September 21, 2025 • 58 mins
On today’s program, Congressman Seth Moulton joins us to talk about the business community in Massachusetts. Doug Banks Executive Editor of the Boston business Journal shares the weeks top headlines. Ashley Judge from Destination Salem talks about October in the North Shore town. Bob Simone brings us up-to-date on the real estate market. And finally Andrew Brinker of the Boston Globe talks about rental properties, both prices and availability.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the New England Business Report with Joe Shortsleeve
and Kim Carrigan, a weekly roundup and discussion of the
top business news impacting our New England economy.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Good morning, and welcome to the New England Business Report.
On this a Sunday morning, September the twenty first. Joe
Shortsleeve here with Kim Kerrigan. We are here on the
last full day of summer. Yes, summer ticking away. Fall
kicking in tomorrow, Kim, on the twenty second of September
at two nineteen pm.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Are you ready? Well?
Speaker 4 (00:28):
I think I am ready.
Speaker 5 (00:29):
I think Mother Nature made a decision about two weeks
ago that.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
She was ready as well. So here we go into fall.
Speaker 5 (00:35):
But it's all good, and you know, I'm enjoying football
season is my favorite season really, so I sort of
called this football season versus fall and you know, looking
forward to seeing the Patriots again and hoping we continue
the magic.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
So time will tell, right.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Yeah, at the beginning of fall is no problem at all.
I think everybody's like, this is great. You know, it's
just an.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
It's January that just kills you, right right.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Season's fine, right, okay?
Speaker 2 (01:01):
All right, So we had some news out of the
Federal Reserve this week. Of course, cutting interest rates by
a quarter of a point wasn't a big secret. Everybody
anticipated it. I suppose the one thing, Kim that they
was a little bit newsworthy is that they suggested there'll
be two more cuts this year and one cut in
twenty twenty six. So anyway, we're gonna have Congressman Seth
(01:23):
Moulton from Assist District on as a guest this morning,
and we're going to be talking with him about the
health of the business community and what this interest rate
cut means, not only in this state but across New England,
and are the things that can be done on the
federal level to help the business community. Also, Kim, Doug
Banks is going to be along executive editor of the
(01:45):
Boston Business Journal, and Hasbro, as we all know, is
relocating to Boston from Tucket, Rhode Island. And we learned
late last week that Hasbro is getting a fourteen million
dollar tax break if they certain hiring goals.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
But to be expected correct.
Speaker 5 (02:04):
Him, absolutely, you bet, that's very exciting though, you know,
coming too the Seaport district, and I'm anxious to hear
what Doug has to say about that. Let's take a
look at the second half of the show, Joe. We're headed,
of course here in the third week of September. Conley
can't even believe that, and the ghosts and goblins of
(02:24):
Salem are already beginning to move about. You know, I
live close to Salem. My town borders it and effective,
you know, essentially from this point until November, we don't
cut through Salem anymore because you can't because the traffic
gets crazy, the people start coming out. It's all great
fun until you're stuck in the traffic, I can assure you, Ashley, Joe.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
I looked up the visit I looked up the visitor
numbers that you talk about, yea, and twenty twenty four
over a million people have visited Salem during the month
of October.
Speaker 5 (02:57):
The thing that's really interesting, Joe, is it creeps. And
I think that, you know, Ashley, Judge is going to
join us from Destination Salem and she's going to tell
you this. The October Haunted happenings are now creeping into
September more and more, which is great for them, I'm sure,
but it's crazy how we're watching the creep you know,
(03:17):
into September, so we're going to find out a little
bit more about what's going on there and what they
anticipate is coming up for the month of October. Joe
mentioned at Federal Reserve cutting an interest rates a quarter
point and automatically what you think about is mortgage rates
and what this might do to mortgage rates. Always doesn't
have an immediate influence on mortgage rates, but certainly can
(03:42):
have some kind of influence down the line. We're going
to be speaking to the owner of Better Living real Estate.
They are located in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire,
and we'll find out exactly what he thinks this may
be all about. And then finally we're going to talk
a little bit with Andrew Brinker from the Boston Globe.
(04:03):
He's talking about the fact that Joe, as you well know,
after Labor Day, there's usually not a single apartment available
in the Boston area once the college kids moved back.
He says, some buildings are begging for renters at this point.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Yeah, yeah, I was digging through some of the numbers there, Kim,
and rent in Boston previous years go up about eleven
or twelve percent a year but this past year they
went up just about two percent. Now that's still going up,
but it clearly is softening. And I guess the vacancy
rate is up year over year. I guess there's a
(04:38):
vacancy rate now a four point three percent, which was
higher than it was last year. So yeah, the rental
market as it relates to students, international students and scholars
coming to the area starting to be a concern. And
of course maybe that takes us right back to the
Federal Reserve cutting interest rates and everybody seeing a softening here.
Speaker 5 (04:58):
Well, Joe, as you mentioned off the top of the
sh show earlier, Federal Reserve held its much anticipated September
meeting this past week, and under pressure from the White
House to dramatically lower interest rates, the Fed did in
fact drop them for the first time this year, or
a quarter of a point two More rate cuts are
expected in twenty twenty five. So what does this say
(05:20):
about the US economy and what might the impact be
on consumers and businesses alike. Joining us to discuss just
that matter is Congressman Seth Moulton of the sixth District
and Congressman, it's great to have you with us this morning.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
Thanks so much.
Speaker 6 (05:35):
Yeah, it was good to be back. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
You bet.
Speaker 5 (05:37):
Let's get started right there if we could. Your impression
of the signal that this cut and the two yet
to come this year represents.
Speaker 6 (05:46):
Well, the problem is we're not sure because some people
think it's a signal that the feeder is just following
the president's wishes, and that's not good for business, that's
not good for the economy. I mean, pretty much everyone
agrees that an independent set is really important to our
economy and to the predictability that comes with economists and
business people making these decisions, not just a president who
(06:07):
wants to have political gains from whatever policy he's pushing.
But the hope, of course is that lower rates will
be good for people looking for mortgages, people trying to
buy homes, businesses trying to make investments. The problem is
the uncertainty, and of course the other problem is that
inflation is picking up and this could actually make it worse.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
A congressman, how would you assess the health of the
business community in Massachusetts slash New England and beyond? And
is there a role there obviously for yourself and the
federal government.
Speaker 6 (06:42):
Well, the fundamentals are strong. I mean, we have an
amazing life sciences sector. We have a lot of historic
Victoria parks of the economy that continue to do well
in Massachusetts. We have an amazing education system that continues
to provide incredible time, which is why so many new
businesses are founded in Massachusetts. But having said all of that,
(07:06):
the impact of the Trump administration's political cuts to research funding,
to cancer research, to higher education, those are really having
an effect that is a big part of our economy,
and the underlying strength of the economy means that we're
not seeing those effects too dramatically right now, other than
(07:28):
you know, when you hear about all the research programs
and dollars that are missing from institutions like Harvard. But
those are going to start hitting home, and of course
they're not just going to affect Massachusetts. You know, I
was listening to the governor of Virginia talking about a
new biotech facility that he's inaugurating down in Virginia to
produce cancer drugs. Well, you're not going to produce new
(07:50):
cancer drugs if new cancer drugs are not being discovered.
And so much of that discovery happens in Massachusetts.
Speaker 5 (07:55):
Congressman, Are there steps that can be taken by Congress
to try to do flecked in some way these kinds
of cuts for the area.
Speaker 6 (08:03):
Yes, absolutely, we could simply do our jobs. We could
follow our constitutional responsibility to have the power of the
purse and not just see that to the administration. But
under Republican leadership in both the House and the Senate,
they're just so scared of Donald Trump's are doing whatever
the heck he wants, and so we do need to
do our job. We should have a say on budgetary issues.
(08:25):
I mean, we appropriate funds to the government, and we
have control over those appropriations, not the president. When the
Senate just agrees to make unilateral cuts because the President
says that that's what he wants, that's not only undermining
Congress's authority, it's seeding so much power, including economic power,
(08:47):
to the president that it creates a lot of unpredictability
in the system. And if there's one thing that businesses want,
that institutions want, that higher education wants, its predictability.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Our guest is a Congressman Seth Moulton.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Of course, he's been in office since the January of
twenty fifteen. Let's talk a little bit about the political
divide in this country as it relates to the business community,
and you know, Massachusetts being the bluest of blue states,
I guess I'm wondering how significant or how serious are
is the question about the health of the business community
and how much of it has to do with the
(09:21):
political divide. In other words, you know, in Texas's business
doing better than Massachusetts because we're a blue state.
Speaker 6 (09:26):
Well, actually, we have so many strengths in Massachusetts, including
our commitment to the higher education, to the best public
education system in the country that create a lot of
jobs in Massachusetts and a lot of new companies that
are founded here. And so I'll stand up for the
Massachusetts economy any day of the week. But there's no
question that Donald Trump is trying to hurt Massachusetts. He
(09:49):
wants red state economy to do better than blue state economies.
And the fact of the matter is that this does
have effect politicizing our economy, just like he's trying to
put us by his about everything in America today is
a problem for blue states. When he makes a cuts
that are not good for our future, you know, that
are not good for anyone in the country. Everyone in
(10:10):
the country wants to cure cancer. It happens that a
lot of that research is done in Massachusetts, so it's
not just people in Massachusetts who are getting hurt when
those dollars are eliminated.
Speaker 5 (10:21):
Congressman, let me go back to the Federal Reserve in
this past week again cutting interest rates a quarter of
a point, the Fed chair saying that we can anticipate
two more cuts, most likely in twenty five, another in
twenty six. Talk to me a little bit in our
audience about what these kinds of cuts can do for
(10:42):
the business community. I mean, is this going to be
a positive thing. I know that the Federal Reserve is
certainly looking at the jobs rates and the very concerned
about that. What do you anticipate more cuts will mean
for the economy as we go into twenty six.
Speaker 6 (10:59):
Well, there's a lot of them, certainty in the economy
right now. We've been hearing for months from some economists
that many of the Trump policies, especially tariffs, are going
to have a very negative effect on the economy to
the point of pushing Ust into a recession. And yet
we haven't seen that yet, but we are seeing troubling
signs and one of those troubling signs is that businesses
(11:19):
are holding back on investment, and we're seeing this across
many different sectors, not just in Massachusetts but all across
the country. They're holding back on investment because of uncertainty. Now,
in general, lowering interest rates reduces capital costs and makes
it easier to buy, to borrow money to make those
big investments in your firms. So we would expect that
(11:41):
lowering interest rates will increase investment and address one of
these weaknesses that we're seeing in the economy right now.
But the concern I hear from many business leaders is
they just still don't have predictability. Yes, lower interest rates
help when it comes to making capital investments, but how
can they determin and where to make capital investments when
(12:01):
they don't know what the terrof team is going to
mean for their businesses. They don't know if they're going
to be able to afford you know, steel or aluminum,
if they're just to take two examples of inputs, some
of which come from from overseas, there are many businesses
in Massachusetts that produce very sophisticated things with parts from
(12:21):
all over the world, and if they can't predict what
those parts are going to cost. They don't know what
kind of investments to make or where to make them.
So we like to see investment increase, but I think
there's still an awful lot of uncertainty in the economy.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
I know it's not part of your district, but we
talk an awful lot on this program about the replacement
of the bridges to Cape Cod, both of.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
The Sagamore and the Bourne.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
The Sagamore seems to be funded with federal money at
least a good portion thereof, and then but the Bourne
remains unfunded at this point. Now, how much of that,
you know, falls on your plate or somebody who is
not necessarily in that district. And how concerned do you that, again,
that this is uh you know that it would be
funded if we were, you know, had say a Biden
(13:05):
in the in the White House.
Speaker 6 (13:07):
Well, President Biden made historic investments in infrastructure. And of
course the irony is that most Republicans voted against this
bipart of the bill. There were some Republicans who voted
for it, and yet all these Republicans who voted against
the bill still went back to their districts and counted
all the investments that the bill provided. So there's no
question that that President Biden was more committed to investing
(13:28):
in our country's infrastructure than President Trump. President Trump, uh,
President Trump's biscal priorities here are are clearly tax cuts
for billionaires and the wealthiest corporations. That's just that's what
that's what the Big Beautiful Bill is all about. You know,
take away healthcare for millions of Americans in order to
take pay for tax cuts for billionaires. Whether you like
that policy or not, that is the policy. And that
(13:51):
doesn't leave a lot of money for making investments like
our crumbling like like our crumbling infrastructure. In fact, the
Big Beautiful Bill that he passed dramatically increases our deficits,
so there's just less money available in the treasury to
make these investments now or in the future. So it's
not just that President Trump is playing politics with blue
(14:14):
states and trying to attack blue states that didn't vote
for him. It's also that his entire economic policy is
about tax cuts for the rich, increasing deficits, and that
doesn't leave the kind of money that we need to
invest in the future of our country.
Speaker 5 (14:31):
And Kirismond, I have one last question and related to
the economy of New England. And that's that the administration,
and this is a story we've been following here, the
administration now putting on hold all the licensing for all
the wind farms and wind energy. Is this something that
you know we're going to have to wait until this
(14:52):
administration goes away, or do you think that this business
will go away from New England because it's is important
to our economy.
Speaker 6 (15:01):
Well, it's a great question, Kim. But again the problem
is we don't know, and that means that investors don't know.
Policy makers in the state House on Beacon Hill don't know,
those of us in the federal delegation don't know. You know,
Supposedly Trump is against wind energy, and yet he seems
to have no problem with all the windmills in Texas.
(15:22):
Texas is the biggest producer of wind energy in the
country and it's a red state. So we don't really
know where this policy is headed. It's based on the
whims of the president and the political priorities, not on
a serious economic analysis of what our energy group needs,
what our what our future demands. Across America, we need
to be producing more power, especially as more of the
(15:44):
economy takes advantage of AI, which caught, which which you
know requires an awful lot of energy. So canceling power projects,
no matter what they are, is bad policy, especially when
they're almost completed. He's canceling wind part they are like
ninety five percent complete, just to make a political point.
That's not good for business. It's not good for investors.
(16:05):
It's not good for our economy. It's not good for
our competitiveness against China, our lead competitor when it comes
to AI. And I say this is someone who sits
on the China Committee in Congress. They are bringing megawatts
upon megawatts of new power online every single day. That's
our competition. And under Trump, we're following. We're falling behind, all.
Speaker 5 (16:28):
Right, Congressman Seth Moulton, what a delight it's been to
have you this morning, sir, Thank you very much for
joining us. Still coming your way. We are going to
talk about Hasbro. Guess what they're coming to town. This
is the New England Business Report.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
You are listening to the New England Business Report on
the Voice of Boston w RKO six' Eighty joe And.
Kim we'll be right.
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Speaker 2 (19:06):
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Too and welcome back to The New England Business. Report
on This sunday, morning of, course the final hours of
summer here we usually on that. Spot we talked to
(19:41):
the executive editor of The Boston Business, journal One Doug.
Banks he brings us up to speed on the headlines
this week, end of which they were. Plenty, doug good.
MORNING i guess we're talking About. Hasbro we've been talking
About hasbro for well over a year. Now they finally
made the decision to relocate To, boston and they've got a,
little well a little prized they got from the state
Of massachusetts in the order of a pretty large tax.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Break tell us about.
Speaker 11 (20:04):
It, yeah we're not talking about monopoly money, Here. Joe
we're talking about some real. Dollars the big news of
the course the week before, was as you, Said hasbro's
decision to move its headquarters From Rhode island To. Boston
this past week we got to see just what the
state Of massachusetts offered to Attract hasbro, here and of,
course you, know we talked about the access to talent
(20:24):
and the high quality workforce. Here but at the end
of the, day cold hard cash, talks and a state
commission approved a state tax break For hasbro's move To
boston up to fourteen million dollars if the toymaker meets hiring.
Requirements now compared to total incentives That Rhode island, offered
which was closer to fifty, million it's obviously not just
(20:48):
about the money For, hasbro but they will get as
much as fourteen million dollars In massachusetts tax breaks if they,
do in fact hire THE i think seven hundred employees
that they say they're going to hire and bring to
The Foundation medicine building over On Summer.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Street, yeah you, Know, doug Though i've been in this
city a long. TIME i hate to admit how many
years it's, been but it's. ANYWHERE i Think i'm north
of forty at this. Point AND I i've never heard
of The State's Economic Assistance Coordinating, council WHICH i guess
is the group here that approved this tax credit On.
Wednesday obviously you're well aware of their what they're up.
Speaker 11 (21:25):
To, yeah this is a council that we watched very,
closely actually because if you remember a few years back
The amazon H q two bid When amazon was looking
to put a second headquarters in places LIKE dc And New.
York THE ea C c as you mentioned that. Commission,
yeah it's a, small quiet, commission but it's very important
because that's the place where the state actually distributes the.
(21:49):
Money they they're the they're the approval approving body for
for tax, breaks whether it's and it's not Just. HASBRO
i mean there's there were a number of, companies both
low goal that have already been here and then newer
companies that also got some that also got tax breaks
this past week when they, Meet so they meet a
couple of times a, year and we'll see a lot of.
(22:10):
This if it's not through The coordinating counsole sometimes it's
say The Mass Life Sciences. Center other quasi public agencies
will also you, know manage tax credits for. Hiring but but,
yeah it could be as little as one hundred thousand
dollars for say a half a dozen new, jobs or
in the case Of, hasbro we're talking about fourteen million
(22:31):
dollars for seven hundred.
Speaker 4 (22:32):
Jobs so they do.
Speaker 11 (22:34):
A lot of. Work and what's you, know what's interesting
and why it's important to the public and why we
report on it is because obviously this is a tax payer,
money and so we want to make sure that the
companies are actually bringing the jobs they say they're going to,
bring and then the state will claw back that, money
which was which is what happened With General electric for,
EXAMPLE ge got a lot of tax breaks and then
(22:55):
they ended up giving back some of the money and
then foregoing money that hadn't yet been paid out when
they didn't ultimately move into The Fort point In South
boston like they like they said they.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Were going to.
Speaker 5 (23:06):
Do, yeah, Sometimes, doug we hear a bit of resentment
from other companies when they see these tax breaks coming
for these bigger companies Like, Hasbro Boos change cares just a,
bit you guys reporting About. TAKETA i love. It they've
got a drug. Boat it sounds like THEY'RE i said
To joe, earlier sounds, like you, know they're. Smugglers but
that's not exactly what's, happening, Right.
Speaker 12 (23:27):
No, exactly this is not a. Case so something you might,
see you, know might have seen On Miami. Vice in this, Case,
taketa which some listeners may not, know is the largest
life sciences employer In. Massachusetts they, have you, know something
close to six thousand workers. Here what they're trying they've
actually partnered with A french company to deliver drug products
(23:47):
Between europe and THE us in a much more carbon friendly.
Speaker 11 (23:53):
Way so they have brought they have they're bringing on
wind powered tri. Morands Now i'm not boating, Guy so
apparently it's like a, catamaran but instead of two, hulls
it's got three, hulls which makes it a. TRIMRAN i
guess that makes it more. Stable but because it's wind,
powered once it's out on the, ocean it's wind. Powered
(24:15):
they say it will reduce carbon emissions up to ninety
nine percent compared to jet you, know air, freight and
up to ninety percent compared to you know the container
ships that we see coming in and out Of Black
Falcon terminal for. Example so really. Interesting they're gonna they
say they can transport up to forty eight thousand tons
(24:35):
of goods per year with as many as five of
these trimurrans once they get this thing. Going so really
kind of kind of.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
Neat.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Yeah but you, Know, doug it's interesting as you read
your article there in THE bbj About taketa's move, Here i'm, thinking, well,
okay it's got to be. Slower, no they're saying it's
twice or four times faster to do it this. WAY i, mean,
WHY i GUESS i come back to. That, okay why
haven't we thought of this? Before?
Speaker 11 (25:00):
Yeah, WELL i mean we did in the sixteen. Hundred
salem was one of the capitals of the country back
in the, day so you, know it's not like we
haven't done this. Before it's just been about three hundred,
years so it's Really, yeah you're, right it's like two
to four times faster than standard. Shipping those things are
really fast across the, water and you, know who, knows
they're also really cool to look, at SO i would
(25:22):
imagine they're more nimble and more flexible because these are
obviously smaller, shipments you, know than some of these giant container.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
Ships but but, yeah pretty.
Speaker 11 (25:31):
Cool it'll be interesting to see what they do and
And taketa says it's the first biopharmaceutical company in the
world to do this kind of sustainable, shipping so maybe
we'll see other companies trying it and it could be
could be.
Speaker 5 (25:45):
Good so you're saying what's old is new. Again that
MEANS i maybe still have a. Chance Huh is that
what you're trying to?
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Say we all, do we all do exactly, Right we've
got to have a.
Speaker 11 (25:55):
CHANCE i saw just the other, DAY i saw acid
washed jeans in The financial district In.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
Boston those are big.
Speaker 11 (26:02):
Ladies so everything comes back. Again, Eventually i'm.
Speaker 4 (26:05):
Gonna dig down in some of my. Drawers.
Speaker 13 (26:08):
Okay so Market, basket Market, basket Market, Basket now we
got an interim we'll call him an INTERIM, ceo give
us the, name and is this going to have any
kind of?
Speaker 4 (26:19):
Impact?
Speaker 11 (26:20):
Yeah, so for it's almost one hundred year, history Market
basket has been led by A demolis of The demulles.
Families now it will be led by A Donald. Mulligan
he is the current chief financial officer and right now
he's been named the interim successor TO, rdt, who of,
course as we all, know was fired just a couple
of weeks ago and has been on leave four months
(26:42):
and months and it's been the ongoing. Saga you, know
my question To Grant, welker who is the reporter who
covered the story was is this the guy who's going
to stay because they called him an Interim but he
reminded me That, mulligan who was A lowell, native like
most of these, folks he's been working at Market basket
for forty two. Years he's seventy years. Old not the
(27:02):
guy who's going to take this into the. Future but
it's the guy who the BOARD i think rightly, picked
someone who has been with the company a long, time
shows stability while they go out and find the chief.
Executive AND i think we're all going to be waiting
to see who the next full you, know full TIME
ceo is going to, be because that will really be
(27:23):
the news when they name that PERMANENT. Ceo that'll tell
us where the board is going to take the company going.
Forward and are they going to make the changes THAT
rdt has been threatening they would. Make are they going
to you, know change the Market basket culture that everybody
seems to, love it's one of the most popular supermarkets. Around,
obviously will they raise, prices will they you know sell
(27:46):
to you, know a giant Like kroger Or. Albertsons who
knows what's going to. Happen but in the, meantime this
Guy mulligan's THE. Cfo he's been there. Forever he represents,
stability and then we're just. Remaining it remains to be
seen where the board takes it from.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
Here all.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
Right He's Doug, banks the executive editor of The Boston Business,
journal and we do appreciate you taking time and joining
us this morning on The New England Business. Support in
just a few, moments we're gonna. Wow we're gonna go
up To, salem you. Know october is just around the,
corner and we're going to talk a little bit about destination.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Sale kim And joe will explore more business news that
impacts Our New england economy when they.
Speaker 7 (28:27):
Return it's so much fun When i'm joving with.
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Speaker 9 (29:27):
Com are you a brother or sister of one Of
Greater boston's local trade unions and finally thinking about getting
ready to hang up your tools after thirty five years
of working your? Tailoff, congratulations you worked hard to build
your retirement nest. Egg but now? What let me help
you break through the nonsense and financial speak so we
can get to the questions that are important to. You
as you, know nothing gets built without a set of,
(29:49):
plans and neither will you a financial. Future my name
Is Mike, Marshall president AND ceo Of Marshal Wealth management
and creator of The Marshall, plan a comprehensive customized plan
and that'll help you answer important questions in all seven key.
Areas you don't have to do it. Alone there is
no cost or. Obligation call us at eight five seven
three four two ten. Thirty that's eight five seven three
(30:12):
four two ten. Thirty well check us out online At
marshallwealth Dot Com marshall with two Els marshallwealth Dot.
Speaker 10 (30:19):
Com advisory services offer To capital analysts Or Lincoln Investment
Registered Investment. Advisors securities offered Through Lincoln Investment Broker Dealer MEMBER, FINRA,
Sipc Lincoln investment Dot, Com Marshal Wealth management and the
above firms are independent and not. Affiliated welcome, back. Everybody
good to have you with us on This sunday. Morning quick,
reminder we're going to take a trip To salem in
just a couple of. Minutes, Golly, joe is it hard
(30:40):
to believe that the ghosts and goblins are just about
to make their?
Speaker 5 (30:44):
APPEARANCE i, MEAN i can't even believe.
Speaker 2 (30:46):
It, WELL i, Know i'm just putting the speedo, Away,
kim you know WHAT i.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
Mean it's, like you, know.
Speaker 5 (30:52):
You painted a PICTURE i don't, Need, Joe thank you very.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
Much this, Morning, uh swerving off the.
Speaker 5 (30:59):
ROAD i want to take a second here a couple
of headlines THAT i noticed this. Week one in, Particular
joe AND i always like to share these, headlines AND
i thought this was really. INTERESTING Jd power ranking customer
satisfaction when it comes to major large airports in the
country in major. Cities Logan airport apparently holding Steady joe
(31:23):
at number. Ten they say that the airport is, efficient
that it has continued to, progress lots of good things
said about that new international, terminal and that it is
number ten when it comes to. SATISFACTION i, MEAN i
guess number.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Ten go, Ahead, yeah, no, No i've had occasion to
Use Logan airport quite a bit in the past, year
AND i can tell, you for the most, part it's
everything's been, fined everything's gone.
Speaker 3 (31:50):
Smoothly it's always the checked bag that gets.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
You it's like it takes longer to get your check
bag than it does to make the flight that you've been.
Speaker 3 (31:58):
ON i, mean it's just like you wait and you.
Wait it's so. TRUE i still don't understand.
Speaker 4 (32:01):
That you, know for, me.
Speaker 5 (32:03):
It's the AND i think they've sort of smoothed this.
Out but for the longest, time it was the trying
to figure out where you pick passengers up and where
you get your you, know your shared rides and all
that kind of. Thing but they've done a pretty good
job now of really making that clear and there is
a system there WHICH i think has, made you, know
(32:24):
my satisfaction level a lot higher than it was for
a long. Time by the, way if you're wondering number
twenty on this, list no, SURPRISE i think to Anyone Newark,
airport which has been a.
Speaker 3 (32:36):
Disaster all, Right, KIM i think you mentioned.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
It is it already time to talk about the ghosts
and goblins and all those, people those tens of thousands
of people that are going to be crowding the roadways
Near Kim carrigan's. House, yeah and it is. True first
week of fall underway this, week and the next thing you,
know It's. October so let's shoot up To. Salem let's
talk with the executive director Of Destination, Salem. Ashley Judge,
(33:01):
ashley thank you very. Much welcome to the. Program kim
AND i were talking About, salem and of course in
twenty twenty four the NUMBERS i saw you had more
than a million visitors In. October tell us about your
expectations for This.
Speaker 14 (33:14):
October, yeah we are very. Excited you are. Correct we
had more than a million visitors In, october and we
are also amidst what we Call septober, here which is
the overflow From september Into. October we are expecting seeing
krads may and be a little bit, bigger and we're
just excited to welcome everybody here for the month Of. October.
Speaker 4 (33:37):
Yeah you, KNOW i was saying.
Speaker 5 (33:38):
EARLIER i live in Swam Scott, ashley and it's about
this time of the year that we stopped driving Through
salem because we know that the traffic gets a little bit.
Busy but really there is some real creep Into, september
something that we have just noticed in the last couple of.
Speaker 4 (33:56):
Years why do you think that's the?
Speaker 14 (33:57):
Case, YEAH i think that everyone Enjoys ourtober in their own, way,
Right so there's AND i think the word has gotten,
out but there are a lot of parts Of october
you can enjoy In, september both a little bit less,
crowd SO i think everyone is choosing their own adventures
and those that want to be like hip to hip
with people in awesome costumes and feel that kind of
(34:18):
like festival vibe or coming In, october and people who
want to have the history and the waterfront and a
lot of those same attractions and experiences are sneaking In.
September BUT i think THE i think the word is.
Speaker 2 (34:31):
Out, actually judge who's coming To salem In. October how
do you break down these visitors and what are they?
Speaker 14 (34:39):
Spending, yeah they are coming from from all over and
they are spending their dollars in a number of.
Speaker 6 (34:48):
Places.
Speaker 14 (34:49):
Right they're spending them at hotels and, restaurants which helps
drive economic value here for the city in the form.
Speaker 6 (34:56):
OF x guys.
Speaker 14 (34:57):
Taxes they're checking out the, shops they're enjoying, attractions and
they're investing in The salem business.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
Community but where are these visitors? From where are these visitors?
From where are they coming? From and are not coming
From Swanscott Bearing according To.
Speaker 14 (35:12):
Kim they are as. Well we do have a lot
of day, trippers but we do have you, know our
year over year growth from people who are draveling more
than one hundred miles is. Up so they're coming from
if they're, driving they're coming From New, York, Pennsylvania New,
hampshire but we have a visitor center here with Both
(35:34):
french And spanish speaking information, specialists AND i hear them
chatting and all languages all day. Long so we Have
French canadians coming to see. Us people are It's salem
is on a lot of people's bucket.
Speaker 5 (35:46):
List Ashley judge is our guest and she's From Destination.
Salem and of course we're talking About hunted happenings that
starts officially In. October you, know it's a wonderful thing
for the city Of, salem AND i realized that it's
it's important for the city Of. Salem can you can
you give us an idea of what for businesses what
(36:09):
this means every? Year what percentage of their business is
done between maybe the third week In september to the
end Of.
Speaker 15 (36:17):
October, yeah that's a great.
Speaker 14 (36:19):
QUESTION i would say probably about a third of everyone's,
revenue if not. More it's coming in in that really short.
Window we have done a great, JOB i think in
the last few years helping everyone see this much, longer
more fun, season right like all of the fun of
the summer and the alfresco. Dining but a lot of
(36:39):
people are coming in this short amount of, time and
the businesses really prepare themselves. Professionally you've got coffee shops
that take reservations down to the five minute, interval you,
Know so folks prepare for it and they think, about you,
know how to how to get you, know the maximum
revenue for their small business during the time we're all
(36:59):
the folks are.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
Here how long is the average visitor there In? Salem
And i'm wondering what's the number one DRAW i, means
or what categories are the ones that really?
Speaker 14 (37:10):
Benefit, yeah people come for all different. Reasons one of
the major attractions is what we call muggles seeking. Magic
they're neither historians here for the, history although we have
a lot of folks here for. History nor are they
folks who are interested in kind of a deep dive
into that current modern day with and within. Culture but
(37:33):
there are people who are just those muggles seeking, magic the.
Fantasy you, know they they they know they love the
Hocus pocus locations that were shot here from the very first.
Film you, Know nostalga is so, popular and they just
want to be a part of cobblestone streets and twinkling,
lights AND, i you, KNOW i think we really we,
(37:54):
deliver but with a lot of.
Speaker 5 (37:56):
Friends, yeah you definitely, deliver no two ways about.
Speaker 4 (37:59):
That let me go back to the businesses for just a.
Speaker 5 (38:01):
Moment you, know people have been very concerned about getting
their items in.
Speaker 4 (38:07):
As a result of.
Speaker 5 (38:08):
Tariffs have you had business owners in the city that
were concerned about getting all those items they need for
those six?
Speaker 14 (38:16):
Weeks, YEAH i think earlier in the year it was
a bigger part of the. DIALOGUE i think that folks
in the small business, community if they learned one thing
FROM covid, though they learned how to pivot and how
to accept the unacceptable and move. Quickly SO i know
a lot of them moved as fast as they possibly
could to finding other opportunities other. Distribution people make really
(38:39):
great data driven decisions. Here they know the merchandise that they,
need they know the inventory levels they need to, carry
and so if they weren't able to shoulder the cost
of those those, tariffs they pivoted and they acted, fast
because that's what you, know that's what small business owners
are great at. Doing.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
Yeah, actually judges are. Guests executive director Of Destination, salem
talk to us about your job over the next month or,
so what will Actually judge be.
Speaker 14 (39:07):
Doing, sure we'll be having lots of fun chats like this,
One so thank you so much for talking with me.
Today you, know we are a destination marketing, organization so
we are the folks who tell the, World, hey come
To salem and here's what you can. Expect but once
we get down to the actual month, itself we're trying
to make sure that user experience is as great as. Possible,
(39:29):
Right so we have a wonderful app that gives you
all sorts of information about you, know street closures and
where the bathrooms, are because that is a big part
of visiting a destination and helping people have the information
they need to enjoy themselves while they're, here giving them
lots of tips about getting the traffic and the parking
(39:50):
and taking public transportation and how to have the best
trip they can. Have so that's what we're really focused on.
Here we also have a visitor center that will probably
see one hundred thousand people come, through so they come
in various levels of. Informed. Right some people have a
spreadsheet that they've crossed. Referenced others have looked into nothing
and they, Say i'm, here what SHOULD i? Do you
(40:11):
can come talk to us and we'll help point you
in the right.
Speaker 3 (40:14):
Direction all, right, well best of.
Speaker 2 (40:16):
Luck we will be checking back with you as time
goes on here as we move Through. October Ashley, Judgic
Executive director Of Destinations, Salem So, joe.
Speaker 5 (40:24):
You, know we've been talking about that quarter point cut
in interest rates from The fed this past, week and
many people believe that cut is going to have an
immediate impact on the real estate market and mortgage, rates
but you know that's not always the. Case here to
talk more about what's happening with the market In New
england is the owner Of Better Living Real. Estate this
(40:45):
Is Bob, simony And, bob it's great to have you
with us this.
Speaker 4 (40:48):
Morning thank, you.
Speaker 15 (40:49):
Thanks for having.
Speaker 5 (40:49):
Me you, bet before we get, started just tell us
a little bit About Better living Real.
Speaker 15 (40:53):
Estate Better living Real estate is A New england wide
real estate company servicing three, states being Mass chief It's
Rhode island In New. Hampshire been in business thirty eight
years and we help both home buyers and home sellers
achieve their real estate.
Speaker 3 (41:08):
Goals, bob where do you do the bulk of your?
Business we're out.
Speaker 15 (41:11):
Of massachusetts is our main. Market So Greater boston all
the way down To cape And Wister market is our
normal business.
Speaker 2 (41:20):
Area, okay we'll give give us the update on the
health of the real estate market here In massachusetts and
beyond as best you see.
Speaker 15 (41:27):
It, WELL i can tell you that we're seeing a
normal fall market develop in our real estate area here
In Greater. Boston that basically means that we're seeing a
market that is very similar to what we see typically
in our spring, markets where the fall market here is
now definitely getting a positive boost with the interest rate.
(41:50):
Drop those interest rates have been. Falling the mortgage rate's
been falling over the black past two, weeks and we're
now near six percent on average for a thirty fixed,
rate and that's giving buyers a lot more buying power
and confidence to be going to open houses and looking
to make that move before.
Speaker 14 (42:08):
The end of the.
Speaker 5 (42:08):
Year, Yeah, bob you, know a lot of times when
interest rates, drop people do perceive it as being something more,
positive and a lot of times it's already been built
in when it comes to mortgage. Rates has that been
the case and now you think people will perceive it
as being.
Speaker 15 (42:25):
Better, Yes, typically the news and the consumer sentiment on
interest rates are lagging the actual rate developments in the mortgage.
Market so over the last fourteen days we've seen about
a quarter percent drop overall in mortgage, rates and that
was prior to the federally served making their rate. Drop
so we in the real estate market have been communicating
(42:48):
to our, clients and mortgage lenders have been reaching out
to their applicants and talking about taking advantage of this
not only in the purchase, side but also in the.
Refinance so in the refinance of the, business the lenders
are able to now take the consumers that were getting
mortgages in the seven percent range or the high sixes
(43:09):
and talk about saving them hundreds of dollars per month
with the opportunity to refinance down to anywhere from a
six percent rate to maybe a six and and. Eighth
that substantial savings on a monthly. Basis we've been talking
to our consumers about moving forward with their real estate
purchase with the idea that in the future they might
take advantage of future rate.
Speaker 2 (43:30):
Drops Bob simonti is our. Guest he is THE ceo
owner of A Better living In Real. Estate how about
first time buyers bring us up to. Speed there it seems,
like you, know prices are going going, up going, up going.
Up it seems like maybe prices have leveled out at
least for a little while, here and what's the impact
on first time.
Speaker 15 (43:48):
Buyers what we've been seeing as a trend throughout twenty
twenty five is that houses in any community that are
priced at median price levels or below have been the
most active in the, market meaning consumers have continued to
be paying at or near full, price as well as
(44:10):
some of the better quality homes with more updated amenities
are still selling over asking. Price as you reach above
the medium price, level you're starting to see consumers having
a little bit more buying power. There the consumers that
are coming into open houses are aware of the, inventory
they're aware of their buying power with their mortgage. Rate
(44:32):
it always benefits those consumers to talk to their lender
before going out with any serious idea of buying a
property to make sure they're getting their current mortgage rate
updated pre qualification. Letter but consumers are armed with more
information than they've ever, had and that's helping them make
decisions faster and be a little bit more. Strategic our
(44:52):
role as real estate agents is to help them understand the,
inventory the market and put together the negotiation process to
get them to meet their. Goals and sometimes that's a
situation where a first time buyer is coming into a
market and just learning about the, market and THAT'S i
think where we as professionals can really help educate.
Speaker 5 (45:11):
Them, SURE i know you guys do business in three different,
States Rhode, Island, massachusetts And New. Hampshire talk to us
about those three different. States is the real estate market
different in each and which one is?
Speaker 15 (45:20):
Stronger, well the market in all three of those states
has been consistently. Strong, however where we've seen the most
appreciation and prices over the last. Years In Rhode island
we've seen about a six point nine percent overall increase
in real estate prices through that. State massachusetts has been
lagging all three of those states at four point seven.
(45:43):
Percent price appreciation this year In New hampshire has been
at five point eight. Percent so, overall The New england
market has really been standing well throughout the adjustments that
you may be hearing through the national news about prices
in other areas of the. Country New, england with our,
education our job opportunities and our financial, strength has really
(46:07):
been able to buttress our housing. Market we've seen some price,
reductions typically at the higher price, points but, overall our
market's very.
Speaker 2 (46:15):
Healthy as we head into the first week of fall,
here what will take up the most time on your
desk in the coming?
Speaker 15 (46:21):
Weeks, well between now And thanksgiving is the busiest time
in the fall market for. Transactions not to say that
we don't see some transactions happening as we're leading into
the later holiday, season but right now we're focused on
making sure that our inventory is priced well and is
appealing to. Buyers so when we're listing, homes we're really
(46:44):
taking the time to sit down and educate our sellers
on what the pricing strategy should be that makes their
property more appealing and allows buyers within the first two
weeks of that listing process to come in view the
property and make an appropriate. OFFER a lot of our
time right now is being spent educating our sella consumers
(47:05):
and helping our buyers get back into the market after
this summer vacations and.
Speaker 5 (47:09):
Holidays Bob, Simoni Better, Living thank you sir so much
for being a part of the show today and continued
success when we come back here on the New England
Business report will be joined By Andrew. Brinker he is
from The Boston globe and he has been doing a
little research on rental property in the.
Speaker 1 (47:26):
City you are listening to The New England Business report
on The voice Of boston W rko six 't. Eighty
joe And kim will be right.
Speaker 11 (47:37):
Back it's so much.
Speaker 7 (47:40):
Fun When i'm joving with you everywhere with everything that we. Do,
yeah it's fun When i'm joving with.
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Speaker 9 (48:38):
Com are you a brother or sister of one Of
Greater boston's local trade unions and finally thinking about getting
ready to hang up your tools after thirty five years
of working your? Tailoff, congratulations you worked hard to build
your retirement nest. Egg but now? What let me help
you break through the nonsense and financial speak so we
can get to the questions that are important to. You
as you, know nothing gets built without a set of,
(48:59):
plans and neither will you a financial. Future my name
Is Mike, Marshall president AND ceo Of Marshal Wealth management
and creator of The Marshall, plan a comprehensive customized plan
that will help you answer important questions in all seven key.
Areas you don't have to do it. Alone there is
no cost or. Obligation call us at eight five seven
three four two ten. Thirty that's eight five seven three
(49:22):
four two ten. Thirty well check us out online At
marshallwealth dot. Com marshall with two Els marshallwealth dot.
Speaker 10 (49:29):
Com advisory services offered Through Capital analysts Or Lincoln Investment
Registered Investment Advisors securities offered Through Lincoln Investment Broker dealer MEMBER, FINRA,
Sipc Lincoln investment Dot, Com Marshall Wealth management and the
above firms are independent and not affiliated.
Speaker 1 (49:39):
With The New England Business report on W rko is
brought to you in part BY superu Of New ENGLAND
supero Of New england dot com and.
Speaker 2 (49:50):
Welcome back to The New Englan Business. Report on This sunday.
Morning we want to talk a little bit about what's
going on as it relates to apartments and vacancies and
rent levels here in the city Of. Boston in this past,
week a very interesting article in The Boston globe written
By Andrew, brinker headline Being it's just cricket an uptick
of apartment vacancies In boston suggested decline in student. Enrollment
(50:13):
andrew joins. Us, Now, andrew tell us a little bit
more what's going on?
Speaker 16 (50:17):
Here, hey thanks for having. Me, So, yeah this is
an interesting. One as we all. KNOW a partner of
the apartment market In, boston the rental, market i should,
say excuse, me has been a sort of red hot for,
many many many, years which, means you, know extremely low
vacancy rates and very, high sort of ever rising. Rents
BUT i actually found over the last couple of months,
(50:38):
year specifically in the month Of, september there are quite
a few vacancies in the, market specifically in some of
the sort of student heavy neighborhoods of the. City and
what we were able to figure out is that a
lot of these apartments that are vacant are apartments that
would typically be rented by. Students so sort of what
we wrote is, that you, know we've been hearing a
(51:00):
lot about sort of all these policies from The trump
administration that could theoretically Impact boston's housing, earth, sorry Not
boston housing, markets But boston's colleges and universities and student,
enrollments you, know new policies around international student visas and
funding for research. Projects, well we're finding that we're seeing
the effect of that in the housing, market and that
(51:21):
there are you, know some international students who would typically
be here conducting research who don't seem to be here
right now and not showing up in the rental.
Speaker 5 (51:30):
Market so tell us a little bit about landlord's, reaction
because they have to be very.
Speaker 4 (51:34):
Surprised did they see this?
Speaker 16 (51:35):
COMING i would say. NO i think a lot of
landlords were caught off guard by. THIS i think the
telltale sign of that is that we haven't really seen
significant rent reductions, yet which tells me that most landlords
were still pricing their apartments, very very. Competitively you, know
(51:55):
maybe they were building in some rent increases this year
because they were expecting, that as we, said you, know
the same demand that they would typically see in a typical,
year which is you know how it works In, boston
in particularly the student neighborhoods is you, know you have
a three bedroom apartment that maybe a couple of graduate
students rent out every year if the, least you, know
if those students, leave you put the apartment on the.
(52:16):
Market in one or two. Days usually you have ten
or fifteen interested parties lined up and somebody is signing
the paperwork and you can basically get not whatever rent
price you, want but a pretty high. Price so you,
know the fact that prices haven't, fallen and you, know
from the landlords That i've talked, TO i would say
that they were caught off guard by, this. FOLKS i,
(52:37):
mean we haven't experienced real vacancies in The boston housing,
market you, know with the exception of the pandemics in
quite a long.
Speaker 2 (52:44):
Time, andrew give us a four, instance an example that
you point out in your global.
Speaker 16 (52:50):
Article, sure, so you, know we leave this story with
this property that's just north Of Kendall. Square it's a
couple of. Bedrooms it's a expensive it's and fifty dollars a.
Month but you, know for The kendal area and YOUR
mt in the red, line that is a price that
folks are usually willing to. Pay and the broker for
(53:13):
this property told us that there has never been an
issue renting this property, before but this, year you, know
the listing has been up for well over a couple
OF i think a couple of.
Speaker 15 (53:24):
Months.
Speaker 16 (53:24):
Now you, know there's a large fridge in here that
it comes with a, couch there's a nice. Backyard it's
not been. Rented that is extremely unusual For. Boston there
are a couple of other instances THAT i heard about,
too you, know with the you, know these big sort
of student houses In brookline for, example or in The longwood,
(53:46):
area where you know you have these. Prices these apartments
they are priced rather, competitively but are typically snatched up
and they're sitting on the market right. NOW i think
there was a there was a broker who told me
about this three bedroom And brookline where there were a
couple of graduate students From lebanon who had been living
there for the past, year and they gave up the
(54:07):
least because they were concerned about the status of their.
Visas and that apartment is still sitting, there so it's
quite it's quite.
Speaker 5 (54:17):
Pervasive, So, andrew the thing THAT i find interesting about
this is you've quoted some of the, prices but it
seems like it's less about prices and it's just more
about the fact.
Speaker 4 (54:27):
That there are not people here to rent those.
Speaker 5 (54:30):
Apartments it doesn't feel like that's a neighborhood where even
if you brought the price, down someone who's not a
student would move.
Speaker 16 (54:37):
Into, YEAH i mean it's an interesting point and perhaps is.
True you, know these are neighborhoods that have a reputation
for being built and you, know a deserving reputation for
being filled with. Students you, know there are blocks in
some of these neighborhoods that are sort of exclusively occupied by.
Students but it's hard to say if lower prices theoretically
(55:00):
get more people into those, departments because we haven't really
seen landlords really offering significant rent rent reductions at this.
Point maybe in a couple of months we will hear.
It landlords have been, trying you, know they have lowered their,
prices and you, KNOW i actually did have a fairly
prominent landlord in the in The boston area who owned
(55:22):
apartments in these student neighborhoods tell me that he thinks
that some people are just pricing too, aggressively that you,
know demand is waning a little. Bit but you know
the other part of that is that when demand, wanes
you need to price your apartments serve more reasonably so
that you know you can fill. Them so it's hard to, say.
Speaker 2 (55:39):
Yeah Andrew breakers our guests at The Boston, Globe, YEAH
i looked up rents and they basically said that rents
were going up around eleven twelve percent every, year and
then they said this past.
Speaker 3 (55:47):
Year they went up but only two. Percent so you
KNOW i see.
Speaker 2 (55:52):
THAT i, Go, Okay so nobody's really crying for these, folks,
RIGHT i, mean we're not at the point where people
are really, worried are?
Speaker 3 (55:58):
We?
Speaker 16 (55:59):
NO i don't think. So AND i think you point
out an important, point which is that you, know vacancies
are up in a couple of these very specific, neighborhoods
but across the, CITY i, Mean boston still has one
of the lowest vacancy rates in the entire country among
major metropolitan. Areas you, Know boston's vacancy rates, historic, like
the last couple of years has been almost impossibly. LOW
(56:23):
i think there was a year maybe two years ago
was below one, percent at least according to to one
apartment firm that measures. It so you, know there's been
a little bit of a shift, there BUT i think
that across the, city rents are still up on the.
Year you know that rent growth has, slowed which is,
significant but rents have also flowed. Nationally so the fact
(56:46):
that rents are still up In boston definitely tells us,
that you know that there is still demand to live
in the. City it's not like there's been some sort
of significant shifts and all of a, sudden you, know
we're going to see rents come crashing down to, earth
and you know there's gonna be all these apartments going on,
rented that's their. Thing there is still significant demand for
to live In Beacon, hill to live in The North,
end to live in even somewhere Late East boston Or Jamaica.
(57:07):
Plane it's just some very specific parts of the city
where we're noticing these vacancies that those were served bought
through our.
Speaker 2 (57:14):
Attention, well great, story very interesting to us here on
The New England Business. Report we appreciated sharing it with.
Us Andrew brinker of The Boston.
Speaker 5 (57:21):
Globe, well that's going to do it for this edition
of The New England Business. Reports i'm glad you could
be with us This sunday morning taking a look at
what's coming up Next. Sunday Daniel, cooper vice president and
an economist at The Boston Federal Reserve, bank is our.
Guest daniel heads The Household Decision Making, group and we'll
talk to us about The New england economy and what
(57:42):
he sees in the future for business as well as
consumers in our. Region that's coming up Next, sunday eight
am on The voice Of boston W RKO am six
't eighty
This is the New England Business Report with Joe Shortsleeve
and Kim Carrigan, a weekly roundup and discussion of the
top business news impacting our New England economy.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Good morning, and welcome to the New England Business Report.
On this a Sunday morning, September the twenty first. Joe
Shortsleeve here with Kim Kerrigan. We are here on the
last full day of summer. Yes, summer ticking away. Fall
kicking in tomorrow, Kim, on the twenty second of September
at two nineteen pm.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Are you ready? Well?
Speaker 4 (00:28):
I think I am ready.
Speaker 5 (00:29):
I think Mother Nature made a decision about two weeks
ago that.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
She was ready as well. So here we go into fall.
Speaker 5 (00:35):
But it's all good, and you know, I'm enjoying football
season is my favorite season really, so I sort of
called this football season versus fall and you know, looking
forward to seeing the Patriots again and hoping we continue
the magic.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
So time will tell, right.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Yeah, at the beginning of fall is no problem at all.
I think everybody's like, this is great. You know, it's
just an.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
It's January that just kills you, right right.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Season's fine, right, okay?
Speaker 2 (01:01):
All right, So we had some news out of the
Federal Reserve this week. Of course, cutting interest rates by
a quarter of a point wasn't a big secret. Everybody
anticipated it. I suppose the one thing, Kim that they
was a little bit newsworthy is that they suggested there'll
be two more cuts this year and one cut in
twenty twenty six. So anyway, we're gonna have Congressman Seth
(01:23):
Moulton from Assist District on as a guest this morning,
and we're going to be talking with him about the
health of the business community and what this interest rate
cut means, not only in this state but across New England,
and are the things that can be done on the
federal level to help the business community. Also, Kim, Doug
Banks is going to be along executive editor of the
(01:45):
Boston Business Journal, and Hasbro, as we all know, is
relocating to Boston from Tucket, Rhode Island. And we learned
late last week that Hasbro is getting a fourteen million
dollar tax break if they certain hiring goals.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
But to be expected correct.
Speaker 5 (02:04):
Him, absolutely, you bet, that's very exciting though, you know,
coming too the Seaport district, and I'm anxious to hear
what Doug has to say about that. Let's take a
look at the second half of the show, Joe. We're headed,
of course here in the third week of September. Conley
can't even believe that, and the ghosts and goblins of
(02:24):
Salem are already beginning to move about. You know, I
live close to Salem. My town borders it and effective,
you know, essentially from this point until November, we don't
cut through Salem anymore because you can't because the traffic
gets crazy, the people start coming out. It's all great
fun until you're stuck in the traffic, I can assure you, Ashley, Joe.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
I looked up the visit I looked up the visitor
numbers that you talk about, yea, and twenty twenty four
over a million people have visited Salem during the month
of October.
Speaker 5 (02:57):
The thing that's really interesting, Joe, is it creeps. And
I think that, you know, Ashley, Judge is going to
join us from Destination Salem and she's going to tell
you this. The October Haunted happenings are now creeping into
September more and more, which is great for them, I'm sure,
but it's crazy how we're watching the creep you know,
(03:17):
into September, so we're going to find out a little
bit more about what's going on there and what they
anticipate is coming up for the month of October. Joe
mentioned at Federal Reserve cutting an interest rates a quarter
point and automatically what you think about is mortgage rates
and what this might do to mortgage rates. Always doesn't
have an immediate influence on mortgage rates, but certainly can
(03:42):
have some kind of influence down the line. We're going
to be speaking to the owner of Better Living real Estate.
They are located in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire,
and we'll find out exactly what he thinks this may
be all about. And then finally we're going to talk
a little bit with Andrew Brinker from the Boston Globe.
(04:03):
He's talking about the fact that Joe, as you well know,
after Labor Day, there's usually not a single apartment available
in the Boston area once the college kids moved back.
He says, some buildings are begging for renters at this point.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Yeah, yeah, I was digging through some of the numbers there, Kim,
and rent in Boston previous years go up about eleven
or twelve percent a year but this past year they
went up just about two percent. Now that's still going up,
but it clearly is softening. And I guess the vacancy
rate is up year over year. I guess there's a
(04:38):
vacancy rate now a four point three percent, which was
higher than it was last year. So yeah, the rental
market as it relates to students, international students and scholars
coming to the area starting to be a concern. And
of course maybe that takes us right back to the
Federal Reserve cutting interest rates and everybody seeing a softening here.
Speaker 5 (04:58):
Well, Joe, as you mentioned off the top of the
sh show earlier, Federal Reserve held its much anticipated September
meeting this past week, and under pressure from the White
House to dramatically lower interest rates, the Fed did in
fact drop them for the first time this year, or
a quarter of a point two More rate cuts are
expected in twenty twenty five. So what does this say
(05:20):
about the US economy and what might the impact be
on consumers and businesses alike. Joining us to discuss just
that matter is Congressman Seth Moulton of the sixth District
and Congressman, it's great to have you with us this morning.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
Thanks so much.
Speaker 6 (05:35):
Yeah, it was good to be back. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
You bet.
Speaker 5 (05:37):
Let's get started right there if we could. Your impression
of the signal that this cut and the two yet
to come this year represents.
Speaker 6 (05:46):
Well, the problem is we're not sure because some people
think it's a signal that the feeder is just following
the president's wishes, and that's not good for business, that's
not good for the economy. I mean, pretty much everyone
agrees that an independent set is really important to our
economy and to the predictability that comes with economists and
business people making these decisions, not just a president who
(06:07):
wants to have political gains from whatever policy he's pushing.
But the hope, of course is that lower rates will
be good for people looking for mortgages, people trying to
buy homes, businesses trying to make investments. The problem is
the uncertainty, and of course the other problem is that
inflation is picking up and this could actually make it worse.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
A congressman, how would you assess the health of the
business community in Massachusetts slash New England and beyond? And
is there a role there obviously for yourself and the
federal government.
Speaker 6 (06:42):
Well, the fundamentals are strong. I mean, we have an
amazing life sciences sector. We have a lot of historic
Victoria parks of the economy that continue to do well
in Massachusetts. We have an amazing education system that continues
to provide incredible time, which is why so many new
businesses are founded in Massachusetts. But having said all of that,
(07:06):
the impact of the Trump administration's political cuts to research funding,
to cancer research, to higher education, those are really having
an effect that is a big part of our economy,
and the underlying strength of the economy means that we're
not seeing those effects too dramatically right now, other than
(07:28):
you know, when you hear about all the research programs
and dollars that are missing from institutions like Harvard. But
those are going to start hitting home, and of course
they're not just going to affect Massachusetts. You know, I
was listening to the governor of Virginia talking about a
new biotech facility that he's inaugurating down in Virginia to
produce cancer drugs. Well, you're not going to produce new
(07:50):
cancer drugs if new cancer drugs are not being discovered.
And so much of that discovery happens in Massachusetts.
Speaker 5 (07:55):
Congressman, Are there steps that can be taken by Congress
to try to do flecked in some way these kinds
of cuts for the area.
Speaker 6 (08:03):
Yes, absolutely, we could simply do our jobs. We could
follow our constitutional responsibility to have the power of the
purse and not just see that to the administration. But
under Republican leadership in both the House and the Senate,
they're just so scared of Donald Trump's are doing whatever
the heck he wants, and so we do need to
do our job. We should have a say on budgetary issues.
(08:25):
I mean, we appropriate funds to the government, and we
have control over those appropriations, not the president. When the
Senate just agrees to make unilateral cuts because the President
says that that's what he wants, that's not only undermining
Congress's authority, it's seeding so much power, including economic power,
(08:47):
to the president that it creates a lot of unpredictability
in the system. And if there's one thing that businesses want,
that institutions want, that higher education wants, its predictability.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Our guest is a Congressman Seth Moulton.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Of course, he's been in office since the January of
twenty fifteen. Let's talk a little bit about the political
divide in this country as it relates to the business community,
and you know, Massachusetts being the bluest of blue states,
I guess I'm wondering how significant or how serious are
is the question about the health of the business community
and how much of it has to do with the
(09:21):
political divide. In other words, you know, in Texas's business
doing better than Massachusetts because we're a blue state.
Speaker 6 (09:26):
Well, actually, we have so many strengths in Massachusetts, including
our commitment to the higher education, to the best public
education system in the country that create a lot of
jobs in Massachusetts and a lot of new companies that
are founded here. And so I'll stand up for the
Massachusetts economy any day of the week. But there's no
question that Donald Trump is trying to hurt Massachusetts. He
(09:49):
wants red state economy to do better than blue state economies.
And the fact of the matter is that this does
have effect politicizing our economy, just like he's trying to
put us by his about everything in America today is
a problem for blue states. When he makes a cuts
that are not good for our future, you know, that
are not good for anyone in the country. Everyone in
(10:10):
the country wants to cure cancer. It happens that a
lot of that research is done in Massachusetts, so it's
not just people in Massachusetts who are getting hurt when
those dollars are eliminated.
Speaker 5 (10:21):
Congressman, let me go back to the Federal Reserve in
this past week again cutting interest rates a quarter of
a point, the Fed chair saying that we can anticipate
two more cuts, most likely in twenty five, another in
twenty six. Talk to me a little bit in our
audience about what these kinds of cuts can do for
(10:42):
the business community. I mean, is this going to be
a positive thing. I know that the Federal Reserve is
certainly looking at the jobs rates and the very concerned
about that. What do you anticipate more cuts will mean
for the economy as we go into twenty six.
Speaker 6 (10:59):
Well, there's a lot of them, certainty in the economy
right now. We've been hearing for months from some economists
that many of the Trump policies, especially tariffs, are going
to have a very negative effect on the economy to
the point of pushing Ust into a recession. And yet
we haven't seen that yet, but we are seeing troubling
signs and one of those troubling signs is that businesses
(11:19):
are holding back on investment, and we're seeing this across
many different sectors, not just in Massachusetts but all across
the country. They're holding back on investment because of uncertainty. Now,
in general, lowering interest rates reduces capital costs and makes
it easier to buy, to borrow money to make those
big investments in your firms. So we would expect that
(11:41):
lowering interest rates will increase investment and address one of
these weaknesses that we're seeing in the economy right now.
But the concern I hear from many business leaders is
they just still don't have predictability. Yes, lower interest rates
help when it comes to making capital investments, but how
can they determin and where to make capital investments when
(12:01):
they don't know what the terrof team is going to
mean for their businesses. They don't know if they're going
to be able to afford you know, steel or aluminum,
if they're just to take two examples of inputs, some
of which come from from overseas, there are many businesses
in Massachusetts that produce very sophisticated things with parts from
(12:21):
all over the world, and if they can't predict what
those parts are going to cost. They don't know what
kind of investments to make or where to make them.
So we like to see investment increase, but I think
there's still an awful lot of uncertainty in the economy.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
I know it's not part of your district, but we
talk an awful lot on this program about the replacement
of the bridges to Cape Cod, both of.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
The Sagamore and the Bourne.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
The Sagamore seems to be funded with federal money at
least a good portion thereof, and then but the Bourne
remains unfunded at this point. Now, how much of that,
you know, falls on your plate or somebody who is
not necessarily in that district. And how concerned do you that, again,
that this is uh you know that it would be
funded if we were, you know, had say a Biden
(13:05):
in the in the White House.
Speaker 6 (13:07):
Well, President Biden made historic investments in infrastructure. And of
course the irony is that most Republicans voted against this
bipart of the bill. There were some Republicans who voted
for it, and yet all these Republicans who voted against
the bill still went back to their districts and counted
all the investments that the bill provided. So there's no
question that that President Biden was more committed to investing
(13:28):
in our country's infrastructure than President Trump. President Trump, uh,
President Trump's biscal priorities here are are clearly tax cuts
for billionaires and the wealthiest corporations. That's just that's what
that's what the Big Beautiful Bill is all about. You know,
take away healthcare for millions of Americans in order to
take pay for tax cuts for billionaires. Whether you like
that policy or not, that is the policy. And that
(13:51):
doesn't leave a lot of money for making investments like
our crumbling like like our crumbling infrastructure. In fact, the
Big Beautiful Bill that he passed dramatically increases our deficits,
so there's just less money available in the treasury to
make these investments now or in the future. So it's
not just that President Trump is playing politics with blue
(14:14):
states and trying to attack blue states that didn't vote
for him. It's also that his entire economic policy is
about tax cuts for the rich, increasing deficits, and that
doesn't leave the kind of money that we need to
invest in the future of our country.
Speaker 5 (14:31):
And Kirismond, I have one last question and related to
the economy of New England. And that's that the administration,
and this is a story we've been following here, the
administration now putting on hold all the licensing for all
the wind farms and wind energy. Is this something that
you know we're going to have to wait until this
(14:52):
administration goes away, or do you think that this business
will go away from New England because it's is important
to our economy.
Speaker 6 (15:01):
Well, it's a great question, Kim. But again the problem
is we don't know, and that means that investors don't know.
Policy makers in the state House on Beacon Hill don't know,
those of us in the federal delegation don't know. You know,
Supposedly Trump is against wind energy, and yet he seems
to have no problem with all the windmills in Texas.
(15:22):
Texas is the biggest producer of wind energy in the
country and it's a red state. So we don't really
know where this policy is headed. It's based on the
whims of the president and the political priorities, not on
a serious economic analysis of what our energy group needs,
what our what our future demands. Across America, we need
to be producing more power, especially as more of the
(15:44):
economy takes advantage of AI, which caught, which which you
know requires an awful lot of energy. So canceling power projects,
no matter what they are, is bad policy, especially when
they're almost completed. He's canceling wind part they are like
ninety five percent complete, just to make a political point.
That's not good for business. It's not good for investors.
(16:05):
It's not good for our economy. It's not good for
our competitiveness against China, our lead competitor when it comes
to AI. And I say this is someone who sits
on the China Committee in Congress. They are bringing megawatts
upon megawatts of new power online every single day. That's
our competition. And under Trump, we're following. We're falling behind, all.
Speaker 5 (16:28):
Right, Congressman Seth Moulton, what a delight it's been to
have you this morning, sir, Thank you very much for
joining us. Still coming your way. We are going to
talk about Hasbro. Guess what they're coming to town. This
is the New England Business Report.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
You are listening to the New England Business Report on
the Voice of Boston w RKO six' Eighty joe And.
Kim we'll be right.
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Affiliated, hi, Everybody I'm Kim kerrigan.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
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of The New England Business. Support sponsorships are still.
Speaker 5 (19:12):
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Speaker 2 (19:17):
Com That's Any Business radio all One word at gmail
dot com and we'll get your business on the show.
Too and welcome back to The New England Business. Report
on This sunday, morning of, course the final hours of
summer here we usually on that. Spot we talked to
(19:41):
the executive editor of The Boston Business, journal One Doug.
Banks he brings us up to speed on the headlines
this week, end of which they were. Plenty, doug good.
MORNING i guess we're talking About. Hasbro we've been talking
About hasbro for well over a year. Now they finally
made the decision to relocate To, boston and they've got a,
little well a little prized they got from the state
Of massachusetts in the order of a pretty large tax.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Break tell us about.
Speaker 11 (20:04):
It, yeah we're not talking about monopoly money, Here. Joe
we're talking about some real. Dollars the big news of
the course the week before, was as you, Said hasbro's
decision to move its headquarters From Rhode island To. Boston
this past week we got to see just what the
state Of massachusetts offered to Attract hasbro, here and of,
course you, know we talked about the access to talent
(20:24):
and the high quality workforce. Here but at the end
of the, day cold hard cash, talks and a state
commission approved a state tax break For hasbro's move To
boston up to fourteen million dollars if the toymaker meets hiring.
Requirements now compared to total incentives That Rhode island, offered
which was closer to fifty, million it's obviously not just
(20:48):
about the money For, hasbro but they will get as
much as fourteen million dollars In massachusetts tax breaks if they,
do in fact hire THE i think seven hundred employees
that they say they're going to hire and bring to
The Foundation medicine building over On Summer.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Street, yeah you, Know, doug Though i've been in this
city a long. TIME i hate to admit how many
years it's, been but it's. ANYWHERE i Think i'm north
of forty at this. Point AND I i've never heard
of The State's Economic Assistance Coordinating, council WHICH i guess
is the group here that approved this tax credit On.
Wednesday obviously you're well aware of their what they're up.
Speaker 11 (21:25):
To, yeah this is a council that we watched very,
closely actually because if you remember a few years back
The amazon H q two bid When amazon was looking
to put a second headquarters in places LIKE dc And New.
York THE ea C c as you mentioned that. Commission,
yeah it's a, small quiet, commission but it's very important
because that's the place where the state actually distributes the.
(21:49):
Money they they're the they're the approval approving body for
for tax, breaks whether it's and it's not Just. HASBRO
i mean there's there were a number of, companies both
low goal that have already been here and then newer
companies that also got some that also got tax breaks
this past week when they, Meet so they meet a
couple of times a, year and we'll see a lot of.
(22:10):
This if it's not through The coordinating counsole sometimes it's
say The Mass Life Sciences. Center other quasi public agencies
will also you, know manage tax credits for. Hiring but but,
yeah it could be as little as one hundred thousand
dollars for say a half a dozen new, jobs or
in the case Of, hasbro we're talking about fourteen million
(22:31):
dollars for seven hundred.
Speaker 4 (22:32):
Jobs so they do.
Speaker 11 (22:34):
A lot of. Work and what's you, know what's interesting
and why it's important to the public and why we
report on it is because obviously this is a tax payer,
money and so we want to make sure that the
companies are actually bringing the jobs they say they're going to,
bring and then the state will claw back that, money
which was which is what happened With General electric for,
EXAMPLE ge got a lot of tax breaks and then
(22:55):
they ended up giving back some of the money and
then foregoing money that hadn't yet been paid out when
they didn't ultimately move into The Fort point In South
boston like they like they said they.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Were going to.
Speaker 5 (23:06):
Do, yeah, Sometimes, doug we hear a bit of resentment
from other companies when they see these tax breaks coming
for these bigger companies Like, Hasbro Boos change cares just a,
bit you guys reporting About. TAKETA i love. It they've
got a drug. Boat it sounds like THEY'RE i said
To joe, earlier sounds, like you, know they're. Smugglers but
that's not exactly what's, happening, Right.
Speaker 12 (23:27):
No, exactly this is not a. Case so something you might,
see you, know might have seen On Miami. Vice in this, Case,
taketa which some listeners may not, know is the largest
life sciences employer In. Massachusetts they, have you, know something
close to six thousand workers. Here what they're trying they've
actually partnered with A french company to deliver drug products
(23:47):
Between europe and THE us in a much more carbon friendly.
Speaker 11 (23:53):
Way so they have brought they have they're bringing on
wind powered tri. Morands Now i'm not boating, Guy so
apparently it's like a, catamaran but instead of two, hulls
it's got three, hulls which makes it a. TRIMRAN i
guess that makes it more. Stable but because it's wind,
powered once it's out on the, ocean it's wind. Powered
(24:15):
they say it will reduce carbon emissions up to ninety
nine percent compared to jet you, know air, freight and
up to ninety percent compared to you know the container
ships that we see coming in and out Of Black
Falcon terminal for. Example so really. Interesting they're gonna they
say they can transport up to forty eight thousand tons
(24:35):
of goods per year with as many as five of
these trimurrans once they get this thing. Going so really
kind of kind of.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
Neat.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Yeah but you, Know, doug it's interesting as you read
your article there in THE bbj About taketa's move, Here i'm, thinking, well,
okay it's got to be. Slower, no they're saying it's
twice or four times faster to do it this. WAY i, mean,
WHY i GUESS i come back to. That, okay why
haven't we thought of this? Before?
Speaker 11 (25:00):
Yeah, WELL i mean we did in the sixteen. Hundred
salem was one of the capitals of the country back
in the, day so you, know it's not like we
haven't done this. Before it's just been about three hundred,
years so it's Really, yeah you're, right it's like two
to four times faster than standard. Shipping those things are
really fast across the, water and you, know who, knows
they're also really cool to look, at SO i would
(25:22):
imagine they're more nimble and more flexible because these are
obviously smaller, shipments you, know than some of these giant container.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
Ships but but, yeah pretty.
Speaker 11 (25:31):
Cool it'll be interesting to see what they do and
And taketa says it's the first biopharmaceutical company in the
world to do this kind of sustainable, shipping so maybe
we'll see other companies trying it and it could be
could be.
Speaker 5 (25:45):
Good so you're saying what's old is new. Again that
MEANS i maybe still have a. Chance Huh is that
what you're trying to?
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Say we all, do we all do exactly, Right we've
got to have a.
Speaker 11 (25:55):
CHANCE i saw just the other, DAY i saw acid
washed jeans in The financial district In.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
Boston those are big.
Speaker 11 (26:02):
Ladies so everything comes back. Again, Eventually i'm.
Speaker 4 (26:05):
Gonna dig down in some of my. Drawers.
Speaker 13 (26:08):
Okay so Market, basket Market, basket Market, Basket now we
got an interim we'll call him an INTERIM, ceo give
us the, name and is this going to have any
kind of?
Speaker 4 (26:19):
Impact?
Speaker 11 (26:20):
Yeah, so for it's almost one hundred year, history Market
basket has been led by A demolis of The demulles.
Families now it will be led by A Donald. Mulligan
he is the current chief financial officer and right now
he's been named the interim successor TO, rdt, who of,
course as we all, know was fired just a couple
of weeks ago and has been on leave four months
(26:42):
and months and it's been the ongoing. Saga you, know
my question To Grant, welker who is the reporter who
covered the story was is this the guy who's going
to stay because they called him an Interim but he
reminded me That, mulligan who was A lowell, native like
most of these, folks he's been working at Market basket
for forty two. Years he's seventy years. Old not the
(27:02):
guy who's going to take this into the. Future but
it's the guy who the BOARD i think rightly, picked
someone who has been with the company a long, time
shows stability while they go out and find the chief.
Executive AND i think we're all going to be waiting
to see who the next full you, know full TIME
ceo is going to, be because that will really be
(27:23):
the news when they name that PERMANENT. Ceo that'll tell
us where the board is going to take the company going.
Forward and are they going to make the changes THAT
rdt has been threatening they would. Make are they going
to you, know change the Market basket culture that everybody
seems to, love it's one of the most popular supermarkets. Around,
obviously will they raise, prices will they you know sell
(27:46):
to you, know a giant Like kroger Or. Albertsons who
knows what's going to. Happen but in the, meantime this
Guy mulligan's THE. Cfo he's been there. Forever he represents,
stability and then we're just. Remaining it remains to be
seen where the board takes it from.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
Here all.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
Right He's Doug, banks the executive editor of The Boston Business,
journal and we do appreciate you taking time and joining
us this morning on The New England Business. Support in
just a few, moments we're gonna. Wow we're gonna go
up To, salem you. Know october is just around the,
corner and we're going to talk a little bit about destination.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Sale kim And joe will explore more business news that
impacts Our New england economy when they.
Speaker 7 (28:27):
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above firms are independent and not. Affiliated welcome, back. Everybody
good to have you with us on This sunday. Morning quick,
reminder we're going to take a trip To salem in
just a couple of. Minutes, Golly, joe is it hard
(30:40):
to believe that the ghosts and goblins are just about
to make their?
Speaker 5 (30:44):
APPEARANCE i, MEAN i can't even believe.
Speaker 2 (30:46):
It, WELL i, Know i'm just putting the speedo, Away,
kim you know WHAT i.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
Mean it's, like you, know.
Speaker 5 (30:52):
You painted a PICTURE i don't, Need, Joe thank you very.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
Much this, Morning, uh swerving off the.
Speaker 5 (30:59):
ROAD i want to take a second here a couple
of headlines THAT i noticed this. Week one in, Particular
joe AND i always like to share these, headlines AND
i thought this was really. INTERESTING Jd power ranking customer
satisfaction when it comes to major large airports in the
country in major. Cities Logan airport apparently holding Steady joe
(31:23):
at number. Ten they say that the airport is, efficient
that it has continued to, progress lots of good things
said about that new international, terminal and that it is
number ten when it comes to. SATISFACTION i, MEAN i
guess number.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Ten go, Ahead, yeah, no, No i've had occasion to
Use Logan airport quite a bit in the past, year
AND i can tell, you for the most, part it's
everything's been, fined everything's gone.
Speaker 3 (31:50):
Smoothly it's always the checked bag that gets.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
You it's like it takes longer to get your check
bag than it does to make the flight that you've been.
Speaker 3 (31:58):
ON i, mean it's just like you wait and you.
Wait it's so. TRUE i still don't understand.
Speaker 4 (32:01):
That you, know for, me.
Speaker 5 (32:03):
It's the AND i think they've sort of smoothed this.
Out but for the longest, time it was the trying
to figure out where you pick passengers up and where
you get your you, know your shared rides and all
that kind of. Thing but they've done a pretty good
job now of really making that clear and there is
a system there WHICH i think has, made you, know
(32:24):
my satisfaction level a lot higher than it was for
a long. Time by the, way if you're wondering number
twenty on this, list no, SURPRISE i think to Anyone Newark,
airport which has been a.
Speaker 3 (32:36):
Disaster all, Right, KIM i think you mentioned.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
It is it already time to talk about the ghosts
and goblins and all those, people those tens of thousands
of people that are going to be crowding the roadways
Near Kim carrigan's. House, yeah and it is. True first
week of fall underway this, week and the next thing you,
know It's. October so let's shoot up To. Salem let's
talk with the executive director Of Destination, Salem. Ashley Judge,
(33:01):
ashley thank you very. Much welcome to the. Program kim
AND i were talking About, salem and of course in
twenty twenty four the NUMBERS i saw you had more
than a million visitors In. October tell us about your
expectations for This.
Speaker 14 (33:14):
October, yeah we are very. Excited you are. Correct we
had more than a million visitors In, october and we
are also amidst what we Call septober, here which is
the overflow From september Into. October we are expecting seeing
krads may and be a little bit, bigger and we're
just excited to welcome everybody here for the month Of. October.
Speaker 4 (33:37):
Yeah you, KNOW i was saying.
Speaker 5 (33:38):
EARLIER i live in Swam Scott, ashley and it's about
this time of the year that we stopped driving Through
salem because we know that the traffic gets a little bit.
Busy but really there is some real creep Into, september
something that we have just noticed in the last couple of.
Speaker 4 (33:56):
Years why do you think that's the?
Speaker 14 (33:57):
Case, YEAH i think that everyone Enjoys ourtober in their own, way,
Right so there's AND i think the word has gotten,
out but there are a lot of parts Of october
you can enjoy In, september both a little bit less,
crowd SO i think everyone is choosing their own adventures
and those that want to be like hip to hip
with people in awesome costumes and feel that kind of
(34:18):
like festival vibe or coming In, october and people who
want to have the history and the waterfront and a
lot of those same attractions and experiences are sneaking In.
September BUT i think THE i think the word is.
Speaker 2 (34:31):
Out, actually judge who's coming To salem In. October how
do you break down these visitors and what are they?
Speaker 14 (34:39):
Spending, yeah they are coming from from all over and
they are spending their dollars in a number of.
Speaker 6 (34:48):
Places.
Speaker 14 (34:49):
Right they're spending them at hotels and, restaurants which helps
drive economic value here for the city in the form.
Speaker 6 (34:56):
OF x guys.
Speaker 14 (34:57):
Taxes they're checking out the, shops they're enjoying, attractions and
they're investing in The salem business.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
Community but where are these visitors? From where are these visitors?
From where are they coming? From and are not coming
From Swanscott Bearing according To.
Speaker 14 (35:12):
Kim they are as. Well we do have a lot
of day, trippers but we do have you, know our
year over year growth from people who are draveling more
than one hundred miles is. Up so they're coming from
if they're, driving they're coming From New, York, Pennsylvania New,
hampshire but we have a visitor center here with Both
(35:34):
french And spanish speaking information, specialists AND i hear them
chatting and all languages all day. Long so we Have
French canadians coming to see. Us people are It's salem
is on a lot of people's bucket.
Speaker 5 (35:46):
List Ashley judge is our guest and she's From Destination.
Salem and of course we're talking About hunted happenings that
starts officially In. October you, know it's a wonderful thing
for the city Of, salem AND i realized that it's
it's important for the city Of. Salem can you can
you give us an idea of what for businesses what
(36:09):
this means every? Year what percentage of their business is
done between maybe the third week In september to the
end Of.
Speaker 15 (36:17):
October, yeah that's a great.
Speaker 14 (36:19):
QUESTION i would say probably about a third of everyone's,
revenue if not. More it's coming in in that really short.
Window we have done a great, JOB i think in
the last few years helping everyone see this much, longer
more fun, season right like all of the fun of
the summer and the alfresco. Dining but a lot of
(36:39):
people are coming in this short amount of, time and
the businesses really prepare themselves. Professionally you've got coffee shops
that take reservations down to the five minute, interval you,
Know so folks prepare for it and they think, about you,
know how to how to get you, know the maximum
revenue for their small business during the time we're all
(36:59):
the folks are.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
Here how long is the average visitor there In? Salem
And i'm wondering what's the number one DRAW i, means
or what categories are the ones that really?
Speaker 14 (37:10):
Benefit, yeah people come for all different. Reasons one of
the major attractions is what we call muggles seeking. Magic
they're neither historians here for the, history although we have
a lot of folks here for. History nor are they
folks who are interested in kind of a deep dive
into that current modern day with and within. Culture but
(37:33):
there are people who are just those muggles seeking, magic the.
Fantasy you, know they they they know they love the
Hocus pocus locations that were shot here from the very first.
Film you, Know nostalga is so, popular and they just
want to be a part of cobblestone streets and twinkling,
lights AND, i you, KNOW i think we really we,
(37:54):
deliver but with a lot of.
Speaker 5 (37:56):
Friends, yeah you definitely, deliver no two ways about.
Speaker 4 (37:59):
That let me go back to the businesses for just a.
Speaker 5 (38:01):
Moment you, know people have been very concerned about getting
their items in.
Speaker 4 (38:07):
As a result of.
Speaker 5 (38:08):
Tariffs have you had business owners in the city that
were concerned about getting all those items they need for
those six?
Speaker 14 (38:16):
Weeks, YEAH i think earlier in the year it was
a bigger part of the. DIALOGUE i think that folks
in the small business, community if they learned one thing
FROM covid, though they learned how to pivot and how
to accept the unacceptable and move. Quickly SO i know
a lot of them moved as fast as they possibly
could to finding other opportunities other. Distribution people make really
(38:39):
great data driven decisions. Here they know the merchandise that they,
need they know the inventory levels they need to, carry
and so if they weren't able to shoulder the cost
of those those, tariffs they pivoted and they acted, fast
because that's what you, know that's what small business owners
are great at. Doing.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
Yeah, actually judges are. Guests executive director Of Destination, salem
talk to us about your job over the next month or,
so what will Actually judge be.
Speaker 14 (39:07):
Doing, sure we'll be having lots of fun chats like this,
One so thank you so much for talking with me.
Today you, know we are a destination marketing, organization so
we are the folks who tell the, World, hey come
To salem and here's what you can. Expect but once
we get down to the actual month, itself we're trying
to make sure that user experience is as great as. Possible,
(39:29):
Right so we have a wonderful app that gives you
all sorts of information about you, know street closures and
where the bathrooms, are because that is a big part
of visiting a destination and helping people have the information
they need to enjoy themselves while they're, here giving them
lots of tips about getting the traffic and the parking
(39:50):
and taking public transportation and how to have the best
trip they can. Have so that's what we're really focused on.
Here we also have a visitor center that will probably
see one hundred thousand people come, through so they come
in various levels of. Informed. Right some people have a
spreadsheet that they've crossed. Referenced others have looked into nothing
and they, Say i'm, here what SHOULD i? Do you
(40:11):
can come talk to us and we'll help point you
in the right.
Speaker 3 (40:14):
Direction all, right, well best of.
Speaker 2 (40:16):
Luck we will be checking back with you as time
goes on here as we move Through. October Ashley, Judgic
Executive director Of Destinations, Salem So, joe.
Speaker 5 (40:24):
You, know we've been talking about that quarter point cut
in interest rates from The fed this past, week and
many people believe that cut is going to have an
immediate impact on the real estate market and mortgage, rates
but you know that's not always the. Case here to
talk more about what's happening with the market In New
england is the owner Of Better Living Real. Estate this
(40:45):
Is Bob, simony And, bob it's great to have you
with us this.
Speaker 4 (40:48):
Morning thank, you.
Speaker 15 (40:49):
Thanks for having.
Speaker 5 (40:49):
Me you, bet before we get, started just tell us
a little bit About Better living Real.
Speaker 15 (40:53):
Estate Better living Real estate is A New england wide
real estate company servicing three, states being Mass chief It's
Rhode island In New. Hampshire been in business thirty eight
years and we help both home buyers and home sellers
achieve their real estate.
Speaker 3 (41:08):
Goals, bob where do you do the bulk of your?
Business we're out.
Speaker 15 (41:11):
Of massachusetts is our main. Market So Greater boston all
the way down To cape And Wister market is our
normal business.
Speaker 2 (41:20):
Area, okay we'll give give us the update on the
health of the real estate market here In massachusetts and
beyond as best you see.
Speaker 15 (41:27):
It, WELL i can tell you that we're seeing a
normal fall market develop in our real estate area here
In Greater. Boston that basically means that we're seeing a
market that is very similar to what we see typically
in our spring, markets where the fall market here is
now definitely getting a positive boost with the interest rate.
(41:50):
Drop those interest rates have been. Falling the mortgage rate's
been falling over the black past two, weeks and we're
now near six percent on average for a thirty fixed,
rate and that's giving buyers a lot more buying power
and confidence to be going to open houses and looking
to make that move before.
Speaker 14 (42:08):
The end of the.
Speaker 5 (42:08):
Year, Yeah, bob you, know a lot of times when
interest rates, drop people do perceive it as being something more,
positive and a lot of times it's already been built
in when it comes to mortgage. Rates has that been
the case and now you think people will perceive it
as being.
Speaker 15 (42:25):
Better, Yes, typically the news and the consumer sentiment on
interest rates are lagging the actual rate developments in the mortgage.
Market so over the last fourteen days we've seen about
a quarter percent drop overall in mortgage, rates and that
was prior to the federally served making their rate. Drop
so we in the real estate market have been communicating
(42:48):
to our, clients and mortgage lenders have been reaching out
to their applicants and talking about taking advantage of this
not only in the purchase, side but also in the.
Refinance so in the refinance of the, business the lenders
are able to now take the consumers that were getting
mortgages in the seven percent range or the high sixes
(43:09):
and talk about saving them hundreds of dollars per month
with the opportunity to refinance down to anywhere from a
six percent rate to maybe a six and and. Eighth
that substantial savings on a monthly. Basis we've been talking
to our consumers about moving forward with their real estate
purchase with the idea that in the future they might
take advantage of future rate.
Speaker 2 (43:30):
Drops Bob simonti is our. Guest he is THE ceo
owner of A Better living In Real. Estate how about
first time buyers bring us up to. Speed there it seems,
like you, know prices are going going, up going, up going.
Up it seems like maybe prices have leveled out at
least for a little while, here and what's the impact
on first time.
Speaker 15 (43:48):
Buyers what we've been seeing as a trend throughout twenty
twenty five is that houses in any community that are
priced at median price levels or below have been the
most active in the, market meaning consumers have continued to
be paying at or near full, price as well as
(44:10):
some of the better quality homes with more updated amenities
are still selling over asking. Price as you reach above
the medium price, level you're starting to see consumers having
a little bit more buying power. There the consumers that
are coming into open houses are aware of the, inventory
they're aware of their buying power with their mortgage. Rate
(44:32):
it always benefits those consumers to talk to their lender
before going out with any serious idea of buying a
property to make sure they're getting their current mortgage rate
updated pre qualification. Letter but consumers are armed with more
information than they've ever, had and that's helping them make
decisions faster and be a little bit more. Strategic our
(44:52):
role as real estate agents is to help them understand the,
inventory the market and put together the negotiation process to
get them to meet their. Goals and sometimes that's a
situation where a first time buyer is coming into a
market and just learning about the, market and THAT'S i
think where we as professionals can really help educate.
Speaker 5 (45:11):
Them, SURE i know you guys do business in three different,
States Rhode, Island, massachusetts And New. Hampshire talk to us
about those three different. States is the real estate market
different in each and which one is?
Speaker 15 (45:20):
Stronger, well the market in all three of those states
has been consistently. Strong, however where we've seen the most
appreciation and prices over the last. Years In Rhode island
we've seen about a six point nine percent overall increase
in real estate prices through that. State massachusetts has been
lagging all three of those states at four point seven.
(45:43):
Percent price appreciation this year In New hampshire has been
at five point eight. Percent so, overall The New england
market has really been standing well throughout the adjustments that
you may be hearing through the national news about prices
in other areas of the. Country New, england with our,
education our job opportunities and our financial, strength has really
(46:07):
been able to buttress our housing. Market we've seen some price,
reductions typically at the higher price, points but, overall our
market's very.
Speaker 2 (46:15):
Healthy as we head into the first week of fall,
here what will take up the most time on your
desk in the coming?
Speaker 15 (46:21):
Weeks, well between now And thanksgiving is the busiest time
in the fall market for. Transactions not to say that
we don't see some transactions happening as we're leading into
the later holiday, season but right now we're focused on
making sure that our inventory is priced well and is
appealing to. Buyers so when we're listing, homes we're really
(46:44):
taking the time to sit down and educate our sellers
on what the pricing strategy should be that makes their
property more appealing and allows buyers within the first two
weeks of that listing process to come in view the
property and make an appropriate. OFFER a lot of our
time right now is being spent educating our sella consumers
(47:05):
and helping our buyers get back into the market after
this summer vacations and.
Speaker 5 (47:09):
Holidays Bob, Simoni Better, Living thank you sir so much
for being a part of the show today and continued
success when we come back here on the New England
Business report will be joined By Andrew. Brinker he is
from The Boston globe and he has been doing a
little research on rental property in the.
Speaker 1 (47:26):
City you are listening to The New England Business report
on The voice Of boston W rko six 't. Eighty
joe And kim will be right.
Speaker 11 (47:37):
Back it's so much.
Speaker 7 (47:40):
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Speaker 9 (48:38):
Com are you a brother or sister of one Of
Greater boston's local trade unions and finally thinking about getting
ready to hang up your tools after thirty five years
of working your? Tailoff, congratulations you worked hard to build
your retirement nest. Egg but now? What let me help
you break through the nonsense and financial speak so we
can get to the questions that are important to. You
as you, know nothing gets built without a set of,
(48:59):
plans and neither will you a financial. Future my name
Is Mike, Marshall president AND ceo Of Marshal Wealth management
and creator of The Marshall, plan a comprehensive customized plan
that will help you answer important questions in all seven key.
Areas you don't have to do it. Alone there is
no cost or. Obligation call us at eight five seven
three four two ten. Thirty that's eight five seven three
(49:22):
four two ten. Thirty well check us out online At
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Speaker 10 (49:29):
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With The New England Business report on W rko is
brought to you in part BY superu Of New ENGLAND
supero Of New england dot com and.
Speaker 2 (49:50):
Welcome back to The New Englan Business. Report on This sunday.
Morning we want to talk a little bit about what's
going on as it relates to apartments and vacancies and
rent levels here in the city Of. Boston in this past,
week a very interesting article in The Boston globe written
By Andrew, brinker headline Being it's just cricket an uptick
of apartment vacancies In boston suggested decline in student. Enrollment
(50:13):
andrew joins. Us, Now, andrew tell us a little bit
more what's going on?
Speaker 16 (50:17):
Here, hey thanks for having. Me, So, yeah this is
an interesting. One as we all. KNOW a partner of
the apartment market In, boston the rental, market i should,
say excuse, me has been a sort of red hot for,
many many many, years which, means you, know extremely low
vacancy rates and very, high sort of ever rising. Rents
BUT i actually found over the last couple of months,
(50:38):
year specifically in the month Of, september there are quite
a few vacancies in the, market specifically in some of
the sort of student heavy neighborhoods of the. City and
what we were able to figure out is that a
lot of these apartments that are vacant are apartments that
would typically be rented by. Students so sort of what
we wrote is, that you, know we've been hearing a
(51:00):
lot about sort of all these policies from The trump
administration that could theoretically Impact boston's housing, earth, sorry Not
boston housing, markets But boston's colleges and universities and student,
enrollments you, know new policies around international student visas and
funding for research. Projects, well we're finding that we're seeing
the effect of that in the housing, market and that
(51:21):
there are you, know some international students who would typically
be here conducting research who don't seem to be here
right now and not showing up in the rental.
Speaker 5 (51:30):
Market so tell us a little bit about landlord's, reaction
because they have to be very.
Speaker 4 (51:34):
Surprised did they see this?
Speaker 16 (51:35):
COMING i would say. NO i think a lot of
landlords were caught off guard by. THIS i think the
telltale sign of that is that we haven't really seen
significant rent reductions, yet which tells me that most landlords
were still pricing their apartments, very very. Competitively you, know
(51:55):
maybe they were building in some rent increases this year
because they were expecting, that as we, said you, know
the same demand that they would typically see in a typical,
year which is you know how it works In, boston
in particularly the student neighborhoods is you, know you have
a three bedroom apartment that maybe a couple of graduate
students rent out every year if the, least you, know
if those students, leave you put the apartment on the.
(52:16):
Market in one or two. Days usually you have ten
or fifteen interested parties lined up and somebody is signing
the paperwork and you can basically get not whatever rent
price you, want but a pretty high. Price so you,
know the fact that prices haven't, fallen and you, know
from the landlords That i've talked, TO i would say
that they were caught off guard by, this. FOLKS i,
(52:37):
mean we haven't experienced real vacancies in The boston housing,
market you, know with the exception of the pandemics in
quite a long.
Speaker 2 (52:44):
Time, andrew give us a four, instance an example that
you point out in your global.
Speaker 16 (52:50):
Article, sure, so you, know we leave this story with
this property that's just north Of Kendall. Square it's a
couple of. Bedrooms it's a expensive it's and fifty dollars a.
Month but you, know for The kendal area and YOUR
mt in the red, line that is a price that
folks are usually willing to. Pay and the broker for
(53:13):
this property told us that there has never been an
issue renting this property, before but this, year you, know
the listing has been up for well over a couple
OF i think a couple of.
Speaker 15 (53:24):
Months.
Speaker 16 (53:24):
Now you, know there's a large fridge in here that
it comes with a, couch there's a nice. Backyard it's
not been. Rented that is extremely unusual For. Boston there
are a couple of other instances THAT i heard about,
too you, know with the you, know these big sort
of student houses In brookline for, example or in The longwood,
(53:46):
area where you know you have these. Prices these apartments
they are priced rather, competitively but are typically snatched up
and they're sitting on the market right. NOW i think
there was a there was a broker who told me
about this three bedroom And brookline where there were a
couple of graduate students From lebanon who had been living
there for the past, year and they gave up the
(54:07):
least because they were concerned about the status of their.
Visas and that apartment is still sitting, there so it's
quite it's quite.
Speaker 5 (54:17):
Pervasive, So, andrew the thing THAT i find interesting about
this is you've quoted some of the, prices but it
seems like it's less about prices and it's just more
about the fact.
Speaker 4 (54:27):
That there are not people here to rent those.
Speaker 5 (54:30):
Apartments it doesn't feel like that's a neighborhood where even
if you brought the price, down someone who's not a
student would move.
Speaker 16 (54:37):
Into, YEAH i mean it's an interesting point and perhaps is.
True you, know these are neighborhoods that have a reputation
for being built and you, know a deserving reputation for
being filled with. Students you, know there are blocks in
some of these neighborhoods that are sort of exclusively occupied by.
Students but it's hard to say if lower prices theoretically
(55:00):
get more people into those, departments because we haven't really
seen landlords really offering significant rent rent reductions at this.
Point maybe in a couple of months we will hear.
It landlords have been, trying you, know they have lowered their,
prices and you, KNOW i actually did have a fairly
prominent landlord in the in The boston area who owned
(55:22):
apartments in these student neighborhoods tell me that he thinks
that some people are just pricing too, aggressively that you,
know demand is waning a little. Bit but you know
the other part of that is that when demand, wanes
you need to price your apartments serve more reasonably so
that you know you can fill. Them so it's hard to, say.
Speaker 2 (55:39):
Yeah Andrew breakers our guests at The Boston, Globe, YEAH
i looked up rents and they basically said that rents
were going up around eleven twelve percent every, year and
then they said this past.
Speaker 3 (55:47):
Year they went up but only two. Percent so you
KNOW i see.
Speaker 2 (55:52):
THAT i, Go, Okay so nobody's really crying for these, folks,
RIGHT i, mean we're not at the point where people
are really, worried are?
Speaker 3 (55:58):
We?
Speaker 16 (55:59):
NO i don't think. So AND i think you point
out an important, point which is that you, know vacancies
are up in a couple of these very specific, neighborhoods
but across the, CITY i, Mean boston still has one
of the lowest vacancy rates in the entire country among
major metropolitan. Areas you, Know boston's vacancy rates, historic, like
the last couple of years has been almost impossibly. LOW
(56:23):
i think there was a year maybe two years ago
was below one, percent at least according to to one
apartment firm that measures. It so you, know there's been
a little bit of a shift, there BUT i think
that across the, city rents are still up on the.
Year you know that rent growth has, slowed which is,
significant but rents have also flowed. Nationally so the fact
(56:46):
that rents are still up In boston definitely tells us,
that you know that there is still demand to live
in the. City it's not like there's been some sort
of significant shifts and all of a, sudden you, know
we're going to see rents come crashing down to, earth
and you know there's gonna be all these apartments going on,
rented that's their. Thing there is still significant demand for
to live In Beacon, hill to live in The North,
end to live in even somewhere Late East boston Or Jamaica.
(57:07):
Plane it's just some very specific parts of the city
where we're noticing these vacancies that those were served bought
through our.
Speaker 2 (57:14):
Attention, well great, story very interesting to us here on
The New England Business. Report we appreciated sharing it with.
Us Andrew brinker of The Boston.
Speaker 5 (57:21):
Globe, well that's going to do it for this edition
of The New England Business. Reports i'm glad you could
be with us This sunday morning taking a look at
what's coming up Next. Sunday Daniel, cooper vice president and
an economist at The Boston Federal Reserve, bank is our.
Guest daniel heads The Household Decision Making, group and we'll
talk to us about The New england economy and what
(57:42):
he sees in the future for business as well as
consumers in our. Region that's coming up Next, sunday eight
am on The voice Of boston W RKO am six
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