Nach Genre filtern
Real Estate News: Real Estate Investing Podcast
Don’t get caught off guard by market crashes that can take all your money down with them. And don’t miss out on markets where you can build wealth practically overnight. Real Estate News for Investors with Kathy Fettke is the premiere source for savvy real estate investors who want to stay up-to-date on new laws, regulations, and economic events that affect real estate. Topics include: market trends, economic analysis that affects housing prices, updates on the best rental markets for investing in single-family rentals or multi-unit rentals, turn-key housing standards, the fate of the highly revered 1031 exchange and other tax law affecting investors, self-directed IRA investing and 401k changes, where rents and property values are rising or falling, flipping risks, new Dodd-Frank rules regarding private lending and financing standards, areas with job losses vs job growth, areas that are overbuilt or over-supplied versus areas with low supply and high demand, and how to avoid real estate scams. We'll bring you the latest reports from organizations like the National Association of Realtors, Realty Trac, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, Rent Range, Property Radar, the Norris Group, Peter Schiff, Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Suse Orman, Bigger Pockets, Dave Ramsey and more. And we'll help you interpret the data in terms that make sense for your real estate goals, and portfolio. Grow and protect your wealth by staying on the forefront of economic data analysis, expert opinions, innovative investing strategies and profitable investment opportunities. We'll share all the top real estate news stories and the best trade secrets investors should know, so you can stay ahead of the curve and make fully informed real estate decisions. Host Kathy Fettke is Co-CEO of the Real Wealth Network, author of Retire Rich with Rentals and host of the Real Wealth Show on iTunes. She brings decades of media and real estate investing experience, offers her own viewpoints on particular topics, and taps into her network of real estate experts for real world news updates created just for investors like you. Get the real news on real estate on Real Estate News For Investors podcast! Like what you hear? Don't forget to subscribe! Love what you hear? Please leave us a review! Thanks for listening!
- 1602 - Rental Housing Gap Grows!
The affordable housing gap is growing with a huge 7.2 million rental homes needed to meet demand. A new report on the supply of affordable homes in the US shows that no state has enough supply to meet the needs of low-income renters. Hi I’m Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. Find out more about how you can provide affordable single-family rental homes as a RealWealth member. It’s free to join and to learn how to invest wisely. Go to newsforinvestors.com. And please remember to subscribe to this podcast! This new study is called: “The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes.” The National Low Income Housing Coalition conducts this study every year to determine the extent of this unmet demand. The 7.2 million figure refers to a shortage of homes for extremely low-income families or what’s referred to as ELI renter households. These families have incomes which are at or below the poverty level or are earning just 30% of the median income in their areas... Links: 1 - https://www.housingfinance.com/news/u-s-has-gap-of-over-7-2-million-affordable-and-available-rental-homes_o
~~~~
FOLLOW OUR PODCASTS🎤️👇
RealWealth Podcast Show: https://link.chtbl.com/RWS
Real Estate News: Real Estate Investing: https://link.chtbl.com/REN
~~~~
READ BOOKS BY RealWealth FOUNDERS📖👇
The Wise Investor by Rich Fettke: https://tinyurl.com/thewiseinvestorbook
Retire Rich with Rentals by Kathy Fettke: https://tinyurl.com/retirerichwithrentals
~~~~
FREE RealWealth EDUCATION & TOOLS👇
RealWealth market reports: https://realwealth.com/learn/best-places-to-buy-rental-property/
RealWealth webinars: https://realwealth.com/thursday-webinars/
RealWealth videos: https://realwealth.com/category/video/
RealWealth Assessment™: https://realwealth.com/assessment/
~~~~
MORE INFORMATION
RealWealth stories: https://realwealth.com/stories/
Become a RealWealth property team: https://realwealth.com/new-team/
Check out our syndication Grow Developments: https://growdevelopments.com/
~~~~
FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM:
Kathy: @kathyfettke or https://www.instagram.com/kathyfettke/
Rich: @richfettke or https://www.instagram.com/richfettke/
RealWealth: @realwealth or https://www.instagram.com/realwealth/
Fri, 10 May 2024 - 04min - 1601 - The Real Estate News Brief: Fed’s Forecast on a Rate Cut, Consumer Pullback Arrives, Odd Punishment for NY Landlord
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending May 4th, 2024… why the Fed is holding firm on interest rates, what economists are saying about consumer spending, and why a NY landlord may be forced to live in one of his poorly maintained buildings. Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. If you want more helpful information about real estate, the housing market, and rental property investment, please sign up for a free RealWealth membership at newsforinvestors.com. And please remember to subscribe to this podcast! We begin with economic news from this past week. The big headline came from the Federal Reserve. Members of the Federal Open Market Committee decided to keep short-term rates right where they are, saying there’s a “lack of further progress” on inflation. The federal funds rate has been within a range of 5.25 and 5.50% since July of 2023. There had been hope for a rate cut this spring but inflation has been inching higher instead of lower since the beginning of the year. The Fed wants to see a more sustainable decline toward the Fed’s 2% target before it initiates a rate cut. During his post-meeting speech, Fed Chief Jerome Powell emphasized that “inflation is still too high” and that the data has not given the central bank confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward the target rate. But he did offer some assurance that it’s unlikely that the Fed would be hiking rates at the next meeting. That triggered a lot of joy on Wall Street and a big stock rally. The Dow was up as much as 500 points at one point... Links: 1 - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/01/fed-rate-decision-may-2024-.html 2 - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/01/fed-meeting-today-live-updates-on-may-fed-rate-decision.html 3 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/feds-bowman-says-shes-still-willing-to-raise-rates-10c39c38?mod=mw_rss_topstories 4 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-inch-up-to-208-000-layoffs-still-extremely-low-7020b3f1?mod=economic-report 5 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/home-prices-hit-new-all-time-high-case-shiller-says-in-the-face-of-economic-uncertainty-98aa35cc?mod=economic-report 6 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/construction-spending-posts-bigger-than-expected-drop-e0f15c88?mod=economic-report 7 - https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms 8 - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/01/starbucks-mcdonalds-yum-earnings-show-consumers-pulling-back.html 9 - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/03/jobs-report-april-2024-us-job-growth-totaled-175000-in-april.html 10 - https://www.bisnow.com/new-york/news/multifamily/new-yorks-worst-landlord-indicted-on-80-counts-124094
Wed, 08 May 2024 - 05min - 1600 - Lunar Land Grab: Will the Moon Be Off-Limits if China Gets There First???
NASA’s chief is worried about the possibility of a lunar land grab by China. China announced the launch of a test flight just this past week with plans to put boots on the moon’s surface in the near future. One big concern is that China is not part of an international lunar cooperation agreement, and may try to lay claim to an area believed to have water. Hi I’m Kathy Fettke and this is the Real Estate News for Investors. Before we get started, I want to let you know we released a handful of new tickets for this weekends live event near San Francisco. I'll be giving my housing forecast for 2024 -2025 and we'll also have 5 property teams from some of the fastest growing markets in the country, including Dallas, Jacksonville Fl, Cincinnati, and San Antonio. They will give an update on their markets and present available rental properties that cash flow with property management in place. Some of the lenders are offering rates under 5% so come check it out. Again that's May 4th near the San Francisco Airport. Go to newsforinvestors.com under the Connect tab and Live Events. And if you haven't yet subscribed to our podcast, click here to subscribe on your favorite platform. Now back to our story… China just announced the launch of an unmanned test mission to the dark side of the moon. The spacecraft will be guided by a satellite because that side of the moon permanently faces away from earth. The lander will collect rocks and soil and, with the help of a satellite, will depart from the moon for a return trip to earth... Links: 1 - https://qz.com/nasa-bill-nelson-china-moon-landing-change-artemis-1851441860 2 - https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/04/29/asia-pacific/china-mission-moon-hidden-side/
Fri, 03 May 2024 - 04min - 1599 - Home Buyers Off the Hook for Title Insurance?
A federal agency is suggesting that lenders foot the bill for title insurance instead of home buyers. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says that home buyers are paying way too much for something that protects lenders. But skeptics are pushing back, saying if lenders are forced to pay, a change in the rules won’t have the desired result and won’t do much for housing affordability. Hi! I’m Kathy Fettke and this is the Real Estate News for Investors. Before we continue, please take a moment to sign up for a free RealWealth membership. You’ll have access to a valuable educational resource and there’s no cost or obligation to join. You can sign up at newsforinvestors.com. And if you haven't yet, subscribe to this podcast on your favorite platform so you won't miss an episode. Now, back to our story about title insurance, which is required by lenders to verify ownership and whether there are any liens on the property. It typically costs about $2,000 for a median-priced home. But according to Rocket Mortgage, it can vary from state to state and can range from half-a-percent to 1%. So let’s say you’re buying a $500,000 home and you need title insurance. If it costs half-a-percent of the home price, that’s $2,500, and at 1%, $5,000. As reported by The Real Deal, buyers often overlook the cost of title insurance so it comes as a surprise. And here’s the rub, if there’s no loan, owner’s title insurance only costs about $200, which is what the CFPB is concerned about – that homebuyers are being overcharged for title insurance... Links: 1 - https://therealdeal.com/national/2024/04/19/consumer-bureau-pushes-for-title-insurance-reform/ 2 - https://www.nationalmortgagenews.com/news/what-happens-if-the-cfpb-makes-lenders-pay-title-insurance
Thu, 02 May 2024 - 05min - 1598 - The Real Estate News Brief: Disappointing Inflation Report, Housing Share of the GDP, CA Judge Strikes Down Single-Family Lots Splits
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending April 27th, 2024… the Fed’s preferred inflation report casts another shadow over a near-term rate cut, housing takes a bigger bite out of the GDP, and the court ruling that could prevent a controversial but popular law that allows single-family lot splitting in California. Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. If you want to know more about investing in rental properties, we are holding a live event on May 4th near the San Francisco airport. You can find out more about the event at newsforinvestors.com. And don’t forget to click the subscribe button for this podcast! Now back to our News Brief… We begin with economic news from this past week. The all-important PCE inflation report came out and confirmed once again that it’ll take a bit longer to get inflation back down to the 2% level. The Federal Reserve’s preferred Personal Consumption Expenditure index shows a .3% increase in prices last month which increases the yearly rate of inflation from 2.5% to 2.7%. The core rate which excludes prices for energy and food was also up .3% with a yearly rate that was unchanged at 2.8%. The report makes it more likely that the Fed will not be cutting interest rates in the near future... Links: 1 - https://www.marketwatch.com/livecoverage/march-pce-report-hot-inflation-reading-forecasted-after-gdp-data/card/prices-rises-sharply-again-pce-shows-and-signals-progress-on-slowing-inflation-stalls-ybnTskvnrmraHcqNYnbW?mod=home-page 2 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/sales-of-new-homes-rebounded-in-march-26f52aec?mod=economic-report 3 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/pending-home-sales-see-unexpected-jump-in-march-despite-rising-mortgage-rates-cb4eaecc?mod=mw_latestnews 4 - https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms 5 - https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/markets/mortgage-rates-04252024 6 - https://eyeonhousing.org/2024/04/housing-share-of-gdp-surpasses-16-for-first-time-since-2022/ 7 - https://therealdeal.com/la/2024/04/25/la-court-nixes-california-sb9-allowing-home-lot-splits/
Wed, 01 May 2024 - 07min - 1597 - The Real Estate News Brief: Fed Chief Talks “Higher for Longer”, Moody’s Upbeat Rate Cut Prediction, Renters & Homeownership
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending April 20th, 2024... you’ll hear what the Fed Chief said about “higher for longer,” (he didn't say that on 4/20 but that would have been funny!) why Moody’s is offering an upbeat prediction about rate cuts, and how renters feel about homeownership. We begin with economic news from this past week and more talk about what’s next for interest rates. Fed Chief Jerome Powell spoke out last Tuesday, saying that recent data shows a lack of progress in reducing inflation to the Fed’s 2% goal, and that Fed officials need to have more confidence that that is happening before they cut rates. He said that inflation “declined significantly during the second half of last year” but he added: “The recent data have clearly not given us greater confidence and instead indicate that it’s likely to take longer than expected to achieve that confidence."... ...If you’d like to learn more about investing in real estate, I encourage you to sign up for a free RealWealth membership and come to our live event in San Francisco on May 4th. We’ll have five property teams giving presentations about their markets and their inventory of for-sale rental homes. We are also hosting a cocktail party in the evening for an opportunity to meet other investors and have some fun! Go to newsforinvestors.com for more information about membership and our live event. That’s it for today. You can read more about the stories in this episode by following links in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. And please remember to subscribe to this podcast, and leave a review! Thanks for listening! Links: 1 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/feds-powell-says-likely-to-take-longer-to-meet-conditions-to-cut-interest-rates-72c65044?mod=federal-reserve 2 - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/19/feds-goolsbee-says-more-sniffing-may-be-needed-before-rate-cuts-.html 3 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/feds-goolsbee-says-progress-on-inflation-has-stalled-makes-sense-to-wait-on-interest-rates-8f17e77b?mod=search_headline 4 - https://www.globest.com/2024/04/18/moodys-there-will-be-rate-cut-of-up-to-75-bps-this-year/ 5 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-flat-at-212-000-and-still-no-sign-of-rising-layoffs-226f55bf?mod=economy-politics 6 - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/19/something-strange-has-been-happening-with-jobless-claims-numbers-lately.html?__source=iosappshare%7Ccom.apple.UIKit.activity.Message 7 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/home-sales-get-hammered-by-higher-mortgage-rates-but-one-region-is-holding-up-b75ed6d5?mod=economic-report 8 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/housing-starts-plunge-in-march-amid-housing-shortage-b489170a?mod=economic-report 9 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/builder-confidence-index-stalls-in-april-as-mortgage-rates-hit-7-buyers-are-back-on-the-fence-waiting-for-interest-rates-to-fall-one-builder-says-de04d6e9?mod=economic-report 10 - https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms 11 - https://www.nar.realtor/magazine/real-estate-news/mortgage-rates-jump-above-7-percent-setting-new-high-for-2024 12 - https://www.globest.com/2024/04/16/more-renters-give-up-on-home-ownership/
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 - 08min - 1596 - How Will You Future-Proof Your Portfolio Against Climate Risks?
Earth Day is here again, as a reminder to celebrate this beautiful planet we live on. For real estate investors, It's also a reminder to check on our own properties and do whatever we can to make them more resilient to natural disasters. Climate resiliency is what CoreLogic says is the key to “future real estate stability.” Environmental risk is becoming more important for anyone buying property, whether it’s due to potential flooding, wildfires, hurricanes or even sea level changes. Although climate-related natural disasters pose a financial threat to every industry, they pose a huge threat to the real estate industry which also accounts for a substantial portion of our US economy... ...If you haven’t done it already, let Earth Day be an inspiration to do the research you need to make your properties more resilient to climate-related events. It may also help guide you as to where you want to invest and how to fortify your portfolio against the risks, not just for you but for future generations. You’ll find links to the CoreLogic articles in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. You can also find out more about smart real estate investing as a RealWealth member and by attending our live event in San Francisco on May 4th. We’ll have five property teams giving presentations about their markets and available rental properties. We’re also hosting a Cocktail Party in the evening so you can meet fellow investors and find out what they are doing. You can get information on the live event and a free RealWealth membership at newsforinvestors.com. And please remember to subscribe to this podcast if you haven’t already! Thanks for listening! And Happy Earth Day! Kathy Links: 1 - https://www.corelogic.com/intelligence/earth-day-climate-change-takes-center-stage-in-the-property-market-conversation/ 2 - https://www.corelogic.com/intelligence/extreme-heat-property-risk-is-the-next-significant-business-hurdle/ 3 - https://www.corelogic.com/press-releases/corelogic-previews-the-evolving-severe-convective-storm-risk-landscape-in-new-report/
Sat, 20 Apr 2024 - 05min - 1595 - US Supreme Court Victory for California Property Owners & Developers!
California property owners, developers and affordable housing advocates are scoring a big win from the US Supreme Court! The high court ruled that local “impact fees” imposed on newly constructed homes can be challenged in court. This is a significant win for property rights because these fees can add a substantial amount of money onto the price of a home. The case began with a lawsuit by George Sheetz in California’s El Dorado County. That’s in the foothills heading toward Lake Tahoe. Sheetz is a 72-year-old retiree who applied for a permit in 2016 to build an 18-hundred square foot manufactured home on a small lot that is zoned for residential use. The county then imposed a traffic mitigation fee or “impact fee” of $23,420... ...That’s it for this episode. You’ll find links to our source material in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. I’d also like to invite you to attend our live RealWealth event in San Francisco on May 4th. We will be showcasing six property teams who provide rental properties in markets with strong job and population growth and are more affordable for investors. We will also be hosting a cocktail party in the evening so you can meet fellow investors and members of the RealWealth team. You’ll find information on tickets at newsforinvestors.com under the Connect tab and then Live Events. And please remember to become a member of RealWealth and subscribe to this podcast if you haven’t already! Thanks for listening! Kathy Links: 1 - https://therealdeal.com/la/2024/04/15/supreme-court-builders-can-challenge-california-impact-fees-2/ 2 - https://www.nahb.org/blog/2024/04/sheetz-ruling-supreme-court-impact-fees 3 - https://www.car.org/aboutus/mediacenter/newsreleases/2024-News-Releases/4qtr2023hai#:~:text=Fifteen%20percent%20of%20California%20households,percent%20in%20fourth%2Dquarter%202022.
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 - 05min - 1594 - The Real Estate News Brief: Rate-Cut Hopes Deflate, Price Impact on Construction, Property Tax Sticker Shock
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending April 15th, 2024... why the latest inflation reports could postpone the Fed’s rate-cutting plan, how inflation continues to impact construction costs, and why homeowners are getting sticker shock from property tax bills. We begin with economic news from this past week that was dominated by two of the latest inflation reports. The Consumer Price Index or CPI came out on Wednesday and the Producer Price Index or PPI came out on Thursday. Unfortunately for everyone wanting a great inflation report, the March CPI was hotter than expected. It rose .4% in March for an annual rate of 3.5%. That’s up from 3.2% last month. That is not what the Fed wants to see as it decides to lower the Federal Funds rate... ...That’s it for today. You can read more about the stories in this episode by following links in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. We are also encouraging all of our listeners to sign up for a free RealWealth membership. As a member, you’ll get updates on what’s new for the housing market and for real estate investors. Our big focus right now is a live event on Saturday May 4th in San Francisco. We’ll have six property teams giving presentations on their markets and the kind of rental properties available. We are also hosting a cocktail party in the evening to give people an opportunity to share their real estate investing stories and get to know one another. You can find out more about that at newsforinvestors.com. Just click on Connect and then Live Events. Subscribe to the podcast here. Thanks for listening! Kathy Fettke Links: 1 - https://www.marketwatch.com/livecoverage/cpi-report-for-march-dow-futures-steady-ahead-of-key-inflation-data/card/inflation-rises-sharply-again-in-march-cpi-shows-and-may-raise-doubts-about-fed-rate-cut-Foz2wKLnfXjobHHolAdz 2 - https://www.cnbc.com/2013/02/20/producer-price-index-cnbc-explains.html 3 - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/10/hot-inflation-data-pushes-markets-rate-cut-expectations-to-september.html 4 - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/05/fed-governor-bowman-says-additional-rate-hike-could-be-needed-if-inflation-stays-high.html 5 - https://www.constructiondive.com/news/producer-price-construction-input-march/712981/ 6 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-officials-back-cautious-approach-to-further-shrinking-of-its-balance-sheet-minutes-show-4fed157d?mod=federal-reserve 7 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-retreat-again-to-211-000-in-another-sign-of-labor-market-strength-ac68c1cc?mod=economic-report 8 - https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms 9 - https://www.forbes.com/advisor/taxes/property-taxes-surge/ 10 - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/09/why-new-build-homes-can-lead-to-a-property-tax-surprise.html
Tue, 16 Apr 2024 - 07min - 1593 - Will Squatters Take Your Property? New Florida Law Says “NO”!
Florida Realtors are celebrating a new law that makes it easier for property owners to remove squatters. It’s become a crisis situation across the nation when squatters take control of a property and claim they are the victims. Florida has changed that, but property owners also need to protect themselves from the illegal occupation of their rightful homes... ...You should also know your rights and the rights of squatters (if they have any) for the area where your property is located. If squatters don’t leave when you ask them, you may have to file an eviction notice and take them to court. And make sure you have a lawyer who’s experienced with property rights law. The Florida anti-squatting law will take effect on July 1st. That’s it for this episode. We’ve posted links to some of these stories in the show notes if you’d like to read more about it. Just go to newsforinvestors.com. I’d also like to mention our live event on May 4th in San Francisco for people who’d like to invest in rental properties. We’ll have a total of six property teams giving presentations including two from Florida where the new anti-squatting law will help protect our properties! There will also be a cocktail party after the main event so you can get to know your fellow investors and members of our RealWealth team. Get more details and sign up at newsforinvestors.com under the Connect tab and then Live Events. And please remember to subscribe to this podcast if you haven’t already! Links: 1 - https://www.floridarealtors.org/news-media/news-articles/2024/03/desantis-signs-bill-targeting-home-squatters 2 - https://www.wptv.com/news/state/florida-gov-ron-desantis-signs-law-squashing-squatters-rights 3 - https://nypost.com/2024/03/21/us-news/tiktokker-tells-illegal-immigrants-how-to-invade-american-homes/ 4 - https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/range-rover-driving-squatter-took-171643513.html 5 - https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/20-u-s-states-where-squatters-are-able-to-legally-claim-your-property/ss-BB1kvKva#image=22 6 - https://www.gobankingrates.com/investing/real-estate/how-to-protect-your-real-estate-from-squatter-crisis/
Fri, 12 Apr 2024 - 05min - 1592 - Investors Enjoy Sizzling Hot Housing Demand in DALLAS!
Demand for housing in and around Dallas, Texas continues to soar. While investors have been pouring millions of dollars into creating more affordable housing, the metro is attracting so many people that tens of thousands of homes are still needed. Supply isn’t expected to catch up to demand any time soon. An article in Bisnow says that investors have put a record amount of money into the area, but it hasn’t done much to close the affordable housing gap. Executive director of the Texas Affiliation of Affordable Housing Providers, Roger Arriaga, says: “The demand is excruciatingly big. We haven’t really even dented what the true need is for affordable housing.”... ...This is why we started a North Dallas Rental Fund, which is now closed to new investment, but is still in the process of buying and renovating properties. The plan is to lease the updated homes to tech professionals who are moving to the area. My fund partner is also a property manager and helps individuals build their own rental portfolio. You can find out more about that by signing up for a free RealWealth membership at newsforinvestors.com. You can also learn about the Dallas market by attending our live event on Saturday, May 4th, in San Francisco. There’s more information on that at our website at newsforinvestors.com. That’s it for this episode. And be sure to sign up in advance for the live event on May 4th in San Francisco. We’ll have a total of six property teams giving presentations, plus a cocktail party afterward. Just go to newsforinvestors.com, click on Connect and then Live Events. And please remember to subscribe to this podcast if you haven’t already! Thanks for listening! Kathy Links: 1 - https://www.bisnow.com/dallas-ft-worth/news/affordable-housing/behind-the-eight-ball-record-levels-of-investment-have-barely-dented-the-need-for-affordable-housing-in-dallas-123668 2 - https://www.nar.realtor/newsroom/in-the-news/austin-dallas-fort-worth-seen-as-nations-top-two-home-markets-in-2024-houston-no-6-the-dallas
Thu, 11 Apr 2024 - 04min - 1591 - The Real Estate News Brief: Rate Cut Predictions, Major Cities Attracting Home Buyers, AI’s Impact on CRE
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending April 6th, 2024... more prognostications on when the central bank may cut rates, which major cities are attracting the most home buyers, and why artificial intelligence could have a negative impact on commercial real estate. We begin with economic news from this past week. Fed Chief Jerome Powell expressed caution about when we might see the first interest rate cut. While many economists have been predicting three rate cuts this year with the first happening in June, Powell said it’s too soon to say exactly when it may be appropriate to begin the rate cutting process. He spoke at Stanford University saying: “Recent readings on both job gains and inflation have come in higher than expected” and that policymakers believe rate cuts may be possible later this year but they need “greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably down” toward the central bank’s 2% target... ...That’s it for today. To keep up with the latest in real estate, the economy, and rental market investing, sign up for a free membership at RealWealth.com. Check out the live events calendar for information on our upcoming event this May. It’s our ReaWealth Investor Summit on Saturday, May 4th in San Francisco. We’ll have several property teams giving presentations on their markets and a cocktail party in the evening. That’s at newsforinvestors.com. Just go to the Connect tab and click on Live Events. I also remind everyone to please subscribe to our podcast and leave a review, we really appreciate it! Thank you for joining me! Kathy Fettke Links: 1 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/feds-powell-too-soon-to-say-if-recent-higher-than-expected-inflation-is-just-a-bump-887bd346?mod=search_headline 2 - https://www.reuters.com/markets/rates-bonds/feds-powell-repeats-there-is-time-deliberate-over-rate-cuts-2024-04-03/ 3 - https://www.investopedia.com/when-will-the-federal-reserve-start-cutting-interest-rates-8624420 4 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-climb-to-nine-week-high-of-221-000-but-theres-little-sign-of-worsening-labor-market-fb365f0a?mod=economy-politics 5 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/job-openings-stay-at-8-8-million-labor-market-still-plenty-robust-addb1604?mod=home-page 6 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/eye-popping-march-jobs-report-shows-labor-market-and-u-s-economy-are-still-going-strong-c076e60f?mod=economy-politics 7 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/construction-spending-posts-bigger-than-expected-drop-ad1f19b5?mod=economic-report 8 - https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms 9 - https://www.globest.com/2024/04/03/five-markets-desired-by-homebuyers/ 10 - https://www.globest.com/2024/04/05/millennials-now-largest-homebuying-contingent/ 11 - https://www.globest.com/2024/04/05/generative-ai-could-undercut-labor-income-affecting-the-entire-economy/
Mon, 08 Apr 2024 - 06min - 1590 - Beware of Scammers Who Use AI to Steal Real Estate!
With the help of artificial intelligence, there's a new wild, wild west on the internet, where scammers are pretty much free to pick your pocket. Security experts are warning people that you can be scammed out of money or even real estate by deepfake audio or video clips. And there aren’t a lot of safeguards in place right now.
The technology is evolving more quickly than security experts can design or implement safeguards. As reported by Bigger Pockets, scammers orchestrated a $25 million dollar heist by impersonating the CEO of a multinational company. Hong Kong authorities say the money was transferred by an employee after a video conference call with who he thought was the CEO, but wasn’t...
...AI fraud can certainly turn your world upside down, but using AI in constructive ways could lead to much greater success in whatever you are trying to accomplish.
That’s it for this episode You can read more about these stories by following links in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. While you're there, check our our upcoming Investors Summit Live Event on May 4th. And please remember to subscribe to this podcast, and leave a review! You can also stay connected with RealWealth by signing up for a free membership. You’ll find hundreds of webinars and articles on our website about single-family rental markets along with referrals to highly recommended professionals who can help you expand your portfolio. That’s at newsforinvestors.com. Links: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/ai-deepfakes-are-being-used-to-scam-investors-out-of-millions?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter%20%7C%203/31/24Fri, 05 Apr 2024 - 05min - 1589 - The Real Estate News Brief: Another Hot Inflation Report, Rent Growth Turnaround, Fed Listening Session
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending March 30th, 2024...yet another hot inflation report that we shouldn’t worry about, a turnaround in rent growth, and criticism for the Fed about the impact of high rates. We begin with economic news from this past week. Another inflation report shows that we still have a few bumps in the road to deal with. The government released a report on the PCE for February which shows a sharp increase in prices. The Personal Consumption Expenditure Index was up .3%. That’s slightly below the .4% that Wall Street economists had predicted. The core rate, without prices for food and fuel, was also up .3%. The monthly increase led to a higher annual rate of inflation from 2.4% to 2.5%. The core rate went down slightly from 2.9% to 2.8%. The report doesn’t change much about the central bank’s forecast. Fed Chief Jerome Powell said, a day after the PCE was released, that the data was inline with expectations but that officials want to see more evidence that inflation is decreasing before they cut rates... ...You can read more about these stories by following links in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. And please remember to subscribe to this podcast, and leave a review! If you’d like to know more about how to buy real estate for investment purposes, sign up for a free membership at RealWealth.com, and check out our live events page. We’re holding a RealWealth Investor Summit on May 4th in San Francisco. Attendees will hear from six of our property teams and a cocktail party that will put you in touch with other investors. That’s at newsforinvestors.com. Links: 1 - https://www.marketwatch.com/livecoverage/pce-report-march-2024-key-inflation-reading-powell-remarks-awaited/card/inflation-picks-up-in-february-pce-shows-prices-still-need-to-be-tamed--jo7XiPmCFLgu4KMT7xNX 2 - https://apnews.com/article/federal-reserve-powell-inflation-economy-rates-jobs-13b18fbabc63ae2fc396f7e0ab4f2955 3 - https://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2024/03/q4-gdp-growth-revised-up-to-34-annual.html 4 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-fall-slightly-to-210-000-and-show-robust-labor-market-56d1fd4c?mod=search_headline 5 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/home-prices-reach-new-high-in-january-case-shiller-says-c1567963?mod=mw_latestnews 6 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/pending-home-sales-inch-up-in-february-realtors-are-worried-about-u-s-home-prices-rising-faster-than-incomes-6edf99a6?mod=search_headline 7 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/sales-of-new-homes-inch-down-in-february-fa2e9cb8?mod=search_headline 8 - https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms 9 - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/28/rent-prices-across-the-us-grew-in-march-with-one-exception.html 10 - https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/fed-chair-powell-says-pandemic-has-had-lasting-effects-economy-2024-03-22/
Tue, 02 Apr 2024 - 06min - 1588 - The Real Estate News Brief: Rate Cuts on the Horizon? Home Price Growth vs. Inflation & Indoor Camera Ban for Airbnb Rentals
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending March 23rd, 2024... why the latest Fed meeting provided some assurance about potential rate cuts in the months ahead, what you would pay for a home if home price growth hadn’t outpaced inflation, and how Airbnb is dealing with the use of monitoring devices like indoor cameras. We begin with economic news from this past week. The Fed held rates steady at the March meeting this last week, and suggested that we’re likely to see “three” quarter-percent rate cuts this year. The current short-term interest rate is between 5.25% and 5.5%. If rates are cut by a total of .75%, the short-term rate would be reduced to a range of 4.5% to 4.75% by the end of the year... ...You can read more about the stories in this episode by following links in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. And please remember to subscribe to this podcast, and leave a review! If you’d like to know more about how to buy real estate for investment purposes, sign up for a free membership at RealWealth.com. Thanks for listening! Kathy Fettke Links: 1 - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/20/fed-meeting-march-2024-.html 2 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-still-on-track-for-june-rate-cut-and-2-other-takeaways-from-powells-press-conference-8dfe3ab3?mod=federal-reserve 3 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-dip-to-210-000-layoffs-show-no-sign-of-rising-a3b0d18b?mod=economy-politics 4 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/home-sales-post-biggest-jump-in-a-year-amid-wave-of-new-listings-04175317?mod=economic-report 5 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/housing-starts-rebound-in-february-3ecd146b?mod=economic-report 6 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/builder-confidence-index-reaches-highest-level-since-july-2023-driven-by-low-resale-inventory-77fb9fb5?mod=economic-report 7 - https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms 8 - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/19/why-home-prices-have-risen-faster-than-inflation-since-the-1960s.html?__source=realestate%7cnews%7c&par=realestate 9 - https://www.nar.realtor/magazine/real-estate-news/airbnb-tells-hosts-to-ditch-indoor-security-cameras
Thu, 28 Mar 2024 - 06min - 1587 - Study: Hundreds of Small Banks Still at Risk Due to CRE Loans
Regional banks are still under pressure because of their exposure to commercial real estate loans. A new study shows that almost 300 banks are at risk of failure if they don’t get an infusion of cash or merge with another institution. And the risk grows as time drags on with higher short-term interest rates.
Consulting firm Klaros Group analyzed about 4,000 banks. It found that 282 or more than 7% of the banks in the study are under stress, and that most of the ones at risk are community banks with less than $10 billion in assets. But it also found that 16 regional banks holding $10 and $100 billion in assets are also at risk...
...You can read more by following links in the show notes below or at newsforinvestors.com. And please join our network of real estate investors by signing up for a free membership at our website. And please subscribe to this podcast so you won’t miss an episode. Thanks for listening! Kathy Links: https://www.bisnow.com/national/news/capital-markets/study-finds-282-community-and-regional-banks-at-risk-for-collapse-123398 https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/19/where-cracks-in-the-banking-sector-may-appear-without-more-ma.html https://www.wsj.com/articles/block-capital-ones-merger-with-discover-elizabeth-warren-1a83a50eMon, 25 Mar 2024 - 04min - 1586 - Japan Ends Long History of Negative Interest Rates
For the first time in 17 years, Japan is hiking short-term rates from negative to positive. Japan has been battling deflation and economic stagflation since the worldwide economic crisis and was the lone hold-out among several countries experimenting with negative rates. This last week, that experiment ended with a rate hike from negative .1% to between zero and positive .1%. The Japanese economy has been suffering through a very long period of stagflation. This has been going on since the late 1990’s but the decision to lower short-term rates happened sometime after the 2007 to 2009 economic crisis with Denmark being the first country to do so. The European Union followed suit in 2014, and then Japan did so in 2016. Sweden and Switzerland were also among the countries dipping into negative territory. In the US, the Federal Reserve kept rates very close to zero from late 2008 to 2015, and when Covid hit, the rates went back down from March 2020 to March 2022, but we never joined the negative interest rate experiment. For Japan, the short-term rate has remained at the -.1% since it was first implemented in 2016. Oddly enough, both Japan and the US have their sites set on a 2% target, but Japan is trying to boost prices to get there while the US is trying to reduce them... ...You can read more by following links in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com And please join our network of real estate investors by signing up for a free membership at out website. And please subscribe to this podcast so you won’t miss an episode. Thanks for listening! Kathy Links: https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/18/business/japan-boj-negative-interest-rate-ended-intl-hnk/index.html#:~:text=As%20part%20of%20the%20decision,stagnation%20since%20the%20late%201990s. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/19/bank-of-japan-boj-march-2024-policy-decision-mpm-meeting.html https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/20240319112/negative-interest-rate-era-is-over-was-it-the-dumbest-idea-in-economic-history
Thu, 21 Mar 2024 - 03min - 1585 - The Real Estate News Brief: More Inflation Concerns, Big Change for Home Sales, Single-Family Construction Hot Spots
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending March 16th, 2024... what the latest inflation reports are telling us, why home sellers might be jumping for joy, and where we’ll be seeing the most single-family construction. We begin with economic news from this past week. Two new inflation reports add to concerns about which way prices are going. The Consumer Price Index and the Producer Price Index both show prices were higher in February with the PPI showing the biggest surprise on the upside. The PPI represents the wholesale cost of goods and services and what we might expect to see bubbling up at the retail level. For the month of February, the PPI was up .6% which is double what Wall Street economists had predicted. That brought the annual rate of wholesale inflation up from 1% to 1.6%. Higher energy costs can be blamed for most of that gain. They were up 4.4% for the month. Food prices were also 1% higher. When you eliminate food and energy prices for the core rate of inflation, you still get a steep .4% gain and an annual rate of 3.8%... ...You can read more about the stories in this episode by following links in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. You can also join RealWealth for free to learn more about real estate investing. We focus on single-family homes, but also help members find small multi-families and participate in syndicated development deals. It takes just a minute to sign up at realwealthshow.com. And please subscribe to this podcast on your preferred platform and leave us a review if you love the show. Thanks for listening! Kathy Fettke Links: 1 - https://www.marketwatch.com/livecoverage/cpi-report-for-february-dow-futures-inch-higher-ahead-of-key-inflation-data/card/inflation-accelerates-in-february-cpi-shows-RZTJ6W9hTgClRxUcKaa5 2 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/wholesale-price-increases-add-to-picture-of-persistent-inflation-1fdf2a4c?mod=economic-report 3 - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/14/this-week-provided-a-reminder-that-inflation-isnt-going-away-anytime-soon.html 4 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-dip-to-209-00-and-still-show-no-sign-of-rising-layoffs-2d94aacc?mod=economy-politics 5 - https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms 6 - https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/20240315367/no-more-6-home-buyers-and-sellers-will-soon-negotiate-their-own-commissions-with-agents 7 - https://eyeonhousing.org/2024/03/strong-rebound-in-single-family-permits-at-the-start-of-2024/ 8 - https://eyeonhousing.org/2024/03/strong-rebound-in-single-family-permits-at-the-start-of-2024/
Wed, 20 Mar 2024 - 06min - 1584 - Inflation Report Surprise and How That Could Impact Rate Cuts
The latest inflation reports are renewing concerns about whether prices are going up or down. Both the Consumer Price Index and the Producer Price Index were released for the month of February this week. They were both on the hot side but the PPI delivered the big surprise. The Federal Reserve released the CPI on Tuesday which shows that inflation was up .4% for the month and 3.2% from a year ago. Economists had anticipated an increase but the annual rate was slightly higher than they expected. As for the core rate, which eliminates food and fuel, both were higher than expected by one tenth of a percent. The monthly rate came in at .4% and the annual rate at 3.8%. It wasn’t an earth-shattering increase. And it isn’t expected to have a significant impact on the Federal Reserve’s decision because central bank officials will be looking for trends and not a short-term bump in the inflation battle. But the PPI was a bit more of a shock on Thursday... ...You’ll find a link to various articles on these inflation reports in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. Sign up for a free RealWealth membership while you are there. You’ll have access to our membership portal where you’ll find lots of resources for new and experienced investors. That include our own market data on metros that are attracting RealWealth investors, property teams in those markets, and real estate professionals who can help you - including our own experienced investment counselors. And please remember to subscribe to this podcast, if you haven’t already. Links: 1 - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/12/cpi-inflation-report-february-2024-.html 2 - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/14/producer-price-index-february-2024-wholesale-inflation-rose-0point6percent-in-february.html 3 - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/14/heres-when-the-fed-may-start-cutting-rates-investment-strategists-say.html 4 - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/07/powell-says-fed-is-not-far-from-the-point-of-cutting-interest-rates.html 5 - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/14/heres-when-the-fed-may-start-cutting-rates-investment-strategists-say.html
Sat, 16 Mar 2024 - 04min - 1583 - The Real Estate News Brief: Home Selling Sentiment Rises, Builders Are Feeling Bullish, Local Retail Comeback
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending March 9th, 2024... why we might see more homes on the market this spring, what builders are planning for this year, and where local stores are experiencing a big comeback. We begin with economic news from this past week. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testified before Congress about the state of the economy and said that it’s “growing at a healthy, sustainable, solid, strong pace.” He also said that policymakers were paying attention to the risks of inflation and that more evidence is needed to reduce the interest rate from its current range of 5.25 to 5.5%. But he also said that he thought that was the peak and that rate cuts were likely at some point this year. He and the other committee members want to “see a little bit more data” showing that inflation is truly coming down before they make a move on rates... ...That’s it for today. You find links to all these stories in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. You can also learn more about how to invest in rental real estate by joining RealWealth. It’s free to join and free to access all of our resources. And please remember to subscribe to this podcast so you won’t miss out on any important real estate news. Thanks for listening! Kathy Fettke Links: 1 - https://www.marketwatch.com/livecoverage/stock-market-today-futures-mixed-ahead-second-day-of-powell-testimony/card/powell-says-u-s-economy-growing-at-a-healthy-sustainable-solid-strong-pace--huEDPE2fGyhaMcbJBqMN 2 - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/06/powell-reinforces-position-that-the-fed-is-not-ready-to-start-cutting-interest-rates.html 3 - https://therealdeal.com/national/2024/03/08/fed-chair-jerome-powell-warns-more-bank-failures-tied-to-cre/ 4 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-stay-at-217-000-in-early-march-layoffs-still-low-18322101?mod=search_headline 5 - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/08/jobs-report-february-2024-us-job-growth-totaled-275000.html 6 - https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms 7 - https://www.fanniemae.com/newsroom/fannie-mae-news/home-selling-sentiment-moves-higher-ahead-spring-homebuying-season 8 - https://www.nar.realtor/magazine/real-estate-news/new-home-construction-is-expected-to-grow-in-2024 9 - https://therealdeal.com/national/phoenix/2024/03/01/retail-vacancy-in-phoenix-hits-40-year-low-of-less-than-5/
Tue, 12 Mar 2024 - 05min - 1582 - Who’s Slamming on the Real Estate Brakes in Texas?
Texas multifamily developers may have overshot their goal. They have pumped so much new product into the market, that many have slammed on the brakes for new builds as they finish up current projects. According to a detailed report in The Real Deal, Texas apartment developers have produced more apartments than almost any other group of US developers over the last three years. In Dallas, they put more than 20,000 apartments on the market last year. That’s about twice the number of new apartments that opened up in New York with a much larger population. In Austin, the story is even more dramatic, with more than 17,000 new apartments on the market in 2023. Compared to Dallas with 1.3 million people, Austin only has 1 million.... ...You’ll find a link to the full article in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. If you’d like more information on the single-family rental business, be sure you’ve signed up for a free RealWealth membership. We help new and experienced investors find cash-flowing rental properties in markets with strong job and population growth. You can also connect with our network of real estate professionals and other single-family investors. And please remember to subscribe to this podcast, if you haven’t already. Thanks for listening! Kathy Fettke Links: 1 - https://therealdeal.com/magazine/march-2024/texas-multifamily-developers-slam-on-the-brakes/ 2 - https://www.multifamilyexecutive.com/design-development/construction/texas-apartment-construction-starts-plunge-across-major-metros_o
Sat, 09 Mar 2024 - 05min - 1581 - The Real Estate News Brief: Another Bump “Up” for Inflation, Builder Challenges Continue, and a New Trend in Home Design
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending March 2nd, 2024... you’ll hear what the Fed’s favorite inflation gauge is telling us, the challenges facing builders today, and a popular new trend in home design.... We begin with economic news from this past week. The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation report came out last week showing the biggest increase in four months. The Personal Consumption Expenditure index or PCE was up .3% in January to an annual rate of 2.4%. The “core” rate, which excludes prices for energy and food, was up .4% with an annual rate of 2.8%. The results were not a surprise after similar reports for the Consumer Price Index and the Producer Price Index. But, there are worries that the new reports will convince the Fed to wait longer to cut rates. The Fed has also said it expects a “bumpy” ride back to its 2% target... ...If you’d like to know more about buying real estate rental properties, please sign up for a free membership at our website. We provide education and networking opportunities for new and experienced real estate investors. You can also check out our companion website, growdevelopments.com, to find out about syndicated investment opportunities. And keep listening to this podcast as a subscriber for all the latest real estate news! Thanks for listening! Kathy Fettke Links: 1 - https://www.marketwatch.com/livecoverage/pce-inflation-for-january-s-p-500-futures-slip-ahead-of-key-report/card/pce-shows-biggest-rise-in-u-s-inflation-in-four-months-7iq9v0hdKgUenOhzZ4pG 2 - https://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2024/02/pce-measure-of-shelter-slows-to-61-yoy.html 3 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/home-prices-hit-a-new-all-time-high-in-december-case-shiller-says-e3f10c11?mod=mw_latestnews 4 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/u-s-economys-growth-in-the-fourth-quarter-downgraded-to-3-2-b56f52d7?mod=home-page 5 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/u-s-economys-growth-in-the-fourth-quarter-downgraded-to-3-2-b56f52d7?mod=home-page 6 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-tick-up-in-latest-week-2a830f76?mod=economic-report 7 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-homes-sales-tick-up-in-january-fa91ae07?mod=aarthi-swaminathan 8 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/pending-home-sales-post-biggest-drop-in-five-months-as-mortgage-rates-rise-a5078f5b?mod=economic-report 9 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/construction-spending-falls-for-the-first-time-since-december-2022-07997db4?mod=search_headline 10 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/home-prices-hit-a-new-all-time-high-in-december-case-shiller-says-e3f10c11?mod=mw_latestnews 11 - https://www.constructiondive.com/news/construction-materials-supply-chain-shortage/708866/ 12 - https://eyeonhousing.org/2024/03/seven-percent-of-builders-now-build-barndominiums/ 13 - https://www.houseplans.net/news/7-popular-barndominium-plans-of-2023/
Thu, 07 Mar 2024 - 07min - 1580 - Bumpy Ride for Inflation Battle but No Big Worries with Latest Report
The latest report on inflation is showing the biggest increase in four months. It’s the PCE report which is the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, and one that provides important data for a decision on rate cuts. The results were also in-line with expectations and what the Fed expects to be a bumpy ride back to its 2% target. PCE stands for the Personal Consumption Expenditure index. The Fed prefers this report over the Consumer Price Index because it more accurately reflects what substitutions consumers are making as prices rise and fall. But the Consumer Price Index or CPI also produces important data for the Fed’s consideration along with the Producer Price Index or PPI for wholesale prices. And those two reports recently surprised us on the upside. The new PCE report shows similar upside results with a .3% increase in January and an annual rate of 2.4%. The Fed pays the most attention to the “core” rate, which eliminates food and energy. That reading was .4% higher in January with an annual rate of 2.8%. Keep in mind that the Fed wants to see continued progress in lowering inflation to the central bank’s 2% target... ...Check for links to those stories in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. Sign up for a free RealWealth membership while you are there for access to our market data. You might also want to check out our recent webinar on real estate lending with Richard Advani. He’ll let you know your best options when it comes to real estate loans, and conserving as much of your own cash as possible. You'll find the webinar under the Learn tab. And please remember to subscribe to this podcast, if you haven’t already. Thanks for listening! Kathy Fettke Links: 1 - https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/29/pce-inflation-january-2023-.html 2 - https://www.marketwatch.com/livecoverage/pce-inflation-for-january-s-p-500-futures-slip-ahead-of-key-report/card/pce-shows-biggest-rise-in-u-s-inflation-in-four-months-7iq9v0hdKgUenOhzZ4pG?mod=home-page
Fri, 01 Mar 2024 - 04min - 1579 - The Real Estate News Brief: All-Cash Home Buyers, Huge Lawsuit Against NAR, Single-Family Rent Growth
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending February 24th, 2024... the 2023 numbers for all-cash home buyers, where NAR stands on a huge class-action lawsuit, and what’s happening with single-family rent growth. We begin with economic news from this past week. Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s late January meeting show that Fed officials are more concerned about cutting rates too soon than they are about waiting too long. Released this last week, the minutes show that most committee members were concerned about the risks of going too fast while only a few were concerned about the opposite. Chief U.S. economist for Oxford Economics, Ryan Sweet, told MarketWatch that he’s worried this approach “could turn a soft landing into a bumpier one.” He added: “If the central bank waits for clear signs that the labor market, or the broader economy, is deteriorating, they will be behind the curve.”... ...You’ll find links to all these stories in the show notes at newsforinvestors.com. You should also check out some of our webinars under the Learn tab if you’d like the latest on my 2024 forecast. Sign up for a free RealWealth membership and you’ll have access to our entire site, including data on individual markets and why investors are choosing them for their portfolios. And don’t forget to subscribe to this podcast, if you haven’t already! Thanks for listening! Kathy Fettke Links: 1 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-officials-more-worried-about-cutting-rates-too-fast-than-moving-too-slow-minutes-show-ed35f77c?mod=federal-reserve 2 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/feds-jefferson-says-he-expects-rate-cuts-later-this-year-e08f7383?mod=federal-reserve 3 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-drop-12-000-to-201-000-in-feb-17-week-743ca6c6?mod=economy-politics 4 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/home-sales-rose-in-january-despite-record-high-prices-as-buyers-seized-on-lower-rates-1802758d 5 - https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms 6 - https://eyeonhousing.org/2024/01/all-cash-share-of-new-home-sales-remains-elevated-in-2023/ 7 - https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/home-buyers-can-sue-brokerages-over-real-estate-commissions-us-judge-rules-2024-02-21/ 8 - https://www.corelogic.com/press-releases/corelogic-us-annual-rent-growth-remains-slow-steady-december/
Tue, 27 Feb 2024 - 06min - 1578 - Investing in Real Estate: Warren Buffett is Putting His Money on Modular
Warren Buffett is launching a new business venture that could shake things up in the building industry. A Berkshire Hathaway-owned construction company has teamed up with a New York City architect on a new way to make modular mainstream. The plan is based on a way to make the modules more transportable and keep local contractors and workers involved.
First reported by the Wall Street Journal, the initiative launched last week between tech-construction company MiTek and Architect Danny Forster. (1) They started working on this initiative about a year ago with backing from Berkshire Hathaway. The investment is reportedly worth millions of dollars.
Modular Units Would be Collapsible
The modular units would be made of steel boxes that can be attached to and stacked onto other units. But unlike the bulky building blocks of other modular construction projects, these will be made to “fold” so they can be transported more easily. As reported by Fast Company: “Instead of large steel boxes that have to be carefully routed under bridges and overpasses on the back of a truck, MiTek’s collapsible modules fold flat, easing transportation to job sites.” (2)
The folded shells will then be shipped to warehouses close to the building sites. The rest of the “pre-assembly” can take place at those locations before they are moved to the jobsite. That one change is significant because it means these collapsible modules can be shipped more economically at a much greater distance from the factory. Transportation costs are something that have apparently held other modular companies from growing.
Pre-Assembly Finished at Local Level
Also, by doing much of the assembly at the local warehouse, with local employees, there’s less chance of a push back from labor unions and local officials who can say yay or nay to a project. Forster told Fast Company he’s run smack into a solid steel wall when it comes to getting approval for a project that sidesteps the labor unions. He says: “The unions have told us very clearly there’s no way in hell you’re shipping in a building from offshore or even from out of state. They’ve said if it’s not 40 miles from the job site and local labor’s not participating, it’s not happening in downtown San Francisco.”
That project is still in the process of getting city approval, but it appears that it may be in line for MiTek’s new collapsible modules. They will be initially built at a 250,000-square foot factory in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and shipped from there to construction sites. General contractors will be hired to get them fully built at the local level. But the modules will be designed to make it faster and easier to do the finish work from pipes and electrical wiring to windows and doors.
Two Prototypes Already Built
The MiTek team has already built two prototype “rooms” that could be used for a hotel project. MiTek’s Todd Ullom says: “We took the plumbing process from 16 labor hours down to 4 hours and 10 minutes. We’re trying to create the NASCAR pit crew for construction.”
Making the process more efficient is a challenge when it comes to negotiating with a contractor, because it means fewer hours for workers. Ullom feels it will take some time for this process to gain acceptance. He says the company will be spending the rest of the year fine-tuning the process, and hopes to begin module production in 2022.
But it isn’t just the manufacturing process that needs tweaking. There’s a lot of work to be done talking to contractors who need convincing, and local officials who control the permitting and inspecting of projects. MiTek is reportedly in high-level talks with two national builders, but there’s no word on which ones.
A Better, More Efficient Process
The goal is to bring down construction costs and speed up the building process. Forster told Architectural Digest that there needs to be a “better, more efficient process” but so far, modular construction has only realized limited adoption. (3) The challenge is to get a large number of stakeholders on board including insurance companies, designers, developers, investors, lenders, materials testing people and others. He says: “I’ve spent a lot of years on this bumpy ride and right now we’re trying to fix potholes before we start chasing business.
He says MiTek will build modular rooms for hotels and apartment buildings, including senior living and affordable housing. He rejects the idea that their modular concept will lead to cookie-cutter buildings. He says they are creating a “system for architecture” and not an “off-the-shelf box” that will appear all over America.
He says they are working on getting this right, and are not in a rush to get this to market. He says: “This probably comes from Mr. Buffett. Not a lot of companies can say I’m taking a 10-year look at this.”
If you’d like to read more about the MiTek Modular Initiative, you’ll find links in the show notes at NewsForInvestors.com
Click here to join RealWealth. It's free and only takes a minute.
Links:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/warren-buffett-to-offer-a-new-spin-on-modular-construction-11621339201
https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/warren-buffett-offer-fresh-approach-modular-construction
Thu, 27 May 2021 - 05min - 1577 - Passive Income: Renewed Confidence Inspires Surge in Single-Family Rental Investing
Investor interest in single-family rentals is making a post-COVID comeback. A new report by Redfin shows an increase in the purchase of single-family homes by investors after three straight quarters of declines during the pandemic.
Redfin says there was a 2.7% increase in the number of homes bought by investors during the first quarter of this year. That’s about 1 in every 7 homes compared to about 1 in every 10 homes during the previous three quarters.
Cautious Approach During Pandemic
Redfin says that investors held back at the beginning of the pandemic and were slow to jump back in. Even though the housing market recovered quickly, many investors took a more cautious approach because of job losses, unpaid rents, and the eviction moratorium.
Redfin’s senior economist, Sheharyar Bokhari says: “Investors are likely starting to feel more comfortable because the economy is in recovery mode.” And, they may also see the declining inventory of homes as an opportunity because a lot of families who’d like to buy a home will end up renting. He says many investors have the cash and can easily add these homes to their portfolios.
Real Estate More of a Safe Haven
Redfin’s chief economist, Daryl Fairweather, calls it “a relatively safe bet right now.” If you’ve been following the stock market, you know that it’s been extremely volatile. Even with home prices rising as fast as they have, real estate has been more of a safe haven than the stock market. And the higher-priced homes are getting a lot of that attention.
Redfin says that the purchase of expensive homes by investors was up almost 20% year-over-year in the first quarter, while the purchase of mid-priced homes was only up 12.7%. Low-priced homes were up 9.2%. That last number may have something to do with the lack of inventory at the lower price levels. Home prices for those three tiers average about $429,000 for expensive, $272,000 for mid-priced, and $184,000 for affordable.
Bidding Wars for Luxury Homes
Getting an even bigger piece of the pie are luxury homes. Redfin says there was a 41% increase in the purchase of luxury homes by investors year-over-year in quarter one. Those are homes selling for an average of almost a million dollars. The National Association of Realtors’ chief economist, Lawrence Yun, says there’s more activity at the upper end because there’s less of an inventory problem. But it’s also very competitive. A recent article in SFGate talks about bidding wars in the San Francisco East Bay and said that homes are often selling for $1 million over asking.
Investors Buy 1 in 5 Affordable Homes
But Redfin says while the biggest jump in purchase activity among investors occurred at the upper end, the largest share of homes purchased by investors was at the lower end. In just that part of the market, 1 in 5 single-family homes sold in the U.S. was bought by an investor.
Miami topped the list of cities with the largest market share of single-family homes purchased by investors. Atlanta was next, followed by Jacksonville, Charlotte, Las Vegas, and Phoenix.
Interest in Smaller Markets Growing
The report confirms investor interest in smaller markets is growing. It says: “In recent years, investors and individual homebuyers alike have crowded into mid-sized cities that are more affordable than major hubs like San Francisco and New York. This trend has been accelerated by the pandemic, with so many Americans suddenly able to work from anywhere. These markets have become increasingly competitive for buyers.”
You’ll find links to those reports in the notes for this episode at NewsForInvestors.com
Links
2 - https://www.housingwire.com/articles/investors-are-buying-up-single-family-homes-across-the-us/
Tue, 25 May 2021 - 04min - 1576 - The Real Estate News Brief: Rental Assistance Helps Landlords, Rent Growth Speeds Up, Housing Boom for Opportunity Zones
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending May 22nd, 2021... the government’s rental assistance program is helping landlords, rent growth speeds up, and the housing boom is adding value to opportunity zones.
Economic News
We begin with economic news from this past week, and a Treasury Department announcement that it has distributed $6 billion in rental assistance in the last two weeks. And more money is on the way. (1) A total of $21.6 billion was allocated to the program as part of a stimulus package approved in March. Another $25 billion had been approved in December. The funding is important to help pay off tenant debt to landlords as eviction moratoriums expire.
More Americans are heading back to work. The latest unemployment report shows that initial jobless claims were down 34,000 last week, to 444,000. (2) That’s the lowest number we’ve seen in more than a year. More than 16 million people are still getting unemployment checks, but that number is also decreasing.
Several states say they plan to stop offering the additional $300 a week in federal benefits, to encourage people to get back to work. That program is supposed to end on September 6th. CNBC reports that a few states are also offering a one-time bonus for people who start working again. Those states include Arizona, Montana, New Hampshire and Oklahoma with bonuses ranging from 500 to $2,000. (3)
The latest round of housing data shows another drop for existing home sales. The National Association of Realtors says they fell 2.7% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.85 million homes. (4) It’s the third month in a row that sales fell as the inventory crunch continues. NAR’s chief economist, Lawrence Yun, expects to see more inventory “as further COVID-19 vaccinations are administered and potential home sellers become more comfortable listing and showing their homes.”
Residential construction was also down in April. The U.S. Census Bureau reports a 13% decline in month-to-month single-family home starts. Permits were also down by 4%. (5) Economists had expected better numbers. Senior economist, Andrew Grantham, at CIBC Capital Markets told MarketWatch that the decline is probably the result of material shortages such as lumber, and possibly labor as well.
That decline didn’t hurt builder confidence. The National Association of Homebuilders reports that the monthly index held steady in May. (6) Although builders face challenges, the NAHB says that builders remain confident about the strength of the housing market.
Mortgage Rates
Mortgage rates returned to that 3% level this last week. Freddie Mac says the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was up 6 basis points to exactly 3%. The 15-year was up 3 basis points to 2.29%. (7)
In other news making headlines...
Rent Growth Speeds Up
Rent growth sped up in March to its fastest pace since the beginning of the pandemic. Realtor.com says the median rent in the 50 biggest metros was up 2.7% year-over-year. Before COVID-19, the annual rate was 3.2%. (8)
Realtor.com says that two-bedroom units are seeing the most growth. They were up 5.2% annually. The website’s chief economist, Danielle Hale says: “If the trend continues, renters could expect to be paying pre-pandemic rates by as early as this fall.”
Tech hubs still have a ways to go because rents were high, and they fell the most as employees worked remotely from less expensive areas. But tech companies are announcing return-to-office plans, so rents in the tech hubs are starting to turn around.
Median Home Price Hits New High
Redfin is reporting a new high for the median home price. According to its researchers, the national median home price hit $370,528 in April. That’s a 22% increase from a year earlier. (9)
That percentage may be somewhat skewed because people weren’t buying many homes in April of last year, but Redfin’s chief economist, Daryl Fairweather says that the tight inventory will keep those prices climbing. She says it’s going to take years for builders to catch up and the housing boom is far from over.
In April, for-sale homes only spent an average of 19 days on the market. Redfin says that 49% of them sold for more than the asking price. Both are new records.
California Home Prices
The national home price numbers pale in comparison to California. NAR says the median there has flown past $800,000 for the very first time. (10) The new median home price for California is $813,980.
That’s up 7.2% from March and it’s up 34% from the previous year. Again, that year-over-year percentage is probably skewed because of the pandemic lockdown.
Prices Rise in Opportunity Zones
The housing boom is also adding value to opportunity zones. Those are federally designated areas that need the help of investors. In exchange for long-term opportunity zone investment, they will get tax breaks. The program was approved as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
According to ATTOM Data Solutions, two-thirds of those areas have seen home price growth of at least 10% in the first quarter of this year. (11) Prices are still much lower than the rest of the nation. Researchers say that about 43% of the zones have median home prices that are less than $150,000. But the percentage is going down. A year ago it was 50%.
You’ll find links to the stories and reports I’ve referenced in this podcast at www.NewsForInvestors.com
Links:
1 - https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0193
7 - http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/#
8 - https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2021/05/20/rents-post-largest-uptick-since-covid-19-onset
9 - https://www.housingwire.com/articles/home-prices-rapidly-climbing-toward-375000/
10 - https://www.wealthmanagement.com/sfr/california-home-prices-shoot-past-800000-first-time
11 - https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2021/05/20/prices-surge-in-opportunity-zones
12 - https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2021/05/20/buyers-go-to-crazy-extremes-to-win-a-home
Mon, 24 May 2021 - 06min - 1575 - Housing Market: Higher Rents Could Push Long-Term Inflation Permanently Over 2%
We’ve been hearing a lot about the risk of inflation lately. With government money flooding into the market and the economic recovery in high gear, we’ve already seen some price jumps. The Federal Reserve has tried to calm fears by telling us that prices will settle back down, but rent prices are probably not among them, and higher rents, or what’s known as shelter inflation, is a big part of the Consumer Price Index.
A recent Business Insider blog makes a case for rent growth as a catalyst for inflation -- that rents are starting to go up after a decline during the pandemic, and are not likely to “settle back down.” (1) The blog cites Morgan Stanley economists who say that rent prices are “flashing signs of more persistent inflationary pressures” and Goldman Sachs economists who say “special factors that suppressed inflation during the pandemic” have eased up. They feel that as other prices rise and pull back because of the reopening, that rents will continue to accelerate and will likely bring permanent inflation above 2%.
The central bank expects to see inflation rise above 2%, but not forever. The Fed likes that 2% mark, but is willing to let it run above 2% because it had run below 2% for such a long time. If inflation runs past the Fed’s sweet spot and stays there for too long, we may see some changes in the Fed’s strategy, such as short-term interest rate hikes. But what economists are all trying to predict is exactly where inflation will go from here. What I found interesting about the current situation is the role that higher rents would play in this scenario, and that shelter inflation may not be an accurate measurement.
Primer on Shelter Inflation
To understand this kind of impact, it’s important to understand what policymakers are looking at. In this case, it’s shelter inflation which tracks housing costs based on rent levels, and it’s a major part of the CPI basket. Home prices don’t figure into this calculation however. It’s based on rent that tenants are paying, which is based on real numbers, and the “implicit rent” that owner occupants would pay if they were paying rent on their homes, which is hypothetical.
The Labor Department collects this data from its Consumer Expenditure Survey. One of the questions posed to homeowners is what their home would rent for, in their opinion. The answer is called the “owner’s equivalent rent” and it’s up to the owner to provide that information. A recent Bloomberg opinion piece shows why this could spell trouble for calculating real inflation, because homeowners don’t adjust as quickly as the market does to pricing pressures. (2)
Owners' Equivalent Rent
According to that blog, the owners’ equivalent rent increased 2% this last April compared to a year earlier, while the National Association of Realtors reported a 16.2% increase in year-over-year home prices during the first quarter of this year. Bloomberg’s author, Brian Chappatta, says: “This kind of wide discrepancy, unseen since the mid-2000s housing bubble, could have significant consequences for reported inflation statistics and monetary policy in the world’s largest economy.”
Goldman economists are expecting shelter inflation to push overall inflation permanently higher. As reported by Business Insider, they expect shelter prices to increase 3.8% year-over-year by the end of next year, and rise above 4% in 2023. And they don’t expect it will be temporary. This isn’t a direct correlation to higher home prices, but economists say that home price growth does eventually impact shelter inflation. It just takes a while.
Data Discrepancy
Chappatta said in his Bloomberg piece that the owners’ equivalent rent “understates the price appreciation in the housing market relative to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index. He says the owners’ equivalent rent has gone up 31.5% over the past decade while home prices have risen more than 73%. That’s a big difference.
He said that he doesn’t believe this kind of measure is completely bogus, but that it doesn’t do a good job as an economic indicator, mostly because homeowners aren’t well-enough informed to provide market-based rent hypotheticals. It doesn’t help that the pandemic is also skewing the current set of data points.
Rent Hypothetical Needs Scrutiny
Chappatta says there will always be questions concerning inflation but he says: “The Labor Department’s rent hypothetical should receive extra scrutiny.” And that’s especially important right now, as the nation navigates an economic recovery unlike any other in our history.
If you like our podcast, please subscribe. If you’d like more information about the housing market, real estate, and how you can make real estate work for you, please join RealWealth at NewsForInvestors.com
Thanks for listening.
Links:
Fri, 21 May 2021 - 05min - 1574 - The Real Estate News Brief: Inflation Scare, Looser Credit Standards, and the Impact of Government Regs on Home Prices
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending May 15th, 2021... a surprise jump in consumer prices, a looser lending environment, and how government regulations impact home prices.
Economic News
We begin with economic news from this past week that includes a few good reports on the job market. Unemployment claims fell again, to a new pandemic low. Initial state claims are now down to 473,000. That’s the fifth week in a row they have dropped, and reflects a huge hiring effort by U.S. companies as the economy continues to recover.
The March report on job openings shows 8.1 million unfilled positions. That’s up from 7.5 million in February. They had dipped to as low as 4.6 million soon after the start of the pandemic. But the problem now is finding enough qualified employees to fill all those jobs. Some people blame generous unemployment benefits, while others argue that many parents have kids at home and no childcare, or that COVID-19 may still be a threat for some people, especially those who are not vaccinated.
New evidence of inflation caused some panic on Wall Street this last week. There was a sharp stock sell-off after the government reported the steepest rise in consumer prices since 2009. The Labor Department says the index was up .8% in April which is almost a half point higher than economists had predicted. Year-over-year, the rate of inflation has gone from 2.6% in April of last year to 4.2% this year.
The Federal Reserve believes that this is temporary because the economy is recovering so quickly. The central bank believes that prices will settle back down with inflation numbers falling back to a long-term goal of 2%. Some economists also say that the current rate of inflation is exactly where it would be if the pandemic had never happened.
The stock market did bounce back on Friday, but inflation concerns will likely persist. The University of Michigan blames those kinds of worries for a decline in consumer confidence. The index fell six points in May from around 88 to 82.
Mortgage Rates
Inflation hasn’t done much with mortgage rates, so far, which is great for home buyers. The thirty-year fixed-rate mortgage is still under 3%. It was down 2 basis points this last week to 2.94%. The 15-year was down 4 points to 2.26%. It’s been ticking lower for the last month but rates are expected to climb somewhat higher by the end of this year.
In other news making headlines...
Lenders Making It Easier to Get a Loan
Homebuyers may find it a little easier to get a loan as lenders compete for their business. The Mortgage Bankers Association says that the Mortgage Credit Availability Index was up 5% last month for conventional loans, 7% for jumbo loans, and 13% for conforming loans. That suggests a loosening of credit standards as the economy recovers and the housing market continues on an upward trajectory.
First-time home buyers are also flooding into the market. According to data from the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo, 43% of the new homes are going to first-time home buyers so far this year. That’s up from 32% in 2018.
The High Cost of Government Regulation
We’ve heard a lot about the high cost of lumber and how that’s impacting new home prices, but that’s chump change next to the cost of government regulations. The National Association of Home Builders say that 23.8% of the average sales price on new single-family homes is due to regulations during construction. If your average sales price is $397,000, you are paying about $94,000 in fees.
NAHB chairman, Chuck Fowke, told the World Property Journal: “This study illustrates how overregulation is exacerbating the nation’s housing affordability crisis and that policymakers need to take bold steps to reduce or eliminate unnecessary regulations that will help builders increase the production of quality, affordable housing.”
Rising lumber prices have added another $36,000 to the price of a new home. Those costs were not part of this study.
Existing Homes Now More Pricey Than New Ones
The median price for existing homes is now higher than the median price for a new home. The National Association of Realtors says the price for an existing single-family home is now $334,500, while the Census Bureau says the median for a new home is $330,800.
This flip-flop on value hasn’t happened for more than 15 years, but economists say it doesn’t mean that existing homes are truly more expensive. They say the lack of low-priced existing homes and the continued demand for high-priced homes has skewed those numbers higher, and that an increase in less expensive new homes has skewed those numbers lower.
NAHB chief economist, Robert Dietz, says that new homes are still more expensive on a per-square-foot basis.
The Quicken Loan Name to be Retired
Quicken Loans will officially change its name to Rocket Mortgage this July. Quicken founder, Dan Gilbert, introduced Rocket Mortgage five years ago as a digital mortgage service. The company now plans to put the entire mortgage process online under the Rocket Mortgage name, so Quicken Loans will be permanently retired on July 31st.
Click here to join the network for free!
Links:
http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/
https://www.housingwire.com/articles/volume-hungry-mortgage-lenders-loosen-credit-standards/
https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2021/05/06/are-existing-homes-really-more-pricey-than-new
https://www.housingwire.com/articles/quicken-brand-will-be-officially-retired-on-july-31/
Tue, 18 May 2021 - 06min - 1573 - Housing Market: Redfin Expects Home Sales Will Top GDP of France
The housing market is firing on all cylinders, and it’s revving up for a home sale record. Redfin is forecasting $2.5 trillion in U.S. home sales this year. That’s more than the GDP of France, and about equal to the combined value for Amazon.com and Facebook.
Redfin says home sales will probably rise about 17% year-over-year in 2021. That would be a bigger jump than we saw during the pandemic last year, when demand skyrocketed for single-family homes. It will also be the biggest jump in sales since 2013.
As we’ve been reporting, the housing market has gone through a huge transformation because of the pandemic. It brought mortgage rates to a record low and triggered a migration of people to new markets because of the remote work trend. In April, Redfin conducted a survey among remote workers and about 60% of those people expect to continue working from home at least part time.
That kind of shift is work habits and demand for work-at-home space has helped to push home sales higher. And that’s despite a critically low inventory that is also pushing home prices higher. March has already set several new records in the housing industry including home values, sale price and number of days on the market.
If mortgage rates rise, home price growth may slow down a bit. Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather says that would give us a more balanced market and would also lead to MORE home sales. He says: “We expect 2021 to be an even more active year for the housing market than 2020 because homebuyers have a better sense of what the future looks like. Employers are providing clarity on permanent remote work policies, the economy is recovering and mortgage rates remain low. All of these factors mean that we’ll likely see even more buyers enter the market this year and in 2022.”
Where will we see most of these buyers? This forecast points to the South. Redfin expects $1.09 trillion worth of home sales in the South, $696.3 billion in the Westl $422.6 billion in the Midwest, and $322.8 billion in the Northeast. Although it’s common to see the South in the top spot, Redfin says its lead has grown. Fairweather says: “A lot of the wealth from the coasts is shifting South.” He says: “Affluent homebuyers from New York and San Francisco have moved to places like Florida and Texas during the pandemic.” That has also driven sales, and prices, higher in those areas.
Redfin isn’t the only one forecasting more than a trillion dollars in home sales. HousingWire reports that Freddie Mac and the Mortgage Bankers Association are also on board for record high sales. Freddie Mac is forecasting $1.7 trillion while the MBA is forecasting $1.67 trillion.
They both expect “favorable” conditions for the housing and mortgage markets to continue, although economists expect demand could slow down a bit if mortgage rates rise in the midst of a hot economic recovery. The MBA’s chief economist Mike Fratantoni expects the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage to hit 3.7% by the end of the year while the GDP jumps to 6.5%.
Fannie Mae’s chief economist, Doug Duncan, told HousingWire that we’ll see more and more people entering the housing market as the COVID-19 vaccination program expands. Currently, a little more than a third of the U.S. population has been fully vaccinated, so we still have more than 200 million people who are not.
Duncan says that consumers are looking forward to life after the pandemic, which could mean a new home. And for many, it means a second home. Redfin says that demand for second homes is more than double what it was before the pandemic. It says the number of buyers who took out a mortgage for a second home was up 178% year-over-year this April. And the increase was the 11th month that the numbers were higher.
It also says that the record high increase is somewhat distorted because demand for second homes was down 24% in April 2020 when the economy had shut down. But Fairweather says demand for second homes has been elevated because the wealthy have become wealthier this last year, and the low mortgage rate environment has given them a perfect opportunity to buy vacation homes where they can also work, if they need to.
You’ll find links to both reports on the podcast player page for this episode at: NewsForInvestors.com
Click here to join the network for free
Links:
https://www.housingwire.com/articles/south-poised-to-see-1-trillion-in-home-sales-in-2021/
Sat, 15 May 2021 - 05min - 1572 - Real Estate: HousingWire’s Logan Mohtashami Says It’s Never Been So Good!
Call it a perfect storm of conditions to keep home prices on a steady upswing as buyers clamor after too few homes. I had the opportunity to talk to HousingWire’s lead analyst Logan Mohtashami about the unusual situation we’re seeing, and whether all those scary headlines about a housing bubble are true.
The housing market has been breaking all sorts of records. It’s never been so hot. Asking prices have hit an all-time high. Selling prices have hit an all-time high. The share of homes selling over list price is also breaking records. I noticed a crazy headline the other day. It said: The East Bay real estate market is so hot, houses are selling for more than $1M over asking price.” That’s a jaw dropper for sure!
That headline appeared in the SFGate in reference to the San Francisco East Bay. One realtor said in the article that it’s not that surprising when they get an offer like that. Josh Dickinson says: “When my clients see a house for $1.9 million they’re almost conditioned to think it’ll go over $3 million in Piedmont or North Berkeley.”
Buyers are so desperate to land a home, many are sweetening the deal with things other than money. According to SFGate, one buyer offered free one-week stays at an Airbnb in Tuscany for the next ten years, but still lost the bidding war. Stock options and airline miles are also popular.
That’s undeniable evidence of housing market demand, but it isn’t the whole story, and it doesn’t provide an answer to the housing bubble question. In 2007, housing prices hit bubble territory against a backdrop of poor underwriting and buyers who couldn’t afford their homes. When the Fed raised short-term rates, adjustable rate mortgage payments skyrocketed, home prices sank, and many borrowers defaulted. Logan says it’s a whole different story today and one that is very far from a bubble.
He says that today the housing story is all about demographics, low mortgage rates, and low inventory. Despite previous beliefs that millennials would never get married and settle down, they are now trying to do just that. Logan says we’re at the start of a unique period when millennials who are 27 to 33 years old are ready to buy. Since many of them are highly paid employees in the tech industry, higher-priced homes and bidding wars may not be a big problem. And if they want to get away from the high-priced homes, it’s very likely that they can do their work remotely, from a smaller metro where homes are less expensive.
Mortgage rates are still very close to an all-time low. They hit rock bottom because of the pandemic, and are still under 3% right now. So even though home prices are advancing skyward, mortgage rates are very attractive. As Logan pointed out, they are lower than they should be. In 2018, they were up near 5%. In 2019, they dropped a bit, but it was COVID-19 that brought them to a record-setting low. Freddie Mac shows the low point in December of last year with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 2.68%.
And the inventory problem is only getting worse, making the homes that are available that much more desirable. Logan says from 1985 to 2007, the average number of years was five, before families would move. Now, it’s more like 10 years. So there’s less turnover of homes to replenish the existing home inventory. Covid made that situation even worse, as potential sellers decided to stay put. And many of those who have vacation homes are now living in them instead of renting them out. Plus, builders haven’t been able to make up for the deficit.
Logan says the pandemic didn’t create this scenario, but it did contribute to it. He says Covid brought mortgages lower than they would have been and that home prices accelerated beyond the normal trend. And there’s little chance of a foreclosure crisis. That’s another scary headline that is unlikely to happen. Logan says it’s not going to happen because we just don’t have the kind of bad credit that we had before the housing crisis.
He says the “housing bubble boys” and the “forbearance crash brothers” are both wrong because right now, housing is the most outperforming sector in the world. To sum it up, Logan describes the current market as a huge millennial buyer group who are well paid and ready to buy their first homes. And they are especially incentivized by the low mortgage rates. Since there is a shortage of homes, this kind of demand will continue to drive prices higher and feed into the kind of bidding wars that can add hundreds of thousands of dollars onto the asking price. But he says, the market is not on the verge of crashing.
In a blog that Logan just posted on HousingWire, he says: “The key to the U.S. getting back on track economically is for its citizens to freely walk the earth again without the existential threat of COVID-19.” He expects that to happen before the end of August.
If you want to immerse yourself in a very lively conversation about the housing market, check out Logan’s interview on my other podcast, The Real Wealth Show.
You’ll find a link on the podcast player page for this episode at NewsForInvestors.com
Links:
https://www.housingwire.com/articles/weve-got-rising-home-prices-but-no-housing-crash-in-sight/
Fri, 14 May 2021 - 05min - 1571 - The Real Estate News Brief: CDC Eviction Moratorium Overturned, Best Days to Sell Your Home, Most Competitive Rental Markets
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending May 8th, 2021… what’s happening with the CDC eviction moratorium, why you should sell your home in May, and which rental markets are the most competitive.
Economic News
We begin with economic news from this past week, and a new court ruling “against” the CDC’s eviction moratorium. A U.S. District Court Judge in Washington, D.C. ruled that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not have the authority to issue the moratorium. It struck down the ban but the Department of Justice immediately filed an appeal which will be heard within another two weeks. In the meantime, the court issued a temporary stay on the District Court’s decision. Realtor associations in Georgia and Alabama filed the lawsuit along with two housing providers and their property management companies. The National Association of Realtors also supported the lawsuit. NAR believes the best solution is to provide rental assistance to the tenants who are impacted by COVID. That will help both the tenants, and their housing providers.
New unemployment applications dropped below 500,000 for the first time since the start of the pandemic. Weekly state claims were just under that amount, at 498,000. Another 100,000 claims were filed for temporary federal benefits, but the total number of claims are still two-and-a-half times higher than they were before the outbreak began.
Economists were disappointed with the April jobs report. It shows that the U.S. only gained 266,000 jobs which is far below the one million jobs that economists had expected. That contributed to an increase in the official unemployment rate. It was down to 6%, but is now up to 6.1%, according to the U.S. Labor Department. Businesses dealing with leisure and hospitality did most of the hiring in April.
Construction spending was slightly higher in March. The Commerce Department says it rose .2%. That’s also a disappointment. Wall Street Journal economists had expected an increase of 1.8%. Spending for residential construction was right about at that level, however -- at 1.7%. Other kinds of non-residential spending were down.
Mortgage Rates
Mortgage rates are still under 3%. They’ve been there for three weeks now. Freddie Mac says the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was down 2 basis points this last week to 2.96%. The 15-year was down 1 basis point to 2.3%. That’s great for homebuyers who manage to score a home in this tight market.
In other news making headlines...
Record for Newly Built Homes
Newly-built single-family homes are gaining market share. Redfin says they now account for one in four single-family homes on the market. They had a 20.4% share last year which rose to a 25.7% share in the first quarter of this year.
Redfin’s lead economist Taylor Marr says there are two main reasons for the increase. He says: “Building homes has become more attractive and profitable during the pandemic due to record-low mortgage rates” along with “red-hot homebuyer demand.”
Higher Home Seller Profits
Home sellers are also enjoying red-hot profits. According to ATTOM Data Solutions, sellers received more than $70,000 in profit on average. That’s 26% higher than the average $55,000 in profit last year.
But that’s actually a slight pull-back from December of last year. The average profit in the fourth quarter was $75,750. ATTOM’s chief product officer, Todd Teta, says it’s not unusual to see a pull-back during the winter months, but he says: “It’s definitely something to keep an eye on.”
Best Time to Sell Your Home
And May could be a good time for sellers to maximize their profits. ATTOM says the “five” best days to sell a home are just ahead of us -- in May. According to a new analysis, those five days are May 16th, 19th, 20th, 23rd, and 27th. The premium ranges from about 16% to 19%. But ATTOM says those are only the five best days.
It says the entire months of May and June are good for selling homes at above-market prices. The average seller premium for May is 13.4% and for June, it’s 11.7%.
Most Competitive Rental Markets
Rent Cafe has some surprising results in a new report on rental markets. It looked at data for 125 of the largest rental markets in the country to determine which were the most competitive. It found that the hottest markets were all mid-sized metros and that cities in California’s Central Valley were at the top of the list. That includes Stockton, Modesto, Fresno, and Bakersfield.
The ranking used metrics for occupancy, vacancy, number of applicants, and rental pricing trends. Places like Sacramento and the Inland Empire in Southern California are also hot rental markets as the work-from-home trend continues and people migrate away from more expensive areas, but stay within range of those bigger metros. Spokane, Washington, and Boise, Idaho were also at the top of the list.
If you’d like to read more about the most competitive rental markets and the other topics mentioned in this podcast, you’ll find links at NewsForInvestors.com.
Links:
http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/
https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2021/05/05/where-home-seller-profits-are-highest
Wed, 12 May 2021 - 05min - 1570 - HouseCanary: Market Trends that Emerged During the Pandemic and Likely to Stay
It’s easy to see that the housing market has remained strong throughout the pandemic, but quantifying that impact is no easy task. That kind of data crunching can help explain what happened, and what’s likely to happen in the near future. It’s also the kind of analysis that HouseCanary has done, with results that show the full-impact of the pandemic on housing.
HouseCanary is a data analytics company with a focus on residential property valuations. Founded in 2008, the San Francisco-based company has put together a database of information on homes, mortgages, and neighborhoods across the U.S. and it uses that data to provide value-based solutions for people in the real estate industry.
In this report, HouseCanary analyzed single-family listing volume, new listings, and median listing price information in 41 states and 50 metropolitan areas for a two-year period -- from March of 2019 to March of this year. The report is called: “One Year Later: Understanding COVID-19’s Impact on the U.S. Housing Market.”
The results show five important trends that took hold during the pandemic. According to the company’s principal data scientist, four of those trends aren’t going away anytime soon.
The first trend is a huge drop in inventory that occurred during the second year of the analysis. HouseCanary says that U.S. inventory dropped 32.5% from March 2020 to March 2021. That’s a record decline in housing supply which is partially due to problems faced by builders, including supply chain constraints and skyrocketing prices for lumber and other building materials.
The results show that South Carolina experienced the biggest year-over-year drop in inventory, at more than 50%. Utah was next with a 44% decline. Illinois was third with an inventory drop of 43%. Homes that were priced below $400,000 were more heavily impacted by that squeeze.
That also put the squeeze on the number of single-family homes that are available for rent. HouseCanary says: “From a peak in November 2020, the total number of listings available for rent dropped 46.8%.”
The second trend is that demand for single-family detached homes has grown stronger. Record-low mortgage rates helped drive that demand, along with pandemic-related needs for home office space and private yards. HouseCanary says that listings under contract rose 4.5% during the year of the pandemic, while net new listings were down 3%.
Third on the list of trends is the speed at which Americans closed their deals. HouseCanary says the median number of days that homes were on the market during the pandemic was 12 days less than the same period in 2019.
The fourth trend is that prices have soared because of an imbalance between supply and demand. The median listing price is up 15% for the nation. Because of the competition for homes and bidding wars, the median closing price is up higher. It jumped 18.7%.
Rents have also climbed because of the supply-demand imbalance. HouseCanary says the median listing price for active rentals was up 7.4%. It was $1,938 in March of 2020 and grew to $2,082 in March of this year.
The fifth trend is that forbearance rates hit a record high during the pandemic. They peaked last June and have been declining slowly since then. That’s one trend that is disappearing, but HouseCanary expects the others to continue into the foreseeable future.
The company’s principal data scientist Brittany Murphy says the inventory problem is not something that can be fixed quickly. She said during a Bloomberg interview that: “It’s not just a switch we can turn on… so this sustained supply drop is something that we have settled into and it’s now going to constrict supply and increase prices for the near-term future.”
And while there will be constraints to deal with, the housing market is expected to remain strong. The report lists several tailwinds that will keep the housing market floating above ground including high homeowner equity, increased household formation among millennials, the need for a real estate hedge against inflation, increased institutional investment, a recovering job market, a strong economic rebound, an abundant money supply (due to all that stimulus), and a work-from-home trend that’s not going away.
As for low interest rates, we still have them but there’s more chit-chat about inflation and how that will impact short- and long-term interest rates. Murphy says that if we do see increased rates, that will bring the demand down a little, although she expects to see a lot of older, well-capitalized buyers who may not be affected by slightly higher rates.
You can check out the report yourself by following links on the podcast player page for this episode at newsforinvestors.com.
Connect with us today to find out how you can invest in single-family rentals or small multi-unit rental properties, and where you'll find inventory in desirable sunbelt states like Florida, Georgia, and Texas. You can make an appointment to speak with one of our investment counselors for free as a RealWealth member. It doesn't cost a thing to join, and it's easy to sign up right here.
Links:
Sat, 08 May 2021 - 05min - 1569 - Housing Crisis: Appeals Court Reverses Lower Court Decision on Controversial Berkeley Development
An appeals court decision has ruled in favor of a development project in Berkeley that will give the state more control over local housing decisions. Some people are calling it a win for developers and the state’s effort to create more housing in California, but not everyone is celebrating. The decision was based on Senate Bill 35, which addresses the housing crisis with construction mandates for cities and counties. In this case, it ends a six-year battle to keep the Berkeley project from going forward.
SB 35 went into effect in January of 2018 as one of a number of bills meant to address a critical need for more housing. If a municipality doesn’t provide its fair share of housing to meet regional needs, developers can apply for approval under SB 35 and get their projects fast-tracked, by the state. Projects must meet several requirements to quality, including.
1 - The construction of multi-unit housing with two or more residential units.
2 - A location that is within city limits on an infill area.
3 - The property must be zoned for residential or mixed use.
4 - New homes must cover at least two-thirds of the property.
5 - And the developer must provide a minimum percentage of below-market units that can range from 10 to 50%, or more.
The Berkeley project was first introduced in 2015 as a mixed-use development with 135 homes and 33,000 square feet of retail space and parking at 1900 Fourth Street. That’s locally known as the old Spenger restaurant parking lot, near the bay. It’s also adjacent to, and overlapping an old Indian burial ground called the West Berkeley Shellmound. The National Trust for HIstoric Preservation listed the site as one of the 11 most endangered historic places, just last year.
Members of the Ohlone tribes and supporters have been fighting against the project for years. According to a Berkeleyside article, tribal leaders say they are acknowledging the legacy of their ancestors, and are protecting the desecration of a sacred site. But the historic designation doesn’t specify the boundaries of the shellmound and doesn’t specifically name the parking lots as part of the site.
After SB 35 was passed, the developer updated his plan with more homes and a high percentage of affordable units. The new plan included 260 residential units with 50% of them for low-income residents. But the city rejected the developer’s request for three reasons. It said:
1 - That SB 35 cannot be applied because it interferes with Berkeley’s right as a charter city to manage its own affairs.
2 - That SB 35 doesn’t apply to projects that require the demolition of a designated historic structure.
3 - And the project conflicts with city fees for very low-income housing units and requirements for how traffic impacts the neighborhood.
At that point, the developer pulled out, and the property was returned to the previous owners, who sued. The case went to court in 2019 and an Alameda county judge ruled in favor of the city and project opponents. But the case then made its way to the Appeals Court and the court has now overturned the earlier decision.
In its decision, the Appeals court emphasized the “crisis of insufficient housing in the state” and the mandate put forth by SB 35. That mandate makes it impossible for cities like Berkeley to reject a proposal that meets the state’s criteria for the creation of affordable housing. The court also rejected the idea that the development would entail the demolition of an historic structure or site because there are no buildings to demolish. And it ruled that the city was not using objective land use standards when it determined that the project would not comply with its affordable housing mitigation fee and traffic impact requirements.
At this point, the court has ordered Berkeley to pay court costs, and attorneys will be seeking compensation from the city as well. The case sets an important legal precedent in California by handing power to the State when it comes to issues like the affordable housing crisis, and the approval of development projects that will help fill that housing gap.
According to Wikipedia, ten Bay Area developers are seeking approval for the construction of 4,000 housing units under the SB 35 rules. The online encyclopedia also says that 28 California cities and counties have met their housing quotas while almost 300 jurisdictions have not. Projects in those jurisdictions could qualify for approval under SB 35 if they devote 50% of the units to low-income residents, among other requirements, as stated by Wikipedia.
You can read more about this by following links on the podcast player page for this episode at NewsForInvestors.com
Connect with us today to find out how you can invest in single-family rentals or small multi-unit rental properties, and where you'll find inventory in desirable sunbelt states like Florida, Georgia, and Texas. You can make an appointment to speak with one of our investment counselors for free as a RealWealth member. It doesn't cost a thing to join, and it's easy to sign up right here.
Links:
https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/california-court-of-appeal-upholds-7824522/
https://www.natlawreview.com/article/developers-prevail-dispute-regarding-key-housing-legislation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Senate_Bill_35_(2017)
Sat, 08 May 2021 - 05min - 1568 - The Real Estate News Brief: The Recovery Boom, Home Price Growth, Lumber Prices
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending May 1st, 2021… the economic recovery boom, home price growth, and what builders are doing about lumber prices.
Economic News
We begin with economic news from this past week, and the results of a two-day policy meeting by the Federal Reserve. Fed Chief Jerome Powell acknowledged a big improvement to economic conditions, and the Fed no longer feels that COVID-19 presents a “considerable risk” to the economy. But Powell says the central bank is committed to its current stimulus strategy. As you know, short-term interest rates are near zero, and the Fed is buying $120 billion in Treasury and mortgage-backed bonds every month.
Economists say the economy is poised for a boom in 2021. In fact, first quarter GDP was 6.4%. Incomes were also up more than 21% last month, and spending was up more than 4%, thanks in part to government stimulus and those $1,400 checks. Many Americans also have more money saved than normal, and are now spending it on things like new cars and trucks, restaurants, travel, and other recreational activities. MarketWatch reports that Americans have almost $2 trillion dollars in savings that they wouldn’t normally have, and are likely ready to spend.
But, Powell says: “While the recovery has progressed more quickly than generally expected, it remains uneven and far from complete.” He also expressed some concern about how fast home prices are rising, but said he hoped that builders will respond with more supply, which would slow that price growth.
The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price index shows the yearly pace of home price appreciation was 11.9% in February. On a month-to-month basis, it was up 1.2%. Prices are up in all parts of the country, but the Rocky Mountain area is seeing the biggest yearly rate of increase at 15.4%.
Powell stands firm on his view of inflation, saying that the Fed believes any price pressure will be temporary. He also wants to see it slightly above 2%. The yearly average was up to 2.3% in March, and economists are expecting it to move higher from there.
The latest unemployment report shows another drop in the number of people applying for benefits. Those state claims were down 13,000 from the previous week, to 553,000, according to the U.S. Labor Department. The total number of people collecting benefits from eight different state and federal programs is also down by almost a million in one week -- from 17.4 million to 16.5 million.
Pending home sales moved higher, although the lack of inventory remains a problem. The National Association of Realtors says pending sales were up 1.9% in March. Compared to March of last year, they were up 23%.
Consumers are feeling a lot more confident as the economy recovers and more people are vaccinated against COVID-19. The Conference Board says that consumer confidence hit a 14-month high in April, with an index reading of 121.7. The University of Michigan had a similar report, saying that that index rose to the highest level since the beginning of the pandemic.
Mortgage Rates
As for mortgage rates, they didn’t move much this past week. Freddie Mac says the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is still under 3%. It was up just one basis point to 2.98%. The 15-year was up 2 basis points, to 2.31%.
In other news making headlines...
Lumber Prices Add $36,000 to New Homes
Lumber prices continue to add tens of thousands of dollars onto the price of a new home. The National Association of Home Builders says that prices have tripled over the past 12 months and are now adding almost $36,000 to the price of an average single-family home. That’s up from $24,000 in February.
Prices began rising at the start of the pandemic, when a number of lumber mills shut down. They’ve been slow to reopen as the coronavirus numbers continue to surge in some areas. But there is hope that prices will retreat later this year, as mills reopen and supply ramps up.
In the meantime, many developers are adding escalation clauses to their contracts. They specify that if the cost of building materials increase by a certain amount, the buyer would be responsible for paying the additional amount. Sometimes, builders share that increase with the buyers.
Builders are also trying to keep costs down by pre-ordering lumber or by getting lumber price guarantees. They may also delay construction if costs get out of control, or do other parts of the project while lumber prices are spiking.
Mature Trees Have Become a Hot Commodity
The new focus on home upgrades has increased the demand for what some are calling “trophy trees.” According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, luxury homeowners are requesting big trees as a focal point for their yards. But they aren’t willing to wait for them to grow, which has created a market for the purchase and relocation of these magnificent trees from other people’s yards.
A landscaping and tree relocation company in Florida called Green Integrity says business is booming. Owner, Walter Acree, says they drive wealthy clients around the Southern part of the state looking for the perfect tree. When they find one in someone’s yard, they approach the owner to make an offer, buy it, and relocate the tree. Acree says he recently gave one client a $250,000 quote to move a tree.
And they aren’t always nearby. Los Angeles real estate developer, Michael Chen, says it took a year-and-a-half to find a tree for a $65 million spec house in Beverly Hills. He ended up getting a 150-year-old 15’ olive tree from Tuscany.
You’ll find links to more information on the podcast page for this episode at NewsForInvestors.com
Links:
10 - http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/
11 - https://eyeonhousing.org/2021/04/how-builders-try-to-deal-with-rising-lumber-prices/
12 - https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2021/04/23/luxury-owners-crown-homes-with-trophy-trees
Tue, 04 May 2021 - 06min - 1567 - Real Estate: Co-Owned Vacation Homes Causing an Uproar in One California Community
The marketing of co-owned vacation homes in a scenic part of Northern California is causing an uproar among full-time residents. Real estate company Pacaso is buying single-family homes within driving distance of busy metro areas, and reselling them to as many as eight buyers. It’s an idea that has evolved during the pandemic. But it’s also creating a debate over the impact of co-owned homes in single-family neighborhoods.
Pacaso was planning to launch its co-ownership plan in a few vacation spots before the pandemic began, but like everything else, those plans were delayed by COVID-19. Over those next several months, the Pacaso strategy changed. The pandemic highlighted the importance of “home” and created new vacation preferences. Pacaso’s original idea for co-owned vacation homes that might involve air travel morphed into one focused on a one to two-hour drive from home.
At the helm of Pacaso are two Zillow executives -- former Zillow co-founder and CEO, Spencer Rascoff, and former Zillow executive, Austin Allison who’s serving as the Pacaso CEO.
The concept of co-ownership is nothing new, but they say Pacaso makes it easier. As the website boasts: “Co-ownership simplified. We manage the home, and you own it. It’s the modern way to buy and own a second home.”
Allison also explained in a press release: “The traditional process is difficult, high risk and onerous. Pacaso is the easy button for co-ownership.” They finally launched their new Pacaso model last October with $267 million in funding. The company is calling it the “Pacaso everywhere” plan.
It begins with an interested buyer who wants a part-time vacation home they can drive to. Pacaso helps that first buyer determine how much time they’d like to spend in the home, sets up an LLC, and finds other buyers. Pacaso also manages the property so the owners don’t have to.
As many as eight buyers can purchase a home and use the home for 44 days a year. Buyers can buy more than one share if they’d like more time in the home, and that would reduce the total number of owners.
In the city of Napa, Pacaso is selling co-ownership shares for a home on Rainier street. It’s a quite, working-class neighborhood, according to a CBS report. Homes are about 1,300-square feet and sell for $700 to $800,000. The Pacaso home is going for $184,000 a share.
It’s not a short-term rental because all the people occupying the home are owners, but it’s causing a short-term rental type uproar. In this case, the neighbors are opposed to having what they call a “time-share” vacation home in their neighborhood. Some of those neighbors told CBS, they feel like the co-owners won’t be involved in the community and are simply “sneaking” into the neighborhood. Signs have gone up staying: “Stop Pacaso. Don’t commercialize our neighborhood.” They also argue that co-owned homes are reducing the affordable housing supply. It worth noting that homes in that neighborhood are going for 700 to $800,000.
Pacaso’s Allison had a few good points in response to the uproar. He argues that by selling these homes to eight second-home owners, there are fewer people in the competition pool for second homes. He also clarifies that these homes are not time-shares because they are owner-occupied.
His arguments didn’t convince the City Attorney in nearby St. Helena who declared them illegal under a law that prohibits time-shares. Pacaso has filed a lawsuit in that case.
In defense of company objectives, Allison says Pacaso is helping people who can’t afford to buy their vacation dream homes or don’t want the home to sit vacant for most of the year. And he says: “It’s really not up to other neighbors to say who can or can’t own in their neighborhood. Just because somebody can’t afford a $1.5 million home, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be able to co-own a $1.5 million home with a coupe of other people.”
If you want to investigate this topic further, you’ll find a links on the podcast player page for this episode at NewsForInvestors.com.
Links:
Fri, 30 Apr 2021 - 04min - 1566 - Home Sales: Price Appreciation Is Leaving Comps and AVMs in the Dust
Home prices have been rising so fast that comps have become wildly unreliable. That’s making it difficult for sellers to set accurate listing prices, and for buyers to get homes appraised for what lenders are willing to loan. Home valuation tools like Zillow’s Zestimate and others are also struggling with a volatile pricing environment, and are often off by an insanely high amount.
In a report by Inman, realtor Tim Collom in Sacramento, California, said that estimated home values by companies like Zillow and Redfin are “always” off, and it’s getting worse. He says: “They’re not off by $10,000. They’re off by like $100,000 to $200,000.” If you go by percentages, he says they can off by as much as 10%, and that even experienced real estate agents are having a difficult time keeping up with the trends in home prices right now.
Tools like the Zestimate are automatic valuation models or AVMs so they rely on software to automatically update figures. There’s been a lot of criticism about these tools, but Zillow defends its algorithm which it says is constantly updated by a team of data scientists. Owners can also input upgrades which may impact the value.
In a statement to Inman, Zillow claims the Zestimate is “incredibly accurate with a mean error rate of 1.9 percent for on-market homes and 7.3 percent for off-market homes.”
Zillow also acknowledges that valuations are more difficult right now because of fast-moving prices. The real estate website says that Zestimates are not appraisals. They are only a starting point for buyers and sellers and suggests working with a local real estate agent to fine tune that figure.
Big Sky, Montana, real estate agent, Michael Pitcairn says the Zestimate has been more than 10% lower than the MLS home value data used by his brokerage. According to Inman, Zillow says Big Sky’s home price appreciation is rising 21% year-over-year. Pitcairn’s MLS tool says it’s more like 35%. That’s also very close to what Realtor.com is estimating, at 34.6%.
But it isn’t just the AVMs that are causing trouble for home valuations. Many real estate professionals say that comps aren’t much help either, especially if there are no very recent sales. That’s making it hard for listing agents as well as appraisers.
Missouri appraiser, Mason Spurgeon, says: “It’s a crazy time right now.” He says that appraisers don’t predict the future. It’s not their job. They look backward in time. They analyze what has already happened in service to the lender.
That can also result in a big gap between the appraised value and the agreed upon sale price which is making it impossible for some buyers to follow through on a deal. If they are relying on a loan and they only have a certain amount of money for a down payment, they won't be able to cover that gap. Sometimes, buyers can provide comps to prove that an appraisal is low, but again, the comps are not keeping up with the price appreciation.
Inman offers a few work-arounds for agents, and basically anyone doing their own legwork on home values.
1 - Expand the geographic area to analyze how the market has been performing. And, look for similar markets just outside that area to find data on pricing.
2 - Expand the square footage of the home to include more comps within a wider range. Or, remove the square footage altogether to get a look at what’s sold and for how much.
3 - Ask agents in the area about how many offers they are getting, how high the offers are going, and pending sale amounts. Some agents may be willing to share that information.
4 - Participate in local online discussion groups where everyone is sharing information.
The take-away -- You have to be more proactive in coming up with a valuation that works within the market, and works best for you.
Check the podcast player page for links at NewsForInvestors.com
Click here to join the network for free
Links:
1 - https://www.inman.com/2021/04/26/inman-handbook-on-comps-in-these-chaotic-times/
2 - https://www.inman.com/2021/04/27/zestimates-cant-keep-up-with-wild-housing-market-agents-say/
Thu, 29 Apr 2021 - 04min - 1565 - The Real Estate News Brief: New Home Sales Up, Existing Home Sales Down, Mortgage Rates Lookin’ Good
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending April 24th, 2021... new home sales blast off, existing home sales stall, and mortgage rates are doing what we like them to do!
Economic News
We begin with a slow week for economic news. There were no reports on the MarketWatch calendar from Monday through Wednesday. On Thursday, the weekly unemployment report showed there were fewer first-time filers. Those initial state claims were down about 12,000, to 574,000, while continuing claims fell by 34,000 to a seasonally adjusted 3.68 million. The total number of claims for eight state and federal programs is still quite high, at 17.4 million.
New home sales blasted off this last week to their fastest pace since 2006. The Census Bureau reports that sales rose 20.7% month-over-month, to a seasonally-adjusted rate of 1.021 million homes. Inventory remained about the same, although it’s down 7% from where it was a year ago.
Existing home sales didn’t do as well because of extremely low inventory. The National Association of Realtors says they fell 3.7% in March to a seasonally-adjusted rate of 6.01 million. That’s the slowest rate of existing home sales since last August, and it’s down 12% from a year ago.
Mortgage Rates
Mortgage rates dipped back below 3% this last week. Freddie Mac says the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped 7 basis points to 2.97%. The 15-year was down 6 basis points to 2.29%. Freddie Mac’s chief economist, Sam Khater says: The drop in mortgage rates is good news for homeowners who are still looking to take advantage of the very low-rate environment.” But they aren’t expected to remain there for long. Economists expect rates to climb a bit higher for the rest of the year.
In other news making headlines...
Five New Real Estate Records in March
The real estate market hit five new records in March. The World Property Journal made a list.
The first was a record high for the national median home-sale price. It was up to $353,000 in March of this year. That’s after rising 17% year-over-year. The inventory of homes on the market dropped to a record low. It’s down 29% year-over-year, and the months of supply was just a little over “one.” The days it took for a typical home to sell was just 25 days, which is a record low and about 19 days lower than it was a year before. The percent of homes that sold above the asking price hit a new high of 42%. And the average sale-to-list ratio also hit a new high. That’s a measure for how close the sale price is to the asking price and for the first time ever, it flew past 100%.General Motors’ Simple Remote-Work Plan
As companies address a complex issue involving remote workers and whether to bring them back to the office, GM has offered a very simple plan. It is telling employees to (quote) “Work appropriately.”
That’s what CEO Mary Barra and other executives are telling GM’s 155,000 global workforce. They are describing it as a flexible, evolving policy that will be different for each employee depending on the project and the timeline.
For factory workers who get paid by the hour, that might mean being trained remotely and returning to the assembly line after that. For other employees, it could be a full-time remote position or something that’s more of a hybrid combination of remote and in-office hours.
GM’s global talent director says: “It is not about a policy or a one-size-fits-all approach but truly an evolution of our culture for everyone.”
Short-Term Rental Reservations Are Skyrocketing
As vaccination rates increase, reservations are skyrocketing for short-term vacation rentals. The New York Times reports that 90% of vacation homes listed on VRBO for Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and the Jersey Shore were booked by the end of March. But the supply is tight since many second-home buyers are choosing to live in the homes instead of renting them out. That combination of factors is driving rates higher. Airbnb rates are expected to average around $220 a night this year compared to $194 last year and $185 in 2019.
Another trend that’s growing is that guests are booking for longer stays. Instead of a few days for a quick getaway, hosts say more and more people are booking for weeks at a time. One person told the New York Times: “We’re seeing an emerging trend of ‘slow travel,’ with travelers wanting to spend more time immersing themselves in a destination than they did pre-pandemic.”
Check for links on the podcast player page for this episode at www.NewsForInvestors.com
Thanks for listening. I’m Kathy Fettke.
Click here to join the network for free
Links:
1 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/u-s-jobless-claims-keep-falling-11619095897?mod=economic-report
2 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-home-sales-soar-to-highest-level-since-2006-2021-04-23
4 - http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/
7 - https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2021/04/21/summer-vacation-rentals-are-already-skyrocketing
Mon, 26 Apr 2021 - 05min - 1564 - Housing Market: Delinquent Homeowners Have an Ace Up Their Sleeves, This Time
The prediction that millions of homeowners would face foreclosure due to job losses from COVID 19 shutdowns does not seem to be materializing. There are some who say that delinquent borrowers have a way to avoid that fate this time around. Unlike the Great Recession, they have a lot more equity in their homes which they won’t want to lose.
When the housing market crashed in 2008, it was the result of easy lending. Home loans were easy to get, often with no down payment or verification of income. In some cases, buyers would get money back for buying a home, or qualify with a teaser rate, not the real rate. That, of course, drove prices up and created a housing bubble. The bubble burst when those loans eventually came due and people couldn't afford the payment. Seems like an obvious problem, doesn't it?
As more and more loans reset, more people went into foreclosure, flooding the market with distressed inventory far below market value. Anyone who wanted to sell their home at market value had to compete against bank owned properties that were much cheaper. Thus, the air came out of the bubble.
As home values dropped nationwide, even those who could afford to own their home couldn't sell it for what it was worth if they needed to. They owed more than what the property was worth, which they called being "underwater" or upside down on their mortgage. With no home equity in the deal, it made sense to walk away, which many people did. They had nothing to lose except their good credit, and some didn't even have that.
That is unlikely to happen this time around, at least to that extent, for one simple reason: Homeowners have much greater equity in their homes. And many of those homeowners also have great credit. According to Realtor.com, only 3% of homeowners are underwater, owing more than the home is worth. During the Great Recession, about 30% of homes were underwater or close to it.
So even if homeowners have not recovered financially from the pandemic, they have a way to get out of mortgage debt that’s a lot easier than foreclosure -- by selling their homes to pay off their loans. Many will also see a hefty profit.
And it won’t be difficult to sell those homes because of the inventory crunch. Vice President of the Mortgage Bankers Association, Marina Walsh, told Realtor.com: “There’s just not enough housing out there for the demand, which is a big, big change from the Great Recession.”
That doesn’t mean that at-risk homeowners don’t face a tough road ahead, especially those in less desirable markets. Realtor.com mentions places in the Rust Belt or hurricane-prone communities in Louisiana, for example.
Currently, the federal foreclosure moratorium for government-backed loans is June 30th. Even without forbearance, many homeowners have protection until then. For those in forbearance programs, they are protected for as long as 18 months.
According to Black Knight, 4.4% of borrowers were in forbearance as of April 13th. That number has been decreasing steadily because the economy has been improving and people are getting jobs. But that’s still a high number of people in forbearance, putting all those homeowners at risk.
In addition to that, 5% of borrowers are either seriously delinquent or have already entered the foreclosure process. That means they haven’t paid their mortgage for at least three months. And that number is higher than it was during the last foreclosure crisis, according to a report from the Urban institute.
Urban Institute researcher, Jung Hyun Choi, says that even with those high numbers, she doesn’t think we’ll see another foreclosure crisis because of high home values. She says: “They have the option to sell the properties and move to a more affordable unit. Or in the worst-case scenario, they’ll have to switch to rental housing.”
What she’s saying is that we probably won’t see a foreclosure crisis, but if all those homeowners sell their homes and can’t buy smaller, less expensive ones, they will become renters.
ATTOM Data Solutions has done some research on the metros with the highest number of homeowners who are, in fact, underwater. ATTOM defines “seriously underwater” as owing at least 25% more than the home is worth. Those metros include Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Syracuse, New York; Scranton, Pennsylvania; New Orleans; Virginia Beach; and several cities in Ohio, including Cleveland. The percentage of underwater loans in those cities range from about 9% to more than 14%.
In cities with strong job markets and highly-paid workers, like San Jose, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Seattle, the share of underwater loans is less than 2%.
It's also important to remember that banks learned their lesson in 2009, that flooding the market with REO's, or bank owned properties, is not good for the bank's books. It's more likely that banks will try to work out a loan modification, since in many cases, it wasn't the borrowers fault that jobs were lost in the first place. It's more likely banks will just add those missed payments to the back of the loan, rather than flood the market with distressed inventory.
Those who do end up having to sell their homes will likely become renters, which could exacerbate an already tight rental market and drive rents even higher.
You’ll find links to the Realtor.com story on the podcast player page for this podcast at www.NewsForInvestors.com.
Click here to join the network for free
Links:
Mon, 26 Apr 2021 - 05min - 1563 - The Great Reshuffling: Zillow Survey Shows Millions of Americans on the Verge of Relocating
It may seem like the housing market is as hot as it can ever be, but a new survey shows that millions of Americans could be on the verge of relocating, sparking even more buyer activity.
The survey is part of Zillow’s first-ever “Mover Report.” It shows that people are waiting for pandemic worries to go away as they ponder new homes and new locations. Zillow researchers were motivated to find out more about the spring home shopping season, and the people and emotions that are making it happen.
What they found was that as many as eight million homeowners say they are more likely to sell their homes and relocate because of the pandemic. And that’s on top of a market that’s already experiencing high demand and low inventory. But these homeowners will also be putting their own homes on the market which is why Zillow is calling it The Great Reshuffling.
Many of the potential sellers have been thinking about doing this for quite some time, but have held back due to pandemic worries and uncertainty about their circumstances. In another survey done at the end of February, 70% of homeowners said they would be “mostly or completely comfortable” about selling their homes once the COVID-19 vaccinations have become widespread. Only 52% said they’d feel that way at the time of the survey. The 70% number represents about 14 million homeowners.
The latest survey shows that 1 in 10 Americans have already moved since the beginning of the pandemic. Most of those people moved for positive reasons like being closer to family or friends or to live in a place they’ve already dreamed about. And the flexibility of remote work has allowed many of them to fulfill those dreams. Technology has also helped because people moving during the more dangerous parts of the pandemic have been able to tour homes and neighborhoods virtually. That’s given many a lot of confidence about moving to a completely different location.
So where are all these people moving to? According to Zillow and information from North American Van Lines, the top destinations are Phoenix, Arizona; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Austin, Texas. Those three markets had the largest number of inbound moves during the first 11 months of last year. But many other Sun Belt cities are seeing population growth as well.
Zillow’s senior economist, Jeff Tucker, says: “The pandemic brought an acceleration of trends we were seeing in 2018 and 2019. More affordable, medium-sized metro areas across the Sun Belt saw significantly more people coming than going, especially from more expensive, larger cities farther north and on the coasts.” He also says the pandemic and remote work motivated many millennials to buy their first homes.
The pandemic also gave many people the opportunity to do some “Zillow surfing.” Spending so much time stuck at home was a catalyst for searching through the listings for a new home, and a new reality. The Zillow survey says that almost a third of the people had been dreaming of a new home for a year or more. But stress and other worries about money and the process of moving have held many of them back -- according to the survey, about 76%.
Among those who have moved, more than half say they are happy about the move or relieved. 80% said the move was worth the effort, especially the part about starting a new chapter in their lives. Almost 60% said they’ve experienced positive life events since they moved to a new home.
Zillow has also done another survey on the work from home trend and found that an overwhelming majority of economists and real estate experts feel that it’s here to stay. 95% said they see a permanent shift to a hybrid model where employees work remotely on some days and go to the office on others. 45% also see a permanent tilt toward smaller cities instead of larger ones, and a suburban lifestyle instead of one in a busy city.
Researchers also weighed in on housing inventory with more than two thirds saying inventory will grow during the second half of this year or the beginning of next year. That’s mostly due to an increase in existing homes being listed for sale.
As more homes hit the market, home price growth is expected to cool off a bit but not by much. They expect to see values increase 6.2% this year, and then drop to 4.5% next year and around 3.5% in each of the three years that follow. Researchers say the price growth is great for sellers, but will keep many renters from buying a home.
That’s good news for landlords, although panelists are expected to see a surge of evictions when the moratorium is over. They are predicting 15% of currently distressed renters will end up being evicted. The other 85% will find ways to remain in their current homes or will avoid eviction by finding less expensive rentals.
I’ll have links to all these reports on the podcast player page for this episode at: www.NewsForInvestors.com
Click here to join the network for free
Links:
2 - https://www.zillow.com/research/covid-vaccine-housing-market-29008/
3 - https://www.zillow.com/research/zhpe-q1-2021-work-from-home-29311/
Thu, 22 Apr 2021 - 05min - 1562 - News Brief: Homebuilding Surge, Rents Head Higher, Best Days to List
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending April 17th, 2021... home builders are stepping on the gas, rents are headed “up” once again, and the best days to list your home.
Economic News
We begin with economic news from this past week. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell offered more clarity on when the central bank plans to start the tapering process. The Fed has been buying $120 billion worth of Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities each month since last summer as an economic shot in the arm. It also cut interest rates to zero. The Fed expects to begin tapering when the economy reaches full employment and a stable rate of inflation at 2% or slightly more. And, Powell says, that would happen well before any interest rate increases. After the 2013/2014 tapering process began, it took another two years for a rate hike. Powell says the Fed will follow a similar strategy. He didn’t give a date as to when this would happen. Some economists are predicting that tapering will begin next year. Others say it could happen sooner.
Signs of inflation continue. Consumer prices have been higher for four months in a row, hitting their highest level in two-and-a-half years last month. The government says the index was up .6%, and the yearly rate of inflation is now 2.6%. Some economists say it could top 3% in the coming months which would put more pressure on the Fed to consider an interest rate increase. Because inflation turned negative during the early months of the pandemic, the yearly rate of inflation could also shoot higher when those low months drop out of the 12-month average. The Fed is predicting inflation will average 2.4% in 2020 and drop back down to 2% next year.
Initial jobless claims were down almost 200,000 last week to a pandemic low of 576,000. That’s the first time that weekly state claims fell below 600,000 since the pandemic began. Another 131,000 people filed for help from a temporary federal program bringing the combined total to around 700,000. Continuing claims also dropped from 18.2 million to 16.9 million by the end of March.
Home builders are busy after a winter slowdown. The Census Bureau says that home starts jumped 19% in March compared to the previous month. Compared with March of last year, during the pandemic, they are up 37%. Permits are also up, but they took a smaller leap higher at 2.7% but the figures were higher for single-family homes than they were for bigger multi-family developments. In the middle of those two categories was a much bigger 25.5% surge in permits for two- to four-plex homes. MarketWatch says that might indicate a push for higher density housing to meet the demand.
And there is a new report out by Freddie Mac on the size of the housing shortfall. It says the U.S. housing market needs 3.8 million more single-family homes to keep up with demand. The shortage is more severe for entry level homes. Freddie Mac’s chief economist Sam Khater says: “This is what you get when you underbuild for 10 years.” Home builders have faced their own challenges, however. The housing crisis put many out of business, which has had a lasting impact. And now the pandemic has made it hard to get workers and created a lumber shortage among other issues.
Despite the shortage of homes for sale, consumer sentiment is running high. The University of Michigan says its index rose from 84.9 in March to 86.5 in April. That’s the highest it’s been since March of last year.
Mortgage Rates
Mortgage rates took another dip this last week. Freddie Mac says the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was down 9 basis points to 3.04%. The 15-year was also down 7 basis points to 2.35%.
In other news making headlines...
Many Remote Workers Won’t Go Back to the Office
A new survey shows that a third of the people working remotely would rather quit their job than return to the office. Staffing firm Robert Half asked 1,000 people about what they would do, and one out of three said they’d rather look for a new job than return to the office full-time. But many felt that a fully remote job would damage their work relationships and that working from home was less productive. About half of the participants said they’d be happy with a hybrid arrangement.
Study authors suggest that companies adopt new policies when they try to lure employees back. Among the things that employees would like are flexible hours, relaxed dress codes, and more support for childcare. Having an environment that’s safe from COVID is also important.
Rents are Rising Once Again
Rents are on an upswing once again, after an 8-month downtrend. Realtor.com’s Monthly Rental report shows that rent growth was 1.1% year-over-year in March, in the nation’s largest metro areas. Realtor.com’s chief economist Danielle Hale says it’s still below the 3.2% rent growth we saw before the pandemic, but she expects the pace will pick up from here as the economy recovers.
She also says: “Rents are not rising in all markets. The tech markets and several big metros like Chicago and Los Angeles continue to see rent declines.” But those declines are also running at a slower pace. She also says that Americans may be more interested in renting as home prices and mortgage rates rise.
Best Days to List
New research shows that sellers who list their homes on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday will sell faster and for more money. Redfin tracked home sales data from July 2020 to February of this year, and found out that on average, homes that were listed mid-week sold for $1,700 more. But depending on the home, some sellers are getting thousands of dollars more.
Redfin’s chief economist, Daryl Fairweather, says: “The market is so competitive, most homes will receive plenty of attention regardless of when they are listed.” But he says listing in the middle of the week provides more time for buyers to check out the home, and getting as many serious buyers interested will help drive up the sales price.
You can read more about all these stories by following links on the podcast player page for this episode at www.NewsForInvestors.com
Click here to join the network for free
Links:
7 - http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/
9 - https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2021/04/13/rents-rising-for-the-first-time-in-eight-months
10 - https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2021/04/15/best-time-to-list-midweek
Wed, 21 Apr 2021 - 06min - 1561 - Short-Term Rentals: Airbnb Launches “Summer of Responsible Travel"
Airbnb is taking another proactive step to prevent house parties over the Fourth of July weekend. It launched a new campaign called “Summer of Responsible Travel” which bans one-night rentals and last-minute bookings for guests who don’t have a history of good reviews.
The July 4th holiday is turning into what many feel is the BIG REOPENING after more than a year of social isolation from the pandemic. Airbnb said in a statement: “We also know that public health and safety experts are still saying mass gathering should not happen.” And that’s why the short-term rental company is introducing the new rules. They are similar to ones that Airbnb implemented for Halloween and New Year’s Eve last year.
Airbnb describes the summer travel initiative as an 8-point plan to help hosts, guests and communities remain safe. At the top of that list of rules is a ban on parties that could spread germs, and could also disturb neighbors. To help with the enforcement of this rule,Airbnb has expanded its community support staff by 50%.
Airbnb already has a global ban on parties, but the special holiday rules help provide hosts with more tools to keep things under control. The ban on one-night reservations for guests without a history of positive reviews will not apply to guests who have good reviews. People who have already booked a one-night reservation will also be able to keep them. Last minute reservations may also trigger more stringent restrictions, especially for people who live near the Airbnb they’d like to rent.
The short-term rental company is also helping superhosts who are worried about parties with discounts on noise monitoring devices. The devices measure decibel levels and can help hosts determine if a party is taking place. These devices can’t be secretly used however. Hosts must disclose their existence on listing pages.
Other parts of the summer travel initiative include a Neighborhood Support Line with more Spanish-speaking monitors, house rules that are displayed more prominently on listing pages, safety tips for guests that are renting pool homes, and fire safety tips for people in fire-prone areas like the West Coast.
Airbnb is also reiterating the need for hosts to continue with COVID-19 Safety Practices. That includes wearing a mask, practicing social distancing, and disinfecting rentals with a 5-step cleaning process.
The issue that has probably caused the most short-term rental controversy is the noise issue. Many short-term vacation rentals or STVRs are located in residential neighborhoods where some long-time residents say there are too many loud parties by short-term rental guests. That may or may not be true in any particular neighborhood, but when enough voices are raised in opposition, elected officials are forced to listen.
And now, many city governments are struggling with rules to satisfy both long-term residents and short-term rental hosts. In many cases, the long-term residents are winning that battle, and city governments are completely banning short-term rentals. Unfortunately, that can feel like an injustice to property owners who may need that income, or have been planning for that income as an investment strategy.
The city of La Quinta, near Palm Springs, is one of those cities now wrestling with a decision on short-term rentals. It had implemented a ban on new short-term rental permits because of the pandemic that was supposed to be “temporary.” But now, people opposed to short-term rentals want a permanent ban on new permits to reduce the number of short-term rentals in the city.
That set the stage for a lively debate at a recent City Council meeting, and the Council voted to extend the permit moratorium until June 1st as it tests a new noise monitoring program. It’s a program that involves 25 properties and devices that measure noise levels. If the noise reaches a certain threshold, the property owner is notified and given a chance to address the problem.
Community Resources Analyst, Jaime Torres, told NBC news: “We reached out to three of the biggest vendors in the noise compliance industry. Each of these vendors has a device that helps monitor and track noise and our goal with this is to basically see whether these devices are effective.”
Short-term rental owner, Kristen Perry, is one of the people participating in the test. She says: “So far so good!” She says: “I’ve yet to get an alert, and I have (the devices) at half the recommended setting.”
If this strategy works to keep noise levels at an acceptable level, the devices could become mandatory for La Quinta vacation rentals. The results may also influence a vote on whether or not the ban on any new permits will be lifted.
If you'd like to know more about Airbnb's Summer of Responsible Travel initiative, you'll find a link on the podcast player page for this episode at www.NewsForInvestors.com
Click here to join the network for free
Links:
1 - https://www.inman.com/2021/04/13/partys-over-airbnb-rolls-out-new-plan-to-stop-summer-gatherings/
3 - https://news.airbnb.com/airbnb-launches-summer-of-responsible-travel/
Sat, 17 Apr 2021 - 05min - 1560 - Mortgage Industry: CFPB Proposes New Plan to Prevent a Surge in Foreclosures
There’s a new plan brewing to help delinquent borrowers and prevent another wave of foreclosures. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wants to extend the foreclosure moratorium through the end of this year and is currently asking for comments on the plan. But does the CFPB have the authority to do this?
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, 2.7 million homeowners were in forbearance programs as of January 31st of this year. That’s down from a pandemic peak of some 6 million homeowners, but it’s a substantial number of homes at risk of foreclosure.
Black Knight estimates the number of mortgages that are currently 90 or more days past due is about 2 million. And that’s about five times higher than before the pandemic began. The real estate data firm expects some improvement through the end of June, when the current foreclosure moratorium expires, but it expects that 1.8 million mortgages will still be seriously delinquent.
The MBA says the delinquency rate for one-to-four-unit residential properties was 6.73% at the end of the fourth quarter. Black Knight says it fell below 6% in January, for the first time since the pandemic began.
Although the foreclosure moratorium is currently set to expire in June, delinquent homeowners may have different dates for the expiration of their forbearance programs. Loans backed by Fannie and Freddie can have as much as one year of forbearance. Private lenders may have other options.
Extending the foreclosure moratorium will give homeowners more time to work out a solution with their lenders. The CFPB is also proposing ways to streamline the process of getting homeowners out of forbearance and into other payment plans.
The MBA’s CEO, Dave Stevens, feels the CFPB has gone beyond its authority in offering to extend the moratorium. Stevens told HousingWire: “My concern is that the bureau is overstepping its bounds and violating in essence agreements that have already been previously made.”
He says that another halt on foreclosures could hurt the mortgage industry’s relationship with its investors, which servicers have worked hard to maintain. According to Black Knight, service providers have advanced investors $19 billion for delinquent mortgage payments during the last year.
HousingWire also reports that lenders have already been doing a good job helping homeowners exit forbearance. It says that almost 86% of those who exited forbearance did so with a payment plan in place.
Executive Vice President of RealtyTrac, Rick Sharga, says of the results: “I think the math speaks for itself how well the forbearance program has worked, and it’s one of the few times in my career that I have seen a government-initiated program adopted as well and executed as well by the industry as this one.”
He doesn’t feel the same way about another foreclosure moratorium however. He says: “What they are doing is getting involved in a very complex process and it may be forcing servicers to violate covenants of the investor who bought the loan, and that’s the real challenge.”
MBA President, Robert Broeksmit, is also citing some impressive numbers. He reportedly said in a recent article that mortgage servicers successfully helped 4.3 million Americans enter forbearance plans in less than 10 weeks. Broeksmit says: “The ability for the industry and mortgage servicers to overcome the obstacles created by COVID-19 will depend on our ability to work together.”
The CFPB is proposing three actions to help borrowers impacted by the pandemic. The first is to grant borrowers more time, with a moratorium that runs through December 31st. The second is to give servicers a way to modify loans more quickly with less paperwork. And third, to improve communication with borrowers so they are aware of their options at the appropriate time.
The public comment period runs through May 11th.
You’ll find links to the CFPB’s proposal and other articles mentioned in this episode on the podcast player page at www.NewsForInvestors.com
Click here to join the network for free
Links:
1 - https://www.housingwire.com/articles/does-cfpb-have-authority-to-postpone-foreclosures/
2 - https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_mortgage-servicing_nprm_2021-04.pdf
3 - https://www.blackknightinc.com/black-knights-first-look-at-january-2021-mortgage-data/
5 - https://dsnews.com/daily-dose/04-05-2021/cfpb-proposes-plan-to-avoid-foreclosure-surge
Fri, 16 Apr 2021 - 04min - 1559 - The Real Estate News Brief: IMF Economic Forecast, Worldwide Home Price Growth, Pet-Friendly Workplace
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending April 10th, 2021... an economic forecast from the International Monetary Fund, home price growth around the world, and a survey on having pets at work.
Economic News
We begin with economic news from this past week, and an upbeat forecast from the International Monetary Fund. The IMF raised its 2021 U.S. economic outlook from 5.1% to 6.4%. It expects to see a slowdown next year to 4.4% which is stronger than the Federal Reserve’s 3.3% prediction. The IMF also expects that pandemic-related losses for other major economies will be smaller than what we saw after the financial crisis. It is expecting global growth to be just slightly less than the U.S. this year, and about the same next year.
The IMF also expressed support for the Fed’s “go slow” policy on interest rate hikes and tapering. The IMF’s chief economist, Gita Gopinath, says: “They have pledged to, kind of, given sufficient advance warning if they are going to reverse course… so we expect that would happen.”
Weekly unemployment claims jumped higher for a second week in a row. Economists had expected them to decline but the Labor Department reported 728,000 new state claims. That’s 16,000 more than the previous week. Before the pandemic, the weekly average was around 220,000. If you combine all the new and continuing benefits from both state and federal programs, the total is 18.2 million. Before the pandemic, there were less than 2 million people collecting benefits.
On a positive note, job growth is surging. The government says there were 7.37 million jobs available in February. That’s up from 7.1 million in January. It says that 5.74 million people were also hired in February, and the U.S. gained another 916,000 new jobs in March. Those are all good numbers.
Mortgage Rates
There’s also good news on mortgage rates. Freddie Mac says the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped 5 basis points, to 3.13%. That’s after seven weeks of higher rates. Freddie Mac says that mortgage rates are lower because of a “modest decline” in U.S. Treasury yields.
In other news making headlines...
Worldwide Home Prices
Home prices are going up around the world. International property consultant Knight Frank says that average urban home prices went up 5.6% last year. That’s up from 3.2% in 2019. Emerging markets are seeing some of the strongest price gains, including Turkey which has a few cities at the top of the list. In Ankara, the year-over-year increase is 30.2%. Ismir and Istanbul are close to that. Turkish inflation is pushing those prices higher, but other countries are seeing double-digit year-over-year increases. Cities in Russia, New Zealand, Canada, and South Korea are all near the top of the list.
U.S. cities with double-digit price growth include Phoenix at 14.4%, Seattle at 13.6%, San Diego at 13%, Boston at 11.4%, Washington, D.C. at 10.3% and Minneapolis at 10.2%.
Higher Property Taxes for Homeowners
As home prices soar, so do home values and property taxes. ATTOM Data Solutions says that U.S. property taxes rose 5.4% in 2020. The average for single-family homes in 2020 was $3,719. That translates into an effective tax rate of 1.1% but researchers say many states have much higher tax rates. The highest is New Jersey with 2.2%. Illinois is second at 2.18%. And, Texas is third at 2.15%. At the low end is Hawaii with a tax rate of .37%.
CA Landlord Accepts Bitcoin for Rent
The Los Angeles-based real estate company Caruso announced that it will accept rent payments in bitcoin from residential and commercial tenants. Developer Rick Caruso founded the company which is known for high-end outdoor malls like The Grove in Los Angeles and a resort near Santa Barbara.
Caruso said during a CNBC interview that he hopes to create a whole ecosystem where tenants and guests can use cryptocurrency to check into a resort, pay rent, and buy things while visiting Caruso properties. He says it’s a long-term strategy that anticipates what the world might be like in the next decade, and not just the next year or five years.
Pet-Friendly Workplace
The pet-friendly workplace could become more common as companies try to lure employees back to the office. A new survey shows that a lot of bosses realize how important pets have been during the pandemic and that many may allow pets at work.
In a survey by Banfield Pet Hospital and OnePoll, half of the executives said they are planning to allow pets at the office and 59% said they would adopt policies that give employees flexibility to take care of their pets.
One reason for this benevolent attitude is that 75% of the executives said that being a pet owner has made them better, more compassionate business leaders. There have also been a lot of employee requests for a more pet-friendly workplace.
If you want more information about any of these stories including home price growth in specific cities around the world and property tax rates for different U.S. states, you'll find links on the podcast player page for this episode at NewsForInvestors.com.
Links:
2 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/imf-backs-go-slow-fed-11617719428?mod=economy-politics
5 - http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/#
7 - https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2021/04/08/property-taxes-jumped-54-in-2020
Tue, 13 Apr 2021 - 06min - 1558 - Housing Market: Bidding Wars Are Creating Appraisal Problems for Some Buyers
Home buyers are making all sorts of sacrifices in today’s market. Without enough homes to meet demand, some buyers are eliminating contingencies and offering way more than the listing price. That may be a simple transaction if you’re paying cash, but for those getting a loan, a “gap” between the sky-high amount offered to clinch the deal and the appraised value of the home could be a deal breaker.
A lot of buyers are resorting to extreme measures to win the home they so desperately want to buy. They may offer $50,000, $100,000 over asking and waive ALL contingencies, meaning that if they back out, they lose their deposit.
And then when it comes time to get the house appraised, buyers are finding out that the lender will only cover, let’s say, 80% of the appraised value. That means the buyer’s down payment must include the other 20% PLUS any amount the buyer offered to win that home. That’s left some buyers scrambling to make up the difference for what’s being called “the appraisal gap.”
HousingWire heard from a few loan officers who say that some people are caught off-guard, and are borrowing from relatives or tapping into retirement and stock-trading accounts to make up for that gap. Those distributions can also trigger tax events, making the purchase that much more expensive.
But the problem isn’t just that buyers are bidding the prices too high. Some real estate experts feel that many appraisers have not caught up to a market that’s been accelerating rapidly. They rely on historical data which doesn’t reflect what’s happening today. One Southern California processor told HousingWire that “almost all of the appraisals lately… have been low, by a lot.”
HousingWire reports that: “While some appraisers understand the increasing market and try to justify soaring prices, others are not comfortable with the new reality and provide valuations more in line with previous sales.”
The situation can lead to a costly mistake for buyers who have written a non-contingent offer. With no clause that allows them to back out of the deal, they must come up with the additional cash. If they can’t, the deal will likely collapse and they’ll lose their deposit. But it may also be possible to challenge the appraisal.
A buyer or buyer’s agent might be able to offer comps that justify a higher amount, or maybe hire another appraiser for a second opinion. Finding another lender could also get you another appraisal but you’d have to make sure the new lender doesn’t use the same appraiser.
Doing more to prepare for the appraisal gap could also help. Maybe getting those comps ahead of time, and making sure there’s a little extra cash in the bank for a bigger deposit. If not, lower the dollar amount being offered, and maybe avoid an offer that doesn’t give you an out.
Real estate agents can also help by educating their clients about the pitfalls of a non-contingency offer that’s substantially over the asking price.
For real estate investors who’d like to learn more about appraisals for investment properties, you’ll find a few videos on our website at NewsForInvestors.com. We’ll also have a link on the podcast player page for this episode to those videos.
Video Link: https://www.realwealthnetwork.com/learn/how-to-read-appraisal-report-investment-property/
Links:
1 - https://www.housingwire.com/articles/the-appraisal-gap-is-complicating-deals-across-the-country/
2 - https://www.inman.com/2021/03/23/how-to-protect-your-buyers-from-appraisal-catastrophes/
3 - https://www.foxbusiness.com/money/how-to-refinance-mortgage-low-home-appraisal
Fri, 09 Apr 2021 - 03min - 1557 - Job Market: UC Researcher Predicts “Superstar Cities” Will Rise Again
Remote work has become a dream come true for many people. But, can it also become too much of a good thing? One UC Berkeley researcher predicts that cities will thrive again once the pandemic is under control. His arguments are compelling and support the idea of a metropolitan or suburban lifestyle with fewer days at the office and commutes that are easier because highways are less congested.
UC economist Enrico Moretti spoke with Vox about his forecast for the return of “superstar cities.” He talks about how highly skilled workers like to congregate in different metros, and why that trend is probably not going to go away -- although some amount of the urban to suburban shift may remain. Living in the suburbs is still within driving distance of the city and many major companies, making it an attractive option for a hybrid work schedule.
The academic term for the clustering of different industries in certain cities is called “agglomeration.” Moretti says it’s one of the most important concepts for understanding why this happens. And he doesn’t think it’s going away. He says: “I think everything that we know from the economic geography before Covid tells us that these forces of agglomeration are quite powerful. And there’s no reason to think that the same tendency to cluster will be all that different in the post-Covid world.”
He explains that, for example, the biotech industry clusters geographically in three or four cities. That same goes for other industries, like finance and pharmaceutical. He says: “If you look at all the inventory in computer science, the top 10 metro areas in the U.S. account for 70% of all inventors in computer science.” And it isn’t just in the U.S. Moretti says over the past 20 to 30 years, you can see signs of agglomeration in industrialized countries around the world.
Moretti says one of the reasons for the growth of these clusters is that employees leave companies like Microsoft in Seattle, and start their own companies in the same area. But it’s not just that. Moretti says that start-ups also want to tap into a labor force that is already specialized. Although many of these more specialized high-level industries can support remote work, Moretti feels that working remotely 100% of the time won’t work well with the benefits of agglomeration.
What he does see is that more work will be done from home but that workers will live within commuting distance of their office. He says: “For the typical employer it’s going to take the form of one work-from-home day a week, or at most two days of work-from-home a week.” He says: “If you have to show up at the office three or four days a week, you still need to live in the metro area where your office is.”
And it isn’t all about work, either. Moretti says that people, especially the younger generations, are attracted to city amenities. The fact that cities like New York and San Francisco have looked deserted during the pandemic supports that argument because a lot of the urban amenities have been shut down.
He says that once people feel safe from COVID-19 and the amenities re-open, he expects all those well-educated workers will return to cities. If enough people end up working a hybrid work schedule, that could make cities even more attractive because there will be fewer people on the road, commuting.
The pandemic had many people thinking that cities were doomed as they moved to far flung areas that didn’t have as many people, or germs. And there have been plenty of headlines about this pandemic migration. But just how far did they really move?
A report by retail traffic analytics firm Placer.ai supports the idea that while some people did move to other states, many people stayed closer to home. The results show that most U.S. states saw less than 1% population growth last year and that all that moving around was mostly to the suburbs, not other states.
The report shows that Montana and Idaho had the highest number of migrants at 3.7 and 3.9% respectively. Florida, Arizona, and Maine also did well with more than a 1% increase. Cities that were above the 1% mark include Tampa, Charleston, Austin, and Phoenix.
So there have been population growth hot spots. Many people have been moving to the Sun-Belt states, but it seems a larger percentage have just moved farther away from their nearby cities.
Expedia CEO, Peter Kern, published an opinion piece in Fortune that discredits the idea that cities will remain undesirable after the pandemic is over. He says: “The global health crisis we’re living through is serious, and it will have lasting effects, but does anyone truly believe this event… is capable of fundamentally altering human nature?”
The human nature he is referring to is the desire for social interaction. When you think of being human, you don’t think of living in social isolation. Kern says: “Maintaining close relationships with others is essential to our mental health and, ultimately, our survival.”
He says he used to live 20 blocks from the World Trade Center and that after 9/11, many people were worried about a mass exodus. But the opposite happened. Kern says: “New York City witnessed booming real estate values, strong economic growth, inward migration, and yes, record tourism.” He says: “People always find their way back to cities.”
We don’t know for sure what our post-COVID world will look like, but it looks like people may be more spread out in suburban single-family homes that are within commuting distance of their nearby cities.
You’ll find links to these stories on the podcast player page for this episode at www.NewsForInvestors.com
Links:
1 - https://www.vox.com/22352360/remote-work-cities-housing-prices-work-from-home
3 - https://f.hubspotusercontent00.net/hubfs/5995051/Migration%20Trends%20Deep%20Dive.pdf
4 - https://fortune.com/2021/03/15/cities-covid-coronavirus-travel-expedia/
Fri, 09 Apr 2021 - 06min - 1556 - The Real Estate News Brief: Fannie Mae Update on GDP, Consumer Confidence Surge, Cicada Invasion
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending April 3rd, 2021... an economic update from Fannie Mae, a surge in consumer optimism, and the return of the cicadas.
Economic News
We begin with economic news from this past week, and an updated economic forecast by Fannie Mae. The mortgage guarantee enterprise is expecting real GDP growth to hit 8.4% in the second quarter of this year, and 6.6% for the full year. It is anticipating the GDP to settle down a bit in 2022. Currently, risks to the economic recovery are viewed as neutral. That includes the future path of COVID-19 and its variants, the easing of social restrictions, and whether consumers will start spending more money from their personal savings. The housing market is expected to remain resilient with purchases hitting $1.82 trillion this year. That’s up from $1.61 trillion last year. Rising interest rates are not expected to have much of an impact. Fannie Mae’s chief economist Doug Duncan says: “While we forecast some continued upward movement, mortgage rates remain historically low, as they are still .8 percentage points below the 2019 average.” (1)
There was a spike in first-time unemployment claims last week, but economists are expecting numbers to go down soon, as the economy strengthens. The government says that state claims jumped to 719,000. Combined with claims for federal benefits, the total was “less” than one million. That figure fell below one million two weeks ago for the first time since the pandemic began. (2)
The March report on job growth shows a surprising surge in new positions. It says that companies created more than 900,000 new jobs with the largest percentage in the leisure and hospitality industry. But there were also a lot of new jobs for the government and the construction industry. MarketWatch says that job growth easily exceeded Wall Street expectations.
The official unemployment rate is now down to 6%, but that figure doesn’t include about 4 million people who lost their jobs during the pandemic, and left the workforce. (3)
Pending home sales were down by a significant amount in February due to the lack of existing home inventory along with higher interest rates and homes prices. The National Association of Realtors says pending home sales were down 10.6%. They fell in all parts of the country, but they were down the most in the South with a 13% drop. (4)
Chief economist for Realtor.com, Danielle Hale, expects that home price growth will settle down as more sellers put their homes on the market this spring. But prices have already jumped quite a bit. According to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller national price index, they were up 11.2% year-over-year in January. Phoenix has the highest price appreciation at 15.8%. (5)
We will need to see a lot of new sellers to help slow that price growth, and meet demand. Realtor.com’s Monthly Housing Trends Report shows there are 52% fewer homes on the market this year than there were last year. And the national median home price is up 15.6% to $370,000 in March, which is an all-time high. (6)
The lack of existing homes is pushing many first-time buyers into the new home market. According to the National Association of Home Builders, new home buyers account for 43% of sales. That’s up from 32% in 2018. (7)
Construction spending dipped in February, mostly because of severe weather in many parts of the country. The Commerce Department says it slipped .8%. It’s still up 5.3%, however, compared to a year ago. And it’s expected to bounce back rapidly this spring. (8)
Consumer confidence is surging. It hit a one-year high of 109.7 in March. That’s up from 90.4 in February. The Conference Board survey was done as people received $1,400 stimulus checks and more people were vaccinated. (9)
Mortgage Rates
Mortgage rates didn’t move much this last week. Freddie Mac says the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was only up one basis point to 3.18%. The 15-year didn’t budge and remains at 2.45%. (10)
In other news making headlines...
Eviction Moratorium Extended
The CDC extended the national eviction moratorium another three months. It now ends on June 30th. The moratorium has been challenged by several states and local governments because it has left many landlords without rent payments to pay their own bills.
Landlords do have access to some amount of rental assistance from relief packages passed by Congress. The National Association of Realtors helped make that happen, but NAR’S chief advocacy officer, Shannon McGahn says: “Our focus now turns to ensuring there is not just enough funding but also a smooth implementation of rental assistance while the various challenges to eviction bans work their way through the courts.” (11)
The Cicadas Are Coming
It’s been 17 years since the last invasion of a bug called the cicada. If you’re familiar with them, you probably know that they are expected to emerge from their underground hiding place this spring.
They are grass hopper-like bugs that shed their skin, and leave behind mounds of their sloughed-off exterior in the yards that they occupy. They are also very loud, and can be heard as far away as a half a mile.
States expecting this kind of invasion are located in the central east coast region, up through New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania then west toward the north central states.
You’ll find links to all these stories on the podcast player page for this episode at www.NewsForInvestors.com
Links:
6 - https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2021/04/01/spring-buyers-have-50-fewer-homes-to-choose-from
8 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-construction-spending-drops-08-in-february-2021-04-01
10 - http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/
11 - https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2021/03/30/eviction-moratorium-still-in-effect
12 - https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2021/03/29/prepare-for-the-return-of-the-cicadas
Wed, 07 Apr 2021 - 06min - 1555 - Future of Work: Adopting a More Flexible Employee-Employer Relationship
When the world shut down because of COVID-19, few people thought their work routine would change so drastically. It’s now more than a year since the virus forced people into a remote work environment, and with the pandemic threat diminishing, there are big questions about the best way to shift to a more hybrid model that combines workplace with work-from-home.
Wed, 31 Mar 2021 - 07min - 1554 - The Real Estate News Brief - State of the Economic Recovery, Co-Working Rebound, and a New Demand for Golf Course Homes
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending March 27th, 2021… the state of the economy from Treasury Secretary Yellen and Fed Chief Powell, what some see as a co-working rebound, and a new demand for golf course homes.
Links:
1 - https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/23/economy/janet-yellen-jerome-powell-economy-recovery/index.html
7 - https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-economy-sentiment-idUSAQN03Z34I
8 - http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/
9 - https://www.housingwire.com/articles/about-7m-refi-candidates-missed-the-forever-rate-boat/#
10 - https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2021/03/24/co-working-spaces-may-soon-see-a-surge-in-activity
11 - https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2021/03/22/golf-properties-are-once-again-in-high-demand
12 - https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2021/03/26/demand-for-pools-hot-tubs-surging-due-to-covid-19
Wed, 31 Mar 2021 - 06min - 1553 - New Construction: Pandemic Lumber Shortages Are Driving Prices Sky High
The push continues for a solution to lumber shortages and skyrocketing lumber prices. A large number of sawmills were shut down early last year, creating a major shortage of lumber for the construction industry. While there’s hope that sawmills will return to full capacity as people get vaccinated and social distancing mandates are relaxed, the National Association of Homebuilders is urging policymakers to find solutions right now.
Links: 1 - https://www.nahb.org/advocacy/top-priorities/material-costs/solving-the-lumber-crisis 2 - https://nahbnow.com/2021/02/record-high-lumber-prices-add-24k-to-the-price-of-a-new-home/ 3 - https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/17/housing-starts-february-2021.html#:~:text=and%20construction%20activity.%22-,Housing%20starts%20fell%2010.3%25%20to%20a%20seasonally%20adjusted%20annual%20rate,on%2Dyear%20basis%20in%20February. 4 - https://nahbnow.com/2021/03/lumber-prices-stalling-much-needed-multifamily-and-affordable-housing-supply/?_ga=2.24865850.1827718439.1616712139-54843561.1614272299 5 - https://nahbnow.com/2021/03/a-full-court-press-on-lumber/?_ga=2.250824582.1827718439.1616712139-54843561.1614272299 6 - https://fortune.com/2021/03/20/lumber-prices-2021-chart-when-will-wood-shortage-end-price-of-lumber-go-down-home-sales-cost-update-march/ 7 - https://www.nahb.org/advocacy/top-priorities/material-costs/outreach-to-the-administration-and-congress?_ga=2.182658726.1827718439.1616712139-54843561.1614272299Mon, 29 Mar 2021 - 05min - 1552 - Personal Wealth: What Are People Planning to Do with All that Stimulus Money?
Individuals across the U.S. are getting a new round of stimulus checks worth more than $410 Billion. This is the third time the government has handed out money because of the pandemic. While many people are still suffering financially, the economy is also recovering, and that’s raising a lot of questions about whether people should save, spend, or invest their checks.
So what should individuals do with their stimulus checks? I thought I’d cover some of the ideas and recommendations I’ve been seeing in the news, and what many people say they are planning to do with their checks.
Links: 1 - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-16/biden-stimulus-check-1-400-best-investment-ideas-save-or-spend-it 2 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/americans-ready-to-plow-10-of-stimulus-checks-into-bitcoin-and-stocks-survey-says-11615823512 3 - https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/young-investors-are-putting-stimulus-checks-into-stocks-and-bitcoin-152629197.html 4 - https://finance.yahoo.com/news/warren-buffett-wants-1-400-151000599.html 5 - https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/03/11/latest-stimulus-payments-cover-months-rent-some-places-less-than-month-others/Sat, 27 Mar 2021 - 07min - 1551 - The Real Estate News Brief - Homebuilder Confidence, Spring-Home Buying Season, Homebuyer Superstitions
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending March 20th, 2021... why homebuilder confidence took a dip, why we won’t have a spring home-buying season, and superstitions that discourage homebuyers. We begin with economic news from this past week, and new assurances from the Federal Reserve about economic growth and inflation. While Fed officials expect to see a GDP OF 6.5% this year and inflation slightly higher than 2%, they have no plans to raise interest rates in 2021. www.NewsForInvestors.com Links: 1 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-sees-no-rate-hikes-through-2023-despite-some-inflation-overshoot-11616004261?mod=MW_article_top_stories 2 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/unemployment-claims-jump-to-one-month-high-of-770-000-as-texas-applications-surge-11616071511?mod=economy-politics 3 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-home-construction-falters-due-to-februarys-winter-storms-but-support-for-a-home-building-frenzy-remains-11615985107?mod=economic-report 4 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/home-builder-confidence-dips-to-lowest-level-since-august-as-concerns-grow-about-rising-material-costs-and-higher-interest-rates-11615903279?mod=economic-report 5 - http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/ 6 - https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2021/03/16/buyers-rush-to-lock-in-low-interest-rates 7 - https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2021/03/15/survey-60-of-households-priced-out-of-new-home-market 8 - https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/17/irs-pushes-april-15-us-tax-deadline-to-may-17.html 9 - https://www.lendingtree.com/home/mortgage/homebuying-luck-survey/
Mon, 22 Mar 2021 - 05min - 1550 - Real Estate: Fannie Mae Loans Will Be Tougher to Get for Investors
New risk reduction policies at Fannie Mae could make it harder to get loans for single-family second homes and investment properties. The GSE sent letters to lenders saying it will impose a new 7% limit on the acceptance of those kinds of loans. Fannie is currently accepting a higher percentage. So what does that mean for investors?
Sat, 20 Mar 2021 - 04min - 1549 - Property Management: Watchdog Group Sues for Section 8 Discrimination
Dozens of New York City landlords are being accused of discriminating against people with housing vouchers. A housing rights watchdog group filed a federal lawsuit against 88 brokers and landlords after an undercover operation that involved recorded phone calls.
The state of New York made it illegal to discriminate against tenants based on their source of income in 2019. That includes people who use Section 8 vouchers to pay their rent as well as other forms of assistance like child support, alimony, foster care subsidies, and veterans benefits. There are a few exceptions that include rentals in one- or two-family homes but only if they are occupied by the owner.
Links: 1 - https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/source_of_income_discrimination.pdf 2 - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/15/nyregion/real-estate-lawsuit-section-8-discrimination.html 3 - https://www.nmhc.org/research-insight/analysis-and-guidance/source-of-income-laws-by-state-county-and-city/Thu, 18 Mar 2021 - 04min - 1548 - The Real Estate News Brief: $2.9T Rescue Plan, iBuyer Rebound, Zillow Hiring Spree
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending March 13th, 2021… a $1.9 Trillion economic rescue, iBuyer 2021 rebound, and a Zillow hiring spree.
We begin with economic news from this past week, and the approval of a $1.9 Trillion COVID-19 relief package. The National Association of Realtors is applauding the high-dollar stimulus plan because there are several provisions that will help the housing market, including another $21.55 billion in rental assistance. Landlords who are owed back rent will benefit from those funds, and the previous $25 billion approved in December. $1,400 stimulus checks for individuals will also help the back rent situation. There’s also money to help homeowners struggling to pay mortgages, as well as small businesses, schools, and local governments that are low on cash.
Links: 1 - https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2021/03/11/biden-signs-covid-19-rescue-package-into-law 2 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/consumers-pay-higher-prices-in-february-cpi-shows-as-inflation-creeps-up-11615384314?cx_testId=22&cx_testVariant=cx_1&cx_artPos=2&mod=home-page-cx#cxrecs_s 3 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-fall-sharply-to-lowest-level-since-november-11615470023?mod=economic-report 4 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/job-openings-rise-in-january-as-labor-market-strengthens-11615476422?mod=mw_latestnews 5 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/u-s-march-consumer-sentiment-hits-post-pandemic-high-11615561947 6 - http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/ 7 - https://realestateinvestingtoday.com/nmhc-says-80-4-of-apartment-households-paid-rent-by-march-6th/ 8 - https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2021/03/11/ibuyer-financial-losses-mount 9 - https://investors.zillowgroup.com/investors/news-and-events/news/news-details/2021/Zillow-Announces-Plans-to-Hire-More-Than-2000-Employees-Nationwide-in-2021/default.aspxMon, 15 Mar 2021 - 05min - 1547 - Rental Market: What Tenants Want Most for City Living
The pandemic has increased renter preferences for certain amenities, and one New York City website has come up with an interesting list of “must haves.” It’s a top 10 list that was compiled from search results in December and January by apartment listing website StreetEasy.
People have been spending more time at home since the start of the pandemic, and that’s changed a lot of priorities about our home space. Although there are many preferences on this list that are geared toward apartment buildings, several apply to any kind of rental situation.
Links: 1 - https://streeteasy.com/blog/apartment-amenities-new-yorkers-want-most/ 2 - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/11/realestate/which-amenities-are-most-popular.htmlMon, 15 Mar 2021 - 03min - 1546 - Real Estate: Connecting Cities with Ultra-Fast Passenger Pods
“The 2020’s will be the decade of the hyperloop.” Those are the words of Virgin hyperloop co-founder Josh Giegel just a few months after the company conducted its first passenger test. Giegel was one of the two people on board the. Virgin now expects its system to be up and running for the public by the end of this decade.
Links: 1 - https://virginhyperloop.com/ 2 - https://www.radio.com/kxnt/articles/press-release/virgin-hyperloop-has-successful-test-in-nevada-desert 3 - https://virginhyperloop.com/press/results-midwest-hyperloop-study 4 - https://www.star-telegram.com/news/coronavirus/article244517722.html 5 - https://gizmodo.com/north-carolina-is-eyeing-a-hyperloop-one-system-for-the-1836318917 6 - https://www.forbes.com/sites/geekgirlrising/2020/12/08/san-francisco-to-la-in-35-minutes-virgin-hyperloop-moves-closer-to-reality/?sh=4f2dfc8b5274 7 - https://clevelandmagazine.com/in-the-cle/news/articles/cleveland-to-chicago-in-28-minutes-hyperloop-moves-forward?fbclid=IwAR2QRUk2mumJxqU1uaSTbi1Cxtq4k9hnqnvaQBkp-g1bm2XbLKDT_XrRBxw 8 - https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Car-Rental-News/Hyperloop-travel-appears-to-be-on-the-fast-track-to-reality
Fri, 12 Mar 2021 - 05min - 1545 - The Real Estate News Brief: Inflation Fears, Job Creation, and a Mortgage Rate Bias
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending March 6th, 2021… new concerns about inflation, signs of a job market rebound, and gender bias in the mortgage market. We begin with economic news from this past week, and a stock market roller coaster that had real estate investors breathing a sigh of relief. Many of the high-flying tech stocks went south in response to concerns about inflation after Treasury yields spiked a few times. Economists are also worried that the $1.9 trillion fiscal stimulus package that Congress is trying to pass will overheat the economy, and that recent signs of inflation are just the beginning. www.NewsForInvestors.com Links: 1 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/powell-sends-warning-to-markets-that-fed-doesnt-want-persistent-tightening-in-financial-conditions-11614879804?siteid=bnbh 2 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/u-s-economy-adds-379-000-jobs-in-february-as-hiring-speeds-up-11614951413?mod=home-page 3 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/u-s-unemployment-claims-rise-slightly-to-745-000-after-texas-power-outages-11614865793?mod=mw_latestnews 4 - https://eyeonhousing.org/2021/03/private-residential-spending-hits-record-high/ 5 - http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/ 6 - https://nahbnow.com/2021/03/fhfa-extends-covid-19-multifamily-forbearance-through-june-30/?_ga=2.65463978.528485599.1614974505-54843561.1614272299 7 - https://www.corelogic.com/blog/2021/3/new-year-started-off-with-double-digit-home-price-gains.aspx 8 - https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/national-rent-data 9 - https://www.redfin.com/news/single-women-home-purchases-increase-2020/
Wed, 10 Mar 2021 - 05min - 1544 - Housing Market: Lower Agent Fees Will Save $$$ for Sellers, Buyers
Selling a home is about to get cheaper as the result of an antitrust lawsuit. Because of a settlement between the National Association of Realtors and the Department of Justice, the fees that sellers pay to buyers will be publicly displayed on listing pages. Redfin is already doing it in many markets, and other real estate websites are expected to follow suit in the coming months. That kind of transparency typically results in more competition and lower rates.
Sat, 06 Mar 2021 - 04min - 1543 - Real Estate: Texas Judge Rules the CDC Nationwide Eviction Ban Unconstitutional
A Texas judge has ruled the CDC’s nationwide eviction moratorium is unconstitutional. It’s been in effect since last spring because of the pandemic, and has put some landlords in a tough spot because they can’t afford to support tenants who aren’t paying rent. The ruling stopped short of an injunction, and it’s now being appealed by the Department of Justice.
Sat, 06 Mar 2021 - 04min - 1542 - Real Estate News Brief - Economic Policy Update, FHFA Extends Moratoriums, Demand for Rural Land
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending February 27th, 2021... a Fed update on economic policy, an FHFA reprieve for tenants and homeowners, and a rise in demand for rural land. We begin with economic news from this past week, and comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. He told Congress that there are signs the economy is recovering but that substantial improvements are still needed in the job market, and that inflation needs to get closer to the 2% mark. www.NewsForInvestors.com
Tue, 02 Mar 2021 - 06min - 1541 - Proposed Excise Tax, Landlord ID Database for California Rental Properties
California landlords may face a new excise tax. AB 1199 would impose a tax on landlords to pay for the privilege of renting or leasing property in California. Some people feel it’s an end run to the failed Proposition 15 in the last election which would’ve eliminated Prop 13 protections for commercial property. AB 1199 would also create a public registry of rental property information including the names of the individual property owners.
Access over 500 Free Webinars here!
Tue, 02 Mar 2021 - 05min - 1540 - Real Estate News Brief - Rent Growth in Smaller Markets, Opportunity Zone Profits, & Flood Risk DataThu, 25 Feb 2021 - 05min
- 1539 - Property Watch: Five New Laws that Impact California Real Estate
Every year, California residents face a profusion of new laws, and this year, there are several new laws that will have a big impact on real estate. I’ve covered a few of them before, but they are important enough to mention again along with a few others for our California listeners and for people interested in what California is doing as a potential trend-setter for other states.
Thu, 25 Feb 2021 - 07min - 1538 - Housing Market: Redfin - Majority of Homes Selling within Two Weeks
The numbers keep going up for the housing market. Redfin reports that competition is so fierce among buyers that a majority of homes are going under contract within two weeks. That’s also driving home prices to new record highs.
Redfin reports that median asking prices are up 10% from a year ago, to a new all-time high of $334,770. It also says that median sale prices are up 15% year-over-year to $318,750.
Tue, 23 Feb 2021 - 04min - 1537 - Real Estate News Brief - U.S. Inflation Risk, Forbearance Extension, and Forecast on Homebuyer Demand
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending February 13th, 2021... new comments from the Fed Chief on the risk of inflation, a new extension for government forbearance programs, and a forecast on homebuyer demand.
We begin with economic news from the past week, and Fed Chief Jerome Powell’s commentary about inflation. He spoke before the Economic club of New York saying he doesn’t expect a big jump or a sustained increase in inflation right now. He says: “Inflation has been much lower and more stable over the past three decades than in earlier times. In the 1970’s, when inflation would go up, it would stay up.”
Wed, 17 Feb 2021 - 06min - 1536 - Real Estate: Is the Single-Family Trend Here to Stay?
Will it be another great year for single-family homes? After a surge in demand for single-family homes last year, the big question on many investor minds is whether this is “a fad or a real trend.” The Urban Land Institute and PWC just published a yearly report on real estate trends, with some insights on where the single-family market may be headed.
Sat, 13 Feb 2021 - 06min - 1535 - Real Estate Investing: Best States for Rent Growth, In-Migration via U-Haul
With eviction moratoriums in place for nearly a year now, one might assume that investing in rental property would not be prudent. If people lose their jobs and can't pay rent, how can the landlord pay for their bills like the mortgage, property taxes and insurance? Yet, in spite of these unprecedented challenges, some metro areas have actually seen rents rise - according to a recent CoreLogic report that tracks rent collections.
Thu, 11 Feb 2021 - 05min - 1534 - Real Estate News Brief: New Real Estate Record for Houston, Better Credit for Renters, Listing of 3-D Printed Home
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending February 6th, 2021... new record-highs for Houston real estate, good news about renter credit scores, and a big “first” for the 3D printing of homes.
We begin with economic news from this past week and the latest job market reports. New applications for unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level in nine weeks. The government says that 779,000 people filed for state unemployment benefits during the last week of January.
Tue, 09 Feb 2021 - 05min - 1533 - Real Estate: Realtors Are Expecting Another Good Year in Florida for Sales and Rentals
Realtors are expecting another “booming” year for Central Florida real estate. 2020 was better than they expected and they say it looks like 2021 will follow along that path. Inventory is tight, but some economists expect more existing homes to hit the market, once the pandemic is under control. Builders are also working to fill the inventory gap in the for-sale and rental markets. www.NewsForInvestors.com
Sat, 06 Feb 2021 - 04min - 1532 - Fed’s Latest Policy Decisions, Home Sale Numbers, and a Home Value Forecast
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending January 30th, 2021… the Fed’s latest policy decisions, more good news about home sales, and a Zillow forecast on home values.
We begin with economic news from this past week, and another meeting of the Federal Reserve that ended with no policy changes and signs that short-term interest rates will stay right where they are for several years. The Fed also said it has no plans to taper its monthly purchase of $120 billion in bonds until it sees “substantial further progress” in a job market recovery, along with inflation that sits above 2% for some amount of time.
Sat, 30 Jan 2021 - 07min - 1531 - Job Market: Working From Home Could Trigger a New Tax Challenge
Remote workers may face a surprise tax bill if they live and work in different states. With the rapid expansion of the remote workforce and the ability to live anywhere, remote workers who cross state lines may owe taxes in more than one state. And a recent survey shows that most workers don’t realize that.
Links: 1 - https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/27/unexpected-state-tax-could-be-around-the-corner-for-remote-workers.html 2 - https://abcnews.go.com/US/working-home-due-covid-double-tax-hit/story?id=74864155Fri, 29 Jan 2021 - 05min - 1530 - Mortgage Market: Past Due Home Loans Up 79% to 3.4 Million by Year’s End
We have some year-end totals for the number of home loans that are past due, and at risk of foreclosure. A new report by Black Knight shows that 2020 ended with almost 3.4 million loans in some stage of delinquency, and that seriously delinquent loans were up 250%, but they are well off their pandemic peaks. There’s also new data on places where foreclosures are already rising, and many of those locations are in California.
Links: https://www.blackknightinc.com/black-knights-first-look-at-december-2020-mortgage-data/ https://www.housingwire.com/articles/2020-ends-with-3-4-million-loans-in-delinquency/ https://www.attomdata.com/news/market-trends/figuresfriday/top-10-u-s-zip-codes-where-foreclosure-filings-are-on-the-rise/Wed, 27 Jan 2021 - 04min - 1529 - Real Estate News Brief - Federal Eviction Ban Extended, Lennar as Single-Family Landlord, Zillow Ends Free Rental Listings
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending January 23rd, 2021… another extension for the Federal eviction ban, homebuilder Lennar to become a single-family landlord, and no more free rental listings on Zillow.
We begin with economic news from this past week, and the likely return of former Fed chief Janet Yellen as the new U.S. Treasury Secretary. The Senate Finance Committee approved her nomination on Friday the 22nd. The Senate is expected to vote today, and if confirmed, she'll be the first woman to lead the department in its more than 230-year history.
Links: 1 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/yellens-nomination-to-be-u-s-treasury-secretary-advances-on-unanimous-committee-vote-11611328550?mod=bnbh_mwarticle 2 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-drop-to-still-high-900-000-in-last-full-week-of-trump-presidency-11611236766?mod=economic-report 3 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-home-construction-activity-soars-to-highest-level-in-over-a-decade-as-builders-rush-to-produce-single-family-homes-2021-01-21?mod=u.s.-economic-calendar 4 - https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics/housing-statistics/existing-home-sales 5 - http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/ 6 - https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/20/biden-to-extend-the-national-ban-on-evictions-through-march-2021.html 7 - https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/cares/emergency-rental-assistance-program#:~:text=The%20Emergency%20Rental%20Assistance%20program,local%20governments%2C%20and%20Indian%20tribes. 8 - https://www.thestreet.com/investing/lennar-moving-into-single-family-rentals 9 - https://www.inman.com/2021/01/20/the-end-of-free-rental-listings-on-zillow-is-here/Tue, 26 Jan 2021 - 06min - 1528 - Housing Trends: Vaccine Impact on Housing Market, Single-Family Homes
The vaccine rollout is underway, and people in real estate are speculating on how it will help or possibly hurt some aspects of the housing market. 2020 was of course a very difficult year for many sectors of the economy, but not housing. What changes can we expect in the coming year?
Links: 1 - https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/vaccines-housing-market/
Thu, 21 Jan 2021 - 07min - 1527 - Covid Relief: Eviction Moratorium, Rental Assistance, Stimulus Checks, Bitcoin Lockouts
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending January 16th, 2021... a new COVID relief bill that extends the federal eviction moratorium, proposes more rental assistance, and authorizes new stimulus checks, plus bitcoin fortunes at risk over lost passwords, and reports on unemployment, inflation, consumer sentiment, and mortgage rates.
Tue, 19 Jan 2021 - 06min - 1526 - Short-Term Rentals: Fannie, Freddie Restrict Loans for “Condotels”
Buying a condo in some fun-filled tourist destination could disqualify you from an FHA loan. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have both announced that certain condo buildings may be disqualified for FHA loans if there are too many short-term rentals in the complex, even if the condo “you” are buying won’t be used in that manner. www.NewsForInvestors.com
Tue, 19 Jan 2021 - 04min - 1525 - Single-Family Rentals: New Construction Income Properties in Top U.S. Markets
As the inventory for existing homes dwindles and demand for rental homes grows, investors are working with builders on the construction of new rental homes in markets across the country. According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, this new surge in activity is the result of a pandemic-induced desire for more spacious homes in the suburbs combined with Americans who can’t afford to buy those homes.
Fri, 15 Jan 2021 - 04min - 1524 - Real Estate News Brief - Inventory Sinks Again, New Home Price Growth Trend, Urban Exodus ReversalWed, 13 Jan 2021 - 04min
- 1523 - Real Estate: Are Businesses Giving California and New York the Heave-Ho?Sat, 09 Jan 2021 - 06min
- 1522 - Real Estate: Housing Policies Under the Biden Harris AdministrationSat, 09 Jan 2021 - 08min
- 1521 - Real Estate: Housing Market Thrives Despite a Very Difficult Year
2020 was an extremely difficult year for many people and many businesses, but not for U.S. housing. While the coronavirus swept across the nation without mercy, infecting millions and blowing holes in the economy, the housing market actually got stronger. Let’s take a look at where we began the year and where we are now.
Mon, 04 Jan 2021 - 07min - 1520 - Oregon Landlords Sue Over Rent Relief
Oregon landlords are taking the state to court over an eviction moratorium that now runs through June of next year. Lawmakers also approved a compensation fund for landlords, but landlords say it will provide nowhere near enough money for landlords who are owed months of back rent.
Links: 1 - https://www.oregon.gov/ohcs/housing-assistance/Pages/landlord-compensation-fund.aspx 2 - https://rentalhousingjournal.com/oregon-passes-150-million-landlord-compensation-fund/ 3 - https://katu.com/news/following-the-money/about-13-of-oregonians-unable-to-pay-rent-in-july-lawmakers-look-for-more-federal-aid 4 - https://katu.com/news/local/landlords-file-lawsuit-over-oregons-eviction-moratoriumThu, 31 Dec 2020 - 04min - 1519 - Real Estate News Brief: New Mortgage Low, Stimulus Help for Housing, Best Grocery Store for Home Value
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending December 26th, 2020, mortgage rates hit another all-time low, new stimulus help for renters and landlords, best grocery store for home values, and reports on the GDP, the job market, consumer spending, and new and existing home sales.
Links: 1 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/historic-increase-in-u-s-gdp-in-third-quarter-revised-to-33-4-annualized-rate-11608644494?mod=economy-politics 2 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-fall-to-3-week-low-of-803-000-before-christmas-but-they-still-high-11608731267?mod=economic-report 3 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/consumer-spending-drops-0-4-in-november-11608731509?mod=economic-report 4 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/consumer-confidence-tumbles-in-december-to-lowest-level-since-lockdown-11608650517?mod=economic-report 5 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/u-s-consumer-sentiment-deteriorates-in-late-december-11608736845?mod=economy-politics 6 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-home-sales-fall-as-buyers-begin-to-get-cold-feet-in-an-expensive-market-2020-12-23?mod=economic-report 7 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/existing-home-sales-fall-in-november-as-buyers-struggle-to-find-properties-to-purchase-2020-12-22 8 - http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/ 9 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-is-just-slowing-the-clock-on-evictions-congress-will-extend-eviction-moratorium-fund-emergency-rent-assistance-with-new-stimulus-dea-11608553279 10 - https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2020/12/23/the-supermarket-effect-on-home-valuesTue, 29 Dec 2020 - 05min - 1518 - Giving Back: Creating Real Wealth for Yourself and Others
The Holidays are celebrated in many ways. But one theme that seems to cross over all belief systems is that this time of year is a time of giving, giving to those you love and also giving to those less fortunate than you. While this altruistic behavior stems from religion, it's also an important ingredient for success. www.NewsForInvestors.com Links: 1 - https://www.realwealthnetwork.com/real-wealth-foundation/ 2 - https://www.operationsmile.org/ 3 - https://mentorsinternational.org/ 4 - https://www.yocinc.org/ 5 - https://www.habitat.org/ 6 - www.ProfitPurposeConsulting.com
Thu, 24 Dec 2020 - 09min - 1517 - Real Estate News Brief: Single-Family Rent Growth, Remote Work Migration, Creative COVID-Safe Indoor DiningMon, 21 Dec 2020 - 06min
- 1516 - Holiday Cheer: Christmas Decorations as Remedy for Pandemic Gloom
Tis the season for a more than a normal amount of Christmas decorating. With pandemic stay-at-home orders and curfews, demand is skyrocketing for Christmas trees, holiday lights and other decorations. It’s a way to shake off the pandemic gloom, and bring an otherwise difficult year to a close with a few festive memories.
Fri, 18 Dec 2020 - 03min - 1515 - Mortgage Holders Gain $1 Trillion in Home Equity
There’s a home equity bonanza going on right now. Over the last year, the value of mortgaged homes has gone up $1 trillion. CoreLogic research shows the year-to-year increase is 11% from the third quarter of 2019 to the third quarter of 2020. That’s great news for borrowers, especially those at risk of foreclosure because of the pandemic.
Links: 1 - https://www.corelogic.com/insights-download/homeowner-equity-report.aspx 2 - https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/10/housing-is-doing-something-it-hasnt-done-since-the-bubble-achuthan.html 3 - https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/11/household-net-worth-hits-new-record-of-123point5-trillion-amid-stock-market-surge.htmlWed, 16 Dec 2020 - 05min - 1514 - Real Estate News Brief: Back Rent Rising, CEO Forecast, and Tiny Home Popularity
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending December 12th, tenants who owe back rent, CEO 2021 forecast, tiny home popularity, NAR’S new non-profit, and reports on unemployment, inflation, consumer sentiment, and mortgage rates.
Reference Links: 1 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-surge-to-3-month-high-coronavirus-trigging-more-layoffs-11607607903?mod=economic-report 2 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/u-s-job-openings-rose-in-october-but-layoffs-rose-even-faster-as-coronvirus-started-to-surge-11607526990?mod=u.s.-economic-calendar 3 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/consumer-prices-climb-in-november-cpi-shows-but-inflation-still-low-11607612244?mod=economic-report 4 - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/consumer-sentiment-jumps-in-december-on-democratic-euphoria-after-biden-win-11607700242 5 - http://www.freddiemac.com/pmms/ 6 - https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/12/07/unemployed-debt-rent-utilities/ 7 - https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2020/12/08/ceos-anticipate-business-returning-to-pre-pandemic-levels 8 - https://www.housingwire.com/articles/tiny-homes-are-big-winners-in-2020/ 9 - https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2020/11/23/nar-launches-the-american-property-owners-allianceWed, 16 Dec 2020 - 05min - 1513 - Short-Term Rentals: Airbnb Goes Public & Creates a Nonprofit
Airbnb made big headlines as it re-launched its plan for an IPO. The home-sharing company started trading on December 10th as ABNB on the NASDAQ. But that’s only half the story for Airbnb. It also announced Airbnb.org to help relief workers and medical staff find shelter during a crisis, like the pandemic...
Sat, 12 Dec 2020 - 04min - 1512 - Opportunity Zones: Biden’s Wants More Community Benefits, Transparency
If you are interested in Opportunity Zones, you should expect some changes to the program under the new Biden Administration. The program is getting bi-partisan support, but Joe Biden and his team feel it’s not doing enough to help distressed neighborhoods. The Biden website talks about reforming Opportunity Zones, to make sure they provide benefits to the local community and not just the investors getting the tax breaks.
Links: 1 - https://www.nreionline.com/investment/cre-pros-laud-biden-s-proposed-changes-opportunity-zone-program 2 - https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/The-Impact-of-Opportunity-Zones-An-Initial-Assessment.pdf 3 - https://joebiden.com/racial-economic-equity/Fri, 11 Dec 2020 - 04min - 1511 - Real Estate News Brief: Eviction, Foreclosure Moratorium Extended, Unemployment Rate Improves, Demand Surges for Build-to-Rent HomesTue, 08 Dec 2020 - 06min
- 1510 - Rental Housing: Co-Living Demand is Strong Despite the Pandemic
Co-living appears to be doing quite well, despite the pandemic. A new report from Cushman & Wakefield shows a rent collection dip toward the beginning of the pandemic, and a rebound from there. Even though we’re still dealing with the pandemic, co-living companies are moving forward with plans for major expansions across the U.S.
Fri, 04 Dec 2020 - 04min - 1509 - Property Tax: California’s Prop 19 Gives to Some, Takes from Others
California voters approved a real estate measure that will help older homeowners, but it could have a big downside for their children. Proposition 19 allows seniors, the disabled, and disaster victims to take their low property tax base with them to a new home. But it also reduces that protection for their heirs.
Fri, 04 Dec 2020 - 06min - 1508 - Real Estate News Brief: Home Sales Surge, Conforming Loan Limits Rise, Friendly Neighbors WantedThu, 03 Dec 2020 - 07min
- 1507 - Asset Protection: HUD Proposal Expands Flood Insurance Options for FHA LoansThu, 26 Nov 2020 - 05min
- 1506 - Real Estate: Defending the Industry as an “Essential Service” During New LockdownsWed, 25 Nov 2020 - 03min
- 1505 - Real Estate News Brief: Fed Calls for More Stimulus, New Mortgage Rate Low, November Rent Collection
The Federal Reserve and the Treasury are at odds over the need for economic relief, while unemployment claims rise. Good news on the housing market and mortgage rates, although NAR warns about high home prices. The latest rent collection numbers, and a few words of wisdom from Jamie Dimon about the traits of a successful leader.
Wed, 25 Nov 2020 - 06min - 1504 - Affordable Housing: Biden’s Plan for Buyers and Renters
With Joe Biden set to become the 46th President in January, there’s plenty of talk about how his policies will impact housing. This is especially important as the red hot housing market becomes less affordable for both owners and renters, and builders are unable to fill the inventory gap.
Biden’s plan includes a $15,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers, expansion of the Section 8 voucher program, and billions of dollars for new construction, renovations, and energy retrofits.
Sat, 21 Nov 2020 - 04min - 1503 - Real Estate News Brief: Homebuyers on Pause, Big Earnings for eXp Realty, Fraud Warning for Landlords
In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending November 14th, 2020… homebuyers on pause, big earnings for a cloud-based national realty, and a fraud warning for landlords and property managers. We begin with economic news that was impacted by a tense political standoff over the presidential election and a surging number of coronavirus cases. Home buyers hit the pause button, and consumer confidence fell to a three-month low, but the housing market is still booming.
Thu, 19 Nov 2020 - 05min
Podcasts ähnlich wie Real Estate News: Real Estate Investing Podcast
- Global News Podcast BBC World Service
- El Partidazo de COPE COPE
- Herrera en COPE COPE
- The Dan Bongino Show Cumulus Podcast Network | Dan Bongino
- Es la Mañana de Federico esRadio
- La Noche de Dieter esRadio
- Hondelatte Raconte - Christophe Hondelatte Europe 1
- Dateline NBC NBC News
- 財經一路發 News98
- La rosa de los vientos OndaCero
- Más de uno OndaCero
- La Zanzara Radio 24
- L'Heure Du Crime RTL
- El Larguero SER Podcast
- Nadie Sabe Nada SER Podcast
- SER Historia SER Podcast
- Todo Concostrina SER Podcast
- 安住紳一郎の日曜天国 TBS RADIO
- TED Talks Daily TED
- アンガールズのジャンピン[オールナイトニッポンPODCAST] ニッポン放送
- 辛坊治郎 ズーム そこまで言うか! ニッポン放送
- 飯田浩司のOK! Cozy up! Podcast ニッポン放送
- 吳淡如人生實用商學院 吳淡如
- 武田鉄矢・今朝の三枚おろし 文化放送PodcastQR