"Under Pressure From Uber, Taxi Medallion Prices are Plummeting"

NYT article on taxi medallion prices falling because of Uber competition:

In Chicago, for example, there have been only 11 medallion sales since July 1, compared with 147 during the same period last year. Just because somebody sold a medallion for $300,000 doesn’t mean it will be consistently possible to sell at that price into a thin market.
“Those are fake prices,” said Mohammad Kamran, a medallion broker in Chicago, who blames UberX. “The price has plunged big time, and there are no buyers or sellers because the lenders are not lending money.”
Mr. Kamran said owners are increasingly unable to charge Chicago’s maximum weekly lease rate for medallion taxis, which is around $780, including taxes and insurance, for a late-model Toyota Prius. Drivers have been bargaining that rate down to $700 or $725, he says; others are defecting to services like Uber.

From a correspondent who is short TAXI

"Credit, Capacity and Collateral. What do you have when the collateral value starts to drop? A $1MM loan on an asset with a declining yield owned by a guy six months off the boat from Karachi. Good luck with that."