What I'm Reading Sitting Ducks: Idle cargo containers piling up in ports and storage yards have created a target-rich environment for thieves, resulting in yet another supply chain headache. Cargo theft has increased 42% YoY in California during the 3rd quarter. CargoNet Out of Their Hands: The inflationary episode of...
November 3rd – Fire Sale
What I'm Reading Fire Sale? Zillow is looking to unload 7,000 homes for $2.8 billion after royally screwing up their iBuying strategy and substantially overpaying for acquisitions. They are listing the homes at a loss. The news came after Zillow announced that they would be taking a pause from buying...
November 2nd – Sell the News
What I'm Reading Sell the News: Interest rates have increased in recent months as the Federal Reserve began signaling that they will begin tapering their bond purchasing. However, recent history suggests that yields tend to fall once actual tapering begin. US Housing and Mortgage Market Weekly Staying Close: Relocations are...
November 1st – Disconnect
What I'm Reading Disconnect: COVID-19 has broken the longstanding connection between wage growth and employment levels. Typically, the rise in wages currently seen would have us at near full employment but that has not yet happened. Full Stack Economics Dispersed: Co-working companies are making big bets on the suburbs, including...
October 29th – Clutter Patrol
What I'm Reading Misplaced Blame: The Biden administration has pushed the Ports of LA and Long Beach to begin fining carriers who don't move their containers from the port complexes quickly enough. By this logic, the problems are apparently not a massive backlog and capacity constraints but rather that the...
October 28th – Safety First
What I'm Reading Safety First: Proligis's Q3 earnings call characterized industrial demand as being in "panic mode" with tenants showing an insatiable appetite for space. Bisnow A primary driver here is the fundamental shift in the way that retailers handle their supply chain management. Space was already tight in the...
October 27th – Between a Rock and a Hard Place
What I'm Reading Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The pandemic has highlighted how many office buildings need to be renovated in order to fit the needs to today's workers and companies. However, the supply chain crisis and labor shortage means that it has never been more expensive to...
October 26th – Cooling Off?
What I'm Reading Cooling Off? Some of the hottest housing markets in the country are showing signs of slowing down with inventory increasing and more sellers reducing asking prices. Bloomberg The article specifically talks about Boise - a rental market that we are bullish on (we recently closed our second multifamily...
October 25th – Standoff
What I'm Reading Standoff: Stimulus programs over the past two administrations, coupled with enhanced unemployment and rising asset values have left American balance sheets in better shape than ever. They have also given workers the flexibility to hold out en masse for higher wages, contributing to today's labor shortage. (h/t...
October 22nd – Turning Point
What I'm Reading Turning Point: Amazon has dominated the industrial leasing market, sending prices soaring. However, the ecommerce giant is now beginning to pivot away from leasing towards buying and developing its own facilities. Bisnow Will be interesting to watch how this plays out as a competitor with zero capital...