Author: Brad Beckett

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 3.5% annual gain in November.  Their 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 2.0% and the 20-City Composite posted a 2.6% 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. “The U.S. housing market was stable in November,” says Craig J. Lazzara, Managing Director and Global Head of…

The U.S. Government is reporting that sales of new single-family houses in December, 2019 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 694k, down slightly from November but up 23% from one year ago.  The median sales price of new houses sold in December was $331,400 and the average sales price was $384,500. The seasonally‐adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of December was 327k, representing a 5.7 month supply at the current sales rate.  An estimated 681k new homes were sold in 2019, which is 10.3% higher than 2018. Click here to read the full report…

Local Market Monitor, a National REIA preferred vendor, recently released their National Economic Outlook for January, 2020 where they share their thoughts on developments taking place in the U.S. economy. National Economic Outlook – January 2020 By Ingo Winzer Retail sales for 2019 were up 3.6 percent from 2018. With inflation running around 2 percent, that means a real increase of 1.6 percent or so. Car sales were good and on-line sales were terrific (up 13 percent) but when you subtract out inflation, every other sector did poorly – furniture stores, food stores, hardware and lumber stores, drug stores, electronics, sporting…

According to the latest Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI), U.S. house prices rose .2% in November as well as being up 4.9% from November 2018. 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, county, ZIP…

Is it better to buy or rent?  That’s an age-old question that really depends on a lot of variables – especially an individual’s station in life.  In their recent 2020 Rental Affordability Report, ATTOM Data crunched the numbers to show that owning a median-priced, three-bedroom home is more affordable than renting a three-bedroom property in 455 (53%) of  855 U.S. counties analyzed for their report.  Specifically, they looked at recently released fair market rent data for 2020 from HUD, wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics along with public record sales deed data from ATTOM Data Solutions in 855…

Saturday, January 25th, 2020 is Chinese New Year – the year of the rat and a year of new beginnings!  The contributions of Chinese-Americans to the rich fabric of this country have been incredible.  If you’re fortunate enough to live in an area of the country with a sizeable population of ethnic Chinese, be sure to find & join in the celebrations….And of course, Happy Friday….and Happy Chinese New Year! Hat tip to the chinesezodiac.org.

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that existing home sales were up 3.6% in December, increasing to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 5.54 million.  In addition they report that overall sales were up 10.8% from one year ago.  The median existing-home price for all housing types was $274,500, up 7.8% from December, 2018.  November’s price increase marks 94 straight months of year-over-year gains.  Total housing inventory at the end of December was 1.40 million units, down 14.6% from November and 8.5% from one year ago. Total unsold inventory was at a 3.0-month supply at the current sales pace with…

According to the latest Yardi Matrix, the average U.S. rent fell $1 in December to $1,474, with the growth rate falling 10 basis points from November. However, Yardi points out that U.S. multifamily rents finished 2019 up 3.0% with year-over-year growth remaining between 3.0% and 3.3% for the entire year. “Fundamentally, the market is sound, with no red flags on the immediate horizon. Despite deliveries of roughly 300,000 units for the year, the occupancy rate for stabilized properties was 94.9% as of November, down only 10 basis points over the last year. The healthy job market, averaging 180,000 new jobs…

The  National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP) recently released their top five lawn & landscape trends for 2020. According to the report, they tapped into the expertise of landscape professionals from across the country to predict design & maintenance trends that will create healthy and beautiful green spaces across America.  The NALP represents an industry that employs nearly 1 million landscape, lawn care, irrigation and tree care professionals who create and maintain healthy green spaces for the benefit of society and the environment.  Indeed… “Foundational landscape elements remain on homeowners’ wish lists, but modern updates and technology are now a…

According to the Real Deal, Airbnb is gearing up to host over 34k bookings (so far) in South Florida during the upcoming Super Bowl 54 weekend.  By comparison, last year’s Super Bowl in Atlanta had less than half of that number.  In addition, they report that Airbnb’s average daily rate in Miami-Dade & Broward counties during the Super Bowl weekend is currently $120 and $150 – which they say is more affordable that hotel rates.  Indeed… “Airbnb hosts have already picked up more than 34,000 bookings for the weekend of Super Bowl LIV, Jan. 30 to Feb. 2. That tops…