What I'm Reading Safe Harbor: There is a growing interest in marina investment where cap rates have stayed relatively constant over the past year while demand for slip space has soared along with new boat sales. This fits in nicely with RanchHarbor's thesis that real estate used to store discretionary...
September 10th – Putting This to Bed
What I'm Reading Putting This to Bed: In total, 1 million forbearance plans will expire between now and the end of 2021. There is a vocal contingent that has been predicting a wave of foreclosures for months. However, I am virtually certain that this won't happen as almost all of...
September 9th – Back to School
What I'm Reading Back to School: COVID caused slowing of new supply in the student housing market, helping to stabilize rents. Now that class is back in session, some of the world's largest property investors are pumping billions of dollars into buying and developing off-campus housing. (h/t Mike Deermount) Wall...
September 8th – 800 LB Gorilla
What I'm Reading 800 LB Gorilla: Amazon is on pace to absorb nearly 120 million square feet of commercial space this year and accounts for eight of the ten largest industrial projects underway in the United States. The ecommerce giant is having a massive impact on everything from pricing and...
September 7th – Not So Fast
What I'm Reading Not So Fast: The Biden Administration's $3.5 trillion budget proposal is in limbo after West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin came out strongly against it in a Wall Street Journal OpEd, raising inflationary concerns. Wall Street Journal Speed Bump: The US construction industry's recovery from the lows of...
September 3rd – More Help Wanted
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...
September 1st – Spread Out
What I'm Reading Spread Out: In a substantial shift from the past decade, more Americans now say that they prefer a community with big houses even if local amenities are farther away. Part of this is due to Millennial household formation and part is due to the pandemic. However, the...
August 31st – Double Edged Sword
What I'm Reading Double Edged Sword: Almost everyone claims to want more affordable housing but there is little will to actually achieve it. In reality there is no widespread affordable housing without a decline in property values and no politician gets elected to statewide office by promising to slash real...
August 30th – Overloaded
One Big Thing Overload: Harvard University's "The State of the Nation's Housing 2021" report found, unsurprisingly that the nation's affordable housing crisis is getting worse. What is perhaps more troubling is that current economic and market conditions indicate that there is no end in sight. Globe Street That brings us...