Author: Brad Beckett

The U.S. government is reporting that the national vacancy rates for Q1, 2023 were 6.4% for rental housing and 0.8% for homeowner housing.  The national homeownership rate for Q1, 2023 was 66%.  In addition, approximately 89.6% of the housing units in the United States in Q1 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 7.9% of total housing units, while 2.5% were vacant for seasonal use. Click here to read the full release at the U.S. Census Bureau.

The U.S. government is reporting that total construction spending in March, 2023 was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,834.7 billion, which is 0.3% above February’s revised estimate but is 3.8% higher than one year ago.  Residential construction came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $827.7 billion in March, which is 0.2% below February’s revised estimate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

Today is May 5th….aka Cinco de Mayo.  It seems like every year we hear more & more about America’s Cinco de Mayo celebrations – especially with the increased commercialization of Mexican food, beer, and culture.  But exactly what is Cinco de Mayo?  Well, for starters, it is not Mexican Independence Day (that’s 9/16), but rather a celebration of Mexico’s underdog victory over the French outside of Mexico City on May 5, 1862.  And, it’s not really celebrated in Mexico.  However, the holiday has been “Americanized” to celebrate Mexican-American heritage & culture….which is, of course, part of the rich cultural fabric…

Vacation rental site Vacasa recently released their annual ranking of the top waterfront destinations by cap rate.  Among their findings, they found that 36% of travelers booked vacation homes for upcoming spring trips (up from 30% in 2022), and 48% of travelers surveyed are planning to visit a waterfront destination. “Some of the most highly sought properties on Vacasa.com are waterfront vacation homes or ones with easy access to the shore. For those looking to take a step further, we’ve ranked the top waterfront destinations to buy a beach home, based on highest cap rates, or yearly rate of return…

Rental information site Zumper recently released their latest monthly National Rent Report for April, 2023.  According to their data, rent for 1-bedroom apartments was $1,495 same as March) and the median two-bedroom rent was $1,842 (up 0.5% from March).  Zumper says April marks the sixth month in a row of modest month-over-month changes in national rent prices..  Be sure to check out their list of the top 100 metro areas. “…economic uncertainty and high interest rates mean competition for rentals remains high. On the opposite side of that coin is the record number of new rentals coming to market across…

The NAHB’s Eye On Housing says data from the latest Producer Price Index shows the prices of inputs related to residential construction (building materials) rose 0.3% in March, marking the 3rd straight month of increases.  Interestingly, they point out a shortage of power distribution transformers with prices surging 63.9% over the past two years. However, prices for softwood lumber fell 4.0% in March – marking the 8th consecutive monthly decline. Click here to read the full story at the NAHB’s Eye on Housing.

A new federal rule that took effect on May 1st from the Biden Administration says homebuyers with good credit scores will soon be paying higher mortgage rates & fees to subsidize people with riskier credit ratings who are also in the market to a buy home.  According to the Washington Times, the new fee is part of the push for more for affordable housing and the new rule will affect mortgages originating at private banks across the nation.  According to the report, homebuyers with credit scores of 680 or higher will pay roughly $40 per month more on a home…

The U.S. Government is reporting that sales of new single-family houses in March, 2023 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 683k, which is 1.1% higher than February’s revised rate but is 3.4% lower than one year ago.  The median sales price of new houses sold in March was $449,800 with an average sales price of $562,400.  There were an estimated 432k new houses for sale at the end of March representing a 7.6-month supply at the current sales rate. 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% from February 2022 through February 2023.  Month to month, house prices were up 0.5% from January, 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. “U.S. house prices increased slightly in February…This increase was, in part, due to a decline in mortgage rates by more than half a percentage point…

The latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index reported a 2% annual gain for February, 2023.  Their 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 0.4% and their 20-City Composite posted a 0.4% year-over-year gain.  While both positive, the indices were once lower than previous months. “The results released today pre-date the disruptions in the commercial banking industry which began in early March. Although forecasts are mixed, so far the Federal Reserve seems focused on its inflation-reduction targets, which suggests that interest rates may remain elevated, at least in the near-term. Mortgage financing and the prospect of economic…