Author: Brad Beckett

Playground equipment provider AAA State of Play reminds us that childcare can be notoriously expensive here in the U.S. They say the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services considers “affordable” childcare to cost less than 7% of a family’s income.  Interestingly, data shows that only in 2% of counties in the entire country does the average cost of childcare fall within this limit.  Today’s infographic identifies the top 25 most and least expensive places in the country for childcare, based on government data. Stay safe and have a Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to AAA State of Play.

CNBC’s Diana Olick says a new report from the National Association of Realtors shows foreign buyers are pulling back from the U.S. housing market reaching a new record low.  According to the report, from March 2022 through April of this year, international buyers bought roughly 84,600 homes.  The figure is the lowest on record since the NAR began tracking them in 2009.  Interestingly, the median price of homes purchased by foreign buyers was $396,400, the highest price ever recorded. “Florida, Texas and Arizona continue to attract foreign buyers despite the hot weather conditions during the summer and the significant spike…

Rental information site Zumper recently released their latest monthly National Rent Report for July, 2023.  According to their data, rent for 1-bedroom apartments was $1,506 (up 3.2% year over year) and the median two-bedroom rent was $1,882.  Zumper says the 3.2% year-over-year increase for 1-bedroom was the smallest gain in over two years.  Be sure to check out their list of the top 100 metro areas.  Confidence in the economy is a concern: “Though price increases have slowed dramatically, we don’t expect to see rents decrease anytime soon. In reality, prices are still correcting after astronomical pandemic-era rent hikes…Renters hate…

The latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index reported a -0.5% annual decrease for May, 2023.  Their 10-City Composite decreased 1% and their 20-City Composite decreased 1.7%, year-over-year.  However, their U.S. National Index posted a 1.2% month-over-month increase in May, while the 10-City and 20-City Composites both posted slight increases. “The rally in U.S. home prices continued in May 2023…” “Regional differences continue to be striking. This month’s league table shows the Revenge of the Rust Belt, as Chicago (+4.6%), Cleveland (+3.9%), and New York (+3.5%) were the top performers. If this seems like an unusual occurrence…

According to the latest Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI), home prices rose 0.7% in May.  In addition, they report that prices rose 2.8% from May 2022 through May 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 moderately in May, continuing the trend of the last few months…However, house prices in some regions of the country remained below the levels…

The U.S. Government is reporting that sales of new single-family houses in June, 2023 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 697k, which is 2.5% lower than May’s revised rate but is 23.8% higher than one year ago.  The median sales price of new houses sold in June was $415,400 with an average sales price of $494,700.  There were an estimated 432k new houses for sale at the end of June representing a 7.4-month supply at the current sales rate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

Local Market Monitor, a National REIA preferred vendor, recently released their monthly National Economic Outlook where they share their thoughts on developments taking place in the U.S. economy. National Economic Outlook By Ingo Winzer July, 2023 The rate at which the economy is adding jobs keeps slowing, fortifying the view that a fair amount of these jobs are recovered pandemic jobs rather than new ones. In January the annual rate of job growth was 3.3 percent, in March 2.7 percent, and in June 2.4 percent. At some point we’ll reach a flat rate than can be sustained for the next…

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that pending home sales were up 0.3% in June, 2023.  The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings) came in at 76.8 in June.  The NAR says this is the first increase since February with sales only growing in the Northeast and Midwest regions. “The recovery has not taken place, but the housing recession is over…The presence of multiple offers implies that housing demand is not being satisfied due to lack of supply. Homebuilders are ramping up production and hiring workers.”  Said the NAR’s Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun.…

A recent chart from the U.S. Census Bureau illustrates the unmarried ratio of men to women.  The unmarried ratio is the number of unmarried men per 100 unmarried women for the population 18 and over.  Rations greater than 100 indicate more unmarried men than women wile rations less than 100 indicate more women than men….Indeed….stay safe and have a Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to the U.S. Census Bureau.

On a recent episode of Real Estate News for Investors, Kathy Fettke says the rent control debate is gaining momentum at the top of the legal food chain. New York landlords are asking the Supreme Court to overturn lower court decisions on a 2019 rent stabilization law, and several national real estate groups are showing support. If the high court takes the case and rules in their favor, experts say it could “destabilize” rent stabilization laws across the nation.  Indeed… “The lawyer representing the plaintiffs, Andrew Pincus, told the National Review that the RSL is a property rights infringement. He…