Who doesn’t love good data? With that being said, the folks over at Statista said that in 2019 there were approximately 43 million housing units occupied by renters in the United States. They point out that while this number has remained relatively steady since 2014, it has increased significantly since 1975. Click here to read the full post at Statista.com.
Author: Brad Beckett
Brad Beckett
Director of Education & Outreach, National Real Estate Investors Association
This is a housing subject that’s interesting from a data & public health perspective. According to research from the NAHB’s Economics analysis of the Survey of Construction (SOC), about 9% of new single-family homes started in 2019 across America were served by individual wells and more than 17% have private septic systems. The SOC classifies community or shared water supply/wells as public water rather than individual wells. “In New England, where median lot size is three times as large as the national median, 37% of new single-family homes are built with individual wells. The reliance on private wells is also…
We have posted a lot about taxes and how they affect your bottom-line. Recently, the folks over at the Tax Foundation ran the numbers to come to come up with the taxes, fees, and government surcharges wireless phone users are facing across America. Guess what? They went up in 2020 (again) up and now consume 22.6% of the average customer’s bill. In fact, the Tax Foundation says the average U.S. household with four wireless phones paying $100 per month for wireless phone service can expect to pay about $270 per year in wireless taxes, fees, and surcharges—up from $260 in…
According to the latest Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Delinquency Survey, the delinquency rate for mortgage loans on 1-4-unit residential properties at the end of Q3 decreased 57 basis points to a seasonally adjusted rate of 7.65% of all loans outstanding. The MBA says the decrease was driven by a sharp decline in newer 30-day delinquencies and 60-day delinquencies. However, they caution that later-stage delinquencies continued to grow, reaching their highest level since Q4 of 2013. Indeed… “While the overall delinquency rate has improved from the previous quarter, many homeowners remain in distress. Another wave of COVID-19 cases could slow or…
The U.S. Department of Justice in mid-November filed a civil lawsuit against the National Association of Realtors (NAR) alleging they established and enforced illegal restraints on the ways that Realtors compete – mostly involving their MLS agreements and transparency regarding fees & commissions. Specifically: “According to the complaint, NAR’s anticompetitive rules, policies, and practices include: (i) prohibiting MLSs that are affiliated with NAR from disclosing to prospective buyers the commission that the buyer broker will earn; (ii) allowing buyer brokers to misrepresent to buyers that a buyer broker’s services are free; (iii) enabling buyer brokers to filter MLS listings based…
The National Association of Realtors is reporting that existing home sales jumped 4.3% in October to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 6.85 million (up 26.6% from one year ago). Total housing inventory at the end of October was 1.42 million units, down 2.7% from September and down 19.8% from one year ago. Unsold inventory sits at an all-time low 2.5-month supply at the current sales pace with properties remaining on the market for around 21 days. The median existing-home price for all housing types was $317,700, up 16% from October, 2019 “The surge in sales in recent months has now…
The venerable AAA says Thanksgiving 2020 will be “on the lighter side” when it comes to the number of travelers on our nation’s roads and at airports. They say effects of the Coronavirus pandemic (not to mention the recent surge and potential lock-downs) have impacted Americans’ decisions to travel, which they predict will be a 10% decline – the largest since 2008. Stay safe, have a Happy Thanksgiving (11/26) and of course, have a Happy Friday!!! “The wait-and-see travel trend continues to impact final travel decisions, especially for the Thanksgiving holiday,” said Paula Twidale, senior vice president, AAA Travel. “The…
CNBC’s Diana Olick is reporting that fueled by record-low interest rates, homebuyer demand is surging after taking a slight break around election-time. In particular she cites the latest mortgage application data from the Mortgage Bankers Association showing purchase applications were up 4% this week and 26% annually. Indeed… Click here to watch the report at CNBC. Click here to see current interest rates.
The U.S. government is reporting that privately‐owned housing starts in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,530,000, which is 4.9% above September’s revised number. October’s rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 334k. Privately‐owned housing units authorized by building permits in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,545,000, which was virtually the same as September’s revised number. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 365k in October. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.
The Wall Street Journal (reposted in Realtor.com) says big companies that own single-family homes are raising rent at the fastest rate since they emerged from the foreclosure crisis, capitalizing on high demand for suburban housing. Interestingly, the WSJ says that while mom & pop landlords and individual investors own most of the country’s 16 million rental houses are also raising rents, they’re not raising them as aggressively as the mega landlords – which reportedly increased 7.5% on average in October. “The demand we see today is totally insatiable, and it’s growing,” said David Singelyn, chief executive of American Homes 4…
