Podcast: Download Tom Wheelwright, my friend and author of Tax-Free Wealth, describes the US tax code simply as a series of government-sponsored incentives. As someone who hates paying taxes, this fact has made me extraordinarily patriotic. The problem is, that sometimes incentives backfire. Case in point—during the British Raj rule
According to ATTOM’s just released April 2024 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, there were a total of 31,649 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings. This figure reflects a 4 percent decrease compared to the previous month and a 4 percent decrease compared to the same period last year. ATTOM’s latest foreclosure market analysis reports that in April 2024, Maryland, Illinois, and Nevada exhibited the highest foreclosure rates. Across the nation, one out of every 4,453 housing units had a foreclosure filing during this period. States with the highest foreclosure rates were Maryland (one in every 2,214 housing units with a foreclosure filing); Illinois (one in every 2,517 housing units); Nevada (one in every 2,546 housing units); South Carolina (one in every 2,573 housing units); and Florida (one in every 2,854 housing units). The report notes that of the 224 metropolitan statistical areas with a population of at least 200,000, Elkhart, IN, had …
The median home sale price rose 6% year over year to $434,000 as a lack of new listings buoyed prices. The total number of homes for sale hit a four-year high, but that’s partly because some houses are sitting stale on the market after being priced too high. 18% of homes for sale in April had a price cut, up from 12% in April 2023. San Jose and Rochester are hotter than other parts of the country; roughly three-quarters of homes that sold in those metros last month fetched more than their asking price—a higher share than anywhere else in the U.S. The median U.S. home sale price rose 6.2% year over year in April to $433,558—the highest level on record. Today’s housing market is much slower than it was during the pandemic homebuying boom, but prices continue climbing because there still aren’t enough homes to go around. New listings …
Redfin Next is coming to 25 new markets! Agents in these markets earn competitive splits as high as 70% and have virtually all business expenses covered. They also get technology, support, benefits and customer introductions from Redfin.com—everything they need to amplify their business and focus on serving their customers well. Since launching in October 2023, Redfin Next has proven to be even better than we imagined at igniting our salesforce, helping us recruit new talent. When you pair a competitive traditional split with the technology, customer introductions, benefits and support that only we offer, there’s really no limit to what you can achieve at Redfin. Redfin Next is also helping us gain market share faster in our early markets, which means we’re helping more customers get a better deal when they’re buying or selling. This expansion is a big step toward making this opportunity available to all Redfin agents as …
Nine of the 10 metros facing the steepest drops in asking rents are in the Sun Belt. The exception is Seattle, where rents fell 7% year over year in April—the biggest decline among the metros Redfin analyzed. Nationwide, the median asking rent rose 1% to $1,648—the first increase in a year. The median asking rent in Seattle fell 7.3% year over year in April—the biggest drop among the U.S. metros Redfin analyzed. Next came Austin, TX (-6.6%), Nashville, TN (-5.9%), Jacksonville, FL (-5.6%), Miami (-5%), San Diego (-4.7%), Phoenix (-4.6%), Charlotte, NC (-4.5%), Tampa, FL (-4.3%) and Orlando, FL (-3.2%). Metro-level data in this report covers apartment asking rents in 33 major U.S. metropolitan areas. National data represents the entire U.S. Please note that this report marks the debut of Redfin’s new rental market data methodology, which is why some figures may not match up with figures in past rental …
Do you enjoy reading physical books are e-books? Today’s graphic from the Daily Infographic says data shows that in a time when everything is becoming digital, books are one of the few areas where the physical object is still prevalent. Indeed….. Stay safe and have a Happy Friday!!! Hat tip to the Daily Infographic. The post Which Do You Prefer? Digital vs Physical Books appeared first on Real Estate Investing Today.
Pending home sales are down and new listings are flat during a time of year when they typically rise. But this week’s softer-than-expected inflation report sent mortgage rates down, which could bring back some homebuyers and sellers. Pending home sales fell 4.3% from a year earlier during the four weeks ending May 12, the biggest decline in roughly three months. They also posted a week-over-week decline, unusual for early May. Inventory is losing momentum, too, as would-be sellers stay put to hang onto their low mortgage rate. New listings rose 10% year over year, but they were essentially flat from a week earlier, which is significant because listings typically increase this time of year. The housing market slumped because of sky-high housing costs. The median U.S. home-sale price is up 4.7% year over year to a record $386,951, and the median monthly mortgage payment is sitting at $2,858, just $26 …
Understanding the principles for climate-related financial risk management for large banks begins with data How prepared is the U.S. market for the consequences of physical climate risk? The Federal Reserve Bank (FRB) posed that question to six of the top U.S. banks to better understand the financial stability of the country’s mortgage loan ecosystem. What they found was that even the biggest banks in the nation — Bank of America Corporation; Citigroup Inc.; The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc; JPMorgan Chase & Co.; Morgan Stanley; and Wells Fargo & Company — operate with uncertainty when determining how to identify, estimate, and manage the magnitude of climate-related risk. The FRB’s Pilot Climate Scenario Analysis Exercise highlighted participants’ challenges surrounding the measurement of climate-related impacts, particularly the existing gaps in banks’ ability to quantify real estate exposure and insurance risk management information. The identification of these gaps underscores the need for detailed, data-driven …
The Importance of Cash Reserves By Jeffrey S. Watson Recently, I spoke to a group of real estate investors about buying properties using a creative financing method. Some of the questions asked reminded me how crucial it is that real estate investors have cash reserves to deal with the unexpected. I consider cash reserves to be “Murphy’s Law repellant” (anything that can go wrong will go wrong). Those who have cash reserves won’t be nearly as stressed as those who have no cash reserves. I will admit that I have found myself, at times, in both situations. I had a devastating casualty event occur at a commercial property. Thankfully, at that time, I was sitting on $50,000 in cash which made it a whole lot easier to handle. I’ve also found myself, however, as the broke rehabber trying to squeeze out another $1,000 line of credit from Home Depot to finish a rehab that was …
The April CPI report came in just a tad softer than expected, which means mortgage rates should come down slightly and leaves open the possibility that the Fed will cut interest rates this summer. April’s inflation report came in slightly soft, but mostly as expected. The report takes the worst-case scenarios off the table for now, and leaves the possibility of the Fed cutting interest rates late in the summer on the table. Homebuyers will get a small amount of relief on mortgage rates. The numbers: Core CPI rose 0.3% MoM (3.6% YoY), in line with expectations and down from the previous 3 months of readings of 0.4% MoM. Including the volatile food and energy categories, headline CPI came in at 0.3% MoM (3.4% YoY), slightly below expectations of 0.4% MoM (3.4% YoY). Shelter inflation continues to keep overall core inflation elevated. Both rent of primary residence and owner’s equivalent …