November 2, 2025 • 58 mins
On today’s program, we speak with the CEO of Subaru of New England Ernie Boch. We’re also joined by the executive editor the Boston Business Journal, Doug Banks, to discuss this week‘s business headlines. We’ll talk about the federal reserve rate cut this week with an expert from a KPMG. Also a reporter from the Boston Business Journal will examine holiday parties and what companies are doing about them this year. And finally, Anthony Lamacchia of Lamacchia Real Estate will discuss the current environment.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the New England Business Report with Joe Shortsleeve
and Kim Caragan, a weekly round up and discussion of
the top business news impacting our New England economy.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
And good morning and welcome to the New England Business Support.
Joe shortzley've here with you along with Kim Carrigan. It
is Sunday, November the second, and of course you know
the good news about today, Kim is we we gained
an hour. Now that is a glass half full approach
to today, right, because.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
So right, and this morning it's nice and bright, and
this evening maybe I should say this afternoon.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
No pitch burny dark by five o'clock. But you know, again,
glass half full. The holiday lights will be out, you know,
pretty soon, you know.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
To be honest, I mean, except the fact that at
for thirty in all seriousness, it will be pretty dark,
especially on those cloudy days. But at least it is
during this holiday season. So you get to the other
side and it starts to get a little lighter pretty quick.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
So that's good.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Yeah, that's true. Daylight savings has ended and it picks
up again on Sunday, March the eighth. Now, a little
bit of tidbit on this daylight savings. According to the
National the Conference of State Legislatures, two states, Arizona and Hawaii,
observed permanent standard time. Nineteen states have an acted legislation
(01:19):
that would act year round daylight savings time if Congress
were to allow such a change. And I know Massachusetts
is interested in that. But right now we're bouncing back
and forth.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Right, Yeah, it's tough on boy, do you remember when
your kids were a little how hard it was because
you know, they would get off by one hour and you.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
Just I bet you guys see that with your grandkids, right.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Yeah, no, it definitely messes them up. Okay, today's program, right,
we're going to be talking with the CEO of Super
New England and be talking with Ernie back Junior. And
there's a lot to talk to Ernie about in the
auto industry. Is we're moving through the final quarter of
this year and looking forward to twenty twenty six. You know,
(02:04):
a lot to talk about in terms of headlines, in
terms of EV sales and Ford in their trucks. Now,
pretty soon, Kim, you're gonna have one of those Ford trucks.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
Right, I have already had one.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Oh really, Yeah, My oldest drove a Ford truck and
then went away to college and left it here and
my husband fell in love with it.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
So now we have a ram. So yeah, we are
truck owners.
Speaker 5 (02:28):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Okay, the neighbors are okay with that up there.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Let me tell you, these trucks have become such line
vehicles city.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
I know, they're gorgeous. My brother has one. He drives around,
proud as a peacock in it. Okay, then we're gonna
be talking with Doug Banks, secutive editor of the Boston
Business Journal. He's got a bunch of headlines. One one
headline is sort of personal to me, and he sort
of he sort of sent it out. It has to
do with this Boston Chops steakhouse up for sale as
ownership's focus to a new Western restaurant. Are you familiar
(02:59):
with that, Kim, you're shaking your head.
Speaker 4 (03:01):
I am certainly familiar with the restaurant.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Yes, yeah, yeah, But I mean this restaurant will open
in the historic tavern, the Josiah Smith Tavern building in
Western Center, and they're going to serve alcohol for the
first time. Uh and uh, you know since the prohibition,
I guess, but I had my surprise fortieth birthday there.
So that's why I say this is sort.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
Of interesting here you were there.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Wow, that's a Kim.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
Let's take a look at the second half of the show.
We've mentioned it. But the holidays.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Now we're past Halloween, holidays just around the corner, and
for many that means deciding whether they're going to attend
the dreaded company Christmas party, and more importantly, it means
are you going to have one as a company owner,
you know, or leader. They're they're changing, you know, liability
is so different now Joe than it was when we
were back in TV and they'd have those big, sprawling parties,
(03:53):
you know, each year for a holidays the bar.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
And now this year that's the emphasis is away from alcohol.
Move a way from alcohol, and I think that's a
I think it's a smart thing, and it's a good thing.
It's obviously a healthier thing, I guess.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
I think there's a lot of people who hope the
next morning that they didn't drink alcohol.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
I wish they had.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Yeah, we're going to talk about that Federal Reserve, of course,
cutting the prime lending rate for a second time this
year last this last week down another quarter of a point.
So what kind of impact is that going to have
here on the region. We are going to talk to
Tom Bazooti. He's New England and Upstate New York advisor
market leader for KPMG. We're going to get his take
(04:32):
on what he thinks this is going to mean. And
obviously this cut will have some kind of effect on
the real estate market. And believe it or not, Joe,
there was a headline this last week in the Globe
that maybe the real estate market is finally starting to
thaw here in the Boston area, which would be really
great for the spring market, which happens during the freeze actually,
(04:53):
like in February.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
It would be great if that's the case.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
The CEO of Lamachia Realty, Anthony Lamachi, is going to
join us talk a little bit about these rate cuts,
what this means, and what he sees for the real
estate market here in the Boston area.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Yeah, and I can tell you that my brother is
a real estate he's a mortgage lender with Leader Bank,
and I talked to him and he's like a one
armed paperhanger. At this point. He says, it's busy out there.
All of a sudden, all right, Kim, without any further ado,
we want to bring in the CEO of SuPAR of
New England and a great supporter of this program, one
Ernie Bach Junior. Ernie, welcome to the program. And there's
(05:28):
a lot to talk about in the automotive industry as
we close out twenty twenty five and look ahead to
twenty twenty six. We have some notes here what you've
been up to lately. So give us your snapshot of
the auto industry as the year starts to close out.
Speaker 5 (05:44):
Well, you know, the industry is where it is, but
I always like to look and it really there's really
Greek COVID and post COVID. Not to bring up COVID,
but there's more of a line there. Before COVID, the
(06:05):
industry was absolutely cooking, seventeen to seventeen four million cars
a year, just no stopping it. And then of course
everything stopped, and to this day the industry is not
up to pre COVID numbers. For example, we'll be right
(06:27):
around sixteen million new cars sold in the United States,
where five or six years ago we were heading for
eighteen million.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Why do you think that's a case or is it
a lack of inventory or.
Speaker 5 (06:42):
You know, it's you know, the auto industry isn't isn't
any different than a lot of industries that got hurt
by COVID. And we're not here to talk about, you know,
getting hurt by COVID. But the idea is the industry
is where it is because of a ma ajor event.
Whether it could be stopped or it doesn't really matter.
(07:04):
A major event set back not only the automotive industry,
but a lot of industries. So the automotive industry is
kind of crawling back to get to the pre COVID numbers.
Speaker 6 (07:16):
Yea.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Now, ev sales were some headlines in the auto industry
over the past sixteen to ninety days. Tell us, I
know that that federal rebate seventy five hundred bucks went away,
So that drove a lot of people to buy, right, arn'tie.
Speaker 5 (07:32):
Yeah. In September eves were ten percent of sales, which
has the highest it's ever been because people were rushing
in to get that incentive. But now that the incentive
is gone, in which I agree with, Now that the
incentive is gone, we'll really see who wants to buy
(07:54):
an electric vehicle. I think that electric vehicles should absolutely
be available in the United State, but I don't think
the government should force you to buy one.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Right, were your notes here that the first that EV
volume is already down.
Speaker 5 (08:12):
Some Yes, it's already down because that was a substantial incentive,
and it was really a it was really a false market.
The manufacturers didn't make any money producing the vehicle, the
dealers didn't really make any money selling the vehicle, and
(08:32):
the government, whether you look at it either way, lost
money pushing the vehicle. So that's just not sustainable. It's
they should produce as many electric vehicles as people want
to buy, which looks like about six to seven percent
of the population.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Ernie, you said about sixty million new vehicles are going
to be sold in One of those highlights is the
fact that full size trucks are still really popular. In fact,
Joe and I are having a conversation about, you know,
full sized trucks or luxury vehicles at this point. Tell
us a little bit about which truck is the truck
of choice.
Speaker 5 (09:10):
Well, I think if i'm you know, I don't have
the exact year because it's been so many years, but
I would estimate that the Ford F one fifty has
been the best selling vehicle, the best selling truck over
the last thirty years. It's just a monster and nobody,
nobody has been able to beat it. And truck sales
(09:32):
are up over ten percent. So people people want trucks.
You know, here in the Northeast you see them, but
down south in the middle of the country there everywhere.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Now they come with a sticker shock though though don't they.
Speaker 5 (09:49):
Ny, Yeah, really it's not your father's truck, right, They're
very excensive. They're almost like they're almost like luxury vehicles,
those four door trucks. They're as good as Lexus and Cadillac.
I mean, they're comfortable, they have all the equipment and
then you have the utility of a truck. People love that.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
And that along with the average sticker shock. What is
the I guess I heard the headline that what are
we at? Where at fifty grand or something?
Speaker 6 (10:21):
Right?
Speaker 5 (10:21):
That's yes, And it's led by the suv and the trucks.
People just people just want those and it's pushing up
the price. And the price is being pushed up because
the consumer is is, you know, demanding certain things that
they want. The imfotainment and all the creature comforts in
the government is making the vehicles safer and safer and safer.
(10:45):
And for the first time, the average vehicle in the
United States it's fifty thousand dollars.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
Wow, wow, wow, which make attribute some to why we
were at eighteen million before COVID and now we're at
six team million, right, I mean the price has really
gotten high.
Speaker 5 (11:04):
Yes, yes, but that's that's the same as everything. I mean,
look at building prices. If you look at if you
had to build something before COVID and you're building something now,
the price difference is staggering.
Speaker 7 (11:18):
But I think that I think.
Speaker 5 (11:20):
That the vehicle will will settle down once people understand
the that you can buy an electric vehicle. You can,
you know, because that was putting the price up. Also,
you can buy an electric vehicle, you can buy a hybrid,
you can buy gas. And everybody's buying what they want
(11:41):
and not being forced to buy something. I think you'll
see it settled down.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Talking with Ernie back Junior, and we're talking about the
state of the auto industry here in this country as
we start to close out twenty twenty five, Ernie, what
about incentives? Okay, so we have those fifty thousand dollars
price tag average. Right, I guess I'm kind of wondering
why why that is? But never mind that. I mean,
(12:07):
but what are the dealerships? What are the dealers doing
to get people to bite?
Speaker 5 (12:13):
Well, this is these numbers I'm going to give you
are the US averages. So the average incentive across the
board that the manufacturer gives either the customer or the
dealer is thirty seven hundred dollars per vehicle. And the
(12:33):
people are buying these average priced vehicles fifty thousand dollars,
and the average payment is seven hundred and fifty eight
a month. And the average new car rate across the
country it's six point seven and the average term is
sixty nine months. You know, is tough because the average
(12:59):
the average a of a car on the road in
the United States is twelve years.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Okay, I'm not a math major. I'm a history major.
So I'm trying to figure out that in my head,
we're at almost six years. After you buy a car,
you're paying for it for six years.
Speaker 5 (13:15):
Yeah, six years, and you'll keep it for an additional six.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
Right, Ernie.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
The industries in flux, and we're kind of sitting giving
the blow by blow of exactly what's happening.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
Yeah, interest rates going down. That's got to help the industry,
right absolutely.
Speaker 5 (13:34):
That will help. That will help the auto industry, that
will help the housing industry. I think it's time that
the rates come down. I mean a point or two
would work, now, Ernie.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Your other passion besides the automobile industry and super of
New England there of course, has to do with music
drives us dot org. And you have a couple of
big events coming up. Take us through your calendar there.
Speaker 5 (14:00):
Well, we have we are funding programs that are that
have been stalled because of I don't I hate myself
for saying COVID and this and that, but we are
on a roll right now. They're in loll today. It's
(14:22):
really it's really amazing the actual stuff. We've been doing
so much funding that I haven't been at fifty percent
of it because it is so much. But you can
go to music Drives this dot org and see exactly
where we are.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
And of course earlier Bostonians love the Box Center and
we got the Christmas season coming up. What can you
tell us?
Speaker 5 (14:43):
Yeah, we have the Christmas season coming up at the
Schubert and the Wang under the Box Center banner, lots
of comedians, rock bands. It's really good. You can go
to Boxcenter dot org check out the schedule. It's it's
going to be a great fourth.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
You know his voice. He's already back Junior and he's
the CEO there of Subaru of New England. We do
appreciate you taking time in joining us this morning on
the New England Business Report. Looking Ahead, we're gonna be
talking with the executive endor of the Boston Business Journal,
one Doug Banks.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
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the Voice of Boston w RKO six 't eighty. Joe
and Kim will be right back.
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Speaker 3 (17:42):
Welcome back everybody to the New England Business Report. Good
to have everyone on this Sunday morning. It's that time
when we check those business headlines from the past week.
And joining us is the executive editor of the Boston
Business Journal, Doug Bank. So good to have Doug back
with us. He's been a traveling man. Uh so, Uh, Doug,
I want to walk through a little bit of the
impact before we actually talk. I was going to talk
(18:04):
about real estate downtown. But before we do, let's talk
about the impact of the government shutdown and the kind
of things that are happening with nonprofits as a result
of that.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
You guys did a story about that this past week.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 10 (18:19):
So, I mean as of yesterday, Snap Benefits had you know,
we're threatened to be cut off for as many as
a million people in Massachusetts, and of those about a
third or say, three hundred thousand or so are disabled people.
And of course SNAP benefits are the food assistance program.
It stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. People have been
(18:41):
you know, reading and seeing this news for a while now,
but you know, think about being living in a high
cost state like Massachusetts. I mean, where we have thousands
of federal workers who are without a paycheck this month
because of the shutdown, and then you have over a
quarter a million people who have disabilities who are relying
on SNAP. And this is just this issue just overwhelming
the social services systems. So we spoke with nonprofits including
(19:04):
the ARC of Massachusetts and Work Incorporated, and those are
just a couple of programs that like Northeast Dark is
another one that assists people with disabilities to get them
jobs to help them where they live. And they told
us that food banks and food pantries are going to
be seeing the impact for you know, for months. So
this is a real it's a real hard issue for
(19:26):
some of the most vulnerable populations. And if not for
the nonprofits and the social service agencies in Massachusetts, those people,
you know, these people in our communities would just be
without options.
Speaker 7 (19:38):
You know.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
Doug Banks, executive out of the Boston Business Journals with us.
I mean, and there have been government shutdowns in the past,
but this is the first time that snap has really
been on the table.
Speaker 10 (19:48):
Yeah, and it's you know, it's it's puzzling in some ways,
but you know, we've seen so much politicization of these
types of issues at the federal level. But you know,
it's it's very rare that you know that the federal
government would just make a decision that would hurt so
many people that it's purportedly there to support and to help.
(20:10):
And and again, I think it hurts places like Massachusetts
at a higher degree than than other states. But you know,
certainly there's no question that you know, every every state
has vulnerable populations and everybody's hurting from this, whether you're
a red state or a blue state. So it's you know,
it's it's a real issue.
Speaker 7 (20:30):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
Douglas'sake a look at the story that I mentioned earlier.
Office leases that are the largest in Greater Boston this
past year.
Speaker 4 (20:38):
Walk us through what they are.
Speaker 10 (20:40):
Yeah, So it's you know, we've been talking about, well
for five years now after the COVID shutdown, that the
office market is has just gotten decimated. But now there's
some signs, sure signs that the office market is starting
to come back. You're seeing vacancy rates are no longer soaring,
the number of LEASA deals that are being made are
gaining in number, and are real estate reporter Grant Welker,
(21:01):
did you know, had a couple of stories this, you know,
this past week where you're seeing a lot more activity
now that happens mostly in the higher quality office space,
so some of the newer buildings refurbished older buildings. But
he did one story where we just looked at the
biggest deals in the cities so far this year, and
of course we all remember the news about Hasbro coming here.
(21:22):
And then there's the marketing firm Clavello. Those are both
over two hundred and fifty thousand square foot deals both
on Summer Street and then in the suburbs you have
companies like Arbella Insurance at Crown Colony Drive that signed
a deal for almost two hundred thousand square feet. So
you take a look at BI journals dot com, you
can see sort of all the big deals and all
(21:43):
the all the space. But it's just good news to
see this this kind of activity picking up and pretty
much every barometer that we look at is showing more
and more signs of a positive nature of people getting
back to the office, companies getting those workers back, and
seeing you know, sort of positive momentum in the real
estate space.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
You know, Doug. One of your other headlines that you
shared with us has to do with the opening up
a new restaurant in Weston. Now, I raised my family
in Weston, and Kim was teasing me earlier because I
said that I had my surprise fortieth birthday at the
historic tavern j Smith Tavern Kim goes last year. I'm like, yeah, yeah, oh,
(22:23):
thank you, Kim.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
Listen, Doug Banks is laughing at you right now. When
we said that, why.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Don't we know all of New England states right now? Fine,
it was a while ago. Okay, let's just agree to
that anyway. But this headline Boston chops the steakhouses upper
sales ownerships focused to a new Western restaurant restaurant, and
it's the Josiah Smith Tavern building. I guess they haven't
what port alcohol at a bar in Western since the
(22:47):
seventeen hundreds or something.
Speaker 10 (22:49):
Well since prohibition anyway, it was a tavern back in
the colonial days. So I'm guessing you might have gotten
a pint of mead back then, But certainly since prohibition
there has been no alcohol bard in a public establishment
in Weston. Now that's not to say that some of
the private clubs in Weston have not been serving alcohol.
The country club set has been able to get their
cosmopolitans at the golf course. But no, this is yeah,
(23:12):
it's big news that we broke this past week that
two of the Boston shops steakhouses which won in the
South End, one in downtown Crossing owned by Brian Paccini
and company. There he's been trying to build this new restaurant,
as you said, at the Josiah Smith Tavern building, which
you are familiar with. It's called The Woods, And yeah,
it would be the first alcohol porn restaurant in Weston
(23:32):
since prohibition. So you're looking at it one hundred years
of a dry town and it hasn't taken him one
hundred years, but it's taken him longer than he expected
it to take. He I think he had been hoping
to open it by the end of this year. Now
he's hoping for next summer. It's just the permitting process
and everything has been really slow, and I think from
his perspective, you know, running these two two steakhouses, and
(23:56):
of course he also owns the Boston restaurants D Bar
and Duave also in the stuff end, so he's got
a lot of competing interests and he just decided, you know, look,
it's time to focus on this Western restaurant. He really
wants to get it done, and so that's you know,
that's where he's looking to his attention to it.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
Now. I sow the property dates back to seventeen hundred,
I guess, I mean, yeah, but you're right it was
the pouring of alcoholic goes back to prohibition.
Speaker 4 (24:19):
Let me ask you guys something, though. Does this just
open the floodgates?
Speaker 3 (24:22):
I mean, does Weston now become, you know, no longer
a dry town, which you know we're I'm using air
quotes when I say dry.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Right, Well, you know you have these beer and wine
licenses that grocery stores can start to dip into. I
don't know, Doug. I mean this is probably a topic
you watch closely there at the BBJ.
Speaker 10 (24:40):
Yeah, I think that, you know, I don't know that
there's going to be a flood of restaurateurs I think
the restaurant business is really really brutal. I think the
you know, as Brian has seen, the process is really
really long. You have to have a lot of resources.
Not that people in Weston don't have a lot of resources,
but you know, it's the restaurant business. It's really tough,
right thin margins and there's other places that might be
(25:03):
more friendly to an alcohol pouring restaurant, but I do
know that you can't run a restaurant without an alcohol
license and expect to be able to make a profit
these days. So yeah, you know, I think Weston's residents
there are probably going to be just fine.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
Well, that's going to be very interesting to see. We're
gonna have to follow that. I would imagine you guys
there at the BBJ are going to do just that.
Doug Banks, Hey, thanks very much.
Speaker 4 (25:25):
Good to see you again.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
As we said, you've had Don has been filling in
for you. He's done an excellent job just so you know,
so we very much appreciate him as well.
Speaker 4 (25:35):
All Right, still come in your way.
Speaker 3 (25:36):
The federal cut in the FED rather cut interest rates
for a second time this year. We're going to talk
about the impact of that with an analyst from KPMG.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Kim and Joe will explore more business news that impacts
our New England economy when they return Love.
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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 plans,
(27:18):
and neither will your 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 four two
(27:41):
ten thirty. Well check us out online at Marshalwealth dot Com,
Marshall with two ls Marshallwealth dot Com.
Speaker 9 (27:48):
Advisory services offered through Capital Analysts or LINCL 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 3 (28:01):
Good morning everybody, and welcome back to the New England
Business Report. I'm Kim Carrot along with Joe's short sleeve.
Here we are on the second day of November. Boy,
the fall is just flying by. Are the leaves down
at your house?
Speaker 6 (28:12):
Hey?
Speaker 2 (28:12):
I noticed though out the window usually had like a
nice color. No, it looks like it looks like November
out there, which it is. Of course, we are looking
like Thanksgiving, no doubt about it.
Speaker 3 (28:22):
I'm not going to complain though, because we've not seen
snowflakes yet. So let's just, you know' ride this one out.
This is the time of the show that we like
to just point out maybe a headline that you may
have missed.
Speaker 4 (28:31):
And I thought this was crazy, Joe.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
This was in the Boston Business Journal earlier this week.
Want to buy a garage in Cambridge? It'll cost you
more than anywhere else in the United States?
Speaker 4 (28:45):
What okay?
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Good headlines?
Speaker 4 (28:47):
What is that a great headline?
Speaker 2 (28:48):
So headline, I have my attention the median.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
Single family home in Cambridge, you know, which is a
very expensive obviously community two point two million bucks. Guess
what it would cost you if you have a garage?
Speaker 4 (29:04):
How much more? How much more do you think it
might be?
Speaker 2 (29:05):
On top of the two point two.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
Yes, well, well that's the average household, you know, So
we'll just say it's two point two.
Speaker 4 (29:12):
What do you think that garage is going to cost you.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
I'm going to tell you one point three million dollars.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
That's one fancy garage. That is one yeah. Wow.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
So a garage in Cambridge on a house that maybe
is already two point two million is going to cost
you an additional one point three It is one of
the highest in the country when it comes to that. Now,
other places that cost you a whole.
Speaker 4 (29:38):
Bunch of money.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
When you know it's San Francisco, if you want a garage,
you're going to have to pay for it, the Seattle
suburb of Bellevue, and Santa Clara just out of San Francisco,
and then just outside of San Diego.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
But isn't that unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
We know how high these parking spots are in Boston,
but imagine if you want a full garage and you
live in Cambridge.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
Yeah, and my daughter lives in the North End, and
she says, you want a place with a parking spot
or a parking get it all right, Kim. And we've
talked about a little bit, of course, the big business
headline this week Federal Reserve cutting interest rates by a
quarter of a point. The question is what happens next?
Will we get another one? Well, you know Federal Reserve
(30:19):
Chairman Jerome Powell was hesitant to answer that question. So
let's bring in Tom Bazooti. He is the New England
and Upstate New York advisory market leader at kp MG,
and of course KPMG is a global network of independent
and professional service rooms that provide audit tax advisory services,
one of the Big Four. As they say, Hey, Tom,
(30:41):
thanks for taking time in joining us in the program.
What's your reaction to what the Fed did?
Speaker 11 (30:45):
Well, thank you for having me, Joe and Kim. So
the reaction is is generally one of expected news here
from the Fed. Everyone in the market seem to have
expected a quarter point reduction. All eyes now are on
December and what will happen with the next meeting of
(31:07):
the Fed in December? And the expectation is for another
quarter point reduction, as you've all heard from the market news. However,
with the government shutdown and the lack of the traditional
data that the Fed uses in making its decisions, there
is a little bit of maybe fog in the future
(31:28):
of that meeting, So we'll have to see what happens.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
Yeah, let's talk a little bit about the impact of
the government shutdown on you know, this decision making. We
did get a few they get a few numbers, but
they're not sure really if they are trustworthy. So if
in fact they would start to get some numbers, are
they trustworthy, you know, after what we've gone through here.
Speaker 11 (31:50):
So they have been tracking, they being the FED in
the government at large, private data for a while. They
rely on the normal information that comes through you know,
governmental agencies that track you know, labor statistics and pricing statistics.
(32:10):
So if they don't if the government is still shut down,
I think we have to take Chairman Powell at his
word in that if they don't have their normal channel
of data which they rely on and are comfortable, there
might be some additional potential pause from some of the
(32:33):
members of the f O m C. And so I
think they'll try to they'll try to leverage the data
from the private markets, but I think we'll have to
wait and see what happens. I mean, it's uh, this
is this is not too precedented, and there's certainly, you know,
a lot of caution by the FED. So right now,
(32:55):
like I said, the futures markets are still expecting a
quarter point reduction at the December meeting, but it's not certain.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
Tompazodi, New England and Upstate New York, advisory market leader
at KPMG's our guests. Okay, but we're talking about that.
Nobody quite knows what's going to happen next with the Fed.
Speaker 11 (33:14):
There.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
What's your read of where we are right now? I mean,
how is the current state of things?
Speaker 11 (33:23):
So the current state of things is we have a
FED and I would say an administration who are trying
to navigate the economy to avoid stagflation. We don't have
stagflation right now, but that is what is trying to
be avoided. Stagflation, as you know, is an environment where
(33:43):
you have low growth, low job growth or no growth
in jobs, and you have rising prices. We don't have
that currently, but that's what everyone is trying to avoid.
The current FED meeting that lowered rates quarter point. It helps.
It's not a huge stimulus, but it definitely helps our
(34:06):
national economy and our economy here in Boston. It helps
by marginally lowering interest rate costs for consumers on credit
card debt and on car loans. It helps businesses that are,
you know, lending money to make investments in capital or
(34:27):
R and D as. We have a very innovative economy
in Boston and a lot of investment in R and D.
And it also helps bring the markets for capital I pos.
We're seeing readiness for I pos up ticking a little
bit here, and we're also seeing M and A deal
(34:49):
market activity ticking up.
Speaker 5 (34:51):
A little bit as well.
Speaker 11 (34:52):
Those are both indicators of expectations for growth in the economy,
and they usually precede general economic growth by about six
and twelve months.
Speaker 4 (35:06):
Tom.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
This last week I learned that the President says that
he's got a trade deal with China. The tariffs have
certainly been a frightening thing for many when it comes
to the economy. If the President in fact can bring
these tariffs down, will that impact the way that people
feel about the economy in twenty twenty six and what
(35:31):
kind of impact might it have?
Speaker 11 (35:34):
Kim, I'm great glad you brought that up, because what
the Fed does is certainly one key factor that has
an impact on our economy. I would say that the
teriff situation is another very key item this year that
has impacted businesses at large, especially you know, consumer businesses,
(35:58):
which you know mostly rely on imported goods, but pretty
much most of our economy relies on a lot of
imported goods and services, and so the tariffs have a
huge impact. If the meeting this past week between the
presidents of the United States and China does result in
(36:21):
this truce that we heard about, and there will be
some reduction in restrictions of exports of rare earth materials
from China and some reduction in the tariffs that the
US is putting on imported goods from China, and we
can expect that to last, like they said, for about
(36:42):
a year, and they'll meet again in a year to
hopefully extend that. I think that gives some leeway to
our local businesses to make better decisions and feel brighter
about twenty twenty six and making some investments, including hopefully
in expanding their payrolls.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
Do they have office parties at KPMG, Tom, I mean
for Christmas for your holiday season, is there is there
an office party?
Speaker 11 (37:14):
There is an office party this year, and we're in
you know, each local market, right and Boston will have
a part of it. Around the country. There are still
holiday parties that go on and we just you know,
our fiscal year just ended on nine thirty, and you know,
we had promotions, so we just had a small gathering
in the office to celebrate promotions. So here, you know,
(37:37):
we are not in a situation in this economy where
we should be feeling morose. But there is caution, right
because there's a lot of things that are going on
right fed with the you know, reducing quantitative tightening, meaning
they're trying to allow more money to be supplied into
our economy. Uh, the interest rates are coming down ever
(38:00):
so slightly, and then the current administration is got a
whole host of things going on, from the tax reductions,
to regulation regulations being reduced, and then to the TERRORFF
situation and trade right, all of these things right need
to come together in twenty twenty six and give some
(38:23):
confidence to CEOs and their management teams that they are
going to have an environment that is conducive to growth.
Like we're navigating that thread right now.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
Good, All right. He's Tom Pazzuti. He's the England and
Upstate New York advisory market leader for kp.
Speaker 3 (38:39):
MG well, of course, it's that time of year when
employers are trying to make decisions about whether they're going
to have that office party, and employees are trying to
decide if there is an office party, are they going
The face of the office party has changed.
Speaker 4 (38:54):
There's no two ways about that, Joe.
Speaker 3 (38:56):
And joining us to talk a little bit more about
that is Andy Medici from the Business Journal, and it's
good to have you along.
Speaker 4 (39:03):
Thank you for joining us a school here.
Speaker 7 (39:05):
Yeah, you wrote this great.
Speaker 3 (39:07):
Piece about this exact subject about, you know, how the
office party is changing. So first just just tell us
how is the office party changing?
Speaker 12 (39:17):
Well, you know, that's the thing is, I don't want
to keep you know, being the one who brings up,
for example, COVID, but you know, a lot of things
did change. We had remote work, we had a lot
of offices, you know, with people who weren't in it
every day, and then we had you know, more budget
conscious companies. I think defaulting to sort of a big
lavish party at the end of the year used to
be pretty common. I think nowadays people are really rethinking that.
(39:39):
And you have a spread of people who sort of
envisioned this differently, so you know, it's changed a lot.
There's companies that don't want to have one at all
for you know, liability reasons, and there are companies that
they do still see that as sort of a big
team building exercise. So you have the whole range now,
but it's not no longer the default.
Speaker 2 (39:58):
All right, So let's go back to twenty to thirty
years at Andy Mediicie. I mean, what would it be.
I mean, would be seventy eighty ninety percent of companies
would have a party. And where are we today? I mean,
is there is there any number that backs up what's
going on?
Speaker 12 (40:10):
Well, you know, you have you do have some numbers
that suggest that when companies do have a party, most
employees would attend, and they want to attend. But a
lot of companies are dropping the party. And you see
that has gone down over the years. What you have
seen those that the part the companies that do have parties,
they do start increasing that spending. So I think you're
(40:31):
zeroing in on two types of companies. Those that have
decided that the parties, as helpful or useful, are good
for them, and those that have decided that maybe they
just give their employees an extra day off.
Speaker 2 (40:41):
Right, Yeah, yeah, I think that would be for most people.
That's probably Kim, did you ever get that offer?
Speaker 4 (40:49):
I did not.
Speaker 2 (40:50):
I did not.
Speaker 4 (40:51):
I did get a turkey. However, what's your job?
Speaker 3 (40:53):
Remember, so, Andy, I'm looking at these numbers, and you
spoke to folks at easy cad in twenty twenty four.
Tell everybody what the average cost of a holiday party was.
Speaker 12 (41:07):
Yeah, they said that the average cost of a holiday
party thirty thousand dollars. Right, So this is companies of
all sizes, but you know, large companies they have expensive parties.
You know, I remember having seen a couple in person,
there was sort of an you know, no expense paid
sort of situation, and that ends up being though, you know,
around per person maybe you know, forty six bucks and so,
(41:31):
you know, some free drinks, some free food. At scale,
they can get pretty pricey though.
Speaker 2 (41:36):
Right Andy, what about you know, Kim and I were
talking about office parties, you know, back in the eighties, nineties, whatever,
and the emphasis on alcohol of what's going on with that,
because people's thinking about alcohol has really changed, you alved
over the past eight or ten years.
Speaker 12 (41:54):
Yeah, and you know, I don't have to be the
probably not the first one. To say that, you know,
there's a liability issue first, right, you know, nowadays you
don't really want bad moments between coworkers going viral, right
or things like that. And so you see a lot
of experts say a lot of times say you don't
make alcohol the main focus, right, And part of that is,
(42:15):
you know, maybe you still have some free drinks, maybe
you do tickets and it's too right, and then the
rest is paid for, or you emphasize other activities that
are going on during the party, maybe some entertainment or
maybe some sort of you know, team building. But I
think a lot of people are wary of what might
happen or what could happen, especially in a day and
age where sort of everything is you know, potentially online.
(42:39):
But then I also think that you know, younger, a
lot of younger workers are not as interested in now
pahol And I think we've seen that in the numbers too.
A lot of people have moderated that or they don't
feel comfortable doing that in sort of a work setting.
And I think that shows up in sort of how
we treat holiday parties absolutely.
Speaker 3 (42:56):
And another thing that I thought was really interesting, and
I guess I had never really thought about this, but
the timing of the party. Some experts are saying that
people should not be asked to attend a party that
is in their own personal time right.
Speaker 12 (43:10):
And I think this gets to the heart of what companies,
I don't want to say grapple with, but what they
should be thinking about, which is what's the purpose of
the party, right? And is the party a reward for
good work. Maybe you do during company time, or maybe
you give people time off to do it, but you know,
when you have a situation where it's not on company time,
workers have to choose, right. Maybe older workers with families
(43:32):
are going to be unable to come and that sort
of limits you, or maybe people who really do feel
like they would rather do it during the off time
so they can get work done. And I think this
involves sort of you have to talk to your employees
and you have to decide what they want. We were
joking earlier about time off, but there are probably companies
where you know you've had a long year, maybe you
do just want that day and you'd appreciate your company
(43:53):
more for giving you that day off to spend with
your family, or maybe you do really want that The
four seasons holiday party, right, And I think it's worth
connecting with your employees and finding that out.
Speaker 2 (44:03):
Yeah, well, what do employees want instead of office party?
Because I mean, as you know, Kim pointed out, yeah,
we've got a gift certificate for a turkey, but we
really want that. Are what are we looking for if
the company's not going to have a party.
Speaker 12 (44:18):
Yeah, I think there's two big ones, right, and you're
not going to be floored by it. But you know,
a cash bonus, right, So maybe you're gonna spend an
X amount of money on a party, maybe you divide
that up and if it's a good amount, maybe you
give that out to the employees instead. But also we
talk about paid time off, but any kind of time
off in terms of costs. You know, it's not an
upfront cash expense. There's obviously some expenses there, but a
(44:41):
lot of employees maybe they want that extra day around holidays,
or maybe it's half days on Fridays or for a while,
you know, something that shows recognition for their work but
also lets them spend more time outside of work. And
I think those keep coming up as the two big
things over and over again. Man.
Speaker 4 (44:58):
I love that idea.
Speaker 3 (44:59):
Of a half day, like on a Friday, for the
whole month of December.
Speaker 4 (45:03):
That would be awesome. That would be a right.
Speaker 12 (45:05):
I mean, we all have stuff we need to get done, right,
And I think if you think of the holiday party
as recognition, then there's other ways to give recognition. And
if you but if you think of the hardy party
as like sort of a mandatory box checking exercise then
you have to do, then it does become something that
people feel like they have to attend. Right, your boss
is going to be there, so you have to show up,
and their boss is going to be there, so they
(45:25):
have to show up. I think it depends on what
you want from your party and what you want your
employees to think about it, and I do you think
it's worth talking to them about?
Speaker 2 (45:33):
Yeah, so what did I do there at the the
BBJ Andy. I mean we just had Doug Banks, the
executive editor on you know, so it's something we should
be telling him.
Speaker 12 (45:43):
You should have asked him now.
Speaker 6 (45:45):
You know.
Speaker 12 (45:45):
What I will say is that when I worked at
the Washington Visiness Journal years ago, you know, we had
we did have really great holiday parties and and it's
a smaller group though, you know, you can have it
during the day. You know, we you're more used to
each other. And this is pre COVID, and I think
post COVID, can you do something that's more subdued that
you know in times worth you know, maybe budgets are tighter,
(46:07):
and you know, make it more friendly and fun, right,
make it less of a chore or a challenge. And
you know, I think that's a good way to go.
Is you know, more subdued. And I you know you'll
see you'll see business journals, but you also see companies
across the country. I think heading for that middle, right,
what can we do that feels friendlier, that's less sort
(46:28):
of intimidating and costly, and also doesn't feel like a train, right,
you don't want your holiday party to feel like homework.
Speaker 3 (46:33):
There, Thank you very much. Well, listen, Happy holidays to you, Andy.
Thank you so much. Really interesting, Joe, you remember the big,
huge holiday parties, And honestly I remember back in you know,
the TV days, and like you said early, this was
a Saturday night in a big, huge ballroom with a
sit down dinner and everybody's dates and you know, spouses
(46:57):
and a lot of alcohol and some of them even.
Speaker 4 (47:01):
With a band.
Speaker 2 (47:02):
Yeah, and then there's obviously I know that I would
get a hotel room wherever we were, you know, just
so there's nobody. Nobody was on the road if they'd
had a few and yeah, yeah, it was a it
was a big, big deal.
Speaker 4 (47:13):
Then I went to a Turkey.
Speaker 2 (47:16):
I hope you enjoyed it.
Speaker 4 (47:17):
Kim, We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (47:21):
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 back a little.
Speaker 2 (47:33):
There's a long long way.
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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 plans,
(48:52):
and neither will you a financial future. My name is
Mike Marshall, President and CEO of Marshal Wealth Management and
creator of the Marshall Place, 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 four
(49:15):
two ten thirty. Well check us out online at Marshallwealth
dot com. Marshall with two els Marshalwealth dot Com.
Speaker 9 (49:22):
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 (49:35):
The New England Business Report on w RKO is brought
to you in part by Subaru of New England SUPERO
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Speaker 3 (49:43):
Welcome back, everybody to the New England Business Report. Kim
Carrigan Joe short Sleeve with you on this Sunday morning.
Speaker 4 (49:49):
Lower interest rates.
Speaker 3 (49:51):
Could be having a positive effect on the real estate
market here in New England, which is certainly good news.
Finally here to explain us the CEO of Lamachia Realty,
Anthony Lamachia Anthony, good to have you.
Speaker 4 (50:02):
With us this morning.
Speaker 7 (50:03):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 4 (50:05):
You bet hey. Rates are down, looks like sales are
starting to come back. Are we headed to the new normal?
Speaker 7 (50:11):
H No. I think we're headed back toward normal. We're
still at a much reduced a level of sales for
as far as overall home sales go across the country.
But I think that it's pretty clear that things have
picked up a bit, particularly in the last three or
four months, and when we get into twenty twenty six.
I'm absolutely convinced that we will see an increase of sales.
(50:32):
And there's many reasons that I feel that way.
Speaker 2 (50:34):
All right, well, let's go through them.
Speaker 7 (50:36):
Well, Number one, it's clear to me that mortgage interest
rates are finally coming down in a sustainable, real manner.
Average interest rate over the last week six point one percent.
They've been around six point one to six point two
for about a month, and you know, one year ago
right now, they were just over seven. So a one
point improvement is great to see. In addition to that,
(51:00):
the Federal Reserve meeting a few days ago, everyone was
talking and the news is reporting about, oh, the Federal
Reserve decided to lower the overnight rate five point two
five percent. Well, that does not have a direct impact
on mortgage rates or in a medium impact. But there's something
else that the Fed talked about that ninety nine point
nine percent of people missed. They talked about how they
(51:22):
are going to stop selling off the mortgage backed securities
that are on their balance sheet. And it's kind of
complicated to explain, but basically, when COVID hit, just like
INN eight nine ten, the Federal Reserve stepped in and
started buying up mortgage backed securities because there weren't enough
buyers to buy those bonds, so the Fed did it
in their balance sheet got swelled well in the summer
(51:43):
of twenty two, Not only the Fed said we're not
going to buy anymore, but they actually started selling them.
So the market got flooded with mortgage bond and that's
why rates went up to make them more attractive to investors.
December first, Jerome Powell announced that the other they are
going to stop selling off those bonds, So you are
(52:03):
we We are undoubtedly going to see further interest rate
declines in the months to come, and that is the
biggest reason that most people don't pay attention to mm hm.
Speaker 4 (52:15):
So tell me, Anthony, what's what's the.
Speaker 3 (52:18):
Consumer's appetite out there though, because you know, there's been
a lot of uncertainty in the economy, are people willing
to start, you know, shopping around and getting out there.
Speaker 7 (52:28):
Definitely, we're seeing an improvement both from buyers and sellers,
particularly as rates come down. They're more interested in making moves. Remember,
part of the reason we're in such an incredible we've
been in such an incredible real estate slowdown is people
don't want to give up their mortgage rate. You know,
they've got a rate of three percent or three point two.
A year ago, they didn't want to go up to seven.
Now they go, I want to go to six. That's half.
(52:50):
I think I'll sit still. But we're starting to see
more people come off the sidelines now. In the last
month of October with the government shutdown, there is a
segment of people that have hesitation. There's a segment of
people that say, well, hey, what's going to happen here?
And then there's a segment that you aren't working or
don't getting paid because of it, So that has some impact.
But I'll tell you something interesting. Pending sales for the
(53:13):
month of October. The numbers aren't finalized, but it appears
that they actually are up slightly over last October, despite
the fact that there was a government shut down. So
this is another very good sign from the market. I
did a video this past week where I talked about
how I am one hundred percent sure the worst of
the slowdown is behind us, the valley is behind us,
(53:34):
and that was twenty twenty four, and it's pretty clear
to me that things are headed on up from here.
Speaker 2 (53:40):
Anthony it's been a seller's market for a long time. Here.
Is it still a seller's market?
Speaker 7 (53:46):
No, no, it's not. That started to change this spring.
I wouldn't say that it's a complete full fledged buyer's market,
but it has definitely leaned more in the buyer's favor
in the last three or four months. And we've seen
this fall, and I'll tell you this is a wonderful thing.
We cannot endlessly be in a seller's market. That's not
(54:06):
a healthy market, and that's when you see prices go
up at a rate that just gets out of control.
And that's what happened a few years back. That has
since subsided. But now this fall, we're in more of
a buyer's market than we are a seller's market, and
it's great to see the market's finding a new equilibrium.
Speaker 3 (54:22):
So talk about the area that's most in demand, and
when I mean area, I mean the price range that
you're seeing that's most in demand.
Speaker 4 (54:30):
At this point, there's.
Speaker 7 (54:31):
Definitely a bigger slowdown going on in the luxury segment.
We saw that in the spring after the tariffs hit,
and we're seeing it a bit more recently with the
government shutdown, which actually kind of surprises me, but the
regular you know, everyday home buyer and every day home seller.
It's been a bit better. It's it's been pretty busy
(54:53):
and it's been good to see.
Speaker 2 (54:55):
Our buyers now more in the drive. I know you're
saying more buyers are more in the driver's seat. Okay,
Are we seeing more home inspections because we know that
they've basically vanished there for it right now.
Speaker 7 (55:06):
Home inspections vanished from about the fall of twenty until
the end of twenty twenty one, and then they started
coming back. And now there's been home inspections on the
vast majority of purchases for more than two years. But
that law passed in Massachusetts where a buyer cannot waive
their right to a home inspection when they're making an offer.
Speaker 5 (55:27):
The law is.
Speaker 7 (55:27):
Unnecessary, it wasn't needed, but it is what it is,
and that has been implemented as of October fifteenth.
Speaker 3 (55:35):
Anthony, you guys do business in you know, throughout New England,
but you do it outside of the region as well.
So let's just talk about the country region to region.
What you're seeing. Are we stronger here in New England?
Where do we stand.
Speaker 7 (55:49):
Inventory of homes for sale? Is still a bit lower
than the.
Speaker 5 (55:52):
Rest of the nation.
Speaker 7 (55:53):
The other place that we do business in addition in
New England is in Florida. Inventory of homes for sale
in Florida is much higher. It is I would say
a little bit of a buyer's market this fall here
in New England. In Florida it is more of a
buyer's market, particularly with condominiums.
Speaker 2 (56:09):
All right, If it's a buyer's market, what's going on
with pricing? Our prices actually coming down?
Speaker 7 (56:15):
We've seen so up here in New England. I wouldn't
say that prices are falling by any means, but I
think prices have settled a bit. They're certainly not going
up to the level that they were, which is good. Yeah, literally,
I mean that it's good. You can't have prices going
up ten percent a year. It was too much and
that subsided last year and we're seeing that subside even more. Condominiums.
(56:38):
I do see some places that you know, particularly close
to the seashore, where we see condos getting hit a
bit more. But I don't see a situation where prices
are collapsing by any.
Speaker 3 (56:50):
Means, and people without cash can they get in because
you know, you couldn't get in if you didn't have cash.
Speaker 7 (56:57):
Oh, yes, absolutely, Okay, yes, there's people are financing condos
and you know the need to be a cash buyer
and wave your contingencies is like two plus years ago.
Speaker 2 (57:08):
And Anthony, what finally, what's on your ear what's on
your desk this week? What is the number one priority
for Anthony Lamachia this next ten days?
Speaker 7 (57:16):
Well, we, aside from managerial things here in our company,
we are very much looking forward to a big twenty
twenty six. I have no doubt in my mind that
home sales will be up at least ten percent across
the whole country, and we as a company obviously want
to take advantage of that and to serve as many
buyers and so as possible.
Speaker 3 (57:34):
All Right, he's Anthony Lamachia. Thank you so much for
being a part of the New England Business Report.
Speaker 2 (57:39):
All right, Kim. Always great to hear from Anthony Lomachi.
I really enjoy his insights on the real estate market
and it does seem like things are starting to move
out there. All right, That does it for this week
New England Business Report, And we of course are here
every Sunday morning at eight am on w RKO, the
voice of Boston AM six eighty
This is the New England Business Report with Joe Shortsleeve
and Kim Caragan, a weekly round up and discussion of
the top business news impacting our New England economy.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
And good morning and welcome to the New England Business Support.
Joe shortzley've here with you along with Kim Carrigan. It
is Sunday, November the second, and of course you know
the good news about today, Kim is we we gained
an hour. Now that is a glass half full approach
to today, right, because.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
So right, and this morning it's nice and bright, and
this evening maybe I should say this afternoon.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
No pitch burny dark by five o'clock. But you know, again,
glass half full. The holiday lights will be out, you know,
pretty soon, you know.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
To be honest, I mean, except the fact that at
for thirty in all seriousness, it will be pretty dark,
especially on those cloudy days. But at least it is
during this holiday season. So you get to the other
side and it starts to get a little lighter pretty quick.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
So that's good.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Yeah, that's true. Daylight savings has ended and it picks
up again on Sunday, March the eighth. Now, a little
bit of tidbit on this daylight savings. According to the
National the Conference of State Legislatures, two states, Arizona and Hawaii,
observed permanent standard time. Nineteen states have an acted legislation
(01:19):
that would act year round daylight savings time if Congress
were to allow such a change. And I know Massachusetts
is interested in that. But right now we're bouncing back
and forth.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Right, Yeah, it's tough on boy, do you remember when
your kids were a little how hard it was because
you know, they would get off by one hour and you.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
Just I bet you guys see that with your grandkids, right.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Yeah, no, it definitely messes them up. Okay, today's program, right,
we're going to be talking with the CEO of Super
New England and be talking with Ernie back Junior. And
there's a lot to talk to Ernie about in the
auto industry. Is we're moving through the final quarter of
this year and looking forward to twenty twenty six. You know,
(02:04):
a lot to talk about in terms of headlines, in
terms of EV sales and Ford in their trucks. Now,
pretty soon, Kim, you're gonna have one of those Ford trucks.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
Right, I have already had one.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Oh really, Yeah, My oldest drove a Ford truck and
then went away to college and left it here and
my husband fell in love with it.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
So now we have a ram. So yeah, we are
truck owners.
Speaker 5 (02:28):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Okay, the neighbors are okay with that up there.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Let me tell you, these trucks have become such line
vehicles city.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
I know, they're gorgeous. My brother has one. He drives around,
proud as a peacock in it. Okay, then we're gonna
be talking with Doug Banks, secutive editor of the Boston
Business Journal. He's got a bunch of headlines. One one
headline is sort of personal to me, and he sort
of he sort of sent it out. It has to
do with this Boston Chops steakhouse up for sale as
ownership's focus to a new Western restaurant. Are you familiar
(02:59):
with that, Kim, you're shaking your head.
Speaker 4 (03:01):
I am certainly familiar with the restaurant.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Yes, yeah, yeah, But I mean this restaurant will open
in the historic tavern, the Josiah Smith Tavern building in
Western Center, and they're going to serve alcohol for the
first time. Uh and uh, you know since the prohibition,
I guess, but I had my surprise fortieth birthday there.
So that's why I say this is sort.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
Of interesting here you were there.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Wow, that's a Kim.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
Let's take a look at the second half of the show.
We've mentioned it. But the holidays.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Now we're past Halloween, holidays just around the corner, and
for many that means deciding whether they're going to attend
the dreaded company Christmas party, and more importantly, it means
are you going to have one as a company owner,
you know, or leader. They're they're changing, you know, liability
is so different now Joe than it was when we
were back in TV and they'd have those big, sprawling parties,
(03:53):
you know, each year for a holidays the bar.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
And now this year that's the emphasis is away from alcohol.
Move a way from alcohol, and I think that's a
I think it's a smart thing, and it's a good thing.
It's obviously a healthier thing, I guess.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
I think there's a lot of people who hope the
next morning that they didn't drink alcohol.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
I wish they had.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Yeah, we're going to talk about that Federal Reserve, of course,
cutting the prime lending rate for a second time this
year last this last week down another quarter of a point.
So what kind of impact is that going to have
here on the region. We are going to talk to
Tom Bazooti. He's New England and Upstate New York advisor
market leader for KPMG. We're going to get his take
(04:32):
on what he thinks this is going to mean. And
obviously this cut will have some kind of effect on
the real estate market. And believe it or not, Joe,
there was a headline this last week in the Globe
that maybe the real estate market is finally starting to
thaw here in the Boston area, which would be really
great for the spring market, which happens during the freeze actually,
(04:53):
like in February.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
It would be great if that's the case.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
The CEO of Lamachia Realty, Anthony Lamachi, is going to
join us talk a little bit about these rate cuts,
what this means, and what he sees for the real
estate market here in the Boston area.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Yeah, and I can tell you that my brother is
a real estate he's a mortgage lender with Leader Bank,
and I talked to him and he's like a one
armed paperhanger. At this point. He says, it's busy out there.
All of a sudden, all right, Kim, without any further ado,
we want to bring in the CEO of SuPAR of
New England and a great supporter of this program, one
Ernie Bach Junior. Ernie, welcome to the program. And there's
(05:28):
a lot to talk about in the automotive industry as
we close out twenty twenty five and look ahead to
twenty twenty six. We have some notes here what you've
been up to lately. So give us your snapshot of
the auto industry as the year starts to close out.
Speaker 5 (05:44):
Well, you know, the industry is where it is, but
I always like to look and it really there's really
Greek COVID and post COVID. Not to bring up COVID,
but there's more of a line there. Before COVID, the
(06:05):
industry was absolutely cooking, seventeen to seventeen four million cars
a year, just no stopping it. And then of course
everything stopped, and to this day the industry is not
up to pre COVID numbers. For example, we'll be right
(06:27):
around sixteen million new cars sold in the United States,
where five or six years ago we were heading for
eighteen million.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Why do you think that's a case or is it
a lack of inventory or.
Speaker 5 (06:42):
You know, it's you know, the auto industry isn't isn't
any different than a lot of industries that got hurt
by COVID. And we're not here to talk about, you know,
getting hurt by COVID. But the idea is the industry
is where it is because of a ma ajor event.
Whether it could be stopped or it doesn't really matter.
(07:04):
A major event set back not only the automotive industry,
but a lot of industries. So the automotive industry is
kind of crawling back to get to the pre COVID numbers.
Speaker 6 (07:16):
Yea.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Now, ev sales were some headlines in the auto industry
over the past sixteen to ninety days. Tell us, I
know that that federal rebate seventy five hundred bucks went away,
So that drove a lot of people to buy, right, arn'tie.
Speaker 5 (07:32):
Yeah. In September eves were ten percent of sales, which
has the highest it's ever been because people were rushing
in to get that incentive. But now that the incentive
is gone, in which I agree with, Now that the
incentive is gone, we'll really see who wants to buy
(07:54):
an electric vehicle. I think that electric vehicles should absolutely
be available in the United State, but I don't think
the government should force you to buy one.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Right, were your notes here that the first that EV
volume is already down.
Speaker 5 (08:12):
Some Yes, it's already down because that was a substantial incentive,
and it was really a it was really a false market.
The manufacturers didn't make any money producing the vehicle, the
dealers didn't really make any money selling the vehicle, and
(08:32):
the government, whether you look at it either way, lost
money pushing the vehicle. So that's just not sustainable. It's
they should produce as many electric vehicles as people want
to buy, which looks like about six to seven percent
of the population.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Ernie, you said about sixty million new vehicles are going
to be sold in One of those highlights is the
fact that full size trucks are still really popular. In fact,
Joe and I are having a conversation about, you know,
full sized trucks or luxury vehicles at this point. Tell
us a little bit about which truck is the truck
of choice.
Speaker 5 (09:10):
Well, I think if i'm you know, I don't have
the exact year because it's been so many years, but
I would estimate that the Ford F one fifty has
been the best selling vehicle, the best selling truck over
the last thirty years. It's just a monster and nobody,
nobody has been able to beat it. And truck sales
(09:32):
are up over ten percent. So people people want trucks.
You know, here in the Northeast you see them, but
down south in the middle of the country there everywhere.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Now they come with a sticker shock though though don't they.
Speaker 5 (09:49):
Ny, Yeah, really it's not your father's truck, right, They're
very excensive. They're almost like they're almost like luxury vehicles,
those four door trucks. They're as good as Lexus and Cadillac.
I mean, they're comfortable, they have all the equipment and
then you have the utility of a truck. People love that.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
And that along with the average sticker shock. What is
the I guess I heard the headline that what are
we at? Where at fifty grand or something?
Speaker 6 (10:21):
Right?
Speaker 5 (10:21):
That's yes, And it's led by the suv and the trucks.
People just people just want those and it's pushing up
the price. And the price is being pushed up because
the consumer is is, you know, demanding certain things that
they want. The imfotainment and all the creature comforts in
the government is making the vehicles safer and safer and safer.
(10:45):
And for the first time, the average vehicle in the
United States it's fifty thousand dollars.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
Wow, wow, wow, which make attribute some to why we
were at eighteen million before COVID and now we're at
six team million, right, I mean the price has really
gotten high.
Speaker 5 (11:04):
Yes, yes, but that's that's the same as everything. I mean,
look at building prices. If you look at if you
had to build something before COVID and you're building something now,
the price difference is staggering.
Speaker 7 (11:18):
But I think that I think.
Speaker 5 (11:20):
That the vehicle will will settle down once people understand
the that you can buy an electric vehicle. You can,
you know, because that was putting the price up. Also,
you can buy an electric vehicle, you can buy a hybrid,
you can buy gas. And everybody's buying what they want
(11:41):
and not being forced to buy something. I think you'll
see it settled down.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Talking with Ernie back Junior, and we're talking about the
state of the auto industry here in this country as
we start to close out twenty twenty five, Ernie, what
about incentives? Okay, so we have those fifty thousand dollars
price tag average. Right, I guess I'm kind of wondering
why why that is? But never mind that. I mean,
(12:07):
but what are the dealerships? What are the dealers doing
to get people to bite?
Speaker 5 (12:13):
Well, this is these numbers I'm going to give you
are the US averages. So the average incentive across the
board that the manufacturer gives either the customer or the
dealer is thirty seven hundred dollars per vehicle. And the
(12:33):
people are buying these average priced vehicles fifty thousand dollars,
and the average payment is seven hundred and fifty eight
a month. And the average new car rate across the
country it's six point seven and the average term is
sixty nine months. You know, is tough because the average
(12:59):
the average a of a car on the road in
the United States is twelve years.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Okay, I'm not a math major. I'm a history major.
So I'm trying to figure out that in my head,
we're at almost six years. After you buy a car,
you're paying for it for six years.
Speaker 5 (13:15):
Yeah, six years, and you'll keep it for an additional six.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
Right, Ernie.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
The industries in flux, and we're kind of sitting giving
the blow by blow of exactly what's happening.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
Yeah, interest rates going down. That's got to help the industry,
right absolutely.
Speaker 5 (13:34):
That will help. That will help the auto industry, that
will help the housing industry. I think it's time that
the rates come down. I mean a point or two
would work, now, Ernie.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Your other passion besides the automobile industry and super of
New England there of course, has to do with music
drives us dot org. And you have a couple of
big events coming up. Take us through your calendar there.
Speaker 5 (14:00):
Well, we have we are funding programs that are that
have been stalled because of I don't I hate myself
for saying COVID and this and that, but we are
on a roll right now. They're in loll today. It's
(14:22):
really it's really amazing the actual stuff. We've been doing
so much funding that I haven't been at fifty percent
of it because it is so much. But you can
go to music Drives this dot org and see exactly
where we are.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
And of course earlier Bostonians love the Box Center and
we got the Christmas season coming up. What can you
tell us?
Speaker 5 (14:43):
Yeah, we have the Christmas season coming up at the
Schubert and the Wang under the Box Center banner, lots
of comedians, rock bands. It's really good. You can go
to Boxcenter dot org check out the schedule. It's it's
going to be a great fourth.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
You know his voice. He's already back Junior and he's
the CEO there of Subaru of New England. We do
appreciate you taking time in joining us this morning on
the New England Business Report. Looking Ahead, we're gonna be
talking with the executive endor of the Boston Business Journal,
one Doug Banks.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
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 back.
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Speaker 3 (17:42):
Welcome back everybody to the New England Business Report. Good
to have everyone on this Sunday morning. It's that time
when we check those business headlines from the past week.
And joining us is the executive editor of the Boston
Business Journal, Doug Bank. So good to have Doug back
with us. He's been a traveling man. Uh so, Uh, Doug,
I want to walk through a little bit of the
impact before we actually talk. I was going to talk
(18:04):
about real estate downtown. But before we do, let's talk
about the impact of the government shutdown and the kind
of things that are happening with nonprofits as a result
of that.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
You guys did a story about that this past week.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 10 (18:19):
So, I mean as of yesterday, Snap Benefits had you know,
we're threatened to be cut off for as many as
a million people in Massachusetts, and of those about a
third or say, three hundred thousand or so are disabled people.
And of course SNAP benefits are the food assistance program.
It stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. People have been
(18:41):
you know, reading and seeing this news for a while now,
but you know, think about being living in a high
cost state like Massachusetts. I mean, where we have thousands
of federal workers who are without a paycheck this month
because of the shutdown, and then you have over a
quarter a million people who have disabilities who are relying
on SNAP. And this is just this issue just overwhelming
the social services systems. So we spoke with nonprofits including
(19:04):
the ARC of Massachusetts and Work Incorporated, and those are
just a couple of programs that like Northeast Dark is
another one that assists people with disabilities to get them
jobs to help them where they live. And they told
us that food banks and food pantries are going to
be seeing the impact for you know, for months. So
this is a real it's a real hard issue for
(19:26):
some of the most vulnerable populations. And if not for
the nonprofits and the social service agencies in Massachusetts, those people,
you know, these people in our communities would just be
without options.
Speaker 7 (19:38):
You know.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
Doug Banks, executive out of the Boston Business Journals with us.
I mean, and there have been government shutdowns in the past,
but this is the first time that snap has really
been on the table.
Speaker 10 (19:48):
Yeah, and it's you know, it's it's puzzling in some ways,
but you know, we've seen so much politicization of these
types of issues at the federal level. But you know,
it's it's very rare that you know that the federal
government would just make a decision that would hurt so
many people that it's purportedly there to support and to help.
(20:10):
And and again, I think it hurts places like Massachusetts
at a higher degree than than other states. But you know,
certainly there's no question that you know, every every state
has vulnerable populations and everybody's hurting from this, whether you're
a red state or a blue state. So it's you know,
it's it's a real issue.
Speaker 7 (20:30):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
Douglas'sake a look at the story that I mentioned earlier.
Office leases that are the largest in Greater Boston this
past year.
Speaker 4 (20:38):
Walk us through what they are.
Speaker 10 (20:40):
Yeah, So it's you know, we've been talking about, well
for five years now after the COVID shutdown, that the
office market is has just gotten decimated. But now there's
some signs, sure signs that the office market is starting
to come back. You're seeing vacancy rates are no longer soaring,
the number of LEASA deals that are being made are
gaining in number, and are real estate reporter Grant Welker,
(21:01):
did you know, had a couple of stories this, you know,
this past week where you're seeing a lot more activity
now that happens mostly in the higher quality office space,
so some of the newer buildings refurbished older buildings. But
he did one story where we just looked at the
biggest deals in the cities so far this year, and
of course we all remember the news about Hasbro coming here.
(21:22):
And then there's the marketing firm Clavello. Those are both
over two hundred and fifty thousand square foot deals both
on Summer Street and then in the suburbs you have
companies like Arbella Insurance at Crown Colony Drive that signed
a deal for almost two hundred thousand square feet. So
you take a look at BI journals dot com, you
can see sort of all the big deals and all
(21:43):
the all the space. But it's just good news to
see this this kind of activity picking up and pretty
much every barometer that we look at is showing more
and more signs of a positive nature of people getting
back to the office, companies getting those workers back, and
seeing you know, sort of positive momentum in the real
estate space.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
You know, Doug. One of your other headlines that you
shared with us has to do with the opening up
a new restaurant in Weston. Now, I raised my family
in Weston, and Kim was teasing me earlier because I
said that I had my surprise fortieth birthday at the
historic tavern j Smith Tavern Kim goes last year. I'm like, yeah, yeah, oh,
(22:23):
thank you, Kim.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
Listen, Doug Banks is laughing at you right now. When
we said that, why.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Don't we know all of New England states right now? Fine,
it was a while ago. Okay, let's just agree to
that anyway. But this headline Boston chops the steakhouses upper
sales ownerships focused to a new Western restaurant restaurant, and
it's the Josiah Smith Tavern building. I guess they haven't
what port alcohol at a bar in Western since the
(22:47):
seventeen hundreds or something.
Speaker 10 (22:49):
Well since prohibition anyway, it was a tavern back in
the colonial days. So I'm guessing you might have gotten
a pint of mead back then, But certainly since prohibition
there has been no alcohol bard in a public establishment
in Weston. Now that's not to say that some of
the private clubs in Weston have not been serving alcohol.
The country club set has been able to get their
cosmopolitans at the golf course. But no, this is yeah,
(23:12):
it's big news that we broke this past week that
two of the Boston shops steakhouses which won in the
South End, one in downtown Crossing owned by Brian Paccini
and company. There he's been trying to build this new restaurant,
as you said, at the Josiah Smith Tavern building, which
you are familiar with. It's called The Woods, And yeah,
it would be the first alcohol porn restaurant in Weston
(23:32):
since prohibition. So you're looking at it one hundred years
of a dry town and it hasn't taken him one
hundred years, but it's taken him longer than he expected
it to take. He I think he had been hoping
to open it by the end of this year. Now
he's hoping for next summer. It's just the permitting process
and everything has been really slow, and I think from
his perspective, you know, running these two two steakhouses, and
(23:56):
of course he also owns the Boston restaurants D Bar
and Duave also in the stuff end, so he's got
a lot of competing interests and he just decided, you know, look,
it's time to focus on this Western restaurant. He really
wants to get it done, and so that's you know,
that's where he's looking to his attention to it.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
Now. I sow the property dates back to seventeen hundred,
I guess, I mean, yeah, but you're right it was
the pouring of alcoholic goes back to prohibition.
Speaker 4 (24:19):
Let me ask you guys something, though. Does this just
open the floodgates?
Speaker 3 (24:22):
I mean, does Weston now become, you know, no longer
a dry town, which you know we're I'm using air
quotes when I say dry.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Right, Well, you know you have these beer and wine
licenses that grocery stores can start to dip into. I
don't know, Doug. I mean this is probably a topic
you watch closely there at the BBJ.
Speaker 10 (24:40):
Yeah, I think that, you know, I don't know that
there's going to be a flood of restaurateurs I think
the restaurant business is really really brutal. I think the
you know, as Brian has seen, the process is really
really long. You have to have a lot of resources.
Not that people in Weston don't have a lot of resources,
but you know, it's the restaurant business. It's really tough,
right thin margins and there's other places that might be
(25:03):
more friendly to an alcohol pouring restaurant, but I do
know that you can't run a restaurant without an alcohol
license and expect to be able to make a profit
these days. So yeah, you know, I think Weston's residents
there are probably going to be just fine.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
Well, that's going to be very interesting to see. We're
gonna have to follow that. I would imagine you guys
there at the BBJ are going to do just that.
Doug Banks, Hey, thanks very much.
Speaker 4 (25:25):
Good to see you again.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
As we said, you've had Don has been filling in
for you. He's done an excellent job just so you know,
so we very much appreciate him as well.
Speaker 4 (25:35):
All Right, still come in your way.
Speaker 3 (25:36):
The federal cut in the FED rather cut interest rates
for a second time this year. We're going to talk
about the impact of that with an analyst from KPMG.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Kim and Joe will explore more business news that impacts
our New England economy when they return Love.
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Speaker 3 (28:01):
Good morning everybody, and welcome back to the New England
Business Report. I'm Kim Carrot along with Joe's short sleeve.
Here we are on the second day of November. Boy,
the fall is just flying by. Are the leaves down
at your house?
Speaker 6 (28:12):
Hey?
Speaker 2 (28:12):
I noticed though out the window usually had like a
nice color. No, it looks like it looks like November
out there, which it is. Of course, we are looking
like Thanksgiving, no doubt about it.
Speaker 3 (28:22):
I'm not going to complain though, because we've not seen
snowflakes yet. So let's just, you know' ride this one out.
This is the time of the show that we like
to just point out maybe a headline that you may
have missed.
Speaker 4 (28:31):
And I thought this was crazy, Joe.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
This was in the Boston Business Journal earlier this week.
Want to buy a garage in Cambridge? It'll cost you
more than anywhere else in the United States?
Speaker 4 (28:45):
What okay?
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Good headlines?
Speaker 4 (28:47):
What is that a great headline?
Speaker 2 (28:48):
So headline, I have my attention the median.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
Single family home in Cambridge, you know, which is a
very expensive obviously community two point two million bucks. Guess
what it would cost you if you have a garage?
Speaker 4 (29:04):
How much more? How much more do you think it
might be?
Speaker 2 (29:05):
On top of the two point two.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
Yes, well, well that's the average household, you know, So
we'll just say it's two point two.
Speaker 4 (29:12):
What do you think that garage is going to cost you.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
I'm going to tell you one point three million dollars.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
That's one fancy garage. That is one yeah. Wow.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
So a garage in Cambridge on a house that maybe
is already two point two million is going to cost
you an additional one point three It is one of
the highest in the country when it comes to that. Now,
other places that cost you a whole.
Speaker 4 (29:38):
Bunch of money.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
When you know it's San Francisco, if you want a garage,
you're going to have to pay for it, the Seattle
suburb of Bellevue, and Santa Clara just out of San Francisco,
and then just outside of San Diego.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
But isn't that unbelievable.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
We know how high these parking spots are in Boston,
but imagine if you want a full garage and you
live in Cambridge.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
Yeah, and my daughter lives in the North End, and
she says, you want a place with a parking spot
or a parking get it all right, Kim. And we've
talked about a little bit, of course, the big business
headline this week Federal Reserve cutting interest rates by a
quarter of a point. The question is what happens next?
Will we get another one? Well, you know Federal Reserve
(30:19):
Chairman Jerome Powell was hesitant to answer that question. So
let's bring in Tom Bazooti. He is the New England
and Upstate New York advisory market leader at kp MG,
and of course KPMG is a global network of independent
and professional service rooms that provide audit tax advisory services,
one of the Big Four. As they say, Hey, Tom,
(30:41):
thanks for taking time in joining us in the program.
What's your reaction to what the Fed did?
Speaker 11 (30:45):
Well, thank you for having me, Joe and Kim. So
the reaction is is generally one of expected news here
from the Fed. Everyone in the market seem to have
expected a quarter point reduction. All eyes now are on
December and what will happen with the next meeting of
(31:07):
the Fed in December? And the expectation is for another
quarter point reduction, as you've all heard from the market news. However,
with the government shutdown and the lack of the traditional
data that the Fed uses in making its decisions, there
is a little bit of maybe fog in the future
(31:28):
of that meeting, So we'll have to see what happens.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
Yeah, let's talk a little bit about the impact of
the government shutdown on you know, this decision making. We
did get a few they get a few numbers, but
they're not sure really if they are trustworthy. So if
in fact they would start to get some numbers, are
they trustworthy, you know, after what we've gone through here.
Speaker 11 (31:50):
So they have been tracking, they being the FED in
the government at large, private data for a while. They
rely on the normal information that comes through you know,
governmental agencies that track you know, labor statistics and pricing statistics.
(32:10):
So if they don't if the government is still shut down,
I think we have to take Chairman Powell at his
word in that if they don't have their normal channel
of data which they rely on and are comfortable, there
might be some additional potential pause from some of the
(32:33):
members of the f O m C. And so I
think they'll try to they'll try to leverage the data
from the private markets, but I think we'll have to
wait and see what happens. I mean, it's uh, this
is this is not too precedented, and there's certainly, you know,
a lot of caution by the FED. So right now,
(32:55):
like I said, the futures markets are still expecting a
quarter point reduction at the December meeting, but it's not certain.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
Tompazodi, New England and Upstate New York, advisory market leader
at KPMG's our guests. Okay, but we're talking about that.
Nobody quite knows what's going to happen next with the Fed.
Speaker 11 (33:14):
There.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
What's your read of where we are right now? I mean,
how is the current state of things?
Speaker 11 (33:23):
So the current state of things is we have a
FED and I would say an administration who are trying
to navigate the economy to avoid stagflation. We don't have
stagflation right now, but that is what is trying to
be avoided. Stagflation, as you know, is an environment where
(33:43):
you have low growth, low job growth or no growth
in jobs, and you have rising prices. We don't have
that currently, but that's what everyone is trying to avoid.
The current FED meeting that lowered rates quarter point. It helps.
It's not a huge stimulus, but it definitely helps our
(34:06):
national economy and our economy here in Boston. It helps
by marginally lowering interest rate costs for consumers on credit
card debt and on car loans. It helps businesses that are,
you know, lending money to make investments in capital or
(34:27):
R and D as. We have a very innovative economy
in Boston and a lot of investment in R and D.
And it also helps bring the markets for capital I pos.
We're seeing readiness for I pos up ticking a little
bit here, and we're also seeing M and A deal
(34:49):
market activity ticking up.
Speaker 5 (34:51):
A little bit as well.
Speaker 11 (34:52):
Those are both indicators of expectations for growth in the economy,
and they usually precede general economic growth by about six
and twelve months.
Speaker 4 (35:06):
Tom.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
This last week I learned that the President says that
he's got a trade deal with China. The tariffs have
certainly been a frightening thing for many when it comes
to the economy. If the President in fact can bring
these tariffs down, will that impact the way that people
feel about the economy in twenty twenty six and what
(35:31):
kind of impact might it have?
Speaker 11 (35:34):
Kim, I'm great glad you brought that up, because what
the Fed does is certainly one key factor that has
an impact on our economy. I would say that the
teriff situation is another very key item this year that
has impacted businesses at large, especially you know, consumer businesses,
(35:58):
which you know mostly rely on imported goods, but pretty
much most of our economy relies on a lot of
imported goods and services, and so the tariffs have a
huge impact. If the meeting this past week between the
presidents of the United States and China does result in
(36:21):
this truce that we heard about, and there will be
some reduction in restrictions of exports of rare earth materials
from China and some reduction in the tariffs that the
US is putting on imported goods from China, and we
can expect that to last, like they said, for about
(36:42):
a year, and they'll meet again in a year to
hopefully extend that. I think that gives some leeway to
our local businesses to make better decisions and feel brighter
about twenty twenty six and making some investments, including hopefully
in expanding their payrolls.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
Do they have office parties at KPMG, Tom, I mean
for Christmas for your holiday season, is there is there
an office party?
Speaker 11 (37:14):
There is an office party this year, and we're in
you know, each local market, right and Boston will have
a part of it. Around the country. There are still
holiday parties that go on and we just you know,
our fiscal year just ended on nine thirty, and you know,
we had promotions, so we just had a small gathering
in the office to celebrate promotions. So here, you know,
(37:37):
we are not in a situation in this economy where
we should be feeling morose. But there is caution, right
because there's a lot of things that are going on
right fed with the you know, reducing quantitative tightening, meaning
they're trying to allow more money to be supplied into
our economy. Uh, the interest rates are coming down ever
(38:00):
so slightly, and then the current administration is got a
whole host of things going on, from the tax reductions,
to regulation regulations being reduced, and then to the TERRORFF
situation and trade right, all of these things right need
to come together in twenty twenty six and give some
(38:23):
confidence to CEOs and their management teams that they are
going to have an environment that is conducive to growth.
Like we're navigating that thread right now.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
Good, All right. He's Tom Pazzuti. He's the England and
Upstate New York advisory market leader for kp.
Speaker 3 (38:39):
MG well, of course, it's that time of year when
employers are trying to make decisions about whether they're going
to have that office party, and employees are trying to
decide if there is an office party, are they going
The face of the office party has changed.
Speaker 4 (38:54):
There's no two ways about that, Joe.
Speaker 3 (38:56):
And joining us to talk a little bit more about
that is Andy Medici from the Business Journal, and it's
good to have you along.
Speaker 4 (39:03):
Thank you for joining us a school here.
Speaker 7 (39:05):
Yeah, you wrote this great.
Speaker 3 (39:07):
Piece about this exact subject about, you know, how the
office party is changing. So first just just tell us
how is the office party changing?
Speaker 12 (39:17):
Well, you know, that's the thing is, I don't want
to keep you know, being the one who brings up,
for example, COVID, but you know, a lot of things
did change. We had remote work, we had a lot
of offices, you know, with people who weren't in it
every day, and then we had you know, more budget
conscious companies. I think defaulting to sort of a big
lavish party at the end of the year used to
be pretty common. I think nowadays people are really rethinking that.
(39:39):
And you have a spread of people who sort of
envisioned this differently, so you know, it's changed a lot.
There's companies that don't want to have one at all
for you know, liability reasons, and there are companies that
they do still see that as sort of a big
team building exercise. So you have the whole range now,
but it's not no longer the default.
Speaker 2 (39:58):
All right, So let's go back to twenty to thirty
years at Andy Mediicie. I mean, what would it be.
I mean, would be seventy eighty ninety percent of companies
would have a party. And where are we today? I mean,
is there is there any number that backs up what's
going on?
Speaker 12 (40:10):
Well, you know, you have you do have some numbers
that suggest that when companies do have a party, most
employees would attend, and they want to attend. But a
lot of companies are dropping the party. And you see
that has gone down over the years. What you have
seen those that the part the companies that do have parties,
they do start increasing that spending. So I think you're
(40:31):
zeroing in on two types of companies. Those that have
decided that the parties, as helpful or useful, are good
for them, and those that have decided that maybe they
just give their employees an extra day off.
Speaker 2 (40:41):
Right, Yeah, yeah, I think that would be for most people.
That's probably Kim, did you ever get that offer?
Speaker 4 (40:49):
I did not.
Speaker 2 (40:50):
I did not.
Speaker 4 (40:51):
I did get a turkey. However, what's your job?
Speaker 3 (40:53):
Remember, so, Andy, I'm looking at these numbers, and you
spoke to folks at easy cad in twenty twenty four.
Tell everybody what the average cost of a holiday party was.
Speaker 12 (41:07):
Yeah, they said that the average cost of a holiday
party thirty thousand dollars. Right, So this is companies of
all sizes, but you know, large companies they have expensive parties.
You know, I remember having seen a couple in person,
there was sort of an you know, no expense paid
sort of situation, and that ends up being though, you know,
around per person maybe you know, forty six bucks and so,
(41:31):
you know, some free drinks, some free food. At scale,
they can get pretty pricey though.
Speaker 2 (41:36):
Right Andy, what about you know, Kim and I were
talking about office parties, you know, back in the eighties, nineties, whatever,
and the emphasis on alcohol of what's going on with that,
because people's thinking about alcohol has really changed, you alved
over the past eight or ten years.
Speaker 12 (41:54):
Yeah, and you know, I don't have to be the
probably not the first one. To say that, you know,
there's a liability issue first, right, you know, nowadays you
don't really want bad moments between coworkers going viral, right
or things like that. And so you see a lot
of experts say a lot of times say you don't
make alcohol the main focus, right, And part of that is,
(42:15):
you know, maybe you still have some free drinks, maybe
you do tickets and it's too right, and then the
rest is paid for, or you emphasize other activities that
are going on during the party, maybe some entertainment or
maybe some sort of you know, team building. But I
think a lot of people are wary of what might
happen or what could happen, especially in a day and
age where sort of everything is you know, potentially online.
(42:39):
But then I also think that you know, younger, a
lot of younger workers are not as interested in now
pahol And I think we've seen that in the numbers too.
A lot of people have moderated that or they don't
feel comfortable doing that in sort of a work setting.
And I think that shows up in sort of how
we treat holiday parties absolutely.
Speaker 3 (42:56):
And another thing that I thought was really interesting, and
I guess I had never really thought about this, but
the timing of the party. Some experts are saying that
people should not be asked to attend a party that
is in their own personal time right.
Speaker 12 (43:10):
And I think this gets to the heart of what companies,
I don't want to say grapple with, but what they
should be thinking about, which is what's the purpose of
the party, right? And is the party a reward for
good work. Maybe you do during company time, or maybe
you give people time off to do it, but you know,
when you have a situation where it's not on company time,
workers have to choose, right. Maybe older workers with families
(43:32):
are going to be unable to come and that sort
of limits you, or maybe people who really do feel
like they would rather do it during the off time
so they can get work done. And I think this
involves sort of you have to talk to your employees
and you have to decide what they want. We were
joking earlier about time off, but there are probably companies
where you know you've had a long year, maybe you
do just want that day and you'd appreciate your company
(43:53):
more for giving you that day off to spend with
your family, or maybe you do really want that The
four seasons holiday party, right, And I think it's worth
connecting with your employees and finding that out.
Speaker 2 (44:03):
Yeah, well, what do employees want instead of office party?
Because I mean, as you know, Kim pointed out, yeah,
we've got a gift certificate for a turkey, but we
really want that. Are what are we looking for if
the company's not going to have a party.
Speaker 12 (44:18):
Yeah, I think there's two big ones, right, and you're
not going to be floored by it. But you know,
a cash bonus, right, So maybe you're gonna spend an
X amount of money on a party, maybe you divide
that up and if it's a good amount, maybe you
give that out to the employees instead. But also we
talk about paid time off, but any kind of time
off in terms of costs. You know, it's not an
upfront cash expense. There's obviously some expenses there, but a
(44:41):
lot of employees maybe they want that extra day around holidays,
or maybe it's half days on Fridays or for a while,
you know, something that shows recognition for their work but
also lets them spend more time outside of work. And
I think those keep coming up as the two big
things over and over again. Man.
Speaker 4 (44:58):
I love that idea.
Speaker 3 (44:59):
Of a half day, like on a Friday, for the
whole month of December.
Speaker 4 (45:03):
That would be awesome. That would be a right.
Speaker 12 (45:05):
I mean, we all have stuff we need to get done, right,
And I think if you think of the holiday party
as recognition, then there's other ways to give recognition. And
if you but if you think of the hardy party
as like sort of a mandatory box checking exercise then
you have to do, then it does become something that
people feel like they have to attend. Right, your boss
is going to be there, so you have to show up,
and their boss is going to be there, so they
(45:25):
have to show up. I think it depends on what
you want from your party and what you want your
employees to think about it, and I do you think
it's worth talking to them about?
Speaker 2 (45:33):
Yeah, so what did I do there at the the
BBJ Andy. I mean we just had Doug Banks, the
executive editor on you know, so it's something we should
be telling him.
Speaker 12 (45:43):
You should have asked him now.
Speaker 6 (45:45):
You know.
Speaker 12 (45:45):
What I will say is that when I worked at
the Washington Visiness Journal years ago, you know, we had
we did have really great holiday parties and and it's
a smaller group though, you know, you can have it
during the day. You know, we you're more used to
each other. And this is pre COVID, and I think
post COVID, can you do something that's more subdued that
you know in times worth you know, maybe budgets are tighter,
(46:07):
and you know, make it more friendly and fun, right,
make it less of a chore or a challenge. And
you know, I think that's a good way to go.
Is you know, more subdued. And I you know you'll
see you'll see business journals, but you also see companies
across the country. I think heading for that middle, right,
what can we do that feels friendlier, that's less sort
(46:28):
of intimidating and costly, and also doesn't feel like a train, right,
you don't want your holiday party to feel like homework.
Speaker 3 (46:33):
There, Thank you very much. Well, listen, Happy holidays to you, Andy.
Thank you so much. Really interesting, Joe, you remember the big,
huge holiday parties, And honestly I remember back in you know,
the TV days, and like you said early, this was
a Saturday night in a big, huge ballroom with a
sit down dinner and everybody's dates and you know, spouses
(46:57):
and a lot of alcohol and some of them even.
Speaker 4 (47:01):
With a band.
Speaker 2 (47:02):
Yeah, and then there's obviously I know that I would
get a hotel room wherever we were, you know, just
so there's nobody. Nobody was on the road if they'd
had a few and yeah, yeah, it was a it
was a big, big deal.
Speaker 4 (47:13):
Then I went to a Turkey.
Speaker 2 (47:16):
I hope you enjoyed it.
Speaker 4 (47:17):
Kim, We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (47:21):
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 back a little.
Speaker 2 (47:33):
There's a long long way.
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Speaker 8 (48:31):
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 plans,
(48:52):
and neither will you a financial future. My name is
Mike Marshall, President and CEO of Marshal Wealth Management and
creator of the Marshall Place, 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 four
(49:15):
two ten thirty. Well check us out online at Marshallwealth
dot com. Marshall with two els Marshalwealth dot Com.
Speaker 9 (49:22):
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 (49:35):
The New England Business Report on w RKO is brought
to you in part by Subaru of New England SUPERO
of New England dot Com.
Speaker 3 (49:43):
Welcome back, everybody to the New England Business Report. Kim
Carrigan Joe short Sleeve with you on this Sunday morning.
Speaker 4 (49:49):
Lower interest rates.
Speaker 3 (49:51):
Could be having a positive effect on the real estate
market here in New England, which is certainly good news.
Finally here to explain us the CEO of Lamachia Realty,
Anthony Lamachia Anthony, good to have you.
Speaker 4 (50:02):
With us this morning.
Speaker 7 (50:03):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 4 (50:05):
You bet hey. Rates are down, looks like sales are
starting to come back. Are we headed to the new normal?
Speaker 7 (50:11):
H No. I think we're headed back toward normal. We're
still at a much reduced a level of sales for
as far as overall home sales go across the country.
But I think that it's pretty clear that things have
picked up a bit, particularly in the last three or
four months, and when we get into twenty twenty six.
I'm absolutely convinced that we will see an increase of sales.
(50:32):
And there's many reasons that I feel that way.
Speaker 2 (50:34):
All right, well, let's go through them.
Speaker 7 (50:36):
Well, Number one, it's clear to me that mortgage interest
rates are finally coming down in a sustainable, real manner.
Average interest rate over the last week six point one percent.
They've been around six point one to six point two
for about a month, and you know, one year ago
right now, they were just over seven. So a one
point improvement is great to see. In addition to that,
(51:00):
the Federal Reserve meeting a few days ago, everyone was
talking and the news is reporting about, oh, the Federal
Reserve decided to lower the overnight rate five point two
five percent. Well, that does not have a direct impact
on mortgage rates or in a medium impact. But there's something
else that the Fed talked about that ninety nine point
nine percent of people missed. They talked about how they
(51:22):
are going to stop selling off the mortgage backed securities
that are on their balance sheet. And it's kind of
complicated to explain, but basically, when COVID hit, just like
INN eight nine ten, the Federal Reserve stepped in and
started buying up mortgage backed securities because there weren't enough
buyers to buy those bonds, so the Fed did it
in their balance sheet got swelled well in the summer
(51:43):
of twenty two, Not only the Fed said we're not
going to buy anymore, but they actually started selling them.
So the market got flooded with mortgage bond and that's
why rates went up to make them more attractive to investors.
December first, Jerome Powell announced that the other they are
going to stop selling off those bonds, So you are
(52:03):
we We are undoubtedly going to see further interest rate
declines in the months to come, and that is the
biggest reason that most people don't pay attention to mm hm.
Speaker 4 (52:15):
So tell me, Anthony, what's what's the.
Speaker 3 (52:18):
Consumer's appetite out there though, because you know, there's been
a lot of uncertainty in the economy, are people willing
to start, you know, shopping around and getting out there.
Speaker 7 (52:28):
Definitely, we're seeing an improvement both from buyers and sellers,
particularly as rates come down. They're more interested in making moves. Remember,
part of the reason we're in such an incredible we've
been in such an incredible real estate slowdown is people
don't want to give up their mortgage rate. You know,
they've got a rate of three percent or three point two.
A year ago, they didn't want to go up to seven.
Now they go, I want to go to six. That's half.
(52:50):
I think I'll sit still. But we're starting to see
more people come off the sidelines now. In the last
month of October with the government shutdown, there is a
segment of people that have hesitation. There's a segment of
people that say, well, hey, what's going to happen here?
And then there's a segment that you aren't working or
don't getting paid because of it, So that has some impact.
But I'll tell you something interesting. Pending sales for the
(53:13):
month of October. The numbers aren't finalized, but it appears
that they actually are up slightly over last October, despite
the fact that there was a government shut down. So
this is another very good sign from the market. I
did a video this past week where I talked about
how I am one hundred percent sure the worst of
the slowdown is behind us, the valley is behind us,
(53:34):
and that was twenty twenty four, and it's pretty clear
to me that things are headed on up from here.
Speaker 2 (53:40):
Anthony it's been a seller's market for a long time. Here.
Is it still a seller's market?
Speaker 7 (53:46):
No, no, it's not. That started to change this spring.
I wouldn't say that it's a complete full fledged buyer's market,
but it has definitely leaned more in the buyer's favor
in the last three or four months. And we've seen
this fall, and I'll tell you this is a wonderful thing.
We cannot endlessly be in a seller's market. That's not
(54:06):
a healthy market, and that's when you see prices go
up at a rate that just gets out of control.
And that's what happened a few years back. That has
since subsided. But now this fall, we're in more of
a buyer's market than we are a seller's market, and
it's great to see the market's finding a new equilibrium.
Speaker 3 (54:22):
So talk about the area that's most in demand, and
when I mean area, I mean the price range that
you're seeing that's most in demand.
Speaker 4 (54:30):
At this point, there's.
Speaker 7 (54:31):
Definitely a bigger slowdown going on in the luxury segment.
We saw that in the spring after the tariffs hit,
and we're seeing it a bit more recently with the
government shutdown, which actually kind of surprises me, but the
regular you know, everyday home buyer and every day home seller.
It's been a bit better. It's it's been pretty busy
(54:53):
and it's been good to see.
Speaker 2 (54:55):
Our buyers now more in the drive. I know you're
saying more buyers are more in the driver's seat. Okay,
Are we seeing more home inspections because we know that
they've basically vanished there for it right now.
Speaker 7 (55:06):
Home inspections vanished from about the fall of twenty until
the end of twenty twenty one, and then they started
coming back. And now there's been home inspections on the
vast majority of purchases for more than two years. But
that law passed in Massachusetts where a buyer cannot waive
their right to a home inspection when they're making an offer.
Speaker 5 (55:27):
The law is.
Speaker 7 (55:27):
Unnecessary, it wasn't needed, but it is what it is,
and that has been implemented as of October fifteenth.
Speaker 3 (55:35):
Anthony, you guys do business in you know, throughout New England,
but you do it outside of the region as well.
So let's just talk about the country region to region.
What you're seeing. Are we stronger here in New England?
Where do we stand.
Speaker 7 (55:49):
Inventory of homes for sale? Is still a bit lower
than the.
Speaker 5 (55:52):
Rest of the nation.
Speaker 7 (55:53):
The other place that we do business in addition in
New England is in Florida. Inventory of homes for sale
in Florida is much higher. It is I would say
a little bit of a buyer's market this fall here
in New England. In Florida it is more of a
buyer's market, particularly with condominiums.
Speaker 2 (56:09):
All right, If it's a buyer's market, what's going on
with pricing? Our prices actually coming down?
Speaker 7 (56:15):
We've seen so up here in New England. I wouldn't
say that prices are falling by any means, but I
think prices have settled a bit. They're certainly not going
up to the level that they were, which is good. Yeah, literally,
I mean that it's good. You can't have prices going
up ten percent a year. It was too much and
that subsided last year and we're seeing that subside even more. Condominiums.
(56:38):
I do see some places that you know, particularly close
to the seashore, where we see condos getting hit a
bit more. But I don't see a situation where prices
are collapsing by any.
Speaker 3 (56:50):
Means, and people without cash can they get in because
you know, you couldn't get in if you didn't have cash.
Speaker 7 (56:57):
Oh, yes, absolutely, Okay, yes, there's people are financing condos
and you know the need to be a cash buyer
and wave your contingencies is like two plus years ago.
Speaker 2 (57:08):
And Anthony, what finally, what's on your ear what's on
your desk this week? What is the number one priority
for Anthony Lamachia this next ten days?
Speaker 7 (57:16):
Well, we, aside from managerial things here in our company,
we are very much looking forward to a big twenty
twenty six. I have no doubt in my mind that
home sales will be up at least ten percent across
the whole country, and we as a company obviously want
to take advantage of that and to serve as many
buyers and so as possible.
Speaker 3 (57:34):
All Right, he's Anthony Lamachia. Thank you so much for
being a part of the New England Business Report.
Speaker 2 (57:39):
All right, Kim. Always great to hear from Anthony Lomachi.
I really enjoy his insights on the real estate market
and it does seem like things are starting to move
out there. All right, That does it for this week
New England Business Report, And we of course are here
every Sunday morning at eight am on w RKO, the
voice of Boston AM six eighty
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