Author: Brad Beckett

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that pending home sales were up 8.1% in January, 2023 –  two months in a row.  The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings) increased to 82.5 in January.  The NAR says buyers are responding to better affordability from falling mortgage rates in December & January. In addition they predict the economy will continue to add jobs throughout 2023 & 2024, with the 30-year fixed mortgage rate steadily dropping to an average of 6.1% in 2023 and 5.4% in 2024. “Home sales activity looks to be bottoming out…

Realtor.com says recent higher mortgage rates have made buying a home even more expensive.  In fact, their data shows that home sales have declined by a third across the country, but where are they down the most?   With that question in hand, their number-crunchers recently put pen-to-paper to identify those areas of the country with the steepest declines in sales transactions.  Indeed… “These drop-offs have followed in the wake of the homebuying frenzy that took place during the pandemic. The unique market conditions during that period—mortgage rates at record lows, people rushing to find larger abodes, pent-up demand, and an…

A recent report from CNBC discusses the rise of corporate landlords in America and how some in Congress want to limit their influence in the single-family housing market.  Lobbyists for the industry say the proposals from Washington would worsen the U.S. housing supply. Meanwhile, CNBC claims Wall Street firms have profited from higher than average rent hikes while leveraging government-backed financing and tax credits.  It’s an interesting take on the current situation with Blackstone & Pretium. “As of 2023, corporate landlords only commend a small portion of the rental housing in this country…the vast majority of all rental units, including…

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s recent National Delinquency Survey, the delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties increased to a seasonally adjusted rate of 3.96 percent of all loans outstanding at the end of Q4 2022.  The MBA says the delinquency rate was up 51 basis points from Q3 but still down 69 basis points from one year ago. The percentage of loans on which foreclosure actions were started in the fourth quarter fell by 1 basis point to 0.14%. In addition, they also point out that mortgage delinquencies track very closely with employment conditions.  The MBA…

The U.S. Government is reporting that sales of new single-family houses in January, 2023 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 670k, which is 7.2% higher than December’s revised rate but is 19.4% lower than one year ago.  The median sales price of new houses sold in January was $427,500 with an average sales price of $474,400.  There were an estimated 439k new houses for sale at the end of January representing a 7.9-month supply at the current sales rate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

Statista says 50 out of the 75 largest cities in the U.S. are currently running a deficit and, in some cases, a pretty hefty one.   Today’s chart illustrates those cities with the highest municipal debts per taxpayer.  Indeed….Stay safe and have a Happy Friday!! “…despite being obligated to pay employees’ pension and retiree health care benefits when these come up, many cities decide to put off building these funds and even omit the respective items from city balance sheets.” Hat tip to Statista.

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 February, 2023 Even though the pandemic is winding down, it still affects the economy and our ability to measure it. We don’t know how much recent gains in employment are due to new growth, how much still to covid recovery. The clearest example of the problem is the restaurant sector, which dropped 6 million jobs when covid hit. Before that, restaurant jobs increased about one percent…

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that existing home sales were down 0.7% in January to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 4 million (down 36.9% year over year).  Total housing inventory at the end of January was 980k units, up 2.1% from December but was up 15.3% from one year ago.  Unsold inventory sits at a 2.9-month supply at the current sales rate with properties remaining on the market for around 33 days.  The median existing-home price for all housing types in January was $359k, up 1.3% from one year ago.  The NAR said that January marks 131 consecutive…

Recent data crunched by the NAHB’s Eye on Housing says single-family built-for-rent construction ended 2022 strong with a rising total market share.  They say there were approximately 17k single-family built-for-rent (SFBFR) starts during Q4 of 2022 – which was 6% higher than Q4 2021. “With the onset of the Great Recession and declines for the homeownership rate, the share of built-for-rent homes increased in the years after the recession. While the market share of SFBFR homes is small, it has clearly been trending higher. As more households seek lower density neighborhoods and single-family residences, a growing number will do so…

A new report from Redfin says that investor purchases of U.S. homes fell a record 45.8% year over year in Q4 2022.  They said the high cost of borrowing money and the prospect of substantial home-price declines have made real estate investing less attractive. In addition, they point out that the 2nd biggest decline on record occurred in 2008, when investor purchases slumped 45.1% during the subprime mortgage crisis. Some key points: Investor home purchases fell a record 46% year over year in the fourth quarter. Investors bought 18% of homes that sold, down from 19% a year earlier. Pandemic…