Author: Brad Beckett

According to Apartment List’s National Rent Report for June 2024, national median rent rose 0.5% to $1,404.  They say this is typically the time of year when rent growth is accelerating amid the busy moving season, so sluggish growth this month indicates that the market is headed for another slow summer.  Indeed… “Since the second half of 2022, seasonal declines have been steeper than usual and seasonal increases have been more mild. As a result, apartments are on average slightly cheaper today than they were one year ago. ” Click here to read the full report at Apartment List.

A recent article from the Land Title Association (ALTA) says fraud & forgery claims represent 21% of the total dollars spent by title insurers on claims expense and losses, with an average claim cost of over $143k.  The data comes from an analysis by global consulting and actuarial firm Milliman that also found nearly 30% of title insurers’ losses and claims expenses arose from title problems not discoverable from a public records search. “The evidence is clear: expert title professionals do so much more than just scan public records or push a button to secure property rights…With the cost of…

We have seen a lot of stories about squatters lately, however, as you can imagine, scammers are working all the angles to steal money & assets from unsuspecting victims.  Recently, in Kansas City, KS, an elderly couple was scammed out of a nearby parcel of land they were planning to sell.  They only found out that someone had already “sold” it when they spoke with a realtor about selling the asset. “The empty lot is in the same neighborhood where they own a home, but the Werohas had no idea the land was being sold because no “For Sale” sign…

According to the ADP National Employment Report for May, 2024, private employers added 152k jobs in May, a slowdown in growth led by a steep decline in manufacturing.  In addition, leisure and hospitality also showed weaker hiring.  The ADP National Employment Report is an independent and high-frequency view of the private-sector labor market based on the aggregated and anonymized payroll data of more than 25 million U.S. employees. “Job gains and pay growth are slowing going into the second half of the year…The labor market is solid, but we’re monitoring notable pockets of weakness tied to both producers and consumers.” …

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 272k in May, 2024 with the unemployment rate rising to 4%.  Like a broken record, employment in the government sector continued to climb with the BLS reporting that it increased by 43k, close to the average monthly gain of 52k over the past 12 months. Click here to read the full report at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Toronto Life magazine recently had an interesting story about a couple seeking a larger home for their growing family who bought a house in a hot neighborhood that seemingly look great, just needed some work, but ultimately turned out to be a 5-year nightmare.  It’s a good read and has several valuable lessons about doing your due diligence before buying a property – trendy neighborhood or not. It was a crumbling Parkdale rooming house, populated by drug users and squatters and available on the cheap. We were cash-strapped, desperate to move and hemmed in by a hot market. Five years,…

Eighty years ago yesterday, on June 6, 1944, Operation Overlord (aka D-Day) was launched with nearly 160,000 allied troops (led by the United States) invading occupied France – marking the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany. Today’s infographic from Encyclopedia Britannica gives us a quick snapshot of that momentous day.  As you know, a significant & growing number of those men are no longer with us, as well the entire World War Two generation.  If you’re fortunate enough to encounter one of them, shake their hand and thank them for their bravery, their commitment, and for the freedoms we…

According to the latest CoreLogic Single-Family Rent Index (SFRI), U.S. single-family home rental prices rose by 3.4% year over year in March, 2024 with the median monthly cost for a U.S. three-bedroom home coming in at $2,052.  They also say that major coastal job hubs continued to lead the U.S. for annual rent growth – Seattle, New York and Boston once again took the top three spots. “U.S. single-family rent growth strengthened overall in March, though some weaknesses are revealed in the latest numbers…And for the first time in 14 years, single-family, attached properties posted a year-over-year decline. The continued…

The U.S. government is reporting that total construction spending in April, 2024 was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2,099 billion, which is 0.1% lower than March’s revised number.  However, April’s revised estimate is 10% higher than one year ago.  Residential construction came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $890.4 billion in April, which is 0.1% higher than March’s revised estimate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

Rental information site Zumper recently released their latest monthly National Rent Report for May, 2024.  According to their data, median rent for 1-bedroom apartments was $1,504 (up 1.2%) and $1,865 (up 1.2%) for two-bedrooms. Be sure to check out their entire list of the top 100 metro areas. “May marks the first time we’ve seen national monthly growth rates of over 1% since October 2022…This notable rise in rent coupled with the current persisting inflation suggests that there will be even more pressure put on the CPI in the coming months and rate cuts by the Fed may be pushed…