Author: Brad Beckett

The New York Times is reporting, that for the first time ever, the federal government is going to require real estate companies in two distinct areas of the country to disclose names behind all-cash transactions in real estate deals.  The measure, supposedly temporary, will target properties purchased in New York City and Miami-Dade County, Florida in cash meeting certain thresholds.  In NYC  buyers in sales of more than $3 million are to be reported and in Miami-Dade County it’s on sales greater than $1 million.   The premise for these efforts is based on reducing crime & money laundering, however it…

Cash is indeed King….RealtyTrac is reporting that in November, the share of cash sales of homes & condos in the US jumped to 38.1% – the highest level since March 2013 when 38,8% of all sales were cash.  The data was obtained from publicly recorded sales deeds from across the nation. “The jump in cash sales is likely a knee-jerk reaction to the new documentation and disclosure rules for mortgages that took effect in October, making it even more difficult for buyers using financing to compete with cash buyers in the already competitive housing market,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president…

This week property information provider CoreLogic released their November 2015 Foreclosure Report which shows that foreclosure inventory declined by 21.8% and completed foreclosures declined by 18.8% compared with November 2014.  The number of completed foreclosures decreased year over year from 41k in November 2014 to 33k in November 2015.  The number of completed foreclosures in November 2015 was down 71.6% from the peak of 117,657 in September 2010. Some key takeaways: The five states with the highest number of completed foreclosures for the 12 months ending in November 2015 were Florida (83k), Michigan (51k), Texas (29k), California (24k) and Georgia…

Arch MI recently released their Housing & Mortgage Market Review  where they report the average likelihood of US home price declines remains low, at 6%.  However their report does indicate trouble in eight of the of states that compose the “energy patch” where the continuing drop in the price of oil puts them at a higher risk for a housing crisis.  The eight states are, in order of highest risk: North Dakota (46%), Wyoming (37%), Alaska (33%), West Virgina (33%), New Mexico (31%), Oklahoma (28%), Louisiana (28%) and Texas (26%). Click here to read the full report on Arch MI.…

DSNews has an interesting article citing a recent report from the Urban Institute about HUD’s Distressed Asset Stabilization Program that calls it a “Win-Win for Borrowers, Investors and HUD.”   The DASP program was instituted in 2010 in response to the massive amount of foreclosures resulting from the housing crisis as a way to sell distressed and/or nonperforming loans to investors. Some takeaways: “researchers from the Urban Institute concluded that all parties—HUD, the borrowers, and investors—stand to benefit when distressed loans are sold through DASP” “The authors of the paper, Laurie Goodman (Director of Housing Finance Policy Center with Urban Institute)…

Whether your flipping a house for a quick sale or upgrading properties in your portfolio, one acronym always paramount in your decision-making formula – ROI (return on investment).  This week, tip-site LifeHacker presented a chart on home renovation that lists the top 5 ROI renovation projects as well as others that improve the bottom line.  Happy Friday….. Click here to read The Best and Worst Projects for Increasing Your Home’s Return on Investment, LifeHacker 1/4/16

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the average US apartment rent increased faster in 2015 than anytime since 2007.  According to data from Reis, average rents rose 4.6% in 2015 with the nationwide average rent being around $1180.  In addition data show that over last 15 years rents have annually increased by an average of 2.7%. Some interesting takeaways: “In general, the higher rents go, the more difficult it will be for young people to save for down payments, making them likely to rent even longer. The percentage of first-time buyers among all home buyers is at its lowest…

Bloomberg Business is reporting that U.S. apartment vacancies rose in the 4th quarter as urban construction increased while overshadowing demand for older suburban properties.  Using data released this week from Reis Inc., they also reported that the national vacancy rate averaged 4.4% in the three months through December, up from 4.3% a year earlier and in the third quarter. “Americans occupied about 42.6 million rental-housing units, including single-family homes, as of the third quarter of last year, an increase of almost 9 million households since 2005 and the largest gain in any 10-year period on record, according to the latest…

VentureBeat is reporting that roughly 45% of all Americans either already own smart-home technology or will invest in it by the end of 2016, according to survey data released from Coldwell Banker ahead of the 2016 Consumer Electronics show. The survey found that it’s not just the tech savvy who are adopting smart-home technology, with devices such as app-driven heaters. In fact, 36 percent of those who plan to adopt such devices in 2016 say that they don’t consider themselves to be early adopters of technology.  The survey also found that 54 percent of homeowners in the market to sell…

This week Black Knight Financial Services released their October 2015 Home Price Index (HPI) report that said that U.S. home prices were up 0.2%  for the Month and up 5.5% Year-Over-Year.  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 performance data, to produce one of the most complete and accurate measures of home prices available for both disclosure and non-disclosure states. Click here to read the full report on Black Knight.