As you’d expect, the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times had a hard time keeping up with the head-spinning reverses and double-reverses in its namesake roadway’s fortunes. Investors with holdings in the sometimes-plummeting, sometimes-soaring equities weren’t alone in being unsettled by the whip-sawing proceedings. In truth, just about everyone with an IRA or other retirement stake had reason to do some serious brow-furrowing.
Greenwich real estate investors would have been somewhat relieved to read WSJ columnist Esther Fung’s mid-week commentary, “Investors Flock to Self-Storage, Rental Housing as Safety Plays”—if only as a counterpoint to Wall Street’s record-shattering volatility. The focus was, naturally, more equities—in this case, the REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts)—but the underlying facts were reassuring for Greenwich landlords.
The author’s research confirmed that during “times of uncertainty,” landlords are well-positioned to buck the downdrafts. “Residential property landlords say that rental housing…tends to hold steady during recessions,” was the gist for Greenwich investors. The reason for lower resident turnover rates was the tendency of people to shelter in place during “periods of uncertainty.” At week’s end, the declaration of a National Emergency surely qualified this period as one of those.
This past weekend found a number of Greenwich agents fielding steady calls from Manhattanites anxious to exit the city before a mandated “stay indoors” by government officials. I am currently working with several of these hopeful tenants who are seeking green grass for children, high connectivity to easily set up work environments from home, and a little more elbow room for everyone. We have been combing the tri-state area from the Jersey Shore to Litchfield County to get New Yorkers in temporary quarters for the next month or two and are coming up with options. We are here to help you for immediate or long term needs.