Author: Brad Beckett

What is the “true cost” of home improvement?  Obviously this varies from city to region and size  to shape – AND who’s doing the work!  However, the folks over at HomeAdvisor put together some national averages for 57 common home improvement projects.  As we’ve said, having good data as a resource or a benchmark can be a useful tool.  Happy Friday…. Click here to download the full report on HomeAdvisor.

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced this week that national vacancy rates for the first quarter of 2016 were 7%, which is virtually unchanged from last quarter and from Q1 of 2015.  The U.S. homeownership rate for the first quarter was 63.5%, slightly lower than the last quarter of 2015 (63.8%).  In addition the Q1 2016 median asking rent for vacant for rental units was $870 and the median asking sales price for vacant for sale units was $144,700. Click here to read the full report.

An analysis of data from the Associated General Contractors of America says between March 2015 and March 2016 construction employment increased in 244 out of 358 U.S. metro areas. Interestingly, they noted that 70% of firms in the association’s annual Outlook survey reported they are having a hard time finding qualified workers. “With more than two-thirds of the nation’s metro areas adding construction jobs it is clear that the demand for construction is broad-based geographically and by project type,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist, adding that construction employment hit new peak levels in 31 metro areas. “The main…

Need another reason to properly screen your tenants?  How about this one;  USA Today is reporting that “Indianapolis’ worst renter owes thousands, but landlords can’t collect,” and apparently she’s been scamming landlords for over 15 years!  Her methods include counterfeit checks and using imposters as previous landlords.  According to Marion County court records she has been involved in at least 24 eviction lawsuits and has been found guilty of numerous frauds. The cases also expose what some see as a critical gap in Indiana law. Many of Lee’s victims ultimately won financial judgments against her in small claims courts, a total of…

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.…