Dave:
How will AI impact the economy? And what does it mean for investors in 2026? It’s a massive question that may define the next few years and beyond, and today we’re diving deep. Hey everyone. I’m Dave Meyer, housing market analyst and head of real estate investing at BiggerPockets. My guest today is Ben Miller, the CEO of Fundrise. Ben is a thought leader in the real estate and finance space, and he has a long track record of finding value and making deals work in many different investing markets. We had him on last December when he came onto the show and presented a case for real estate investing in 2025 that mostly proved correct. But since the market is always changing and we face a lot of uncertainty heading into next year, I had to bring Ben back on to share his expectations for the economy next year and how he recommends real estate investors take advantage.
We talk a lot about AI and its potential impact on different parts of the economy and the housing market, including how you can leverage new tools in your own analysis and investing. Ben, welcome back to the show.
Ben:
Yeah, thanks for having me.
Dave:
I am always looking forward to these conversations. You are exposed to a lot. You see a lot of different stuff in real estate and in the economy, and you always have a very unique perspective on where things are going. So maybe we can start there and have you tell us just what’s your read on real estate and the housing market right now?
Ben:
Yeah. I mean, I think real estate’s bottomed, but I’ve been humbled by the last half decade. We had COVID, we had interest rates, so I’m much more humbled than I was before. There are three or four really big things happening in the world today. Obviously AI, interest rates. The political environment affects the business environment a lot these days. And then, I mean, the good news is that supply is going away. New supply of construction has really fallen off a cliff. So those are part of the big four…