“Good” news for renters and single-family property owners
Cheer up, the US is still the land of opportunity
Many observers may think American residential real estate prices are out of control, but when we compare domestic home prices to the rest of the world, house values here in the United States are dirt cheap. If you think it’s nearly impossible for many to climb up the property ladder, just ask other people around the world what they think when they price their local homes in their local currencies and with their buying power based on local wages.
For for those worried that the “petrodollar” is losing its dominance, it would be in their best interest to continue buying up housing in the United States, as any dollar collapse will only help American house price to income multiples converge with the rest of the world.
According to the most up to date information from Numbeo regarding home prices, the United States still offers its residents the biggest bang for the buck when compared to their household incomes, which is by far the lowest when compared to all other developed nations. Look at the table below for some context. For a list of the individual cities within the United States, scroll down past this first chart.
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For a more granular view from within the U.S., look at the expanded table immediately below, which ranks 102 U.S. cities by price to household income ratios in the Western hemisphere. For instance, in Indianapolis, IN, the typical mortgage payment equals 16.6% of the mean household income. While the media focus on the growing unaffordability, we should keep things in perspective. There are dozens of cities in the U.S. that still offer prospective home buyers and investors with plenty opportunities to buy. With rents relentlessly rising, it still makes sense for people in many areas of the country to purchase rather than rent.
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Thanks for another highlight of the housing/rental market and its continued case for owning.
Dovetailing on the thesis of this website, Raoul Pal and guest breakdown the need for heightened global liquidity & the increasing demand for US debt. Further validation of Stones thesis on housing via the backdrop of whats driving the demand of US dollars internationally
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY4ry_qGXGk
Big Food Tries to Offset Obesity Drug Blow With Vitamins, Meals
(Bloomberg) — The so-called Ozempic Revolution has wiped billions off the market value of food and drink companies. But new weight-loss drugs are giving a boost to at least one line of products that have sometimes previously faced sluggish demand: yogurt.
France’s Danone says it’s seeing a boost in demand for its high-protein, low calorie yogurts in the US that it attributes partly to the craze for Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound — new anti-obesity treatments closely related to the Danish company’s Ozempic diabetes drug.
“We have a very large range of protein yogurts, which are flying off the shelf,” Juergen Esser, deputy chief executive officer in charge of finance, said in an interview. “I think those products are attractive to both consumers who are under the treatment of GLP-1 or who just wish to manage their weight or wellbeing.”
Danone isn’t explicitly marketing to GLP-1 users. At least not yet. However, Swiss food giant Nestle SA is going a step further. Next week it will launch a new website designed to direct consumers to products devised especially for people taking slimming injections, from protein-rich meals to vitamins to combat hair loss.
About 30 million Americans have taken GLP-1 drugs, sparking consumption shifts with ripple effects on retail, travel and beyond. By dulling cravings, the medicines from Eli Lilly & Co. and Novo Nordisk A/S can melt away fat and improve heart health. Eating less can lead to nutritional shortages, though, and patients have found they lose muscle along with fat even as they battle side effects like nausea and hair loss.
Food companies are betting that patients seeking meals that are nutrient-rich and not too filling will turn to their new processed offerings, vitamins and supplements and offset some of the shunning of items that traditionally underlie their profits, like ice cream and chocolate bars.
Nestle has said it will begin selling its Vital Pursuits food line this year, which contains 12 portion-controlled frozen meals, high in protein and fiber. On its new website, which claims to “complement your weight-loss journey — even after stopping it”— will sell a supplement for hair growth under the Nature’s Bounty brand.
The KitKat maker will also sell electrolyte tablets with strawberry-lemonade flavor for anyone upping their exercise regimen and collagen peptides to boost skin elasticity and avoid the hollowed look known as “Ozempic face,” as well as multivitamins and fiber supplements.
Growing Trend
Other food companies are following suit. Daily Harvest is courting users of GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound with a broccoli and white bean soup and a dragon fruit and lychee smoothie. Conagra Brands, the maker of Chef Boyardee canned pasta, said at a conference in February that it was selling more products that cater to the needs of weight-loss drug takers. Its “better-for-you frozen meals” increased 8% among GLP-1 users, Conagra said, while its protein-packed meat snacks and low calorie, high fiber popcorn were also a good match for users’ needs.
Nestle has brands and expertise across its portfolio to support customers’ shifting needs, such as “preserving lean muscle mass, managing digestive upset and assuring an adequate daily consumption of micronutrients,” said Anna Mohl, chief executive officer of Nestle health science. Healthcare company Abbott also makes nutrition shakes targeting consumers using the drugs for weight loss.
In the pre-covid era, purchasing managers and consumers were demanding clean labels on products meaning they were less accepting of preservatives or synthetic ingredients. Companies like Glanbia Nutritionals responded by making engineered products that stretched the definition of “naturally occurring” and are perfectly placed to supply these new food trends driven by the weight loss drug phenomenon. Where they excelled was taking waste products like orange peels and flax husk etc. and turning them into fiber additives without having to state something unappealing like microcellulose (typically cotton fiber – like used t-shirts)
I can imagine that alternate proteins have entered the food chain by now, simply by using the tolerances for allowable bug parts. A little additive goes a long way on a nutritional value table – from experience most consumers will choose a marginally higher value for fiber or protein if thats what they are looking for.
Eat real food.