"What's the Deal with Lumber?"

/ Steel City Management LLC/
"What's the Deal with Lumber?"

Ask any homebuilder developer what they think are the 2 biggest risk factors affecting future housing projects and many will include a shortage of land and lumber. Wait, lumber (like, wood)?!? Yes, lumber. Current prices are more than 4 TIMES what they were a year ago at about $1,500 per 1000 feet versus $330 last May. Take a look at live futures prices HERE.

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"The Case for Upzoning"

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"The Case for Upzoning"

Last month, the city council of Berkeley, California approved a resolution that called for the end of exclusionary zoning by 2022. It might not be surprising that a progressive enclave like Berkeley passed such a measure but communities of all political leanings are starting to reconsider both the intended and unintended consequences of restrictive zoning laws. That begins with the acknowledgment that many of those laws have been used to discriminate in housing far beyond the Fair Housing Act of 1968, while also advancing the perception that thriving suburbs consist of for sale, single family homes surrounded by manicured lawns and picket fences. Thankfully, municipalities are challenging those narratives by using upzoning to combat housing shortages and affordability concerns, which in turn will help make suburbs more accessible and inclusive.

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"The Work from Anywhere"

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"The Work from Anywhere"

According to United Van Lines, move out requests from San Francisco and New York to any destination were up 23% and 45%, respectively, versus the same period in 2019. And in San Francisco specifically, Apartment List reported that the share of users interested in moving to a secondary city increased by 9% compared to pre-pandemic levels. Statistics like that sent real estate professionals scrambling to figure out where those people were headed and cities such as Austin, Dallas Fort-Worth, Denver, Nashville, and Raleigh found themselves among the top destinations.

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