multi-billion-dollar losses as they try to get out of these secretive stock derivative positions.
What’s Behind the Stunning Spike in Used Vehicle Auction Prices? That Consumers Aren’t on Buyers Strike Shows Something Big about Inflation Has Changed by Wolf Richter • Mar 27, 2021 • 206 Comments Need a used pickup truck? Forget it, or pay out of your nose for it. But even spurned mid-sized cars are seeing stunning price increases.
Waiting for the $1,400-Stimmie-Powered WTF Spike in March by Wolf Richter • Mar 26, 2021 • 221 Comments Free money runs out, spending drops: that’s mantra now.
As “Rent Spreads” Shrink, Exodus Ends? Rents in San Francisco & Silicon Valley at Multiyear Lows, but Soar in Sacramento, Fresno, Lake Tahoe Area by Wolf Richter • Mar 26, 2021 • 150 Comments At what point does the shrinking difference no longer justify the move? But wait… the Exodus for the Sierra Nevada isn’t driven by savings.
Blocked Suez Canal Adding to Container Shortages, Supply Chain Snarls, Component Shortages for Manufacturers by Wolf Richter • Mar 25, 2021 • 182 Comments Exactly at the worst possible time. Ripple effects to be felt for months.
FHA Mortgage Delinquencies Hit 17.5%. In 30 Metros, over 20%: On the Other Side of a Red-Hot Housing Market by Wolf Richter • Mar 24, 2021 • 226 Comments Everything is on ice. But when forbearance ends, forced sellers or lenders will put millions of these homes on the market.
