What I'm Reading Disconnect: US Economic data aren't adding up. Incomes indicate a very strong economy while expenditures show a somewhat weakening one. Something in the data is incorrect. The Overshoot Bullwhip: Lumber prices have shed over 50% since March and lumber yards are filling up as mills slow their...
February 9th – Round Trip
What I'm Reading Out of the Basement: The amount of negative yielding debt in the world is falling rapidly. After topping out at $17.8 trillion at the end of 2020, it has dropped to $6.1 trillion today. Expect this to continue to fall as central banks hike. Bloomberg One big...
January 7th – Poached
What I'm Reading Poached: Boise, Idaho has an interesting jobs dynamic that I suspect is playing out in other so-called 'Zoom towns' as well. Historically low local wages, coupled with a strong talent pool have made Boise a target-rich environment for coastal companies - especially in tech - looking for...
November 2nd – Sell the News
What I'm Reading Sell the News: Interest rates have increased in recent months as the Federal Reserve began signaling that they will begin tapering their bond purchasing. However, recent history suggests that yields tend to fall once actual tapering begin. US Housing and Mortgage Market Weekly Staying Close: Relocations are...
October 5th – Honey Badger
What I'm Reading Staying Remote: PriceWaterhouseCoopers is freeing the entirety of its U.S. workforce to work remotely full-time, a decision that will impact 40,000 client services workers. The Real Deal In response, the CMBS markets did their best honey badger impression. Will be interesting to watch this one play out: ...
August 6th – No End in Sight
Quick programming note: I'm going to be on a family vacation for the next couple of weeks so I won't be posting every day. I hope that all of you can find some time to get outside and enjoy the month of August! What I'm Reading No End in Sight:...
August 2nd – Bid Em Up
What I'm Reading Bid Em Up: A new report from real estate technology company Zavvie on iBuying transactions over the first half of 2021 found that offers from iBuyers were on average 104.1 percent of market value. That’s a marked increase from 2020, when iBuyers offers were coming in at...
July 15th – In N Out
What I'm Reading In N Out: Starwood is throwing in the towel on the mall business, selling 22 of the 30 malls that it owned before COVID and taking a loss in order to get out from underneath approximately $2 billion in CMBS debt. Essentially, Starwood decided that they will...
June 25th – Fill Er Up
What I'm Reading Tailwind: American household balance sheets are flush, with assets growth far outpacing liabilities over the past year. A lot of this is due to home price inflation and consumers tapping HELOCs for consumption and investment could provide fuel for economic growth. Bloomberg Waiting List: Winnebago is the...
June 17th – Hold The Line
What I'm Reading Holding the Line: The bid/ask gap between buyers and sellers of property types impacted by the pandemic is closing, with buyers mostly meeting seller demands. However, substantial gaps still exist in some markets. Sellers refusing to meet buyers' expectations on price over the past year is a...