Mid Week – Did You Know?
June 23, 2021 | Eric Beepat
DID YOU KNOW? – quick mid week morning run down.
- U.S. home prices in May experienced their biggest annual increase in more than two decades, as a shortage of properties and low borrowing rates fueled demand. The median existing-home sales price in May topped $350,000 for the first time, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. The figure was nearly 24% higher than a year ago (in the midst of massive lock-downs!), the biggest year-over-year price increase NAR has recorded in data going back to 1999. (WSJ)
- Construction of new housing in the past 20 years fell 5.5 million units short of long-term historical levels, according to an NAR report, which is trying to persuade lawmakers to include housing investments in any infrastructure package. U.S. builders added 1.225 million new housing units, on average, each year from 2001 to 2020, down from an annual average of 1.5 million new units from 1968 to 2000. The 5.5 million-unit deficit includes about 2 million single-family homes, 1.1 million units in buildings with two to four units and 2.4 million units in buildings of at least 5 units.
“You have a central bank that’s committed
to price stability and has defined what
price stability is and is strongly prepared
to use its tools to keep us around 2%
inflation. All of these things suggest to me
that an episode like what we saw in the
1970s … I don’t expect anything like that
to happen.” – Jerome Powell, Fed Chief
* Sales during the first 24 hours of Amazon’s PRIME day mega-sale, which kicked off at 3 a.m. ET on Monday, are set to surpass $5.6 billion, representing 8.7% growth year over year, showcasing the health of retail …especially digital. That’s more than Thanksgiving Day 2020. (CNBC)
* A new shortage may be emerging: short-term rentals. As people ramp up travel dramatically, the supply of short-term rentals may not be keeping up…. (Inman)
