Author: Brad Beckett

Rental information site Zumper recently released their National Rent Report for February showing that the median national rent for 1-bedroom apartment was $1,212 and the median two-bedroom rent was $1,442.  Year to date, one bedroom prices are down 2.5% and and two bedroom prices are up 3.7%.  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…

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that overall pending home sales declined 2.2% in December. The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings) declined to 99.0 in December. However, year-over-year contract signings dropped 9.8%, making this the twelfth straight month of annual decreases. Interestingly, the NAR said, so far, the partial government shutdown has not caused any obvious damage to home sales. “The stock market correction hurt consumer confidence, record high home prices cut into affordability and mortgage rates were higher in October and November for consumers signing contracts in December,” said Lawrence Yun, the…

Tuesday, Feb 5th, 2019 is Chinese New Year – the year of the pig.  The contributions of Chinese-Americans to the greatness of this country have been incredible.  If you’re fortunate enough to live in an area of the country with a sizeable population of ethnic Chinese, be sure to find & join in the celebrations….Happy Friday!! And Happy Chinese New Year! Hat tip to unfamiliarchina.com.

According to various reports, football is America’s favorite sport – more popular than basketball, baseball and soccer combined.  To that end, WalletHub looked at over 240 U.S. cities with at least one college or professional football team in order to find the best and worst cities for football fans.  They ranked these cities using 21 metrics, each graded on a 100-point scale – with 100 representing the most favorable conditions for football fans. The top ten cities are: Pittsburgh, PA Boston, MA Green Bay, WI Dallas, TX New York, NY Miami, FL New Orleans, LA Oakland, CA Philadelphia, PA Seattle,…

A recent report by the Tax Foundation gives the ins and outs of Opportunity Zones as we start rolling through the new year.  They remind readers to consider “what we know, as well as what we don’t.”  Interestingly, they point out that the program will attract at least some investment to low-income census tracts designated as zones but they suggest these investments may come at an unspecified economic cost.   Going forward they suggest policymakers should emphasize data collection in order to measure the the program’s effects – good and bad. “…future rounds of opportunity zone regulations will likely include…

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 5.2% annual gain in November, down from 5.3% in October. Their 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 4.3% and the 20-City Composite posted a 4.7% 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.

We have posted before about how lucrative it can be to have short-term rentals in a Super Bowl city.   The basic laws of supply and demand (especially) kick-in which can be a boon to your bottom line.  A recent article on Forbes.com talks about the upcoming Super Bowl in Atlanta, GA and how Airbnb hosts are planning to accommodate an estimated 9k+ guests from 59 countries and 49 states – now that’s quite a surge!  Forbes says that 23% of Atlanta hosts will be on the Airbnb platform for the first time, with a typical host standing to make about…

What type of rental can make more money per square feet than housing units?  It’s one where you have renters, but they don’t live in the property.  On a recent episode of the Rental Property Owners & Real Estate Investing Podcast, Brian Hamrick talks with Scott Meyers, who shares with listeners about his this asset class can be a great way to create massive cash flow without all of the downside associated with residential rental units.  Meyers is a well-known expert on the subject of Self-Storage investing and will also be one of the featured speakers at the RPOA’s Annual…

A new publication from the Federal Reserve takes a look at student loan debt and its correlation with low homeownership rates among young adults.  According to the report, while overall U.S. homeownership fell approximately 4 percentage points in the wake of the financial crisis, the decline in homeownership was even more pronounced among young adults. The point out that 45% of household heads ages 24 to 32 in 2005 owned their own home, while just 36% did in 2014—a 9 percentage point drop. “While many factors have influenced the downward slide in the rate of homeownership, some believe that the…

Once again Zillow has expanded their home buying/selling program in several more U.S. markets in 2019.  According to HousingWire, Zillow will be soon be buying & selling homes in Miami, Minneapolis-St.Paul, Nashville, Orlando, Portland, Dallas, Raleigh (NC), Houston, and Riverside (CA).  As we have previously posted, Zillow’s Offers Program pays cash to buy houses from qualified sellers.  After the sale is complete (the seller gets to choose a closing date) the home will then be relisted.  The program is already in operation in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Denver and Charlotte, South Carolina.  Indeed…. “With today’s announcement, we are excited to continue to…