We’ve been hearing about how the residential real estate market is booming, and now this trend is spreading to the rental market.

Demand for two particular types of rentals is especially high: single-family homes and apartments in smaller cities that have less inventory. Rents for single-family homes are growing at the fastest pace in 15 years, according to data firm CoreLogic. Parts of the country that used to be considered affordable are suddenly experiencing the kind of rent frenzy with bidding wars and surging prices that had previously been exclusive to mega cities like San Francisco and New York City.

This is a logical development given what’s been going on in housing. The economy is rebounding and we’re flooded with liquidity, and now we have young people who have been living at home starting to venture out again. The rise of remote work has people fleeing huge cities like New York and San Francisco to places like Boise.

We know there will be short-term affects when it comes to the real estate market and rental market in response to the Coronavirus pandemic. The question is how long that lasts. Will there still be issues 6 months from now? One year from now?

In places like New York City, the effects are significant. New rentals have plunged 71% in Manhattan. That’s a lot to unwind over the next 6 months to a year.

Will there be fewer office jobs in NYC as companies offer more remote work options? Will fewer people want to move to NYC until the virus is completely eradicated or we have a vaccine?

The psychological effects are real, and sometimes it can take years to get back to normal after a recession or event like an earthquake or hurricane. Effects from a pandemic may be even worse.

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) has determined that the official height of One World Trade Center in New York City is 1,776 feet (541.3 meters) to its architectural top, making it the tallest building in the US over the Willis (formerly Sears) Tower in Chicago. The key to the determination was that the addition at the top of the building spire integral to the design of the building as opposed to being just an antenna. Naturally, this will spark some controversy, but the CTBUH is the organization that makes these official determinations.

We snapped this photo of this still unfinished building recently from the Trump hotel in Soho which provided an excellent view. One World Trade Center is certainly a beautiful and welcome addition to the New York City skyline.

Here’s a very interesting article out of Cleveland on how certain older homes can be rehabbed into loft-type homes by ripping out most of the walls and most of the second floor. It works with certain older homes that are constructed in a way that makes this treatment feasible.

This offers an excellent alternative to demolishing the home. We’re talking about older homes that are worth basically nothing and then can be rehabbed in this way for under $10,000. Then they can be rented for around $500 per month, which seems like a very interesting investment.

Things were starting to look pretty grim earlier this summer as job growth slowed and manufacturing activity slowed down, but now we’re starting to see some signs of life in the economy.

After a spring and summer of weak economic indicators, a flurry of fresh data suggest key sectors of the economy might be gaining traction, just as the battle for the White House enters the final round.

The long-moribund housing market has bustled to life, with prices and new-home construction rising in recent weeks. Hiring, so weak earlier this year, picked up last month. And on Thursday, the government reported an acceleration of a downward trend in the number of people seeking unemployment insurance, as well as a sharp improvement in U.S. exports.

The housing news is key, as we were never going to have significant GDP or job growth without reaching a bottom in the housing market as Warren Buffett explained many times.