Author: Brad Beckett

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 150k, in October 2023, with the unemployment rate staying the nearly same at 3.9%. Click here to read the full report at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Apartment List says their national median rent fell 0.7% to $1,354 – marking the 3rd straight month of negative rent growth.  However they do say year-over-year rent growth remains in negative territory at -1.2%, meaning on average, apartments across the country are slightly cheaper than they were one year ago. “Rent growth follows a seasonal pattern – rent increases generally take place during the spring and summer, whereas the fall and winter usually see a modest price dip. This year, the slow season started a month earlier than usual…” Click here to read the full report at Apartment List. …

The U.S. government is reporting that total construction spending in September, 2023 was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,996.5 billion, which is 0.4% higher than August’s revised estimate and 8.7% higher than one year ago.  Residential construction came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $872 billion in September, which is 0.6% higher than August’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), home prices home prices rose 0.6% in August, 2023. In addition, they report that prices rose 5.6% from August 2022 through August 2023. 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. Click here to read the full report at the FHFA.

The latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index reported a 2.6% annual change for August, 2023.  Their 10-City Composite increased 3% and their 20-City Composite increased 2.2%, year-over-year.  Just like last month, 19 of their 20 major metro markets reported month-over-month price increases. “U.S. home prices continued to rise in August 2023…Our National Composite rose by 0.4% in August, which marks the seventh consecutive monthly gain since prices bottomed in January 2023.”  Said Craig J. Lazzara, Managing Director at S&P DJI. Click here to read the full report at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

The U.S. government is reporting that the national vacancy rates for Q3, 2023 were 6.6% for rental housing and 0.8% for homeowner housing.  The national homeownership rate for Q3, 2023 was 66%.  In addition, approximately 89.6% of the housing units in the United States in Q3 were occupied and 10.4% were vacant. Owner-occupied housing units made up 59.1% of total housing units, while renter-occupied units made up 30.5% of the inventory.  Vacant year-round units comprised 8% of total housing units, while 2.4% were vacant for seasonal use. Click here to read the full release at the U.S. Census Bureau.

Statista reminds us that advertisers are always looking for more eyeballs and their data shows that most of them are in front of TV sets.  However, as you can see, digital ad formats are not far behind.  Bandit signs might fall into the “outdoor” category.  Stay safe and have a Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to Statista.

The Tax Foundation recently released their 2024 State Business Tax Climate Index to enable business leaders, government policymakers, and taxpayers to gauge how their states’ tax systems compare. “While there are many ways to show how much is collected in taxes by state governments, the Index is designed to show how well states structure their tax systems and provides a road map for improvement.” Click here to read the full report at the Tax Foundation.

According to a recent report on FOX Business, the U.S. Postal Service has initiated a new process for people who are moving and submitting a change of address for mail forwarding.   The new process introduces a more secure way to verify the customers’ identity by confirming their address change via a QR code sent to their email.  Then, you must then take your ID or driver’s license with that QR code to the post office in-person. “Today a customer that submits a ‘change of address’ request must have their identity verified…There are three ways to initiate a change of address…

Reuters is reporting that a federal court in Kansas City Missouri has returned a verdict in a class action lawsuit against the National Association of Realtors, awarding the plaintiffs $1.78 billion in damages.  The report says the class action included sellers of 260k+ homes in Missouri, Kansas and Illinois between 2015 & 2022, who objected to the commissions they were obligated to pay buyers’ brokers.  As expected the NAR is planning to appeal the verdict. “The verdict by a federal jury in Kansas City, Missouri, could upend decades-old practices that have allowed real estate agents to boost commissions as home…