Author: Brad Beckett

Data powerhouse ATTOM Data Solutions (parent company of RealtyTrac) recently released their Midyear 2017 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report revealing that there were 428,400 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings (default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions) over the first half of 2017.  This figure is 20% lower that one year ago.  Banks foreclosed (REO) on 169,124 properties over this period, which is down 14% from one year ago. “With a few local market exceptions, foreclosures have become the unicorns of the housing market: hard to find but highly sought after,” said Daren Blomquist, senior vice president with ATTOM Data Solutions. “More…

Crowdfund Insider recently reported about SEC Commissioner Michael Piwowar’s (former acting chairman) remarks at a recent Heritage Foundation event where he provided a “unique glimpse into the world of the SEC.”   He spoke with Heritage’s Dave Burton, who had this to say: “Commissioner Piwowar’s remarks were cause for optimism,” said Burton. “The SEC appears poised to take steps to improve the regulatory environment for entrepreneurs, to democratize access to high return investments and to enable Fintech innovation. I am glad to see that the SEC is thinking seriously about how it can remove regulatory impediments to financial innovation, entrepreneurial capital formation…

Who doesn’t love a good home flip?  The folks over at ATTOM Data Solutions recently took a hard look at the first quarter numbers for 2017 and came up with an interesting chart that shows (among other things) that 69% of all flips in Q1 were done by “mom & pops” – meaning those that only did one flip.  Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to ATTOM Data Solutions.

The U.S. Government is reporting that privately owned housing starts in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,215,000.  This is 8.3% above the May’s estimate of 1,122,000 and is 2.1% higher than June 2016. Single-family housing starts in June were at a rate of 849k, which is 6.3% higher than May’s number.  June’s rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 359k.  Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,254,000. This is 7.4% above May’s rate of 1,168,000 and is 5.1% higher than June.…

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that foreign buyers purchased $153 billion in U.S. real estate over the past year, representing a 49% increase from the previous reporting period.   The top five countries with buyers were China, Canada, United Kingdom, Mexico, and India.  Foreign buyers typically paid $302,290, which was 9% more than the 2016 survey. Around 10% of foreign buyers paid over $1 million, and nearly half of the transactions were cash purchases.  The data is from the NAR’s 2017 Profile of International Activity in U.S. Residential Real Estate. “The political and economic uncertainty both here and abroad…

Local Market Monitor (a National REIA preferred vendor) recently released their National Economic Outlook for July, 2017 where they share their thoughts on developments taking place in the U.S. economy. National Economic Outlook – July 2017 July 19, 2017 By: Ingo Winzer Jobs in retail sales were flat again in June. What’s going on here? I’ve been harping on this for a few months but the picture still isn’t clear. Is the lack of growth in retail jobs an indicator that growth is slowing down? Or does it just mean that we’re buying more stuff on-line? In dollars, retail sales…

According to a new report from leading data analytics provider HouseCanary, the single-family rental market is strong and has maintained Effective Gross Yields that average 8% nationwide.  The data is from HouseCanary’s most recent Rental Investment Index (HCRI Index) which allows single-family rental home investors, lenders, and renters benchmark the health of the single-family for-lease market by individual state, ZIP code and block.   Twenty-eight out of 50 MSAs in the country surpassed the nationwide average Effective Gross Yield of 8%. Rochester, NY topped the list with a yield of 17.2%, while Sunnyvale/Santa Clara, CA was at the bottom with 3.9%.…

Bloomberg is reporting that big name money investors are snapping up foreclosed properties in Puerto Rico as the U.S. territory teeters on what could become one of the nation’s worst ever financial debit crisis.  According to the story, bidding wars have even broken out for delinquent loans while at the same time the property conditions are rapidly deteriorating (albeit with stunning views of the Caribbean).  Bloomberg says it’s a “tell-tale sign that the market is getting frothy” and that making a profit could be elusive when you consider that the PR government is mired in debt, the economy has been contracting…

Hoarding has been around in many forms since the beginning of time.  Most recently, reality TV has shed light & attention on the problem while many landlords have stories they will readily share about that “one tenant.”  In that vein, the New York Times recently featured an interesting article entitled “Helping Those Who Hoard” that focused on apartment buildings in New York City and how property managers are dealing with this important issue.  Specifically, they cite the phenomenon as a mental illness which has to be carefully addressed – which is why the NY Times reports that many building managers…

Black Knight Financial Services recently reported that America’s underwater borrower population has fallen below two million for first time since 2006.  They found that rising home prices have both decreased the number of borrowers underwater on their mortgages while increasing the amount of “tappable or lendable” equity available to homeowners.  The data is from their First Look report for May 2017, which is taken from month-end mortgage performance statistics derived from its loan-level database representing the majority of the national mortgage market. According to the report: The number of underwater borrowers declined by 16% in the first three months of…