Urbanexus Update - Issue #144
This selection of real estate and community development news and information comes from H. Pike Oliver. Please note that some items may be behind a paywall.
Housing
Global housing boom is running out of steam
The big question is where are prices going to fall most sharply?
US rents hit records but some areas are cooling off More than half of US cities have seen double-digit rent hikes — but some Sun Belt cities are showing signs of cooling off.
U.S. house values fell for the first time since 2012
After two years of stunning growth, home values fell nationwide for the first time since 2012 as competition for houses eased. Some industry experts say housing is in a recession. But this is very different from 2008.
New-home market in the USA 'at a crossroads'
Homebuilders across the U.S. are shifting their strategies and financial outlooks amid changing consumer demand for housing.
But where the jury is still out is whether the trend toward elevated canceled contracts, more incentives and lower demand for housing is settling out to pre-pandemic levels — when demand for homes was still higher than historic norms — or will continue to worsen.
Industrial
A $30Bn investment in Phoenix area chip plants
Tech giant Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) has signed an agreement with the infrastructure affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM), a global alternative asset management firm, to expand semiconductor manufacturing plants in the Phoenix metropolitan area on 700 acres in the City of Chandler, Arizona
Land
The booming luxury ranch market
Americans have long looked west to enrich their holdings. But the pandemic prompted a land grab, with billionaires and multi-millionaires leading a land rush.
Demographics
Population growth slowdown in the USA
Previous analyses of Census Bureau estimates make plain that the nation’s population growth has ground down to a historic low: only 0.1% growth between July 2020 and July 2021. During this prime year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of deaths rose sharply, births declined, and immigration reached its lowest levels in decades. At the same time, population movement within the U.S. led to sharp declines in many of its largest metro areas—particularly in these areas’ biggest cities.
Real estate investment strategy
Blackstone's Jonathan Pollack on navigating generational volatility — www.recapitalusa.com
The mega manager's Structured Finance Group head is using macro trends and robust data to navigate generational volatility and help drive progress in the commercial real estate market. In an interview with Real Estate Capital USA, Pollack outlined a strategy based on data-driven pragmatism, conservative leverage, and the view that the commercial real estate market is undergoing a significant transformation.
Mixed-use projects for the ‘Live-Work-Play’ consumer
By Nicholas Haines, CEO, Bromley Cos. The desire to live close to everyday retail destinations — grocery stores, restaurants, gyms — isn’t new. But demand for this type of amenity has become increasingly popular with the rise of mixed-use developments.
While the pandemic blurred the lines between living, working and playing, rental communities that include residential, office and retail space have more than doubled in demand throughout the United States just over the past decade. These units, also known as live-work-play (LWP) apartments, have seen a substantial increase in interest, especially among millennials.
Walkability is one of the primary traits that millennials seek when they’re searching for residential options, and LWP apartments present a unique opportunity to blend accessibility with desirable living experiences, world-class amenities, communal green spaces and exciting restaurant, retail and entertainment options.
LWP apartments have proven to be a worthy investmentother age groups from mid-20s to active adults to increasingly explore these types of living situations.
Development planning and regulation
Summer of NIMBY in Silicon Valley Moguls and investors from the tech industry, which endorses housing relief, banded together to object to a plan for multifamily homes near their estates in Atherton, Calif.
The billionaire housing advocate goes NIMBY Marc Andreessen says he’s all for more new housing, but public records tell a different story.
Virtual tools to fix housing problems City officials are using digital simulations and other online tools to ease contentious public debates over new development and street changes.
Construction
CBRE anticipates more inflation in construction costs
U.S. construction costs are forecast to increase 14.1% year over year by the end of 2022 due to the ongoing labor shortage, inflation, supply chain disruptions, pandemic reverberations, and the war in Ukraine, according to a report from commercial real estate services and investment firm CBRE. The projected increase for 2022 exceeds 2021’s 11.5% rise and “well outpaces” the historical average gain of 2% to 4% per year, states the report.
Around the world
Ireland Q2 residential rents up 12.6 YOY Based on a new rental report by Daft.ie, Ireland market rents in the second quarter of 2022 were an average of 12.6% higher than the same period a year earlier, as availability of rental homes reached an all-time low.