Author: Brad Beckett

The latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index reported a 4.1% annual increase for January, 2025.  Their 10-City Composite increased 5.3% and their 20-City Composite increased 4.7%, year-over-year. “Rising mortgage rates throughout the year elevated monthly payment burdens, which, combined with already high home prices, pushed affordability to multi-decade lows in many regions. This likely contributed to subdued activity in the back half of the year, with both buyers and sellers exercising caution. Inventory constraints also remain a challenge, particularly in legacy metro areas, where limited new construction continues to restrict supply.”   Said Nicholas Godec, CFA, CAIA,…

According to ATTOM’s year-end 2024 U.S. Home Flipping Report, 297,885 single-family houses and condominiums were flipped in 2024.  That figure is down 7.7% from 322,782 in 2023 and 32.4% from a recent peak of nearly 441k reached in 2022.  In addition, the report further says that as the number of flipped homes declined, so did flips as a portion of all home sales, from 8.1% in 2023 to 7.6% last year.  However, they point out that profits and profit margins rose slightly in 2024 on typical buy-renovate-and-resell projects….even though margins again remained at one of their low points over the…

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that pending home sales rose 2% in in February, 2025. The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings) came in at 72 in February.  Year-over-year, contract signings dropped in all four U.S. regions, with the Midwest undergoing the greatest reduction.  In addition, the NAR says contract signings are below historic norms; “Despite the modest monthly increase, contract signings remain well below normal historical levels…A meaningful decline in mortgage rates would help both demand and supply – demand by boosting affordability, and supply by lessening the power of the…

Chartistry says every year, Fortune magazine publishes its much-anticipated Fortune 500 list showing the 500 most profitable companies across the U.S.  Today’s graphic illustrates those companies by listing the largest Fortune 500 company in each state.  Indeed….  Stay safe and have a Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to Chartistry.

CNBC is reporting that Rocket Companies is acquiring Redfin in an all-stock deal worth $1.75 billion.  The deal is expected to close in 2nd or 3rd quarter of this year.  Comparing the two companies, CNBC says Redfin operates a home search platform with more than 1 million for-sale and rental listings and a tech-powered brokerage of more than 2k agents.  While Rocket, whose flagship business is its mortgage-lending arm, aims to lean on technology and AI to help link prospective buyers with its financing arm and speed up deals once the transaction closes. “Rocket and Redfin have a unified vision…

According to the latest CoreLogic Single-Family Rent Index (SFRI), U.S. single-family home rental prices increased 2.4% year over year in January, 2025. The monthly growth rate for January was 0.4%, which was above the average of 0.1% for January from 2004-2019, marking the first month since mid-2024 that monthly growth has been above the seasonal trend.  In addition, they report that low-end rental prices were up 1.9% compared to high-end price gains of 3.2%. “After a period of slowing annual growth, single-family rent increases are firming up. Annual single-family rent growth in January ticked up from what may have been…

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. Click here for more information about Local Market Monitor.

ATTOM Data recently released their Q1 2025 Single-Family Rental Market report, which ranks the best U.S. markets for buying single-family rental properties in 2025.  According to the report, the average annual gross rental yield on three-bedroom properties, (annualized gross rent income divided by purchase price) among the counties analyzed is projected to be 7.45% in 2025.  In addition, ATTOM says investment returns for landlords are slipping as home prices are going up faster than rents across slightly more than half the country.  Their data show that from 2024 to 2025, median single-family home prices rose more than median three-bedroom rents…

The U.S. government is reporting that privately‐owned housing starts in February, 2025 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,501,000, which is 11.2% higher than January’s revised number and is 2.9% lower than one year ago.  February’s rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 370k.  Privately‐owned housing units authorized by building permits in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,456,000, which is 1.2% lower than January’s revised number and is 6.8% lower than one year ago.  Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 404k…

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that existing home sales were up 4.2% in February to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 4.26 million – down 1.2% year over year.  Total housing inventory at the end of February was 1.24 million units, up 5.1% from January and up 17% from one year ago.  Unsold inventory sits at a 3.5-month supply at the current sales rate with properties remaining on the market for around 42 days.  The median existing-home price for all housing types in February was $398,400. “Each one percentage point gain in home price translates into an approximately $350…