Author: Brad Beckett

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently submitted a plan to President Trump proposing to overhaul & reform the Nation’s housing system.  The plan was developed along with an accompanying one from the U.S. Treasury department pursuant to a memorandum from the President back in March of this year.  HUD says the plan ensures FHA and Ginnie Mae can continue to serve their important missions effectively, responsibly, and sustainably for many years to come as well as accomplishing four objectives: Refocuses FHA to its core mission Protects American taxpayers Provides FHA and Ginnie Mae the tools to…

The Wall Street Journal is reporting (reposted on Realtor.com) that President Trump supports returning mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to private hands, which they say is a development that could keep the two companies at the center of the housing market for decades.  The WSJ said that if the administration follows through on privatizing the firms, they would essentially return to a status similar to before the financial crisis, with their effective duopolies intact, for lack of a better alternative. “Our view is that the government footprint has become too big,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in an interview ahead…

Today’s infographic from the U.S. Census Bureau breaks America down into “micropolitans.”  These statistical areas provide a lens on small-town America and contain between 10k and 50k people.  As of last year, there were 542 micropolitans in the U.S.  Who knew?  Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to the U.S. Census Bureau.

If you love wine then Trulia has an interesting find for you.  They recently put together a short list of “Wine Country towns you can actually afford.”  They say these places are great if you love the “Napa lifestyle” but not the price – especially if your budget is more “house blend” than “rare vintage.”  Indeed… “We found four wine country towns where you can sip local vino on your patio without dropping a fortune on your house.” Their four wine-country towns are: Palisade, Colorado Walla Walla, Washington Tryon, North Carolina Traverse City, Michigan Click here to read the full…

Rental information site Zumper recently released their National Rent Report for September showing that the median national rent for 1-bedroom apartment was $1,250 and the median two-bedroom rent was $1,493.  Year to date, one bedroom prices are up 2.4% and two bedroom prices are up 2.2%.  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…

We’ve had several posts about “Tiny Houses” but this one pushes the concept over a bit over the edge.  Apparently, a condo owner in New York City turned his small apartment in to what the NY Post dubs a “mini-village” by converting it into an illegal duplex with 11 sub-units with ceilings as low as 4 and a half feet.  The landlord even put up protective bubble-wrap to keep residents from hitting their heads on the [now] low-hanging pipes (how nice).  According to the article, the unit was raided and shutdown by local authorities citing numerous code violations.  In addition,…

National apartment listing site ABODO recently reported that the median nationwide rent price for one-bedroom units in September was $1062 with two-bedroom units coming in at $1342.  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. Click here to read the full report at Abodo.com.

The U.S. government is reporting that total construction spending in July was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,288.8 billion, which was 0.1% above June’s revised rate.  Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $506.7 billion in July, 0.6% than June’s revised estimate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

According to new report about Opportunity Zones from ATTOM Data Solutions, roughly 80 percent of the zones had median home prices in the Q2 2019 that were below the national figure of $266k and that half had median prices of less than $150k.  In addition, they compared Opportunity Zones to surrounding regions and found that median Q2 2019 prices in about one in four zones were less than 50% of the typical value in the Metropolitan Statistical Areas in which they exist.  Indeed… “Opportunity Zones are among the poorest areas of the country, with some of the lowest home prices.…

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that pending home sales decreased 2.5% in July, which the attribute to the lack of moderately-priced housing, among other variables.   The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings) decreased to 105.6 in July, down 2.5% from June. In addition, they reported that year-over-year contract signings were down 0.3%. “Super-low mortgage rates have not yet consistently pulled buyers back into the market,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “Economic uncertainty is no doubt holding back some potential demand, but what is desperately needed is more supply of moderately priced…