What I'm Reading Close to the Nest: In the latest illustration of general mobility decline, a new US Census study found that by age 26 more than two-thirds of young adults in the U.S. lived in the same area where they grew up. 80% had moved less than 100 miles away...
June 15th – Tapping the Brakes
What I'm Reading Tapping the Brakes: From construction cost increases, to higher interest rates and rate cap costs and slowing sales, inflation is taking a toll on the CRE industry. Globe Street My guess? We are about to see a substantial slowdown in new development as the cost of capital...
June 8th – Danger Zone
What I'm Reading Danger Zone: Diesel prices are increasing at a quicker rate than gasoline prices and inventories, especially on the east coast continue to drop. A loss of global refinery capacity is primarily to blame. Freight Waves I'm surprised that this isn't getting more attention. The entire global supply...
May 31st – On the Move
What I'm Reading On the Move: The U-Haul move data is out for 2021. Unsurprisingly, RanchHarbor markets Texas, Florida, Arizona, Idaho and New Mexico all did well. California was at the bottom of the list. U-Haul See Also: Verizon data shows that Florida has been the big pandemic migration winner. ...
May 20th – Holding the Bag
What I'm Reading Holding the Bag: The Federal Reserve now owns $2.72 trillion in mortgage backed securities, up from $1.4 trillion in 2020. It has announced the intent to shrink that amount substantially in order to help tighten monetary policy. However, most of those loans are at much lower rates...
May 16th – Running on Empty
What I'm Reading Running on Empty: Record low diesel inventories on the east coast of the US could lead to rationing with truck stop giants Love's and Pilot Flying J already warning truckers of an imminent shortage. Much of this is being driven by "insane" prices in Europe that are...
March 25th – Pendulum Swinging
What I'm Reading Pendulum Swinging: Geopolitical stability and improvements in transportation and communications in recent decades allowed companies and countries to opt for what seemed to be the cheapest and easiest supply chain solutions rather than the most secure. Recent world events have revealed the risks of opting for inexpensive...
March 16th – On Watch
What I'm Reading On Watch: There is a strong correlation between a dramatic rise in oil prices and recessions. Historically, not every recession is preceded by a 50% rise in oil but every 50% rise in crude has resulted in a recession but not for the reason that you may...
February 28th – Round Trip
What I'm Reading Round Trip: Mortgage rates are back to 2019 levels but prices are far above where they were in 2019. Calculated Risk IMO, the impact on stressed home affordability on rent growth is still being generally underestimated, despite the explosive growth over the past year or so. Pile...
January 27th – Risky Business
What I'm Reading Risky Business: With interest rates rising, and property prices at all time highs, Canadian homeowners are increasingly turning to variable rate mortgages as a lower cost alternative. Variable rate mortgages, which offer a substantially lower initial payment now make up over half of all new home loans...