Author: Brad Beckett

Attom data solutions (parent of RealtyTrac) recently released their Q2 2017 U.S. Home Sales Report which revealed that the share of all-cash sales exhibited its first annual increase since Q1 of 2013.  All-cash sales represented 28.9% of all single family and condo sales in Q2 2017 – which is up from 27.3% in Q2 2016.  Those major metro areas with the highest share of all-cash sales were Raleigh, NC (57.4%); Miami (46.2%); Detroit (45.2%); Oklahoma City (44.6%); and Tampa-St. Petersburg (43.2%). The report also highlighted that the average home seller price gain was $51k in Q2 2017, representing an average…

According to a new report from the Pew Research Center, the total number of rental households in the U.S. has reached a record high of 36.6%;  a 50-year high.   Data also shows that the total number of U.S. households grew by 7.6 million between 2006 and 2016, but remained flat over the same period. This was due in part to lingering effects of the housing crisis. The increase in U.S. renters over the past decade does not necessarily mean that homeownership is undesirable to today’s renters. Indeed, in a 2016 Pew Research Center survey, 72% of renters said they would…

How much income is needed to pay the rent in America’s largest cities?  SmartAsset recently gave it a shot by looking at the average rent for a 2-bedroom apartment from over 200 cities across the country and then compared it to HUD’s affordability threshold.  Next, instead of using HUD’s 30% income rule, they chose 28% as the percentage of annual income residents should not exceed when spending on housing.  To make their list even more interesting, they whittled it down to the 15 largest U.S. cities.  It’s not surprising that San Francisco tops out the list….but, notice that the top…

In a recent RPOA podcast, host Brian Hamrick interviews Bert Heyboer, President of S&G Property Management Company, who has been investing in & managing rental properties since 2003.  Bert shares his experiences from the trenches, which includes the most evil woman on Earth, the Cat Woman, and difficult conversations with tenants who can’t pay their rent.  He is also passionate about the legislation affecting rental property owners, and chairs the RPOA’s government affairs committee where he works closely with local & state lawmakers to prevent bad bills from happening. Click here to learn more about the Rental Property Owner Association.…

The U.S. Census Bureau recently reported residential vacancies and homeownership rates for Q2 2017.  The rental vacancy rate in the second quarter was 7.3% – which is 0.6 percentage points higher than one year ago.  The homeownership rate in the second quarter was 63.7% – which is 0.8 percentage points higher than one year ago.  Good data nonetheless. Click here to read the full report on Census.gov.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index reported a 5.6% annual gain for May, 2017.  Their 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 4.9% and their 20-City Composite posted a 4.9% year-over-year gain.  Seattle once again led the way with a 13.3% year-over-year price increase, followed by Portland at 8.9%, and Denver with a 7.9% increase.  Nine U.S. cities reported greater price increases in the year ending May 2017 versus the year ending March 2017. “Home prices continue to climb and outpace both inflation and wages,” says David M. Blitzer, Managing Director and Chairman of the Index…

A recent deep-dive survey by RealtyShares found that over half of millennials they polled were interested in investing in real estate.  The data also found that the public generally lacks awareness regarding the potential of real estate investing, however the findings of this poll suggested that a real estate investing resurgence may be on the horizon.  Happy Friday!! Click here to read the full report on ReatyShares.

The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development are reporting that sales of new single-family houses in June, 2017 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 610k.  This is 0.8% higher than May’s rate and is 9.1% than one year ago.  The median sales price of new houses sold in June 2017 was $310,800. The average sales price was $379,500.  There was a 5.4 months supply at the end of June. Click here to read the full release.

Recently we posted an article about Zillow’s new Instant Offers program that seemingly gives sellers a way to quickly sell their property to investors via their platform.  Well, since then over 32k real estate agents from around the country have signed an online petition opposing programs like Zillow’s.  The program is currently in a pilot mode and only offered in Orlando and Las Vegas and Zillow wouldn’t say if it plans to expand it. The Orlando Sentinel recently reported on the matter and spoke with the petition organizer as well as reaching out to the NAR and Zillow. “This is…

Is “Wall Street” the new big landlord on the block?  The Wall Street Journal recently reported (via Realtor.com) about large investors transforming suburban neighborhoods by buying up single-family homes to become rental properties.  The appearance of these large companies in neighborhoods has upended local sales & rental markets and caused spikes in rental rates.  They point out that the rental-home business has traditionally been dominated by small investors and mom & pops with the big firms focusing on commercial properties, large multi-families, offices, etc.  However, that appears to have changed in the wake of the housing crisis. The buying spree…