Joe Sitt, Chairman of leading global real estate firm, Thor Equities Group, spoke with Fox Business’ Stuart Varney on January 12th to discuss a changing ‘world order’ due to a tremendous wave in onshoring, as well as demand for real estate across different asset classes from Dubai to San Francisco, and economic benefits expected to hit the Southeastern United States, among other topics.
On Varney & Co., Joe Sitt began his segment by discussing the status of office markets in cities across the nation from New York to California. While he sees more demand than supply in certain regions in red states, markets like San Francisco are struggling which he attributed to political changes. He believes it will take time for some of the larger cities to bounce back and for its residents to feel comfortable in order to see an increase in rents, however, business is booming elsewhere and expected to accelerate in the Southeast.
On the subject of onshoring, he believes “‘world order’ is changing because of the conflict with China, and so there is a tremendous onshoring wave coming and all of the Southeast will get its next economic benefit”, particularly in the area coined as the “Battery Belt”. With significant capital being poured into battery manufacturing, the “Battery Belt” will experience a spike in jobs and have ripple effects that even Mexico will benefit from.
Regarding residential real estate, he believes autocratic countries including Monaco and Singapore, as well as markets in the GCC region, are flourishing. He acknowledged Americans are more removed from the GCC countries so unable to clearly see markets such as Dubai thrive; however, the rest of the world’s population is closer to witness the success and thus investments are flooding into the region. When asked about domestic markets like Florida, he believes the luxury market has not stalled but is not at the level of Dubai. Florida has experienced tremendous success in terms of growth over the last decade and he does not project weakness for the state.
Mr. Sitt’s full interview can be found at: Fox Business