October 10 to October 24, 2014

As recovery continues, Maryland households fall behind

October 11, 2014 | The Baltimore Sun | Natalie Sherman

More than five years into the economic recovery, many Maryland households still aren't
feeling the lift. Overall personal income including wages, investment income and
payments from programs such as Social Security grew an estimated 1 percent in the
second quarter of 2014 in Maryland, compared to 2.5 percent in the United States as a
whole. That showing the fifth worst of all the states followed four years of statewide
incomes lagging behind the rest of the country, driven by a lack of growth in job-related
income, according to an analysis the state's Department of Planning published last week.
Everything is going up except for your paycheck," said Edward David Washington, 68, of
Owings Mills. What economists initially dubbed a jobless recovery has evolved into what
some call a "wageless recovery" nationwide. Middle-class jobs remain scarce, more
people work part time and labor participation is at a historic low. The Federal Reserve's
triennial Survey of Consumer Finances found that median household fell 8 percent
between 2007 and 2013, with the highest drops among the youngest and least-educated.
Maryland despite being a relatively wealthy, well-educated state is no
exception. Read more


Apartment vacancy hits 9-year low in Maryland
10/17/14 Baltimore Business Journal Kevin Litten

Fast-leasing apartments has led to several new complexes in Baltimore, including 520
Park St. A sharp rise in demand for rental housing has driven Maryland apartment
vacancy down to a nine-year low of 8.6 percent as young people continue to shun
homeownership. That's according to a state report on housing affordability released
Friday, which found Millennials make up the largest share of renters. People between the
ages of 25 and 34 made up 27.3 percent of all renter households in 2012, having grown
by 10.2 percent between 2006 and 2012. People ages 35 to 44 were the second fastest-
growing group of renters in Maryland, up 8.7 percent to make up 21.5 percent of all
renters. The report, released by the state Department of Housing and Community
Development, warns that the plunging vacancy rate is driving up the cost of rental
housing. Rental housing costs rose by 3.4 percent over five years, and in In 2012 renters
devoted an average of 32.9 percent of their income toward housing. Read more



Nonprofits Have Same Space Demands as For Profits
October 23, 2014 | Globest.com| Erika Morphy

WASHINGTON, DCNon-profits are seeking out more efficient space and better
brandingsjust like their for-profit counterparts. As befitting their missions and budgets,
however, they want these amenities in reasonably priced buildings, according to the
eighth annual Nonprofit Real Estate Benchmarking Survey released by the CBRE
Nonprofit Practice Group. While this trend is unfolding nationwide, it is of particular
importance to the Washington DC area, which is home to the most non-profits in the
country, followed by New York City and Chicago. Read more



Amazons Spending Leads to Biggest Quarterly Loss in 14
Years Web Retailer Projects Slower-Than-Expected Sales
Growth in the Holiday Quarter
October 23, 2014 Wall Street Journal Greg Bensinger

Amazons soaring ambitions are coming at a steep cost, dragging the e-commerce giant
to its largest quarterly loss in 14 years. WSJ's Greg Bensinger and Scott Thurm
discuss. Amazon.com Inc.s soaring ambitions are coming at a steep cost, dragging the e-
commerce giant to its largest quarterly loss in 14 years. A surge in spending on new-
product development, music and video licensing, and other parts of the Seattle companys
expansion strategy led to a net loss of $437 million in the third quarter, worse than its
year-earlier loss of $41 million. The wider loss came despite a 20% jump in revenue to
$20.58 billion. In another stumble, Amazon took a $170 million charge on its Amazon Fire
smartphone, which was released in July but is selling poorly, analysts say. The company
also issued a lukewarm sales forecast for the current quarter, its most important of the
year because of holiday-related spending. Read more...


More earnings gains send US stocks higher
October 24, 2014 Washington Post Associated Press

NEW YORK Stocks are rising in midday trading as U.S. companies report more
earnings gains. UPS and Microsoft rose after reporting earnings that were higher than
analysts were expecting. Procter & Gamble rose after saying it would make its Duracell
battery business a stand-alone company. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 84
points, or 0.5 percent, to 16,762 as of 11:55 a.m. Eastern time Friday. The Dow jumped
216 points the day before. The Standard & Poors 500 index rose eight points, or 0.5
percent, to 1,959. The Nasdaq composite rose 17 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4,470. Crude
oil fell 99 cents to $81.12 a barrel in New York. Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year
Treasury note fell to 2.26 percent.

Yes, 100% of economists were dead wrong about yields
October 22, 2014, MarketWatch, Ben Eisen
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) Just about six months ago, a headline flashed across the
top of MarketWatchs home page. It read: 100% of economists think yields will rise within
six months. The April 22 report was based on a Bloomberg survey of 67 economists, all
of whom expected the 10-year Treasury note 10_YEAR, -0.83% yield which closed at
2.73% that day to rise over the following half year. How quickly we would get to 4[%]
was the discussion at the beginning of the year, said Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic
adviser at Allianz SE, on CNBC Tuesday morning. The market, however, has a funny way
of leaning one way, just as the herd is heading in the other direction. On Tuesday, the 10-
year note traded at a yield of 2.21%, almost four-tenths of a percentage point lower than in
April. Lets not forget that the yield unexpectedly dipped below 2%, just last week. Read
more...


MacKenzie is committed to helping firms capture a competitive advantage through commercial real estate.
We have a proven approach, a skilled, multi-disciplined team, and the in-depth local market knowledge
necessary to succeed in Maryland's business environment.

MacKenzie is a full-service commercial real estate company offering services in leasing and sales,
construction, development, GIS and research, property management, and debt and equity placement.

For more information, please contact:

Meghan G. Roy
410.494.4846
Email Meghan Now
________________________________________________________________________________________________