Happy Friday, friends! It’s no secret that the real estate market has seen a slow-down recently. And with that slow down, I’ve found myself spending a lot more time getting back out on the road to see as many homes on the market as possible. I’m talking with agents to see what they have coming up in the next few months—and still soliciting teething tips for Mav…One thing we’re not doing right now is panicking over a pending ‘housing crash’ that gets a lot of clicks in the news. I’ve seen some incredible houses go on the market at fair prices all over San Diego recently and there’s been a good amount of interest in them—it has me feeling good about what’s to come. If you have any questions or thoughts on timing for buying or selling, please call me, I’d love to chat with you.
Nearly every day, Compass’s Leonard Steinberg puts together a handful of real estate news bits that are always so interesting I have to share some of my favorites of the week. To receive these every day from Leonard, please click [_here](mailto:ls@compass.com “”) and include your full name and email address to get on his mailing list.
* Of the 3 largest luxury-focused publicly traded brokerages, sales-volume-wise, COMPASS appears to have fared best in 2022, with a decline in sales volume of around 9% compared to ANYWHERE (Sotheby’s, Coldwell Banker, Corcoran, etc) down 14% and Douglas Elliman down 16.2%…..even though these companies bought many brokerages and opened many franchises in 2022. All had to enact staff reductions. All three company’s stock prices are trading sharply lower(Elliman stock dropped almost 16% in one day). Everyone in the industry is feeling the pains of a changing market…..after a record-shattering 2021. And I feel certain all will be just fine as we weather this storm.
* Announcing……COMPASS Ponte Vedra beach, FL! Located in the heart of Ponte Vedra Beach, the new Compass office enjoyed their ribbon cutting event recently. This week the office and area is busy getting ready for the TPC The Players Championship, which is being played at the TPC Sawgrass just a few miles away later this week. The Compass NE Florida market has 80+ agents and offers a full service Compass office in Ponte Vedra Beach, and two additional team offices, one in the Avondale neighborhood, and one in Flagler Beach, FL. Check out these gorgeous listings in the area!
* Since July 2022, San Francisco has seen about 28 inches of rain, roughly 122% of its normal seasonal rainfall. Los Angeles has had about 21 inches of rain, or 147% of normal seasonal averages. Bishop, CA – with roughly 4,000 population and closer to the Nevada border – has had over 250%! Central California has experienced the most notable jumps compared to prior years. Heavy snows in mountainous regions will soon melt causing flooding in some areas. To put things into perspective: The average annual rainfall in Atlanta is 50″, in Boston it’s 43″, Chicago 41″, Miami 67″, Phoenix 7″, Richmond 45″, Tulsa 41″, New Orleans 63″.
* Converting attention into profit has become the world’s best business. Between 2002 and 2022, Google generated over $1 trillion in ad revenue. Amazon makes $38 billion a year selling ads. Oil company Chevron was historically profitable in 2022, up 127% from 2021: Google, which had a terrible year, registered double Chevron’s profits! Old media is populated with beautiful people as sex sells. It turns out, rage and tribalism sell better! In the new economy, attention is oil, and whoever refines it most efficiently into rage and polarization seems to get the money! 😕 (Scott Galloway)
* Since March, 2020 US wages have not risen as fast or far as the rate of inflation. Wage inflation registered at its lowest rate since 2021 according to HOME BASE, a software HR company. Labor alone is not the driver of high inflation. The FED has the power to control demand, while the problems we are experiencing right now seem more about a lack of SUPPLY …..causing inflation. Think housing. Commodity prices are at new lows. Freight and shipping prices are at new lows. The Case-Shiller Index is down 6 months in a row…..none of these are in the CPI index yet……and won’t be for many months……sloooooowwwww…… (CNBC)