Author: Brad Beckett

This weekend several states across the fruited-plain will be kicking off sales tax holidays for the back to school season.  Whether you think this is good or bad public policy is irrelevant;  the bottom-line is saving money!  The folks over at the Tax Foundation recently put together this handy chart showing which states are holding sales tax holidays as well as any threshold limits.  Be sure to check out their complete list of all the states and their exemption’s fine-print.  Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to the Tax Foundation! Click here to see what the sales tax is in your state.…

In their mid-year Apartment Market report, RENTCafe is reporting that, across the nation, average rent prices reached $1,465, which is up 3.2% year-over-year.  In addition, they point out that over the first half of 2019 the average national rent was up 2.6%.  However, they do say that rent increases typically slow during the 2nd half of the year.  Indeed… “A growing portion of the population sees the appeal of renting in today’s residential real estate climate. With renting remaining the preferred housing option, the first half of 2019 saw accelerated rates in apartment leasing activity, as well as an effective…

Local Market Monitor, a National REIA preferred vendor, recently released their National Economic Outlook for July, 2019 where they share their thoughts on developments taking place in the U.S. economy. National Economic Outlook – July 2019 July 23, 2019 By Ingo Winzer Month-to-month changes in economic statistics usually tell us nothing about where the economy is headed, there’s too much variability. But a six month comparison might be enlightening at a time when the economy seems to be slowing. In January, the total number of jobs in the economy was up 2.0 percent from the previous year – this happened to…

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that existing home sales were down 1.7% in June, which the NAR says is on a similar pace with 2015 levels.  According to their release, total existing-home sales (completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops) dropped 1.7% from May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.27 million in June.  However, the median existing-home price reached an all-time high of $285,700, up 4.3% from June, 2018 – which marks the 88th straight month of year-over-year gains.   Total housing inventory at the end of June was 1.93 million, representing a 4.4-month…

Led by lumber and plywood, The NAHB’s Eye on Housing is reporting that building materials have seen price declines of 1.6% of the past 12 months, a big difference from just a little over a year ago.  Citing data from the Producer Price Index (PPI), the NAHB says the recent decline “broke a four-month trend of increases.” Click here to read the full report at the NAHB’s Eye on Housing.

We’ve had several posts about Zillow’s Zestimates over the years so this latest development piqued our curiosity. However, a recent episode of Real Estate News for Investors reports that Zillow unveiled a new version of its Zestimate home valuation tool that’s supposed to be much more accurate than previous versions. In fact they claim that the error rate is now less than 2% thanks to the ideas it collected in its recent million dollar contest to make the platform smarter. “Among the improvements that Zillow made to the Zestimate is the use artificial intelligence to analyze photos and automatically…

Short-term rental king Airbnb is fighting back against a New Jersey suburb of New York City over a recent ordinance severely limiting the ability rent out units.  According to the Hudson Reporter, Jersey City, NJ adopted in ordinance in June that city officials say doesn’t ban short-term rentals, but imposes regulations and restrictions on they say is “an out-of-control” rental market that has allegedly created a shortage in long-term rentals and has caused long-term rental rates to rise.  Indeed, Airbnb has deployed canvassers to collect 10k voter signatures to put the issues before voters this November.  Stay tuned. “Local governments…

The U.S. government is reporting that Privately‐owned housing starts in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,253,000, which as 0.9% lower than May’s revised estimate and 6.2% higher than June, 2018.  Single‐family housing starts in June were at a rate of 847k, which is 3.5% higher than May’s revised figure.  June’s rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 396k.  Privately‐owned housing units authorized by building permits in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,220,000. This figure is 6.1% below May’s revised rate and is 6.6% lower than June, 2018.  Single‐family…

Beginning in June and going through November, this year’s hurricane season is well underway.  In fact, Hurricane Barry recently crawled up the Mississippi Valley – a storm that seemingly popped up overnight.  That being said, the folks over at Restoration 1 put together this handy chart about the types of hurricanes and their potential for damage.  While most of the country is spared from a direct hit, the rest of us still feel the effects in one way or another – especially if you live in the Midwest.  Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to Restoration 1.

According to NAR publication Realtor Magazine, a recent survey by blockchain provider Shelterzoom, Realtor commissions are the top reason for consumer dissatisfaction in real estate transactions.  The perhaps “obvious” finding was part of a survey of over 1k consumers to find out their top complaints and concerns in the homebuying process.  In addition, they report that almost 43% of consumers say the agent’s commission is too high along with other cited issues including lack of transparency, conflict of interest, and lack of communication.  Indeed… “I’m not that surprised by these findings, as they have been concerns for as long as…