Author: Brad Beckett

StorageCafe says finding a home with good bones is not easy, however, they say a lot of it depends on the location.  To that end, they analyzed over 61k active single-family listings in the 50 biggest US cities to determine their list of best cities for fixer-uppers.  They looked at several metrics, including price, number of active fixer-upper listings, home & lot sizes as well as self storage costs and inventory (which they say is useful both during & after the renovation process).  Interestingly, they point out that fixer-uppers are generally smaller in size (1,400 sq. ft. on avg. vs.…

Realtor.com & the Wall Street Journal recently released their Emerging Housing Markets Index for Summer 2022 which identifies markets they believe will be good areas to purchase a home for both homeowners and investors.  To get their index, they used a slate of housing market, economic vitality, and quality of life metrics to identify emerging housing markets for the largest 300 metropolitan areas in the United States.  As can might suspect, inventory is an ongoing critical issue. “The good news is that the feverish pace of the 2021 market is behind us, and we are seeing markets move toward more…

We love good data about moving and although this data isn’t eye-popping, it is certainly another one to add to the stack.  A recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s Midwest Economy Blog crunches recent moving data to examine moving patterns between states, metropolitan areas, and other locations across America since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Primarily, migration patterns in 2018 & 2019 compared with those for 2020 and 2021. “Our analysis of United Van Lines data shows that the patterns of pre-pandemic moves were mostly the same as those of pandemic-era moves. However, the number of…

On a recent episode of Real Estate News for Investors, Kathy Fettke says the latest reports on inflation have “given the economy indigestion.”  On this episode, she discusses some of the ways to invest when inflation is working against you. Click here to listen on Spotify.com.

On a recent episode of WTTW’s Chicago Tonight, a discussion ensued about how groups of local tenants are unionizing in hopes of pushing for an end to the state rent control ban that was passed back in 1997.  Jane Garvey, President of the Chicago Creative Investors Association, joined a round-table discussion to debate the issue and offer valuable insights. Jane Garvey of Chicago Creative Investors Association says landlords work based on supply and demand.  “We’re facing tremendous increases in costs on all fronts. We’re also facing tremendous increases in risk,” Garvey said. She added that in her view, the real…

According to ATTOM Data’s Q2 2022 U.S. Home Sales Report, profit margins on U.S. median-priced single-family home and condo sales hit another new record of 55.5%.  In addition, ATTOM says the latest typical profit margin was up from 48.3% in Q1 2022 and up 42.9% from one year ago. “Home sellers in the second quarter continued to benefit from the rapid growth in home price appreciation the country has experienced over the past few years…”  Said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of market intelligence at ATTOM. Click here to read the full report at ATTOM.

The U.S. government is reporting that the national vacancy rates for Q2, 2022 were 5.6% for rental housing and 0.8% for homeowner housing.  In addition, approximately 89.3% of the housing units in the United States in Q2 were occupied and 10.7% were vacant. Owner-occupied housing units made up 58.8% of total housing units, while renter-occupied units made up 30.6% of the inventory.  Vacant year-round units comprised 8.1% of total housing units, while 2.5% were vacant for seasonal use. Click here to read the full release at the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Visual Capitalist says depending on where you live, owning a home may seem like a far off dream or it could be fairly realistic.  In their graphic today, they illustrate the annual salary needed for home ownership in 50 different U.S. cities.  Stay safe and have a Happy Friday!!! “In New York City, for example, a person needs to be making at least six figures to buy a home, but in Cleveland you could do it with just over $45,000 a year.” Hat tip to the Visual Capitalist.

The U.S. government is reporting that total construction spending in June, 2022 was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,762.3 billion, which is 1.1% higher than May’s revised estimate and 8.3% higher than one year ago.  Residential construction came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $923.7 billion in June, which is 1.6% lower than May’s revised estimate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

Los Angeles’ Channel 7 (KABC) is reporting that, despite pleas from frustrated landlords, the Los Angeles City Council voted 11-1 in late July to extend the city’s emergency declaration allowing their eviction moratorium to continue indefinitely.  KABC also said landlords say they are just regular people caught in the middle, stuck footing a bill they cannot afford.  Indeed… “…This eviction moratorium has got to end.”  Said Councilman John Lee, the only councilman to vote NO on the reinstatement. “You can’t walk into your neighborhood grocery store and say ‘Because food is a necessity, I’m going to walk out without paying,'”…