Author: Brad Beckett

Where are all the new homes being built?  Realtor.com points out that while home construction across the country is slowing down there are areas where foundations are being poured, frames are being erected, and contractors are contracting!  To come up with their list they list they analyzed census data to find the most residential construction permits for single-family homes, condos and co-ops, apartments, townhouses, and duplexes. Despite the fact that new homes tend to be more expensive than existing ones—about 26% pricier, thanks to high labor, materials and land costs—they help to keep runaway home prices at least somewhat in…

So, just when mortgage rates started to climb back towards 5% they’ve now retreated down into the low fours.  A recent Wall Street Journal article (reposted on Realtor.com) says the four percent mortgage is back after experiencing its biggest drop in over a decade.  They report that mortgage rates have been declining along with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note that was  spurred on by the Federal Reserve’s decision to pause interest rate increases.  Interestingly they say that roughly half of current mortgages are originated by nonbank firms, which, unlike banks, don’t have other lines of business or…

Zillow is now firmly in the home mortgage business with their recent launch of Zillow Home Loans.  Late last year, HousingWire reported that Zillow had acquired Mortgage Lenders of America.  Now they’re reporting that they’ve rebranded the operation and will finance home buying & selling through their just announced Zillow Home Loans.  HousingWire says it is the latest move in a two-year effort to reshape how Zillow conducts its business. Recall that last year Zillow also got into the home-flipping business with its Instant Offers platform.  Indeed… “…Since our inception, Zillow has been empowering people with information and resources to…

For over 6 years the National Association of Realtors has issued their annual Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report.  This report provides insights into differences and similarities across generations of home buyers and sellers. It’s good data…these are your customers!  Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to the NAR and by all means, click here to read their full report.

We recently posted about how potential homebuyers were having trouble finding the right home and what factors were holding them back.  Well, one of those factors was features.  In a follow-up, the NAHB’s Eye on Housing dug through their 2019 What Home Buyers Really Want  report and found, among many things, that 91% want a laundry room – more than any other home or community feature!  Interestingly, Energy Star rated windows were a close second. Click here to read the full story at the NAHB’s Eye on Housing.

National apartment listing site ABODO recently reported that the median nationwide rent price for one-bedroom units in April was $1,063 with two-bedroom units coming in at $1,325.  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. “As usual, stay tuned since rapid economic changes can translate into a quickly altered national rent picture.”…

According to recent data from the Associated General Contractors of America, construction employment grew in 275 (76%) out of 358 metro areas between January 2018 and January 2019, declined in 39 (11%) and was unchanged in 44.  The AGC said demand for construction in most parts of the country appears to be outstripping the supply of qualified workers to hire.  Indeed… “Contractors in most parts of the country are having a hard time finding enough qualified workers to keep pace with strong, and growing, demand for construction,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, the association’s chief executive officer. “Expanding the number of…

The U.S. government is reporting that total construction spending in February was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,320.3 billion, which is 1.0% higher than January’s revised number.  Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $540.9 billion in February, which was 0.7% higher than January’s revised estimate. Click here to read the full release at Census.gov.

Rental information site Zumper recently released their National Rent Report for April showing that the median national rent for 1-bedroom apartment was $1,214 and the median two-bedroom rent was $1,445.  Year to date, one bedroom prices are down 0.5% and two bedroom prices are up 0.6%.  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…

The U.S. Government is reporting that sales of new single-family houses in February, 2019 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 677k.   This figure is 4.9% higher than January’s revised rate and is 0.6% higher than one year ago.  The median sales price of new houses sold in February 2019 was $315,300 and the average sales price was $379,600.  The seasonally‐adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of February was 340k, which represented a 6.1 months supply at the current sales rate. Click here to read the full report at census.gov.