What I'm Reading Staying Power: As the pandemic fades, there was a sense that the effort to shorten supply lines and bring production back home would fade. However, that isn't happening. The construction of new manufacturing facilities in the US has soared 116% over the past year, dwarfing the 10%...
July 1st – Scaling Back
What I'm Reading Scaling Back: As prices climb on restaurant menus and grocery-store shelves, some packaged-food makers see more Americans making meals at home to save money, while restaurant operators are changing their offerings to cope with increasingly price conscious consumers. Wall Street Journal Taking a Toll: Higher mortgage rates...
June 30th – Nudge
What I'm Reading Boxed In: Steeper borrowing rates and high prices in the housing market are leading many buyers to give up. That is welcome news for owners of single-family rental homes. Wall Street Journal Moment of Truth: A recession will either be the catalyst that forces employees back to...
June 29th – June Gloom
What I'm Reading June Gloom: CRE market participants are increasingly negative as capital market woes take a toll. RCLCO released a new report saying that sentiment of real estate professionals has slipped nearly down to the range the firm associates with market distress and recession. Globe Street Today's CRE market...
June 28th – Bid ‘Em Up
What I'm Reading Bid 'Em Up: An unattainably expensive housing market and record low vacancies have resulted in a once-unthinkable situation - bidding wars for rental units. NPR Kicking the Can: Rising rates will make it difficult for some borrowers on marginal properties to refinance maturing CMBS loans. Expect another...
June 27th – Air Bag
What I'm Reading Double Edged Sword: The Fed is raising interest rates aggressively to bring down inflation. However, it will also crush investment, which will likely sew the seeds of future shortages as demand recovers quicker than supply can. This is the double edged sword in the housing market right...
June 24th – Pulling the Ripcord
What I'm Reading Pulling the Ripcord: Looking back, the non-bank mortgage lenders rushing to sell shares to the public last year was probably the peak of the business cycle. Since then, borrowing costs have doubled, the market has slowed to a crawl and the buyers of those IPOs are left holding...
June 13th – Shedding SZN
What I'm Reading Shedding SZN: The popular narrative in the warehouse space is that Amazon has a glut of warehouse space and is looking to dump it via sublease. A closer look at Amazon’s plans to sublet warehouse space show that it is largely looking to shed traditional, mid-market warehouses...
June 9th – How Low Can You Go?
What I'm Reading How Low Can You Go? The MBA's Market Composite Index, which includes purchase and refinance applications, fell 6.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis to 288.4, compared to 645.4 one year ago. That's the lowest level in 22 years. Reuters What a brutal time to be in the...
June 2nd – Out of Balance
What I'm Reading Out of Balance: Households boosted spending in April but drew heavily on savings in order to do so. Higher-income consumers are likely healthy enough to continue funding their spending through savings for a while as their excess savings are significant. However, lower income households do not have...