Author: Brad Beckett

Director of Education & Outreach, National Real Estate Investors Association

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…

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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…

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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…

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Using data from the 2016 American Community Survey, the NAHB’s Eye on Housing recently illustrated the growing numbers of renter-occupied housing stock across the nation.  According to their findings, renters occupied 43.8 million residences in 2016 with 34.8% of those living in single-family homes – showing the greatest increase among all rental structure types. Click here to read the full story on the NAHB’s Eye on Housing.

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Spring can’t come soon enough but unfortunately it won’t be here until March 20th.  With that in mind, statistical data chart site statista recently put together a list of America’s coldest cities.  Coming in at the top of the list Fairbanks, Alaska with minimum average temperatures in its coldest month clocking in at -16.9° F….the also had the coldest on record at -66° F!   No surprises here as all of the cities on their list are located above 45° latitude. Click here to read the full story on Statista.com.

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The National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales were down 3.6% in December, however the year ended with overall sales up 1.1% – the best in 11 years.  The median existing-home price for all housing types in December was $246,800, up 5.8% from December 2016 and marking the 70th straight month of year-over-year gains.  Inventory at the end of December was down 11.4% at 1.48 million homes for sale, representing a 3.2-month supply. “Existing sales concluded the year on a softer note, but they were guided higher these last 12 months by a multi-year streak of exceptional job…

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Do you consider yourself an entrepreneur?  Are you exhibiting any of the 10 signs that might reveal you have an “entrepreneurial mindset?”  The good folks over at FortuneBuilders say that the one thing that separates the good/not-so-good entrepreneurs from those that are great is having an entrepreneurial mindset.  Happy Friday!!! “If you’re a savvy business person who knows a thing or two about the industry, that’s great. But is your mindset one that is driven by client engagement, authenticity, increased visibility, and leadership? If not, it may be time to shift your mindset towards that of a true entrepreneur.” Hat…

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How much debt do Americans have?  The folks over at howmuch.net recently put together an eye-catching map showing the average debt-load of Americans ranked by their respective state.  They utilized survey data after asking Americans how much debt they had – which included items such as a mortgage, credit cards, student loans, car notes and even medical bills.  Not surprisingly Hawaiians topped the list with an average debt load of $869,250. “There really isn’t a clear pattern on the map: there are low-debt states sitting right next to high-debt states.” Top 10 States Where People Have the Most Debt: Hawaii: $869,250…

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Black Knight is reporting that the overall delinquency rate (representing loans 30 or more days past due, but not yet in active foreclosure) rose 3.47%  to its highest level since early 2016.  In addition, hurricane-related delinquencies represented 142,700 severely delinquent loans (20 percent of all such delinquencies nationwide). Click here to read the full report on BKFS.com.

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Recently, National Apartment Expert Anthony Chara sat down with the RPOA Podcast to discuss how to increase your wealth exponentially with apartments & multi-family properties.  Chara has invested in over 1,700 units worth over $45 Million in value.  On this episode, he shares with Brian Hamrick how his apartment investments weathered the great recession, how he finds and funds his opportunities, the types of due diligence he does on the property and the market, and why its so important to know whether the city & state is tenant or landlord friendly.  He also shares the challenges he’s faced when taking…

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