Author: Brad Beckett

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index reported a 10.6% annual gain for September, 2022.  Their 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 9.7% and their 20-City Composite posted a 10.4% year-over-year gain.  The increases in both measures were down from previous months….expect this trend to continue. “As has been the case for the past several months, our September 2022 report reflects short-term declines and medium-term deceleration in housing prices across the U.S.”  Said Craig J. Lazzara, Managing Director at S&P DJI. Click here to read the full report at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that pending home sales were down 4.6% in October, 2022 – the fifth consecutive month of declines.  The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings) dipped to 77.1. “October was a difficult month for home buyers as they faced 20-year-high mortgage rates…The West region, in particular, suffered from the combination of high interest rates and expensive home prices. Only the Midwest squeaked out a gain.”  Said the NAR’s Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun. Click here to read the full report at the National Association of Realtors.

Well,  it is now December and Christmas will be here before you know it!  Our friends at The Home Depot put together this handy Christmas lights reference chart so you can have the brightest house on the block!  Happy Friday!!!! Hat tip to the Home Depot.

Last week, we posted about how Airbnb rolled out new software to screen & prevent parties.  Now, CNBC’s Diana Olick says Airbnb has a new program that allows tenants to host their apartments on the Airbnb platform.  In fact, according to the Wall Street Journal, some of the biggest landlords and property managers in the country have partnered with them as well.  This ought to get interesting… Click here to watch on CNBC. Click here to read more at the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).

Rental information site Zumper recently released their latest monthly National Rent Report showing that their median national rent for 1-bedroom apartments in November, 2022 was $1,491 (unchanged from October) and the median two-bedroom rent was $1,825 (down 0.4% from October).  Zumper says rent prices continue to decline gradually across much of the United States.  Be sure to check out their list of the top 100 metro areas. “We’re seeing pandemic trends begin to unwind, and unwind quickly, as renters hunker down in anticipation of a recession…” Said Zumper CEO Anthemos Georgiades. Click here to read the full report at Zumper.…

According to the Black Knight’s First Look report for October, 2022, mortgage delinquencies were Up 4.5%, driven by a sharp 9.4% rise in 30-day delinquencies.  In addition they say foreclosure starts were initiated on 4% of existing serious delinquencies in October, up slightly from September but still less than half the rate seen in the years leading up to the pandemic. Click here to read the full report at Black Knight.

The National Multifamily Housing Council says “Econ 101” is the real reason rental rates have been rising in recent months and not price gouging, as many have been quick to say.  Their data show that double-digit rent growth recorded in late 2021 & early 2022 coincided with record low apartment vacancy rates (i.e., the number of empty and available apartments) – in other words there are too many people competing for not enough apartments, which drives prices up.  They say the U.S. needs to build 4.3 million apartment homes by 2035 to meet both future demand and an existing shortfall…

Realtor.com says many investors especially smaller ones, have recently “slammed the brakes” on their purchases as the housing market has shifted.  They say in some parts of the country where investors competed directly with first-time and other buyers, investors have been beating a what they call a hasty retreat.  With that in mind, Realtor.com dug into the data to figure out where investor home purchases have fallen the most. “Established investors who have more capital reserves would be more likely to buy with cash,” Said Daren Blomquist, Vice President of Market Economics at Auction.com. “With higher prices and mortgage rates,…

Prices for Building materials have been decreasing the past few months, according to recent data analyzed by the NAHB’s Eye on Housing.  In fact, they say prices for softwood lumber fell 1.7% in October following 5.5% in August and 3.1% in September.  However they do point out that softwood lumber prices are 4.4% higher than they were a year ago BUT have fallen 41.3% since March.  All data is from the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) report.  Indeed… Click here to read the full report at the NAHB’s Eye on Housing. Click here for the current price of framing lumber.…

The U.S. Government is reporting that sales of new single-family houses in October, 2022 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 632k, which is 7.5% higher than September’s revised rate and is 5.8% lower than one year ago.  The median sales price of new houses sold in October was $493k with an average sales price of $544k.  There were an estimated 470k new houses for sale at the end of October representing a 8.9-month supply at the current sales rate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.