Author: Brad Beckett

This week S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller released their National Home Price Index which showed that home prices rose 5.5% in September, year over year (up 0.4% from August).  Their 10-City Composite posted a 4.3% annual increase and their 20-City Composite reported a year-over-year gain of 5.1%.  Seattle, Portland, and Denver reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities over each of the last eight months. 12 cities reported greater price increases in the year ending September 2016 versus the year ending August 2016. “The new peak set by the S&P Case-Shiller CoreLogic National Index will be seen as marking a…

In their “first look” report for October 2016, Black Knight Financial Services is reporting that foreclosure starts have hit their lowest level since January 2005.  According to the report, October saw were 56,500 foreclosure starts (lowest in nearly 12 years) as well as a lower prepayment level than September.  Black Knight gathers its month-end mortgage performance statistics from its loan-level database representing the majority of the national mortgage market. Click here to read the full report.

A couple from California had their Thanksgiving week Airbnb vacation in New York City disrupted when tenants in the building where they had planned to stay objected to their presence.  The New York Post is reporting that when the couple arrived at their rented flat they were confronted by a hostile neighbor who demanded to know why they were there and where they were staying.  According to the article, the resident threatened to call the police as well as knock on their door “all night long” in order to voice their opposition.  Interestingly, the very same day they booked their…

Just before Thanksgiving a federal judge in Texas issued an order blocking implementation of Department of Labor rules that would extend overtime regulations to cover millions of additional workers, scheduled to take effect on December 1st.   The judge ruled that, under current law, the USDOL cannot decide which workers are eligible for overtime based on salary levels alone.  The original case was filed last September by twenty-one states and various business groups arguing that 2015’s new overtime rules were violation of the constitution and exceeded congressional authority. Further reading: “Judge blocks Obama rule extending overtime pay to 4.2 million U.S.…

Black Knight Financial Services released their Home Price Index (HPI) report for September showing that home prices were up just 0.1% from August and up 5.4% 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 0.6% of a new national peak.  The report also shows that home prices in 7 of the nation’s 20 largest states and 7 of the 40 largest metros hit new peaks in September. The Black Knight HPI utilizes repeat sales data from the nation’s largest public records data set as well as its market-leading loan-level mortgage…

Are people moving less often?  According to a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau that appears to be the case.  In 2016, the percentage of Americans moving over a one-year period fell to an all-time low of of 11.2%.  In addition, among those who did move, 42.2%  said they moved for a housing-related reason (better home, etc) while 27.4% said they moved for a family-related reason. Interestingly only 20.2% said they moved for employment reasons and around 10% gave some another reason…Indeed, the full report is a data-lover’s dream. Click here to read the full report at Census.gov.

It’s fun to dream a little now and then.  Since it was a short holiday week we thought we’d share Curbed’s list of the 25 most expensive homes for sale in the U.S. market.  While they’re probably not on your list of potential investment properties, they (or similar homes) might be on your wish list when (notice we said when) you make it big.  Curbed’s list contains properties that are all currently & publicly for sale.  The list starts at $195 million…Enjoy. Click here to read more on Curbed.com.

According to the National Association of Realtors, existing-home sales were up for the 2nd month in a row in October coming in at the annualized rate of 5.6 million.  The median existing-home price for all housing types in October was $232,200, up 6.0% from October 2015 – which marks the 56th consecutive month of year-over-year gains.  Inventory at the end of October stood at 2.02 million homes, which is 4.3% lower than one year ago.  There is currently a 4.3 month supply of unsold inventory.   Happy Friday!!!  (and we hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!) Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist,…

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, as of Q3 2016, 1.55% of all mortgages nationwide were in some stage of foreclosure. States such as Florida and California saw foreclosures increase early in the crisis but they have fallen steadily since their peaks with foreclosure inventory rates down to 2.48 percent and 0.60 percent, compared to highs of 14.49 percent and 5.83 percent, respectively. It took Florida a few years to work through its judicial foreclosure backlog and the sheer size of the foreclosure stock, but since 2012, the percentage of loans in foreclosure has fallen quickly as its local housing…

What are the best cities across America for Thanksgiving feasts?  Home-finding site Trulia recently put that question to the test and came up with the three best cities in each U.S. region that are “truly the best places to induce the infamous Thanksgiving food coma.”  To compile this list, they sifted through neighborhood amenities data to find grocery stores, farmers markets, butcher shops, bakeries, etc. and THEN they looked for areas with the highest number of wild turkeys! While their list is a fun and whimsical way to look at Thanksgiving, we believe the best place for Thanksgiving is wherever…