Location Strategy Chartbook 09.12.2026

CNBC: Treasury yields hit multiyear highs on Thursday as traders digested U.S. oil prices crossing $100 per barrel again, overshadowing a tame inflation report.

A closely watched bond buyback program went off as planned, though with the Treasury Department purchasing even fewer securities than it had indicated Wednesday.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield — the key benchmark for mortgage borrowing, auto loans and credit card debt — was up more than 11 basis points at 4.954%. That’s the highest level since October 26, 2023 when the 10-year yielded as high as 4.989%.

The 2-year Treasury note yield, which is typically more sensitive to short-term Federal Reserve interest rate decisions, was up more than 13 basis point and hit a high of 4.56%, its highest trading level since July 2024.

The longer-dated 30-year Treasury bond yield, which moves in line with broader geopolitical risks, was up more than 8 basis points at 5.368%.

From the US to Japan and Germany, longer-maturity bond yields have climbed to the highest levels in decades. While some of the factors driving yields higher may dissipate, Goldman Sachs Research expects the fiscal concerns pushing up interest rates to persist.

New CPI data shows that energy of course drove much of August's inflation surge. Gas jumped up 3.9% and overall energy index rose 2.1%, and is also up 16.3% YoY. Shelter also rose slightly 0.3%

Diesel prices in U.S. top $6 a gallon for first time ever

University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index dropped from 51.7 to 47.8 driven by the future expectations component.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.07% as of Thursday afternoon, according to a survey of lenders compiled by Mortgage News Daily. The 30-year mortgage rate went up 18 basis points over the last two days, per MND’s data.

Leonardo D’Amico-University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Evan Soltas and Audrey Wang-Princeton in a new paper “Where Is Housing Slow to Build,
And Is It Getting Slower?, September 2026”:

“We estimate the time durations of permitting and development for standardized new housing projects across 60 U.S. cities from 2000 to 2025. We report three new facts. First, the fastest cities complete projects in the time the slowest cities take to merely approve them. Second, across cities, permitting duration is positively associated with housing prices and negatively associated with production. The strength of these relationships rivals that of other measures of land-use regulation and suggests a high cost of delay. Third, permitting duration has risen steadily over time, whereas total project duration has fluctuated cyclically.”

Raleigh finishes construction before San Francisco even permits a project.

Houston is emerging as a major data center growth market.

Texas ranks second only to Virginia in existing and under-construction data center capacity and leads the nation in planned and underway power generation over the next three years. Combined with some of the country's lowest commercial electricity rates, Texas offers a significant advantage as access to power becomes a critical site-selection factor.

According to CoStar's latest U.S. Data Center Report, the national inventory of data center space has reached roughly 69 gigawatts of capacity, with another 43 gigawatts under construction. Much of the new data center capacity is already pre-leased or purpose-built, reflecting intense competition among hyperscale operators and enterprise users.

While DFW remains the state's largest data center hub, Houston is gaining traction. One of the nation's largest hyperscale projects currently underway is a 94-megawatt facility in Houston's North Corridor.

Data center-adjacent occupiers accounted for roughly 18% of logistics leasing activity within five miles of Houston data centers in 2026, up from less than 4% in 2022. Power, cooling and electrical infrastructure firms have driven much of that increase, while construction-related occupiers have expanded alongside the increased development activity.

Warehouse demand is increasingly being generated by companies supporting data center construction, power generation and ongoing operations rather than the facilities themselves.

Colorado Springs asking rents increased roughly 1.7% from the start of the year, marking the strongest year-to-date performance since 2022. Annual rent growth is now positive, reaching 0.9% through August.

The improvement comes after two difficult years for apartment owners. Colorado Springs experienced a historic wave of construction beginning in 2022, including more than 6,000 apartment completions in 2024 alone. The influx of new inventory pushed vacancy to a record high of 14.4% in late 2024 and triggered widespread use of concessions. Vacancy has fallen to 9.5%, down significantly from its peak, while net absorption, or the difference in move-ins versus move-outs, totaled roughly 2,800 units over the past 12 months.

Demand has been supported by continued population growth and an influx of higher-income households tied to the region's military, aerospace and defense industries. Absorption over the past year was more than six times the market's pre-pandemic annual average from 2015 to 2019.

Much of that demand has been concentrated in luxury apartment complexes. Four- and five-star properties accounted for nearly three-quarters of total absorption over the past year, reflecting the market's ability to attract higher-income renters. At the same time, vacancy in top-tier properties remains elevated as recently completed properties continue to offer aggressive incentives to fill units.

Roughly 1,600 units remain under construction, representing about 2.8% of inventory. That is down from a peak of roughly 8,200 units in late 2022. Groundbreakings have fallen to decade lows, and future completions are expected to trail renter demand beginning this year.