Author: Brad Beckett

The NY Fed’s Center for Microeconomic Data is reporting that total household debt increased by 1.8% in the fourth quarter of 2016, rising $226 billion to reach $12.58 trillion, only $99 billion short of its peak in Q3 of 2008.  The CMD’s latest Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit provides unique data and insight into the credit conditions and activity of U.S. consumers. Based on data from the New York Fed’s Consumer Credit Panel, a nationally representative sample drawn from anonymized Equifax credit data, the report provides a quarterly snapshot of household trends in borrowing and indebtedness, including data about…

The National Association of Realtors recently released a new Aspiring Home Buyers Profile that said affordability was the main hurdle for potential buyers.  According to the report, non-owners said that affordability of homes was the number one reason they don’t currently own.  Specifically, half of those surveyed said that they could not afford to buy, roughly one fifth said they wanted the flexibility of renting, and a small percentage did not want the responsibility of owning a home at all.  The Aspiring Home Buyer Profile is an in-depth examination of the consumer preferences of non-homeowners, defined as those that rent…

Are the big boys on Wall Street taking notice of home flippers?  That appears to be the case as Inman is reporting that Wall Street and some online lenders are bundling loans for home flippers into “fix-and-flip” mortgage bonds, which offer a new avenue for hedge funds, private equity firms and big players to invest in the housing market.  Mortgage bonds (aka mortgage-backed securities) allow large investors to buy mortgages in bulk, which potentially frees up the balance sheets of lenders so they can make more loans.  Hang on…this ought to be interesting. “About one-third of flips were financed in…

We’ve seen similar survey results in many different forms and they always point to the same thing;  people know that real estate is one of the best investments for their money!   The folks over at HouseHunt.com put together this handy infographic to remind us that 27% of Americans believe that real estate is the best fiscal investment in the current economy….indeed.  Interested in getting started in real estate investment?  Click here to find a REIA near you to begin your journey!  Happy Friday!! Hat tip to HouseHunt.com.

The U.S. government is reporting that privately-owned housing starts in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,246,000.  This figure is 2.6% below December’s rate, but is 10.5% higher than one year ago.  Single-family housing starts in January were at a rate of 823k and the rate for units in buildings with five or more units was 421k.  Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,285,000.  This is 4.6% above the revised December rate of 1,228,000 and is 8.2% higher than January 2016.  Single-family authorizations in January were…

Local Market Monitor, a preferred vendor of National REIA, recently released their National Economic Outlook for February where they say their “…assumption for the next three years is that growth in all local markets, with some exceptions, will no longer get better and better but will just continue at the current rate.” National Economic Outlook – February 2017 February 16, 2017 By: Ingo Winzer Home prices are mainly determined by supply and demand, and a lot of the demand is tied to the economy. When the economy adds jobs, demand grows. Our forecast of home prices in local markets estimates…

According to United Van Lines 2016 Movers Study, South Dakota has overtaken Oregon (which held the top spot for the previous three years) as the nation’s “Top Moving Destination.” Vermont is number two followed by Oregon.  This data was part of United Van Lines’ 40th Annual National Movers Study, which tracks customers’ state-to-state migration patterns over the previous year.  Interestingly, retirees are continuing to move to the Mountain and Pacific West, with one in four indicating that they chose to move there for retirement reasons.  United Van Lines has been tracking state-by-state migration patterns annually since 1977.  Their study is…

Data powerhouse CoreLogic recently released their National Foreclosure Report for December 2016 showing that nationwide foreclosure inventory declined 30% and completed foreclosures declined by 40% compared with December 2015.  The number of completed foreclosures in December was 21k, versus 36k one year ago.  Notably this number represents a decrease of 82% from September 2010’s peak of 118,336.  Nationwide there were approximately 329k homes in foreclosure representing 0.8% of all homes with a mortgage – compared with 467k (1.2%) in December 2015.  In addition, the five states with the highest number of completed foreclosures in the 12 months ending in December…

Real estate investment management firm HomeUnion recently released their 2017 National Single-Family Rental Research (SFR) Report which says that 2017 will be a good year with an “unprecedented demand” for single-family rentals.  Their comprehensive study ranks 31 metro areas based on market conditions, rental demand, prices, and other criteria.  Most interesting, they’ve identified metros by an Opportunity Ranking that provides a strong balance of supply& demand fundamentals while offering favorable entry prices and limited threats. “The outlook remains positive for 2017…supply and demand for rental properties nationwide will result in another solid year for investors. The economic recovery will continue to…

According to their latest U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report, ATTOM Data Solutions is reporting that as of the end of 2016 there were over 5.4 million homes seriously underwater in the United States – which is about a million less than one year ago. They represent 9.6% of all U.S. properties with a mortgage and are at the lowest level since ATTOM began tracking in 2012.  The states with highest share of seriously underwater properties were Nevada (19.5%); Illinois (16.6%); Ohio (16.3%); Missouri (14.6%); and Louisiana (14.5%). “Since home prices bottomed out nationwide in the first quarter of 2012,…