Author: Brad Beckett

Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies recently released their annual State of the Housing Report – released annually since 1988.   Among their many statistical findings, they report that while household growth is now back from post-recession lows, new home construction remains depressed, with additions to supply barely keeping pace with the number of new households. They say several factors may be contributing to the slow construction recovery, including excess supply following the housing boom and persistent labor shortages.  However, they found that the number of homeowners has risen sharply. “Although household growth is returning to a more normal pace, our…

We’ve posted a lot about Opportunity Zones because we believe they have tremendous potential.  A recent article on Bloomberg Tax (who may have realized an important aspect of supply & demand) says that real estate investors are taking advantage of 2017’s tax overhaul’s opportunity zone tax breaks, but then they suggest that they’re “shooting themselves in the foot by propping up prices in already-hot urban markets.”  That so-called rush is due to the fact that at least one essential Opportunity Zone tax law provision (regarding capital gains) expires at the end of 2019.  Go figure? “The end of 2019 marks…

The removal of bureaucratic obstacles is the target of a new initiative recently launched by the Trump Administration.  In late June, the President signed an order creating the White House Council on Eliminating Barriers to Affordable Housing Development, which includes members from eight federal agencies.  A recent article in the Wall Street Journal (reposted on Realtor.com) says the council’s mission is to explore using federal programs to push local governments to soften or eliminate rules that block housing construction, which they point out is an issue that has stymied officials at all levels of government for many years. Interestingly, a…

With Summer fully upon us now is a good time to get up to speed with those deadly freaks of nature that no one wants to see firsthand, tornadoes.  Today’s infographic from Weather.gov goes over the types of tornadoes and how to identify them…..Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to Weather.gov.

What are the fastest growing cities in America?  The U.S. Census Bureau recently put out this quick burst of data showing the population changes of America’s cities with 50k or more people.   The fastest growing city in America (percentage-wise)?  Suburban Phoenix’s Buckeye, Arizona. Click here to read more at the U.S. Census Bureau.

According to the latest U.S. Home Affordability Report (from ATTOM Data Solutions), home prices are outpacing wages in 40% of U.S. housing markets and are less affordable that the historic average in 61% of local markets.  In addition, they report that that median home prices in Q2 were not affordable for average wage earners in 353 of 480 U.S. counties they analyzed.  To come up with their numbers, they determined affordability for average wage earners by calculating the amount of income needed to make monthly house payments (including mortgage, property taxes and insurance) on a median-priced home, assuming a 3%…

The U.S. government is reporting that total construction spending in May was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,293.9 billion, which was 0.8% below April’s revised rate.  Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $498.9 billion in April, 0.6% below April’s revised estimate. Click here to read the full release at Census.gov.

Rental information site Zumper recently released their National Rent Report for July showing that the median national rent for 1-bedroom apartment was $1,220 and the median two-bedroom rent was $1,469.  Year to date, one bedroom prices are up 0.8% and two bedroom prices are up 1.9%.  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…

National apartment listing site ABODO recently reported that the median nationwide rent price for one-bedroom units in July was $1,082 with two-bedroom units coming in at $1,357.  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. “We mentioned last month that the “solid increases we saw in June were on the higher side…

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that pending home sales increased 1.1% in May, which they say was a positive variation from the minor sales dip seen in April.  The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings) decreased to 104.3 in April, with the Midwest being the only region to experience growth. In addition, they reported that year-over-year contract signings declined 2%, marking the 16th straight month of annual decreases. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said lower-than-usual mortgage rates have led to the increase in pending sales for May. “Rates of 4% and, in…