What I’m Reading The Empire Strikes Back: Despite a persistent narrative about California being a net COVID loser, the metros with the largest apartment rent increases in the 3rd Quarter of 2020 were Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, according to RealPage, Inc’s quarterly report on effective asking rents. California’s denser and...
September 30th – Misleading
I’m back! Spent the last week RV camping on California’s Central Coast. It was a lot of fun but good to be back in the saddle. What I’m Reading Misleading Metrics: The article from my interview with Globe Street’s Erika Morphy about sponsor overreliance on cash on cash returns as a...
September 15th – Building Inferno
What I’m Reading Building Inferno: Three million of California’s 12 million homes are at high risk for wildfires per CalFire. That designation hurts home values, which in turn increases mortgage default risk, according to research by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). If fires continue to cause more damage and insurance...
September 14th – Opening Up
What I’m Reading Opening Up: The Securities and Exchange Commission modified its definition of “accredited investor: in August, changing who is allowed by law to invest in private securities offerings. The new definition is less restrictive, which will likely open up an opportunity for more investors to participate in private real...
September 11th – Rolling Over
September 10th – Can’t Get Out
Can’t Get Out: US imports from Asia in August jumped 34 percent from June, driven by ongoing strong demand for e-commerce fulfillment and personal protective equipment (PPE). Imports from China alone last month were up 32 percent from June. I’ve been skeptical about the whole re-shoring-due-to-COVID narrative (outside of perhaps...
September 3rd – Stocking Up
What I'm Reading Stocking Up: US retailers — burned by stock-outs in the second quarter as the retail inventories-to-sales ratio hit a 2020 low in June — are ramping up imports, sending a vast majority of their cargoes through Southern California to feed waves of e-commerce orders to avoid getting...
September 1st – Liftoff
Welcome to Basis Points, a daily go-to for the best and most interesting curated commercial and residential real estate stories, combined with original commentary and analysis.If you are frequent reader of my blog (formerly Landmark Links), you may have picked up on some hints I’ve been dropping about an upcoming...