Author: Brad Beckett

According to the latest CoreLogic Home Price Insights (HPI) report, home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased 18% year-over-year in September.  CoreLogic predicts that home prices will increase on a month-over-month basis by 0.1% through October, 2021, and on a year-over-year basis by 1.9% through September, 2022. “Remote work has allowed many employees to buy homes further away from their office. These homes are often in the suburbs or exurbs, where property prices and population density are lower and single-family detached housing more common.”  – Dr. Frank Nothaft   Chief Economist for CoreLogic Click here to read the full report at…

Next Thursday, November 11th is Veterans Day… Here’s a little history about this important day;  In 1918, the armistice of the First World War officially took effect on the 11th day, of the 11th month, at the 11th hour.  The following year President Woodrow Wilson declared November 11th as Armistice Day.   It would later become a holiday to honor veterans of World War I and then in 1954, following World War II & the Korean War, it was renamed “Veterans Day” to honor all American veterans who served in times of war and peace.  Stay safe and Happy Friday!!…..And, be…

According to the ATTOM Data’s Q4 2021 Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report, zombie foreclosures comprise only one of every 13,300 residential properties in U.S.  However, they do caution that this figure is likely to rise following the recent end of the national foreclosure moratoriums.  Across the country, there are 1.3 million (1,312,410) residential properties sitting vacant representing 1.3% (1 in 75 homes).  In addition they point out that most neighborhoods literally have no empty, blight-inducing homes at any stage in the foreclosure process.  Indeed…. “Zombie foreclosures are in a holding pattern this quarter – at least for now,” said…

According to various news reports, Zillow is planning to sell about 7k homes as it seeks to recover from what Bloomberg calls a “fumble in its high-tech home-flipping business.”  They report that the company is seeking roughly $2.8 billion for these houses and will likely sell them to a multitude of buyers rather than packaging them in a single transaction.  Interestingly, an analysis by KeyBanc Capital Markets says that of 650 homes owned by Zillow, two-thirds were priced for less than what the company paid for them.  Indeed… “The move to offload homes comes as Zillow seeks to recover from…

According to recent data crunched by the NAHB’s Eye on Housing, new homes being built with decks has declined for the 3rd straight year.  Interestingly, they point out that this is the first time the share has dipped below 20% since the 2005 re-design of the SOC (Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction).  From 2005-08 over 25% of new single-family homes included decks.Click here to read the full report at the NAHB’s Eye on Housing.

Realtor.com & the Wall Street Journal recently released their 3rd Emerging Housing Markets Index which identifies markets they believe will be good areas to purchase a home for both homeowners and investors.  To get their index, they used a slate of housing market, economic vitality, and quality of life metrics to identify emerging housing markets for the largest 300 metropolitan areas in the United States. “…After a rollercoaster over the past year and a half, the housing market is on better footing and has added approximately $3 trillion in value in the most recent 6 months while one measure of…

Rental information site Zumper recently released their latest monthly National Rent Report showing that their median national rent for 1-bedroom apartments in October, 2021 was up 11.8% and the median two-bedroom rent was up 14.3%, since March, 2020.  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 September was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,573.7 billion, which is down0.5% from August’s revised estimate.  However, September’s figure is 7.8% higher than one year ago.  Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $773.5 billion in September, which is 0.4% lower than August’s revised estimate.Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

According to the latest Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI), U.S. house prices were up 1% in August and up 18.5% from August, 2020.  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.  The FHFA’s HPIs are built on tens of millions of home sales and offer insights about home price fluctuations at the levels of the nation, census division, state, metro area, county, ZIP code, and…

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that pending home sales were down 2.3% in September, 2021.  The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings) fell to 116.7.  The NAR says housing supply remains low but they expect inventory to turn the corner in 2022.  Indeed… “Some potential buyers have momentarily paused their home search with intentions to resume in 2022.” “Rents have been mounting solidly of late, with falling rental vacancy rates…This could lead to more renters seeking homeownership in order to avoid the rising inflation, so an increase in inventory will be welcomed.” …