Toto, ….. We’re Not in Kansas Anymore — Ted’s 2013 Prognosis
The infamous line from the Wizard of Oz, “Toto….. we’re not in Kansas anymore,” is a perfect lead in to discuss the economic, regulatory and political changes that already have and will take place in...
View ArticleAnother Top 10 List (You May Not Want to Be On this List) — The 10 Most...
If there was a list of places you would not want to live, Forbes just ranked the 10 most miserable (actually 20, but this is after all, a top 10 list). Criteria ranged from economic (unemployment,...
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Jobs–Where They are Hot and Where They are Not — Part One
Jobs are everything to an economy. Period. I invoke the There Is No Such Thing As A National Economy clause — T I N S T A A N E — as the economy varies from one location to another. Each month the...
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Jobs–Where They are Hot and Where They are Not — Part Two
Let’s start this one just as the one yesterday. Jobs are everything to an economy. Period. Once again I invoke the There Is No Such Thing As A National Economy clause — T I N S T A A N E — as the...
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I declare This Recession Over — Not One State Lost Jobs in the Prior 12 Months
While there are several definitions of a recession (a period of several months in which economic activity declines), I define a recession as an extended period when the country has job losses. Jobs are...
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Corpus Christi, Texas — Proof of TINSTAANREM and How Quickly an Economy Can...
Once again I invoke the TINSTAANREM clause — There Is No Such Thing As A National Real Estate Market. Each real estate market is different. Ditto the economy. And proving that clause today is Corpus...
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The U.S. is Systematically Under Building Housing — Rising Home Prices, Sales...
Just a few years ago, U.S. housing markets in aggregate were overbuilt, and that was reflected in declining rents, home prices and home sales. What has happened in the interim has been a quicker than...
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Another Top 10 List: The 10 Worst Jobs of 2013
There are certain jobs that most of us (at least those that have jobs) would not want to do. CareerCast.com’s annual jobs report analyzed specific jobs based on what they called core criteria. These...
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Another Top 10 List: The Best Jobs in the Country
Following up from the previous post about the 10 worst jobs in the country, let’s talk the positive. And that posting for me was not pretty. Economists ranked 120 out of 200. Behind morticians, fork...
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Another Top-10 List — Fastest Growing State Economies
The ultimate measure of economic activity, in my opinion, is job growth. Most economists, however, utilize Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as the measure of economic activity. Nationally, GDP is defined...
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Good News, Bad News: June 2013 Job Report — U.S. Created 195,000 Net New...
While the number of net new jobs in June rose by 195,000, better than anticipated by many economists, there still was not the breakout-growth rate the markets have been waiting for since the declared...
View ArticleSir Isaac Newton’s Comments on the Mortgage Interest Deduction — at least I...
Sir Isaac Newton’s third law of motion states that, “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” I contend this law is not limited to the world of physics, but also the financial realm....
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Another Top 10 List: Top (and Bottom) Rental Rate Growth Markets in 2012
As job growth returned, the pressure on residential rental rates was positive in each of the 50 largest markets in the U.S. in 2012, according to MPF Research, as published in MultiFamily Executive....
View ArticleEnriching Stewart as a Workplace
Recently, I was on a plane returning from a business trip. Sitting next to me was a new college graduate looking to start his career. We had an interesting conversation about what he and his friends...
View ArticleAttracting and Retaining Talent: It’s a Competitive Game
As I talk with my family about our fall schedule, football is a frequent topic. (I do live in Texas, the home of Friday Night Lights.) We are all excited the season has started, and often discuss who...
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The Partial Government Shutdown, Wall Street and Implications
While a partial shutdown of government is not unprecedented, the frequency of occurrence is relatively rare. In the United States’ more than 200-year history, the first U.S. shutdown came under...
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Another Top-10 City List — Cites With the Largest Average Pay Increase in the...
In my presentations regarding real estate and the economy, the primary mantra is that jobs are everything to an economy. Period. And to a point that is true. But then someone always asks about what...
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U.S. September Employment Numbers — Who Cares?
This week saw the release of September employment numbers by the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than two weeks after the original scheduled date due to the government...
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October 2013 Existing Home Sales Up 6 Percent Versus October 2012 — Median...
Existing home sales continue the recovery to normal, with October 2013 sales of 5.12 million on a seasonally-adjusted, annualized rate (SAAR), compared to 4.83 million a year ago, as reported by the...
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Another Top-10 List — Markets With the Largest Increase in Rent in 2014
As with all pricing, rent is a function of the interaction of supply and demand. In many markets, construction has not kept pace with job growth, and rents continue to climb. Compounding that is an...
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