According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 142k in August, 2024 with the unemployment rate coming in at 4.2% (7.1 million people). The BLS says both of these numbers are higher than one year ago. Indeed… Click here to read the full report at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Author: Brad Beckett
The U.S. government is reporting that total construction spending in July, 2024 was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2,162.7 billion, which is 0.3% lower than June’s revised number. However, July’s revised estimate is 6.7% higher than one year ago. Residential construction came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $941.6 billion in July, which is 0.4% lower than June’s revised estimate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.
We follow inflation pretty closely here on our news site. It’s an important indicator that ripples through the entire economy. A recent chart from Statista illustrates those CPI categories that have been hardest hit by inflation over the past few years. As always, stay safe and have a Happy Friday!!! “…there’s no way around the fact that consumer prices in the United States have risen sharply over the past three years, as several factors came together to form a perfect storm of inflationary pressures.” Hat tip to Statista.
Rental information site Zumper recently released their latest monthly National Rent Report for August, 2024. According to their data, median rent for 1-bedroom apartments was $1,534 (up 1.6%) and $1,915 (up 2.7%) for two-bedrooms. Be sure to check out their entire list of the top 100 metro areas. “In an era where the amount of new supply is shattering records, it’s remarkable to see vacancy rates holding steady this year…Strong renter retention alongside our growing national rent index underscores the robust demand present in the U.S. market.” Said Zumper CEO Anthemos Georgiades. Click here to read the full report…
We reported back in the Spring that the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to combat and deter money laundering in the U.S. residential real estate sector by increasing transparency. Now, according to American Land Title Association (ALTA), the U.S. Treasury Department’s FinCEN issued a final rule requiring certain people involved in real estate closings and settlements to report information to the agency about all-cash residential transactions nationwide involving legal entities and trusts. The effective date will be December, 1, 2025 and a fact sheet can be found by clicking here. ALTA…
According to the latest Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI), home prices home prices rose 5.7% between the Q2 2023 and Q2 2024 – which they say is the 3rd Consecutive Slowdown in Quarterly Growth. House prices were up 0.9% compared to Q12024. In addition, the FHFA’s seasonally adjusted monthly index for June was down 0.1 percent from May. The FHFA HPI is the nation’s only collection of public, freely available house price indexes that measure changes in single-family home values based on data from all 50 states and over 400 American cities that extend back to…
The National Association of Realtors is reporting that pending home sales dropped 5.5% in in July, 2024. The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings) came in at 70.2 in July – the lowest reading since the index began tracking in 2001. “A sales recovery did not occur in midsummer…The positive impact of job growth and higher inventory could not overcome affordability challenges and some degree of wait-and-see related to the upcoming U.S. presidential election.” Said the NAR’s Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun. Click here to read the full report at the National Association of Realtors.…
According to ATTOM Data’s Q3 2024 Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report, there were nearly 1.4 million residential properties in the U.S. sitting vacant. That figure represents 1.3%, or one in 76 homes, across the nation – roughly the same as in the second quarter. ATTOM also says there were 222,934 residential properties in the process of foreclosure in Q3 2024, down 6% from the second quarter and down 29.3% from the third quarter of 2023. In addition, they report that there were around 7k zombie foreclosures (pre-foreclosure properties abandoned by owners) in Q3. That figure is down 20.2% from…
The latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index reported a 5.4% annual increase for June, 2024. Their 10-City Composite increased 7.4% and their 20-City Composite increased 6.5%, year-over-year. “Home prices and inflation continue to factor into the political agenda coming into the election season…Before accounting for inflation, home prices have risen over 1,100 percent since 1974, but have slightly more than doubled (111%) after accounting for inflation.” Said Brian D. Luke, Head of Commodities, Real & Digital Assets at S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI). Click here to read the full report at S&P Dow Jones Indices.…
This Monday, September 2nd is Labor Day. The annual 3-day weekend marks the unofficial end of Summer and ushers in the cool Fall season – although Fall doesn’t officially begin until September 22nd. Today’s graphic gives us the “Reader’s Digest” version of Labor Day facts. As always, stay safe and have a Happy Friday and Labor Day weekend!!! “Numerous states recognized the holiday in the 1880s, but it didn’t become an official national holiday until President Grover Cleveland signed it into law in June 1894.” Hat tip to Reader’s Digest.