Key Take-Aways
• While most are still working from home (either full or part time), many firms have restarted hiring new employees (especially right out of college) and were able to give raises and bonuses.
• Not surprisingly, the Fed announcement on September 15 was as expected – no changes to their policy stance. What did change in August that is worth noting is that they will now focus on average inflation over a period of time. Also the new forecasts from the FMOC show more individuals expect rate increases earlier than the last projection (more believe they will occur in 2023 as opposed to 2024, per last reporting).
• All Architect/Engineer/Contractor Members still see strong demand in industrial, data centers and federal government work. Manufacturing is also ticking up – and including office space for associated white collar jobs.
• Ten-X has seen equal to slightly higher volume than last year. There continues to remain a spread on the bid/ask, but some parties are looking to get assets of the books by year end, so there is some slight movement.
• Class B and C Multi-family assets are not being seen coming to market in distress yet, most likely due to the moratorium on evictions and the government subsidies that shore up lower income families.
• In the office market, there remains uncertainty with equal discussion of taking more and less space. Tenants that must act due to lease expirations are doing short term renewals and landlords remain willing to work with that in the near term.
• The property management business is stronger than ever as additional services are needed with reoccupancy by tenants.
• In the insurance market, insurance companies are being pressured to increase rates due to low interest rates/margins on their investments.
• The electrical vehicle business is booming with charge stations – both subscription based and advertising based – coming on line at a rapid pace.