Apartment rents in the US declined in July for the first time since the pandemic began

Tech Insider
A street view of the exterior of a large apartment building with 13 floors and tall trees outside.
The exterior of their apartment block.

Amanda Goh/Insider

Commercial real estate is being rattled by this year's crises. A recession in the sector might be at hand, experts say.

Tech Insider

Happy Friday eve, readers. Phil Rosen here, clocking in from NYC. 

There's a lot to say about financial markets these days — the debt ceiling is a fast-approaching crisis, the banking sector has been rattled by failures, and stocks are still fighting the Fed. 

The secondary impacts of these risks are less obvious. What happens in each worst-case scenario?

Commercial real estate may hold one answer.

Everyone fled big cities during the pandemic. So why is your rent still so damn high?

Tech Insider : Economy, Politics
An apartment building with individuals moving into empty rooms
If you're wondering why your rent is still so high, look no further than all the people who ditched their roommates over the past few years.

Tyler Le/Insider

Because people ditched their roommates

Sunlight in your bedroom could become a luxury as cities debate allowing landlords to rent windowless rooms in former office buildings to alleviate the housing crisis

Tech Insider : Economy
A woman cleans the windows of her apartment in a public housing complex on April 12, 2022 in the Lower East Side neighborhood of New York City, New York.
A woman cleans the windows of her apartment in a public housing complex on April 12, 2022 in the Lower East Side neighborhood of New York City, New York.

Andrew Lichtenstein/Getty Images

Apartments in the US are shrinking. Here are the 10 cities with the smallest average sizes on the market — and 10 that have the largest.

Tech Insider
map of the smallest apartments in the US
This map created by RentCafe depicts the 30 cities in the US that have the biggest and the smallest average apartment sizes.

Courtesy of RentCafe

Digital nomads can rent apartments on 'standby' for a fraction of the cost — but you might be forced to move out with 3 days' notice

Tech Insider : Travel
Remote worker
The apartment-rental company Landing is giving digital nomads new housing options.

Mariya Borisova/Getty Images

I'm designing the $900 million Storylines MV Narrative cruise ship for residents to live permanently at sea. It has an anti-aging clinic, 2 farms, and a hospital.

Tech Insider : Travel
Split image of Paul Read looking at ship designs next to a concept drawing of the MV Narrative.
Paul Read is the project manager for Storylines' MV Narrative.

Storylines

The housing market's biggest shocker: Your rent may actually fall this year

Tech Insider : Economy
An illustration of green branches reaching towards the center of the image. Each branch is filled with keys of different shapes and sizes.
The apartment market is "rapidly shifting in favor of renters," and that means tenants can expect lower rent and a lot of new perks.

Robyn Phelps/Insider

Tenants are finally gaining power in the housing market

WeWork cofounder Adam Neumann suggests tenants in his apartments will plunge their own clogged toilets because they'll feel like owners

Tech Insider
adam neumann wework
WeWork cofounder Adam Neumann spoke about his real-estate firm Flow at a conference.

Jackal Pan/Visual China Group via Getty Images

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