Author: Brad Beckett

According to U-Haul’s annual Growth Index, the trend of southern states netting larger numbers of one-way U-Haul rentals continued in 2024, with South Carolina topping U-Haul Growth Index for the first time.  In addition, Texas, North Carolina, Florida and Tennessee round out their five top growth states.  Not surprisingly, California had the greatest net loss of U-Haul equipment and ranks 50th for the 5th year in a row.  U-Haul’s Growth Index was compiled from over 2.5 million one-way U-Haul truck, trailer and moving container transactions.  Indeed… “State-to-state transactions from the past year reaffirm customer tendencies that have been pronounced for…

You will often hear advice from National REIA about the importance of maintaining contact with elected officials as well as candidates for public office.  Its importance cannot be emphasized enough.  With that in mind, on a recent episode of the AZREIA Show, Michael Del Prete talked with Matt Evans, a recent candidate for Mayor of Phoenix, about the challenges & insights, sacrifices, media hurdles, and support he encountered during his recent candidacy.  Despite running as an underdog, Matt garnered support and raised awareness about city leadership.  Ultimately, Matt was unsuccessful but he learned invaluable lessons.  Take a listen… Click here…

According to the latest Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI), home prices were up 4.5% from October 2023 to October 2024, after rising 0.4% in October.  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 mid-1970s. “Annual house price gains have been trending down since February, stabilizing around 4.5 percent during the last three months…Even with elevated house prices and mortgage rates putting continued pressure on affordability,…

The latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index reported a 3.6% annual increase for October, 2024.  Their 10-City Composite increased 4.8% and their 20-City Composite increased 4.2%, year-over-year. “With the latest data covering the period prior to the election, our national index has shown continued improvement…Removing the political uncertainly risk has led to an equity market rally; it will be telling should the similar sentiment occur among homeowners”  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…

The U.S. government is reporting that total construction spending in October, 2024 was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2,152 billion, which is roughly the same as October’s revised number.  However, November’s revised estimate is 3% higher than one year ago.  Residential construction came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $906 billion in November, which is 0.1% higher than October’s revised estimate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that pending home sales rose 2.2% in in October, 2024, which the NAR says is the 4th straight month of increases. The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings) came in at 79 in November.  The NAR says expectations are being recalibrated…Indeed. “Consumers appeared to have recalibrated expectations regarding mortgage rates and are taking advantage of more available inventory…mortgage rates have averaged above 6% for the past 24 months. Buyers are no longer waiting for or expecting mortgage rates to fall substantially. Furthermore, buyers are in a better…

The Visual Capitalist says the composition of American households has shifted significantly since 1960 as fewer people have kids and the scale of economic resources has declined.  In fact, they point out that the number of households without kids now exceeds those with kids.  And, in 1960, the share of U.S. households that consisted of married parents was 44.2% – which since has dropped in half.  Indeed…Today’s graphic illustrates (using Census data) how U.S. households have changed from 1960 to 2023.   Stay safe and have a Happy Friday!!! Hat tip tip to the Visual Capitalist.

According to Yardi’s U.S. Multifamily Outlook for Winter 2025, the multifamily market enters 2025 in good shape, after several years of strong demand in most markets and expectations that interest rates are likely to decline. They say the economy continues to grow, the employment picture remains solid despite some cooling, and consumers are spending in line with high confidence levels.  Their new report offers an outlook for the year ahead. The market faces questions, however, including the impact of potential economic policy changes, how long it will take to absorb deliveries in high-growth Sun Belt markets, and whether interest rates…

The NAR recently announced their 10 top hot spots for the 2025 housing market based on economic, demographic and housing factors predicted to significantly impact local markets.  In addition, they say these markets were identified as the top performers for 2025 due to their strengths across several indicators as well as outperforming the national average in at least six of NAR’s 10 criteria. Key points: The South leads with four of the 10 housing hot spots, followed by the Midwest with three. The NAR predicts that mortgage rates will stabilize near 6% in 2025. The NAR projects 4.5 million existing…

According to the latest CoreLogic Single-Family Rent Index (SFRI), U.S. single-family home rental prices continue to experience slower growth, registering a 1.7% increase in October, down from the 2.3% from on year ago and the lowest rate since June 2020.  In addition, CoreLogic says October’s growth rate was -1.5%, which was below the average -0.5% for October from 2004 through 2019 – marking the 3rd consecutive month of below-trend seasonal growth, a clear sign that rent growth is decelerating “Single-family rents posted below-trend growth in October, both in annual and monthly rate increases. While national growth was below-trend, some markets,…