Author: Brad Beckett

Student housing with 50-inch flat-screen televisions, hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances, en suite bathrooms and an in-unit washer/dryers?  Yes indeed, student housing has come a long way over the past few years and luxury amenities are no exception.  A recent article on Yahoo Finance discusses recent upgrades in student housing and how these are becoming standard fare at large public universities across the country.  In fact, according to Axiometrics, 47k new beds were coming online in privately owned student housing this Fall. “Privately owned student housing is quickly becoming an integral sector in real estate, and performance metrics demonstrate its…

Well it’s finally here…the ceremonial end of Summer.  Monday is Labor day so here’s a quick infographic with some fun facts and a little history about Labor Day courtesy of Office Depot / Office Max.  Happy Friday…

According to RealtyTrac’s Q2 2016 U.S. Residential Property Loan Origination Report, Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) originations wee up 5% from one year ago – marking the 17th consecutive quarter with an annual increase.  In addition, they report that nearly 1.9 million (1,868,187) loans were originated on U.S. residential properties (1 to 4 units) in the second quarter of 2016, up 26% from the a two-year low in the previous quarter quarter but down 4% from a year ago.  RealtyTrac’s loan origination report is derived from publicly recorded mortgages and deeds of trust collected by ATTOM Data Solutions in…

Even though Summer is almost over it’s still worth taking a look at the 10 Best Cities for Boaters.  Recently, Redfin worked with Discover Boating to determine which major metropolitan areas have the most waterfront property for sale, the longest boating seasons and the largest boating communities.  Redfin data scientists evaluated 35 major metropolitan areas for this report.  To find the percentage of waterfront property in each region, they looked at home sales from July 2011 through June 2015, and compared the number of waterfront listings with the number of listings not on the water. They also pulled sales information…

Digging deeper in to May’s sales numbers, Corelogic finds that distressed sales (including  REO & short sales) accounted for 8.4% of total home sales nationally in May 2016, down 2.1 percentage points from May 2015 and down 1 percentage point from April 2016.  Breaking that down further,  REO sales accounted for 5.4% and short sales accounted for 3% of total sales.  The REO sales share was the lowest for the month of May since 2007.  The short sales share fell below 4% in mid-2014 and has remained in the 3-4 percent range since then. Key takeaways: Of total sales in…

In late August, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced their new FY 2017 Fair Market Rates (FMR’s) which are used to determine payment standards for many housing assistance programs, including Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV) and Project-Based Section 8 programs.  HUD’s legal notice indicates that the proposed FMRs will take effect on October 1, 2016 unless interested parties request reevaluation of their FMRs by September 26, 2016. Click here to zero-in on a given location within the list. Click here to read the official announcement in the Federal Register.

Servicing-industry news site DSNews is reporting that the housing advocacy group whose lawsuit last year sparked a controversial decision by the U.S. Supreme Court allowing disparate impact cases to be brought under the Fair Housing Act has now seen that lawsuit dismissed by a federal judge who ruled that the group failed to meet the Supreme Court’s standard of establishing disparate impact.  The disparate impact issue has become a heated one in housing in the last few years, especially since the Obama Administration passed a rule allowing disparate impact claims—which are allegations made based on neutral practices that may have a…

According to the latest Yardi Matrix average U.S. rents increased by $3 in August to a new high of $1220 – representing the 8th consecutive monthly record.  Rents were up 5% year-over-year (down 50 basis points from July) however there are some signs rent growth is cooling.  Yardi says that fundamentals in most of the country remain strong and although occupancy rates have declined slightly, they remain extremely high with robust apartment demand across the board. “The deceleration in rents is in line with expectations. We forecast 4.5% growth for 2016, so if anything, year-to date increases have surprised on…

Corelogic is reporting that cash sales accounted for 30% of total home sales in May, down 2.5 percentage points year over year from May 2015.  During the first 5 months of 2016 cash sales averaged 33% – representing the lowest start to any year since 2008.  The share of  cash sales peaked in January 2011 when cash transactions accounted for 46.6% of total home sales nationally. Click here to read the full report on Corelogic.

What are the best and worse states for families to lead a richer life?  And by richer we aren’t referring to wealth but rather all of the opportunities and factors that contribute to an increased quality of life.  The folks over at GoBankingRates.com recently crunched the numbers for all 50 states (and DC) to identify which provided the best income, housing, healthcare and educational opportunities.  They analyzed twelve factors that were split up among five categories;  Jobs & Income, Housing, Lifestyle, Healthcare and Safety. “There really is no ‘one size fits all’ formula for those trying to decide the best…