Results matter
Snapshots and soundbites are used to describe politics. Makes sense. The subconscious mind constantly scans the landscape for the most important thing: The path to prosperity, stability and opportunity. And of course, a single...
Candidates move focus to housing
In the 2024 race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump for the U.S. presidency, housing is a major issue for the first time since the 1990s. One thing is certain, the...
Biden calls for rent control
President Biden formally announced his national rent control plan at a campaign event in Nevada July 16. The president intends to limit rent increases to 5 percent per year, as he announced during his press...
The price of disorder
I was once pitched a deal in the heart of the Amazon—Manaus, Brazil. What was I buying? Firstly, a commercial asset. But I couldn’t shake my concern around governance. The sanctity of a contract...
INFOGRAPHIC: Battle of will
Launching from the bestselling 2008 book, Nudge, by Thayer and Sunstein, nudging became a cultural phenomenon. The concept assumes that behavior is better persuaded than regulated. Sounds good, but does it work? 400+ behavioral insight...
New metrics make Midwest investment attractive
Recently, the Midwest has shown surprising growth and economic resilience, making this region an attractive candidate for multifamily development, investment and general interest. Often considered the slowest growing region in the U.S., the Midwest has...
Mod, mod world
Some of the busiest apartment developers in the U.S. are still trying to use three-dimensional “modules” created in factories to reduce the cost of construction. For more than a decade, modular construction companies promised they...
Revenue management’s data dilemma
The first multifamily housing property went live on revenue management (RM) 23 years ago in February. That system was the first iteration of Lease Rent Optimizer (LRO), designed by Talus Solutions and later acquired...
Why housing costs remain a major hurdle for lowering inflation
Housing inflation continues to be a stubborn impediment to the consumer price index (CPI) falling back to the Federal Reserve’s target. Despite broader economic inflation cooling significantly from pandemic peaks, the shelter inflation index has...
Apartmentalize roundup: Maintenance as cost saver, operations help close deals
The quest for savings at multifamily properties kicked up a notch at June’s National Apartment Association’s Apartmentalize conference in Philadelphia. Managing expectations: maintenance Maintenance, an essential and rapidly growing cost center that is nonetheless crucial to...
Building permits for apartments declined nearly 30 percent since pandemic
Persistently high interest rates are restricting the ability of businesses to borrow money to invest in real estate construction. Fewer builders are seeking building permits for multifamily housing units or apartments as many remain concerned...
Labor Department quietly cuts employment growth in half
The labor market increasingly resembles the imposing visage of the Wizard of Oz, with disappointment behind the curtain. Just look at the latest job numbers. Recent data indicate the economy added about half as many...
Millennials rising
Millennials are now wealthier than previous generations were at their age. They can’t believe it either. The median household net worth of older millennials, born in the 1980s, rose to $130,000 in 2022 from $60,000...
Categories hit hardest by inflation
Despite inflation cooling to the lowest level in more than three years in July, there’s no way around the fact that consumer prices in the United States have risen sharply over the past three...
Has capitalism come at the expense of the poor?
Perhaps the most amazing fact in all economic history is the unprecedented rise in wealth per person that has taken place in the last two centuries, following the Industrial Revolution. But it remains a...
