November 17th – Space Available

What I’m Reading

Space Available: The US has an estimated 23 square feet of retail space per person, compared to under 5 square feet per person in countries like the UK, Germany and Japan.  As ecommerce continues to take a larger share of retail sales, a substantial portion of this space will need to be repurposed or demolished.  Fast Company

Risk On: The board of CalPERS, the nation’s largest pension fund, voted Monday to use 5% leverage and alternative assets to meet its investment-return target, even after lowering that target just a few months ago.  The trustees also voted to increase riskier alternative investments, raising private-equity holdings to 13% from 8% and adding a 5% allocation to private debt.  CalPERS already had the authority to use leverage of up to 20% of the fund’s total value.  However, this is the first time the board has made use of leverage an integral part of its asset mix. Wall Street Journal

Dinner Bell: The Infrastructure and Jobs Act earlier this week and the race is on as mayors and governors jockey for their pieces of the spending pie.  Bisnow

Warning Signs: High prices and a lack of supply are slowing the sale of both new houses and cars to levels that typically precede a recession.  While other leading indicators do not presently point to a downturn, this sort of decline is politically perilous territory for the party  in power.  Bonddad Blog

Sweet Spot: Rents for single-family homes increased 10.2% nationally in September year over year, up from a 2.6% rise in September of last year, according to a new report from CoreLogic.  The sector is getting a boost from an expensive for-sale market and robust job growth.  CNBC

Chart of the Day

SFR cap rates are still at a premium to apartments but that premium varies substantially by location.  

Source: Green Street 

WTF

I Thought This Was America: A Minnesota man was arrested for threatening a TSA worker’s life, then taking off his clothes and masturbating in public after being asked to stop at a security checkpoint.  CBS Local 

Dirty Work: An elementary school teacher  was forced to resign after making third graders clean feces off a bathroom floor where one student allegedly pooped because Florida.  News Channel 8

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

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