Author: Brad Beckett

We have had several posts about how blockchain technology could revolutionize real estate transactions while at the same time being more secure and saving an incredible amount of money in the process.  A recent article on Bloomberg talks about one county in Ohio that plans to move all 438k of its parcels onto a digital ledger in the next two to three years.  They report the move will cut the time to transfer a title to hours or even seconds and reduce closing costs that typically run thousands of dollars.   In addition, they say sellers, real-estate agents, title companies, lenders…

When you’re researching a property, have you ever wondered, “did someone ever die or get killed here???”  An eerie online site called DiedInHouse.com will, for a small fee, generate a report using millions of records to determine if a death occurred at any valid US address.  Their reports can also contain information about that death as well as any meth lab activity, fires or other data that might be available but unknown to potential buyers (or even the seller). According to an article on Forbes, the service was founded several years ago when its founder went searching for information after…

Bank of America recently released their Fall Homebuyers Insights Report that explores the attitudes, preferences and behaviors of the modern homebuyer. For the first time, their survey also took a closer look at current renters who plan to someday own a home. The report also finds that, among millennials 72% say owning a home is a top priority.  Once again, we’re talking about millennials. Key findings include: Current renters are torn when it comes to the “own vs. rent” debate, with 49% believing renting long-term will be more expensive than buying a home. But, 51% say renting will be just…

So, where will Amazon put their second headquarters?  If you actually knew the answer to that question you could make a killing in the real estate market, however that hasn’t stopped many from speculating.  A recent story in the Wall Street Journal (reposted on Realtor.com) says that there are plenty of real-estate investors poised to buy property in whichever city Amazon chooses and many aren’t waiting for it to be announced.  Indeed…if you own property in one of their 20 finalist cities, and your city gets chosen, you might just hit the jackpot. “Pittsburgh’s selection as a finalist helped boost a…

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that overall pending home sales declined 0.5% in September.  The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings) declined to 104.6 in September as well as reporting that, year-over-year, contract signings are down 1%, marking the ninth straight month of annual decreases.  The Realtors once again say that low inventory is partly to blame for the housing market’s slowdown but buyers might just be waiting for more inventory before they pounce.  Indeed… Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says that even though we are still seeing year-over-year declines, the latest…

The U.S. government is reporting that sales of new single-family houses in September, 2018  were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 553k.  This is figure is 5.5% below August’s revised rate and is 13.2% lower than one year ago.  The median sales price of new houses sold in September was $320k with the average sales price at $377,200.  There were an estimated 327k new houses for sale, representing a 7.1 months supply at the current sale rate. Click here to read the full report at census.gov.

Halloween is just around the corner and with that notion (or potion, if you will), the scary folks over at smartasset came up with their list of the top 25 cities in America for trick-or-treating.  To get their list, they looked at housing density, housing stock, crime rates, percent of residents under 15 and weather.  Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to smartasset.

Have you ever bought a property, sight-unseen?  According to recent data from Redfin, one in five recent homebuyers said they made an offer sight-unseen.  That figure is 35% less than a similar survey conducted last November. Redfin obtained their data from a survey in May of 1,463 people across 14 major markets who had bought a home within the last year. “Now that most homes are staying on the market for longer than a week, there just isn’t as much pressure for buyers to make offers so hastily,” said Jessie Culbert, a Redfin agent in Seattle. “That’s a big change…

According to the latest CoreLogic Single-Family Rental Index (SFRI), single-family rents in August 2018 were up 3.1% year over year. CoreLogic’s SFRI index measures rent changes among single-family rental homes, including condominiums, using a repeat-rent analysis to measure the same rental properties over time. In addition, the report shows that single-family rents climbed steadily between 2010 and 2018. However, year-over-year rent growth has slowed since February 2016, when it peaked at 4.1%, and has stabilized over the last year with a monthly average gain of 2.8%. Click here to read the full report at CoreLogic.com.

Local Market Monitor, a National REIA preferred vendor, recently released their National Economic Outlook for October, 2018 where they share their thoughts on developments taking place in the U.S. economy. National Economic Outlook – October 2018 October 23, 2018 By: Ingo Winzer After the wrenching ups and downs of real estate markets over the last ten years, it’s fair to ask where we are now. Home construction can give us a partial answer. Back in the boom days before 2008, when sub-prime mortgages put an extra 5 million people into a home, builders were putting up units as fast as they…