Author: Brad Beckett

According to recent data from Fannie Mae’s National Housing Survey, consumers are increasingly convinced it’s a good time to sell a home versus buying one.  They say affordability constraints continue to drive consumers’ perceptions of homebuying and home-selling conditions. “As we near the end of the spring homebuying season, the latest HPSI results indicate that affordability hurdles, including high home prices and mortgage rates, remain top of mind for consumers, most of whom continue to tell us that it’s a bad time to buy a home but a good time to sell one…”  Said Mark Palim, Fannie Mae Vice President…

According to the latest Yardi Matrix Multifamily Report, the average U.S. multifamily rent was $1,716 in May (up $7).  Yardi says year-over-year growth again continued its downward slide, and is now 2.6% nationally, down 70 basis points from April – the lowest since March, 2021.  Yardi says multifamily demand remains strong despite the threat of a slowing economy looming on the horizon.  Indeed… “Another factor in the weaker rent growth is declining occupancy rates driven by slowing household formation, competition from new deliveries, lack of affordable units and diminishing demand as corporate layoffs start to increase and consumer confidence wanes.…

Statista says millennials are the “buy now, pay later” generation, with 56% of those born between 1980 and 1994 saying they made online purchases that allowed for interest-free payment of goods & services in several installments.  Compared with other generations, it’s quite high…but it looks like Gen Z is hot on their heels.  As always, stay safe and have a Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to Statista.

We have posted about this for many years now and it doesn’t get old;  For the 11th year in a row, Gallup is reporting that more Americans prefer real estate over other long-term investment vehicles for growing wealth.  Overall, when the numbers are broken down, the numbers show that 34% prefer real estate (down 11 points from 2022), 26% prefer gold (moving into 2nd place), 18% prefer the stock market (down 6 points), 13% prefer CDs/bank accounts, and 7% prefer bonds. “…When real estate or stock prices are high, their popularity as the best investment goes up, and the opposite…

According to the ATTOM Data’s Q2 2023 Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report, there were 1.3 million residential properties in the United States sitting vacant, representing 1.3%, or one in 79 homes, across the nation.  In addition, ATTOM says the number of zombie properties has grown quarterly in 29 states and annually in 36.  They say that while most neighborhoods around the U.S. have little or no zombie foreclosures, they sifted through the data to identify the top 10 U.S. zip codes with the highest zombie foreclosure rates in zips with 10 or more pre-foreclosure properties.  Indeed… “Zombie foreclosures keep…

A recent essay by the Foundation for Economic Education says a rent control renaissance Is underway in America and it’s sure to make the housing shortage worse.  The author reminds us that failed attempts to implement rent control reinforce that there is only one way to lower housing prices when there is a shortage – build more housing.  Indeed… If one needed any more proof that rent control laws suppress investment in new housing, then it is not necessary to look any further than this recent survey from the National Apartment Association. They found that “Over 70% of housing providers…

The U.S. government is reporting that total construction spending in April, 2023 was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,908.4 billion, which is 1.2% higher than March’s revised estimate and is 7.2% higher than one year ago.  Residential construction came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $845.4 billion in April, which is 0.5% above March’s revised estimate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

According to the latest Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI), U.S. house prices rose 4.3% from March 2022 through March 2023.  Month to month, house prices were up 0.6% from February, 2023.  Interestingly, they say nationally, the U.S. housing market has experienced positive annual appreciation each quarter since the start of 2012.  The FHFA HPI is the nation’s only collection of public, freely available house price indexes that measure changes in single-family home values based on data from all 50 states and over 400 American cities that extend back to the mid-1970s. “U.S. house prices generally increased…

The latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index reported a 0.7% annual gain for March, 2023.  Their 10-City Composite decreased 0.8% and their 20-City Composite decreased 1.1%, year-over-year.  However, they do point out that data show a continuing recovery in housing prices as all 20 major metro markets reported month-over-month price increases. “Two months of increasing prices do not a definitive recovery make, but March’s results suggest that the decline in home prices that began in June 2022 may have come to an end. That said, the challenges posed by current mortgage rates and the continuing possibility…

Today’s infographic from the Visual Capitalist illustrates & compares interest rates hikes by the Federal Reserve over the past 35 years.  They point out that rates have risen faster than any other time in recent history.  Indeed…..  Stay safe and have a Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to the Visual Capitalist.