Key Highlights
- Broader Market Still Driven by Resales: Resales remain 5x the size of new builds, making them the real driver of housing activity.
- Temporary Boost from Builder Incentives: Incentives are juicing demand at the margins, not signaling a sustained recovery.
- Stay Disciplined: Focus on broader housing trends, not just a single month’s headline number.
- Return-to-Office Fuels Investor Interest: Early pandemic bets on permanent WFH were overstated — hybrid work is the new normal.
- Investor Demand Rebounding: Chairs are filling, and sidelined capital is starting to move back into the office sector.
- Worth Watching (Even if Not in Our Buy Box): Structural shifts and a new administration are reshaping office market dynamics.
- AI & Data Centers Enter a Historic Build-Out: The largest infrastructure investment since the rise of the internet is underway.
- Capital Flooding In: Investors are piling into AI — but timing missteps can erase gains in a compounding cycle.
- Discipline & Selectivity Matter: At Strand, we observe these cycles closely — some trends are better watched than chased.
New Home Sales increased to 800,000 Annual Rate in August
- STRAND TAKE: We’re not off to the races just yet.” Yes, there’s a small uptick in new home sales, but the real market is still driven by resales, which are five times the size of new builds. Builder incentives are juicing demand at the margins, but cross-currents remain. Stay disciplined: watch the broader housing market, not just one month’s headline number.
🔗 (https://calculatedrisk.substack.com/p/new-home-sales-increased-to-800000)
Office investor demand was way up in the first half of 2025, according to exclusive JLL data
Strand Take: The chairs are filling, and so is investor interest. Early pandemic bets on permanent remote work overstated the trend. WFH isn’t disappearing, but not at COVID-era levels. Demand is back, and investors sitting on the sidelines should start paying attention. Structural shifts, a new administration, and a gradual return-to-office are reshaping the market. While this isn’t within Strand Capital’s buy box, for the broader investor, it’s a signal: the office sector is worth watching again.
🔗 https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/25/office-investor-demand-first-half-of-2025-jll.html
Microsoft: Buidling the World’s Most Powerful AI Data Centre
- STRAND TAKE: This is the largest infrastructure build-out since the rollout of the internet, and investors are flocking to AI like it’s 2001 all over again. Capital is chasing opportunity at a historic scale, but one misstep in a compounding cycle can wipe out gains. The lesson from history: when everyone piles into a trend, discipline and selective allocation are everything. At Strand, we watch these cycles closely, some trends are worth observing, not blindly chasing, and timing is everything in the long game.
🔗 https://aimagazine.com/news/has-microsoft-built-the-worlds-most-powerful-data-centre
