What I'm Reading Hoarding: Panicked American shippers may be overbuying goods in an attempt to build inventory to provide a cushion in the event of another global crisis. They are making the current container crisis worse. Splash Its Bad Everywhere: There are over 60 container ships full of import cargo...
September 27th – Expect Delays
What I'm Reading Expect Delays: NMHC's latest Construction survey found that a whopping 98% of multifamily developer respondents reported being impacted by a lack of materials, the highest share since the survey began. In addition, 83% of respondents reported delays in permitting and starts, 72% reported deals being repriced by...
September 24th – Trade Off
What I'm Reading Trade Off: In an effort to hedge against further rising costs, 3rd party logistics companies are expanding their domestic warehouse space to reduce the frequency of long distance shipping. This, in turn is driving demand for warehouse space higher. According to CBRE’s Supply Chain Advisory, transportation costs...
September 23rd – Teeing Off
What I'm Reading Teeing Off: After years of languishing, demand for private golf club community amenities is at an all time high. The sport - and real estate developments centered around it - had been experiencing declines as younger generations tended to show less interest than their parents. Then the...
September 21st – Logjam
What I'm Reading Logjam: The Los Angeles / Long Beach port logjam has enough containers to cross half of the US if laid end-to-end. Amazingly, the problem is getting worse. The average wait is currently 8.7 days compared with 6.2 in mid-August, according to L.A. gCaptain Respite: The producer price...
September 10th – Putting This to Bed
What I'm Reading Putting This to Bed: In total, 1 million forbearance plans will expire between now and the end of 2021. There is a vocal contingent that has been predicting a wave of foreclosures for months. However, I am virtually certain that this won't happen as almost all of...
September 8th – 800 LB Gorilla
What I'm Reading 800 LB Gorilla: Amazon is on pace to absorb nearly 120 million square feet of commercial space this year and accounts for eight of the ten largest industrial projects underway in the United States. The ecommerce giant is having a massive impact on everything from pricing and...
September 3rd – More Help Wanted
What I'm Reading Help Wanted: Labor shortages are helping to keep more homes from being built, making housing even less affordable. The problem does not appear to be going away anytime soon. The Economist Surprising Result: About half of US states ended enhanced federal unemployment benefits early. So far, they...
September 1st – Spread Out
What I'm Reading Spread Out: In a substantial shift from the past decade, more Americans now say that they prefer a community with big houses even if local amenities are farther away. Part of this is due to Millennial household formation and part is due to the pandemic. However, the...
August 31st – Double Edged Sword
What I'm Reading Double Edged Sword: Almost everyone claims to want more affordable housing but there is little will to actually achieve it. In reality there is no widespread affordable housing without a decline in property values and no politician gets elected to statewide office by promising to slash real...