What I’m Reading
Postponed: The Federal Housing Finance Agency has announced that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae will extend multifamily forbearance for COVID-19. Qualifying multifamily property owners will be eligible for forbearance through June 30, 2021. The program was scheduled to expire on May 31, 2021. This move includes eviction protections as well and was largely expected. Will be interesting to see what happens this summer as vaccinations become more widespread. Globe Street
Flexible Arrangements: In a JLL survey of 2,000 workers, 72 percent said they would prefer to work from home more regularly, with two or three days spent in the office. Meanwhile, 66 percent expressed the desire to move to a hybrid model that includes working in offices, at home and at spaces like a co-working facility or coffee shop. JLL
What’d We Get? The $1.9T Biden stimulus includes $21.55 billion for emergency rental assistance, $5 billion for emergency housing vouchers and $100 million for rural housing. It also includes up to $28.6B in grants for restaurants that have been impacted by the pandemic. The Real Deal provides a great rundown. The Real Deal
Shifting Ground: Restaurants are finally reopening but operating challenges remain. Those who survived the past year are struggling to predict how many patrons will come back, and how fast. They also have no template for how much food to buy, staff to retain and which pandemic-related changes to keep. Also, the elephant in the room – new heavy-handed state or local regulations. Wall Street Journal
Drawdown: Housing inventory continues to fall. As of March 5th, inventory was at 318 thousand, compared to 720 thousand the same week a year ago. That is a decline of 56%. Calculated Risk
Chart of the Day
Dry powder: US bank deposits are up over $3 trillion from the same time last year.
At the same time, US consumers continue to cut back on their credit card balances. Revolving credit is down almost 12% from the same time last year – a record drop.
Source: The Daily Shot
WTF
Packing Heat: A man who received a pat down during an arrest claimed that a Glock 23 in his pants was actually his penis because Florida. The Smoking Gun
Bouncing Around: A man was arrested for stripping completely naked and jumping on a neighboring family’s trampoline because Florida. KLUV
Basis Points – A candid look at the economy, real estate, and other things sometimes related.
Visit us at RanchHarbor.com