Author: Brad Beckett

Any more, you really can’t make this stuff up;  A recent report on FOX News revealed a Seattle homeowner has been living out of his van while deadbeat tenants, who listed his rental house on Airbnb, will have to wait at least four more months for an eviction hearing due to a severe court backlog.  According to the report, the landlord, who works as an aircraft mechanic’s apprentice, said he started renting out the entire house to make extra money for pilot school. He and his dog Wally moved into a small apartment.  However, the tenant, who signed a lease…

The U.S. Census Bureau says there 16.2 million military veterans in the United States in 2022, representing 6.2% of the total civilian population age 18 and over.  Today’s graphic illustrates the percentage of those veterans in each U.S. state.  Indeed…Stay safe, and have a Happy Friday. “Veterans Day originated as “Armistice Day” on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I. Congress passed a resolution in 1926 making it an annual observance, and it became a national holiday in 1938. Sixteen years later, then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation changing the name to Veterans Day…

According to ATTOM Data’s Q4 2023 Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report, there were nearly 1.3 million residential properties in the U.S. sitting vacant. That figure represents 1.27%, or one in 78 homes, across the nation – virtually the same as in the third quarter.  In addition, they report that there were around 8,900 zombie foreclosures (pre-foreclosure properties abandoned by owners) in Q4.  That figure is up slightly from the prior quarter, by 1.4%, and up 15.3% from one year ago. The latest increase marks the seventh straight quarterly rise. “…Rising equity flowing from rising home values has not only…

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.