Lumber prices continue to surge in June
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its producer price index report for June. It showed that overall prices for processed goods for intermediate demand were up 0.7 percent in June and they increased...
The Landlord Police
This week in Portland NAHB is voting on the Federal Anti-Poverty and Economic Mobility Initiative resolution. The resolution calls on Congress to make changes to address the unintended consequences of HUD’s “Making Affordable Housing...
Trade wars
U.S. farmers have been on a tear to move soybeans to China in front of the 25 percent tariff the Chinese government has said it will impose on U.S. agricultural products. Soybean exports, alone,...
The rent’s too high? Ease runaway regulation
There’s not enough affordable rental housing in America, and not enough deals that pencil to build more. The lack of land, labor and lumber are all major obstacles to building more units, but regulation...
Feeling younger = younger brain
If you feel younger than your actual age, your brain may be aging more slowly than others. Subjective age—feeling 40 when you’re 60—in older adults is linked to a healthier mind, stronger memory, and...
New privacy laws will affect California apartment owners
California has passed a consumer privacy law that will compel significant changes on companies that deal in personal data. Silicon Valley internet companies, tech companies, and many other stakeholders were involved in the negotiation...
Compound word for the day: self-awareness
Northern California, the startup cradle of the world, is replete with superhumans. If you doubt me, just ask them. To live here is to live in an alternative universe where luxury white buses line...
Test your start-up idea
If start-ups had a motherland, it would be the U.S. with 45,360 new businesses in 2017 (second place is India with 5,384). Northern California would be the startup cradle according to the Kauffman Index...
Facebook launches print magazine
Airbnb, Uber, and now Facebook: Think of print as a cat with nine lives. It’s now collided with human behavior and the freshest face on the block taking his/her turn at reinventing the status...
Yardi Matrix releases multifamily housing outlook
Last Friday, Yardi Matrix released a report forecasting positive performance for the U.S. multifamily housing market for the rest of this year. However, good as it may be, performance is expected to slow from...
ResMan goes for growth
Let's say you are a property manager running multifamily properties. You need a property management software package to support your business. You don't like the options available so you roll your own. You find...
JCHS releases State of Housing 2018
The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) released the latest version of its report, “The state of the nation’s housing.” This annual report has been produced since 1988 and examines the conditions in...
Land use policy and the inner ring
In a paper titled “Upscaling the Neighborhood” presented at the meeting “Land, Labor, and the Rule of Law” at the Hoover Institution, Notre Dame Law School professor Nicole Stelle Garnett discussed land use policy...
HUD launches the Detroit EnVision Center
HUD secretary, Dr. Ben Carson, has made his department's measure of success the number of those who progress beyond needing assistance rather than the number of people who are being assisted. He has proposed...
Freddie Mac talks housing market fundamentals
Recently Steve Guggenmos, Aaron Dunn and Sara Hoffman of Freddie Mac Multifamily recorded a podcast discussing multifamily housing market fundamentals. Reaching the top Hoffman reported that market watchers expect that the rate of new supply to the...
