Author: Brad Beckett

The U.S. Census Bureau is reporting that total construction spending in December was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.2 trillion, which is .07% higher than November’s revised estimate.  In addition, December’s number is 2.6% higher than one year ago.  Private residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $526.1 billion in December, which is 0.5%  higher than revised November’s number.  Nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $437.1 billion in December, which is 1.1% higher than November’s estimate of $432.1 billion. Click here to read the full report on Census.gov.

Rental information site Zumper recently released their National Rent Report for February showing that the median national rent for 1-bedroom apartment was $1,243 and $1,391 for a two-bedroom.  Interestingly, the median national rent for one-bedrooms 8.8% higher than one year ago.  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 in the month prior to publication…..be…

With an all new format to start the year; the latest Yardi Matrix says U.S. multifamily rents rose $1 in January to $1,362.  Looking at it on a year-over-year basis, rents increased 2.8% through January and were up 20 basis points from December. After two years of consistent, above-trend increases, rent growth has remained within a fairly narrow band over the past year, with a high of 3.0% and a low of 2.4%. Rent growth tends to be flat through the winter, so the next few months should provide a clue as to the type of growth we will…

The National Association of Realtors recently said that pending home sales were up slightly in December for the 3rd consecutive month, according to their Pending Home Sales Index.  In addition they predict that in 2018, existing-home sales and price growth will moderate primarily due to the new tax law’s expected impact in areas with high-cost housing markets. “Pending sales edged up in December and reached their highest level since last March…Another month of modest increases in contract activity is evidence that the housing market has a small trace of momentum at the start of 2018…Jobs are plentiful, wages are finally…

What makes up a first-time home buyer?  The National Association of Realtors recently put together this handy infographic using data from their 2017 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.  So, what do they look like? Age – 32 years old Household income – $75k Cost of home purchased – $190k Down payment amount – 5% Student loan debt – $29k Type and location – Single-family home in a suburban area Happy Friday!! Click here to read the whole story.

A recent article in Forbes pointed to a recent report from HouseCanary that a found a direct link between parts of the U.S. with cold winter weather and markets where EGY (effective gross yield) for rental investors remained high while the seasonal home price growth stabilized or declined.  With that in mind they came up with the top 50 rental markets in cold climates for Q1 of 2018.  “These markets experience a seasonal slowdown yet still offer, “relatively high Effective Gross Yield (EGY) potential for investors, giving them an opportunity to “buy low and rent high,” notes Alex Villacorta, Executive…

The U.S. Census Bureau is reporting that national vacancy rates in the Q4 2017 were 6.9%  for rental housing and 1.6%  for homeowner housing.  The rental vacancy rate of 6.9% was virtually unchanged from the rate in the fourth quarter 2016 (6.9%) and 0.6 percentage points lower than the rate in the third quarter 2017 (7.5%). The homeowner vacancy rate of 1.6% was 0.2 percentage points lower than the rate in the fourth quarter 2016 (1.8%) and virtually unchanged from the rate in the third quarter 2017 (1.6%).  The homeownership rate of 64.2% was not statistically different from the rates…

CoreLogic recently released their Market Pulse Report for January, 2018 where they provide a lagging indicator snapshot of the U.S. housing market through November, 2017.  Among their findings, new home sales are at their highest since 2008, a third of all homes sold for their list price or even more and average mortgage payments ticking upward.  It’s good data to sift through. “U.S. home prices have risen more than 6 percent over the last year but that’s only part of the challenge for home shoppers, who face mortgage payments that have risen about 12 percent year over year because of…

Black Knight Financial Services recently released their November, 2017 Home Price Index (HPI) report that says that U.S. home prices were up 6.44% year over year in November and up 0.27% for the month.  The HPI value for August was $283k (another new peak). In fact, ten of the 20 largest states and 12 of the 40 largest metros hit new home price peaks in November.  The Black Knight HPI utilizes repeat sales data from the nation’s largest public records data set, as well as its market-leading, loan-level mortgage performance data, to produce one of the most complete and accurate…

The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently reported that sales of new single-family houses in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 625k.  This is 9.3% lower than November’s revised estimate, however it is 14.1% higher than December 2016.  There were an estimated 608k new homes sold in 2017 which is 8.3% higher the 2016’s total.  The median sales price of new houses sold in December 2017 was $335,400 and the average sales price was. $398,900.  Inventory of new houses for sale at the end of December was 295k, representing a…