Observations from a long weekend...

Over the Fourth of July weekend I tried to turn my real estate brain off, but I couldn't help noticing a few interesting things:

• On a Saturday evening at a pizza joint I overheard a casual conversation about buying packages of distressed residential debt from troubled banks. Seems the vultures are coming out to feed on pizza and troubled loans...
• While on Cape Cod I saw a slew of retail condominium units for sale, always in strips of 3 to 5 units. They seemed to be the local 'flavor of the week' that had been overbuilt but were now sitting empty as retailers avoid buying into unproven locations while consumer confidence is so weak. A microcosm of the larger retail scene perhaps?
  
• On the drive home from New England I missed an exit and ended up going through New York City. I don't think I hit my brakes once on a stretch of road that kept me in traffic for hours last winter. Maybe gas prices really are keeping folks off the road...

Check back soon for our take on the rising importance of sovereign wealth funds and whether the real estate markets have hit a point of capitulation.

Llenrock Group