Author: Brad Beckett

According to the latest Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI), U.S. house prices rose 1.4% in May and were up 18.3% from May 2021 to May 2022. The FHFA produces the nation’s only public, freely available house price indexes (HPIs) that measure changes in single-family house prices based on data that cover all 50 states and over 400 American cities and extend back to the mid-1970s. “House prices continued to rise in May, but at a slower pace…Since peaking in February, price appreciation has moderated slightly. Price growth continues to remain above historical levels, supported by the…

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that pending home sales were down 8.6% in June, 2022.  The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings) dipped to 99.1.  The NAR predicts home sales should start to rebound by early 2023.  Indeed… “Home sales will be down by 13% in 2022, according to our latest projection…With mortgage rates expected to stabilize near 6% and steady job creation, home sales should start to rise by early 2023.. Click here to read the full report at the National Association of Realtors.

The U.S. Government is reporting that sales of new single-family houses in June, 2022 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 590k, which is 8.1% lower than May’s revised rate and is 17.4% lower than one year ago.  The median sales price of new houses sold in September was $402,400k with an average sales price of $456,800.  There were an estimated 457k new houses for sale at the end of March representing a 9.3-month supply at the current sales rate. Click here to read the full report at the U.S. Census Bureau.

With U.S. inflation hitting a high not seen since the Carter-years, the folks over at Statista did a deep-dive into the recent numbers to illustrate how food staples are being hit the hardest.  They point out that the price of eggs rose by a third between June 2021 and June 2022 and butter, flour, chicken and milk also showed some of the next-biggest price increases.  Stay safe, watch those pennies and have a Happy Friday!!! “Recent U.S. inflation levels have been well above those in other industrialized nations, for example in Europe, and surpassed 9 percent year-over-year in June.” Hat…

So, how long does it take to build a single-family house?  The NAHB’s Eye on Housing recently sifted through data from the Census Bureau’s The 2021 Survey of Construction (SOC) to find out.  Their data shows that the average completion time of a single-family house is around 8.2 months, which includes a little over a month from authorization to start and another 7.1 months to finish construction.  They point out that the time from authorization to completion varies across the nation depending on location and whether the house is built for sale or custom-built. Click here to read the full…

On a recent episode of the AZREI Show, Marcus Maloney & Michael Del Prete spoke with Rent Perfect’s David Pickron about their mobile platform that allows landlords to easily take a tenant from the application, to lease, to online payments, saving the landlord time and money in the process.  Whether you are an experienced investor with a large portfolio, or just getting started and looking to secure income and wealth through real estate investing the AZREIA Show is here for you. Click here to listen on Spotify.

This weekend several states across the fruited-plain will be kicking 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.  Be sure to read your state’s “fine-print” for this exemption.   Please note, some states have already had their sales tax holidays for 2022. Upcoming States: Arkansas – August 6-7 Connecticut – August 21-27 Florida – July 25 – August 7 Illinois – August 5-14 Iowa…

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently announced the establishment of an Office of Financial Technology. According to an agency release, the new department will serve as a centralized source of information to support FHFA in addressing emerging risks and advancing agency priorities related to the adoption and deployment of financial technology (fintech).  One of the focus areas of this new department will be engaging market participants, industry, nonprofits, consumer groups, and academia to facilitate the sharing of best practices of housing finance fintech and innovation. “When used responsibly, fintech has the potential to improve borrowers’ experiences with the mortgage…

According to ATTOM Data’s Midyear 2022 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, there were a total of 164,581 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings in the first six months of 2022.  This figure is up 153% from the same time period a year ago but down just 1% from the same time period two years ago.  Significantly, they report there were 117,383 U.S. properties that started the foreclosure process in the first six months of 2022, up 219% from the first half of last year they and up 19% from the first half of 2020. States that saw the greatest number of foreclosures…

CNBC’s Diana Olick says mortgage demand recently hit a 22-year low as buyers worry about higher interest rates and inflation. She says “pain in the mortgage market” is only getting worse. However, she also points out that the market is going to become less competitive for sellers as the number of multiple offers dramatically shrinks. Click here to watch at CNBC.com.