Author: Brad Beckett

Rental information site Zumper recently released their National Rent Report for March showing that the median national rent for 1-bedroom apartment was $1,208 and the median two-bedroom rent was $1,437.  Year to date, one bedroom prices are down 6.7% and two bedroom prices are up 3.2%.  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…

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that overall pending home sales increased 4.6% in January, with all four major regions of the country seeing growth.  The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings) declined to 103.2 in January.  However, they also report that year-over-year contract signings declined 2.3%, marking the thirteenth straight month of annual decreases. “Homebuyers are now returning and taking advantage of lower interest rates, while a boost in inventory is also providing more choices for consumers.” Said Lawrence Yun, the NAR’s chief economist. Click here to read the full release at…

According to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices, covering all nine U.S. census divisions, the rate of home price increases reported a 4.7% annual gain in December, down from 5.1% in November. Their 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 3.8% and the 20-City Composite posted a 4.2% year-over-year gain.  The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Indices are one of the leading measures of U.S. residential real estate prices, tracking changes in the value of residential real estate both nationally as well as in 20 metropolitan regions. Click here to read the full report at S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller.

This is only our second post about Generation Z – that group of kids born between the late 90’s and early 2010’s but, according to recent data, it is the largest in American History.  Today’s infographic from ZeroCater says this digitally-savvy cohort differs from Millennials and is charting its own course!  Yes, indeed….Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to Zero Cater.

Mention marijuana smoking and you will still turn a few heads, although not quite in the same manner that you might have 10-20 years ago.  According to Zillow, there are 34 states (and D.C.) in America that allow medical marijuana usage with 10 states (and D.C.) having some form of recreational use.  Zillow rightly points out that they don’t provide legal advice and recommend consulting with a qualified legal advisor before making any final decisions about your property – especially since it is still illegal at the federal level. However, this movement isn’t going away anytime soon, so do yourself…

Local Market Monitor, a National REIA preferred vendor, recently released their National Economic Outlook for February, 2019 where they share their thoughts on developments taking place in the U.S. economy. National Economic Outlook – February 2019 February 26, 2019 By Ingo Winzer The government shutdown affected most of the agencies from which we get data for our monthly commentaries, so this month we’re just providing the basics. Next month we’ll have a full range of options available, including a host of full-year data for 2018.In January, total jobs were up 1.9 percent from the previous year, the best performance since 2015…

A recent “chart of the week” from the Mortgage Bankers Association compared the relationship between the unemployment rate (BLS data) and the mortgage delinquency rate for all loans over the past 30 years.  Very interesting data… “The close tracking between unemployment and mortgage delinquency rates from the period 1988-2008 appears less pronounced than from 2008-2018….Possible factors influencing this change include differences in mortgage product mix and criteria, borrower behavior and recession severity.” Click here to read more at the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The U.S. government is [finally] reporting that privately‐owned housing starts in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of f 1,078,000. This is 11.2% below November’s revised estimate of 1,214,000 and is 10.9% below December, 2017.  Single‐family housing starts in December were at a rate of 758k, which is 6.7% below November’s revised figure of 812k. The December rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 302k.  There were an estimated 1,246,600 housing units were started in 2018 which is 3.6% more than in  2017.  Privately‐owned housing units authorized by building permits in December were at…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently announced it was dramatically reducing the advance notice it provides to public housing authorities (PHAs) and private owners of HUD-subsidized apartment developments before their housing is inspected to ensure it is decent, safe and healthy. HUD’s new standard provides PHAs and private owners of HUD-assisted housing 14 calendar days’ notice before an inspection, a dramatic reduction from the current notice which can frequently extend up to four months.  The notice was part of a wholesale reexamination of REAC’s inspection process that Secretary Carson launched shortly after taking office. HUD will…

In a recent episode of News for Investors, Kathy Fettke takes a look at the reasons Amazon pulled the plug on its HQ2 plan for New York City that left many people stunned – especially in the real estate world.  However, she says there are many people who now think the city lost a golden opportunity for 25k+ jobs & economic growth and, interestingly, suggests there’s a slim chance they were bluffing.  Indeed… “Bloomberg reports that Tom Forte of wealth management company…feels that Amazon may have announced the break-up as a wake-up call for local officials leading the opposition, to…