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In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending May 27th, 2023... you’ll get the latest reading on inflation, how much home prices have come down in a year, and the long-awaited opening of Amazon’s HQ2.    Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. If you like our podcast, please subscribe and leave us a review.   Economic News   We begin with economic news from this past week. Minutes from the Fed’s May meeting offer a few insights. They reveal that several officials believe we may not need more rate hikes to get inflation back down to the 2% level. Forward guidance also indicates a pause in hikes at the June meeting, although some Fed officials say rate hikes have not been ruled out. (1) And, with the latest report on inflation, there’s new concern that the Fed could be inclined to hike rates again.    The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released the April reading on the PCE index. It shows it going in the wrong direction ahead of the Fed’s next meeting. The index was up .4% and ra

It’s another dose of bad news for office space providers. Researchers had previously estimated that remote work would take a 28% bite out of office values by 2029, but they apparently underestimated the impact. They are now predicting the decline will be closer to 44%. On the flip side of that coin, a drop in values will also make it easier for at least some of those buildings to be converted to badly needed housing, with the help of government incentives.   Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. Please remember to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review.   As Bisnow reports, researchers had reported last year that office values would lose about $500 billion in value over ten years, from 2019 to 2029. Now those academic researchers from New York University and Columbia University are saying that office values have already surpassed that amount in just three years, from 2019 through last year. (1)   Half a Trillion Dollar Loss in Value   In New York City, values were down abou

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending May 20th, 2023... what the Fed Chief is saying about interest rates and potential rate cuts, how the FHFA is responding to a controversy over new rules for home loan fees, and why mall owners have become interested in pickleball.   Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. If you like our podcast, please subscribe and leave us a review.   Economic News   We begin with economic news from this past week, and the Fed chief’s response to predictions about what the central bank plans to do next. Jerome Powell spoke out at a conference at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and said that Fed officials have made “no” decision yet on their next move. Many economists are expecting a pause in rate hikes, but the Fed is determined to bring inflation back down to the 2% level, no matter what. A decision would be made after the Federal Open Market Committee evaluates “all” the most recent data. (1)   Powell may have also dashed a few hopes for rate

A Senate hearing on recent bank failures turned into a prickly confrontation between bank executives and lawmakers. Former leadership for Silicon Valley, Signature, and First Republic Banks were hammered by lawmakers about why their banks collapsed. And there wasn’t a lot of agreement on the cause. Bank executives blamed the government and the media, while lawmakers blamed mismanagement and greed.   Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. Please remember to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review.   Silicon Valley Bank made the biggest splash as the first bank to fall with about $210 billion in assets. Signature bank had about $110 billion when it was seized by regulators. They were the third and fourth largest banks in the U.S. so their failures raised huge concerns about the impact on the entire financial system. First Republic went south and teetered for a few months after it lost billions in deposits, and was largely taken over by JPMorgan.   SVB CEO Blamed a Series of “Un

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending May 13th, 2023... some good news about inflation, how a U.S. debt default might impact housing, and a new Gallup Poll on investor preferences.   Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. If you like our podcast, please subscribe and leave us a review.   Economic News   We begin with two inflation reports from this past week. The first was a report on the Consumer Price Index for April. The CPI shows a .4% rise in consumer prices which is a slight increase from the previous month, but it brought the annual rate below 5% for the first time in two years. It hit a high of 9.1% last summer, but is now down to 4.9%. The core rate, which omits food and fuel, was also down .4%, with an annual rate of 5.5%. Shelter prices rose the most, but those prices are slowing down. It’s interesting to note that the three-month annualized rate is now at 3.2%. (1)   Producer prices are also coming down. The Labor Department reported a .2% increase in the Pro

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending May 6th, 2023… why economists are expecting a rate hike pause, where homeowners are paying the most and the least for their mortgages, and new home search help from a chatbot!   Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. If you like our podcast, please subscribe and leave us a review.   Economic News   We begin with economic news from this past week, and the big news is, of course, the Fed’s rate hike. The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee followed through on an expected quarter point hike to the overnight lending rate, which puts the target range between 5 and 5.25%. It was the 10th rate hike in a row and a unanimous decision among committee members, despite calls for a pause from some Congressional lawmakers. (1)   The Fed also appeared to suggest that it might now be time for a pause, by eliminating a sentence that says “some” additional rate hikes may be needed. Instead, the statement kind of hedged on the idea of rate hikes by

When it comes to renting a home, landlords may see many more applicants with pets than they do parents with children. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of households with pets is almost double the number of households with children. That’s a trend that impacts the rental market as well as the home buying market, as pet owners look for housing and neighborhoods that will accommodate the needs of their children, and their pets.   Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. Please remember to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review.   Census data shows that the number of families with kids under the age of 18 has been declining over the past 20 years. Last year, in 2022, just 40% of households had children. That’s down from 48% in 2002. A RisMedia article suggests two reasons for the decline: One, because birth rates have been shrinking over the last few decades, except for an increase in just the last year; And two, because baby boomers still comprise a large share of

March wasn’t a great month for investor home sales. A new Redfin report shows that one in every seven homes sold by investors was sold at a loss. That’s 14% of investor sales or about triple the number from a year earlier, and the highest level of investor home sale losses since 2016. But there is a catch! These sales were mostly for investors who bought more recently and sold after a short length of time, such as flippers.   Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. Please remember to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review.   The housing market has slowed dramatically as home prices and mortgage rates make it tough to buy, and in some areas and for some people, tough to invest. It’s important to remember that the report is based on national statistics, and that six in seven of those real estate investors made money on sales, although their gains may have been smaller.   Typical Gains for Investor Home Sales   Redfin says the typical investor who sold a home in March, sold it f

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending April 29th, 2023... you’ll get mixed news on inflation, results for the first quarter GDP, and a rate hike in South America that you never want to see here!   Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. If you like our podcast, please subscribe and leave us a review.   Economic News   Let’s begin our economic review with the latest inflation report. The Personal Consumption Expenditure Index for March was released on Friday and showed a tiny .1% increase in overall inflation. That brought the yearly rate down from 5.1% in February to 4.2% in March – the lowest it’s been since May of last year. But unfortunately, the news wasn’t as good for the PCE’s core rate. When you omit prices for food and gas, the core rate rose .3%, and brought the annual rate down from 4.7% to 4.6%. As MarketWatch reports, the core rate hasn’t changed much for the last five months. (1)   The PCE is the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, and will be an important facto

Fannie and Freddie are changing some rules that could make home loans more expensive for people with high credit scores, and less expensive for those at the low-end of that spectrum. Critics say the rules amount to an unfair subsidy for high-risk borrowers, but the GSE’s say it’s a misconception about what they are changing.   Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. Please remember to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review.   You may have seen the headlines already. One says: “A Bigger Subsidy for Risky Mortgages.” Another says: “Upside Down Mortgage Policy.” Another says this new policy will “screw Up the Homebuying Market.”   The headlines refer to a new rules from the Federal Housing Finance Agency regarding loan-level price adjustments or LLPAs for conventional loans. They officially kick in on May 1st, although some lenders have already been incorporating them into their fee structures.    What’s an LLPA?   If you have a mortgage that’s backed by Fannie or Freddie, you h

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending April 22nd, 2023… we have two new forecasts on whether we’ll see a recession this year, some good news about the cost of construction materials, and a report that shows how much wealthier you are if you own instead of rent.    Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. If you like our podcast, please subscribe and leave us a review.   Economic News   We begin with a look at economic news from the past week. There are a few new reports predicting that we’ll have a “mild” recession in the second half of the year. The Conference Board’s leading economic indicator index, or LEI, was down for a 12th month in a row in March. It fell 1.2%, which is the biggest decline in the last three years, according to MarketWatch. The index is a compilation of 10 indicators. One Conference Board manager says: “Economic weakness will intensify and spread more widely throughout the U.S. economy over the coming months, leading to a recession starting in mid-20

Fannie and Freddie have a growing blacklist for certain properties that they won’t lend to, but it’s not public and it could surprise you when you’re trying to close on a deal. The Los Angeles Daily News first reported on this, saying the government-sponsored enterprises are placing condos, associations, and co-ops on the list for a variety of reasons, including deferred maintenance. (1)   Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. Please remember to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review.   The president of Philadelphia-based condo and co-op lending service provider CondoTek told the Daily News that the blacklist has now grown to more than 1,400 properties. Orest Tomaselli says just 16 months ago, there were only 900 properties on the list.   New Tighter Standards After Condo Collapse   Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac tightened their standards after the collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida. The catastrophic failure of the 12-story condo building resulted in the de

Is climate change creating a real estate bubble we shouldn’t ignore? And who’s going to get hurt if that bubble bursts? Yale’s Climate Connections newsletter just reported on a study that claims there’s a massive bubble forming because property values don’t include climate risks like flooding and wildfires. The 2023 Nature Climate Change study also suggests six ways to reduce this risk and potentially keep this bubble from bursting. (1)   Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. Please remember to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review.   Although climate change skeptics may feel we are experiencing normal weather patterns, many people are concerned that severe weather events are increasing in number and intensity. We’ve been seeing increased storm-related flooding in some areas and more drought-related wildfires in others. Some inland areas are also dealing with water scarcity and extreme heat while coastal areas are faced with the threat of rising sea levels.   The “Brittlen

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending April 15th, 2023… we have two inflation reports, the minutes of the last Fed meeting, and the results of a survey on an acceptable mortgage rate.   Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. If you like our podcast, please subscribe and leave us a review.   Economic News   We begin with economic news from this past week. The government released two reports on inflation that show prices are rising more slowly, but that inflation is still too high. The Consumer Price Index or CPI shows a small .1% increase in March, mostly due to lower food and gas prices. Energy prices were down 3.5% while groceries fell .3% including an 11% tumble for egg prices. Grocery prices are still 8.4% higher year-over-year, but those declines helped slow the yearly rate from 6% to 5%, which is the lowest we’ve seen since May of 2021. (1)   The news isn’t quite as good for the core rate, which strips out food and gas. That was up .4% and “raised” the annual rate f

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending April 8th, 2023... reports show a slowly weakening job market, what could be a great year for single-family rentals, and a list of the top metros for home value growth and stability.    Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. If you like our podcast, please subscribe and leave us a review.   Economic News   We begin with economic news from this past week. Although the job market remains strong, the latest reports show it is softening. For the week of March 25th, jobless claims hit 228,000. It’s the ninth week in a row that they’ve topped 200,000. They had bottomed out last fall when they dropped to a 53-year low of 182,000. They continued around the 200,000 level for several months and have been slowly rising since February. Government revisions also show that claims during the first part of the year were higher than previously reported. MarketWatch economists say that’s probably due to corporate layoffs that are just now showing up i

Commercial real estate is feeling the impact of high interest rates, slower rent growth, and the banking turmoil, but is that asset class really set to implode? Many of the headlines you see today would lead you to believe that that’s going to happen but some real estate insiders say: “Not so fast. We could be in for a buying opportunity.”   Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. Please remember to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review.   First, let’s take a look at what’s happening with apartment sales. Commercial real estate data company CoStar just released a preliminary report on first quarter sales that shows a 74% year-over-year drop. That’s the biggest slowdown since 2012 except for the second quarter of 2020, when the pandemic shut down the economy. From the start of the year to March 17th, sales were around $10.6 trillion. If the quarter finished with another $2.8 billion in sales, the total would be equal to the second quarter of 2020. (1)   Apartment Sale Slowdow

Demand for badly needed housing has triggered another ban on single-family zoning. Lawmakers in Arlington County, Virginia, approved a controversial plan to eliminate single-family exclusivity, and allow as many as six homes on one property. The decision came after a contentious three-year debate, and is part of a growing trend to dismantle the long-standing concept for single-family communities.    Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. Please remember to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review.   The policy was unanimously approved by a five-member county board after a battle that included a so-called “Missing Middle Housing Study.” The missing middle is a phrase that refers to housing that falls between apartments and single-family homes. It covers several kinds of housing including townhomes, duplexes, and triplexes with more space than apartments. It could also include backyard cottages or in-law units which are more officially known as accessory dwelling units or ADUs.

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending April 1st, 2023… new PCE numbers show inflation is weakening, where investors are reaping the biggest returns for single-family rentals, and how much apartment renters are saving if they don’t buy.   Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. If you like our podcast, please subscribe and leave us a review.   Economic News   We begin with economic news from this past week, and a favorable report on inflation. The Bureau of Economic Analysis released a report on the February Personal Consumption Index, or PCE, and it shows a mild .3% increase. That’s down from a .6% increase in January, and suggests that the Fed may be getting the upper hand on high prices. With this report, the yearly rate dropped from 5.3% to 5%, which is the lowest it’s been in more than a year and a half. (1)   Senior Federal Reserve officials are suggesting that another quarter point rate hike is still needed, before they call for a pause. That would be decided at the

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending March 25th, 2023... the Fed’s latest rate hike, the impact of high rates on banks, and the top states for tenant migrations.   Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. If you like our podcast, please subscribe and leave us a review.   Economic News   We begin with economic news from this past week. The Federal Reserve hiked the short-term rate once again by a quarter point. The benchmark rate is now 4.75% to 5%. There had been speculation that we’d see a half point rate hike because inflation hasn’t been coming down fast enough, but the failure of Silicon Valley Bank forced the central bank to be more cautious. (1)   Fed Chief Jerome Powell said he was surprised at how quickly Silicon Valley Bank collapsed and even admitted that committee members considered a pause in rate hikes. Federal Reserve data shows that almost $100 billion were pulled from accounts during the week that ended March 15th. Most of that money came from small banks,

The Fed followed through on another rate hike despite the banking turmoil. Members of the Federal Open Market Committee raised the Federal Funds rate another quarter point on March 22nd. That brings the short term rate to a range of 4.75% to 5%.    Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. Please remember to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review.   Fed Chief Jerome Powell said the collapse of two banks, and the near-collapse of a third, did force Fed officials to consider a pause in rate hikes. But he says they were persuaded to hike rates again because of stubbornly high inflation and a strong job market with strong wage growth. But Powell offered assurances that the central bank is prepared to protect the banking system. He also still believes there’s a path to a soft landing. (1)   Powell says he expects the need for one more rate hike this year, while seven of the 18 Fed officials are forecasting two hikes. If the short-term rate is raised another quarter point, the end ra