Author: Brad Beckett

The Washington Post is reporting that one-third of realty transactions are plagued by delays, with some of them being fatal.  Citing data from an internal survey of 2,643 conducted by the National Association of Realtors, they report that 32% (nearly one third) of all real estate transactions experienced some sort of delay. When you break down that 32%, the delays were caused by: Buyer financing setbacks –  46% Home inspection issues –  14% Appraisals that diverge from the agreed-upon contract price –  21% Click here to read “One-third of realty transactions are plagued by delays, some of them fatal,” 1/20/16,…

The folks over at Atlas Van lines have been annually sharing moving data for over 20 years.  Good data means good investment decisions……especially when you consider where there’s people there’s a need for housing. Some takeaways: States with the highest percentage of inbound moves: Oregon (64%) Idaho (63%) North Carolina (61%) Alaska (60%) North Dakota (59%) States with the highest percentage of outbound moves: Hawaii (62%) New York (61.8%) Illinois (61.7%) South Dakota (60%) Wyoming (59.5%) Click here to read more at Atlas Van Lines.

The Securities & Exchange Commission announced this week that Ocwen Financial will pay a $2 million fine for misstating financial results “by using a flawed, undisclosed methodology to value complex mortgage assets.” Ocwen agreed to pay a $2 million penalty after an SEC investigation found that the company inaccurately disclosed to investors that it independently valued these assets at fair value under U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). “Ocwen’s filings led investors to believe the company was valuing complex mortgage assets using GAAP rather than relying on a related company’s accounting methodology that later proved to be flawed,” said Michael…

In a new report released by Yardi Matrix, U.S. multifamily markets will enjoy moderate growth in 2016.  They caveat that on domestic economy cooperating and potential hot spots abroad remain calm (which is like predicting the weather).  Their report, “Winter 2016 Multifamily Outlook: Rent Growth Encore? What’s in Store for 2016,”  also predicts that increased gross domestic product, moderate growth in apartment supplies, healthy capital markets and 2.5 million new jobs will drive 4.6% growth, outpacing the eight-year average of 2.8%.  Indeed. “2016 should be a year of solid rent growth, without the froth of 2015. Yardi Matrix projects 4.6%…

The Tax Foundation recently released their state & local tax burdens report for FY 2012. Among its findings: During the 2012 fiscal year, state-local tax burdens as a share of state incomes decreased on average across the U.S. Average income increased at a faster rate than tax collections, driving down state-local tax burdens on average. On average, taxpayers pay the most in taxes to their own state and local governments. In 2012, 78 percent of taxes collected were paid within the state of residence, up from 73 percent in 2011. “A state’s tax burden is the portion of total state…

The federal government today released new residential construction data for December 2015 showing that housing starts have remained above the one million mark –  the 9th straight month this has happened since 2007.  In addition, total building permits fell 3.9% compared to last month with permits for single-family homes rising 1.8% and multi-family falling 11.4%.   An estimated 965,700 housing units were completed in 2015. This is 9.3% above the 2014 figure of 883,800. Click here to read the release from the US Department of Commerce.

The Wall Street Journal’s Real Time Economics blog has an interesting chart up showing the year-over year change in households with $1 million or more in investable assets.  Citing data from a report by Phoenix Marketing International, they show that Mount Airy, NC, the real-life “Mayberry” of the Andy Griffith show, is adding millionaires at the fastest rate in the nation.  The report says that Mount Airy’s metro population of millionaire households grew by 332, or nearly 30%, between June 2014 & June 2015. The annual study of where the wealthy live counts a household as a millionaire if it…

For the first time ever, New York City’s assessed property values have exceed the $1 trillion mark.  The city’s finance department reported last week that the total market value of taxable property rose 10.6% to $1.072 trillion for FY 2017.  Much of the surge is due to the exceptionally strong real estate market in the borough of Brooklyn, which is seeing a renaissance in demand. “Higher assessments mean higher taxes — and the average bill for single-family homes is expected to go up $187 to $5,138,”  as reported in the New York Post. Indeed…. Read more: “NYC property values surpass…

Inman is reporting that if Zillow and Airbnb had a baby it would be realstir, which launched its “try before you buy” platform last week allowing potential buyers to enter short-term rentals of their properties.  It’s an interesting concept that realstir promotes by saying  “Get to know your new home before you make an offer.” And, in case you were wondering, RealStir copyrighted their phrase. Some key takeaways: Realstir allows homebuyers to ask sellers — through their agents — if they can stay for a few nights to test out listings. Agents can pay to advertise on realstir.com. Sellers are…

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently released their 2016 forecasts for the housing market and the economy.  The following infographic gives an overview of their predictions for this year. Everyone has a crystal ball…..Happy Friday. Click here to read the full report.