Happy Friday, friends! A couple of days ago we piled on an airplane to go visit Scott’s family in Maine. After two flights and a boat ride to an island, we had arrived—and it was worth it. Maven has been soaking up the sun on the beach, playing in the water, while Maverick watches the birds and the boats cruise by. Scott spent his summers on this island growing up, so he’s loving sharing the experiences with us: finding sea life and jumping off docks. It turns out the ocean in Maine is A LOT colder than San Diego (according to Maven, I wouldn’t know 😬.
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.
* 100% LUXE-flation? A home in the Hampton’s (NY) that sold for $91.5 million is DOUBLE the price paid for it in 2020. (Yes, it had been renovated too, again showcasing how many are willing to pay a huge premium for instant gratification, and zero renovation-aggravation.) WSJ
* Florida’s Gross Domestic Product increased by 24% between the first quarter of 2020 and the third quarter of 2022, outpacing the nation by 23%, mostly fueled by in-migration and tourism. (WSJ)
* The information-technology industry directly accounts for more than 10% of the U.S. economy, and about 8% of all jobs. The median pay of US tech workers is almost double that of regular average US workers. (WSJ)
* 73 banks have failed in the last 10 years, and all had their deposits backstopped…..
* I waited with bated breath yesterday for a daily REAL DEAL e-blast showcasing the article they wrote about how COMPASS’ stock price was now about the exact same as Douglas Elliman’s after months of berating us while touting our competitors immunity to the real estate worlds’ big challenges……but it never happened….shocking, I say! The reality is no such article was written. Neither was any article ever written about one of the largest brokerages in the US’s financial results – Berkshire. Nada. Zilch. Maybe no-one was willing to ‘sponsor’ these stories?
* Hemp plants have been part of the material supply chain for generations. Commonly used in rope, bags, purses, clothing, beauty products, food, household products and more but now, Hempitecture is formally introducing it to construction, especially insulation. (INHABITAT)
* Sargassum (seaweed) has always naturally formed in the Atlantic and, out at sea, providing a huge floating habitat for animals (turtles, birds, crabs and shrimp). The seaweed also soaks up carbon dioxide. Sargassum can pose problems once it has washed ashore and scientists have noticed a large increase over the last decades in the amount now routinely clogging up shorelines in piles 5-6ft deep. Barbados authorities deploy hundreds of dump trucks to clear the beaches for tourist season. Last year, the US Virgin Islands declared a state of emergency after being inundated by sargassum.
* The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.60% in the week ending March 16, down from 6.73% the week before. A year ago, the 30-year fixed-rate was 4.16%…..after hitting a 2022 high of 7.08% in November 2022. Investor home purchases dropped by 45.8% annually in the 4th quarter of 2022, compared to purchases in the 3rd quarter, investor home buying fell by 27% – the largest quarterly decline recorded except for the pandemic’s beginning. Las Vegas and Phoenix saw the biggest decline. The biggest drop was in single-family home purchases, which fell 49.8% annually in the fourth quarter. Maybe Robert is right after all and November/December 2022 was the ‘bottom’ of this market? (CNBC)