Author: Brad Beckett

Remodeling Magazine recently released their 30th annual Cost vs. Value report that they say offers “an unbiased, third-party report on how much it really costs for a professional to do a typical remodeling project, as well as how much a real estate pro believes that project will increase a home’s value if it’s sold within a year of when the work was completed.”  Indeed, they compare 29 popular remodeling projects & upgrades with the value they retain when the property is sold in 99 U.S. housing markets. “As was the case last year, putting loose-fill insulation in an attic is…

Black Knight’s “first look” at December 2016 mortgage data reveals that the inventory of loans in active foreclosure nationwide declined by more than 200,000 in 2016.  December saw nearly 60k foreclosure starts which represented a 24% decline from December 2015.  Black Knight uses performance statistics derived from its loan-level database representing the majority of the national mortgage market for their reports.   Click here to read the full report on bkfs.com.

Last year, data powerhouse CoreLogic reported that 2015 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data showed that collateral was noted as the third most-frequently-cited reason for denials (13.7%) for nearly 450k first-lien purchase mortgage applications on one- to four-family, owner-occupied homes.  Interestingly, they now report that when viewed geographically, the data reveal wide variations at the state level in collateral-related loan denials, ranging from 7% in Delaware and 8% in Alabama, all the way to 20% in Ohio & Hawaii and 22% in Michigan. “Although there were no specific details on why collateral was listed as a cause of denial, often…

Forbes recently teamed up with National REIA preferred vendor Local Market Monitor to come up with the top 20 markets where population, jobs and home prices are growing – in fact, Local Market Monitoring expects home prices for cities on this list to grow by at least 17% by 2020.  You’ll notice that Florida and Texas dominate this list, however Forbes says solid markets can be found all across the country.  Interestingly, readers of Real Estate Investing Today will notice that other “lists” we’ve shared corroborate some of these same locations. Forbes’ top 20 cities are: Dallas, TX Jacksonville, FL Orlando,…

According to the latest CoreLogic Home Price Index, home prices in November rose by 7.1% (year over year) however they forecast this rate will slow to 4.7% by this time next year.  The folks over at Keeping Current matters put it all into perspective with today’s infographic.  Happy Friday!

The U.S. government is reporting that privately-owned housing starts in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,226,000. This figure is 11.3% above November’s rate and is 5.7% higher than one year ago.  Single-family housing starts in December were at a rate of 795k.   The December rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 417k.  An estimated 1,166,400 housing units were started in 2016.  This is 4.9% higher than one year ago. Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,210,000.  This is 0.7 %…

Airbnb Citizen (the advocacy arm of Airbnb) is reporting that home-sharing among its members across the Midwest of the United States is surging.  Citing a series of reports about Airbnb usage across 11 states, they conclude that economic activity is vibrant and in smaller towns can be more pronounced.  In addition, the post features full usage reports for each of the 11 states….It’s worth a look for investors thinking about getting into short-term rentals. A few takeaways: Michigan’s 188,000 guest arrivals last year represent 136% year-over-year growth Wisconsin’s host community has grown 73% to 2,600 people Ohio’s 130,000 guest arrivals…

Where are Millennials buying their starter homes?  Kathy Fettke discusses this issue and why investors should be paying attention to new data recently released by Ellie-Mae about the buying habits of millennials.  After all, there are over 75 million of them and they are poised to make a significant impact on the U.S. housing market in the coming years. Click here to hear more of Kathy’s podcasts on NewsforInvestors.com

The pest control and rodent removers over at Orkin recently released their 6th annual Top 50 Bed Bug Cities list.  Topping the list this year was Baltimore, MD.  Their list is based on treatment data (residential & commercial) from metro areas where Orkin has performed the most bed bug treatments from 12/1/15 – 11/30/16. Baltimore Washington, D.C. Chicago New York Columbus, Ohio Los Angeles Detroit Cincinnati Philadelphia San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose Click here to see the entire list. “Bed bugs are great hitchhikers because they travel from place to place with ease, including luggage, purses and other belongings. Bed bugs can…

Local Market Monitor (a National REIA preferred vendor) recently released their National Economic Outlook for 2017 where they predict; “the economy will grow at a slower rate, home prices will continue to rise, but more people will want to rent. This isn’t much different from 2016 but the risk of investing will be higher in some local markets.” National Economic Outlook – January 2017 January 3, 2017 By: Ingo Winzer Three things to keep in mind for 2017: the economy will grow at a slower rate, home prices will continue to rise, but more people will want to rent. This…