What I'm Reading Game Over: Massive crowdfunding sinkhole Prodigy Network has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The company, which had raised a reported $690MM from investors was overleveraged and besieged by lawsuits when its founder died suddenly in May and investor communication ceased. This is a tragic reminder of the...
March 29th – Virtual Reality
What I'm Reading Virtual Reality: For those of you unaware, part of the burgeoning NFT craze includes platforms like Earth 2 and Metaverse that recreate earth digitally and allow people to buy up virtual property, "develop" it and trade it. Metaverse is now in the process of launching a REIT...
March 23rd – Overflow Conditions
What I'm Reading Overflow: The red hot housing market coupled with stubbornly high unemployment has ignited a boom in new realtors. However, housing supply - which was already low before 2020 - has been dropping like a rock and there are now more realtors than homes for sale in the...
March 22nd – Wanna Get Away?
What I'm Reading Wanna Get Away? Demand for second homes increased far more than for primary homes between January 2020 and January 2021, according to a Redfin analysis of mortgage application data from Optimal Blue, a real estate analytics firm. If ever there were an indication of K-shaped recovery, this...
March 19th – Tick Tock
What I'm Reading Tick Tock: Multifamily forbearance for agency borrowers has been extended through June 30, 2021 after having been set to expire on May 31st. Once the forbearance period ends, owners generally have to start repaying the deferred amount immediately and within 12 months, and while some owners have...
March 15th – Piggy Bank
What I'm Reading Piggy Bank: Cash out refinances have hit their highest level since the financial crisis as homeowners take advantage of low rates. Cash out transactions were muted over the past decade in the wake of the Great Recession but came back with a vengeance in 2020 as mortgage...
March 11th – Bailed Out
What I'm Reading Bailed Out: The latest round of federal stimulus will provide San Francisco with about $600MM over the next two years, wiping out the vast majority of its $650MM budget deficit and likely sparing it from substantial budget cuts. This was always the bullish case for blue cities...
March 10th – Postponement
What I'm Reading Postponed: The Federal Housing Finance Agency has announced that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae will extend multifamily forbearance for COVID-19. Qualifying multifamily property owners will be eligible for forbearance through June 30, 2021. The program was scheduled to expire on May 31, 2021. This move includes eviction...
March 4th – Balancing Act
What I'm Reading Balancing Act: With home prices up 14.8% YOY in January and mortgage rates rising of late as well, fewer households are able to qualify for a mortgage. The beneficiary of this will likely be rental housing, both apartments and SFR. Marcus and Millichap Leverage: The Massachusetts Superior...
March 3rd – Short Term Bet
What I'm Reading Short Term Bet: As thousands of retail leases come up for renewal, their duration is increasingly shrinking, as businesses grapple with an unpredictable future and look for ways to slash costs, stay flexible and maintain leverage over their landlords, even after the health crisis abates. If the...