September 9th – Back to School

What I’m Reading

Back to School: COVID caused slowing of new supply in the student housing market, helping to stabilize rents.  Now that class is back in session, some of the world’s largest property investors are pumping billions of dollars into buying and developing off-campus housing.  (h/t Mike Deermount) Wall Street Journal

Misdirection: Housing affordability is a poor predictor of future price.  Calculated Risk

Mind the Gap: College enrollment is down 1.5 million over the past 5 years and men accounted for 71% of the decline.  Women now make up 59.5% of college students, an all time high education gap that is still growing.  Wall Street Journal

Can’t Stop.  Won’t Stop: August brought yet another set of new records for US apartment rent growth and occupancy.  Markets like Phoenix and Boise are still leading the way with only San Francisco and the West Texas oil patch showing flat or declining rents.  RealPage

Reverse Course: Bars and restaurants went from powering America’s jobs comeback to slowing it down – thanks largely to the delta variant.  Axios

Chart of the Day

Bank lending standards for C&I and consumer loans have fallen off a cliff.  

Image

Source: PeerIQ Analytics

WTF

Joy Ride: A naked woman on a midnight golf cart joy ride was arrested after driving through a police perimeter while officers were involved in an armed standoff because Florida.  (h/t Steve Sims) The Smoking Gun

The Sincerest Form of Flattery: An Australian duck named Ripper learned to swear by imitating humans.  New York Post

Basis Points – A candid look at the economy, real estate, and other things sometimes related. 

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