American Community Survey Data Wheel
BY BRAD BECKETT ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2018
Are you looking for current & important data about a particular area? If so, the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey is the premier source for information about America’s changing population, housing and workforce. They recently put together this interactive graphic where you can find your state, drill down to a major city and let the data flow in…Happy Friday!!
Are Nuclear Bunkers a New Real Estate Craze?
BY BRAD BECKETT ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2018
Last year we posted about a former cold-war missile silo that had been listed on Airbnb…now we’ve come across a story about how bomb shelters (albeit modern ones) are possibly making a comeback. A recent story on tech site CNET visits a California company called Atlas that makes specially designed shelters that consumers can buy and install – in this case the Bombnado. Prices start at $19k for the basic bunker that is about 8-by-8 ft., with a bed, toilet and an air filter. You have to admit, these are pretty cool. The company kitchen bunkers, garage bunkers, wine bunkers (with hidden entrance), tornado, you name it.
“Now there’s second boom (no pun intended) in demand, fueled by rising political tensions; worsening wildfire, tornado and hurricane seasons; and fears of terror attacks. Atlas Survival Shelters told Germany’s Die Welt newspaper that it sold 1,000 shelters in 2017…”
Renting to Tenants who have been Recently Incarcerated
BY BRAD BECKETT ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2018
RPOA’s Rental Property OWNER & Real Estate INVESTOR Podcast hosted by Brian Hamrick
In a recent RPOA podcast, Brian Hamrick takes a hard look at renting to tenants who have been recently incarcerated. This is an important subject to address – especially in today’s tight housing market where landlords can be much more selective in who they rent their properties to. Because of this situation, there are certain groups of tenants that are finding it more and more difficult to find affordable housing. The episode features a round-table discussion, where they gathered several guests (from various groups and organizations) to share their perspectives on this controversial issue.
Report Says Nearly Half of Cellphone Calls will be Scams in 2019
For many readers, this is already a common problem and unfortunately it’s caused many to simply ignore unfamiliar numbers. Technology site is CNET is reportingabout a recent study that predicts nearly half of mobile phone calls in 2019 will be scams. The report, from First Orion, says that the percentage of scam calls in US mobile traffic increased from 3.7% in 2017 to 29.2% this year and they predict it will rise to 44.6% in 2019. The data was revealed in First Orion’s inaugural 2018 Scam Call Trends and Projections Report. Stay tuned….this isn’t going to be pretty and it will need to be solved. So much for that “do not call” list.
“The most popular method scammers use to try to get people to pick up the phone is called “neighborhood spoofing,” where they disguise their numbers with a local prefix so people presume the calls are safe to pick up, First Orion said. Third-party call blocking apps may help protect consumers from known scam numbers, but they can’t tell if a scammer hijacks someone’s number and uses it for scam calls.”
HouseCanary’s Q2 Rental Index
BY BRAD BECKETT ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2018
HouseCanary is reporting that at the end of the Q2 2018, their Canary Rental Index (CRI) showed a national median rental yield of 8.41%, down 0.19 percentage points from the end of the first quarter of 2018, when the national median rental yield was 8.60%. They attribute this to shrinking rental yields that’s been evident since at least July of 2013, when the national median rental yield almost hit double digits at 9.80%. In other words, investors who bought homes in June 2018 could expect a median return on investment of 8.41% nationwide; return on investment is higher in half the states and lower in half the states they analyzed. This is slightly lower than the median rental yield at the end of March 2018.
The national median rental price per square foot was 94 cents at the end of Q2 2018, and the median national rental price was $1,695. The national median home value in Q2 2018 was $217,400 in Q2 2018; this includes all single-family properties, including single-family homes, condos, and townhomes. They say that despite the trend of ever-smaller national median rental yields, there are still plenty of areas in the country where rental yield was in the double digits and grew in Q2 2018 instead of shrinking. In this report, they looked specifically at states and MSAs in Appalachia to provide some examples.
The Canary Rental Index (CRI) is HouseCanary’s pulse check of the rental market across the country. They look at home prices, rental returns, and other relevant metrics nationally and in each market to determine rental yield for real estate investors, then we release the CRI data online so users can see it and leverage it.
HouseCanary provides the most accurate and comprehensive data platform in the real estate industry today. It is used and trusted by some of the biggest brands in real estate and financial services. National REIA members can get ten free reports when they sign up through a special portal on Uniting Investors.
Index: Rising Homes Prices are Catching up with Housing
BY BRAD BECKETT ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2018
According to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices, home prices showed a 6% annual gain in July, down from 6.2% in June. Their 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 5.5% and their 20-City Composite posted a 5.9% year-over-year gain, down from 6.4% in the previous month. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Indices are one of the leading measures of U.S. residential real estate prices, tracking changes in the value of residential real estate both nationally as well as in 20 metropolitan regions.
“Rising homes prices are beginning to catch up with housing,” says David M. Blitzer, Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “Year-over-year gains and monthly seasonally adjusted increases both slowed in July for the S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller National Index and the 10 and 20-City Composite indices. The slowing is widespread: 15 of 20 cities saw smaller monthly increases in July 2018 than in July 2017…”
Local Market Monitor's National Economic Outlook for September
Local Market Monitor, a National REIA preferred vendor, recently released their National Economic Outlook for September, 2018 where they share their thoughts on developments taking place in the U.S. economy. This month they warn about consumer borrowing and the banks and politicians that are seemingly incentivized to encourage it.
National Economic Outlook – September 2018
September 20, 2018
By Ingo WinzerI’ve been harping about consumer debt for a while now because I think it will cause the next recession. It won’t trigger it, that will be some unrelated event, but all of a sudden people will realize they can’t spend any more money. Here are some facts. Adjusted for inflation, ordinary consumer debt – that is, not including mortgages – is now $12,000 per man, woman and child in the US, up from $4,000 in 1980. That’s equal to 40 percent of income, mainly in the form of credit cards and student loans. It used to be 20 percent.
The problem I see is that banks – which formerly made their money from businesses but now make it from consumers – have every incentive to encourage people to borrow more and more. And politicians have every incentive to help the banks do it.
With no natural brake on the system, where will it end? When debt is 50 percent of income, 80 percent? Or maybe it will never end and we’ll have a larger portion of the population spending less and less, while an ever-smaller, wealthier one spends more and more. That would be a social and political disaster.
Jobs in August were up 1.7 percent over last year. They were up 2 percent in manufacturing, 2.6 percent in business services – the main driver for the economy right now – 2 percent in healthcare, and 1.6 percent at restaurants. Jobs in the retail sector struggled slightly higher after a disastrous year, while jobs in government were again essentially flat.
Jobs in the construction sector were up 4 percent. This may seem like a big deal, but it’s not. After a decade of empty homes and fewer people who can afford to buy – and despite the new boom in California – the construction industry is still smaller than it was ten years ago.
Don’t miss what else Ingo has to say about the economy this month.
Click Here to see his FREE 6 minute webinar.About the Author: Ingo Winzer is President of Local Market Monitor, and has analyzed real estate markets for more than 20 years. His views on real estate markets are often quoted in the national press and in 2005, he warned that many housing markets were dangerously over-priced. Previously, Ingo was a founder and Executive Vice President of First Research, an industry research company that was acquired by Dun and Bradstreet in March 2007. He is a graduate of MIT and holds an MBA in Finance from Boston University. He resides in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
www.LocalMarketMonitor.com
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New Home Sales Up 3.5% in August
BY BRAD BECKETT ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2018
The U.S. government is reporting that sales of new single-family houses in August 2018 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 629k. This figure is 3.5% higher than July’s revised rate and 12.7% higher than one year ago. The median sales price of new houses sold in August 2018 was $320,200 and the average sale price was $388,400. There were an estimated 318k homes for sale at the end of August representing a 6.1 month supply.
Existing Home Sales Down 1.5% from 2017
BY BRAD BECKETT ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2018
According to data recently released by the National Association of Realtors, existing home sales remained steady in August after four months of decline. However, they also report that sales are down 1.5% from one year ago. There were 1.92 million existing homes available for sale at the end of August, slightly higher than one year ago. Unsold inventory is at a 4.3-month supply at the current sales pace. Once again, lack of inventory is largely to blame:
“While inventory continues to show modest year over year gains, it is still far from a healthy level and new home construction is not keeping up to satisfy demand…Homes continue to fly off the shelves with a majority of properties selling within a month, indicating that more inventory – especially moderately priced, entry-level homes – would propel sales.” Said Lawrence Yun, the NAR’s chief economist.
Housing Starts Up 9.2% in August, but Permits Drop
BY BRAD BECKETT ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2018
The U.S. Government is reporting that privately owned housing starts in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,282,000. This figure is 9.2% higher than July’s revised estimate and is 9.4% higher than August, 2017. Single-family housing starts in August were at a rate of 876k and the rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 392k. Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,229,000. This is 5.7% lower than July’s revised rate and is 5.5% lower than August 2017. Single-family authorizations in August were at a rate of 820k and authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 370k.
