Author: Brad Beckett

One of America’s great strengths lies in the diversity of her people.  In fact, it is reflected in our country’s Latin motto, “E pluribus unum” – which means “out of many, one.  With that in mind, today’s infographic from Visual Capitalist uses Census data to visualize America’s population by race.  Stay Safe and have a Happy Friday!!! “Charting the U.S. population by race is crucial for a number of reasons. This information can be used to better understand existing income and wealth gaps, track public health outcomes, and to aid in policy decision-making at higher levels.” Hat tip to Visual…

According to the Conference Board’s latest Consumer Confidence Survey, consumer confidence fell to a 4-month low in December, after falling for two consecutive months.  The Consumer Confidence Survey reflects prevailing business conditions and likely developments for the months ahead. The monthly report details consumer attitude, buying intentions, vacation plans and consumer expectation for inflation, stock prices and interest rates. Data are data available by age, income, region and top 8 states. “Consumers’ assessment of current conditions deteriorated sharply in December, as the resurgence of COVID-19 remains a drag on confidence,” said Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators at The…

The New York Post is reporting that a New York City landlord is himself facing eviction after some “deadbeat” tenants are refusing to pay rent.  The Post says David Howson, himself elderly and not in good health, has long used rental income from his 10-unit building to help pay for his own co-op apartment where he’s lived for decades.  Indeed… “The bulk of the lost income — more than $39,000 — comes from a single tenant who inherited rights to the apartment after her husband left for a nursing home, and hasn’t paid a dime of rent since December 2016,…

We have had several posts about the emerging blockchain technology, but it’s been a while.  A recent article in Commercial Property Executive takes a look at the “Why, How, What” of this emerging technology.   They point out that the word blockchain and real estate have been regularly used in the same sentence over the past several years as well as experts predicting blockchain and cryptocurrencies will continue to impact the real estate industry in the coming years.   Indeed… Blockchain is basically a distributed ledger, validated and stored across all the computers that maintain it—these number thousands or millions. Due to…

The U.S. government is reporting that total construction spending in November was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,459.4 billion, which is 0.9% above than October’s revised estimate.  In addition, November’s figure was 3.8% higher than November, 2019.  Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $658.1 billion in November, which is 2.7% higher than October’s revised estimate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

Rental information site Zumper recently released their National Rent Report for January, 2021 showing that their median national rent for 1-bedroom apartment was $1,224 (same as December) and the median two-bedroom rent was $1,491 (up 0.3%).  Year to date, rent for one-bedrooms were up 0.6 and two-bedroom rent was up 2.1%. Click here to read the full report at Zumper.com.

A recent report in the Wall Street Journal (reposted on Realtor.com) says Covid-19 is spurring families to shun nursing homes, which they say could be a long-lasting market shift.  Reportedly, relatives are turning to home care due to fears of infection and additional isolation.  The WSJ says that occupancy in U.S. nursing homes is down 15% (195k+ residents) since the end of 2019.  Indeed… Americans have long relied on institutions to care for the frailest seniors. The U.S. has the largest number of nursing-home residents in the world. But families and some doctors have been reluctant to send patients to…

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that pending home sales declined 2.6% in November, 2020.  The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings) fell slightly to 125.7, the third straight month of declines.  In addition, they report that year-over-year contract signings were up 16.4%, with all regions reaching double-digit year-over-year increases.  Once again, we find a lack of inventory influencing the market…. “The latest monthly decline is largely due to the shortage of inventory and fast-rising home prices,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “It is important to keep in mind that the current…

If you’re like most people, it’s time to finally put 2020 to bed and look toward a fresh start in 2021.  Today is January 1st, 2021 and with that in mind today’s infographic from Statista shares with us America’s top New Year’s resolutions for 2021.  It would appear that the top resolution is to get rid of those extra [covid] 19 pounds.  Indeed….and Thanks be to God that 2020 is finally over.  Have a healthy, safe, happy, and most of all prosperous new year!!!!  (Happy Friday). Hat tip to Statista.

What will be the top markets for real estate in 2021?  Realtor.com says the top 10 markets for 2021 have substantial momentum from 2020 that will carry them into 2021.  Indeed… This past year, we’ve all become more reliant on technology to work, learn, and maintain personal connections. The technology hubs that make this possible are thriving, as are their housing markets. Additionally, the relative stability of government jobs in the past year has driven home prices and sales in several state capitals to the top. Home buyers, particularly younger first-time buyers, looking in one of these markets should expect…