Author: Brad Beckett

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that pending home sales fell 7.1% in August, 2023.  The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings) came in at 71.8 in August.  The NAR says all four U.S. regions saw year-over-year declines in transactions. “It’s clear that increased housing inventory and better interest rates are essential to revive the housing market.”  Said the NAR’s Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun. Click here to read the full report at the National Association of Realtors.

Statista says gas prices vary widely across the United States. State-specific costs for transportation and distribution can drive up prices, like in Alaska & Hawaii.  However, state taxes also play a large role, for example explaining the price of gasoline in a high-tax state like California. Interestingly, Statista points out that current prices are still below the all-time high recorded on June 14, 2022 ($5.02).  Stay safe and have a Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to Statista.

The U.S. Government is reporting that sales of new single-family houses in August, 2023 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 675k, which is 8.7% lower than July’s revised rate and is 5.8% higher than one year ago.  The median sales price of new houses sold in August was $430,300 with an average sales price of $514k.  There were an estimated 436k new houses for sale at the end of August representing a 7.8-month supply at the current sales rate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

Each month we post inflation data (CPI) from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Recently we came across an interesting site that allows you to calculate inflation for any year as well as comparing the value of a dollar with various years.  Interestingly, Inflation has averaged 0.93% per year since 1635, causing an overall price difference of 3,583.02%.  There is a lot of interesting data in this site. Click here to read more at the CPI Inflation Calculator. (hat tip to Joe)

According to Black Knight’s latest Mortgage Monitor, the total U.S. loan delinquency rate (loans 30 days+ past due but not in foreclosure) as at 3.17% in August, up by 4 basis points and is nearly a full percentage point below its 2015-2019 same-month average.  In addition, serious delinquencies (90+ days past due) continued to decline, falling 20K from July to 448K – the lowest level since June 2006. Click here to read the full report at Black Knight.

According to the latest U.S. Home Flipping Report from ATTOM, 84,350 single-family houses and condominiums were flipped in Q2, 2023 representing 8% of all home sales in the first quarter.  Interestingly, ATTOM says even as flipping activity decreased, investor profits and profit margins both showed more signs of recovering from a slump that had slashed them by more than half in just two years. “Fortunes for investors who flip homes for quick profits are showing more signs of turning around after a long and unusual period when they went down while the rest of the market went up.”  Said Rob…

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that existing home sales were down 0.7% in August to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 4.04 million (down 15.3% year over year).  Total housing inventory at the end of August was 1.1 million units, down 0.9% from July but down 14.1% from one year ago.  Unsold inventory sits at a 3.3-month supply at the current sales rate with properties remaining on the market for around 20 days.  The median existing-home price for all housing types in July was $407,100, up 3.9% from one year ago. “Home prices continue to march higher despite lower…

The U.S. government is reporting that privately‐owned housing starts in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,283,000, which is 11.3% below than July’s revised number and is 14.8% lower than one year ago.  August’s rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 334k.  Privately‐owned housing units authorized by building permits in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,543,000, which is 6.9% higher than July’s revised number but is 2.7% lower than one year ago.  Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 435k in…

It’s one of the most basic investing principles and might have been the first one you learned – it’s the “Rule of 72.”  The “rule” is the classic shortcut that estimates how long it takes to double your money.  Today’s graphic from the Visual Capitalist takes the rule of 72 shortcut and uses the more precise logarithmic formula to show how long it takes to grow your money at different annualized returns.  Indeed….Stay safe have have a Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to the Visual Capitalist.

A recent survey from Redfin says nearly one of every five (18%) millennials and 12% of Gen Zers believe they will never own a home.  To get their data, Redfin surveyed just over 5k U.S. residents who either moved in the last year, plan to move in the next year, or rent their home. Some key findings: Roughly one in 10 Gen Z respondents believe they’ll never own a home. Affordability is the number-one barrier to homeownership for young Americans. About one-third of Gen Zers and millennials cited high mortgage rates.  Click here to read the full report at Redfin.com.…