What I'm Reading Make it Rain: An LA Times review of state data found that it routinely costs more than $1m per unit to build a subsidized affordable housing unit in California. Between prevailing wage requirements, high material and regulatory costs, the process has become so bloated with corruption and...
April 5th – Backslide
What I'm Reading Backslide: Troubled real estate loans for the likes of retail and offices that saw payments get back on track after the 2020 crash are re-defaulting -- signaling more pain for commercial mortgage-bond investors. This is occurring as commercial landlords who lost tenants during Covid are still having...
March 2nd – Paved Paradise
What I'm Reading Land Rush: The imminent rise of self driving trucks will fuel even more demand for outdoor industrial storage. (h/t Scott Ramser) Wall Street Journal IMO, this previously overlooked space is about to become a darling of the CRE investment world. Why? Demand will continue to increase due...
February 10th – Shrinkage
What I'm Reading Shifting Focus: Foreign investment in US commercial real estate has exceeded pre-pandemic levels. The big difference is that overseas investors are focusing much more on warehouses and apartments than they were before the pandemic - just like domestic investors. Wall Street Journal Rise of the Machines: Advances...
November 10 – In the Money
What I'm Reading Double Edged Sword: Long-underfunded state and local pension funds are reaping a historic windfall thanks to billions of dollars in record market gains and surplus tax revenues. Now they need to decide what to do with the money in an environment where assets are richly priced and...
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...
August 20th – Lake Reads Week in Review
What I'm Reading Flipped: Some of the most affordable rental markets in the US are about on pace to become some of the most expensive thanks to skyrocketing rents. This will eventually become a headwind to economic growth as residents in some of the most productive and quickly-growing cities will...
May 24th – No Slack
What I'm Reading No Slack: Nearly every economic issue that we are currently experiencing is a result of the lack of slack in our system being a feature and not a bug. David Merkel sums the conundrum up perfectly: There's not enough slack in the system. We need more redundancy....
May 21st – Clogged
What I'm Reading Clogged: This week's housing starts number was a big disappointment, especially given the lack of supply that has helped lead to rising prices. It has a lot to do with a lack of finished lot inventory that has caused a major bottleneck, forcing builders to slow down. ...
May 11th – Running of the Bulls
What I'm Reading Glass Half Full: The results DLA Piper’s latest State of the Market Survey revealed no shortage of bullish sentiment about commercial real estate with 74% expressing optimism about the market in 2021 versus just 24% a year prior. Respondents were especially bullish on markets like Austin and...