What I'm Reading Staying Put: Nine out of ten mortgages in America carry an interest rate of less than 5%, which is the official level at which most new 30-year fixed-rate mortgages are now being written. Expect homeowners to hold onto their houses longer. Axios Sounding the Alarm: A Riverside...
April 19th – Mean Reversion
April 8th – Fake it Till You Make It
What I'm Reading Fake it Till You Make It: A Miami (of course) company is offering "crypto mortgages" Wall Street Journal However, a careful reading of the offering reveals that it's still just a loan secured by the property with an additional pledge of the borrower's crypto holdings. This will...
April 4th – Fighting the Last War
What I'm Reading Fighting the Last War: We tend to look to the recent past to understand today's market. However, the inflationary period of the late 1970s - which saw a decline in real housing prices with nominal prices up somewhat - is probably a better analogy than the housing...
April 1st – Flexing
What I'm Reading Flexing: Leases on warehouse and distribution facilities are getting shorter as landlords seek flexibility to sign new tenants or renew existing leases at inflating rates. Typically, warehouse landlords (and lenders) have favored longer leases with strong credit tenants as a way to mitigate downside. High demand, tight...
March 21st – Calm Before the (Next) Storm?
What I'm Reading Calm Before the (Next) Storm? In the first two months of 2022, the queue of ships waiting for Southern California berths fell, velocity of cargo moving through terminals increased and more boxes were unloaded at Southern California docks. However, part of the improvement may be due to...
March 17th – Up, Up and Away
What I'm Reading Up, Up and Away Part I: Demand for single-family rental homes is soaring, pushing prices to record highs, as Americans continue to want larger homes with outdoor spaces per the latest report from CoreLogic. Sunbelt cities like Miami and Phoenix are leading the charge. CNBC Up, Up...
March 10th – Riding the Wave
What I'm Reading Riding the Wave: Industrial supply is not likely to catch up with demand anytime soon, even as developers ramp up new construction. As a result, both rent and property values should continue to surge. Globe Street Much like what the market experienced during the pandemic, I expect...
March 8th – Buyer’s Remorse?
What I'm Reading Buyer's Remorse? RV sales surged during the pandemic. Some new owners are finding vehicle upkeep to be more than they bargained for. USA Today $6 gasoline is only going to add to the buyer's remorse. This is a perfect illustration of why I've been far more bullish...
March 7th – Stepping Up
What I'm Reading Ghost Town: Manhattan’s office availability rate hit 17.4% last month, a new record, according to Colliers data. Since the pandemic began in March 2020, overall availability has increased by 74.1% and now sits at nearly 94M SF. Bisnow Stepping Up: Amazon is pulling back on its logistics...