Author: Brad Beckett

Keeping Current Matters says that rising inflation puts a pinch on the wallet and makes you reevaluate any big purchases you may have planned.  They point out that potential homebuyers are probably wondering if they should continue down that path or if it makes more sense to wait. While the answer depends on the particular situation, they have illustrated how homeownership can actually combat the rising costs of inflation. “Buying a home allows you to stabilize what’s typically your biggest monthly expense: your housing cost. When you have a fixed-rate mortgage on your home, you lock in your monthly payment…

Black Knight’s Mortgage Monitor Report for May, 2022  says home prices rose 1.5% from April, which they say is nearly twice the historical average for the month of May.  However, they say with 30-year mortgage rates hovering close to 6% and home prices up nearly 11% since the start of 2022, home affordability is at its worst point since the mid-1980s. Black Knight says this affordability crisis is due in equal part to rising interest rates and soaring home values which are being driven by historically low inventory.  Their data show that the average home price is now more than…

The old axiom about the two certainties in life are death & taxes remains true.  A recent report from the Tax Foundation says in 2022, there are 12 states (and DC) with an inheritance or estate tax – with one state, Maryland, having both.  Hawaii and Washington State have the highest estate tax top rates in the nation at 20%.  Massachusetts and Oregon have the lowest exemption levels at $1 million, with Connecticut having the highest exemption level at $9.1 million.  See the chart below to compare the various states’ estate tax and state inheritance tax rates. “Estate taxes are…

The National Multifamily Housing Council says 97% of apartment developers report experiencing construction delays.  Breaking that down, they say that of those experiencing overall delays, 83% reported delays in permitting and 93% reported delays in starts.  In addition, they found that 87.5% of developers avoid working in jurisdictions with rent control and 47.9% said they avoid building in a jurisdiction with inclusionary zoning requirements.  And just over half reported an increase in labor costs as well. “Rising costs, construction delays and labor shortages—never mind more regulatory barriers and rampant NIMBYism—are making it more and more difficult to build the housing…

According to the latest CoreLogic Home Price Insights (HPI) report, home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased 20.2% year-over-year in May.  On a month-over-month basis, home prices increased by 1.8% in May compared with April.  CoreLogic’s  HPI Forecast predicts home prices will increase on a year-over-year basis by 5% from May 2022 to May 2023. “Slowing home price growth reflects the dampening consequence of higher mortgage rates on housing demand, which was the intention. With monthly mortgage expenses up about 50% from only a few months ago, fewer buyers are now competing for continually limited inventory. And while annual home…

Today’s graphic from the American Petroleum Institute reminds us that fuel prices are determined by the market forces of supply & demand, not individual companies, and the price of crude oil is the primary determinant of the price we pay at the pump.  Indeed….  Stay safe and have a Happy Friday!!! “Oil prices are at a seven-year high amid a persistent global supply crunch, workforce constraints, increasing geopolitical instability in Eastern Europe, the economic rebound following the initial stages of the pandemic, and policy uncertainty from Washington.” Hat tip to the American Petroleum Institute.

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis is reporting that America’s real gross domestic product (GDP) decreased at an annual rate of 1.6% in Q1 2022.  Their data show that GDP decreased in 46 states and the District of Columbia. “Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction contributed to decreases in 49 states. This industry was the leading contributor to the decreases in 10 states, including Wyoming, Alaska, North Dakota, West Virginia, and New Mexico—the 5 states with the largest decreases in real GDP.” Click here to read the full report at the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The U.S. government is reporting that total construction spending in May, 2022 was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,779.8 billion, which is 0.1% lower than April’s revised estimate and 9.7% higher than one year ago.  Residential construction came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $938.2 billion in May, which is 0.2% higher April’s revised estimate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

In late June a federal appeals court upheld a 2020 California law that forces property owners who legally evict tenants to pay them one month’s rent.  According to FOX Business, Under the law, rent increases are limited to 10% a year in areas without rent control and it requires financial assistance to renters who were evicted because the owner decided to move or convert the property into a condo. An owners’ group, Better Housing for Long Beach, filed the lawsuit against the state, arguing that requiring payments to legally evicted tenants amounted to confiscating their property.  It is not yet…

According to the latest Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI), U.S. house prices rose 1.6% in April and were up 18.8% from April 2021 to April 2022. The FHFA produces the nation’s only public, freely available house price indexes (HPIs) that measure changes in single-family house prices based on data that cover all 50 states and over 400 American cities and extend back to the mid-1970s. “House price appreciation continues to remain elevated in April…The inventory of homes on the market remains low, which has continued to keep upward pressure on sales prices. Increasing mortgage rates have…