According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 256k in January, 2025 with the unemployment rate coming in at 4%. As always, the BLS says employment in government continued its upward growth trend in January (up 32K) with an average monthly gain of 38k in 2024. However, with the new administration’s policy changes this trend will surely change. Click here to read the full report at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Author: Brad Beckett
Brad Beckett
Director of Education & Outreach, National Real Estate Investors Association
The U.S. government is reporting that the national vacancy rates for Q4 2024 were 6.9% for rental housing and 1.1% for homeowner housing. The national homeownership rate for Q4 2024 was 65.7%. In addition, approximately 89.8% of the housing units in the United States in Q4 were occupied and 10.2% were vacant. Owner-occupied housing units made up 59% of total housing units, while renter-occupied units made up 30.8% of the inventory. Vacant year-round units comprised 8% of total housing units, while 2.2% were vacant for seasonal use. Interestingly, all of these number are nearly the same as the previous quarter.…
According to the ADP National Employment Report for January, 20245, private sector employment increased by 183k jobs and annual pay was up 4.7% year-over-year. The ADP National Employment Report is an independent and high-frequency view of the private-sector labor market based on the aggregated and anonymized payroll data of more than 25 million U.S. employees. “We had a strong start to 2025 but it masked a dichotomy in the labor market…Consumer facing industries drove hiring, while job growth was weaker in business services and production.” Said ADP chief economist Nela Richardson. Click here to read the full report at ADP.…
In early February, the U.S. Senate confirmed Scott Turner as the 19th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Secretary Turner was confirmed by a vote of 55-44 and sworn in by Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas. “I am honored and humbled to serve the American people and the Trump Administration as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development…On President Trump’s first day in office, he signed an executive order to lower the cost of housing and expand housing supply. As Secretary, I will lead the department in furthering these priorities.” -…
The U.S. government is reporting that total construction spending in December, 2024 was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2,192.2 billion, up 0.5% from November’s revised number. However, December’s estimate is 4.33% higher than one year ago. Residential construction came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $939.5 billion in December, which is 1.5% higher than November’s revised estimate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.
This Sunday, February 8th, the super deluxe happy fun bowl (aka Super Bowl 59) will be played in New Orleans, LA. The Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles will battle it out to claim the top NFL crown. Today’s graphic from the U.S. Census Bureau asks if someone from your hometown is playing in the “big game?” Be sure to click on the map to make it interactive… Stay safe and have a Happy Friday!! Hat tip to the U.S. Census Bureau.
According to their “advance” estimate, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis is reporting that America’s real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 2.3% in Q4 2024. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index reported a 3.8% annual increase for November, 2024. Their 10-City Composite increased 4.9% and their 20-City Composite increased 4.3%, year-over-year. “With the exception of pockets of above-trend performance, national home prices are trending below historical averages…” Said Brian D. Luke, Head of Commodities, Real & Digital Assets at S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI). Click here to read the full report at S&P Dow Jones Indices.
In a recent episode of the Idaho Real Estate Investor Show, Jonna Weber talks with David Pickron, an experienced real estate investor and founder of Rent Perfect, to discuss how to become a successful landlord. She and David discuss best practices for tenant selection, the importance of thorough background checks, and leveraging technology for efficient property management. In addition, Jonna talks about how joining a local REIA can be a game-changer for your real estate journey. Click here to listen.
According to the latest Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI), home prices were up 4.2% from November 2023 to November 2024, after rising 0.3% in November. The FHFA HPI is the nation’s only collection of public, freely available house price indexes that measure changes in single-family home values based on data from all 50 states and over 400 American cities that extend back to the mid-1970s. “Annual house price gains continued to moderate in November, with all nine Census divisions showing slower pace of growth than a year ago…The slowdown in price growth is likely due to…
