Author: Brad Beckett

The New York Post is reporting that a slow-motion crisis is unfolding in Florida’s condo market which is threatening to upend the state’s image as a haven for retirees and reasonably priced beach living.  They report that Florida’s aging condo buildings desperately need repairs, and state officials are forcing them to assess (and pay for) those long-overdue upgrades.  Owners of the state’s older condos are bracing for steep special assessments, while racing to sell their homes and receiving only tepid buyer response. “You’re going to see a massive reduction in the value of these buildings based on these giant special…

According to the ADP National Employment Report for February, 20245, private sector employment increased by 77k jobs and annual pay was up 4.7% year-over-year. The ADP National Employment Report is an independent and high-frequency view of the private-sector labor market based on the aggregated and anonymized payroll data of more than 25 million U.S. employees. “Policy uncertainty and a slowdown in consumer spending might have led to layoffs or a slowdown in hiring last month…Our data, combined with other recent indicators, suggests a hiring hesitancy among employers as they assess the economic climate ahead.”  Said ADP chief economist Nela Richardson.…

According to ATTOM Data’s Q1 2025 Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report, there were nearly 1.4 million residential properties (1,372,396) in the U.S. sitting vacant in Q1, 2025. That figure represents 1.3%, or one in 76 homes, across the nation – roughly the same as in the 4th quarter and up slightly from one year ago.  ATTOM also says there were 212,268 residential properties in the process of foreclosure in Q1 2025, down 1.5% from the Q4 2024 and down 12.6% from the 1st quarter of 2024.   In addition, they report that there were around 7,093 zombie foreclosures (pre-foreclosure properties…

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 151k in February, 2025 with the unemployment rate coming in at 4.1% – about the same as January.  Marking a big change previous reports, the BLS says employment in government declined in February (down 10k) after seeing an average monthly gain of 38k in 2024.  Indeed… Click here to read the full report at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The U.S. government is reporting that total construction spending in January, 2025 was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2,192.5 billion, down 0.2% from December’s revised number.  However, January’s estimate is 3.3% higher than one year ago.  Residential construction came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $932.7 billion in January, which is 0.4% lower than December’s revised estimate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

We’ve seen a lot of recent posts about where people are moving to & from. Today’s graphic from Realtor.com shows us the top 15 states with the fastest growing populations. They say last year the U.S. saw its population surge at its highest rate since 2001, overwhelmingly driven by an influx of immigrants. Indeed…. Stay safe and have a Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to Realtor.com

Rental information site Zumper recently released their latest monthly National Rent Report for February, 2025.  According to their data, median rent for 1-bedroom apartments was $1525 (up 2.9%) and $1,905 (up 3.7%) for two-bedrooms. Be sure to check out their list of the top 100 metro areas. Click here to read the full report at Zumper.

According to the latest Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI), home prices were up 4.5% from December 2023 to December 2024, after rising 0.4% in December.  The FHFA HPI is the nation’s only collection of public, freely available house price indexes that measure changes in single-family home values based on data from all 50 states and over 400 American cities that extend back to the mid-1970s. “U.S. house prices grew at a slightly higher rate in the fourth quarter after three straight previous quarters of weaker appreciation…The price growth accelerated during the quarter as the inventory of…

On a recent episode of the Rent Perfect podcast David Pickron talks with Jonna Weber of the Boise Real Estate Investor Network (Boise REIN) about her expertise in marketing strategies, avoiding rental scams, managing long-term rentals in Idaho and how landlords can protect their investments.  Interestingly, you may recall that Jonna had David on her Podcast back in January. Click here to listen.

According to Census data recently crunched by the NAHB’s Eye on Housing, single-family built-for-rent construction posted year-over-year declines in Q4 2024 as a higher cost of financing crowded out development activity. They say the slowdown is similar to the deceleration of multifamily construction in recent quarters.  In addition they say investor demand for single-family homes, both existing and new, has cooled with higher interest rates. Click here to read the full report at the NAHB’s Eye on Housing.