What I’m Reading Blurred Lines: States are facing off in a high-stakes legal battle over who is entitled to income taxes on remote workers when one is employed by a company in one state but resides in another. The results of this high-stakes legal battle will have a profound impact on...
December 21st – Temporary Move?
What I’m Reading Temporary Solution: The number of renters seeking short term (less than 6 month) lease arrangements when moving to new cities is way up this year. This suggests that the move away from urban markets may be more temporary than thought. Apartment List Sweet Spot: Pent up demand, healthy...
December 18th – The Great Mirage
One Big Thing Jonathan Litt of hedge fund Land and Buildings is predicting that next year will see a bounce back in the performance of pandemic-impacted real estate but that it will ultimately prove to be a mirage as secular headwinds turn against these market segments (emphasis mine): The Vaccine...
December 10th – Downdraft
What I’m Reading Downdraft: The National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC)’s Rent Payment Tracker found 75.4 percent of apartment households made a full or partial rent payment by December 6. While that is a whopping 780 basis point drop from 2019, it should be noted that December 5th and 6th both fell...
December 9th – Balancing Act
One Big Thing California’s eviction moratorium is scheduled to expire in early February. A new assembly bill is seeking to extend it through the end of 2021. Concurrently another assembly bill is attempting to establish a framework for dispersing rental relief. (h/t Steve Sims) Connect Media Two comments here: While I’m...
December 7th – Behind the Curve
What I’m Reading Behind the Curve: As expected, eCommerce orders surged to previously unseen levels this Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It got to the point that UPS put limits on pickups at several large retailers in an effort to not overwhelm their systems, despite knowing that this was coming. Wall Street...
December 4th – Strings Attached
What I’m Reading Strings Attached: CMBS borrowers that were granted initial forbearance in Q2 2020 are requesting another round of debt relief from servicers. However, even if granted this relief is likely to come with more stringent parameters such as additional equity contributions and personal recourse. Those who refuse or don’t...
December 3rd – Emptied Out
What I’m Reading Emptied Out: In 2011, US department stores employed 1.2 million employees across 8,600 stores, according to estimates from the research firm IBISWorld. But in 2020, there are now fewer than 700,000 employees in the sector, working across just over 6,000 locations. Vox Comeback Kid: The fact that AirBnb is about...
November 30th – Steady and Slow
What I’m Reading Slow and Steady: While the CMBS issuance volume has been consistently inching upward, 2020 issuance will close at roughly half of what was predicted a year ago, according to Kroll Bond Rating Agency. Kroll estimates this year’s total CMBS issuance will be $55 million while $95 billion was...
November 19th – Ringing the Bell
One Big Thing The Fed is now in a tricky spot when it comes to their massive mortgage bond buying program (emphasis mine): All of this serves to squeeze mortgage-bond investors in higher-rate securities. Most of them bought the debt at a premium, and the constant reduction in lending rates leaves...