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State legislatures fighting against property taxes, a California restaurant chain closing eateries and a stock market for Texas. From the wild and wooly world of real estate, here are the Hits and Misses for the week of June 3-7.

Hit: Saying No to New Taxes. The Democrat-controlled Massachusetts House of Representatives deserves praise for dropping Gov. Maura Healey’s “mansion tax” proposal from the housing bond bill that it approved this week. Healey, who is also a Democrat, sought to create a local-option tax on real estate transactions for $1 million – the funds raised in this tax would have been used to finance affordable housing. In a state that is known as “Taxachusetts,” having yet another tax imposed on its long-suffering residents was the ultimate in stupidity – and even Healey belatedly realized that, offering thanks for the proposal’s termination by the legislators.

Hit: Saying No to Higher Taxes. More praise goes to Ohio’s state Reps. Beth Lear and Scott Wiggam for proposing a constitutional amendment that would limit property tax increases to the prior year’s inflation rate or 4%, whichever is lower; the amendment would use the 2023 property tax payments for its base rate. Wiggam stated the amendment will guarantee property tax increases would not impact homeowners severely in the wake of Ohio’s property value increases. “Our property tax system is a broken system in the state of Ohio and property taxpayers must be protected,” he said.

Miss: Pessimism in Plain Sight. Two new surveys published this week called attention to a growing concern that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. The Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Index sank to an all-time low in May, with only 14% of consumers polled for the survey believing this is a good time to buy a home, down from 20% in the previous month, while the share believing it’s a good time to sell dropped from 67% to 64%. Separately, Nationwide published a new national poll that found more than three-quarters of respondents rating the economy as poor or fair, with half of the respondents citing high housing costs for their pessimism. For any politician or legacy media organization angrily trying to convince voters that the economy is strong and healthy, these surveys offer a starkly different view of how voters feel.

Hit: How Now, Jerome Powell? This week, we witnessed a pair of historic economic events in North America and Europe: The Bank of Canada reduced its main interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.75%, the central bank’s first rate cut in four years and the first rate cut this year enacted by a G7 nation, while the European Central Bank announced its first interest rate cut in nearly five years, whittling down its key rate to 3.75% from the record high 4.0% level reached last September. Traditionally, these agencies followed the lead of the Federal Bank regarding interest rate policies – but now, the Fed could be the odd man out if it fails to cut rates next week or if it dares to increase rates, as some central bank leaders have been hinting. We’ll find out on Wednesday where the Fed will turn next.

Miss: California Failing. One of the saddest commercial real estate stories this week involved the fast-casual Mexican-themed restaurant chain Rubio’s Coast Grill closing 48 of its eateries in California. The company issued a statement complaining the “closings were brought about by the rising cost of doing business in California” – which most people viewed as a reference to the newly passed AB 1228 law that raised the minimum wage to $20 an hour, a 25% spike from the previous minimum wage. Other California-based restaurants have responded to that new law by either raising menu prices or canceling plans to open new locations. If anything, the commercial real estate brokers will be busy trying to find new tenants to occupy these now-vacant locations.

Hit: Y’all Street vs. Wall Street. One of the most intriguing financial news stories of the week involved plans for the Texas Stock Exchange (TXSE), a Dallas-based challenger to the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. The Wall Street Journal reported a group backed by BlackRock and Citadel Securities are planning to start this new national stock exchange, with the goal of facilitating trades in 2025 and host its first listing in 2026. The TXSE could break the NYSE-Nasdaq duopoly, which has generated complaints for its rising compliance costs and woke mandates on board diversity. Perhaps the TXSE can attract some real estate investment trusts to join its listings? This could be interested – we’ll keep you updated. (And shout out to the peerless Carol Roth – we stole the “Y’all Street” wisecrack from her!)

Phil Hall is editor of Weekly Real Estate News. He can be reached at [email protected].