Urbanexus Update - Issue #56
Please scroll down for the weekly compilation of analysis, reporting and opinion about real estate and community development. Some links may lead to material that is behind a paywall.
The economy and investment
Goldman’s profit falls 21% as trading slows Goldman Sachs Group‘s first-quarter profit fell 21% from a year ago as quiet trading and underwriting took a toll across Wall Street.
Two words to help investors sleep at night: real estate
This article by Brad Thomas highlights differences in how recessions affect real estate as compared the overall economy, focusing on the eighteen year real estate cycle originally identified by Homer Hoyt
Real estate taxes
New Jersey, Illinois, Texas, Vermont, and Connecticut had the highest property tax rates in the nation in 2018, according to ATTOM Data Solutions. Attom performed its 2018 property tax analysis using data for more than 87 million U.S. single family homes, and it showed that property taxes levied on single family homes in 2018 totaled $304.6 billion, up 4% from $293.4 billion in 2017 and an average of $3,498 per home — an effective tax rate of 1.16%.
Metropolitan change
World urban population, land area & densities
The 2019 update of Demographia World Urban Areas, just released, provides population, urban land area, and average urban density estimates for the known 1,072 urban agglomerations with 500,000 or more residents (called “larger urban areas: in this article). The report can be downloaded here.
From gentrification to decline — www.citylab.com A new report and accompanying map finds extreme gentrification in a few cities, but the dominant trend—particularly in the suburbs—is the concentration of low-income population.
Real estate leadership
He led a REIT and now leads the ULI — leadingvoicespodcast.com
Ed Walter articulates lessons learned and wisdom he has gained throughout his career in the private sector and now at the Urban Land Institute.
Moving from leadership in market-rate housing to affordable housing — leadingvoicespodcast.com
Ron Terwilliger, a successful apartment developer and dedicated philanthropist, shares his philanthropic and policy-driven role in affordable housing and education.
Emergency housing for the homeless
A municipality uses disaster shelters for the homeless — crosscut.com
Manufactured in nearby Everett, WA, the easy-to-construct structures were made for hurricane relief, but have been serving another purpose closer to home in the nearby City of Lynnwood.
Resiliency
Economics and climate change — www.nytimes.com Economists have workable policy ideas for addressing climate change. But what if they’re politically impossible?
Around the world
11+ million face displacement as India booms
At least 11 million people in India risk being uprooted from their homes and land as authorities build highways and airports and cordon off forests, activists said on Tuesday, undermining a government push to provide housing for all citizens by 2022. The estimate includes about 1.9 million indigenous families whose land claims under the Forest Rights Act have been rejected, said advocacy group Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN).