Author: Brad Beckett

Local Market Monitor (a National REIA preferred vendor) recently released their National Economic Outlook for December, 2017 where they share their thoughts on developments taking place in the U.S. economy. National Economic Outlook – December 2017 December 27, 2017 By: Ingo Winzer In previous economic cycles, the performance of the US economy could be measured by the growth or decline in jobs. No more. By measures like corporate profits or GDP, the economy is doing well today, but job growth keeps slowing down. What gives? In a word, computers. The greater use of computers and information technology keeps displacing workers.…

According to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices, over the last 12 months home prices continued rising across the country.  The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, covering all nine U.S. census divisions, reported a 6.2% annual gain in October, up from 6.1% in September. Their 10-City Composite came in at 6.0%, up from 5.7% in September. The 20-City Composite posted a 6.4% year-over-year gain, up from 6.2% the previous month.  Seattle, Las Vegas, and San Diego reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities.  Seattle led the way with a 12.7% year-over-year price increase, followed…

In their most recent Inventory and Price Watch report, Trulia is reporting that that while starter and trade-up home inventory decreased at double-digit rates (-19% and -11.4% respectively), premium homes saw their biggest declines in over than four years, at 5.9%.  In addition, they say that homes are now the most unaffordable since they started tracking in 2012. Click here to read the full report on Trulia.com.

Earlier this year we shared Realtor.com’s hottest markets for 2017 and now we’ve discovered that they have circled-back with an update to not only share how they have fared, but who gained big and who fell hard.  Be sure to take a look at the complete list as there are some surprises as well as some spot-ons. The biggest gainer: Cincinnati, which jumped 53 spots to land at No. 64 on the overall hottest markets list (drawn from the 300 largest metropolitan areas). Like much of the Midwest, Cincinnati offers homes with prices that are actually within reach for many…

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 November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 733k. This is 17.5% higher than October’s revised and is 26.6% higher than November 2016. The median sales price of new houses sold in November 2017 was $318,700. The average sales price was $377,100.  There were an estimated 283k new houses for sale at the end of November representing a 4.6 month supply. Click here to read the full release.

If you haven’t got your Christmas shopping done then you’d better get cracking!  In the meantime, here’s a handy graphic about the origins of Santa Claus and how the current incarnation of him came to be.  We hope you have a safe & happy holiday weekend as well as a Merry Christmas!  And of course, Happy Friday! Hat tip to degreeresearch.org.

One thing that holds rings true when you travel around the country are the differences in the cost of living from place to place (ever been to New York City???).  It is often hard to comprehend but really easy to spot when you pull out your wallet experience it firsthand.  The folks over at Numbeo.com have put together an interesting site where you can enter the name of any U.S. city (or anywhere in the world, for that matter) to see prices on a whole host of items as well as the ability to compare that data with other cities-…

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…