Author: Brad Beckett

What will be the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on the housing & mortgage industries?  That’s the topic of a new “white paper” from Black Knight that does an early comprehensive evaluation of the current state of the market, the pandemic’s potential impacts, and explores the solutions and technologies that have the ability to mitigate negative effects.  This paper will be, undoubtedly, one of many that will explore this very subject for some time.  Indeed…. “The physical effects of social distancing could have an outsized impact on home sales. Curtailment of open houses and showings will likely have an immediate…

According to the latest Yardi Matrix, the average U.S. rent in March was $1,474 (up $6), however they warn that major impacts from the spread of the Cornonavirus will start showing up in April.  That being said, Yardi says rents increased 2.9% in March on a year-over-year basis, as rent growth cooled somewhat from the first two months of 2020.  But they emphasize that we’ve clearly entered a period of turmoil: “As unemployment claims eclipse records and government stimulus reaches unseen heights, the question arises: Who will be able to pay rent in the coming months?” “Both private and public…

With the Coronavirus pandemic having America firmly in its grasp, a recent article on Realtor.com says the economy appears to be headed for a recession, if it’s not already in one.  To that end, they crunched the numbers to identify those U.S. counties that could be most at risk in our worsening financial crisis.  To come up with their list, they looked at counties with the highest percentage of workers in industries most likely to be affected by the crisis.  Citing Census data from the 2017 County Business Patterns, they looked at workers in: tourism, hospitality, retail, personal fitness, restaurant,…

Rental information site Zumper recently released their National Rent Report for April, 2020 showing that the median national rent for 1-bedroom apartment was $1,221 (up 0.2%) and the median two-bedroom rent was $1,471 (down 0.6%).   Year to date, one-bedroom prices are up 0.4% and two-bedroom prices are up 1.1%.  Interestingly they have an optimistic view for the long-term, once our national crisis has receded.  Indeed… “Though renters have hit a pause on their moves right now, as no one is going to open houses, we have an optimistic view for the long-term as the rental market will not be impacted…

The U.S. government is reporting that total construction spending in February was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,366.7 billion, which is 1.3% below January’s revised estimate.  However, February’s figure was 6% higher than February, 2019.  Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $564.3.8 billion in February, which is 0.6% below January’s revised estimate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

In late March, the U.S. Congress passed and President Trump signed the $2 trillion Coronavirus relief bill known as the CARES Act.  This historically massive piece of legislation will pump $2 trillion of money into the U.S. economy in order to help mitigate the damage being done by the Coronavirus pandemic.  The folks over at howmuch.net recently put together a simple chart outlining where this money is going and how it will help America.  Stay tuned, stay safe and as always, have a Happy Friday!! Hat tip to howmuch.net.

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 3.9% annual gain in January.  Their 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 2.6% and the 20-City Composite posted a 3.1% 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.  As for the current economic situation brought on by the Coronavirus pandemic, they included the following caveat about…

National apartment listing site ABODO recently reported that the median nationwide rent price for one-bedroom units in April was $1,088 with two-bedroom units coming in at $1,354.   However they caution that Americans are worried about paying the rent during the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.  Indeed… “…as both landlords and tenants worry about how to integrate social distancing regulations into the apartment leasing landscape, there are a lot of things that need to become clear before the true effect of the pandemic on apartment prices becomes evident….Will most apartment dwellers just stay put? With regulations in force that tenants can make late…

Managing your properties during any crisis is a challenge, let alone the current Coronavirus pandemic we’re experiencing.  On a recent episode of the Rent Perfect Podcast, David Pickron talks with longtime property manager and seasoned housing provider Anne McCawley about how to manage your properties during a time of crisis.  Anne gives great insight on how to plan for and maneuver through these challenging times. Editor’s note:  National REIA encourages housing providers to have individual plans to work with their residents during this unprecedented crisis.  They remind members that there is no standardized solution or “one approach fits all” in…

In late March yields on both the 1-month and 3-month U.S. Treasury Bills entered negative territory – the first time in almost 5 years that this has happened.  In addition, CNBC reported that while the Coronavirus pandemic has brought negative yields on government debt, they are not directly related to central bank policy.  They say Fed officials have rejected the notion that the U.S. central bank might eventually take its policy rate below zero.  Indeed…. “This is part and parcel of the whole flight to quality thing,” said Kim Rupert, managing director of global fixed income at Action Economics. “They’re…