Author: Brad Beckett

Apparently “untethered from family and enticed by new job opportunities,” Zillow says young adults are more mobile today than they have been in nearly 60 years.  In fact, the percentage of young adults (ages 25-34) who have lived in their current home for less than two years rose to 45.3% in 2017  – which is 11.6 percentage points higher than it was in 1960.  Indeed… “Today’s young adults are of course different in many ways from their counterparts in 1960. They tend to be more educated and are more likely to be renters, for example. And renters in general move…

According to new research from ATTOM Data Solutions, 74% of the U.S. housing markets is unaffordable for average wage earners searching for a median-priced home.  So, where are the areas that are affordable for average wage earners?  Using data from their Q3 2019 Home Affordability Report, they found the best and worst places for home affordability in America.  They determined affordability for average wage earners by calculating the amount of income needed to make monthly house payments (mortgage, property taxes and insurance, etc) on a median-priced home, assuming a 3% down payment and a 28% maximum “front-end” debt-to-income ratio.  Indeed……

The free market is a wonderful thing but, as we’ve now seen in California, the politicians have put so many restrictions on providing affordable housing that a backyard shed in San Diego is renting for just over $1k per month.  According to the listing on Zumper (as reported by FOX News) a 200 sq. foot “studio” (looks like a shed to us), located in one of San Diego’s most walkable neighborhoods,  is renting for $1,050 per month!  The rental comes with plumbing, bathroom & shower, kitchen (with a small refrigerator and stove), laminate flooring and even has air-conditioning….but no parking…

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that pending home sales increased 1.6% in August, which they say was a welcome rebound after a prior month of declines.  The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings) increased to 107.3 in August, up 1.6% from July. In addition, they reported that year-over-year contract signings were up 2.5%. “It is very encouraging that buyers are responding to exceptionally low interest rates,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “The notable sales slump in the West region over recent years appears to be over. Rising demand will reaccelerate home…

National Fire Prevention Week runs October 6-12th, 2019 and one of the best ways to celebrate is to check all your properties’ smoke alarms for functionality and age.  If you find one that’s more than 10 years old, it’s time to replace it.  And when you do, National REIA recommends both ionization and photoelectric technologies be used in all your properties.  You should also have a working & tested carbon monoxide detector and fire extinguisher in each unit as well.  In this case, an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure!  Today’s infographic also reminds us to “Plan…

Is it getting much harder to profit on house flipping today?  According to CNBC’s Diana Olick, home prices are high, there are very few distressed or foreclosed properties available to buy cheaply, and the competition among investors is fierce.  Interestingly, citing data from ATTOM Data Solutions, she says the dollar volume of financed flip purchases in Q2 2019 jumped 31% annually, from $6.4 billion to $8.4 billion.  This is the highest level since Q3, 2006. “We have been seeing a steady incline in total financed purchase dollar volume every quarter since about 2015 and now we are reaching pre-recession dollar…

The number of renters in the U.S. reached 109 million in 2017 (34% of the population) which was due to a lot of factors including affordability and lack of available inventory.  The NAHB’s Eye on Housing recently crunched the numbers (from the 2017 American Community Survey) to examine the types of rental structures people live in and their spatial distribution.  Specifically they broke it down into 4 categories:  Detached Rental Housing, Attached Rental Housing, and Large Rental Housing (Buildings with 50 plus units). Click here to read the full report at the NAHB’s Eye on Housing.

National apartment listing site ABODO recently reported that the median nationwide rent price for one-bedroom units in October was $1,063 with two-bedroom units coming in at $1,340.  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 on ABODO.com.

The U.S. government is reporting that total construction spending in August was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,287.3 billion, which was 0.1% above July’s revised rate.  Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $507.2 billion in August, 0.9% higher than July’s revised estimate. Click here to read the full release at the U.S. Census Bureau.

Rental information site Zumper recently released their National Rent Report for October, 2019 showing that the median national rent for 1-bedroom apartment was $1,241 (down 0.7%) and the median two-bedroom rent was $1,485 (down 0.6%).  Year to date, one bedroom prices are up 2.1% 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…