Author: Brad Beckett

For the month of April, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index reported a 5.5% annual gain.  Their 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 4.9% and their 20-City Composite posted a 5.7% year-over-year gain.  Seattle led the way with a 12.9% year-over-year price increase, followed by Portland at 9.3%, and Dallas with 8.4%.  Seven cities reported greater price increases in the year ending April 2017 versus the year ending March 2017. “The question is not if home prices can climb without any limit; they can’t. Rather, will home price gains gently slow or will they crash…

The National Association of Realtors said real estate is “the foundation of wealth building for the middle class and a critical link in the flow of goods, services and income for millions of Americans.”  Indeed, and since it accounts for 19 percent of the nation’s GDP, it’s clearly a major driver of the U.S. economy.  Happy Friday!

A new report from Trulia suggests that falling home inventory levels are strongly correlated to the length of time on the market and have possibly led to an effect of “hurried buying.”  Trulia’s quarterly Inventory and Price Watch, which looks at the nation’s 100 largest metros, found that inventory levels fell 8.9% over the past year and are now 20% lower than they were 5 years ago.  In addition, they say more first-time buyers have been pushed out of the market due to upward pricing pressure from a lack of inventory – which in itself, correlates to fewer homes on…

Black Knight Financial Services recently released their April, 2017 Home Price Index (HPI) reporting that U.S. home prices were up 6% year over year in April and up 1.2% for the month.  The HPI value for March was $275k – all time high! Eighteen of the nation’s 40 largest metros  hit new peaks – Atlanta, GA; Austin, TX; Boston, MA; Charlotte, NC; Cincinnati, OH; Columbus, OH; Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; Houston, TX; Kansas City, MO; Los Angeles, CA; Nashville, TN; Portland, OR; San Antonio, TX; San Diego, CA; San Francisco, CA; San Jose, CA; and Seattle, WA.  The Black Knight…

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that a recent surge in homicides & shootings in parts of Chicago’s South and West sides has not hurt real estate investor interest in those neighborhoods.  The data was from an analysis presented at a recent forum where it was revealed that apartment buildings (in particular) remain in demand. “…one reason investors generally are drawn to low-income neighborhoods is that about a third of the apartment residents in those areas are using vouchers funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to pay a portion of their rent. For investors, those vouchers guarantee…

In a recent report, Redfin discovered that one in three recent home buyers made an offer sight-unseen.  The report surveyed over 3k people in 11 metropolitan areas (over the past year) who bought or sold a home, attempted to do so or plan to do so soon.  They sought to better understand the perspectives and experiences of people who were recently in the market to buy/sell a home, and to reveal potential market trends.  Once again we see millennials popping up as an important element of the data. Their key findings: 33% of people who bought a home in the…

Who doesn’t love a good backyard bbq?  It’s the one space where we can cut loose, have friends over, turn up the music and fire up the grill!  Of course, leave it to the good folks over at Realtor.com to find out where you’re likely to attend (and possibly throw) the best backyard parties.  Their team crunched the numbers on over 350 metropolitan areas across the country to find the ones with roomy lot sizes, cool outdoor features, high sales of outdoor summer goods (grills, smokers, pool supplies, outdoor furniture, games, etc.) and, of course, lots of sun-filled days. “We are…

We’re starting to hear more & more not only about the wave of retiring baby boomers but meeting the needs of those seniors living at home.  The folks at howmuch.net recently ran the numbers to show that while costs continue to climb, they are becoming more manageable AND moving toward stay at home care (away from facilities).  These numbers speak loudly as do investors when when they help meet the needs of an aging population choosing to live independently, as long as they can. “While senior care is expensive, there are several choices that provide flexibility. The trend is toward…

In a recent Rental Property Owner Association podcast, Brian Hamrick interviewed Marty Green, who made millions of dollars Rehabbing and Flipping Houses, and then lost it all during the Great Recession.  “After licking his wounds for about a week,” he started his own property management company and in the process flipped the traditional property management style upside down.  He discusses how he took everything he dislikes about traditional property management and created a company that does things very differently. Marty also shares colorful stories about managing rough properties and confrontations he’s had with past tenants – including a story of…

The U.S. Census Bureau recently released their latest population estimates that show that America’s median age continues to rise.  In fact, their estimates show the nation’s median age (the age where half of the population is younger and the other half older) rose from 35.3 years on 4/1, 2000, to 37.9 years on 7/1 , 2016.  Residents age 65 and over grew from 35 million (12.4%) in 2000, to 49.2 million (15.2%) people. “The baby-boom generation is largely responsible for this trend,” said Peter Borsella, a demographer in the Population Division. “Baby boomers began turning 65 in 2011 and will…