Author: Brad Beckett

On a recent episode of the Rental Property Owner & Real Estate Investor Podcast, Brian Hamrick talked with Art Morrison, III, a former professional basketball player who has taken his passion and persistence from the basketball court to the real estate world.  Art shared his trajectory from professional basketball player, to part-time real estate investing, to becoming a professional business owner with a team that helps him excel in the real estate world. “I know you’re going to benefit from the wisdom and inspiration that Art has to share. You’ll especially appreciate his tips on branding yourself and your business…

Rental information site Zumper recently released their latest monthly National Rent Report showing that their median national rent for 1-bedroom apartments in April, 2022 was $1,410 (an all-time high), up 13.2% year-over-year and the median two-bedroom rent was $1,746 up 14.6%, year-over-year.  Be sure to check out their list of the top 100 metro areas. Click here to read the full report at Zumper.

The U.S. government is reporting that total construction spending in March, 2022 was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,730.5 billion, which is 0.1% higher than February’s revised estimate and 11.7% higher than one year ago.  Residential construction came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $882 billion in March, which is 1% above February’s revised estimate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

The U.S. government is reporting that the national vacancy rates for Q1, 2022 were 5.8% for rental housing and 0.8% for homeowner housing.  The national homeownership rate for Q1, 2022 was 65.4% (about the same as Q4, 2021).  In addition, approximately 89.4% of the housing units in the United States in Q1 were occupied and 10.6% were vacant. Owner-occupied housing units made up 58.5% of total housing units, while renter-occupied units made up 30.9% of the inventory. Click here to read the full release at the U.S. Census Bureau.

According to the latest Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI), U.S. house prices rose 2.1% in February, 2022 and were up 19.4% from one year ago.  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 prices rose to set a new historical record in February…Acceleration approached twice the monthly rate as seen a year ago. Housing prices continue to rise owing in part to supply constraints.” …

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that pending home sales were down 1.2% in March, 2022.  The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings) dropped to 103.7. “The falling contract signings are implying that multiple offers will soon dissipate and be replaced by much calmer and normalized market conditions…As it stands, the sudden large gains in mortgage rates have reduced the pool of eligible homebuyers, and that has consequently lowered buying activity.”  Said Lawrence Yun, the NAR’s chief economist. [in addition] “Fast-rising rents will encourage renters to consider buying a home, though higher mortgage…

The U.S. Government is reporting that sales of new single-family houses in March, 2022 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 763k, which is 8.6% lower than February’s revised rate and is 12.6% lower than one year ago.  The median sales price of new houses sold in September was $436,700 with an average sales price of $523,900.  There were an estimated 407k new houses for sale at the end of March representing a 6.4-month supply at the current sales rate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

We’ve had a lot of posts warning about the dangers of cybercrime – and with good cause.  According to recent data, losses from cybercrime was around $6.9 billion in 2021, up from $4.2 billion in 2020.  Today’s infographic from Statista takes a look at the costliest types of cybercrime and its relative change over the course of one year.  Stay safe, have a Happy Friday!! (and don’t click on any suspicious links in emails from Nigerian ministry officials promising millions of dollars in exchange for your help). Hat tip to Statista.

HousingWire is reporting that, in mid-April, a federal judge in Kansas City, Missouri certified a class action lawsuit that makes “hundreds of thousands” of U.S. housing consumers plaintiffs in what is potentially an historic case over real estate fees & commissions.  The defendants are the National Association of Realtors (NAR) as well as four of the largest real estate firms in the country – Realogy, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices of America, RE/MAX, and Keller Williams.   In addition, HousingWIre says Judge Stephen Bough’s 41-page ruling does not say either way whether he believes that NAR and the four brokerages conspired to make…

According to Black Knight’s “first look” report for March, 2022, the national delinquency rate dropped by more than half a percentage point in March, falling to 2.84% and shattering the previous record low of 3.22% in January 2020.  Interestingly, Black Knight says that while serious delinquencies (90+ past due but not in foreclosure) fell 12% for the strongest single-month improvement in 20 years, they remain 70% above their pre-pandemic levels.  Indeed… “Robust employment, continued student loan deferrals, strong post-forbearance performance and millions of refinances into record-low interest rates have all helped put downward pressure on delinquency rates.” Click here to…