What I'm Reading Long in the Tooth: The average US warehouse is 42 years old and only 14% of warehouses are less than 10 years old. This is a big problem in an industry that is changing rapidly where older product tends to be functionally obsolete. Newer buildings typically have...
May 3rd – Dried Up
What I'm Reading Dried Up: Refinance activity has dried up and isn't expected to rebound this year per Old Republic Title's earnings call. Housing Wire Drying Out: Arizona has become the first state to experience deep cutbacks caused by a drought-fueled decline in the Colorado River. The reduction will hit...
May 2nd – Whipsaw
What I'm Reading Whipsaw: US GDP surprised to the downside last week, declining 1.4%. The drop stemmed from a widening trade deficit. Imports to the U.S. surged and exports fell, dynamics reflecting pandemic-related supply-chain constraints. A slower pace of inventory investment by businesses in the first quarter—compared with a rapid...
April 29th – On the Fence
What I'm Reading On the Fence: China's cabinet is split over whether or not to provide stimulus to bail out the country's tanking property market as fears of re-inflating a bubble persist. Financial Times Watch this space. Developers in China account for a large percentage of global commodity consumption. If...
April 28th – SALT in the Wound
What I'm Reading SALT in the Wound: The Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the SALT deduction cap from the 2017 Trump tax bill. Looks like the $10k cap is here to stay, at least until it sunsets in 2025. Commercial Observer Streamline: A new California bill - AB2234 -...
April 21st – Back to School
What I'm Reading Boomtown: A massive population influx has set off a boom in South Florida's industrial market. With low vacancies, scarce land and continued population and economic growth, its likely to continue. Wealthmanagement.com Back to School: BREIT's insatiable appetite continues with its just-announced purchase of student housing REIT American...
April 20th – Stay
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 6th – Here We Go Again
What I'm Reading Here We Go Again: After being thwarted last year, the Biden administration is going after 1031 exchanges again in its proposed fiscal budget for 2023. That said, the proposal will meet strong opposition (again) and I sort of doubt that there is appetite for this in a...