What I'm Reading Another One Bites the Dust: Katerra, a SoftBank backed startup that said it could slash the cost of building and renovating apartments with offsite construction, is going bankrupt and may not even have enough cash to pay severance. This is the latest edition to the graveyard of...
May 27th – New High
What I'm Reading New High: The nationwide price to rent ratio has hit its highest level since at least 1975, taking out the 2006 peak. While I am still not sold on the idea that we are in a bubble, valuations are clearly very rich and we are clearly well...
May 14th – Safe Haven
What I'm Reading Safe Haven: Capital is flooding into Opportunity Zones as other traditional real estate tax advantages come under fire from the Biden Administration. At the moment, it looks like any revisions to the program will be minor, making it relatively more attractive to investors in the event that...
April 30th – Up, Up and Away
What I'm Reading It's Official: The Biden tax proposal includes getting rid of the 1031 for gains of over $500k, taxing carried interest as earned income and eliminating the stepped up basis. Obviously, this is the first offer in a negotiation but if even a small amount of these proposals...
April 1st – Rebound
What I'm Reading Rebound: Apartment List's rent index posted its largest monthly increase since 2017 in March. The markets that saw the fastest declines in 2020 led the way. Globe Street Wiped Out: More than 10% of restaurants in the United States have closed permanently since the coronavirus pandemic began...
March 31st – All For One
What I'm Reading Halt: As expected, the CDC extended their eviction ban residential evictions until the end of June. However, the extension makes no substantive changes to the policy, despite housing advocates pushing the administration to boost enforcement measures to prevent landlords from going around the moratorium. Politico Next Wave's...
March 19th – Tick Tock
What I'm Reading Tick Tock: Multifamily forbearance for agency borrowers has been extended through June 30, 2021 after having been set to expire on May 31st. Once the forbearance period ends, owners generally have to start repaying the deferred amount immediately and within 12 months, and while some owners have...
March 15th – Piggy Bank
What I'm Reading Piggy Bank: Cash out refinances have hit their highest level since the financial crisis as homeowners take advantage of low rates. Cash out transactions were muted over the past decade in the wake of the Great Recession but came back with a vengeance in 2020 as mortgage...
March 1st – Fuel on the Fire
What I'm Reading Fuel on the Fire: With long rates rising, investors in the mortgage bond market had to sell treasury positions in order to hedge their holdings, accelerating last week's bond market selloff. Christopher Maloney of Bloomberg explains what is happening perfectly: The forced sellers are investors in the...
February 24th – Slim Pickings
What I'm Reading Slim Pickins: Despite increasing mortgage rates, housing inventory is still at a record low. One thing to watch here as the vaccine rolls out: COVID exposure has been given as one reason that people are reluctant to list their homes. While that was undoubtedly true last spring,...