Pending Home Sales Up 8% in May  

The National Association of Realtors is reporting that pending home sales were up 8% in April, 2021 and up 13.1% from one year ago. The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings) was up 8% to 114.7.  Click here to read more. 

Construction Spending Up 7.5% 

The U.S. government is reporting that total construction spending in May was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,545.3 billion, which is 0.3% below April’s revised estimate.  However, May’s figure was 7.5% higher than one year ago.  Click here to read more. 

Rentable Says Rents Will Escalate

Rentable says that the median nationwide rent price for one-bedroom units in June was $1,162 (up 1.4%) with two-bedroom units coming in at $1421 (up 1.23%).  Click here to read more. 

Zumper’s National Rent Report for July ’21

Rental information site Zumper recently released their latest monthly National Rent Report showing that their median national rent for 1-bedroom apartments in June was $1,315 (up 4.9%) and the median two-bedroom rent was $1,644 (up 6.5%).  Click here to read more.

Best Places to Buy a Vacation Rental

Now that the pandemic is waning, Americans are hitting the roads again.  In fact, Realtor.com points out that more than two-thirds of Americans said they plan to travel at some point this summer.  Click here to read more.

Energy Efficient Windows Top Pick Among Home Buyers

The NAHB’s Eye on Housing says that the general window characteristic that home buyers value more than any other is energy efficiency. Citing data from the 2021 What Home Buyers Really Want report, they say the top three were ENERGY-STAR rated windows followed by tripled-pane insulating glass, and low e-insulating glass.  Click here to read more.