Info Bytes 12.08.22

SURVEY

THANK YOU to all participants of the 2023 Aspirations and Trepidation survey!

VIEW FULL RESULTS

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• Quite a few state legislatures reacted to the pandemic by making it easier for common interest communities to communicate electronically.  CIC homeowners in Washington state can opt into receiving electronic notices.  Read more on our Notice page and view the example opt-in form.

• Located outside of Washington State?  Check your statutes.

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The 1,000lb CAI gorilla (guerrilla?!) 
atop the author.
Created by a friend of Condo Connection!

CAI Tosses More Spaghetti

• Following a lovely holiday abroad, what was buried in a pile of mail?  CAI's latest missive levying accusations including “negative comments about CAI” (AKA the unvarnished truth).  This ongoing saga has a certain crime syndicate aura like what you find in Netflix's documentary about FIFA''s multi decade corruption scandal.

• With antics now in the ninth inning, CAI began moderating submissions to the Exchange last week as another step to control the flow of information.  We first told regular readers about our planned exit from the Exchange in last week's CIC Info Bytes.  This step that frees up hours of time every week, means no more battles to ensure reasonable content remains posted and is also necessary because our association saw no value in continuing to pay an annual membership fee to an organization that does not represent us.

• Learn how you can support common-sense advocacy and TAKE ACTION.

The History of Modern Skyscrapers

• Fascinating!  Britain saves 'grandparent' of all modern skyscrapers, built in 1796 - William Booth for The Washington Post 12/01/22

Delistings Up, Optimism Down

• Home Delistings Hit Record High in November as Buyers and Sellers Retreated - Redfin

• Home Sellers Are Pulling Properties off the Market at Record Pace - Paulina Cachero | Bloomberg 12/02/22 | Republished by Plato

What's Going On with the Housing Market?

• …It is typical for rising interest rates to cool the housing market. But the speed of this year's mortgage-rate increase has created a sense of whiplash among buyers and sellers, and that makes it difficult to predict how long the housing slump will last and how bad it will get.  Contradictory signals abound…

  Home Sellers Are Pulling Properties off the Market at Record Pace - Nicole Friedman | WSJ 12/07/22

Home Builders Fight to Show There's Enough Water for New Residents

• The master planned community of Teravalis located in Buckeye, AZ might someday host 100,000 homes (let that number sink in).  Is there enough water?

  Home Builders Fight to Show There's Enough Water for New Residents - Jim Carlon & Nicole Friedman | WSJ - 12/03/22

Remote work is gutting downtowns, will cost cities $453 billion

• Those of us who live in the heart of a major US city know this all too well.

  Remote work is gutting downtowns, will cost cities $453 billion - Emil Skandul | Business Insider - 12/06/22

Why Hasn't Your Community Ditched Your Bank?!

• The principal concept of our July 5th article Principal Guaranteed Securities: Don't Trade CONVENIENCE for YIELD has been further endorsed by The Wall Street Journal.  

  • There's nothing complicated about it: Common interest communities are missing out on billions of dollars in interest by keeping their savings at the biggest U.S. banks.  The $42 Billion Question: Why Aren't Americans Ditching Big Banks? - Dion Rabouin | WSJ 12/08/22

What Types of Bonds Deliver the Best Returns?

• This insightful article examines the performance of fixed-income securities from the past 50 years.  What's best in a rising rate environment?  US ultrashort Treasuries.  What Types of Bonds Deliver the Best Returns? - Derek Horstmeyer | WSJ 12/03/22

‘Risk Free’ Returns?  Government Backed Debt Is Key

• Who says bonds can't be flashy?

  • [Paywall] Here's where investors made a ‘risk-free' 6.6% return in the past four U.S. recessions - Joy Wiltermuth for Marketwatch 12/05/22
  • Republished by Morningstar

TIPs of the Week

• TIPS (Treasury Inflation Protected Securities) are widely traded and made available by banks and brokerage firms.

  • TIPS Explained - Investopedia
  • I-Bonds Aren't the Only Way to Fight Inflation - Jason Zwieg | WSJ 12/02/22

FOMC Moderation in December, BUT Rate Hikes Aren't Over

• Brisk wage growth may lead officials to consider raising policy rate above 5% in 2023 while approving a 0.5-point increase in December.

  Fed to Weigh Higher Interest Rates Next Year… - Nick Timarios | WSJ 12/05/22

Global Yield Curve Inversion

• The first global yield curve inversion in two decades points toward a recession.

  Global Yield Curve Inverts in Signal a Recession Is Brewing - Clifton Reynolds | Bloomberg | Republished by Yahoo! Finance

Why Housing Can Skew Inflation Numbers

• It's all about the biggest CPI influence of them all: Shelter.  View WSJ Glossary Video: Why Housing Can Skew Inflation Numbers

SUPPORT: Condo Connection is a volunteer effort that helps fill an incredible void for common interest communities and their homeowners.  WE DO ASK for your general support every few months because providing this free resource is not a free endeavor.

We believe in transparency which is why we disclose our fiscal support.  In total, Condo Connection has received about $1,800 of support throughout 2022.  If that doesn't sound like much, that's because it isn't.  Thousands of people visit Condo Connection every month seeking insights and answers.  Requests come in every week to provide more free resources, but very few people are willing to spend even $10. 

YOUR SUPPORT MATTERS.   Please consider supporting us if you and/or your community have benefited from our free resources.  Your contributions enable expansion of Condo Connection's ad-free newsletter and website.  You can donate , purchase a digital download , annual subscription or a festive digital gift card for you and your friends, neighbors, colleagues and community.  You can also share this newsletter and web links and encourage folks you know to join our free listserv .  YOU can take action to support value-added alternatives to CAI that prioritize the interests of CICs and their homeowners.

THANK YOU to all our supporters past, present and future!

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