Author: Brad Beckett

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, in 2014 there were 9,338 meth incidents in the U.S. – that includes laboratories, dumpsites, and seizures of chemicals and glassware.   Alarmingly, most meth is illegally manufactured in neighborhoods all over the country using hazardous chemicals (most commonly available) that can cause toxic fumes, fires & explosions.   There is no doubt you’ve seen or read about first responders and hazmat crews dealing with these situations.   Using data from the DEA, the folks over at Drugabuse.com examined trends and tracked the locations of these labs to come up with some interesting data.  They also…

The Associated General Contractors of America are reporting that construction employment increased in 226 (63%) of 358 U.S. metro areas over the past year.  However contractors in many areas still struggled to find qualified workers which AGC officials say highlights a need for more career and technical education programs.  Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO added the most construction jobs during the past year (13,400), followed by Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL (12,500), Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ (9,600), Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine, CA (9,200); and Sacramento-Roseville-Arden-Arcade, CA (8,500). “Overall, the employment picture for construction workers is positive—the number of metro areas adding construction jobs in the past year was more than…

Rental information site Zumper recently released their National Rent Report for November that showed another month of mixed results across the country with their index falling for the 3rd straight month.  The national average rental rate for one-bedroom units fell 0.9% to $1,126 while the 2-bedroom average fell 0.5% to $1,344.  Zumper’s National Rent Report analyzes rental data from over 1 million active listings across the U.S. to calculate median asking rents for the top 100 metro areas by population. “It certainly seems like many rental markets are slowing down as we head into the winter months where the number of…

Data powerhouse RealtyTrac recently released an analysis showing that men, on average, had a higher rate of foreclosure than women.  Interestingly they discovered that 73 out of every 10k homes with individual male homeowners were in foreclosure as of the end of Q3 2016 while only 72 out of every 10k homes owned by individual females were in foreclosure.  The gap isn’t that large but sure makes for an interesting infographic, nonetheless….Happy Friday! Click here to read the full report on RealtyTrac.com

Comprehensive data powerhouse RealtyTrac recently released their Q3 2016 U.S. Home Sales Report which showed distressed sales (including REO’s. sales of homes actively in foreclosure, and short sales) made up 12.9% of all U.S. single family home and condo sales in the 3rd quarter of 2016.  This number was down 2.1% from the previous quarter and represents the lowest share of distressed home sales since the 3rd quarter of  2007 when it was 12.3%.   The report also revealed that all-cash purchases accounted for 25.9% of all single family home and condo sales.  This was down 1.5% from previous quarter and…

The U.S. Department of Commerce is reporting that construction spending during September, 2016 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.15 trillion, which is 0.4%  lower than August and 0.2% lower than one year ago.  Total construction spending through September was $863.2 billion, which is 4.4% higher than in August 2015.  Breaking this down a little, private residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $453.7 billion in August, 0.5% above August revised estimate of $451.3 billion.  Private nonresidential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $426.0 billion in September, 1% below August’s revised…

The latest Yardi Matrix is reporting that the average U.S. monthly rent dropped $3 in October to $1,216.  The drop, while slight, represented the biggest drop in three years.  Year-over-year, average rents rose 4.4% nationwide.  Yardi says the decline demonstrates a reversion to more “normal” rent growth, which they forecast earlier this year. “The deceleration is far from being a sign that the sector is overheated. Fundamentals in most markets continue to be strong. Occupancies of stabilized properties are not far from cyclical highs, while the growing population coupled with strong job numbers is producing above-trend household formation that leads…

Crowdfund Insider is reporting that the Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced changes to Rules 147 & 504, which are intended to make it easier for intrastate sales activities.  According to the report, the updates will “impact the ability for issuing companies to crowdfund from state residents.”  They reported that the changes were widely expected and received the support of state securities regulators. Click here to read the report on Crowdfundinsider.com. Click here to read Crowdfund Insider’s Fact Sheet

The U.S. Census Bureau recently reported that national vacancy rates in the 3rd quarter of 2016 were 6.8% for rental housing and 1.8%  for homeowner housing.  The rental vacancy rate of 6.8% was 0.5 percentage points lower than the rate in the Q3 of 2015 and virtually the same rate as  Q2 of 2016.  The homeownership rate was 63.5% was not statistically different from the rate in Q3 of 2015 and was 0.6 percentage points higher than the rate in the Q2 of 2016. Click here to read the full report on Census.gov.

Black Knight Financial Services released their Home Price Index (HPI) report for August showing home prices were up 0.3% from July and up 5.3% from one year ago.  Currently at $266K, the U.S. HPI has risen over 33% from the market’s bottom and is now within just 0.7% of a new national peak.  The report also shows that home prices in nine of the nation’s 20 largest states and 9 of the 40 largest metros hit new peaks in August…..Almost a carbon copy of July’s report. Click here to read the full report at Black Knight Financial Services.