Real Estate News: Real Estate Investing Podcast

Transcript: [Speaker] Kathy Fettke: In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending July 10th, 2021... what lenders are saying about a mortgage slowdown, why ARMs are suddenly attractive, and which cities are attracting people who are relocating. Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is the Real Estate News for Investors. Economic News We begin with economic news from this past week. The latest unemplo...

Transcript: Kathy Fettke: The U.S. needs millions of homes to meet the current demand for housing, and is depending on builders who can't find enough workers to do the job. According to one source, the industry needs to hire 1.5 million more construction workers from now through the year 2023. So where have all the workers gone? Hi I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. The c...

Audio Transcript: Kathy Fettke: The housing market has been booming, but not for everyone. Many Americans are struggling financially as the economy recovers from the pandemic. High home prices are impacting both homebuyers and renters, and we could see a wave of foreclosures and evictions when pandemic moratoriums expire. Those are just a few of the challenges mentioned in "The State of the Nation...

Transcript: In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending on the 4th of July, 2021... what the U.S. Supreme Court decided about the CDC eviction moratorium, the surprising drop in price for lumber, and a new credit card that helps you get money for the down payment. Hi, I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. Economic News We begin with economic news from this past week....

Transcript: Installing solar panels on your home could give you a big boost in value. A new study from Porch.com shows that the average solar-powered home is worth $680,000 which is almost 50% more than the average home in a given area. But it also depends on where you live. Hi I'm Kathy Fettke and this is Real Estate News for Investors. Porch.com tallied the number of listings and the average sal...

The Miami condo collapse has got a lot of people wondering about the safety and integrity of their own buildings. The 12-story oceanside condo partially collapsed while people were sleeping. At the time of this podcast, 18 people are confirmed dead and 145 are still missing. As crews continue their search through the rubble, there are reports that the building was in dire need of repair. There wer...

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending June 26th, 2021... mortgage rates are back above 3%, forbearance programs are dwindling, and California renters could get their back rent paid off. Economic News We begin with economic news from this past week. The latest report on inflation shows the PCE index rose 3.4% in May, compared to a year earlier. (1) That's the largest annual increase in...

Single-family rents are increasing at their fastest rate in almost 15 years. A new CoreLogic report shows that rent growth for single-family homes was up 5.9% year-over-year in April. That's the fastest rate of growth since 2006, before the housing meltdown and the Great Recession. Demand for detached homes has mushroomed because of the pandemic. Many Americans want more space inside their home as...

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending June 19th, 2021... what the Fed is saying about rate hikes and tapers, how much single-family rents have grown, and where homebuyers are moving. Economic News We begin with economic news from this past week. The Federal Reserve is starting to make plans for rate hikes and tapering due to the risks of higher inflation. In a statement after its mont...

What a difference a month makes! Lumber prices were at a staggering all-time high at the beginning of May. Over the last few weeks they've dropped more than 20%. In the securities world, that's enough of a drop to call it a "bear market." Prices are still much higher than they were before the pandemic, but they have ratcheted down substantially from their peak. Lumber prices topped $1,500 for a th...

Solar energy is not a fringe concept anymore. Experts say it's becoming more mainstream, but that supply chain issues are impacting the industry right as it's picking up speed. One reason for the growth of solar is that prices have been dropping, but experts say there's been a recent surge in the cost of components, labor, and freight, similar to what we're seeing in many industries, including con...

The high cost of lumber has challenged the construction industry this past year, but there may be some relief in sight. Prices have been pulling back a bit, but how far will they go? Industry experts are expecting a building boom, and that could put more pressure on the price of lumber and other materials in short supply, like paint. As reported by CNBC, lumber futures have been pulling back in th...

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending June 12th, 2021… inflation hits a new 13-year high, homeowners make big gains in equity, and "The House that SHE Built" in Utah. Economic News We begin with economic news from this past week. The latest inflation report shows another surge in consumer prices. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a .6% jump in the consumer price index last...

A London-based company is betting on the need for climate risk management for governments, companies, and investors around the world. Cervest just announced $30 million dollars in new venture capital funding to grow its climate intelligence platform called Earthscan. According to media website Axios, the money will be used to expand the company's presence from London to the U.S. and other countrie...

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending June 5th, 2021… a lawsuit over the CDC eviction moratorium is heating up, what remote workers are saying about going back to the office, and the important role that pets are playing in the homebuying process. Economic News We begin with economic news from this past week, and a job market that continues to improve. The weekly jobless report shows a...

Airbnb just unveiled a big upgrade to its platform as the company gears up for a post-pandemic travel surge. (1) The upgrade includes more than a hundred changes with a focus on flexibility. Airbnb says that people need more flexible options because they are traveling more often, searching for new destinations, and are staying for longer periods of time. Airbnb says the changes it made to its plat...

In this Real Estate News Brief for the week ending May 29th, 2021... what the GDP is expected to do in the second quarter, how much single-family rents have shot up, and what developers are saying about off-the-grid homes. Economic News We begin with economic news from this past week. The latest update on the GDP shows the first quarter holding at 6.4%. Economists had expected a revision to 6.6% b...

The U.S. Senate is taking a close look at the YIMBY Act. The Yes in My Backyard legislation was first introduced in 2019, but was put on hold because of the pandemic. It addresses the national housing shortage by encouraging local policies that will increase affordable housing, including changes to zoning restrictions in single-family neighborhoods. Republican Senator Todd Young of Indiana and Dem...

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...

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 abou...

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...

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...

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....

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...

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 pric...