Author: Brad Beckett

In a recent media release, Redfin says they are taking steps to “end our support of the National Association of Realtors.” The cite as their reasons NAR policies requiring a fee for the buyer’s agent on every listing and a pattern of alleged sexual harassment. Redfin also says it will require their brokers and agents to leave NAR “everywhere we can.” In addition, back in June, Redfin resigned their national board seat at the NAR. “We’ve had many meetings with NAR execs to explore compromises on the policies that would let us continue our support. Since a Redfin-wide initiative to…

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 336k, in September 2023, with the unemployment rate staying the same at 3.8%.  Interestingly, the BLS said government employment increased by 73k, well above the average monthly gain of 47k over the prior 12 months. Click here to read the full report at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The U.S. government is reporting that total construction spending in August, 2023 was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,983.5 billion, which is 0.5% higher than July’s revised estimate and 7.4% higher than one year ago.  Residential construction came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $879.9 billion in August, which is 0.6% higher than July’s revised estimate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Visual Capitalist says there’s an old saying: everyone thinks that they’re middle-class.  However, they say that many of them are actually in the top 1%.  Citing data from SmartAsset, today’s graphic illustrates hoe much household income is needed in each state to be part of this exclusive club.  As always, stay safe and have a Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to the Visual Capitalist.

On a recent episode of CNBC’s Squawk Box, Lawrence Yun, National Association of Realtors chief economist, discussed the impact of skyrocketing mortgage rates on the housing sector and other issues facing the market – including advocating for a capital gains tax rate reduction for “mom & pop” real estate investors. Click here to read more at CNBC.com

Apartment List says their national median rent fell 0.5% to $1,364 – marking the 2nd straight month of negative rent growth.  However they do point out that annual rent growth remains at -1.2 percent, meaning that on average, apartments across the country are 1.2% cheaper today than they were one year ago.  Indeed… “This cooldown is widespread; rents fell month-over-month in September in 85 of the nation’s 100 largest cities, and thanks to sluggish rent growth over the past 12 months, prices are down year-over-year in 71 of these 100 cities. Rent swings are largely driven by the balance between…

On a recent episode of the Rental Property Owner & Real Estate Investor Podcast, Brian Hamrick talks with Andrew Hinton, who is nearing completion of an office to apartment conversion, about his experiences, both good & bad.  Andrew discusses his challenges working with architects, engineers, and city inspectors, and the delays he’s encountered along the way. He also shares the silver lining that makes it all worthwhile. One of the after effects of the Covid-19 pandemic has been an increase in people working from home, and a decrease in the need for office space. This has had a dramatic effect…

We’ve seen a number of these rent vs. buy stories over the years.  Realtor.com says that making the leap to buying has gotten a lot harder as home prices and mortgage rates have skyrocketed.  In fact, they say there aren’t many places left where buyers have lower monthly mortgage payments than what they would have paid renting.  With that in mind they put pen to paper to come up with the top markets to rent and the top markets where owning makes more sense. Either way, real estate investors are ready to meet those needs. “The Realtor.com annual Rent vs.…

Rental information site Zumper recently released their latest monthly National Rent Report for September, 2023.  According to their data, rent for 1-bedroom apartments was $1,511 (up 0.5% year over year) – the smallest year-over-year increase they’ve seen in over two years. Be sure to check out their list of the top 100 metro areas. “Rents are now almost flat year-over-year—something that would’ve been unimaginable even a year ago.”  Said Zumper CEO Anthemos Georgiades. Click here to read the full report at Zumper.

According to the latest Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI), home prices home prices rose 0.8% in July. In addition, they report that prices rose 4.6% from July 2022 through July 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 continued to appreciate in July, consistent with the trend observed over the last several months…Regionally, all nine census divisions posted positive price…