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...
July 14th – No Shelter
What I'm Reading Walk Out: Some California truckers who move containers in and out of the marine terminals at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach say they plan to participate in a work stoppage Wednesday to protest a controversial state law, AB5, that seeks to limit the use...
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 21st – Help Wanted
What I'm Reading Help Wanted: Construction projects across the U.S. are running short on labor just as $1 trillion in federal infrastructure money starts to kick in. Contractors are responding by offering benefits ranging from signing bonuses to housing allowances to attract and retain workers. Wall Street Journal Drying Up? Over...
May 9th – Boomerang
What I'm Reading Boomerang: Millions of older Americans retired early during the pandemic, leaving the US in a severe labor imbalance. However, new data indicates that they are returning to the workforce in large numbers in recent months. Many retirees are being pulled back to jobs by a combination of...
May 6th – Mean Reversion
What I'm Reading Mean Reversion: Americans have returned to their pre-pandemic consumption habits with spending on gyms, concerts and recreational travel up substantially. At the same time, pandemic darlings like Peloton, Netflix and Instacart have underperformed. Wall Street Journal My take: a lot of this is mean reversion. Americans were...
May 5th – Anchors Aweigh
What I'm Reading Leading Indicator? Amazon's rapid expansion in both labor and capital capacity over the past couple of years turned out to be a leading indicator of inflation. The overbuilding and over hiring comments in its latest earnings report may be a good indicator that inflation is slowing. Bloomberg...
April 22nd – Tough Nut to Crack
What I'm Reading Tough Nut to Crack: The price of a home sold in March set a record, as inventory dwindled and sales fell. Sharply rising mortgage rates are not showing much of an impact on housing yet. CNBC As discussed here previously, I believe that structural factors in the...
March 29th – Off to the Races
What I'm Reading Off to the Races: Through the first three months of the year, 2022’s national rent growth is outpacing 2021’s record rent growth, according to Zumper’s National Rent Report published last week. Zumper Its almost as if home ownership becoming completely unaffordable creates more renters or something. Time...
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...