Author: Brad Beckett

A recently approved measure in Florida preempts local governments from landlord-tenant law, in essence making landlords & renters play by the same set of rules.  According to Ft. Meyers’ WINK News, the new law, signed by Governor Ron DeSantis in late June, took effect July 1st and will keep Florida’s local governments out of “landlord-tenant turf.” “When you look at House Bill 1417, what it does is removes the authority that local entities have had to establish rules that would govern the tenant-landlord relationship,” said Dr. Shelton Weeks, Lucas Professor of Real Estate at Florida Gulf Coast University. Click here…

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 209k, in June 2023, with the unemployment rate standing at 3.6%.  Employment continued to trend up in health care, social assistance, construction and, interestingly, government.  Indeed… “Employment in government increased by 60,000 in June. Employment continued to trend up in state government (+27,000) and local government (+32,000). Overall, government has added an average of 63,000 jobs per month thus far in 2023, more than twice the average of 23,000 per month in 2022.” Click here to read the full report at the Bureau…

Several states across the fruited-plain are holding off sales tax holidays for the back-to-school season.  Whether you think this is good or bad public policy is irrelevant;  the bottom-line is saving your hard-earned money!  The data has been provided by the Federation of Tax Administrators and actually covers the entire year – as well as many more products than just school supplies & clothing. Be sure to read your state’s “fine-print” for this exemption.  This list is subject to change.  Please note, some states have already had some of their sales tax holidays for 2023. Upcoming States: Arkansas – August…

The U.S. government is reporting that total construction spending in May, 2023 was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,925.6 billion, which is 0.9% higher than April’s revised estimate and is 2.4% higher than one year ago.  Residential construction came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $857.4 billion in May, which is 2.2% higher than April’s revised estimate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

What kind of homes are owners and renters living in?  Using data from the most recent American Housing Survey, today’s infographic from the Census Bureau illustrates how owners & renters occupy housing of different types and sizes.  As always, have a safe and Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to the U.S. Census Bureau.

According to Yardi’s U.S. Multifamily Outlook for Summer 2023, multifamily performance remained strong through mid-year 2023, as the robust job market boosted housing demand and rent growth. Yet the market faces challenges related to the potential economic downturn and rising interest rates that have eroded property values and is likely to lead to an increase in distress. “Rents resumed their upward climb in the spring as demand remains positive. We expect moderate 2.5% rent growth in 2023, with gains concentrated in Renter-by-Necessity units since affordability is a growing problem and new deliveries are focused on high-end Lifestyle units…” a

Rental information site Zumper recently released their latest monthly National Rent Report for June, 2023.  According to their data, rent for 1-bedroom apartments was $1,504 (same as May) and the median two-bedroom rent was $1,881 (up 0.3% from May).  Zumper says the 5.8% year-over-year increase in the national one-bedroom rent was the smallest gain in nearly two years.  Be sure to check out their list of the top 100 metro areas. Click here to read the full report at Zumper.

In a letter sent to clients in late June (and at least one real estate tech strategist)  Zillow says they will be closing Zillow Closing Services (ZCS).  Zillow billed their service as; “Close with confidence. Zillow Closing Services is your go-to partner for smooth, reliable closings — with no last-minute surprises.” Indeed, it was a just a couple years ago that they closed their much-hyped Zillow Offers business.  Interestingly, as of this writing, there hasn’t been any announcement about this information on their website. Click here to see the announcement on Michael DelPrete’s LinkedIn post.

According to the latest Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI), home prices rose 0.7% in April.  In addition, they report that prices rose 3.1% from April 2022 through April 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 generally increased moderately in April…However, on a year-overyear basis, house prices in some regions of the country continued to decline.”  Said Dr. Nataliya Polkovnichenko,…

The latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index reported a 0.2% annual decrease for April, 2023.  Their 10-City Composite decreased 1.2% and their 20-City Composite decreased 1.7%, year-over-year.  However, their U.S. National Index posted a 1.3% month-over-month increase in April, while the 10-City and 20-City Composites both posted increases of 1.7%. “The U.S. housing market continued to strengthen in April 2023…Home prices peaked in June 2022, declined until January 2023, and then began to recover…The ongoing recovery in home prices is broadly based.”  Said Craig J. Lazzara, Managing Director at S&P DJI. Click here to read the…