Author: Brad Beckett

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that pending home sales declined 1.1% in October, 2020.  The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings) fell slightly to 128.9 with only one major region experiencing an increase in month-over-month contract activity.  In addition, they reported that year-over-year contract signings were up 20.2%, year-over-year. “Pending home transactions saw a small drop off from the prior month but still easily outperformed last year’s numbers for October,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “The housing market is still hot, but we may be starting to see rising home prices…

According to the latest Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI), U.S. house prices were up 1.7% in September, 3.1% in Q3 and up 7.8% from one year ago.  The FHFA produces the nation’s only public, freely available house price indexes (HPIs) that measure changes in single-family house prices based on data that cover all 50 states and over 400 American cities and extend back to the mid-1970s.  The FHFA’s HPIs are built on tens of millions of home sales and offer insights about home price fluctuations at the levels of the nation, census division, state, metro area,…

The U.S. Government is reporting that sales of new single-family houses in October, 2020 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 999,000 which is 0.3% lower than September’s revised rate, and is 41.5% higher than one year ago.  The median sales price of new houses sold in October was $330,600 with an average sales price of $386,200.  There were an estimated 278k new houses for sale at the end of October representing a 3.3-month supply at the current sales rate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

Are you a landlord concerned about drug use in your properties – especially now that in many states the laws have drastically changed regarding marijuana?  On a recent episode of the Rent Perfect Podcast, David Pickron  discusses the impact of legalized recreational marijuana use in rental properties with Attorney Mark Zinman (an expert in landlord tenant law). David says It’s critical to remember that this is your property, and your policies are what will protect you from abuse by your tenants.  However, with that being said, make sure you talk with a local attorney about the applicable laws in your…

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 7% annual gain in September, 2020.  Their 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 6.2% and the 20-City Composite posted a 6.6% 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. Click here to read the full report at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

What started back in 2007 has grown into a global phenomenon.  Statista reminds us that Airbnb hosts have welcomed guests in more than 220 countries and regions around the world and earned over $110 billion in the process.   And, in the last 5 years alone their bookings have more than quadrupled, as evidenced by today’s infographic.  Of course it will be interesting to see how 2020 pans in light of the Coronavirus pandemic.  Stay safe and have a Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to Statista.

Who doesn’t love good data?  With that being said, the folks over at Statista said that in 2019 there were approximately 43 million housing units occupied by renters in the United States.  They point out that while this number has remained relatively steady since 2014, it has increased significantly since 1975. Click here to read the full post at Statista.com.

This is a housing subject that’s interesting from a data & public health perspective.  According to research from the NAHB’s Economics analysis of the Survey of Construction (SOC), about 9% of new single-family homes started in 2019 across America were served by individual wells and more than 17% have private septic systems.  The SOC classifies community or shared water supply/wells as public water rather than individual wells. “In New England, where median lot size is three times as large as the national median, 37% of new single-family homes are built with individual wells. The reliance on private wells is also…

We have posted a lot about taxes and how they affect your bottom-line.  Recently, the folks over at the Tax Foundation ran the numbers to come to come up with the taxes, fees, and government surcharges wireless phone users are facing across America.  Guess what?  They went up in 2020 (again) up and now consume 22.6% of the average customer’s bill.  In fact, the Tax Foundation says the average U.S. household with four wireless phones paying $100 per month for wireless phone service can expect to pay about $270 per year in wireless taxes, fees, and surcharges—up from $260 in…

According to the latest Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Delinquency Survey, the delinquency rate for mortgage loans on 1-4-unit residential properties at the end of Q3 decreased 57 basis points to a seasonally adjusted rate of 7.65% of all loans outstanding.  The MBA says the decrease was driven by a sharp decline in newer 30-day delinquencies and 60-day delinquencies. However, they caution that later-stage delinquencies continued to grow, reaching their highest level since Q4 of 2013.  Indeed… “While the overall delinquency rate has improved from the previous quarter, many homeowners remain in distress. Another wave of COVID-19 cases could slow or…