What I'm Reading Scaling Back: Higher prices for personal- and home-care items are driving Americans to purchase fewer consumer staples as inflation crimps budgets. Bloomberg Hitting the Brakes: Multifamily lending is expected to slow down for the remainder of 2022 as higher rates take a toll. However, the MBA is...
June 21st – Help Wanted
What I'm Reading Help Wanted: Construction projects across the U.S. are running short on labor just as $1 trillion in federal infrastructure money starts to kick in. Contractors are responding by offering benefits ranging from signing bonuses to housing allowances to attract and retain workers. Wall Street Journal Drying Up? Over...
June 6th – Pick Your Poison
What I'm Reading Leveling Off: Rent is still increasing sharply YoY but the pace is slowing somewhat. Calculated Risk Trade Off: Just-in-time inventory management substantially reduced the risk of inventory cycle recessions where over-ordering leads to a glut. In the post-pandemic world, companies are increasingly opting for a just-in-case model...
April 29th – On the Fence
What I'm Reading On the Fence: China's cabinet is split over whether or not to provide stimulus to bail out the country's tanking property market as fears of re-inflating a bubble persist. Financial Times Watch this space. Developers in China account for a large percentage of global commodity consumption. If...
April 8th – Fake it Till You Make It
What I'm Reading Fake it Till You Make It: A Miami (of course) company is offering "crypto mortgages" Wall Street Journal However, a careful reading of the offering reveals that it's still just a loan secured by the property with an additional pledge of the borrower's crypto holdings. This will...
February 16th – Got Ya Covered
What I'm Reading Got You Covered: As commercial real estate lenders and investors eye new yield opportunities, the industrial outdoor storage (IOS) sector has emerged as an asset class with large-scale, long-term growth potential. Commercial Observer The Big Short: Wall Street investment firms are buying up more vacation homes, aiming...
January 13th – Much Ado About Nothing
What I'm Reading Much Ado About Nothing: Despite wild forecasts of an eviction tsunami when the federal moratorium ended, actual eviction filings are still 40% below their pre-pandemic historical average. Five Thirty Eight Also, told ya so. Emptied Out: Omicron is upending grocery operations across the entire supply chain. Staffing...
January 6th – The Long Game
What I'm Reading The Long Game: Private equity companies are transitioning their business models towards perpetual capital vehicles, and it is creating a lot of buying power in real estate. Globe Street IMO, this will be a particularly strong tailwind for assets with lower capex requirements like self storage (including...
December 13th – Tipping Point
What I'm Reading Tipping Point: China Evergrande has defaulted on the debt it owes to global investors, according to Fitch Ratings. Evergrande has already said it would “actively engage” with its foreign creditors to come up with a plan for restructuring but any such plan will require the blessing of...
November 17th – Space Available
What I'm Reading 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...