Author: Brad Beckett

We have kept our eyes on that rapidly retiring cohort known as the Baby Boomers.  With that in mind, a recent article on Realtor.com caught our attention.  They put their number-crunchers to work to come up with a list of the top 10 cities experiencing a “boomer boom.”  To get their list, they calculated the counties with the greatest numbers of incoming people aged 55 and up (per capita), and identified those places that have seen the biggest increases over the past two years (using U.S. Census Bureau numbers). They then they selected the primary cities from all of those…

According to recent data from the Associated General Contractors of America, construction employment increased by 14k jobs in August and was up 177,000, or 2.4%, over the past 12 months.  In addition, they also report that the number of unemployed jobseekers with construction experience remained near historic lows.  AGC officials said that 80% of contractors reported they were having a hard time finding enough qualified hourly craft workers to hire. “Construction employment gains would likely have been higher if firms could find even more people to hire,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “Our survey found that 91 percent…

Online flipping site Opendoor recently acquired OS National, a national title & escrow firm.  According to CNBC, the purchase allows them to integrate title, escrow and closings into their online buying & selling portfolio.  Last year they purchased Open Listings, an online real estate brokerage that focused exclusively on representing buyers. “Title and escrow has always been a major pain point in the homebuying and -selling process,” an Opendoor spokeswoman told CNBC. “This acquisition will enable us to start mitigating that pain point with deeper integration with OSN.” Click here to read the full story at CNBC.com.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently submitted a plan to President Trump proposing to overhaul & reform the Nation’s housing system.  The plan was developed along with an accompanying one from the U.S. Treasury department pursuant to a memorandum from the President back in March of this year.  HUD says the plan ensures FHA and Ginnie Mae can continue to serve their important missions effectively, responsibly, and sustainably for many years to come as well as accomplishing four objectives: Refocuses FHA to its core mission Protects American taxpayers Provides FHA and Ginnie Mae the tools to…

The Wall Street Journal is reporting (reposted on Realtor.com) that President Trump supports returning mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to private hands, which they say is a development that could keep the two companies at the center of the housing market for decades.  The WSJ said that if the administration follows through on privatizing the firms, they would essentially return to a status similar to before the financial crisis, with their effective duopolies intact, for lack of a better alternative. “Our view is that the government footprint has become too big,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in an interview ahead…

Today’s infographic from the U.S. Census Bureau breaks America down into “micropolitans.”  These statistical areas provide a lens on small-town America and contain between 10k and 50k people.  As of last year, there were 542 micropolitans in the U.S.  Who knew?  Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to the U.S. Census Bureau.

If you love wine then Trulia has an interesting find for you.  They recently put together a short list of “Wine Country towns you can actually afford.”  They say these places are great if you love the “Napa lifestyle” but not the price – especially if your budget is more “house blend” than “rare vintage.”  Indeed… “We found four wine country towns where you can sip local vino on your patio without dropping a fortune on your house.” Their four wine-country towns are: Palisade, Colorado Walla Walla, Washington Tryon, North Carolina Traverse City, Michigan Click here to read the full…

Rental information site Zumper recently released their National Rent Report for September showing that the median national rent for 1-bedroom apartment was $1,250 and the median two-bedroom rent was $1,493.  Year to date, one bedroom prices are up 2.4% and two bedroom prices are up 2.2%.  Zumper analyzes rental data from over 1 million active listings across the United States. Data is aggregated on a monthly basis to calculate median asking rents for the top 100 metro areas by population, providing a comprehensive view of the current state of the market. The report is based on all data available in…

We’ve had several posts about “Tiny Houses” but this one pushes the concept over a bit over the edge.  Apparently, a condo owner in New York City turned his small apartment in to what the NY Post dubs a “mini-village” by converting it into an illegal duplex with 11 sub-units with ceilings as low as 4 and a half feet.  The landlord even put up protective bubble-wrap to keep residents from hitting their heads on the [now] low-hanging pipes (how nice).  According to the article, the unit was raided and shutdown by local authorities citing numerous code violations.  In addition,…

National apartment listing site ABODO recently reported that the median nationwide rent price for one-bedroom units in September was $1062 with two-bedroom units coming in at $1342.  ABODO uses over 1 million listings across the United States to calculate the median 1-bedroom rent price by city, state, and nation and then track the month-over-month percentage change. To avoid small sample sizes, they restrict their analysis to cities meeting minimum population and property count thresholds. Be sure to check out their extensive city list. Click here to read the full report at Abodo.com.