Housing Is No Vacation: Stavanger Edition

May 11, 2023

Like last week, I’m on vacation, having just left Oslo, Norway, and headed to Stavanger, Norway after great visits to Germany and Denmark. Please again excuse this brief edition of Housing Notes.

To regain my focus on critical issues at hand mid-vacation, it is essential to note that Cauliflower is having a moment.

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Did you miss last week’s Housing Notes? May 5 – Housing Is No Vacation: GDansk Edition

But I digress…

The Compass Chronicles: Q1-2023 Edition

They lost another $150 million this quarter, an improvement in their ongoing cash hemorrhage and inability to profit during the biggest housing boom of the modern era. Yet, some analysts are calling them a buy. Executives claim to be cash flow positive by June. What do I know?

Compass loses $150M, beats expectations [The Real Deal]

The Opposite Of Aspirational Pricing

You have to love your home and the adjacent persistent construction noise next door. That’s how.

26 Empire State Buildings For Context On Manhattan Empty Office Space

There was a spectacular New York Times opinion piece this week: 26 Empire State Buildings Could Fit Into New York’s Empty Office Space. That’s a Sign.

New York is undergoing a metamorphosis from a city dedicated to productivity to one built around pleasure.

I love the closing quote:

As we fight segregation in all its forms, dense cities can bridge our divisions. As we struggle with loneliness, an irresistibly vital street life could drag a generation of people off their phones and back toward one another.

We Have Way Too Much Parking

Henry Grabar’s ‘Paved Paradise‘ is a must-read tome on the scourge of too much parking. His publisher reached out to ask if I would review it and I enthusiastically agreed because I’ve been a long time fan of his work for Slate. In recent years, it has become more widely understood that too much parking chokes off downtown business districts. Henry explains the thinking behind this in an easy to access style. Free parking is the scourge of cities yet long expected by drivers.

‘Paved Paradise’ explains why parking is both a local nuisance and a global blight [LA Times]

Getting Graphic

My favorite housing market/economic charts of the week made by others

Apollo’s Torsten Slok‘s amazingly clear charts.

Kastle card swipe data charts

Remember that Kastle charts are overstating occupancy* because their pre-pandemic occupancy benchmark was 100% which is simply incorrect (*measures card swipe activity as a proxy for occupancy).

Appraiserville

My May 19th Testimony At ASC Hearing

There’s a lot to cover but I’m on vacation! I’ll begin to catch up next week after I testify a week from today at the ASC Appraisal Bias Hearing.

Phil Crawford’s Voice of Appraisal Podcast: Mark Calabria

Phil interviews Mark Calabria, former director of FHFA. Wow.

OFT (One Final Thought)

At age 17, I would have said it would be a 1968 Dodge Charger…

Brilliant Idea #1

If you need something rock solid in your life (particularly on Friday afternoons at 2 p.m.) and someone forwarded this to you, , or you think you already subscribed, sign up here for these weekly Housing Notes. And be sure to share with a friend or colleague if you enjoy them because:

– They’ll be more about cauliflower;
– You’ll focus on that one car;
– And I’ll take another vacation.

Brilliant Idea #2

You’re clearly full of insights and ideas as a reader of these Housing Notes. Please share them with me early and often. I appreciate every email I receive, as it helps me craft the following week’s Housing Note.

See you next week!

Jonathan J. Miller, CRE, Member of RAC
President/CEO
Miller Samuel Inc.
Real Estate Appraisers & Consultants
Matrix Blog
@jonathanmiller

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