Friday, February 21, 2025

Economics

Empty apartments finally start to fill

The biggest apartment construction boom in four decades flooded the market with new supply over the past two years. Apartment owners had to contend with a surge in empty units. That is starting to change. The...

Renters slow their roll

Over a third of U.S. renters have lived in the same home for at least five years—up from 28.4 percent a decade ago according to a new report from Redfin. Economic fundamentals are likely...

The calculus of consent

Enjoying the fruits of the world’s economic powerhouse make it hard to dismiss the attributes that set the U.S. on top. It also makes it a challenge to ignore those things that so clearly...

Factors driving apartment demand and consumer sentiment

Last year’s surprising upside in apartment demand is expected to continue this year, even if the pace of absorption slows due to fewer new deliveries, said RealPage Chief Economist Carl Whittaker, who...

U.S. energy exports soar 50 years post-1973 oil embargo

It’s been just over 50 years since the 1973 Oil Embargo disrupted the nation’s energy supplies, sending energy prices soaring and creating long lines at gas pumps as drivers sought increasingly scarce gasoline. In the...

Affordable housing in the U.S.

Housing affordability has emerged as a key issue in this year’s U.S. presidential election. Both Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump have talked about what they would do to increase the supply of...

The average age of U.S. homebuyers jumps to 56

The average age of homebuyers in the U.S. has risen by six years since July 2023—another sign that younger Americans are being priced out of the market due to escalating ownership costs. The average age...

The U.S. does not have a housing shortage

The word “shortage” has a very specific meaning. It refers to the inability to purchase a good at the current market price (or at any price). Rent control, which restricts the legal price of...

Men over 70 flooding back into the workforce

The headline figure of 12,000 jobs from the latest labor-market report is getting all the attention—but as usual, the much more interesting stuff is buried in the fine print. In this case it’s about the...

Multifamily core and value-add metrics outperform expectations

Much news about multifamily has been about the difficulties in the asset class. A new report from CBRE Research raises an interesting comparison to the office segment—a differentiation in performance by property subclass. CBRE said...
Corporate retreat

Why corporate America is retreating from social activism

In January, Axios reported a developing trend in corporate America: corporations across the United States were backing away from DEI, which had become a “minefield” for companies. Following a multi-year boom in the Diversity, Equity,...

Costco life

Costco has jumped into the nation’s affordable housing crisis. The warehouse retailer, which operates more than 500 stores across the U.S., broke ground on a different type of superstore in September—one that will include...

Inflation is the most destructive disease known to modern societies —Milton Friedman

Here’s how. 1 Shoe leather The resources and energy people use to convert deteriorating currency into stable assets are costly. Economists call this shoe leather costs, alluding to how people destroy their shoes in the metaphorical...

Paying the fox to watch the chickens: The war on private housing

Despite the rise in homelessness, the federal government continues to raise the barrier to creating shelter for those without permanent housing. Infusing bad actors with HUD money is another layer. In September the Biden admin....

Bad loans will cost taxpayers $65.2B in 2025

GAAP stands for “generally accepted accounting principles,” and are a set of rules/standards for preparing and reporting financial statements in the U.S. (unless you’re a federal agency). RULES = U.S. private businesses + Federal agencies Federal agencies set...
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