What I’m Reading
Opening Up: The Securities and Exchange Commission modified its definition of “accredited investor: in August, changing who is allowed by law to invest in private securities offerings. The new definition is less restrictive, which will likely open up an opportunity for more investors to participate in private real estate investment offerings. Bisnow
Holding Up: REIS’ Q2 office market report found that west coast cities are faring substantially better than the rest of the country with some even showing rental increases. Globe Street See Also: A recent Trepp report found that CMBS is holding up best in cities with high tech industry concentrations. The Real Deal
Upward Pressure: Contract truck rates are rising because shippers are struggling to find available capacity and asking carriers what it will take to get their freight moving. The tightness in the trucking market is thanks largely to a major shift in consumption:
E-commerce sales surged 44.5 percent year over year in the second quarter, growing from 10.8 percent of all retail sales in Q2 2019 to 16.1 percent this year, according to the US Census Bureau. Non-store retail sales, which includes e-commerce and “other” commerce such as telephone sales, print catalogs, and door-to-door, grew 24.7 percent year over year in July, according to the US Census advance monthly figures. JOC.com
Back to the Nest: A majority of young adults age 18-29 now live with their parents for the first time since the Great Depression. While this data is shocking, it makes sense in light of how many colleges have gone to fully remote learning this year. Pew Research Center
Impasse: With America struggling to get the coronavirus under control and Washington deadlocked over new relief measures, states face a difficult choice: open the businesses most likely to spread the coronavirus, especially bars and restaurants, or keep them closed and risk a wave of bankruptcies. NBC News
Ghost Town: Manhattan apartment vacancies hit a new record in August as big-city inventory continues to pile up. Bloomberg
Chart of the Day
Drying out: US wholesalers are running low on booze after the lockdown demand depleted inventories. The chart below is their inventory to sales ratio.
WTF
Irony: Just months after raising over $100 million from venture capital investors, fraud prevention startup NS8 laid off hundreds of employees last week after announcing that it was under investigation for………fraud. Forbes
All For the Cookie: An Ohio woman will spend 90 days in jail after admitting that she attacked several McDonald’s workers after discovering that her drive-thru order did not contain a cookie. The Smoking Gun
Basis Points – A candid look at the economy, real estate, and other things sometimes related.
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