What I’m Reading
Buyer’s Remorse? RV sales surged during the pandemic. Some new owners are finding vehicle upkeep to be more than they bargained for. USA Today $6 gasoline is only going to add to the buyer’s remorse. This is a perfect illustration of why I’ve been far more bullish on RV storage than campgrounds. Usage will decline to some extent due to the cost of gas, which will take a bite out of park revenue. However, the vehicles still need to be stored somewhere (at least until they are destroyed) whether the buyers that overpaid during the boom hold onto them or not.
Self Inflicted Wounds: Processing times for visas and work permits soared after embassies and immigration offices closed for months due to the pandemic. Now there is a massive backlog and more than a million immigrants are waiting for U.S. work permits, cutting many of them out of the job market when labor is in short supply. Bloomberg
Squeezed: Between soaring home prices and rising rates, American mortgage payment costs are now a whopping 36% higher than they were a year ago. Bloomberg In other news, owners of residential rentals are licking their chops.
Doubling Down: A dramatic uptick in shipping costs is driving demand for industrial space near well-placed ports, leading many companies to pay a premium for distribution facilities in strategic locations. Globe Street The Russian invasion of Ukraine will exert additional pressure on supply chains and push even further towards the “just in case” inventory model, resulting in more industrial demand.
Looming Threat: Venture backed prescription delivery startups are offering medications at prices well below those offered by traditional pharmacies. While they are unlikely to ever make money (think Uber), their growth is putting brick and mortar pharmacies on shaky ground. Wolf Street
Chart of the Day
When mortgage rates spike, conventional wisdom dictates that cancellations rise. The opposite happened in February – rates rose quickly and cancellations fell.
Source: Rick Palacios Jr.
WTF
One for the Road: A pilot who appeared to be drunk was removed from the cockpit of a JetBlue flight as it was about to take off from Buffalo and fly to Florida. Tampa Bay Times
What a Way to Go: A contract worker assigned to be the spotter for heavy equipment coming in and out of a Polk County landfill was crushed by a bulldozer while using a porta-potty at a landfill because Florida. Fox 13
Basis Points – A candid look at the economy, real estate, and other things sometimes related.
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