Author: Brad Beckett

Rental information site Zumper recently released their latest monthly National Rent Report for August, 2024.  According to their data, median rent for 1-bedroom apartments was $1,534 (up 1.6%) and $1,915 (up 2.7%) for two-bedrooms.  Be sure to check out their entire list of the top 100 metro areas. “In an era where the amount of new supply is shattering records, it’s remarkable to see vacancy rates holding steady this year…Strong renter retention alongside our growing national rent index underscores the robust demand present in the U.S. market.”   Said Zumper CEO Anthemos Georgiades. Click here to read the full report…

We reported back in the Spring that the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to combat and deter money laundering in the U.S. residential real estate sector by increasing transparency. Now, according to American Land Title Association (ALTA), the U.S. Treasury Department’s FinCEN issued a final rule requiring certain people involved in real estate closings and settlements to report information to the agency about all-cash residential transactions nationwide involving legal entities and trusts.  The effective date will be December, 1, 2025 and a fact sheet can be found by clicking here. ALTA…

According to the latest Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI), home prices home prices rose 5.7% between the Q2 2023 and Q2 2024 – which they say is the 3rd Consecutive Slowdown in Quarterly Growth.  House prices were up 0.9% compared to Q12024.  In addition, the FHFA’s seasonally adjusted monthly index for June was down 0.1 percent from May.  The FHFA HPI is the nation’s only collection of public, freely available house price indexes that measure changes in single-family home values based on data from all 50 states and over 400 American cities that extend back to…

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that pending home sales dropped 5.5% in in July, 2024.  The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings) came in at 70.2 in July – the lowest reading since the index began tracking in 2001. “A sales recovery did not occur in midsummer…The positive impact of job growth and higher inventory could not overcome affordability challenges and some degree of wait-and-see related to the upcoming U.S. presidential election.”  Said the NAR’s Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun. Click here to read the full report at the National Association of Realtors.…

According to ATTOM Data’s Q3 2024 Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report, there were nearly 1.4 million residential properties in the U.S. sitting vacant. That figure represents 1.3%, or one in 76 homes, across the nation – roughly the same as in the second quarter.  ATTOM also says there were 222,934 residential properties in the process of foreclosure in Q3 2024, down 6% from the second quarter and down 29.3% from the third quarter of 2023.   In addition, they report that there were around 7k zombie foreclosures (pre-foreclosure properties abandoned by owners) in Q3.  That figure is down 20.2% from…

The latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index reported a 5.4% annual increase for June, 2024.  Their 10-City Composite increased 7.4% and their 20-City Composite increased 6.5%, year-over-year. “Home prices and inflation continue to factor into the political agenda coming into the election season…Before accounting for inflation, home prices have risen over 1,100 percent since 1974, but have slightly more than doubled (111%) after accounting for inflation.”  Said Brian D. Luke, Head of Commodities, Real & Digital Assets at S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI). Click here to read the full report at S&P Dow Jones Indices.…

This Monday, September 2nd is Labor Day.  The annual 3-day  weekend marks the unofficial end of Summer and ushers in the cool Fall season – although Fall doesn’t officially begin until September 22nd.  Today’s graphic gives us the “Reader’s Digest” version of Labor Day facts.  As always, stay safe and have a Happy Friday and Labor Day weekend!!! “Numerous states recognized the holiday in the 1880s, but it didn’t become an official national holiday until President Grover Cleveland signed it into law in June 1894.” Hat tip to Reader’s Digest.

According to the latest CoreLogic Single-Family Rent Index (SFRI), U.S. single-family home rental prices continue to hold steady in June 2024, with prices posting a 2.9% gain year-over-year.  In addition they report that rental prices for low-end properties were up 1.9% compared to high-end properties where rental prices increased 3.1% year over year. “Single-family rents have been bouncing around their pre-pandemic rate of growth of about 3% this year after growing by double digits for most of 2021 and 2022. At the end of 2023, they did slow to the mid-2% range…While single-family rents are increasing at a stable rate,…

The Tax Foundation says states tax fuel in several ways, including sales taxes, per-gallon excise taxes collected at the pump, taxes imposed on wholesalers (which are passed along to consumers in the form of higher prices), and a variety of operational taxes, such as underground storage tank fees, that are often charged to the retailer.   To that end, they added up all different taxes & fees to calculate a total tax rate on gas for each state – see interactive map below. “Though gas taxes are intended to serve as user fees and pollution deterrents, they vary widely across states.”…

We’ve had several posts about the lawsuit affecting realtor commissions. On a recent episode of Real Estate News for Investors, Kathy Fettke says gone are the days of a casual home tour with a real estate agent you’ve just met. New rules from the National Association of Realtors require a signed agreement with that agent that includes how the buyer’s agent will get paid and what services the agent will provide. In the past, buyers didn’t have to worry about making a commitment ahead of time.  Take a listen…. “…so even though this new law was meant to protect the…