Author: Brad Beckett

Building industry news-site Builderonline.com reports that the U.S. Fire Administration said, in 2014, that 2,419 Americans could have used more time to get out of their homes during an incidence of fire. That number represents the number of people who died in residential fires.  The article says that overall fire fatalities are down (3,900 people died in homes in 2004) having fallen 26% from 2002 to 2011.   However, they report that as fatalities fell, evidence exists that new a threat lurks in the form of new, modern homes & furnishings that present dangers not found in homes built a generation…

This week the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced an expansion of its Neighborhood Stabilization Initiative (NSI) to 18 additional metropolitan areas around the country.  Effective December 1, local community organizations will be given the opportunity to review and purchase foreclosed properties owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac in these 18 additional metropolitan areas prior to these properties being made publicly available for purchase. Sales prices will vary from market to market.  The additional markets are in metros where Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac each had at least 100 REO properties valued at less than $75k. NSI was jointly…

RealtyTrac reported in its 2015 Natural Disaster Risk Report that 35.8 million U.S. single family homes & condos with a combined estimated market value of $6.6 trillion are in counties with high or very high natural hazard risk. Those 35.8 million homes represent 43 percent of the 83.4 million single family homes & condos. For the report RealtyTrac assigned a natural disaster risk score to 2,318 counties nationwide with sufficient home value data available. Based on its score, each county was assigned to one of five risk categories for overall risk of natural disaster: Very High, High, Moderate, Low and…

The New York Times is reporting that smoking would be prohibited in public housing nationwide under a rule recently proposed by the US Department of Housing & Urban Development.  The proposal would affect nearly one million households and open the latest front in the long-running campaign to curb unwanted exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke. It would require housing agencies to prohibit lit cigarettes, cigars & pipes in all living units, indoor common areas, administrative offices and all outdoor areas within 25 feet of housing and administrative office buildings. The rule would not apply initially to electronic cigarettes, but federal officials…

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the US Labor Department’s final rule on overtime eligibility isn’t likely to appear before late 2016.  This sentiment was reportedly expressed by Solicitor of Labor Patricia Smith at a recent panel discussion. The issue was in the news back in August when the Labor Department opened it up for comments that were due in early September.  Reportedly, over 270k individuals & organizations have submitted comments on the proposed change, which was more than three times the number received the last time the rules were changed. The rule was expected to go into effect…

Real estate data services giant CoreLogic recently released it’s September 2015 National Foreclosure Report showing that September’s foreclosure inventory was down 24.3% and completed foreclosures declined by 17.6% compared with September 2014 Some key takeaways: The five states with the highest number of completed foreclosures ALSO happened to account for  almost half of all completed foreclosures nationally: Florida (91k) Michigan (45k) Texas (32k) Georgia (26k) California (26k) The four states and the District of Columbia had the lowest number of completed foreclosures for the 12 months ending in September 2015 were: District of Columbia (69), North Dakota (310), Wyoming (498),…

According to an article in The Real Deal, New York City’s government may soon make it harder for landlords to screen potential tenants.   Reports say proposal would prevent building owners from using credit scores, information about medical debt, consumer debt judgements and debts sent to collections when selecting tenants. Click here to read the full story

According to data extracted from ColdwellBanker’s 2015 listing report, the 5 most expensive housing markets are in California and the 5 most affordable find themselves on the other side of the country.  Their annual report also includes market data for more than 2,700 real estate markets nationwide, analyzing more than 81k similar-sized four-bedroom, two-bathroom homes.  The report includes rankings of the most expensive and affordable markets in all 50 states. Highlights: Most Expensive: 1. Newport Beach, California.  Average listing price: $2,291,764 2.  Palo Alto, California.  Average listing price: $2,066,600 3.  Saratoga, California.  Average listing price: $1,979,218 4.   Cupertino, California.  Average…

The National Association of Realtors recently released their 2015 Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers.  This annual survey provides insight into detailed information about the experiences of home buyers & sellers. Below are highlights from this latest report: 30% said the primary reason for purchasing a home was the desire to own a home of their own First-time buyers – 32% (lowest since 1987 at 30%) Home size – 1,620 sq. ft. (first-timers); 2,020 sq. ft. (repeat buyers) Cost – $170,000 (first-timers); $246,400 (repeat buyers) Type of home – single-family (83%), townhouse or row house (7%), condo (3%), other (7%)…

According to various reports, the guarantee fees (g-fees) charged by Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac to guarantee loans will likely not go to pay for new roads, after the US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to remove a controversial portion of a massive $325 billion transportation bill that would have used g-fees to offset the costs.  The amendment, put forth by Rep. Randy Neugebauer, (R-TX), and Bill Huizenga, (R-MI), passed 354-72.   The full version of the bill passed the House by a vote of 363-64. The Senate passed their own version of the bill back in July that contained language…