Housing Bubble 2: Return of the Ugly

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/25388078

Rule

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-08-05/country-garden-sales-drop-72-as-china-s-housing-woes-persist

Country Garden Holdings Co.’s sales slump dragged on last month, adding to the Chinese developer’s woes as it tries to avoid liquidation.

Contracted sales for July dropped 72% from a year earlier to 3.41 billion yuan ($478 million), following a 73% slide in June, corporate filings show. The tally was 21% lower from the previous month.

The distressed real estate giant is counting on a turnaround in sales to increase its survival chances, as it fights a wind-up petition in a Hong Kong court following its 2023 default. Last week, it was given more time to work on an offshore debt restructuring plan when the case was adjourned to January.

“Buyer concerns around Country Garden’s liquidity means they are likely to avoid its projects until fully completed,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Kristy Hung wrote in a note on Aug. 1.

Country Garden’s month-on-month decline in home sales is smaller than the 36% slide at the 100 biggest real estate companies tracked by China Real Estate Information Corp.

A recent rescue package has failed to revive China’s housing market, which remains a major drag on economic growth. New-home prices dropped at close to the fastest pace in almost a decade in June, giving people less reason to invest in property.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/20335212

North Dakota voters will decide whether to abolish property taxes

North Dakota voters will decide this fall whether to eliminate property taxes in what would be a first for a state and a major change that officials initially estimate would require more than $1 billion every year in replacement revenue.

Secretary of State Michael Howe’s office said Friday that backers submitted more than enough signatures to qualify the constitutional initiative for the November general election. Voters rejected a similar measure in 2012.

Property taxes are the base funding for numerous local government services, including sewers, water, roads, jails, deputies, school building construction and teacher salaries — “pretty much the most basic of government,” said North Dakota Association of Counties Executive Director Aaron Birst.

Archive link https://archive.fo/Pw9zX

https://www.fool.com/retirement/2024/05/27/heres-how-many-millionaires-there-are-in-america/

The Federal Reserve surveys American households every three years to catalog everything related to their finances and various demographic details. The most recent data come from the end of 2022, and the results may be surprising.

• Even after adjusting for inflation, the percentage of households with a net worth of at least seven figures (in 2022 dollars) zoomed higher from 2019 to 2022 after remaining relatively stable for the previous 18 years.

• By far the two biggest sources of wealth for most millionaires, though, are investments, particularly in retirement accounts, and their primary residence.

• The average millionaire has about $810,000 saved across retirement accounts.

• If you look exclusively at millionaires worth between $1 million and $3 million, retirement savings average about $450,000.

• The average millionaire also has $743,000 in home equity.

• Those with net worths between $1 million and $3 million have about $503,000 of equity in their homes.

• Only about 17% of millionaires have any small business equity.

• Only 11% of households with a net worth between $1 million and $3 million have any business equity

• The median age of a millionaire household in America is 62.

• The median income for millionaire households is $215,000.

• For households with a net worth between $1 million and $3 million, the median income was $164,000.

• The biggest key to unlocking millionaire status appears to be consistently saving and investing for a long time.

• The average millionaire has a large balance in their retirement and brokerage accounts.