Author: Brad Beckett

According to Black Knight’s latest Mortgage Monitor, both supply & demand in the housing market are being impacted by a volatile interest rate environment.  In addition, they say shortages in for-sale inventory are keeping affordability tight and buoying higher home prices that potentially lock would-be sellers in place.  Indeed… “Sharply rising 30-year rates in February have weakened home affordability, with nearly all major U.S. markets remaining unaffordable as compared to their own long-run averages….Between escalating inventory challenges and worsening affordability, we’re seeing some volatility in the market – just not in the form of widespread, steep price corrections.”  Said Andy…

A recent joint report from the NMHC & Urban Land Institute examines the feasibility and potential of repurposing unused and underutilized commercial real estate (offices, hotels, retail, etc.) into viable housing that could help with the nation’s housing crisis. The report seeks to seeks to answer: Is it feasible at all? For what types of structures? And to what extent? “Conversions of commercial real estate to residential units have become a mainstream development option, and perhaps even a specialized niche sector. A growing number of local, regional, and national developers are honing the skills required to undertake the complexities of…

The U.S. government is reporting that total construction spending in January, 2023 was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,825.7 billion, which is 0.1% below December’s revised estimate but is 5.7% higher than one year ago.  Residential construction came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $847.4 billion in January, which is 0.6% below December’s revised estimate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

The latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index reported a 5.8% annual gain for December, 2022.  Their 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 4.4% and their 20-City Composite posted a 4.6% year-over-year gain.  While positive, both increases continued to be down from previous months. “The cooling in home prices that began in June 2022 continued through year end, as December marked the sixth consecutive month of declines for our National Composite Index…The National Composite declined by -0.8% in December, and now stands 4.4% below its June peak. For 2022 as a whole, the National Composite rose…

We have many posts about breakdown one dollar in rent and other financial stories.  However, today’s infographic from the Daily Infographic takes us through all the parts that make up a dollar bill and gives us some basic information about each part.  Undoubtedly,  many of you reading this post have the first dollar they even made framed on the wall….. Stay safe and have a Happy Friday! Hat tip to the Daily Infographic.

Rental information site Zumper recently released their latest monthly National Rent Report showing that their median national rent for 1-bedroom apartments in February, 2023 was $1,492 (unchanged from January) and the median two-bedroom rent was $1,824 (up 0.1% from January).  Zumper says year-over-year rent-price increases continued to decelerate from post-pandemic-era increases in 2021 and 2022.  Be sure to check out their list of the top 100 metro areas. “Many markets continue to either normalize or correct following the steep increases in rent seen in 2021-22 in the zero interest rate & QE environment we went through…With interest rates expected to…

According to the latest Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI), U.S. house prices rose 8.4% from December 2021 through December 2022.  Month to month, house prices were down 0.1% from November to December, 2022.  In addition, the FHFA says the U.S. housing market has experienced positive annual appreciation each quarter since the start of 2012. 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. “House price…

On a recent episode of the Rent Perfect podcast David Pickron says with an ever-increasing influx of immigrants pouring into the United States, there is a pressure being applied to the rental housing market like never before.  As a property owner, you may encounter a time when you have immigrants that want to rent your property and you just aren’t sure what to do. David Pickron and Rent Perfect General Counsel Denny Dobbins sit down to talk about what you need to know in regard to the rules surrounding this unique situation. “As a property owner, you may encounter a…

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…