Author: Brad Beckett

A new initiative being developed by Airbnb, in partnership with Fannie Mae and several lenders, would allow homeowners wishing to refinance their homes the ability to count, as income, funds generated from their properties listed on the homesharing site.  According to a recent article on Curbed, Airbnb will supply a Proof of Income statement that hosts can now include when applying with Quicken Loans, Citizens Bank, and Better Mortgage in order to  refinance an existing mortgage. “This initiative was developed with Fannie Mae to identify new ways of recognizing home-sharing income, making it possible for homeowners to maximize their investment…

Driving…..We all do it and we all hate getting stuck in traffic.  Some cities are better than others and some make the list for being the most congested.  The folks over at Statista recently crunched the numbers to come with America’s top 10 most congested cities.  They report that 86% of commutes in the U.S. are done by car with annual vehicle miles surpassing 3.2 trillion! Click here to read the full story on Statista.com.

In a recent episode of Real Estate News for Investors, Kathy Fettke talks about a corner of the hemp market that she says is “shaking up the construction industry.”  It’s called hempcrete (that’s right hemp + concrete) and it’s a green building material that dates back to the Roman times that is starting to become popular in the U.S.  And, before you ask, industrial hemp contains less than .03% THC (the stuff that gets you high)….marijuana typically contains between 5% and 35% THC. “Not only is hemp used to create a concrete-like building material, it’s also a fast-growing, sustainable plant.…

In their most recent National Delinquency Survey, the Mortgage Bankers Association are reporting that the delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties increased to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.17% of all loans outstanding at the end of Q4, 2017.   The delinquency rate was up 29 basis points from the previous quarter, and was 37 basis points higher than one year ago “The FHA overall delinquency rate in the fourth quarter of 2017 is higher compared to the fourth quarter of 2016 in all but three states.  FHA borrowers appear to be impacted not only by the storms…

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) recently reported that housing affordability remained essentially flat throughout 2017. According to the report, 59.6% of new and existing homes sold between the beginning of October and end of December were affordable to families earning the U.S. median income of $68k –  slightly up from Q3 and almost the same as Q4 of 2016.  The data was part of the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI), which is a measure of the percentage of homes sold in a given area that are affordable to families earning the area’s median income during a specific…

National apartment listing site ABODO recently reported that the median nationwide rent price for one-bedrooms dropped from $1,046 to $1,044, marking the first decrease in six months.  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. Syracuse, NY, had the largest rent drop in the country, with rents sliding nearly 11% through January. Santa Ana, CA, also saw a significant decline of…

America is a growing country with boundless opportunity and seemingly limitless potential. Recently, the U.S. Census put out their annual population estimates for the new year.  According to their data, the U.S. population was up 5.9% since the 2010 Census.  And, remember, all those people need a place to live!  In addition, we’ve had several posts about where American’s are moving. Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to the U.S. Census.

According to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices, home prices increased 6.2% in November, up 0.1% from October.  Their 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 6.1% and their 20-City Composite posted a 6.4% year-over-year gain.  Seattle, Las Vegas, and San Francisco reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities. Click here to read the full report on spindices.com.

Last year we posted about a study showing that eliminating rent control policies actually reduces crime.  Now, a recent article on Bloomberg suggest that “rent control does more harm than good.” and may actually decrease the amount of available affordable housing.   Economics 101 (supply & demand) says that when a good is in limited supply its cost naturally rises.  How anyone possibly conclude this rule doesn’t apply to housing is incomprehensible. “…rent control causes housing shortages that reduce the number of low-income people who can live in a city..” Click here to read the full article on Bloomberg View.…

We’ve had a few post about the seriousness of service animals and their impact on the housing industry but recently we came across someone who may have crossed the proverbial line with their particular comfort animal.  According to FOX News, United Airlines recently denied boarding to a woman and her emotional support animal, a peacock, at Newark Airport.  Not sure, but we may have seen it all now. A spokesperson for United further tells Fox News that the traveler(s) with the peacock were told they would not be able to bring it on board. “This animal did not meet guidelines…