What I'm Reading Kicking the Can: The CDC announced another extension of the housing eviction moratorium. The moratorium, which was scheduled to end June 30th and will now be pushed to the end of July. At least the length of the extensions is getting shorter, I guess. Globe Street Fighting...
June 25th – Fill Er Up
What I'm Reading Tailwind: American household balance sheets are flush, with assets growth far outpacing liabilities over the past year. A lot of this is due to home price inflation and consumers tapping HELOCs for consumption and investment could provide fuel for economic growth. Bloomberg Waiting List: Winnebago is the...
June 24th – Quid Pro Quo
What I'm Reading Payoff: Gov. Gavin Newsom says California will pay off all the past-due rent that accumulated in the nation's most populated state because of the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, a promise to make landlords whole while giving renters a clean slate. I'm sure that its just a...
June 23rd – Out of Harm’s Way
What I'm Reading Sticker Shock: Non-transitory inflation could provide some benefit to owners of existing buildings that would help offset more expensive debt. Higher input prices for construction could, in theory, limit supply growth in every real estate sector, even as demand grows, which would help support the recovery in...
June 22nd – Scapegoat
What I'm Reading Wishful Thinking: Public pension funds are pouring money into alternatives thanks to low yields (and the fact that they still haven't lowered absurdly high return expectations). However, merely investing in alternatives doesn't necessarily generate higher returns. This quote from Jason Zweig sums it up perfectly: "The message...
June 21st – Pop Up
What I'm Reading On Demand: Pop-up distribution centers are becoming a thing as the pandemic forced retailers and e-commerce platforms to quickly and cost-effectively respond to localized demand surges in their supply chains. Chain Store Age Cream Rises to the Top: For years, international investors favored office buildings when it...
June 18th – Pile Up
What I'm Reading Pile Up: SKW Funding and Bain Capital have formed a JV targeting $1.3 billion of acquisitions and loan originations on troubled assets over the next several years. The money targeting distress keeps pouring in despite a lack of actual distress. Consider this yet another reminder that fundraising...
June 17th – Hold The Line
What I'm Reading Holding the Line: The bid/ask gap between buyers and sellers of property types impacted by the pandemic is closing, with buyers mostly meeting seller demands. However, substantial gaps still exist in some markets. Sellers refusing to meet buyers' expectations on price over the past year is a...
June 16th – Called It
What I'm Reading Called It: About a year ago, there was a lot of handwringing over what would happen to the millions of homeowners in forbearance once accommodations expired. I pointed out (on the old blog) that we wouldn't see any meaningful distressed sales because borrowers were equity rich. Instead,...
June 15th – Round Trip
What I'm Reading Out of Balance: A recent study by LendingTree found that median housing costs were lower for renters than for homeowners with a mortgage in all 50 of the largest US metro areas. Lending Tree Backed Up: The primary driver of the inflationary spike that we are currently...