Author: Brad Beckett

Over at Realtor.com, their chief economist came up with a list of the top 10 up-and-coming metropolitan markets in the United States.  Using past trends and seasonal variations of housing and economic data for the 100 largest markets in the country, they ran them through a statistical model that predicts future values for home sales & prices. Then they identified markets where forecasted growth was greater than or equal to the U.S. average. Realtor.com’s Top 10 Real Estate Markets to Watch in 2016: Providence, RI St. Louis, MO San Diego, CA Sacramento, CA Atlanta, GA New Orleans, LA Memphis, TN…

The Scotsman Guide is reporting that tax relief for sellers in short sales as part of negotiations taking place this week in Washington. “There could be a reduction [through a short sale]  of anything from $40,000 to $400,000, depending on where we are in the country,” said Charles Tassell, chief operating officer for the National Real Estate Investor Association. “When the IRS treats that reduction as income and then gives the person a bill as if that were income, this is somebody who is already in financial straits.” Tax relief could soon come to sellers in short sales Scotsman Guide 12/9/15…

This week property information provider Corelogic reported that October’s (year over year) foreclosure inventory was down 21% and that completed foreclosures declined 27.1%.  The data was released as part of their October 2015 National Foreclosure Report.   The number of completed foreclosures decreased as well from 51k in October 2014 to 37k in October 2015 . In addition, they report that October’s foreclosures were down 68.2%  from the peak of 117,543 in September 2010. Some key takeaways: Five states accounted for almost half of all completed foreclosures nationally;   Florida (86k), Michigan (59k), Texas (30k), Georgia (25k) and California (24k) Four…

There has been a lot of discussion about millennials entering the housing market and whether they prefer renting or actual home ownership.  Recently , real estate news site Inman had an interesting take on the issue – they posit that the current marketplace is seeing aging baby boomers who are “house rich” trying to sell to those who are “credit poor.” “The millennial generation — most likely with a FICO credit score that hasn’t been built up yet — is trying to buy homes from existing long-term residents. Those long-term residents know they have “profit” accumulated in their asset; it’s…

Freddie Mac announced this week that all data from all fixed-rate single family mortgages would be added to its Single-Family Loan-Level Dataset that now includes 21.5 million mortgage loans originated through the end of 2014.   Previously, their publicly available dataset only included loan-level and actual loss data on 30-year fixed-rate single-family mortgage loans.  The expanded dataset contains approximately 3.3 million loan-level credit performance data on 15- and 20-year fixed-rate single-family mortgages originated between January 1, 2005, and December 31, 2014, plus approximately 18.2 million 30-year fixed-rate single-family mortgages originated between January 1, 1999, and December 31, 2014. In their media release Freddie Mac said…

Recently the NAHB’s Eye on Housing site together a heat map that shows owner-occupied home improvement spending by zipcode.  These numbers are garnered from a statistical model relating improvement spending to five key variables (number of homes in the area, the share built in 1960s, share built in the 1970s, owners’ average income and level of education) for calendar year 2015.  The estimates show total spending on improvements, as well as improvements per occupied home in the area, in each zip code. Click here to read the full article at Eyeonhousing.com.

According to the latest edition of Yardi Matrix Monthly U.S. multifamily rents remained steady in November with the average rent being $1165 – which has essentially remained unchanged for two months. Nationwide, rents dropped by $1 to $1,165 and have been basically flat for two months, which is consistent with a normal seasonal pattern. Rents had risen for nine straight months before October. The flattening of rents during the winter months is expected, and it is consistent with Yardi Matrix’s forecast, which calls for rent growth to slow to about 4.5% in 2016 Click here to read the full…

According to new data released by the Mortgage Bankers Association, delinquency rates for commercial and multifamily mortgage loans continued to decline in the third quarter of 2015. “Commercial and multifamily mortgages are performing very well,” said Jamie Woodwell, MBA’s Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research.  “Delinquency rates for loans held by life companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are all hovering near zero.  Among loans held by banks, the delinquency rate for multifamily loans is now lower than it has been since the series began in 1993, and the delinquency rate for mortgages backed by other commercial properties is…

What do you know about millennials, the most tech-savvy generation to come along yet?  According to the census bureau there are over 83 million of them.  That makes them the largest demographic cohort as well a powerful force when it comes to demand for housing – representing 32% of the home buying market and 68% of first-time buyers (according to the Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends Report 2015). The folks at UpNest.com recently put together the following infographic to help illustrate the various characteristics of millennials and what they value in the home buying & selling experience.  Happy Friday.…

According to a report on TechCrunch, real estate site Redfin has launched its own home-price estimate tool, taking on Zillow’s Zestimate.  According to Redfin, whose stated mission is “to redefine real estate in the customer’s favor,” their new tool, Redfin Estimate, will be data-driven, and a “more accurate” home valuation tool.  Their site will use the same data as real estate agents and claims that “unlike other appraisal estimators, the Redfin Estimate looks at 100% of the homes on the MLS to calculate your property’s current market value — so you get an accurate online estimate, instantly.” Interestingly, TechCrunch asked Redfin…