What I'm Reading Help Wanted: Labor shortages are helping to keep more homes from being built, making housing even less affordable. The problem does not appear to be going away anytime soon. The Economist Surprising Result: About half of US states ended enhanced federal unemployment benefits early. So far, they...
September 2nd – Exodus
What I'm Reading Exodus: More California companies have already moved their headquarters out of the state this year than in all of 2020. While businesses often attribute their California exit to regulations like high taxes and increasing utility costs, other reasons may sound similar to individuals leaving the state, such...
July 29th -Open Field
What I'm Reading Open Field: Startups in smaller MSAs are facing competition from large Silicon Valley competitors when it comes to hiring employees: Some of the biggest names in tech aren’t just allowing existing workers to relocate out of the Bay Area, they are also starting to hire in places...
February 8th – Dead End?
What I'm Reading Dead End? Distressed debt hedge funds raised billions to take advantage of COVID opportunities. However, the capital markets have largely recovered and junk yields have plunged, leaving them with few opportunities to deploy their dry powder. This is totally reminiscent of the Great Recession when capital raised...
January 8th – Ultimatum
What I’m Reading Ultimatum: In another sign that flexible work arrangements will become a job perk, twenty-nine percent of working professionals say they would quit their jobs if they couldn’t continue working remotely, according to an online survey of 1,022 professionals by LiveCareer, an online resume and job search consulting...
December 3rd – Emptied Out
What I’m Reading Emptied Out: In 2011, US department stores employed 1.2 million employees across 8,600 stores, according to estimates from the research firm IBISWorld. But in 2020, there are now fewer than 700,000 employees in the sector, working across just over 6,000 locations. Vox Comeback Kid: The fact that AirBnb is about...
November 17th – What Lies Ahead
One Big Thing There has been a lot of COVID news to digest in recent days so I thought it would be helpful to put together a quick summary of what is going on. On the infection side, things are undeniably bad and getting worse. We have now seen over 11...
November 10th – Shot in the Arm
One Big Thing Like me, most of you probably woke up yesterday morning to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine news from the AP: Pfizer Inc. said Monday that its COVID-19 vaccine may be a remarkable 90% effective, based on early and incomplete test results that nevertheless brought a big burst of optimism...
November 3rd – Bounce Back
What I’m Reading Bounce Back: Apartment demand rebounded strongly in the third quarter outside of high-priced gateway markets. The rebound helped to stabilize the multifamily market and prevented asking rents from declining as much as would have been expected considering the historic decline in economic performance in the second quarter. Yardi...
November 2nd – Lifeline
What I’m Reading One Big Thing: A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how ESG trends are likely to provide a growing headwind for the office market in the coming years. Today, I’m going to focus on a different segment of the real estate market that I’ve followed closely for years: housing....