Author: Brad Beckett

In their latest America’s Rental Housing report, Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies says that a decade of unprecedented growth in rental housing may be coming to an end.  They report that fewer new renter households are being formed, rental vacancy rates have risen, and rent increases have been slowing;  while at the same time, renter demographics are changing and nearly 21 million households continue to pay more than 30 percent of their income for rent.  This is good data and certainly something look at, but is by no means the last word on the subject as we have…

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that existing homes sales surged 5.6% in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.81 million units.  The median existing-home price for all housing types in November was $248k, up 5.8% from November 2016 ($234,400) and marks the 69th straight month of year-over-year gains.  Total housing inventory at the end of November dropped 7.2% to 1.67 million existing homes available for sale (9.7% lower than one year ago) and represents a 3.4-month supply unsold inventory. Click here to read the full release.

Puerto Ricans are moving to Central Florida in droves and they’ll need places to live.  According to a recent story on Curbed.com, more than 239k Puerto Ricans have arrived in Florida since October (citing data from Florida’s State Emergency Response Team​) making it the largest evacuation on this scale in Florida’s history.  They are settling mostly in the Orlando area.  In addition,  the Census Bureau says that around 320k Puerto Ricans already live in central Florida.   A post-Maria diaspora may bring an additional 114k to 213k annually over the next two years to a state already dealing with an…

The U.S. Government is reporting that privately owned housing starts in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,297,000.  This number is 3.3%  above October’s revised estimate and is 12.9% higher than November, 2016.  Single-family housing starts in November were at a rate of 930,000; this is 5.3% above October’s revised figure of 883k. The November rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 359k.  Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,298,000.  This is 1.4% below October’s revised rate of 1,316,000, but is 3.4%…

In their 2018 construction economic forecast, the Associated Builders and Contractors predicts there will be stability in the construction industry’s economy and expansion of nonresidential construction.  Their chief economist, Anirban Basu, said that while construction project backlog and contractor confidence remain high heading into 2018, he warns there are risks as a number of potential cost increases could come into play next year: “With wage pressures building, healthcare costs surging and fuel prices edging higher, inflation is becoming more apparent,” Basu said. “That could translate into some meaningful interest rate increases in 2018, which all things being equal is not…

Rental information site Zumper recently released their National Rent Report for December showing that the median national rent for 1-bedroom apartment was $1,233 (up 4.2%) and $1,392 (almost no change) for a 2-bedroom apartment.  San Francisco continues to dominate their National Rent Index of 100 cities at $3,390/$4380 with Ft. Wayne, Indiana rounding out the bottom at $490/$550.  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…

Where are drivers sitting in their cars the longest and shortest across the nation?  That’s the focus of today’s infographic from the Census Bureau which looks at America’s average one-way commuting times for the 10 best and worst cities. We just hope you’re not sitting in your car, stuck in traffic, reading this in on your phone…..Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to the Census Bureau.

Real estate marketplace Zillow has an interesting take on the current affordable housing crunch.  In a recent release, they say that the boom in single-family rentals has contributed to a crunch in affordable housing inventory for-sale, which has limited options for lower & middle-income buyers.  They report that the number of single-family homes that are rented grew by 5 million between 2006 and early 2017, and that these homes tend to be in the less expensive end of the housing market.  They cite analysis showing around 270k fewer homes are sold each year compared to 2006, or about 5% of…

In their most recent Loan Performance Insights Report, CoreLogic says that, across the nation, 5% of mortgages were in some stage of delinquency in September 2017, which is 0.2 percentage points less than it was in September 2016.  The foreclosure inventory rate was 0.6%, which was also down 0.2 percentage points from 2016.  In addition, CoreLogic says that both August and September experienced the lowest foreclosure inventory rate since June 2007 when it was also 0.6%. “While natural hazard risk was elevated in 2017, the economic fundamentals that drive mortgage credit performance are the best in two decades,” said Frank…

In a recent podcast, the RPOA’s Brian Hamrick speaks with Hunter Carlile, who, at the age of 44, lost his corporate job and had to figure out how he would support his wife and three kids.  Since then he has bought/sold or rented over 200 homes – primarily through tax lien investing.  Hunter shares his tax lien & investing strategies as well as how to find distressed properties, fix them up, and either sell or hold them as rentals.  He also discuss the ins/outs of tax lien investing and what pitfalls investors need to be aware of. Click here to…