Alternative Investing Report - May 13, 2025

*as of 5/12; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, CL50

Christie’s held two major art auctions last night in New York, its 20th Century Evening Sale, and the sale of the Leonard & Louise Riggio collection. The former brought in $217 million, narrowly beating a pre-sale low estimate of $194 million, led by a Monet that sold for just shy of $43 million and a Rothko that fetched $37.8 million. The Riggio collection sold for a total of $271 million, again just above the pre-sale low estimate of $252 million. Its centerpiece was a Mondrian painting that sold for $47.5 million, a bit below the artist’s all-time record sale.

➨ TAKEAWAY: The sales came in at the low end of expectations, and the bidding in the room was described as “lackluster,” as most of the works sold through pre-auction guarantees. Still, there were a number of high-end sales, which had been lacking in 2024, with four works selling for more than $30 million and eight selling for more than $15 million. The complete verdict on the state of the art market will come by the end of the week, after all the major auction houses hold their New York sales.

Over the past year, 49 of the U.S.’s top 50 metro areas had a lower rate of home price growth than the year before. The lone exception was New Orleans, but that is only because prices fell by only 1.9% compared to a loss of 7.6% the year before. Additionally, 16 of the 50 metros saw yearly price declines, compared to just 3 this time last year. Austin, Tampa, and San Antonio had the biggest year-over-year decreases, with six of the seven worst performing markets coming in Texas and Florida.

➨ TAKEAWAY: With growing inventory and lessening demand, the housing market is shifting slowly towards buyers, and prices are starting to reflect that. Nationally, home prices rose just 1.2% in the past year compared to 4.6% the year before. Florida has seen the biggest home price decline in 13 years as a result of oversupply, cratering demand, and rising insurance and homeowner’s association costs. With mortgage rates unlikely to fall significantly anytime soon, expect the market to continue to soften.

📈 Stocks surge: News of a temporary agreement between the U.S. and China to cut tariffs led to a big day in the equities market, with the Dow up 2.8%, the S&P 500 up more than 3%, and the Nasdaq rising 4.4%.

🤖 Klarna pivots away from AI: The Swedish fintech startup, which recently delayed its IPO to late 2025, had hoped that AI could replace much of its customer service workforce but has now decided that customers will always have the option of talking to a real human.

💵 Smaller loans struggling: Moody’s found that private credit loan quality decreased in 2024, with loans to smaller companies worse off than those to bigger companies, as smaller companies are more vulnerable to changing economic conditions.

🪙 New rules for tokens: The chair of the SEC, Paul Atkins, said that the agency intends to clarify guidelines for crypto tokens and what does and does not count as a security.

🚀 AI boosting fintech: The median deal size for early stage enterprise fintech companies more than doubled to $11 million, as the “AI premium” boosted valuations and overall fundraising, which was up 40.2% year over year in Q1.

🚘 First Corvette with a V-8: A 1955 Chevrolet C1 Corvette test car, the first Corvette ever equipped with a V-8 engine, is up for auction and is expected to hit six figures before it ends on May 19.

The building once home to Portland’s flagship REI store is now up for auction after the retailer closed the location in February 2024 due in large part to ongoing problems with theft and break-ins. The 37,849 square-foot space is on the bottom two floors of an 11-story building, with the remainder of building made up of residential condos. Also included are a covered parking garage with 226 spaces, and rooftop signage options. The auction is on June 11, and the starting bid is $2 million.