Market Update | MAY 30

DID YOU KNOW?

Top Headlines: Delivered by Leonard Steinberg

MAY 30, 2023

01 We seem obsessed by this tiny, tiny group of people - just 2,640 of them, a fraction of a fraction of the percentage of the world's population - yet just the 25 richest billionaires in the world are worth a collective $2.1 trillion, (down a combined $200 billion from $2.3 trillion in 2022).....or about the size of all of Australia and Denmark's GDP COMBINED! (or the size of Canada, Italy or Brazil's entire GDP) (FORBES)

02 Bankrate lists the top five 'hot' real estate markets as Gainesville, Georgia; Knoxville, Tennessee; Fort Myers, Florida; Sarasota, Florida; and Charlotte, North Carolina. Those cities have become particularly attractive to house hunters who have been priced out of more expensive metros. (CBS)

03 Our world keeps changing/evolving rapidly: presidential candidates announce their candidacy via social media, and solar power investment is set to outstrip spending on oil production this year ($1.7 trillion versus $1 trillion) for the first time, according to the head of the International Energy Agency. (FT)

04 Texas House has unanimously passed Senate Bill 3, reducing the amount of tax local governments can collect. The homestead exemption (applies to any primary residence) rises to $100,000 from $40,000. The average Texan house costs about $300,000 so the average savings is about $1,400/year. A second adjustment lowers the cap on how much a property’s appraised value can rise each year from 10% to 5%. Texas has some of the highest real estate taxes in the US. Home values appreciated dramatically in the past 3 years. (WSJ)

05 OA 246-foot superyacht listed for $150.9 million found a buyer after just 10 weeks on the market. The world's 25 wealthiest people lost about 8.7% of their wealth in the past year after the fortunes of the top 1% increased by more than $12 trillion during the course of the pandemic. The GREAT REBALANCING OF 2022/23 has impacted almost everyone, yet the super-rich are just fine! And some - especially those in the energy and food sectors - are richer than ever! (PENTA)

06 Uninsurable? We all saw what happened to the banking world when people realized their deposits above the $250k were not insured as SVB wobbled, and triggered more carnage with Signature and First Republic... now, several insurers are pulling out of areas with a high risk probability of flooding, fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, etc..... What happens to a home's value if you cannot insure it? The monthly cost of insurance is now becoming a key consideration when buying. (WSJ)