The Real Economy Blog

Troy Merkel, Partner, Real Estate Senior Analyst

@troymerkel

Troy Merkel is a Partner and Real Estate Senior Analyst at RSM. He has 15 years of experience in audit and consulting, with a particular emphasis in real estate and financial services reporting, in accordance with US GAAP, IFRS, NCREIF PREA Reporting Standards and income tax basis. He is also an expert in accounting for asset acquisitions and complex leases and specializes in various tax-advantageous, in particular Opportunity Zones and government subsidized deal structures.

In 2018, Troy was selected as a senior analyst in RSM’s cutting edge Industry Eminence Program, which positions its senior analysts to understand, forecast and communicate economic, business and technology trends shaping the industries RSM serves. These senior analysts advise clients on conditions impacting middle market leaders. Troy’s focus is on the real estate industry.

CHART OF THE DAY: New home sales continue to rise

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The demand for new homes continues to be high as Americans take advantage of low interest rates and flee cities in search of more room. Sales of new homes in January increased by 4.3% month over month, exceeding expectations and climbing to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 923,000, the Commerce Department reported on Wednesday. At the same time, ... READ MORE >

CHART OF THE DAY: New home sales bounce back

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New home sales bounced back to 842,000 in December, representing a 1.8% increase over the previous month, the Commerce Department reported on Thursday. The 11% month-over-month decline in November was a jarring halt to the red-hot housing market that had new home sales in excess of 949,000 from July through October. While many saw that decline as a ... READ MORE >

CHART OF THE DAY: Housing activity continues to surge

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Home builders remain active as the housing market closed out last year in a strong fashion. Housing starts rose by 5.8% to an annualized rate of 1.67 million in December, ending the year as one of the strongest in a decade, the Commerce Department reported on Thursday. And housing permits, an indicator of future activity, increased as well, by 4.5% to an ... READ MORE >

CHART OF THE DAY: Homes for the holidays

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Oh, there’s no place like home for the holidays. So begins the holiday standard made famous by Perry Como. Composed in the 1950s by Robert Allen with lyrics by Al Stillman, the song seems fitting these days as Americans are lured to the suburbs, just as they were when Mr. C. was in his prime. Only this time around, instead of being fueled by postwar ... READ MORE >

CHART OF THE DAY: Homebuilder confidence reaches all-time high

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Confidence among homebuilders reached an all-time high in November as buyers looking for more room to live and work continued to enter the market, according to the National Association of Homebuilders Housing Market Index released on Wednesday. The index, which rose to 90, is a composite measurement of future sales, present sales and buyer traffic -- all ... READ MORE >

CHART OF THE DAY: New home sales cool as inventory remains limited

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New single-family home sales dropped 3.5% from August to September as the robust market began to cool heading into the fall months, the Commerce Department reported on Monday. The decline was expected after the heightened pace of sales over the summer, with many urban renters fleeing to the suburban market and existing home inventory at record lows. Even ... READ MORE >

CHART OF THE DAY: As housing market heats up, inventory shrivels

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Existing home sales in August topped 6 million for the first time since 2006 as big-city renters continued to flock to the suburbs for more space, including a home office and a yard to accommodate their new normal. Meanwhile, existing homeowners are hesitant to put their houses on the market, given uncertainty around the coronavirus pandemic and fears ... READ MORE >

CHART OF THE DAY: Housing starts decline 5.1%

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Housing starts declined 5.1% month over month in August, while forward-looking building permits held steady with a slight decline of .9%, the Commerce Department reported on Thursday. This brings the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts to 1.4 million and permits to nearly 1.5 million. Fueled by low interest rates and the recent migration to ... READ MORE >

Chart of the Day: New home sales rise as housing stays hot

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Sales of new homes continue to soar, increasing by 13.9% to a seasonally adjusted rate of 901,000 for the month of July, and up 36.3% from the same period a year earlier, according to data released this week from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. New home sales are up 8% year over year. We expect this trend ... READ MORE >