In this final Onward episode of 2023 co-hosts Cardiff Garcia and Fundrise CEO Ben Miller kick things off by discussing Ben’s major market call: The conclusion that the real estate market has hit bottom. After 18 months of escalating interest rates punishing the real estate industry, small businesses, and regional banks, we’ve entered a new period where we expect the move to falling rates to propel strong positive performance. Ben walks Cardiff through his view of the state of the economy, both macro and specific to real estate, furnished with data points drawn from top-down market analysis, bottom-up, and anecdotal evidence, referencing confidential third-party sources and Fundrise’s own portfolio of assets. Most importantly, after a year of market turbulence, the market’s trough means that it’s time for investors to shift their attitude and become opportunistic about buying along the bottom. Lastly, it’s key to note that this episode of Onward was recorded to enhance and be enhanced by the Fundrise 2023 year-end letter to investors, available at https://fundrise.com/investor-update/1123/view, and should be listened to alongside that letter, where readers will find a more thorough assessment of Fundrise’s own portfolio, along with our team’s thoughts on what the future may hold. As 2023 comes to an end and we enter a new phase for the market with the start of 2024, Onward.

Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at [email protected].

Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise, and Cardiff Garcia, co-founder of Bazaar Audio and host of the economics-focused podcast The New Bazaar (after spending many years as the co-creator and co-host of NPR's The Indicator podcast).

Podcast production by The Podcast Consultant. Music by Seaplane Armada.

About Fundrise

With over 2 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private alternative assets — all at the touch of a button.  

Please see fundrise.com/oc for more information on all of the Fundrise-sponsored investment funds and products, including each fund’s offering document(s).

Want to see the specific properties that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.