Author: Brad Beckett

The latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index reported a 6.1% annual gain for August, 2017.  Their 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 5.3% and their 20-City Composite posted a 5.9% year-over-year gain.  Seattle once again led the way with a 13.2% year-over-year price increase, followed by Las Vegas at 8.6%, and San Diego with a 7.8% increase.  Nine U.S. cities reported greater price increases in the year ending August 2017 versus the year ending July 2017. “Home price increases appear to be unstoppable,” says David M. Blitzer, Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee…

The U.S. Census Bureau is reporting that national vacancy rates in the Q3 2017 were 7.5%  for rental housing and 1.6%  for homeowner housing.  The rental vacancy rate of 7.5% was 0.7 percentage points higher than one year ago and not statistically different from the rate in the Q2 2017 (7.3%). The homeowner vacancy rate of 1.6% was 0.2 percentage points lower than one year ago and not statistically different from the rate in Q2 2017 (1.5%). In addition, the homeownership rate of 63.9% was not statistically different from the rates in the Q3 2016 (63.5%) as well as Q2…

In their recent podcast, Western Michigan’s RPOA says get ready to be scared with Real Ghost Stories from the perspective of Rental Property Owners, Homeowners, and Tenants.  Whether you believe in Ghosts or not, sometimes strange and inexplicable things happen that make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. This episode’s guests today talk about creaking doors, strange footsteps, the feeling of being watched, and the sensation of seeing an apparition of someone long dead!  Happy Halloween! Click here to hear more at the Rental Property Owners Association (RPOA) website.

According to ATTOM Data solutions’ 2017 U.S. Residential Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report there are nearly 1.4 million (1,367,793) residential properties (with 1 to 4 units) vacant in the as of the end of Q3 2017.  This number represents 1.58%  of all residential properties in the U.S. and is down only slightly less than one year ago.  The report also said that “zombie foreclosures” decreased 22% and vacant bank-owned properties decreased 48 percent, both compared to one year ago. “Zombie foreclosures have dwindled dramatically over the last four years as a supply-starved housing has soaked up even some of…

Renting to people with disabilities is something that all landlords should be prepared to address.   With that in mind, a recent study from ArborLoanExpress’s Alex Chatter says that tenants with special needs are a growing segment for small property owners, which have traditionally not seen a large share in this market.  In fact, between 2010-2015, tenants reporting some form of difficulty has risen 3% annually. Disability is a multidimensional concept where medical challenges could potentially be attenuated by external elements. Factors such as society, technology and culture are helping individuals with disabilities function with a greater level of ease…

Over 50 million households in America have a dog….That’s a lot of barking.  With that in mind, the folks over at Realtor.com crunched the bones (we meant numbers) to come up with America’s Best Cities for Dog Lovers.  They looked at the percentage of listed homes with dog amenities, availability of pet services (dog walkers, etc), veterinarians per capita, dog ownership rates and several other factors for 150 of the nation’s largest metros. The top 10 dog loving cities are: Austin, TX Reno, NV Salinas, CA Denver, CO Portland, OR Seattle, WA Oklahoma City, OK Tucson, AZ Ann Arbor, MI…

A recent report from Freddie Mac says that affordability and changing attitudes about renting are helping to grow demand for more rental housing. In addition, the study confirms that many current American renters are satisfied with their current arrangements and see it as an affordable option into the future.  In fact, those who believe that renting is more affordable has actually increased from 68% to 76% since March, 2017, the date of their last renter survey. “Our rental survey confirms what we’re seeing in the market — that a growing number of individuals across demographic groups view renting as more…

Halloween is almost here!  The spooky folks over at Zillow crunched the candy, uh, we mean numbers to come up with the top 20 best cities for “trick-or-treating.”   To get their list, Zillow looked at home values, proximity to each other, the crime rate and share of the population under 10 years old.  The data is combined to reveal the cities where trick-or-treaters can get the best candy in the least amount of time.  Happy Friday and Happy Halloween! Hat tip to Zillow.

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 September, 2017 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 667k.  This number is 18.9% above August’s revised rate and is 17% higher than one year ago.  The median sales price in September was $319,700 and the average sales price was $385,200.  There was an estimated 279k new houses for sale representing a 5 months supply at the current sales rate. Click here to read the full report.

Come on, admit it; when you’re researching a property, have you ever wondered if someone was killed there or maybe even died at that address?  An online site called DiedInHouse.com will, for a small fee, generate a report using millions of records to determine if a death occurred at any valid US address.  Their reports can also contain information about that death as well as meth lab activity, fires and other data that may be available but unknown to potential buyers. According to an article on Forbes.com, the service was founded four years ago when its founder went searching for…