Author: Brad Beckett

A recent report from Apartment List says the gap in urban and suburban rent growth widened during the pandemic.  However, they do point out that while rents are now falling, they’re falling slower in the suburbs.  In addition, their data show 2023 is the first year-over-year price drop the rental market has experienced since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. “A quick glance at the national data shows that even though rents are down year-over-year, an affordability windfall is not reaching the suburbs. In fact, the urban-suburban gap has widened steadily for the past eight months because rent drops…

A new report from Redfin says that in Q2 2023 investor home purchases fell 45% from one year ago – which they say is the biggest decline since 2008.  Real estate investors bought roughly 50k homes in Q2, the fewest of any second quarter in seven years, with the exception of the start of the pandemic.  To get their numbers, Redfin analyzed records across 39 of the most populous U.S. metro areas. They define an investor as any institution or business that purchases residential real estate.   Indeed… Some key points: The drop in investor purchases outpaced the 31% decline in…

According to the latest Yardi Matrix Multifamily Report, the average U.S. multifamily rent was $1,728 in August.  Yardi says economic growth continues to be stronger than expected, providing a backdrop to consistent multifamily demand.  However, some headwinds exist… “While multifamily conditions are generally favorable, headwinds do exist. Property expenses such as insurance are rising rapidly (as we discuss later in this report). Inflation is decreasing, but it remains stubbornly high, and Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell has indicated that the central bank might increase interest rates further.” Click here to read the full report at Yardi.

Whether someone should rent or buy is a topic we’ve had several posts about.  Today’s graphic from the Visual Capitalist says the U.S. has witnessed the biggest numerical gap in 50 years between the cost of renting or owning a home.  While the data might be a little high altitude, it all comes down to location (x3).  Stay safe and have a Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to the Visual Capitalist

Recent analysis from the NAHB’s Eye on Housing shows that for new single family homes, the median single-family square floor area declined to 2,191 square feet, the lowest reading since the end of 2010. In addition, the average (mean) square footage for new single-family homes fell to 2,415 square feet.  The data was pulled from the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design. “An expected impact of the virus crisis is a need for more residential space, as people use homes for more purposes including work. Home size correspondingly increased in 2021 as interest…

Rental information site Zumper recently released their latest monthly National Rent Report for August, 2023.  According to their data, rent for 1-bedroom apartments was $1,510 (up 1.6% year over year) and the median two-bedroom rent was $1,864 (up 3.9% year over year) .  Be sure to check out their list of the top 100 metro areas. “Many renters are still in a wait-and-see mindset. Americans’ nerves about economic uncertainty have been somewhat soothed by slowing inflation, but there are certainly lingering fears following the roller-coaster ride our economy—and the rental market—have been on for more than three years…”  Said Zumper…

On a recent episode of Real Estate News for Investors, Kathy Fettke says like any industry, there are plenty of stories within the real estate world about lawsuits, fraud, and scandalous behavior.  She discusses the recent resignation of the president of the National Association of Realtors in the midst of a scandal, a huge class-action price-fixing lawsuit against RealPage and some of the nation’s biggest landlords, and a real estate influencer in Philadelphia accused of swindling starry-eyed first-time real estate investors. Click here to listen on Spotify.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 187k, in August 2023, with the unemployment rate rising to 3.8%.  The BLS said Employment continued to trend up in health care, leisure and hospitality, social assistance, and construction. Click here to read the full report at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The U.S. government is reporting that total construction spending in July, 2023 was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,972.6 billion, which is 0.7% higher than June’s revised estimate and 5.5% higher than one year ago.  Residential construction came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $879 billion in July, which is 1.4% higher than June’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 were up 3% over Q2 2022 though Q2 2023.  In addition, they report prices were up 1.7% compared to the first quarter of 2023 and up 0.3% from May to June, 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 appreciated at a slightly higher rate in the second quarter…