Author: Brad Beckett

This week S&P/Case-Shiller released their monthly Home Price Indices for February which showed that home prices increased 5.3%, year-over-year (virtually unchanged from last month).  In addition, their 10-City Composite is up slightly at 4.6% for the year and their 20-City Composite’s year-over-year gain is 5.4%. ”Home prices continue to rise twice as fast as inflation, but the pace is easing off in the most recent numbers…The year-over-year figures for the 10-City and 20-City Composites both slowed and 13 of the 20 cities saw slower year-over-year numbers compared to last month” “Mortgage defaults are an important measure of the health of…

Spending on remodeling & home improvement projects will rise through 2016, according to a new study recently released by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.  Their Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) study predicts that home remodeling spending will increase 8.6% by the end of 2016 and then grow to 9.7% by the first quarter of 2017. “Ongoing gains in home prices and sales are encouraging more homeowners to pursue larger-scale improvement projects this year compared to last with permitted projects climbing at a good pace,” says Chris Herbert, Managing Director of the Joint Center. “On the strength of…

Tech news site TechCrunch says “technology is finally eliminating geography as a barrier to real estate investing”  They suggest that new methods of gathering information and buying & selling have eliminated geographic barriers and has completely disrupted the industry. “Technology has enabled radical changes in how and where people invest in real estate. The old adage that real estate investing is a local business no longer holds true…..Hands-off investing, uninhibited by geography and free of the headaches associated with property management, has completely disrupted real estate investing forever.” Click here to read the full story on TechCrunch.

Here’s something interesting to think about after coming off the weekend;  Realtor.com recently rattled off the “top 10 cities where lazy folks can thrive” in an attempt to highlight those places where people appreciate a healthy work-life balance tilted toward “life.” To determine these leisurely locations, they used the following criteria: Number of restaurants that offer delivery Number of day spas and massage therapy centers The percentage of homes on realtor.com that have a hot tub, sauna, or steam room Average hours of sleep Average work hours per week Average cost of a cleaning service The number of available service apps such as Handy…

We see this time and time again…….A recent poll commissioned by Gallup said that Americans believe real estate is the best option for long-term investments, ranking just ahead of gold and stocks.    Happy Friday… Click here to read the Gallup Poll. Hat tip to Keeping Current Matters for the infographic.

According to new data from Axiometrics, the student housing market saw strong performance in March with high leasing velocity and annualized effective rent growth exceeding 2%. In fact they say: “As leasing velocity continues to improve, so does rent growth. Effective rent levels averaged $617 per bed for Fall 2016 as of March, up 2.4% from Fall 2015 averages. After annual effective rent growth averaging around 2% for most of the 2015-16 leasing season, the increased growth is a positive sign for the sector.” Regarding inventory, they predict that a moderating supply this Fall will help drive a strong performance.…

The Zika virus has been growing in coverage across the United States.  To date, the CDC is not reporting locally contracted infections.  In other words, only those who have traveled recently to known areas of infection have been diagnosed. Due to the mild flu-like conditions of Zika in healthy adults, it is considered very likely that it is being under-reported. Which means the virus could be spreading across the country, with little recognition of the fact by authorities. The Zika virus is transmitted by a type of the Aedes mosquito. While this mosquito is more prevalent in the southern half…

A recent study from BuildZoom highlights an interesting phenomenon;  cities that are the most expensive are the least expansive, thus affecting the value of the homes therein.  In other words, cities that allow themselves to grow outward  remain more affordable versus the ones the don’t – for various reasons (political, geographic, etc.) Key (interesting) takeaways: As a whole, U.S. cities maintained a constant pace of outward expansion into rural territory since the 1950s, but behind the facade two groups of thriving cities are behaving very differently. The first group of cities substantially reduced the pace of outward expansion beginning in…

The U.S. government today released a mixed-bag of building activity data for March 2016.  According to the report housing starts fell 8.8% below February’s numbers but were still 14.2% higher than one year ago.  March 2016’s seasonally adjusted annual rate was 1,089,000.  In addition, new applications for building permits were down 7.7% from February to a seasonally adjust rate of 1,086,000. Click here to read the full report. See also: US housing starts total 1.09M in March vs. 1.17M expected, CNBC 4/19/16 Housing starts are in, and economic experts couldn’t disagree more, Housing Wire, 4/19

Did you ever get in trouble for passing notes in school?  Financial pulse-taking news site MarketWatch recently reported about a special “Note School” where students learn about a more lucrative form of notes – ones that come with a property. It’s 9:30 a.m. on a recent sunny Friday, and 60 people have crammed into an airport hotel conference room in Northern Virginia to hear Kevin Shortle, a veteran real estate professional with a million-watt smile, talk about “architecting a deal.”  Some have worked in real estate before, flipping houses or managing rentals. But the deals Shortle, lead national instructor for…