Author: Brad Beckett

According to the latest Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI), U.S. house prices were up 1.4% in July and up 19.2% from July, 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 S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index reported a 19.7% annual gain for July, 2021, which they say is a record high.  Their 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 19.1% and their 20-City Composite posted a 19.9% year-over-year gain. “We have previously suggested that the strength in the U.S. housing market is being driven in part by a reaction to the COVID pandemic, as potential buyers move from urban apartments to suburban homes. July’s data are consistent with this hypothesis…” Click here to read the full report at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that pending home sales were up 8.1% in August, 2021.  The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings) fell to 119.5.  In addition, they report that year-over-year contract signings were down 8.3%. “Rising inventory and moderating price conditions are bringing buyers back to the market,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “Affordability, however, remains challenging as home price gains are roughly three times wage growth.” Click here to read the full report at the National Association of Realtors.

National Fire Prevention Week runs October 3rd – 9th, 2021 and one of the best ways to celebrate is to check all your properties’ smoke alarms for functionality and age.  If you have one that’s over than 10 years old, that means it’s time to replace it!  And when you do, National REIA recommends both ionization and photoelectric technologies be used in all your properties.  You should also have a working & tested carbon monoxide detector and fire extinguisher in each unit as well.  Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure…as well as saving lives!  As…

We have had several posts over the past couple years about the growing demand for second homes.  However, a recent report from Redfin says demand those homes dropped 19.3% year over year in August, marking the third-straight month of declines.  However, they do predict that interest in vacation homes will likely remain above pre-pandemic levels for the foreseeable future due to the permanent shift to remote work for many Americans. “The pandemic isn’t over, but the desire to escape isn’t as intense as it was before. People are increasingly returning to life as normal, with kids going back to school…

According to Apartment List’s October National Rent Report, only a few cities still remain cheaper than what they were pre-pandemic – and they say those are unlikely to remain much longer. In addition, they report that since January the national median rent has increased by a staggering 16.4%. They put that into context by pointing out that rent growth from January to September (2017-2019) only averaged 3.4%. “With rents rising virtually everywhere, only a few cities still remain cheaper than they were pre-pandemic, and even these remaining discounts are unlikely to persist much longer. At the other end of the…

According to the latest CoreLogic Home Price Insights (HPI) report, home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased 18% year-over-year in July.  CoreLogic predicts that home prices will increase on a month-over-month basis by 0.7% through August, 2022, and on a year-over-year basis by 2.7% through July, 2022. July’s annual home price growth was the most that we have ever seen in the 45-year history of the CoreLogic Home Price Index. This price gain has far exceeded income growth and eroded affordability. In the coming months this will temper demand and lead to a slowing in price growth.”  – Dr. Frank…

According to Black Knight’s “first look” report for August, 2021, The national delinquency rate on first lien mortgages fell to 4% in August, the lowest it’s been since pandemic-related impacts caused mortgage delinquencies to spike in early 2020.  However, Black Knight says August’s 7,100 foreclosure starts represented the largest such volume in eight months after foreclosure moratoria on federally backed loans were lifted at the end of July.  Indeed… Click here to read the full report at Black Knight.

According to ATTOM Data’s Q3, 2021 Vacant and Zombie Foreclosure Report, there are 1.3 million residential properties in the U.S. sitting vacant, representing 1.4% or one in 74 homes nationwide.  In addition, the report says that 215,495 properties are in the process of foreclosure in Q3 down 3.7% from the Q2, 2021 and down 0.2% from Q3,2020. Among those pre-foreclosure properties, 7,538 sit vacant in the Q3, 2021.  ATTOM says the Q3 zombie foreclosure numbers reflect one of many measures showing how strong the U.S. housing market remains, but also one likely to face a downturn to varying degrees across…

With Fall finally here and Halloween just around the corner, Terminix has released their list of the top 50 bed bug cities in America, for 2021.  They remind us that bed bugs spread easily by hitching rides on luggage, backpacks and clothing, and can even crawl through cracks in the walls.  To come up with their 50-city list, they looked at bed bug-specific service data from Terminix branches across the country from January through August, 2021.  Did you just feel an itch??? “The top five cities on this year’s most infested list include Los Angeles claiming the top spot, followed…