Author: Brad Beckett

There is one thing that unites all of us, whether we have a disability or know someone who does, and that is the need for safe, clean and quality housing. Today’s graphic from the U.S. Census Bureau illustrates the number of Americans living with several types of disabilities, broken down by age and sex. Stay safe and have a Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to the U.S. Census Bureau.

We’ve had several posts about investing in student housing and college towns.  A recent report on Realtor.com says there’s nothing quite like the buzz of a college town.  That’s why they crunched the numbers to find the best college towns to buy a home for any stage of life – from starting a career to raising a family, to forever homes.  To get their numbers, they looked at about 200 cities with at least 10k residents where undergraduates make up at least 20% of the population.  Next they factors in things like related businesses around them; lots of bars and…

According to ATTOM Data’s Q3 2021 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, lenders started the foreclosure process on 25,209 U.S. properties in Q3, up 32% from Q2 and up 67% from a year ago.  ATTOM says this is the first double digit quarterly percent increase since 2014.  Overall, there were a total of 45,517 properties with foreclosure filings in the U.S.  This figure is up 34% from Q2 and up 68% from one year ago.  In addition, lenders repossessed 7,574 U.S. properties through foreclosure (REO) in Q3, up 22% from Q2 and up 46% from one year ago – the first quarterly…

The U.S. government is reporting that privately‐owned housing starts in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,555,000, which is 1.6% lower than August’s revised number.  However, this figure is 7.4% higher than one year ago.  September’s rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 467k.  Privately‐owned housing units authorized by building permits in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,589,000, which was 7.7% lower than August’’s revised number.  Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 498k in September. Click here to read the…

CNBC’s Diana Olick says artificial intelligence might be taking over the real estate industry .  She discusses the overall impact artificial intelligence (AI) is having on real estate with companies like Zillow now using machine-learning in their Zestimates. “In the case of the Zestimate algorithm, the neural network model correlates home facts, location, housing market trends and home values. As a result of this update, the Zestimate can now react more quickly to dynamic market conditions, providing homeowners with a more accurate estimate [prediction] of a home’s current value….” Click here to watch on CNBC.com.

Local Market Monitor, a National REIA preferred vendor, recently released their monthly National Economic Outlook where they share their thoughts on developments taking place in the U.S. economy. National Economic Outlook By Ingo Winzer October, 2021 The economy continues to improve, although at such a slow rate that we’ll be lucky to just get back to zero by the end of the year – the number of jobs that existed before the pandemic began. This is partly because of the large number of people who have not been vaccinated and partly because some of the jobs that were lost will…

Flipping houses is a hot topic that we cover quite a bit.  A recent article on Realtor.com says high home prices, combined with a record-low number of homes for sale and rising construction and appliances costs, are burrowing into flippers’ bottom lines.  They say that for flippers, it is really is the best of times and the worst of times.  However, they did crunch the numbers and talk with experts to come up with the 5 best and worst places to flip a home. There is opportunity, but you’ve really got to be smart in where you purchase and know…

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is reporting that the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) was 0.4% in September, 2021.  Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 5.4% before seasonal adjustment. Click here to read the full release at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Here in America, we still have about another month of Hurricane season – let’s hope it’s quiet.  However, with that in mind, the folks over at Statista recently put together a graphic illustrating the 10 costliest disasters to the insurance industry (1970-2020).  Not surprising, they’re mostly hurricanes…  Stay safe and have a Happy Friday!!! “…events like Hurricane Katrina, show that the effects of such catastrophes can be exacerbated by lack of preparation and inappropriate response to natural disaster…” Hat tip to Statista.

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal (reposted on Realtor.com) says soaring home prices are “roiling appraisals and upending sales.”  They report that more & more properties are being valued below their agreed-upon sales price, causing some deals to collapse.  The reason is because home buyers are frequently paying above asking price in bidding wars, and the subsequent appraisals not keeping up with the rapid sales price increases.  According to CoreLogic, around 13% of appraisals came in below the contract price in August.  CoreLogic says January’s figure of 7.4% was more typical for the housing market. “I don’t remember…