Author: Brad Beckett

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that pending home sales surged 16.6% in June – marking two consecutive months of increases.  The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings) rose to 116.1 with every major region experiencing an increase in month-over-month contract activity.  In addition, they reported that year-over-year contract signings were up 6.3%.  Indeed…. “It is quite surprising and remarkable that, in the midst of a global pandemic, contract activity for home purchases is higher compared to one year ago,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “Consumers are taking advantage of record-low mortgage…

This weekend several states across the fruited-plain will be kicking off sales tax holidays for the back to school season.  Whether you think this is good or bad public policy is irrelevant;  the bottom-line is saving money!  The folks over at the Tax Foundation annually put together a handy chart showing which states are holding sales tax holidays as well as any threshold limits.  Be sure to check out their complete list for all states and their exemption’s “fine-print.”  Stay safe and Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to the Tax Foundation. Click here to see the sales tax rate for your…

The U.S. government is reporting that the national vacancy rates in Q2 2020 were 5.7% for rental housing and 0.9% for homeowner housing.  The national homeownership rate for Q2 2020 was 67.9%.  In addition, approximately 90.1% of the housing units in the United States in Q2 were occupied and 9.9% were vacant. Owner-occupied housing units made up 61.2% of total housing units, while renter-occupied units made up 29% of the inventory. Click here to read the full release at the U.S. Census Bureau.

The St. Louis Federal Reserve’s FRED site is a virtual treasure trove of data – especially housing data.  Recently, FRED announced that there were adding a new real estate data component, manufactured homes.  FRED says this market is separate & smaller than the widely watched single-family homes market, but price data for manufactured homes have several interesting characteristics they feel need to be part of the discussion.  Indeed… “First, manufactured homes are more uniform than other homes. For example, single-family homes come in a variety of sizes, they have tended to become larger over time, and the size composition of…

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 4.5% annual gain in May.  Their 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 3.1% and the 20-City Composite posted a 3.7% 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. “More data will obviously be required in order to know whether May’s report represents a reversal of the…

According to ATTOM Data Solutions’ recently released U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, the number of properties with foreclosure filings hit an all-time low with 165,530 filings reported.  Nationally, 0.12% of all housing units (one in every 824 housing units) had a foreclosure filing in the first half of 2020.  In addition, ATTOM broke down the numbers to reveal the top 10 metros (out of 220) with increasing foreclosure activity compared to a year ago. “Foreclosure starts and completions were already declining rapidly last year because the housing market and the economy were riding so high. Now they’re down to lows not…

The National Multifamily Housing Council recently put together some important facts about the adverse effects of extending the current eviction moratoriums.  They recognize that the Coronavirus pandemic has caused serious economic pain for millions of American families.  However, they point out that without long-term solutions that support renters affected by COVID-19, the economic crisis could become a housing crisis rivaling 2008.  Bottom line:  Extending eviction moratoriums should not be part of those policy solutions and would cause more harm than good while rippling through the entire economy.  Indeed… “Building owners rely on rent payments to pay their mortgages, property taxes,…

The U.S. Government is reporting that sales of new single-family houses in June, 2020 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 776k, which is 13.8% higher than May’s revised rate, and is 6.9% higher than one year ago.  The median sales price of new houses sold in June was $329,200 with an average sales price of $384,700.  There were an estimated 307k new houses for sale at the end of June representing a 4.7 month supply at the current sales rate. Click here to read the full release at the U.S. Census Bureau.

According to the latest Yardi Matrix Multifamily Report, the average U.S. rent in June was $1,457, down $2 from May.  In addition, they point out that rents decreased 0.4% year-over-year (the first time since December 2010) with average U.S. rents declining by 0.8% in the first half of 2020 and 0.4% in Q2. Indeed “A few months ago, many were hopeful that economic expansion would return by July, but with a rise in cases in many southern states, the economic recovery will likely be pushed out further than many initially hoped.” Click here to read the full report at YardiMatrix.com.…

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that existing home sales jumped 20.7% in June to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 4.72 million (11.3% lower than one year ago).  Total housing inventory at the end of June was 1.57 million units, up 1.3% from May and down 18.2% from one year ago. Total unsold inventory was at a 4-month supply at the current sales pace with properties remaining on the market for around 24 days. The median existing-home price for all housing types was $95,300, up 3.5% from June, 2019. Click here to read the full report at the National…