Welcome to the Pocket List, investors 👋

Here’s what we’re getting into today…

• Rental Market State of the Union

• What’s the perfect rental property right now?

• How much will commissions really change?

• Your FREE pocket listing

Plus, a whole lot more.

But before we get into it…

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Ok, let’s make some money today, shall we?

First, let’s check in on mortgages…

What’s driving rates this week?

• Markets are still dealing with higher-than-expected inflation data, which dropped last week

• In the aftermath, the Fed has been hinting at keeping interest rates higher for longer (friendly reminder: the Fed’s interest rate has a direct impact on mortgage rates)

THE LEAD

What you might have missed this week…

Too damn high

Fed Chair Jerome Powell doesn’t like to point fingers, but if he had to, he’d definitely blame rent prices for the jump in inflation in March.

Last week the Consumer Price Index (think: inflation gauge) came in hotter than expected.

A big reason? Shelter costs (which include the price of housing and rent) rose 0.4% from last month and 5.7% year-over-year. Combined with fuel costs, shelter accounted for more than half of the CPI increase in March.

My point? Rent remains stubbornly high.

Let’s check in on wtf is going on with the rental market…

• Rent prices are ~30% higher than they were before the pandemic

• BUT, rent increases have slowed, and are actually growing more slowly than they were before 2020

  • +3.6% in March 2024 vs. +4.1% in 2019

• There’s a huge difference between single-family rentals and multifamily…

  • Single-family rent jumped 4.9% in March

  • Multi-family rose just 2.7%

Of course, it’s all about location…

Certain metro markets have seen prices skyrocket (top 5)…

• Providence, R.I.: +8.2%

• Louisville, Ky.: +6.9%

• Cleveland, Ohio: +6.5%

• Hartford, Conn.: +6.4% 

• Boston: +6.1%

While others have plummeted…

• Austin, Texas: -3.3%

• San Antonio, Texas: -0.5%

• Portland, Ore.: +0.1%

• Dallas: +0.2%

• Atlanta: +0.5%

Over on the supply side… Q1 just so happened to have record-breaking completions, with 135k apartments finished

💭 Mr. Pocket Listing says… It shouldn’t come as a shock to landlords that there are a lot of unknowns about the rental market. Which is why we focus on the stuff we can control, like, our strategy…

• Short-term yield or long-term appreciation

• Multi-family or single-family

• Review and tweak lease terms

• Make decisions on upgrades/amenities

What else Mr. Pocket Listing is reading…

• How to find off-market property listings, according to real-estate pros (Read)

• Here’s how commissions could change with NAR’s new rules (Read)

• Newly-Built Condos in Cities Make Perfect Rentals—Here’s Why (Read)

• How to Use LinkedIn Effectively for Real Estate: A Beginner's Guide (Read)

• New York State Lawmakers Finally Agree on Housing Deal (Read)

• Is Now a Better Time to Invest in Real Estate Debt or Equity? (Read)

• The top 14 cities in the US people are fleeing (Read)

• How to assess the financial stability of an HOA (Read)

• Airbnb now wants you to rent out your rental (Read)

• Housing market ‘stagnant but determined’ as mortgage rates surge past 7%, Rocket CEO says (Read)

Mr. Pocket Listing’s favorite property of the week (a guy can dream, can’t he?)…

gavrenn

View more on Instagram

DATA DUMP

For all the numbers guys and gals out there…

• 95,349 / U.S. properties with foreclosure filings in the first quarter (Read)

• 1.321 million / Single-family housing starts fell 14.7% in March vs. February (Read)

• 10 markets / Great markets to find fixer-uppers (Read)

• +20% / The average US home price could spike 20% to a record $500,000 if the Fed cuts interest rates too soon, expert says (Read)

SOCIAL STUDIES

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