Author: Brad Beckett

Director of Education & Outreach, National Real Estate Investors Association

The Visual Capitalist says depending on where you live, owning a home may seem like a far off dream or it could be fairly realistic.  In their graphic today, they illustrate the annual salary needed for home ownership in 50 different U.S. cities.  Stay safe and have a Happy Friday!!! “In New York City, for example, a person needs to be making at least six figures to buy a home, but in Cleveland you could do it with just over $45,000 a year.” Hat tip to the Visual Capitalist.

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The U.S. government is reporting that total construction spending in June, 2022 was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,762.3 billion, which is 1.1% higher than May’s revised estimate and 8.3% higher than one year ago.  Residential construction came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $923.7 billion in June, which is 1.6% lower than May’s revised estimate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Los Angeles’ Channel 7 (KABC) is reporting that, despite pleas from frustrated landlords, the Los Angeles City Council voted 11-1 in late July to extend the city’s emergency declaration allowing their eviction moratorium to continue indefinitely.  KABC also said landlords say they are just regular people caught in the middle, stuck footing a bill they cannot afford.  Indeed… “…This eviction moratorium has got to end.”  Said Councilman John Lee, the only councilman to vote NO on the reinstatement. “You can’t walk into your neighborhood grocery store and say ‘Because food is a necessity, I’m going to walk out without paying,'”…

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Rental information site Zumper recently released their latest monthly National Rent Report showing that their median national rent for 1-bedroom apartments in July, 2022 was $1,450 (up 2% from June) and the median two-bedroom rent was $1,750 (up 2% from June).  Be sure to check out their list of the top 100 metro areas. “Rent prices will keep climbing across much of the country, but the stratospheric price hikes we saw throughout much of the pandemic will likely slow as consumers continue to tighten their wallets.”  Said Zumper CEO Anthemos Georgiades. Click here to read the full report at Zumper.…

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The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index reported a 19.7% annual gain for May, 2022.  Their 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 19% and their 20-City Composite posted a 20.5% year-over-year gain. ““The market’s strength continues to be broadly based, as all 20 cities recorded double-digit price increases for the 12 months ended in May. May’s gains ranked in the top quintile of historical experience for 19 cities, and in the top decile for 17 of them…”  Said Craig J. Lazzara, Managing Director at S&P DJI. Click here to read the full report at S&P Dow…

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According to the latest Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI), U.S. house prices rose 1.4% in May and were up 18.3% from May 2021 to May 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 prices continued to rise in May, but at a slower pace…Since peaking in February, price appreciation has moderated slightly. Price growth continues to remain above historical levels, supported by the…

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The National Association of Realtors is reporting that pending home sales were down 8.6% in June, 2022.  The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings) dipped to 99.1.  The NAR predicts home sales should start to rebound by early 2023.  Indeed… “Home sales will be down by 13% in 2022, according to our latest projection…With mortgage rates expected to stabilize near 6% and steady job creation, home sales should start to rise by early 2023.. Click here to read the full report at the National Association of Realtors.

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The U.S. Government is reporting that sales of new single-family houses in June, 2022 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 590k, which is 8.1% lower than May’s revised rate and is 17.4% lower than one year ago.  The median sales price of new houses sold in September was $402,400k with an average sales price of $456,800.  There were an estimated 457k new houses for sale at the end of March representing a 9.3-month supply at the current sales rate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

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With U.S. inflation hitting a high not seen since the Carter-years, the folks over at Statista did a deep-dive into the recent numbers to illustrate how food staples are being hit the hardest.  They point out that the price of eggs rose by a third between June 2021 and June 2022 and butter, flour, chicken and milk also showed some of the next-biggest price increases.  Stay safe, watch those pennies and have a Happy Friday!!! “Recent U.S. inflation levels have been well above those in other industrialized nations, for example in Europe, and surpassed 9 percent year-over-year in June.” Hat…

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So, how long does it take to build a single-family house?  The NAHB’s Eye on Housing recently sifted through data from the Census Bureau’s The 2021 Survey of Construction (SOC) to find out.  Their data shows that the average completion time of a single-family house is around 8.2 months, which includes a little over a month from authorization to start and another 7.1 months to finish construction.  They point out that the time from authorization to completion varies across the nation depending on location and whether the house is built for sale or custom-built. Click here to read the full…

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