The Bay Area’s once-scorching pandemic housing market (click here) continued to cool in June, with home prices plunging to the largest monthly drop for this time of the year in at least three decades.
In June, the median price of existing single-family houses in the nine-county region declined 7% from the previous month — from just over $1.5 million to $1.4 million, according to data for the California Association of Realtors. That’s the steepest May-to-June dip ever recorded in the association’s regional home sales data, which dates back to 1990.
What’s behind the record price drop? Real estate experts point to rising interest rates squeezing buyers, more homes staying longer on the market and an increasingly uncertain economy — all signaling the Bay Area housing market may have peaked after prices hit all-time highs earlier this year.
“From this point on we probably won’t see another record price, at least for this year, for either the Bay Area or for the state,” said Oscar Wei, deputy chief economist with the California Association of Realtors....
As rents, home prices, (click here) and inflation surge in today’s highly competitive real estate market, the FBI Boston Division is warning the public about the risk of rental scams, and the need to be cautious when posting and responding to rental properties and real-estate online.
“We have seen a significant increase in the amount of money being lost by people who are desperate for a good deal. Scammers are cashing in on renters who need to act quickly for fear of missing out, and it’s costing consumers thousands of dollars, and in some cases, leaving them stranded,” said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division. “We are asking everyone to exercise caution, especially over the next few months, as folks look to book last minute summer getaways.”
Russia is doing the Free World a favor by ending dependency on Russian anything. This Putin. Every entity in Russia is under Putin's control. He is trying to get the Free World to collapse and end aid to Ukraine.
25 July 2022Russian gas giant Gazprom (click here) said Monday it was cutting daily gas deliveries via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to 33 million cubic metres starting Wednesday.
That would correspond to 20% of the pipeline's capacity. The current flow of gas into Germany is only at 40%.
The company said it was halting the operation of another turbine due to the "technical condition of the engine".
The full capacity of Nord Stream 1 is over 160 cubic meters of gas exported daily. Stopping the turbine will result in reduced capacity of 33 million cubic meters. Gazprom said the production capacity is to be reduced at Russia's Portovaya compressor station.
"We are monitoring the situation very closely in close exchange with the Federal Network Agency and the gas crisis team,'' the German Economics Ministry said.
"According to our information, there is no technical reason for a reduction in deliveries,'' it added.
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck told Germany's dpa news agency Monday that "Russia is breaking contracts and blaming others," adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin is playing a "duplicitous game." ...
