Matrix Blog

Housing Trends & Cycles

Bloomberg’s Masters in Business: Jonathan Miller on High Mortgage Rates

September 5, 2023 | 10:05 am | Podcasts |

I joined my friend Barry Ritholtz of RWM and of The Big Picture on his Bloomberg Radio MIB podcast for the sixth time since 2014. Here’s the transcript, my book recommendations, as well as the full podcast version below:

Here are the previous interviews from 2014, 2016, 2020, 2021 and 2022. They are always fun, and Barry keeps the conversation interesting. My wife Cheryl was in the producer’s booth, keeping me honest (and taking pictures).


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Bloomberg Surveillance 8-1-23: The Pandemic Wiped Out Housing Inventory: Miller

August 1, 2023 | 4:34 pm | | TV, Videos |

I always have great conversations with Lisa Abramowicz, an anchor on Bloomberg Television’s Bloomberg Surveillance.

The TV clip captures about half the conversation. For the my full interview, check out the Bloomberg Surveillance Podcast.

Jonathan Miller, Miller Samuel President & CEO, says housing prices have leveled off.

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[Business of Home Podcast] A Real Estate Check-In With Jonathan Miller

July 18, 2023 | 5:02 pm | Explainer |

I joined Dennis Scully again on The Business of Home podcast: The Thursday Show: A real estate check-in with Jonathan Miller, why Gen Z loves dupes and more. A lot has happened since our previous conversation back in July 2022. Other than having quality issues with my microphone, I really enjoyed the conversation. It starts at the 25:22 mark.


[click on the image to play]

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Elliman Magazine Column “Market Update” – New Inventory Is Falling

December 8, 2022 | 2:12 pm | |

I write a column for Elliman Magazine called “Market Update” that presents a chart and context around it. Its kind of like my nine-year column “Three Cents Worth” at the old Curbed but more grown-up and without the snark.


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[Podcast] Slate Money: Felix Learns What A Condo Is – Jonathan Miller joins to talk all things real estate.

October 10, 2022 | 2:55 pm | Podcasts |

I’m a regular listener to the Slate Money podcast so I was thrilled to be invited to participate.

This week, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers are joined by housing market analyst and real estate appraiser Jonathan Miller to answer all their burning real estate questions including what’s going on with mortgage rates, how do new luxury buildings affect prices, and why is rent so damn high?

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Elliman Magazine Column – A Symptom of Chronic Inventory Lows: Bidding Wars Are Everywhere

April 14, 2022 | 4:35 pm | | Charts |

For each issue of Elliman Magazine produced by Douglas Elliman, the same company that publishes most of our U.S. market research, I write a brief column and create a graphic to illustrate an important issue facing the luxury housing market. Of course, the graphic I create is then supercharged by their very talented graphics staff.

Listing inventory has essentially collapsed in most U.S. housing markets as unusually low rates against the backdrop of robust economic conditions have burned off supply to record lows. Evidence of this is seen in the proliferation of U.S. housings markets with a significant share of bidding wars. Since these are broad markets, various submarkets can see the market share at must higher levels. The proxy for market share is the share of transactions that close above the asking price at time of sale against total period sales.

In the current issue of Elliman Magazine: Spring/Summer 2022, my column “A Symptom of Chronic Inventory Lows: Bidding Wars Are Everywhere”


[click to expand]

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Zillow Offers As A Proxy For ‘Big Data’ Shows The Lack Of Qualitative Analysis

November 7, 2021 | 8:24 pm |

Yes, big data usually infers ‘quantitative’ analysis, as in “relying on numbers.” The Zestimate legacy of profound inaccuracy finally reached a devastating conclusion with the collapse of Zillow Offers this week and the loss of hundreds of millions in shareholder equity. Zillow never figured out the qualitative part that enables the actual precision in the pricing of a home sale.

There is a lot of talk right now about how other iBuyers are continuing to buy and sell properties so the space is still viable – business as usual. But step back for a moment and think about this:

  • The iBuyer market is currently overcrowded, even with the loss of Zillow Offers.
  • The iBuyer bold-faced name is OpenDoor who was the unicorn of Softbank who famously backed WeWork without any apparent due diligence.
  • The iBuyer segment is characterized by its razor-thin margins and billions of investment required.
  • It was created and run in a rising market, most of it a boom, and was recently turned off during the recent downturn.
  • It is wholly dependent on housing markets with homogenous housing stock and will always need high volume just to survive.

I feel pretty confident there will be further fallout over time, but the iBuyer space will settle into a small segment of the overall transaction universe. It has been wildly overhyped (at real estate brokers and real estate appraiser’s expense) as investors, burdened with high volumes of capital, desperate for upside in housing in this fintech boom.

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NYC Metro Conditions Much More Robust Than Two Years Ago

August 20, 2021 | 12:56 pm | Infographics |

One of the problems with my normally preferred year-over-year comparisons with metrics to diffuse seasonal impact is that the year-ago period happened to be the pandemic lockdown.

I went through the region using our market report series for Douglas Elliman, comparing the same period two years ago to capture the pre-COV ID market and prices. and sales are up with the exception of Manhattan and North Fork. Listing inventory is up slightly within the city boroughs and plunged in the suburbs.

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TV: Newsday Live: Hot Tips For a Hot Market: For Sellers

June 18, 2021 | 6:09 pm | TV, Videos |

I had a fun conversation with Faith Jessie, journalist and anchor at Newsday, Maura McDermott, the real estate writer at Newsday, and Monica Balsan at Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty. My housing data came from our Elliman Report: Long Island Sales series I author for Douglas Elliman.

The interview was placed on Newsday’s home page, which was pretty cool.

Newsday Live: Hot Tips For a Hot Market: For Sellers

Newsday is the largest news publication for Long Island, New York.

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[Podcast] Masters In Business: Jonathan Miller on the Real Estate Industry

May 1, 2021 | 1:09 pm | Podcasts |

This is my fourth appearance with my friend Barry Ritholtz, a prolific columnist/blogger, radio show host/podcaster, and wealth management firm head on his Masters In Business show for Bloomberg Radio. He previously interviewed me in 2014, 2016 and 2020.

Barry also posted the interview on his essential Big Picture blog: MiB: Jonathan Miller, Appraiser Extraordinaire in addition to the Bloomberg Masters In Business landing page.

To say we talk a lot about housing and valuation in a crazy market wouldn’t do this fun conversation any justice. I am always thrilled to be in the company of his never-ending incredible lineup of guests.

To listen to the entire one hour and 49 minute show (sorry about that), you can go here:


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I Discuss The Florida-New York Housing SMACKDOWN On Bloomberg TV’s Surveillance March 12, 2021

March 17, 2021 | 1:08 pm | | TV, Videos |

Last Friday I had a fun discussion with Lisa Abramowicz on Bloomberg Surveillance. It’s been bedlam in Appraiserville so I’ve been slow to post it. The New York to Florida housing migration story has been a bit one sided with optics that suggest 9 people will be left in Manhattan by the summer time despite that Manhattan contract activity beginning to surge. On the other hand Florida sales activity continues to be frenzied.

I don’t have the short clip so you have to go to the end of the full show at the 2:10:50 minute mark to pick up my interview with Lisa (but I think its worth it):


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Peak Suburb Has Passed

December 28, 2020 | 2:22 pm | | Explainer |

The New York Times got the market nuances right in their epic end of year The Real Estate Collapse of 2020.

And including epic charts makes it even better.


I noticed that the Streeteasy median rent chart used in the piece shows the same pattern as my recent chart in Bloomberg. That drop in rent is gigantic.



[Source: Bloomberg – click image to open article]

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