Author: Brad Beckett

You could say that sales taxes are the form of taxation that truly affects every person…it’s the classic consumption tax.  It is also the one politicians often ratchet-up to fund their next big “project du jour.”  That being said, the folks over at the Tax Foundation recently put together some numbers showing sales tax rankings from their 2022 State Business Tax Climate Index.  States that rank poorly have high sales tax rates, high excise tax rates, complicated sales tax administration, and apply the sales tax to a variety of business inputs while exempting many final consumer purchases. The states scoring…

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that pending home sales were down 3.9% in April, 2022.  The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings) dropped to 99.3, down 3.9% month-pver-month.  Pending sales have now dropped for eleven consecutive months. “Pending contracts are telling, as they better reflect the timelier impact from higher mortgage rates than do closings…The latest contract signings mark six consecutive months of declines and are at the slowest pace in nearly a decade.”  Said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. Click here to read the full report at the National Association of…

The U.S. Government is reporting that sales of new single-family houses in April, 2022 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 591k, which is 16.6% lower than March’s revised rate and is 26.9% lower than one year ago.  The median sales price of new houses sold in April was $450,600 with an average sales price of $570,300.  There were an estimated 444k new houses for sale at the end of April representing a 9-month supply at the current sales rate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

Monday, May 30th is Memorial Day.  For most Americans the three-day weekend will mark the unofficial start of summer.  However, the solemn significance of the day is often forgotten.  It is actually a national day of remembrance for America’s military men & women who paid the ultimate sacrifice while defending freedom & liberty around the globe. Today’s infographic reminds us that Memorial Day is about more than just cookouts and 3-day weekends, it’s about a path paved by others to enjoy the freedoms we so often take for granted.  We hope you have a safe & happy Memorial Day weekend….and…

CNBC’s Diana Olick says the housing market isn’t going to crash, but some sort of plateau is more likely.  She discusses the state of the current housing Market slowdown on CNBC’s “The Exchange.” Click here to watch on CNBC.com.

According to the latest The CoreLogic Loan Performance Insights Report the serious delinquency rate for February 2022 fell to 1.6%, down from 3.7% in February, 2021.  In addition, in February 3.2% of all mortgages in the U.S. were in some stage of delinquency representing a 2.5 percentage-point decrease compared to February 2021, when it was 5.7%.  The report also said that February’s Foreclosure Inventory rate was the lowest since January, 1999. Key findings: Early-Stage Delinquencies (30 to 59 days past due): 1.3%, down from 1.5% in February 2021. Adverse Delinquency (60 to 89 days past due): 0.3%, down from 0.5%…

According to a new report from Redfin, says the housing market is shifting toward homebuyers’ favor as more sellers came to the market during the four weeks ending May 15, 2022.  They said new listings climbed nearly twice as fast as they did at this time last year and the share of listings with a price drop rose to its highest level in two and a half years. “Rising mortgage rates have caused the housing market to shift, and now home sellers are in a hurry to find a buyer before demand weakens further,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather.…

The unofficial start of Summer (aka Memorial Day) is coming up fast and along with that reminder comes AAA’s annual travel forecast.  This year, even with rising gas prices, the venerable AAA predicts that 39.2 million Americans will travel 50+ miles from home this Memorial Day weekend – an increase of 8.3% over 2021! “Memorial Day is always a good predictor of what’s to come for summer travel,” said Paula Twidale, senior vice president, AAA Travel. “Based on our projections, summer travel isn’t just heating up, it will be on fire. People are overdue for a vacation and they are…

RentCafe says millions of Americans have been working and living in the same place for more than two years, and, consequently, the need for privacy is higher than ever.  With that in mind, they point out that over the last 10 years the amount of living space per renter has been decreasing along with a corresponding decrease in the size of apartment.  Nationwide, the average apartment space per person is about 540 square feet, based on the ratio of the average apartment size to the average number of renters living in a household.  Their recent report takes a look at…

The U.S. government is reporting that privately‐owned housing starts in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,724,000, which is 0.2% lower than March’s revised number and 14.6% higher than one year ago.  April’s rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 612k.  Privately‐owned housing units authorized by building permits in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,819,000, which is 3.2% lower than March’s revised number.  Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 656k in April. Click here to read the full report at…