Author: Brad Beckett

For over 5 years the National Association of Realtors has issued their annual Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report.  This report provides insights into differences and similarities across generations of home buyers and sellers. It’s good data…these are your customers!  Happy Friday!!! “One consistent finding for the last several years of reports has been that buyers 37 years and younger (Millennials/Gen Yers) is the largest share of home buyers at 36 percent. Sixty-five percent of these buyers were also first-time home buyers. The largest cohort in America is growing up and becoming more traditional in their buying habits.” Hat…

The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’ FRED database recently posted an interactive graph showing how many new homes were sold within 7 major price ranges going back 16 years.  FRED offers a wealth of economic data and information updated regularly and gives 24/7 access to regional & national financial and economic data.  Be sure to click on the interactive map below for more detail. Click here to see the full data-sets at FRED.

The U.S. Government is reporting that privately owned housing starts in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,350,000.  This figure is 5% higher than April’s revised estimate and is 20% higher than May, 2017.  Single-family housing starts in May were at a rate of 936k, which is 3.9% higher than April.  May’s rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 404k.  Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,301,000.  This number is is 4.6% lower than April’s revised rate but is 8% higher than…

The NAHB reports that industry experts have become concerned about the affordability of rental housing in America, and how difficult it has become to address the problem through new construction.  To that end, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) conducted joint research to find out how much government regulation (red tape) adds to the cost of building new multifamily housing. The results show that over 90% of multifamily developers typically incur hard costs of paying fees to local jurisdictions – such as applying for zoning approval and when local governments authorize construction. …

eCommerce behemoth Amazon.com recently narrowed down their list of finalists for their second headquarters (aka HQ2) to 19 U.S. cities and Toronto, Canada.  They determined their list using the following 6 factors;  median home prices, five-year home price appreciation, affordability, average school test scores, crime rate, and property taxes.  To better understand this information, Data powerhouse ATTOM Data Solutions recently took that list and broke it all down to show the rankings of the 19 U.S. cities as well as how each fared. “It’s striking that 16 out of the 19 markets have median home prices that are lower than…

By now, almost Americans are aware of the growing amount of student debt many folks are carrying.  In fact, according to a report from LendingTree, the total U.S. student loan debt reached $1.5 trillion earlier this year, up around $600 billion 10 years ago.  They also cite data from the Pew Research Center revealing that 37% of adults under 30 have at least some student debt.  No doubt about it, all this debt has a big impact on whether someone is able to buy a home or chooses to rent. “Incurring student debt isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and the…

A new study from 24/7 Wall Street identified what they say are the 50 worst cities in America to live in.  To come up with their list they looked at data on 551 U.S. cities with a population greater than 65k.  Then, they looked at a whole range of quality of life variables that included schools,  local economy, job market, public safety and even its climate.  They said that cities that perform well on these measures are more likely to attract new residents while those that don’t tend to drive residents away. Oh, and their number one worst city;  Detroit. …

The professional association Counselors of Real Estate (CRE) recently issued their annual Top Ten Issues Affecting Real Estate for 2018-2019.  In a break with previous years, their new list separates issues by current and long-term concerns.   Topping their list of current concerns was “Interest Rates and the Economy” while long term they view “Infrastructure” as a major issue.  Indeed…their entire list is worth a strategic look. “Leading the list of current issues is Interest Rates and The Economy.  As interest rates rise, the commercial and residential real estate markets are already experiencing changes – decreasing demand for commercial property, and…

What are the 10 calculations every real estate investor ought to know?  Today’s infographic from FortuneBuilders gives investors a comprehensive guide to the most commonly used investment property calculations in order to discover the best type of real estate calculator for your business – everything from After Repair Value (ARV)  to Gross Yield!  Indeed…….Happy Friday!!! “Investing in a property can be exciting, but taking the time to properly analyze your deal is paramount. In some cases, what may seem like a good deal at first glance may actually cause financial pitfalls long-term.” Hat tip to FortuneBuilders.

According to the latest U-Haul Migration Trends Report, Houston, TX, tops the list for as the number one destination for the 9th consecutive year.  In fact, Houston saw a 5% increase since last year in one-way truck rentals.  The top-10 cities in their 50-city list are Houston, Chicago, Orlando, Brooklyn, San Antonio, Las Vegas, Austin, Philadelphia;, Charlotte and Columbus.  U-Haul bases its rankings on rankings on the total number of arriving one-way U-Haul trucks into a city during the past calendar year.   Be sure to check out their entire list of the top-50 cities to see where people are moving.…