In the first part of Jason Hartman’s interview with Moneyball economist Andrew Zatlin, the two of them take a deep look at what’s going on in the housing market through the lens that Andrew uses. He looks at hiring patterns of home builders, and has seen a distinct problem in their search for labor. So many industries are hunting for labor that it’s creating a bottleneck.

The two also look at short-term rentals, hotel vacancies, the Fed’s monetary policy, and what’s creating the demand for housing.

Key Takeaways:

[1:16] Andrew likes to check in with companies about what they’re doing in regards to hiring

[3:45] Home builders can’t hire enough people right now. The bottleneck is labor because there’s a LOT of competition for it

[6:42] One question we need to ask is: what’s creating all this demand for housing?

[10:47] The environment today makes it more attractive to buy rather than rent

[16:37] Do short-term rental providers need to worry about oversupply?

[18:56] Hotel vacancy rates tipped into the negatives this past year because of short-term rentals exploding in popularity

[21:36] Demand will create supply, but sometimes supply can create demand

[25:27] The Fed is on a trajectory of tightening

Website:

www.MoneyballEconomics.com