Author: Brad Beckett

In a recent episode of Real Estate News for Investors, Kathy Fettke discusses the recent Dodd-Frank reform measure that passed Congress and was signed into law by President Trump on May 24th.  The reform legislation dismantles parts of the original Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protect Act that was signed into law in 2010. It was meant to prevent another financial collapse like the one in 2008, but many people feel it went too far, especially for smaller banks and credit unions that were subjected to the same strict rules as their larger Wall Street counterparts. And it’s the…

According to the latest Zillow Market Report, the median U.S. home value rose 8.7% to $215,600, representing the fastest year-over-year increase since June, 2006.  Zillow says this gain is part of a general upward trend that started in early 2015 when values were climbing at less than 5% year-over-year.  In addition to rising values, Zillow says the median U.S. rent grew by 2.5% (year-over-year) to $1,449 a month and has been growing by more than 2% since September 2017.  Be sure to click on the interactive map below for more detail. Click here to read the full report on Zillow.com.

The U.S. government is reporting that sales of new single-family houses in April, 2018 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 662k, which is 1.5% below March’s revised number.   However, April’s rate was 11.6% higher than April 2017.  The median sales price of new houses sold in April 2018 was $312,400 and the average sales price was $407,300.  There was an estimated 300k new houses for sale at the end of April representing a 5.4 months at the current sales rate. Click here to read the full release on Census.gov.

Monday, May 28th is Memorial Day.  To many, the three-day weekend will mark the unofficial start of summer with swimming pools all across the fruited plain opening to excited children.  However, the solemn significance of the day is often forgotten.  It is a national day of remembrance for those men & women who, while wearing the uniform of this great country, paid the ultimate sacrifice defending freedom & liberty around the globe.  Today’s infographic reminds us that Memorial Day is about more than just cookouts and 3-day weekends, it’s about a path paved by others to enjoy the freedoms we…

We have had several posts on REI2Day about important legal issues brought to the public’s attention by the Pacific Legal Foundation – including warrantless searches of apartments, 4th amendment rights and property takings.  In a recent opinion article on FoxNews.com, Ethan Blevins, an attorney with PLF, says that a “smug” city of Seattle is telling mom & pop landlords that criminals are welcome but your rights not so much. In essence, Seattle recently passed an ordinance called the The Fair Chance Housing Ordinance that forbids landlords from checking criminal backgrounds or considering prior criminal convictions when selecting tenants.  In other…

The American Automobile Association (aka AAA) is predicting that 42 million Americans will travel over the 2018 Memorial Day weekend.  This is nearly 5% more than last year and the highest in over 12 years.  AAA cites the strong economy and growing consumer confidence as reasons behind the increase. “The highest gas prices since 2014 won’t keep travelers home this Memorial Day weekend,” said Bill Sutherland, senior vice president, AAA Travel and Publishing. “A strong economy and growing consumer confidence are giving Americans all the motivation they need to kick off what we expect to be a busy summer travel…

Using data from the American Community Survey and the FHFA index, the National Association of Realtors Economist Outlook recently analyzed the gains and losses of property value over a period of time.  Their research shows the states with the highest estimated median property values in 2017 were Hawaii ($637,892), District of Columbia ($605,756), California ($522,431), Massachusetts ($396,992), and Colorado ($342,967).  Those states with the lowest estimated median property values in 2017 are Alabama ($141,714), Oklahoma ($137,387), Arkansas ($129,902), West Virginia ($122,791) and Mississippi ($118,019). Be sure to click on the interactive map below. Click here to read the full story…

Where are the smaller cities poised to become powerhouses??  Leave it to Realtor.com who crunched the numbers to discover the small & midsized metros that are “poised to hit it big.”  They looked at data from the 200 largest metros (excluding the 15-largest) and examined population, income, home prices, building permit growth, employment figures; and cultural amenities.  And, they included only one metro per state to ensure geographic diversity.  Interestingly, most of these cities are located south of the Mason-Dixon Line. “We’ll see small cities continue to be growth centers,” says Chris Porter, chief demographer at John Burns Real Estate…

The Wall Street Journal (via Realtor.com) recently reported that mortgage rates have risen to their highest levels since 2011, which they say signals the end of a long period of “ultracheap” loans and has ushered in a new era of higher-rates.  In citing data from Freddie-Mac which showed rates quickly rising to 4.61% (up from 4.55%), they say it marks a clear departure from a long period of declining interest rates that began during the financial crisis.  Interestingly, data show that interest rates were at their lowest in late 2012 at 3.31% and were even as low as 3.99% last…

The latest HouseCanary quarterly Canary Rental Index (CRI), reports that the nationwide effective gross yield (EGY) is remaining steady at 7.7%  – which HouseCanary says effectively means that investors can expect a return on their investment of around 7.7%.  The CRI measures Effective Gross Yield, defined as the current fair market annualized rent minus estimated property tax, divided by the current fair market home value for all non-owner occupied single-family properties in the U.S.  They examine how rental yield varies from state to state by pinpointing the effective gross yield (EGY) that investors can expect on average in any given…