Energy price worries, double-digit inflation, strikes, war and a new government — there’s a lot going on right now, and it’s all beginning to sap the confidence of sellers and buyers.
The market is still robust, with Halifax this month reporting that house prices are 11.5 per cent higher than a year ago, and the typical home now costs a record £294,260.
But some potential sellers aren’t convinced and believe it’s better to wait until spring to see if buyer confidence returns.
Holding off: The housing market remains robust, but some potential sellers aren’t convinced, and believe it’s better to wait until spring to see if buyer confidence returns
Of course, the cuts to stamp duty that Prime Minister Liz Truss and Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng have announced may change a few minds.
But research by savings website VoucherCodes suggests that rising costs have forced 11 per cent of all potential buyers to delay by at least a year.
And a separate study by Nationwide Building Society says seven in ten would-be first-time buyers are putting their plans on ice for some months at least.
So if you’re looking to sell and prevent your home from languishing on the market for months on end, it may be best to spend the next six months getting into pole position for the market in 2023.
Here are our ten top tips…
1. Take top-quality photos
Choose your estate agent now and make sure they take photographs of your home as soon as possible, while the weather is still relatively good.
Then it will look its best regardless of when you decide to list it — and you can choose to start marketing at short notice if the conditions are right.
2. Help your buyer
‘Create a pack including everything you can to reassure buyers and cut delays,’ says Clare Coode, an agent with Stacks Property Search, a buying agency.
‘This should include, for example, a certificate for your wood burner, up-to-date electrical certificates, planning permissions, building regulation sign-offs, information about ownership of boundary walls and documents related to access and rights of way.’
3. Fix a mortgage deal
With interest rates rising, and likely to increase for another 18 months according to commentators, securing a competitive multi-year, fixed-rate mortgage in principle now makes sense.
But many of these deals have to be acted upon within a few months, so ensure you’re in a position to buy before the deadline expires.
4. Boost energy efficiency
This is a key issue for buyers, even after Liz Truss introduced a financial package to ease the burden of increased energy costs.
‘Double glazing, improved insulation or a new boiler could be achieved in a few months, and would likely boost both the appeal and asking price of your home,’ says Location, Location, Location star Phil Spencer.
‘There are also solar panels, but these won’t add enough value to recover their cost in the short term.’
5. Update the kitchen
Consumer group the HomeOwners Alliance says the kitchen is worth more per square foot than any other room in the house, so it’s worth making it look tip-top.
Spend autumn and winter refacing the cabinets and smartening up the walls and floor.
But don’t fit a new kitchen — you won’t recover the cost if you sell soon and an installation hitch could derail plans.
6. Be competitive
Try not to pay too much attention to any one house price index, but look at the overall trend and be prepared to set a competitive asking price in the New Year.
Many estate agents say an asking price at the lower end of your expectations will encourage rival buyers to bid against each other — good news for any seller.
And an overly ambitious price may see the home stuck on the market, especially during a cost of living crisis.
7. Try a neutral restyle
Declutter, of course — but do more than that. ‘If your interior is looking a little dated in style, then redecorate in line with current trends,’ says Alex Lyle, director of estate agency Antony Roberts, based in West London.
‘But try not to be too ‘out there’ as this may put off some potential buyers. Likewise, if carpets are looking a little tired, think about replacing them or switching to wooden flooring.’
8. Spruce up the garden
‘Assess how badly the garden suffered from the drought,’ says Josephine Ashby of John Bray Estates, an estate agent based in North Cornwall.
‘Something planted in the autumn should be thriving by spring. Outside space is important, so doing anything to spruce it up will be rewarded.
Fresh gravel, a trellis to hide eyesores, dramatic pots and cleaned-up furniture with pretty cushions are all easy fixes.’
9. Remember the lights
‘Swap old halogen lights for LED fittings,’ says Emma Barkes of Stacks Property Search. ‘These use 80 per cent less energy to produce the same amount of light.
‘Make the change early so you can demonstrate lower winter bills and also to give you time to paint the ceilings, as the fittings will almost certainly be a different size.’
10. Finish old projects
There’s no excuse for outstanding repairs if you have six months to deal with them, but remember that it can take longer than you think to get a tradesman in.
Maintenance firm HelpmeFix says it typically takes four weeks to get a bricklayer or roofer, and at least a week to get a plumber to do a routine boiler check.
US home prices are now “clearly falling” and could plummet by as much as 20% by mid-2023 as the Fed continues its aggressive push to hike interest rates, according to a prominent economist.
Ian Shepherdson, the chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said his firm’s estimates suggest home prices have already declined by about 5% from their May peak.
His projections showed seasonally adjusted existing-home sale prices sank by 0.7% in August and have now declined for three straight months.
“The very low level of inventory means that a headlong collapse in prices is unlikely, but we still expect a total decline of up to 20% by the middle of next year,” Shepherdson said in a note to clients.
“Housing, in short, is in recession, and everything connected to housing either is in recession now or soon will be,” Shepherdson added.
Long-term mortgage rates have jumped by more than 3% since January and have eclipsed 6% for the first time since the Great Recession of 2008. The higher rates have forced many prospective homebuyers to the sidelines until conditions improve.
Existing-home sales fell for the seventh straight month in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.80 million, according to data from the National Association of Realtors. Sales were down by 0.4% compared to July and a whopping 20% compared to one year ago.
The NAR’s data showed the median existing-home price was $389,500 in August, down from an all-time high of $413,800 reached in June.
Shepherdson argued the market shouldn’t “be deceived” by the relatively minor downtick, which “does not mean that the floor has been reached.”
“Sales lag mortgage applications, which continue to fall, pointing to further significant declines,” Shepherdson added.
Shepherdson acknowledged the housing market was not struggling to the extent of its implosion during the Great Recession, though current conditions are also “not good.”
The Pantheon economist has regularly adopted a bearish stance on the housing market. Earlier this week, he asserted US housing was in the midst of a “deep recession” after data showed declining homebuilder confidence.
The housing market is expected to stay under pressure as the Federal Reserve implements more interest rate hikes. Fed Chair Jerome Powell addressed conditions on Wednesday after central bank officials enacted a third straight 0.75% increase.
Powell argued the current “difficult correction should put the housing market back into better balance.”
“The deceleration in housing prices that we’re seeing should help bring sort of prices more closely in line with rents and other housing market fundamentals and that’s a good thing,” Powell said.
And yet: “At the same time, the activity of commercial clients looks terrific.” He noted BofA has actually added new clients, even against the backdrop of inflation: “We’re adding net new clients,” Borthwick said. “And the asset quality of commercial clients is and remains close to the best we’ve ever seen. So the commercial activity at this point remains pretty good. I’d say confidence is probably a little lower. One metric for that tends to be our revolver utilization metrics.”
He expounded on the concept: “We obviously provide a lot of revolving credit for companies across the United States and around the world. Revolver balances got quite low following COVID with huge inflow of deposits. They built back up though through June. They’ve come back down a point or so since June. So that’s a little bit of a headwind against loan growth at the margin. It’s probably an indicator of confidence. But I think it’s probably the commercial side that’s more impacted by the headlines than anyone else at this stage.”
Read more: Bank of America expands minority lending possibilities
Ryan asked if global pressure from disparate economies was having an effect on business. “Well, they have the same challenging operating environment that all companies face right now,” Borthwick said. “Most of our American clients operate in multiple countries around the world, so we’re following their activity, banking them in different parts. Similarly…most of the big European companies have got presence in the US and in Asia. So, this supply chain dislocation is a global issue. It’s not a Japan issue, or a UK issue, or a Sweden issue, or a US issue. It feels more global now.”
In terms of lending activity, Borthwick felt confident in spite of the economic downturn spurred by inflation: “We felt pretty good about the loans environment all through the year,” he said. “I think this quarter will be a little slower, partly because, like we talked about on the consumer side, you’ve – or the wealth management side, you’ve got a little bit less in the way of securities-based lending partly because, on the consumer side, with rates having gone up, our mortgage activity has slowed. And partly because, like I mentioned earlier, the commercial side, revolver utilization has come down, and 1% is worth a few billion for us. So those things are a little different than the prior quarters, but we still feel good about high single-digit growth for the year.”
A top economist has forecast Australian house prices will plunge by 25 per cent as borrowers face the steepest pace of interest rate rises in almost three decades.
With inflation surging at the fastest pace in 32 years, the experts are widely expecting the Reserve Bank of Australia will keep increasing the cash rate in 2022, and possibly into 2023.
Jo Masters, the chief economist at Barrenjoey, is predicting a 25 per cent plunge in Sydney‘s median house prices as severe RBA monetary policy tightening sparked a recession.
‘Our modelling suggests that if the Reserve Bank follows market pricing, we will have an economy in recession and we will have house prices down materially,’ she told The Australian Financial Review Property Summit in Sydney on Monday.
Sydney’s mid-point house price has, since the start of the year, fallen by 7.3 per cent to $1.3million as of August, CoreLogic data showed, making it Australia’s most interest-rate sensitive market.
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Australian house prices are expected to plunge by 25 per cent as borrowers face the steepest pace of interest rate rises in almost three decades (pictured is a Melbourne auction)
Jo Masters (pictured) , the chief economist at Barrenjoey, is forecasting a 25 per cent plunge in Sydney’s median house prices as severe Reserve Bank monetary policy tightening sparked a recession
As recently as February, before prices declined, Sydney had a median house price of $1.41million so a 25 per cent plunge, from the peak, would wipe $352,532 off a typical suburban home and take it back to $1.058million.
Ms Masters’ forecast was based on the cash rate rising by another 0.5 percentage points to a nine-year high of 2.85 per cent, up from an existing seven-year high of 2.35 per cent – following the steepest pace of increases since 1994.
She argued this would particularly hit a ‘very leveraged’ Sydney housing market, where the median house price is 11.3 times an average, full-time salary of $92,000, even with a 20 per cent mortgage deposit.
The banking regulator considers a debt-to-income ratio of six or more to be risky.
Jonathan Kearns, the Reserve Bank’s head of domestic markets, told the AFR summit a two percentage increase in RBA interest rates would cause a 15 per cent decline in property prices.
He noted the RBA’s April Financial Stability Review report calculated prices would fall at this pace if the cash rate rose by 200 basis points over two years.
‘While this 15 per cent decline was commonly reported as being a forecast for housing prices, it was not actually a prediction of how much housing prices would change,’ Dr Kearns said.
‘Rather it was an estimate of how sensitive housing prices are to interest rates, assuming that all the other costs and benefits to housing don’t change with interest rates.’
Since May, the Reserve Bank has increased interest rates by 2.25 percentage points, the most severe monetary policy tightening since 1994 which has taken the cash rate to a seven-year high of 2.35 per cent.
Dr Kearns said five consecutive rate rises since May – ending the era of the record-low 0.1 per cent cash rate – had done more to slow the property market that stricter banking regulator rules that came into effect late last year.
‘The increase in the cash rate since May has been 225 basis points, and so this has had a much larger impact on maximum loan size than APRA’s requirement,’ he said.
‘Given this 225 basis point increase in the cash rate has been fully passed through to mortgage interest rates, it will have reduced borrowers’ maximum loan size by around 20 per cent.
Jonathan Kearns, the Reserve Bank’s head of domestic markets, said a two percentage increase in RBA interest rates would cause a 15 per cent decline in property prices.
‘So overall we know that higher interest rates will tend to depress residential and commercial property prices but there is considerable uncertainty about the magnitude and even the timing.’
The Commonwealth Bank, Australia’s biggest home lender, released new data on Monday showing a 13 per cent decline in new home lending in August compared with a year earlier.
Since November, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has required borrowers to model a borrower’s ability to cope with a three percentage point rise in variable mortgage rates, up from 2.5 percentage points previously.
Inflation in the year to June surged by 6.1 per cent, a level well above the RBA’s 2 to 3 per cent target.
The Reserve Bank and Treasury are both expecting headline inflation in 2022 to hit 7.75 per cent, which would be the highest since 1990.
Covid lockdowns in March 2020 sparked the first technical recession since 1991, leading to the RBA in November 2020 cutting the cash rate to a record-low of 0.1 per cent.
A version of this story appeared in CNN’s What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.
CNN
—
Home owners, renters and potential buyers look at housing and the real estate market from different, often conflicting perspectives.
There are alarming headlines for all three in recent weeks:
This convergence speaks to the larger problem of a shortage of affordable housing in the US, as well as the broad issue of affordability, and leads to stories like this: Majority of Americans say they’re worried about being able to pay for housing.
I went to Anna Bahney, the CNN Business writer focused on real estate, to understand why there’s a housing shortage and what, if anything, anyone is doing about it.
Our conversation, conducted by email, is below.
WHAT MATTERS: I have read both that there’s a housing shortage and that there’s a housing crisis. Is there a difference between those ideas – a shortage and a crisis? And is the problem that there literally aren’t enough houses for the number of people in the US?
BAHNEY: The “housing crisis” is actually an “affordability crisis.” Part of the reason housing has become so expensive for Americans is because there is a national shortage of homes. Record low interest rates during the pandemic coupled with more than a decade of under building created a supply and demand mismatch that has pushed home prices higher.
The US has fallen behind by about 5.5 million housing units over the past 20 years as builders failed to keep up with historical building trends. If you add in property destruction due to demolition or natural disasters, among other things, the total shortfall could be 6.8 million during that time, according to the National Association of Realtors.
This is a gap so deep that it would take more than a decade to catch up. But even if more homes and apartments are built, it won’t matter unless people can afford them.
Mortgage rates are the highest they have been since 2008 and home prices remain near record highs, pricing many prospective homebuyers out of the market. Those people then remain in the already tight rental market, pushing rents up even further.
As tenants reach the limits of what they can afford to pay each month, homeownership gets further out of reach as they struggle to save for a down payment. This widens the wealth gap and locks in place inequities between those who benefit financially from homeownership and those who don’t. It also widens the racial home ownership gap, in which 72% of White Americans are homeowners while only 43% of Black Americans own a home.
WHAT MATTERS: The cost of housing has been cited as a cause of inflation. To what extent is that true and what is the market force that could lower the cost of housing?
BAHNEY: The soaring cost of housing has been a key driver of inflation. For most people, housing is their biggest expense. About one-third of the Consumer Price Index, a basket of goods and services the Bureau of Labor Statistics uses to track inflation, is the “shelter” component.
Last month, the index showed that inflation was worse than expected and the housing component had risen 6.2% from a year ago, the biggest increase since 1991. Stubbornly high inflation means that the Federal Reserve will likely take aggressive action at its meeting next week with either a 75 basis-point hike in interest rates, or potentially a 100 basis-point hike.
But there are some early signs of cooling in the housing market. Home sales have been dropping for six months in a row as the rising cost to buy and finance a home pushes more people out of the housing market. As demand dries up, prices will come down and eventually mortgage rates will settle.
WHAT MATTERS: Which parts of the country are most affected by this problem?
BAHNEY: Cities in the Sun Belt like Phoenix and Austin saw some of the biggest increases in housing costs during the pandemic. In Miami the price of a home is up 33% from a year ago, and rents are up 26% from last year. But the affordability crisis is happening nationally, in all regions of the country.
WHAT MATTERS: The Fed’s medicine for inflation is to raise interest rates, which has driven up mortgage rates. That might control sales prices, but won’t it make the cost of housing more expensive?
BAHNEY: The Federal Reserve has been aggressively raising interest rates in order to stem inflation, which may reduce demand but also makes the cost of buying a home even more expensive.
But the Fed doesn’t set the rate borrowers pay on mortgages directly. Instead, mortgage rates tend to track the yield on the 10-year US Treasury. As investors anticipate the Fed’s rate hikes, they often sell government bonds, which sends yields higher and, with it, mortgage rates.
The rate on a typical 30-year-fixed mortgage has more than doubled from a year ago, making a home purchase that was possible then, out of reach for some today.
A year ago, a buyer who put 20% down on a median priced $359,900 home and financed the rest with a mortgage rate of 2.86% – which was the average at the time – had a monthly payment of $1,192.
Today, a homeowner buying the median priced home, which is now $403,800, with a mortgage at the current average of 6.02%, would pay $1,941 a month in principal and interest. That’s $749 more every month.
Americans are now spending more than 35% of their median income on monthly principal and interest payments on that median-priced home. Historically, Americans spent closer to 25% of their median income on payments.
To get back to that level, some combination of these things would need to happen, according to mortgage data company Black Knight: a person’s income would need to grow by 40%, mortgage rates would have to be cut in half, or there would need to be a 30% drop in the median price of a house.
None of those are likely to happen any time soon.
WHAT MATTERS: If housing prices go down, it will mean millions of people lose value in their main asset. If housing prices don’t go down, it means millions of Americans will never own a home. It seems like an impossible situation.
BAHNEY: Some housing economists have been saying lately that the housing industry is in a recession, but homeowners aren’t feeling that way. Sure, there are plenty of examples of cooling in the housing industry (mortgage firm layoffs, home builders pulling back, home sales falling). But homeowners still have tremendous equity in their homes, which has risen by an average of $60,000 in the past year.
Still, millions of people are being shut out of homebuying as the affordability challenges prove insurmountable.
In April 2021, a household had to earn about $80,000 a year to afford payments on the median-priced home with a modest down payment of 3.5%. A year later, the income requirement was $108,000. This cost increase means that about 4 million renter households that could have bought the median-priced home last year could no longer do so 12 months later.
WHAT MATTERS: What are some of the ideas to fix this problem? Is there an effective way the government can act?
BAHNEY: Most housing policy experts say that building a steady supply of new, moderately priced homes is job number one. But because those homes are not as profitable for builders as larger, higher-priced homes, it will take a concerted effort by both public and private sectors.
In May, the Biden administration announced a Housing Supply Action Plan to close the affordability gap and ease housing costs. The plan aims to boost the supply of affordable housing by enhancing existing federal financing and incentivizing areas to reform zoning and land use policies to build more lower-cost housing. It also calls for homebuilders to adopt more efficient construction methods.
But none of this is a quick fix, and some of it requires congressional action.
Separately, the Federal Housing Finance Administration, which oversees mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has announced plans this summer to expand home financing options for buyers, particularly those of color, to close the racial homeownership gap. These programs include down payment assistance, lower mortgage insurance premiums and a credit reporting system that factors in rent payment history.
Some of these ideas, including new zero down payment loans with no closing costs for buyers in specific Black or Hispanic neighborhoods, are already in place.
Hong Kong/Seoul
CNN Business
—
Clark Park, a 35-year-old YouTuber, is one of many people in South Korea fed up with high food prices.
That’s why he grabbed his camera and joined a huge throng of shoppers clamoring for cheap fried chicken one August morning at Homeplus, a hypermarket chain that had just slashed 12% off its already-heavily discounted prices.
“There were already over 50 people lined up,” Park told CNN Business, adding that many arrived early and waited well over an hour. “We all ran together to the deli as soon as it opened. That’s when I felt the craze of fried chicken.”
Fried chicken has long been a favorite of consumers in South Korea — and now it also underscores the country’s inflationary woes, with food prices across the board weighing more on wallets lately.
The average cost of fried chicken in South Korea was up 11.4% in August compared to the same month a year ago, outpacing price jumps of other popular dining items such as kimchi stew or beef barbecue, according to government data.
Consumers might be feeling an even bigger pinch, depending on how much restaurants or supermarkets pass on their costs: In some cases, retail chicken prices have “gone up by more than 50%” over the past two years, according to Jeong Woo Park, a South Korea economist at Nomura.
People around the world have been dealing with similar struggles in recent months as global food prices soared — and scenes like the chicken run at Homeplus are a reminder of how households are adjusting to broader inflation, which has hit 5.7% in South Korea. They also spotlight how the country relies on other nations for much of its food.
Fried chicken is a huge cultural touchpoint in South Korea, similar to British fish and chips, which have also gotten more expensive this year. Many people see it as a must-have snack at sporting events, and it’s not uncommon for customers to pick it up several times a month.
Anyone visiting the country is bound to stumble on a local chicken and beer, or “chimac,” joint. That’s because one in every 20 restaurants is a chicken eatery, according to the government.
South Korea is the world’s third largest market for fried chicken, outpaced only by the far more populous United States and China, data from market research provider Euromonitor International shows.
Crispy chicken “can be called a national food in South Korea, such as kimchi, bulgogi, and bibimbap,” said Clark Park, the content creator, referring to other staples that locals cherish.
Like other cultural-favorite dishes, it’s also serious business: Korean chicken restaurants booked $7.9 billion in revenue in 2021, according to Euromonitor.
This kind of devotion has created a conundrum for stores, which must take care of their bottom lines without alienating customers.
“All costs related to fried chicken are rising very fast,” said Jeong Woo Park, the Nomura economist, adding that vendors are being hit by soaring costs of oil, rent, labor, delivery services and even chicken feed. In response, he added, some restaurants have started using robots to bring labor costs down.
Sellers have taken vastly different approaches to the situation in recent months. Leading chicken chains have raised menu prices by an average of 2,000 Korean won ($1.50), according to Yunjin Park, a senior research analyst of food and nutrition at Euromonitor, citing the “rising prices of ingredients.” This led to a roughly 10% to 15% jump in the price of fried chicken, she added.
While the difference may seem small, it could easily mean customers will have to fork out nearly $22 for a simple meal, Yunjin Park told CNN Business: “Chicken, which used to be comfort food for Koreans, is now no longer an easy-to-order menu [item] without hesitation.”
By contrast, local hypermarkets are going in the other direction. The August sale that Clark Park attended at Homeplus was for what the chain called “dangdang chicken,” a promotion of fried chicken for about a third of the price most retailers offer.
Other stores are feeling pressured to follow suit, albeit only for short periods. In August, emart, another major supermarket chain, launched a one-week promotion to sell fried chicken at almost 50% off — and sold all 60,000 pieces.
Not everyone can afford to slash prices, though, and some smaller outlets could be forced to close until their costs come down again.
“If you look at how those chain businesses are able to sell at these low rates, that’s basically due to economies of scale,” said Barsali Bhattacharyya, manager of industry briefing at the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
“They’re able to buy more products and consequently ask for a better rate from their suppliers. Now, your small mom-and-pop stores are not going to be able to enjoy that advantage, which means they are looking at their costs going much higher.”
One reason South Korea is facing such problems is that it imports almost half of its food, according to the EIU.
It’s one of the Asian economies most exposed to surging prices around the world, because it depends on other countries for many types of food, Nomura economists warned in a June report. Singapore, Hong Kong and the Philippines are also seen as vulnerable.
Global food prices have soared this year, largely because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Both countries are typically major exporters of essential goods like wheat and sunflower oil.
The worst may already be over: In August, the United Nations’ Food Price Index fell for the fifth straight month, and in Korea, overall inflation also eased more than projected.
But things aren’t expected to improve significantly anytime soon. “We think inflation has now passed its peak, but it will likely remain above 5% for the rest of the year,” Min Joo Kang, ING’s senior economist for South Korea and Japan, wrote in a note to clients.
Other pantry staples are getting more expensive elsewhere in Asia, too.
Last month, Thailand — where the government sets pricing on some food staples — raised prices on instant noodles for the first time in 14 years. A packet from a popular brand there has increased the equivalent of 3 to 20 cents, threatening to disproportionately hurt low-income families.
“Food inflation is a sticky issue for Asia,” said Bhattacharyya.
Because incomes in most of the region fall in the low or middle range, food usually makes up a big share of total consumer spending — in some cases, reaching 30% to 40%, she said.
She concluded: “It was, I think, a matter of time before the global food price crisis hit Asia.”
-— CNN’s Gawon Bae in Seoul and Kocha Olarn in Bangkok contributed to this report.
PORT LAVACA — Mauricio Blanco’s 10 fishing boats are up for sale.
A fisherman for 35 years, Blanco, 50, wants to leave the industry because of the obstacles that have turned the past three years into a frustrating experience.
“It seems no one wants to buy a boat right now,” Blanco said.
The trials and tribulations started when seafood restaurants shut down at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020. The business of fishing and oyster harvesting along the Texas Gulf Coast gradually came back until restrictions returned — this time for a different reason.
Most of the oyster reefs along the Texas coast were closed to harvesting beginning this January because the state’s parks and wildlife department determined from its large samples that too many oysters were not market-size.
“We were supposed to work six months during oyster season,” Blanco said. We only worked 70 days.”
The Blanco family, from left to right: Mauricio, 50; Veronica, 47 and Csar, 19
Texas’ oyster harvesting season lasts from Nov. 1 to April 30.
When determining bay closures, Texas Parks and Wildlife used the traffic light system, which gives the department the authority to close oyster reefs after studying samples. The agency considers an oyster to be legal size for harvesting if it measures at least 3 inches long.
In the current economy, Blanco said his fishing operation can make around $80,000 in six months. Before sharing the revenue with his crew — Blanco collects 30% and the rest of the crew splits the remainder — and the boat gets repaired.
He said, “$80,000 is nothing when you got a broken down motor. A single motor is going to cost $10,000 if you get it from a junkyard and to put it on, you’re going to pay $6,000-7,000.”
During the harvesting season, there is no guaranteed income, yet fishermen still have to bear the cost of boat maintenance and the rising price of red diesel fuel, Blanco said.
Meanwhile at home, costs for everyday items have increased as well this year.
“We used to go to the grocery store and pay $200 to get groceries for the week,” Blanco said. “Now its 300, $350. It’s been harder and harder and it doesn’t seem to relax.”
Blanco and his wife Veronica, 47, send their son Csar, 19, through college. Csar studies electrical engineering at Victoria College, a place he said allows him to be more independent as a person because he gets to branch out from Port Lavaca by himself.
“In college I get to have fun and enjoy myself,” Csar Blanco said.
When the oyster harvesting season comes along, Csar spends less time with dad, whose oyster harvesting travels range from Mobile, Alabama, to Corpus Christi.
“I remember one year where there was a New Year’s Eve where I was near Port Arthur,” Mauricio said. “We sacrifice a lot of family time.”
Csar said his father’s work on the water is “underrated.”
“My dad sometimes brought us shrimp and oysters to eat and I’d gotten used to that,” Csar said. “I didn’t know that shrimp and oysters are rather expensive. It makes me think, ‘How much seafood would we have if my dad wasn’t a fisherman?'”
Port Lavaca fisherman Mauricio Blanco with his 1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass, which he restored himself.
Because of the oyster harvesting regulations, Mauricio is skeptical about whether Texas Parks and Wildlife will keep reefs open for much of the season.
“I can guarantee you one thing, they are going to open everything at the start of the season and then within a week or two it’s gonna close,” Blanco said.
Now a month and a half away from the harvesting season, one expert said living conditions for Texas oysters are getting better because of a weakening drought.
Dr. Jennifer Pollack, a professor of marine biology at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, said oysters can adapt to extreme weather events, such as droughts, tropical storms and floods, as long as the effects only last for a short period.
“We in Corpus Christi have seen the spat, which is the oyster larvae, grow more often now that the drought is not as severe,” Pollack said. “Too much salt in water can lead to more disease and predators from the Gulf can come into the bay and stress oysters.”
Blanco thinks the struggles of the past few years could definitely continue into the future, but while he still has his boats and crew to manage, he will keep fishing.
“I’ve got so much salt in my blood,” Blanco. “That’s what I love to do.”
PORT LAVACA — Mauricio Blanco’s 10 fishing boats are up for sale.
A fisherman for 35 years, Blanco, 50, wants to leave the industry because of the obstacles that have turned the past three years into a frustrating experience.
“It seems no one wants to buy a boat right now,” Blanco said.
The trials and tribulations started when seafood restaurants shut down at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020. The business of fishing and oyster harvesting along the Texas Gulf Coast gradually came back until restrictions returned — this time for a different reason.
Most of the oyster reefs along the Texas coast were closed to harvesting beginning this January because the state’s parks and wildlife department determined from its large samples that too many oysters were not market-size.
“We were supposed to work six months during oyster season,” Blanco said. We only worked 70 days.”
The Blanco family, from left to right: Mauricio, 50; Veronica, 47 and Csar, 19
Texas’ oyster harvesting season lasts from Nov. 1 to April 30.
When determining bay closures, Texas Parks and Wildlife used the traffic light system, which gives the department the authority to close oyster reefs after studying samples. The department considers an oyster to be legal size for harvesting if it measures at least 3 inches long.
In the current economy, Blanco said his fishing operation can make around $80,000 in six months. Before sharing the revenue with his crew — Blanco collects 30%, and the rest of the crew splits the remainder — and the boat gets repaired.
He said, “$80,000 is nothing when you got a broken down motor. A single motor is going to cost $10,000 if you get it from a junkyard and to put it on, you’re going to pay $6,000-$7,000.”
During the harvesting season, there is no guaranteed income, yet fishermen still have to bear the cost of boat maintenance and the rising price of red diesel fuel, Blanco said.
Meanwhile at home, costs for everyday items have increased, as well, this year.
“We used to go to the grocery store and pay $200 to get groceries for the week,” Blanco said. “Now, its $300, $350. It’s been harder and harder, and it doesn’t seem to relax.”
Blanco and his wife Veronica Blanco, 47, send their son Csar Blanco, 19, through college. Their son studies electrical engineering at Victoria College, a place he said allows him to be more independent as a person because he gets to branch out from Port Lavaca by himself.
“In college I get to have fun and enjoy myself,” the son said.
When the oyster harvesting season comes along, he spends less time with his dad, whose oyster harvesting travels range from Mobile, Alabama, to Corpus Christi.
“I remember one year where there was a New Year’s Eve where I was near Port Arthur,” Mauricio Blanco said. “We sacrifice a lot of family time.”
Blanco’s son said his father’s work on the water is “underrated.”
“My dad sometimes brought us shrimp and oysters to eat, and I’d gotten used to that,” Blanco’s son said. “I didn’t know that shrimp and oysters are rather expensive. It makes me think, ‘How much seafood would we have if my dad wasn’t a fisherman?’”
Port Lavaca fisherman Mauricio Blanco with his 1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass, which he restored himself.
Because of the oyster harvesting regulations, Blanco is skeptical about whether Texas Parks and Wildlife will keep reefs open for much of the season.
“I can guarantee you one thing, they are going to open everything at the start of the season and then within a week or two, it’s gonna close,” Blanco said.
Now a month and a half away from the harvesting season, one expert said living conditions for Texas oysters are getting better because of a weakening drought.
Jennifer Pollack, a professor of marine biology at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, said oysters can adapt to extreme weather events, such as droughts, tropical storms and floods, as long as the effects only last for a short period.
“We in Corpus Christi have seen the spat, which is the oyster larvae, grow more often now that the drought is not as severe,” Pollack said. “Too much salt in water can lead to more disease, and predators from the gulf can come into the bay and stress oysters.”
Blanco thinks the struggles of the past few years could definitely continue into the future, but while he still has his boats and crew to manage, he will keep fishing.
“I’ve got so much salt in my blood,” Blanco said. “That’s what I love to do.”
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — St. Pete in 1953 was known to be much different than the city it is today.
For one, it was known as the “sleep town.” That’s also the year Delma Nichols Booth moved her thriving downtown florist shop —“Delma’s, The Flower Booth” — to the Kenwood neighborhood. It’s been on the corner of 5th Ave. N and 25th St. North since then.
“Back then there were a few businesses here, but mostly a neighborhood,” owner Stephanie Anderson said. “It’s not a historic neighborhood. We’re proud to be here.”
Booth was Anderson’s aunt. She inherited the business after Booth died.
“I started here when I was 15,” she said. “I was in high school, yeah it’s been a big part of my life.”
Unfortunately, after nearly 70 years here, Delma’s has to move. The property owner to a developer. The owner is now planning to build condos there.
Anderson said she was shocked when the new owner walked in one day telling her she had to be out in 15 days.
“It was a little surreal.”
She said she knew there would come a time when they might have to move, but not this soon.
“I mentioned to the owner if I have to leave in 15 days, I’m going to have to close the business,” she said his response was a relief.
“He was against that,” she said. “He said we’re going to help you. that gave me a little more hope.”
The new owner is letting her stay until September 30th so she can find a new location. The issue is “the cost of the rent.”
The current building is 3,752-square-foot. They have a walk-in freezer, the main floral room, a wedding section, and the design room where they create all of the floral arrangements. To get a building that size or comparable, Anderson said it could cost her $1,000 to $2,000 more a month.
“If it was feasible for me to buy, I would buy,” she said. “It’s almost cheaper to buy than to rent nowadays.”
The other issue is space. There are not really many locations that meet her size requirements, and none in the Kenwood area.
According to data from the county, there are about 20 properties the same size as Delma’s. The average rental price is $24.36 per square foot.
Delma isn’t alone. It’s the same for small businesses across the Tampa Bay area, even those who don’t have to find a new location. According to the county, rent prices for retail spaces are up across the board.
But, Anderson said she has no plans to close down. She is determined to find a new location in St. Petersburg for all of her customers.
“Our customers are like family to us,” she said.
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