According to their “advance” estimate, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis is reporting that America’s real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 2.8% in Q3 2024. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Author: Brad Beckett
Brad Beckett
Director of Education & Outreach, National Real Estate Investors Association
The U.S. government is reporting that the national vacancy rates for Q3, 2024 were 6.9% for rental housing and 1% for homeowner housing. The national homeownership rate for Q3 2024 was 65.6%. In addition, approximately 89.9% of the housing units in the United States in Q3 were occupied and 10.1% were vacant. Owner-occupied housing units made up 58.9% of total housing units, while renter-occupied units made up 30.9% of the inventory. Vacant year-round units comprised 7.8% of total housing units, while 2.3% were vacant for seasonal use. Once again, these numbers are almost identical with the previous quarter. Click here…
According ATTOM Data, commercial foreclosures increased 15% from September and 48% from one year ago. The report says commercial foreclosures remain elevated and are still considerably higher than pre-pandemic figures. Starting in June 2023, foreclosure numbers saw a sharp increase, peaking at 752 in May 2024, before settling at 695 in September. They say this recent surge suggests renewed financial stress or changes in commercial real estate dynamics. The states with the most commercial foreclosures in September Included California, New York, and Florida. Click here to read the full report at ATTOM.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 12k in October, 2024 with the unemployment rate coming in at 4.1%. As always, the BLS says employment in government continued its growth trend in October (up 40K) with an average monthly gain of 43k over the past 12 months. Click here to read the full report at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The National Association of Realtors is reporting that pending home sales rose 7.4% in in September, 2024. The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings) came in at 75.8 in September. However, the NAR says to expect a slower rate of growth over the next couple years. “After two years of sluggish home sales in 2023 and 2024, existing-home sales are forecasted to rise to 4.47 million in 2025 and more than 5 million in 2026…During the next two years, expect a slower rate of growth in home prices that’s roughly in line with the…
We recently posted a compare & contrast chart for the 2024 Presidential Race. With that in mind, this Tuesday, November 5th is election day all across America. Every four years on the first Tuesday, following the first Monday in November America chooses its next President (or reelects the current one). However, as the folks over at Kids Discover point out, it is actually a little more complex than just casting a vote for your favorite man or woman to be the next leader of the free-world. The U.S. constitution contains a mechanism called the Electoral College in which electors are…
We’ve had a lot of posts related to the cost of living and how it affects real estate and quality of life. With that in mind, a recent report from Realtor.com reveals their list of the top 10 states with the lowest cost of living. The say Americans are still feeling walloped with high prices every time they open their wallet—at the grocery store, gas pump, to pay for housing, and beyond. To get their list, they examined the latest regional price parities data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which measures the differences in price levels across states and…
The NY post is reporting that a Florida couple has been arrested and charged with stealing properties from homeowners using an amazingly easy scam that costing less than $1 to pull off. According to reports, the couple allegedly forged quitclaim deeds on homes in Tampa and Miami-Dade County. In addition, the report says that most states have little on the books to make these kind of thefts more difficult. Simply put, a quitclaim deed is a document that transfers ownership of a property with the owner’s consent. However, crooks can simply forge signatures and walk away with the title for…
The American Land Title Association (ALTA) is reporting that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in mid-October renewed its Geographic Targeting Orders (GTO) requiring U.S. title insurance companies to identify the natural persons behind shell companies used in non-financed purchases of residential real estate. In addition, ALTA reminds readers that FinCEN began issuing Geographic Targeting (GTOs) orders in January, 2016 requiring title insurance companies to file reports & maintain records concerning all-cash purchases of residential real estate above a certain threshold in select metropolitan areas of the United States. Key points: The terms of the GTOs are effective through April…
We have run a few posts about a website that allows you to see if someone died in the house or property you’re about to buy. However a recent report from CNBC says that while real estate agents are required to point out physical or material defects in a property, it depends on the state whether they have disclose if someone died there. Some homes are considered “stigmatized properties,” or dwellings that have been “psychologically impacted by a past or suspected event on the property, but has no physical impact of any kind,” according to the National Association of Realtors.…
