Compass Contemplations for Friday

DID YOU KNOW? Construction on U.S. new houses fell more than 9% in September, but a recent surge in permits suggests the decline in so-called housing starts is just a brief pause in a real estate market reinvigorated by lower mortgage rates. Housing starts slid to an annual rate of 1.26 million last month from a revised 1.39 million in August. (Marketwatch)

DID YOU KNOW? Of the 618,000 “millennial millionaires” - those currently aged 23 - 37 years old with a net worth of over $1 million - in the USA, 44% are concentrated in California. California also has the highest percentage of business owners (23%) and the highest percentage of real estate investors. New York ranks No. 2, home to 14% of the millennial millionaire population. (CNBC)

DID YOU KNOW? Hedge funder Ray Dalio - speaking at the IMF and World Bank annual meetings - said the global business cycle is in a “great sag” and the world’s economy holds at least two parallels to the 1930s. Here are some of his thoughts: 
* Monetary policy, and especially interest rate reductions, were unlikely to offer much stimulus.
* The world was also experiencing the biggest wealth gap since the 1930s and that was creating political stress. In the USA the top one-tenth of 1% of the population has a net worth that is approximately equal to the bottom 90%.
* Like the 1930s, we have a rising power challenging an existing world power in the form of China-U.S. challenges.
* There were four types of wars to watch for — trade, technology, currency and geopolitical.  (CNBC)

DID YOU KNOW? Total national real estate website visits - not unique visitors - in the month of September looked like this: 
Zillow:                  179 million
Redfin:                 46,5 million
Compass:             3,543 million
Coldwell Banker:  2,9 million
Sothebys Realty:  2,773 million
Corcoran:             922,151
Elliman:                390,000
Thanks to Jeremy Schwartz from Compass SEO Analytics who provided this information.