Author: Brad Beckett

As the U.S. labor market continues to recover from the Coronavirus pandemic, job numbers recently posted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed strong results.  According to the NAHB’s Eye on Housing, total payroll employment rose by 1.8 million and the unemployment rate declined to 10.2% in July.  In addition, Residential construction employment rose by 24k to 2.8 million with total construction industry (residential & nonresidential) employment rebounding to nearly 7.2 million.  In addition, unemployment dropped 0.9 percentage points to 10.2% in July. “Residential construction employment now stands at 2.8 million in July, broken down as 815,000 builders and 2.0…

Are we about to face a surge in foreclosures next year resulting from delinquencies brought on by the Coronavirus pandemic?  On a recent episode of Real Estate News for Investors, Kathy Fettke takes a look at a recent report from ATTOM Data that is forecasting a dramatic rise in foreclosures by Q2 of 2021.  She does however, point out that there are a number of unknown variables that may help or hinder this potential deluge – including Congressional action (or inaction), high unemployment numbers as well as a presidential election this Fall.  Indeed… “We still have several months of uncertainty…

CNBC’s Power Lunch recently pointed out that suburban growth is now double that of cities with people feeling crowded urban areas for the suburbs.  In fact, they say that the while trend started before the pandemic, it has since accelerated.  CNBC’s Robert Frank reports on what it all could mean for the future of cities and why the urban growth rate is declining…. Note point #3 below: Click here to watch on CNBC.com.

The National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) says that 79.3% of apartment households made a full or partial rent payment by August 6th.  This figure represents a 1.9 percentage point decrease in the share who paid rent through August 6, 2019 and compares to 77.4% that paid by July 6th.  The  data comes from the NMHC’s Rent Payment Tracker which uses data from 11.4 million professionally managed apartment units across the country. Click here to read the full report at NMHC.com. Click here to view the NMHC’s Rent Payment Tracker.

According to the latest Yardi Matrix Multifamily Report, the average U.S. rent in July was $1,460 up $2 from June with year-over-year, rent growth remaining at -0.3%.   They point out that gateway markets continued their steep year-over-year declines, with San Jose (-5.0%) and San Francisco (-4.1%) leading the way. This is a stark contrast from last July, when rents in San Jose grew by 2.0% and rents in San Francisco grew by 2.8%.  However…. “In the short term, month-over-month rents showed signs of improvement in July, with 25 of the top 30 markets performing better in July than June, although…

According to government data, over 61 million Americans live with a disability.  Today’s infographic from the U.S. Census Bureau breaks down the number of Americans with a disability by age, sex and type.  Per the CDC, a disability is any condition of the body or mind (impairment) that makes it more difficult for the person with the condition to do certain activities (activity limitation) and interact with the world around them (participation restrictions).  Indeed…. Stay safe and Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to the U.S. Census Bureau.

According to data from a Redfin buyers survey, almost half (45%) of recent homebuyers made an offer on a home without ever seeing it in person.  Redfin says this is the highest level since 2015 and is being fueled by health concerns from the pandemic as well as a continuing shortage of available housing.  In fact, they expect these “sight-unseen” offers to grow.  Indeed… “I predict that by the end of the 2020 homebuying season, the majority of homebuyers will have made a sight-unseen offer…The pandemic has changed the way many people view homes, and on top of that, the…

Last week we posted the numbers from the Census Bureau’s Residential Vacancies and Homeownership report.  Armed with that data, the number crunchers at the National Association of Realtors’ Economist Blog took a deep dive into those numbers and broke them down to get a better look.  First off, America’s homeownership rate increased to 67.9% (up nearly 4 percentage points from one year ago) which they say is partially attributable to low mortgage rates, however there is more…. Some key findings: Q2 2020’s homeownership rate was 67.9%, up from 64.1% in Q2 2019 and up from 65.3% in Q1 2020. The…

The NAHB’s Eye on Housing is reporting that Housing’s contribution to America’s GDP hit its highest level since Q3 2007, increasing to 16.2% in Q2 2020.  In fact, they say that “housing will lead the economic recovery” and pointed out that housing services alone represented 12.9% of the U.S. economy or $2.2 trillion on seasonally adjusted annual basis.  Indeed… “Due to low mortgage interest rates, a renewed focus on the importance of home, and a lack of for-sale inventory, housing data has been a relative bright spot as the overall economy struggles to establish a rebound.” Click here to read…

The U.S. government is reporting that total construction spending in June was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,355.2 billion, which is 0.7% lower than May’s revised estimate.  However, June’s figure was 0.1% higher than June, 2019.  Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $534.2 billion in June, which is 1.5% lower than May’s revised estimate. Click here to read the full report at Census.gov.