Saturday, June 27, 2026

Executive snapshot

• Cautious Interior finishes are quietly inflating. A fresh round of June gypsum price notices (National & American Gypsum June 1, CertainTeed June 15) plus insulation up 18.49% since Q2 2025 means drywall and finishes — long a stable scope — now warrant tightened quote discipline and shorter bid-validity windows. ezPOD
• Positive Atlanta is a data-center capital running into its own success. At ~1% vacancy — second-tightest globally — with a 2.1 GW pipeline and 3+ GW of power commitments, the constraint has shifted from space to power and water, and local opposition is rising. Atlanta Journal-Constitution
• Positive Atlanta industrial just turned a corner. Q1 net absorption topped 4.5M SF — the best first quarter in four years — vacancy dropped 40-50 bps to ~7.5%, and asking rents hit a record ~$7.43/SF as the 2024-25 supply wave gets absorbed. Cushman & Wakefield via LinkedIn
• Deteriorating Building-material inflation re-accelerated in May. Residential materials rose at their fastest rate in over three years, led by gypsum and metals — a reminder that the broad 'costs have cooled' narrative hides pockets of real pressure. NAHB Eye on Housing
• Positive Core materials remain calm. May PPI shows steel mill products -0.78% m/m, construction materials flat (-0.03%), cement +0.10%, inputs to construction +0.25% — structural and civil scopes are not the cost story right now; finishes are. BLS PPI
• Neutral Industrial is broadening past its trough. National vacancy steady at ~7.0% with absorption +52% y/y and rent gains forecast in 55% of Americas markets — Atlanta among them — as new supply slows. Cushman & Wakefield via LinkedIn
• Cautious Atlanta's two extremes define its risk map. Data-center and infill industrial are landlord markets while CBD office vacancy sits near 25-26% — capital allocation should follow the power-and-logistics demand, not the legacy office stock. Skip The Agent

Market movers

Sector outlooks

Strategic watchlist

• Re-price interior finishes now. With June gypsum notices and insulation up 18.49%, pull fresh drywall/finishes quotes, shorten bid validity, and lock material before the next notice cycle rather than carrying stale unit prices. ezPOD
• In Atlanta, underwrite power and water, not just land. Data-center vacancy near 1% means the binding constraints are grid interconnection and water — confirm both before committing to a site. Atlanta Journal-Constitution
• Target tight Atlanta infill industrial. Small-bay under 100K SF is the strongest segment with record rents; chase modern infill and preleased product over slow-leasing large boxes in South Atlanta. Skip The Agent
• Watch broad material inflation re-accelerate. May residential materials rose at the fastest pace in three years — if it spreads beyond gypsum/metals, revisit escalation assumptions across all scopes for H2 2026. NAHB Eye on Housing

Top questions leaders should be asking

• Have we re-quoted drywall, insulation and interior-finishes scopes against the June gypsum notices, and tightened bid-validity windows accordingly?
• For Atlanta data-center and industrial sites, have we confirmed grid interconnection AND water availability before underwriting?
• Are we positioning for tight Atlanta infill industrial (record rents, sub-100K SF) rather than chasing slow-leasing big boxes in South Atlanta?
• If residential material inflation keeps re-accelerating, where do our current bids carry stale unit prices that need escalation clauses?
• Where does Atlanta's bifurcation — landlord-favorable industrial vs. 25% CBD office vacancy — change our capital allocation and market-selection plan?