Author: Brad Beckett

The U.S. government is reporting that total construction spending in September was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,414 billion, which is 0.3% above than August’s revised estimate.  In addition, August’s figure was 1.5% higher than September, 2019.  Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $610.9 billion in September, which is 2.8% higher than August’s revised estimate. Click here to read the full report at Census.gov.

Rental information site Zumper recently released their National Rent Report for November, 2020 showing that their median national rent for 1-bedroom apartment was $1,225 (down 0.5%) and the median two-bedroom rent was $1,483 (down 0.4%).   Year to date, rent for one-bedrooms was flat while two-bedroom rent was up 0.3%.  Zumper says 13 out of 100 cities tracked in their report had record-breaking yearly decreases in 1-bedroom median rent last month.  Indeed… “While decreases in large rental markets have not stopped, there is some indication the decreases have slowed. However, decreases will likely continue in some markets and there will likely…

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that pending home sales dipped 2.2% in September, 2020.  The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings) fell slightly to 130 with only one  major region experiencing an increase in month-over-month contract activity.  In addition, they reported that year-over-year contract signings were still, however, up 20.5%, year-over-year. “The demand for home buying remains super strong, even with a slight monthly pullback in September, and we’re still likely to end the year with more homes sold overall in 2020 than in 2019,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. Click…

Halloween is finally upon us (although many of us are still unsure about the kids’ trick-or-treating) and we’re talking zombies!  According to ATTOM Data’s latest Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report, nearly 1.6 million residential properties in the U.S. (1.6% of all homes) are vacant with the portion of preforeclosure properties that have been abandoned into “zombie status” creeping up slightly to 3.8% in Q3.  Today’s infographic spells out the top 5 states with zombie foreclosurs……Stay safe, have a Happy Friday and a Zombie-free Halloween!!! Hat tip to ATTOM Data Solutions.

STORAGECafé says that self storage has seen tremendous growth in recent times, fueled by strong demand.  In fact, developers have been building facilities in every corner of the US in an effort to respond to this increasing demand for extra space.  A new report features a recently commissioned a survey that explores exactly who is driving this expansion and what exactly are they looking for. Some key takeaways: 33% of all respondents currently rent or have rented self storage in the past, and 11% of those who never rented said they intend to do so in the future. 37% said…

According to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices, covering all nine U.S. census divisions, the rate of home price increases reported a 5.7% annual gain in August, 2020.  Their 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 4.7% and the 20-City Composite posted a 5.2% year-over-year gain.  The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Indices are one of the leading measures of U.S. residential real estate prices, tracking changes in the value of residential real estate both nationally as well as in 20 metropolitan regions. “Housing prices were strong in August,” says Craig J. Lazzara, Managing Director and Global Head of Index…

The U.S. government is reporting that the national vacancy rates in Q3 2020 were 6.4% for rental housing and 0.9% for homeowner housing.  The national homeownership rate for Q2 2020 was 67.4%.  In addition, approximately 89.9% of the housing units in the United States in Q3 were occupied and 10.1% were vacant. Owner-occupied housing units made up 60.6% of total housing units, while renter-occupied units made up 29.3% of the inventory. Click here to read the full release at the U.S. Census Bureau.

People are on the move.  Whether it’s pandemic related, high-taxes, better schools, safer neighborhoods, larger home, or any/all of the above.  A recent story in the Wall Street Journal (reposted on Realtor.com) takes a look at the exodus from New York City and that factors are driving it.  The WSJ says this current wave of selling has contributed to a glut of properties in a number of NY City neighborhoods with total sales inventory across the five boroughs reaching its highest levels since at least 2010.  Indeed… “The pandemic has led many New York City residents to uproot their lives in search…

The U.S. Government is reporting that sales of new single-family houses in September, 2020 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 959,000, which is 3.5% lower than August’s revised rate, and is 32.1% higher than one year ago.  The median sales price of new houses sold in September was $326,800 with an average sales price of $405,400.  There were an estimated 284k new houses for sale at the end of September representing a 3.6-month supply at the current sales rate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

According to ATTOM Data’s Q3 2020 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, foreclosure filings were down 81% from one year ago to the lowest level since they began tracking quarterly filings back in 2008.  The report says there were a total of 27,016 properties with foreclosure filings for the quarter. In addition, lenders repossessed 6,076 properties through foreclosure (REO) in Q3, down 22% from Q2 and down 82% from one year ago – another record low since they began tracking.  Interestingly, ATTOM says the recent government moratoriums were the source of the low numbers however they cautioned that once those moratoriums are…