PPCC: Pisitófilos Creditófagos. Primavera 2024

[Derby]

https://www.commondreams.org/news/corporate-landlords

Corporate Landlords' Profits Soar as Tenants Drown in Rent Hikes and Fees

"Through-the-roof rent hikes based on greed—not need—have kept many Americans from getting ahead," said one advocate at Accountable.US.

With monthly inflation down to its lowest point in more than two years and heading toward the Federal Reserve's target, the Biden administration on Wednesday celebrated "welcome progress."

But an analysis from Accountable. US showed how more than 100 million people who rent their homes in the U.S. are not seeing the benefits of what one Biden spokesperson called "the great American comeback" in their housing costs, particularly millions of people whose homes are owned by corporate landlords.

The government watchdog found that the six largest corporate landlord companies brought in close to a combined $300 million in increased profits in the first quarter of 2024, with the profits mostly stemming from rent hikes.

Overall in the U.S., rent prices have skyrocketed by 31.4% since 2019 while wages have increased by just 23%, meaning tenants need to earn nearly $80,000 per year to keep from being rent-burdened and spending 30% or more of their income on rent.

The six companies included in the Accountable. US analysis on Wednesday have more than rent increases in common: They have all faced lawsuits regarding their use of the property management software company RealPage, which is alleged to have used an algorithm to fix rent prices, impacting about 16 million rental units in the United States.

The largest net income increase Accountable. US found among the six corporate landlords was that of Camden Property Trust, which increased its net income by 97% in the first quarter of this year to $85.8 million. The company spent $50 million on stock buybacks that it said were made possible by its "weighted average monthly rental rate," which went up nearly 2% year over year.

"Big corporate landlords have kept right on raising rent on everyday families regardless of how high their profits have grown."

Essex Property Trust increased its net income by 76% year over year to more than $285 million, also raising rents by 2.1%, while Equity Residential's income jumped 39% to $305 million as it increased its rental rates by 3.4%, with tenants paying an average of $3,077.

AvalonBay Communities saw its net income increase 18% to $173.6 million, apparently owing both to its "rental and other income" revenue going up by 5.6% and its "management, development, and other fees" for tenants soaring by 68.4% to nearly $1.8 million.

"Big corporate landlords have kept right on raising rent on everyday families regardless of how high their profits have grown. Adding insult to injury, many landlords rewarded a small group of wealthy investors with new handouts at the expense of struggling tenants," said Liz Zelnick, director of the economic security and corporate power program at Accountable.US.

The group's analysis was released weeks after the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted a raid on an Atlanta-based property management firm in the Department of Justice's antitrust investigation into RealPage regarding "allegations of a nationwide conspiracy to artificially inflate apartment rents."

As Competition Policy International (CPI) reported earlier this month, "RealPage's system, which provides rental price recommendations based on real-time data from landlords, is alleged to be a key tool in manipulating the rental market. The firm's influence covers 70% of multifamily apartment buildings."

"The scheme purportedly operated by encouraging landlords to adopt RealPage's pricing recommendations, a practice they follow 80-90% of the time," reported CPI. "This coordinated approach reduces the availability of rental units, driving up prices. One of the architects of RealPage's system reportedly stated that the aim is to prevent landlords from undervaluing their properties, ensuring consistently higher rents across the board."

Zelnick said it was "unsurprising that some of the same companies that needlessly inflated housing costs have worked closely with a software company accused of helping landlords coordinate a massive price fixing scheme. Through-the-roof rent hikes based on greed—not need—have kept many Americans from getting ahead, which is why Congress must do more to support the Biden administration's affordable housing actions."

President Joe Biden has urged Congress to pass legislation to stop price gouging by landlords and to build millions of affordable rental units.

[Derby]

https://wolfstreet.com/2024/06/12/beneath-the-skin-of-cpi-inflation-a-stunning-outlier-services-cpi-drove-down-everything-else/

Beneath the Skin of CPI Inflation: A Stunning Outlier Services CPI Drove Down Everything Else

Services are big, and that one-month outlier was massive, and it drove down Core CPI and overall CPI.

(...)The housing components of core services CPI.

Rent of Primary Residence CPI rose by 4.8% annualized in May from April, an acceleration from the prior month (blue).

The three-month reading rose by 4.7%, the smallest increase since October 2021.

The Rent CPI accounts for 7.6% of overall CPI. It is based on rents that tenants actually paid, not on asking rents of advertised units for rent. The survey follows the same large group of rental houses and apartments over time and tracks the rents that the current tenants actually paid in these units.



The Owners’ Equivalent of Rent CPI rose by 5.3% annualized in May from April, an acceleration from the prior month. It remains in the range of which August 2023 had been the low point (+5.1%).

The three-month OER CPI also rose by 5.3% annualized, roughly the same as in the prior month.

The OER index accounts for 26.6% of overall CPI. It is designed to estimate inflation of “shelter” as a service for homeowners – as a stand-in for the services that homeowners pay for, such as interest, homeowner’s insurance, HOA fees, maintenance, and property taxes. As an approximation, it is based on what a large group of homeowners estimates their home would rent for, the assumption being that a homeowner would want to recoup cost increases by raising the rent.



“Asking rents…” The Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI) and other private-sector rent indices track “asking rents,” which are advertised rents of vacant units on the market. Because rentals don’t turn over that much, the ZORI’s spike in 2021 through mid-2022 never fully translated into the CPI indices because not many people actually ended up paying those asking rents.

The ZORI rose by 0.2% in May from April, seasonally adjusted, and by 3.4% year-over-year.

The chart shows the CPI Rent of Primary Residence (blue, left scale) as index value, not percentage change; and the ZORI in dollars (red, right scale). The left and right axes are set so that they both increase each by 55% from January 2017. The ZORI was up by 49% from January 2017, and the CPI Rent was up by 38% over the same period.



Rent inflation vs. home-price inflation: The red line in the chart below represents the CPI for Rent of Primary Residence (actual rents paid by tenants) as index value. The purple line represents the Case-Shiller 20-Cities Home Price Index (see our “Most Splendid Housing Bubbles in America”). Both indexes are set to 100 for January 2000:

[newclo]

Como antes puse un enlace que ya acababan de poner ahora traigo uno nuevo:

https://www.federalreserve.gov/aboutthefed/boardmeetings/20240614closed.htm

Federal Reserve Alert! The Fed to hold a CLOSED meeting at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, June 14, 2024 for an update on Bank Stress Tests.


-----------------
Y este que no cuenta porque es de tuiter

https://x.com/INArteCarloDoss/status/1801265955391103222

CLOs are back on the menu

[sargento.algodon]

La gente cuenta muy pocas cosas a su asesor fiscal. Muchas veces creen que es contárselas a Hacienda y nadie cuenta cosas a Hacienda voluntariamente (si no hay consecuencias o castigos o una conciencia social que en teoría el "homo economicus" ese no tiene). Pero cuando me ha tocado examinar los números de un negocio (siempre a toro pasado, para hacer una declaración tributaria o afrontar una inspección) de los que tienen que tener un local abierto al público los precios de los alquileres que pagaban (con su IVA) me han parecido imposibles. No los dudo, porque si yo los veía, los vería también Hacienda pidiendo su cuarto al arrendador y concediendo un gasto deducible al arrendatario.

No sé cuantas comidas, vestidos, vapeadores o cualquier otra tonteria hay que vender mensualmente (bueno, miento, a veces si lo he calculado) para sólo pagar el arrendamiento del local con su IVA. Ventas al por menor que sólo irán en factura abreviada o ticket, e incluso irán sin IVA si se aplica el régimen de recargo de equivalencia. Muchas veces pensaba y pienso, cuando paso delante de determinados locales, que tienen otras fuentes de liquidez para afrontar esos pagos. Y cuanto tiempo aguantara un local abierto, con un negocio más o menos viable, pero que sólo es viable en un determinado sitio (la gente, que es muy cómoda para cruzar de una acera a otra en una calle) e inviable con un arrendamiento en ese mismo sitio.

Pero como he dicho, la gente me cuenta pocas cosas.

[sudden and sharp]

Overwhelming...

Pospuesto a mañana. 

[Vipamo]

Muchas veces pensaba y pienso, cuando paso delante de determinados locales, que tienen otras fuentes de liquidez para afrontar esos pagos.

En mi manzana la mayoría de negocios con local  son accesorios para móviles y badulaques por un lado (gestionados por paquis) y por otro  tatuadores, barbería, delicatessen y hasta un súper que llevan napolitanos. Estos han ido llegando en los últimos años y se están posicionando poco a poco.
Parece que tienen más músculo financiero que los chusmosos emprendedores patrios para soportar los alquileres.
 los barceloneses fetén se dedican a abrir la
mano una vez al mes.

[Derby]

https://www.ft.com/content/90fb4880-d444-480e-ac63-f409f7bbd5c7

What investors should learn from a Berlin housing saga

Corporate boards might be surprised by some of the ideas floating around on Europe’s left-leaning political wing

There is (almost) nothing as alarming for investors as political populism. Just ask anyone holding French government bonds. 

In recent days, the risk premium of these securities (as measured by the spread between French and German 10-year bonds) has surged following the stunning victory of French far-right populists in European parliamentary elections.

Cue investor angst — and rising scrutiny of other resurgent populist rightwing groups that might have inflationary, debt-expanding policies. Donald Trump, the would-be US president, is just one more case in point.

But as jitters mount, it is not only rightwing populists that deserve attention; the leftwing variant might yet spring some surprises, too. That might not seem obvious today: the leftwing parties that are on track to win elections this year — such as Britain’s Labour — are relatively moderate.

But history shows that protest votes can easily flip if one variant of populism fails to deliver what the electorate wants. And corporate boards might be surprised by some of the ideas floating around on Europe’s left-leaning political wing.

Consider, by way of one example, a saga from Berlin’s property sector. A couple of decades ago, the city had what one former mayor labelled a “poor but sexy” reputation: young techies and artists flocked to its graffiti-strewn properties because life seemed cheap.

Then Big Property arrived. Since 2007, a dozen real estate investment groups — such as Deutsche Wohnen, Vonovia, Covivio and Adler — have spent more than €42bn to buy properties there. City planners hoped this would expand the housing supply.

But rents exploded, tripling in neighbourhoods such as Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg and Neukölln, and doubling in outlying regions such as Marzahn-Hellersdorf. And since Berlin is a city where four-fifths of residents rent, this sparked popular anger — particularly among the young who were being squeezed out.

This is not, of course, unique to Germany: as a recent FT series shows, similar stresses exist across the western world. Indeed, on average across the EU some 42 per cent of 25- to 29-year-olds live with their parents due to these pressures, says Eurostat.

But Berlin’s situation is extreme. So is the political response: in 2021 activists organised a non-binding referendum on whether the government should expropriate 240,000 dwellings in the city owned by big investment groups (those with more than 3,000 properties).

Initially, this seemed quixotic. But, as Joanna Kusiak, a Polish-born sociologist and activist, explains in a striking new book Radically Legal, the campaigners built a grassroots coalition. They then invoked little-known provisions of the German constitution, which protect citizens from concentrations of power, to underpin their demands.

When the referendum occurred, it passed with the support of 59 per cent of voters. Mainstream political parties opposed it and demanded a review. But when this was completed last year, it deemed the motion to be constitutional. So the activists are now planning a second — binding — referendum. If that also passes, the Berlin government may end up having to spend billions of euros it currently doesn’t have to buy apartment blocks back from property giants and bring them into public ownership.

That will appal red-blooded, free-market capitalists. And the property companies themselves argue — correctly — that if expropriation does happen, it might be counter-productive, since it will undermine future private investment and hurt anyone with a pension invested in property funds (ie ordinary workers).

Indeed, the whole concept is apt to seem so shocking to Anglo-Saxon onlookers that some might want to ignore this as simply a “made-in-Germany” tale. But extreme or not, the saga is also a canary in the proverbial coal mine. It shows what can happen when popular anger erupts about rising prices — and corporate power.

After all, Berlin is not alone in having politicians who mutter about the need for rent controls. Similar themes are heard in the state of Washington in the US (where median rents jumped 34 per cent between 2001 and 2019) and in the Labour party in the UK (where rents jumped 8.9 per cent in the year to April).

So the lesson that moderate politicians (and anxious real estate investors) need to learn from Berlin is that if they hate the idea of rent controls and/or expropriations, they urgently need to find other ways to counter the rental squeeze, most notably by expanding the housing stock.

One way to do this might be to relax property codes, to make private-sector construction easier. This matters given that investment in housing development shrank from 0.17 per cent of GDP in 2001 to 0.06 per cent in 2018, according to the OECD. Another sensible idea would be to use public money to build social housing. While a third would be to reform the tax system to undo the bias towards owner-occupied properties. The OECD has, for example, proposed replacing transaction taxes on property with an annual tax on land value.

Such policies will not be easy to enact. But the grim truth is that there is almost nothing as likely to hurt faith in capitalism and spark anti-elite populism — on both right and left — as a lack of housing, particularly when immigration is rife. So let us hope centrist politicians urgently act. If not, investors have (another) reason to worry.

[asustadísimos]

LA FIESTA SE ESTÁ ACABANDO.—

Si no fuera por la Vivienda, habría deflación de dos dígitos, porque no solo es ella directamente; también lo es anidada en los demás precios vía salarios.

Las autoridades simulan luchar contra la inflación para darle aire a la banca de depósitos en un trago amargo... el de la Vivienda, causa de la causa, ja, ja, ja.

El sistema capitalista-popularcapitalista, que es básicamente anglo —no nos olvidemos cuando apuntemos en el WC—, ya no funciona.

Bien lo saben los cínicos que infestan tanto las empresas privadas, como las administraciones públicas, confabulados para normalizar conductas aberrantes, siempre que sean por la 'justa' causa de su vivienda... infinanciable con retribuciones ordinarias, ja, ja, ja.

Perdonen que me ría en un asunto tan dramático.

Dado el punto al que hemos llegado, ¿qué es mejor?: ayudar al sistema capitalista a cambiar de patrón de Producción-Renta-Gasto o que las mayorías naturales electorales sigan boicoteándole al sistema su salida del modelo popularcapitalista. Este es el dilema que tenemos ustedes y yo, y el propio capital.

Lo digo porque la verdad es que, en esta situación ridícula, la democracia formal molesta. Hay veces en las que, por el bien de todos, los buenos tienen que ponerse muy duros contra los malos. Y el problema es que los malos son mayoría —por ahora— y están al mando de muchas empresas privadas —que no son de su propiedad— y cantidad administraciones públicas. Sin los malos, la vivienda ya estaría puesta en el sitio mediocre que le corresponde.

Mientras se aclaran las cosas, ¡a cobrar intereses y pensiones! Déjense de dividendos. Y los salarios, a ahorro en euros, nada de dólares. Los intereses y el ahorro extremo, porque «hay mucha inflación», ja; y las pensiones, porque, si no, no estaríamos hablando de deflación —sin nombrarla—, sino de hiperdeflación —algo que ya se ve en el 'commercial'—.

Lo que está pasando es histórico, pero no en términos contemporáneos. ¡No se encuentra nada parecido ni rebuscando en el culo de la noche de los tiempos!

¡Con lo fácil que es salir con la buena nueva por la televisión durante media docena de telediarios seguidos! 

El BCE ha podido bajar los tipos de interés de intervención porque el ortograma capitalista no dicta poner caro al antagonista de la vivienda, sino meterle a esta directamente un ajuste valorativo de –60%, quiero decir, que las autoridades saben que tienen todo el margen del mundo para bajar unos tipos que han subido 'contra natura'.

Que no se me malinterprete. No es que las autoridades se porten mal, sino que el BCE se sabe engranaje de un motor gripado. Sus responsables han optado por engrasarlo con rentas financieras a sabiendas de que, cuanto más se intente que funcione, más daños habrá. Ellos lo saben, desde luego. Y nosotros lo sabemos porque ellos nos lo dicen entre líneas. Ahora bien, la fase de Catacrack monetario era algo por lo que obligatoriamente había que pasar antes del Hostión-2025. En ello estamos. Se trataba de que costara lo mínimo posible. La misión ha sido parcialmente cumplida subiendo deprisa hasta el nivel terminal.

Ahora nos hemos quedado con unos tipos de interés 'no-terminales', pero 'suficientemente restrictivos', y con una retórica de mentira piadosa, como la de los médicos con sus enfermos terminales (eutanasia lenitiva). Está claro que los pasos que vienen están preparados y su ejecución depende de cómo se nos vaya pasando el miedo infundido por el anglo en Ucrania, Israel, Argentina y EEUU, pesadumbre necesaria para el ambiente de control y seguridad que ha requerido hasta ahora el trance del cambio de modelo capitalista al nuevo (y mejor) con más planificación y fiscos y monedas estables, pero ladrillos, Bolsa, Deuda y dólar carentes de 'sexy'.

Fíjense cómo se han cumplido a rajatabla los 'doscientos pasos' del cronograma oficial del proceso de 'transmisión del endurecimiento de la política monetaria'... hasta que hemos topado con la hora de la vivienda de las narices, verdadero objetivo de toda esta procesión, ja, ja, ja: Guio don Quijote, y habiendo andado como doscientos pasos, dio con el bulto que hacía la sombra, y vio una gran torre, y luego conoció que el tal edificio no era alcázar, sino la iglesia principal del pueblo. Y dijo: «Con la iglesia hemos dado, Sancho».

En efecto, todos sabemos dónde está el problema. Es imposible que una economía funcione con esta sobrevaloración de la vivienda. Ni capitalista ni comunista ni esclavista ni feudal ni imperio ni paraíso fiscal ni dólar ni cóvid ni Nord Stream ni guerra ni rojos-de-mierda ni fachas-de-mierda ni 'mercao' ni no-'mercao' ni leches. ¡La vivienda!

Hay un momento en el próximo futuro en el que importa un bledo lo que sientan o dejen de sentir los malos, por mucho electoralismo que haya. Ya ven el patíbulo desde la ventana de su celda, en la cárcel financiera en la que están desde 2006-2010. Les tiemblan las piernas. Y pretenden darle la vuelta al que se acabe 'la fiesta'. En efecto, el capital va a finalizarlos.

Ya que sale, la fiesta es una metáfora que puede significar una cosa o su contraria.

El rediseño a la baja de competencias del órgano de gobierno del Poder Judicial en España es buen ejemplo del acabose o sanseacabó correcto, el único camino que hay. Aplaudo esta iniciativa, como aplaudo la que hay contra la desinformación.

No le queda otra al capital. Hay que rebajarle el Poder (mayúscula) al poder (minúscula) cuando está al servicio de la maldad. ¿O queremos estar todo el día de bréxits, proceses y maidanes?

¿Acaso es autoritario que Dios eche a Adán y Eva del paraíso? ¿O estos no habrían ganado 2 a 1, de haberlo votado?

[asustadísimos]

[Aviso de reedición silenciosa del comentario anterior, silenciosa porque en vez de 'Modificar', he usado 'Eliminar'.]

[Cadavre Exquis]

Parece que empiezan a caerse las caretas. Un artículo sobre productividad y otro sobre el impacto en la renta de los hogares del inmobiliario escritos por el mismo autor (Cristian Reche) y en la misma página. Cosas veredes amigo Sancho.

https://www.eleconomista.es/opinion/noticias/12864208/06/24/sin-productividad-no-hay-riqueza.html

https://www.eleconomista.es/economia/noticias/12864272/06/24/el-pib-per-capita-espanol-sera-inferior-al-promedio-europeo-todavia-en-2026.html

https://www.pressreader.com/spain/el-economista/20240614/page/23/textview

La tensión del mercado inmobilario, un lastre para la renta

Saludos.

[Cadavre Exquis]

https://www.eleconomista.es/energia/noticias/12864391/06/24/naturgy-y-endesa-rompen-el-mercado-y-desatan-una-guerra-en-autoconsumo.html

Saludos.

[Cadavre Exquis]

https://www.eleconomista.es/energia/noticias/12864357/06/24/la-luz-subira-para-los-16-millones-de-beneficiarios-del-bono-social-por-el-fin-del-escudo-energetico.html

https://www.eleconomista.es/vivienda-inmobiliario/noticias/12864288/06/24/colonial-desafia-a-la-crisis-de-las-oficinas-aumentara-su-dividendo-entre-un-8-y-10-a-futuro.html

Saludos.

[Cadavre Exquis]

https://www.eleconomista.es/motor/noticias/12864270/06/24/el-automovil-aleman-teme-represalias-de-china-al-alza-arancelaria-de-bruselas.html

https://www.pressreader.com/spain/el-economista/20240614/page/8/textview

Chery tendrá que pagar la tasa de los Omoda 5

https://www.eleconomista.es/motor/noticias/12864220/06/24/stellantis-abonara-a-los-accionistas-un-dividendo-de-7700-millones-de-euros.html

https://www.eleconomista.es/actualidad/noticias/12863968/06/24/espana-y-turquia-estan-negociando-construir-otro-buque-anfibio-conjunto.html

Saludos.

[Cadavre Exquis]

https://www.eleconomista.es/actualidad/noticias/12864102/06/24/los-sueldos-de-los-directivos-de-federacion-de-futbol-mas-de-300000-euros-y-bonus.html

Saludos.

[Cadavre Exquis]

https://www.eleconomista.es/vivienda-inmobiliario/noticias/12863896/06/24/el-gobierno-calcula-que-hacen-falta-un-millon-de-viviendas-para-equilibrar-el-mercado.html

Saludos.