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VACANT ZOMBIE PROPERTIES RISING IN SECOND QUARTER AMID JUMP IN FORECLOSURE ACTIVITY

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Zombie Foreclosures Up 3 Percent from First to Second Quarter of 2022 as Foreclosure Activity Increases 13 Percent; Increase in Empty Properties Facing Foreclosure Marks First Gain in a Year; Zombie Properties Still Represent Just One of Every 13,200 Residential Properties in U.S. and Remain Down Annually ATTOM, a leading curator of real estate data nationwide for land and property data, released its second-quarter 2022 Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report showing that 1.3 million (1,304,007) residential properties in the United States sit vacant. That represents 1.3 percent, or one in 76 homes, across the nation. The report analyzes publicly recorded real estate data collected by ATTOM — including foreclosure status, equity and owner-occupancy status — matched against monthly updated vacancy data. (See full methodology below). Vacancy data is available for U.S. residential properties at https://www.attomdata.com/solutions/marketing-lists/. The report also reveals that 259,166 residential properties in the U.S. are in the process of foreclosure in the second quarter of this year, up 12.7 percent from the first quarter of 2022 and up 15.9 percent from the second quarter of 2021. This is also the third straight quarter that the count of pre-foreclosure properties has gone up since a nationwide foreclosure moratorium, imposed early during the Coronavirus pandemic, was lifted at the end of July 2021. Among those pre-foreclosure properties, 7,569 sit vacant in the second quarter of 2022, meaning that the number of zombie-foreclosure properties went up quarterly by 2.8 percent. “The incidence of zombie-foreclosures tends to be higher in cases where the foreclosure process has dragged on for many months and sometimes even for years,” said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of market intelligence at ATTOM. “We’re now seeing properties where the borrower was already in default prior to the government’s moratorium re-enter the foreclosure process, and undoubtedly some of these homes will have been vacated over the past 26 months.” The number of zombie-foreclosures does remain down 6.3 percent from a year ago and continues to represent just a tiny segment of the nation’s total stock of 99.7 million residential properties. Just one of every 13,171 homes in the second quarter of 2022 are vacant and in foreclosure, meaning that most neighborhoods have none. The portion of pre-foreclosure properties that have been abandoned into zombie status also continues to decline, down from 3.6 percent a year ago to 3.2 percent in the first quarter of 2022 and 2.9 percent in the second quarter of this year. But the recent increase in zombie properties is the first since the moratorium ended. The portion of all residential properties sitting empty in the foreclosure process has grown 1.9 percent in the second quarter, up from one in 13,424 in the first quarter of this year. The upward second-quarter foreclosure trends – in both overall and zombie-property counts – add to a list of measures showing how the decade-long U.S. housing market boom remains strong but also faces a possible slowdown this year. Median single-family home prices have shot up 17 percent over the past year and typical home-seller profits remain historically high, at nearly 50 percent. Homeowner equity continues rising, greatly limiting the likelihood that homeowners facing foreclosure will simply walk away from their homes. “According to our equity report, almost 90 percent of homeowners in foreclosure have positive equity,” Sharga added. “Having equity gives financially-distressed homeowners an opportunity for a relatively soft landing – selling their home at a profit rather than losing everything to a foreclosure. That factor alone should keep the number of zombie-foreclosures from rising too much.” The median home value nationwide went up just 3 percent from the third quarter of last year to the first quarter of this year and home-seller profits have ticked down in 2022. At the same time, investment returns for speculators who flip properties have hit their lowest point since 2008. Beyond that, an estimated 1.5 million to 2 million homeowners fell behind on mortgages after the pandemic wiped out millions of jobs prior to the economy recovering last year. Zombie foreclosures up quarterly but still down annually A total of 7,569 residential properties facing possible foreclosure have been vacated by their owners nationwide in the second quarter of 2022, up slightly from 7,363 in the first quarter of 2022 but still down from up from 8,078 in the second quarter of 2021. Amid numbers that remain extremely low, the biggest increases from the first quarter of 2022 to the second quarter of 2022 in states with at least 50 zombie foreclosures are in Michigan, (zombie properties up 74 percent, from 54 to 94), Arizona (up 56 percent, from 32 to 50), Georgia (up 29 percent, from 62 to 80), Nevada (up 26 percent, from 68 to 86) and Iowa (up 17 percent, from 132 to 155). The biggest quarterly decreases among states with at least 50 zombie foreclosures are in Massachusetts (zombie properties down 13 percent, from 62 to 54), Missouri (down 13 percent, from 63 to 55), New Jersey (down 7 percent, from 275 to 257), New Mexico (down 3 percent, from 78 to 76) and New York (down 2 percent, from 2,074 to 2,041). Overall vacancy rates down annually in most of nation The vacancy rate for all residential properties in the U.S. has dropped to 1.31 percent in the second quarter of 2022 (one in 76 properties). That’s down from 1.37 percent in the first quarter of 2022 (one in 73) and from 1.42 percent in the second quarter of last year (one in 70). States with the biggest annual drops are Tennessee (down from 2.42 percent of all homes in the second quarter of 2021 to 1.55 percent in the second quarter of this year), Oregon (down from 1.84 percent to 1.01 percent), Maryland (down from 1.67 percent to 1.05 percent), Wisconsin (down from 1.36 percent to 0.76 percent) and Minnesota (down from 1.54 percent to 0.95 percent). Other high-level findings from the second quarter of 2022: Among metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S. with at

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WORD OF THE DAY: Derring-Do

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[DER-ing-DO] Part of speech: Noun Origin: Middle English, late 16th century Definition: Action displaying heroic courage. Examples of Derring-Do in a sentence “The spy novel was filled with instances of derring-do.” “Elizabeth dreamed of being swept off her feet by a a suitor’s derring-do.” About Derring-Do In the late 14th century, the term was “dorrying don,” literally translated to “daring (to) do, stemming from “durring,” meaning “daring.” This term is the present participle of the Middle English “durren,” meaning “to dare” — a combination of the verb “dare” + “don,” the infinitive of “do.” Did you Know? “Derring-do” came about through a chain of mistakes and misinterpretations. Its Middle English root, “dorrying don,” means “daring to do.” But it was misprinted as “derrynge do” in 16th-century writings by poet John Lydgate. From there, it was mistaken as a noun by Edmund Spenser, who defined it as “manhood and chevalrie.” Author Sir Walter Scott and several Romantic poets used it in their work and brought “derring-do” into (somewhat) modern language.

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Zeus Living Releases Inaugural Future of FlexLiving Report

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New data report reveals surge in demand for extended trips in 2022, ranks top destinations to live and work remotely Zeus Living, a leading property management and hospitality platform, released its first-ever Future of FlexLiving Report based on proprietary data and a new study conducted among more than 1,700 U.S. residents who work remotely. Findings suggest that many Americans are pausing their house hunt in light of high prices and mortgage rates. Instead, a significant number of people with the opportunity to work from anywhere are living in a new location this year. Trips for 30 days or longer are on the rise, and cities are the top in-demand destinations for extended stays on Zeus Living’s website. “The data tells us clearly that it’s about to be an incredible summer for FlexLiving as a category,” said Kulveer Taggar, CEO and Co-Founder of Zeus Living. “Since the pandemic began, people have commanded greater flexibility from their jobs, housing providers, and travel companies. The expectation for ease and flexibility is here to stay, and it’s why we’re working hard to offer increased options to our residents. Simultaneously, people are placing greater value on spending quality time with loved ones, and exploring new destinations. Looking at our own bookings this summer, length of stay is up 43% year-over-year. For these reasons and more, it’s clear to me that travel and living have become synonymous with each other — and I believe FlexLiving is the future.” Takeaways from the report include: 1. Americans are more likely to live and work from a new city than they were prior to the pandemic. Sixty-seven percent of survey respondents would consider living and working from a new city in 2022, and one in two (48%) are more likely to book an extended stay now compared to pre-pandemic times. Meanwhile, nearly half (44%) report they’re less likely to buy a house now than they were before COVID-19 in light of current low inventory and high prices. 2. People are investing in experiences over material items. Eighty-four percent would budget up to $2,500 per month for an extended stay. Respondents would give up — or drastically cut back on — personal costs such as monthly subscriptions, alcohol, and shopping to afford an extended stay. 3. Length of trip is increasing. Looking at bookings on Zeus Living from June through September 2022, length of stay is up 43% compared to last year, totaling in 110 days on average. Searches for 30+ night stays on Zeus Living’s website are up 38% since the start of 2022. 4. Cities are back. Earlier on in the pandemic, Zeus Living experienced the greatest demand for less populated markets and cities with access to outdoor activities. Now, the top U.S. destinations based on searches through Zeus Living’s website for 30+ night stays are San Francisco, Seattle, L.A., Washington, D.C., and New York City. 5. Most FlexLiving residents are millennials who work remotely. In surveying its own residents, Zeus Living found that 78% work remotely and over half (52%) are millennials. Forty-one percent of respondents who stayed in a home managed by Zeus Living for 30 days or more were accompanied by a significant other, while a quarter brought their kids. The full report can be found here, containing more data and insights about FlexLiving. About Zeus Living Zeus Living designs and manages modern homes that can be rented for 30 days or longer across more than 100 destinations in the U.S. Through its leading technology platform and the expertise of dedicated hospitality professionals around the country, Zeus Living strives to help people live well, and on their own terms. Zeus Living drives revenue for owners while taking care of their properties, and delivers unparalleled support to residents, ensuring memorable experiences wherever they choose to stay. Organizations trust Zeus Living to serve as an end-to-end corporate travel partner, with flexible options based on personalized needs. To date, Zeus Living has raised over $150 million in capital from leading investors and hosted more than 40,000 residents for 1.6 million nights. For more information, visit zeusliving.com or follow @zeusliving on Twitter.

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WORD OF THE DAY: Puissant

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[PWIS-ənt] Part of speech: Adjective Origin: Latin, 15th century Definitions: Powerful; having political authority Examples of Puissant in a sentence “My grandfather thought he ruled the house, but we all knew grandma was the most puissant.” “The new president demonstrated her puissant ability by passing several laws right away.” About Puissant “Puissant” is the adjective form of the noun “puissance,” which means power or might. It’s more often used in a literary sense than in everyday conversation, but “puissant” is a strong word to demonstrate ability. Did you Know? “Puissant” shares a meaning with a few more “P” words — “powerful” and “potent.” These words can all be traced back to the same Latin word, “posse,” which means to be able. Demonstrate your powerful potential with this perfectly poetic word.

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Redfin Reports Austin, Raleigh and Other Popular Sun Belt Metros Lead the Nation in Homebuilding

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The 10 metros building the most single-family homes are all located where home prices have skyrocketed as people move in from other parts of the country Sun Belt metros are leading the way when it comes to building new homes—and they need them, with scores of buyers moving in from other parts of the country, causing inventory to dwindle and prices to surge, according to a new report from Redfin (redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage. Austin, TX had 31.1 single-family building permits per 10,000 people in the first quarter, the most per capita of any major U.S. metro. It’s followed by Raleigh, NC (30.7), Jacksonville, FL (29.2), Nashville, TN (26.6) and Charlotte, NC (22.9). Five other Sun Belt metros round out the top 10: Phoenix (22.7), Houston (22.4), Orlando, FL (20.3), Dallas (18.5) and Las Vegas (17.2). For multifamily properties, the top 10 list is split between Sun Belt metros and northern metros. Austin leads the pack again, with 26.1 multifamily building permits per 10,000 people in the first quarter, followed by Jacksonville (19.9), Salt Lake City (16.7), Orlando (12.7) and Denver (12.6). Seattle (11.9), San Antonio, TX (11.5), Richmond, VA (11.5), Minneapolis (11.1) and Charlotte (11) round out the top 10. All in all, 49 of the 53 U.S. metros with more that 1 million residents issued more single-family building permits per capita in the first quarter than they did on average in the 10 years prior to the pandemic (2010-2019). Thirty-eight of them issued more multifamily permits. Homebuyer demand has started cooling, housing supply is declining at a slower pace than it was at the peak of the pandemic and sales of new homes are down. But the number of homes for sale remains near all-time lows and monthly mortgage payments are near their record high, partly due to mortgage rates that have risen from roughly 3% to over 5% in recent months. Building more homes is one of the best ways to ease the affordability crisis. “If there had been enough homes at the start of the pandemic, housing costs might not have skyrocketed the way they did over the past two years,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather. “The government should support homebuilding with things like subsidies and upzoning even as demand pulls back so the housing-supply hole starts to fill in. There still aren’t enough homes to meet the pace of household creation, and we need to be more prepared when demand inevitably picks back up.” Home prices are skyrocketing in Sun Belt metros Sun Belt home prices are skyrocketing and affordability is eroding quickly. The 10 metros with the most single-family building permits per capita in the first quarter all saw sale prices shoot up more than the national level of 15.5% year over year in April. Prices in Las Vegas surged 29%, more than anywhere else in the country, while prices in Nashville, Orlando, Raleigh and Phoenix were also among the 10 metros with the fastest-increasing prices (all growing at least 25%). While more new construction increases the total number of homes on the market, new homes are more expensive. The typical newly built home nationwide sold for $470,000 in the first quarter (up 19.2% year over year), while the typical existing home sold for $403,000 (up 16.7%). Another barrier for homebuyers is competition from investors: Newly built homes made up more than 25% of houses bought by investors in the fourth quarter, up from 3% two years earlier. Rents are surging in metros building the most multifamily units The story is similar in the rental market, with outsized price growth in five of the top six metros with the most multifamily building permits per capita. Austin, Jacksonville, Orlando, Denver and Seattle all saw asking rents rise more than the 15% national increase in April, with Austin coming in number one (+46% year over year). Rents have risen a great deal in those places partly because home prices have surged, leading to increased rental demand. There’s a relative lack of homebuilding in places homebuyers are leaving On the other end of the spectrum, Hartford, CT has 1.3 single-family building permits per 10,000 people, the fewest of the metros included in this analysis. It’s followed by New York (1.9), Buffalo, NY (2.1), Chicago (2.3) and San Francisco (2.3). Next come Los Angeles (2.6), Boston (2.6), Providence, RI (2.7), San Jose, CA (2.9), Milwaukee (2.9) and Detroit (2.9). California has a lack of vacant land and less space zoned for housing development. Another reason for the relative lack of building permits in those areas is the outflow of homebuyers. New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, San Jose and Detroit are all among the top 20 metros homebuyers are leaving. Home-price growth is slower than the national median in nine of those 10 metros (San Jose is the exception). Signs point to a nationwide increase in homebuilding The pandemic-driven homebuying boom intensified an existing housing shortage, drove up home and rental prices and brought the need for newly constructed homes sharply into focus. “We built fewer homes in the 2010s than we have since the 1960s, which is one of the fundamental problems with today’s housing market—especially with millennials, the biggest generation, now in their prime homebuying years,” Fairweather said. “Builders were hit hard by the housing crash—and home construction didn’t fully recover because of a combination of rising material and labor costs and restrictive zoning. Since the start of the pandemic, builders have run into additional problems, with a shortage of materials and skyrocketing lumber costs. As a result, the U.S. is roughly 4 million houses short of meeting homebuyer and renter demand.” There are promising signs that homebuilders are making progress adding new supply. U.S. building permits were up 3.1% year over year in April after plummeting in mid-2020 at the onset of the pandemic. More than 1.7 million homes—including both single-family and multifamily properties—were under construction in March, the highest level since 2006. Builder sentiment fell to a two-year low in

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HOME VALUES IN OPPORTUNITY ZONE REDEVELOPMENT AREAS KEEP PACE WITH NATIONAL GAINS

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Median Home Prices Rise Again in First Quarter of 2022 in Majority of Opportunity Zones Targeted for Economic Improvement; Pace of Gains in Half of all Zones Surpasses Nationwide Quarterly and Annual Increases; Prices Continue Rising At Least 20 Percent Annually in Half of All Zones ATTOM, a leading curator of real estate data nationwide for land and property data, released its first-quarter 2022 report analyzing qualified low-income Opportunity Zones targeted by Congress for economic redevelopment in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. In this report, ATTOM looked at 5,092 zones around the United States with sufficient data to analyze, meaning they had at least five home sales in the first quarter of 2022. The report found that median single-family home and condo prices rose from the fourth quarter of 2021 to the first quarter of 2022 in 55 percent of Opportunity Zones around the country and jumped by at least 20 percent annually in half. ATTOM analyzed those areas where there was sufficient data for all quarters. Those gains followed similar patterns over the past year, as home prices in distressed neighborhoods around the nation continue to keep up with gains in the broader national housing market. While the pace of increases slowed in the first quarter of 2022 compared to peak periods last year, median values still went up in about half the Opportunity Zones by more than the 16.6 percent year-over-year gain seen nationwide. “Home price trends in Opportunity Zones mirror what we’re seeing elsewhere in the housing market,” said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of market intelligence at ATTOM. “Strong price growth has helped homeowners in these economically-challenged areas benefit from higher equity, and should contribute to the ongoing redevelopment of these areas.” Typical home values in Opportunity Zones do remain lower than those in most other neighborhoods around the nation in the first quarter of 2022. Median first-quarter prices were less than the national median of $320,500 in 76 percent of Opportunity Zones, about the same portion as in earlier periods last year. Typical values also were under $200,000 in 51 percent of the zones during the first quarter of 2022. That figure marked the same percentage as in the fourth quarter of 2021, but was down from 61 percent a year earlier, as markets inside some of the nation’s poorest communities kept improving amid a time of historically low mortgage rates, high buyer demand and tight supplies of homes for sale. In another ongoing sign of strong growth, prices spiked at least 25 percent from the first quarter of 2021 to the same period in 2022 in a larger portion of Opportunity Zones than in other neighborhoods around the country. Opportunity Zones are defined in the Tax Act legislation as census tracts in or alongside low-income neighborhoods that meet various criteria for redevelopment in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. Census tracts, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, cover areas that have 1,200 to 8,000 residents, with an average of about 4,000 people. Prices inside Opportunity Zones remained on an upward track during the first quarter of 2022 as a decade-long price boom in the United States kept boosting markets throughout the U.S. Those included lower-income communities that have become more appealing as many buyers have gotten priced out of more-expensive neighborhoods. “With so little entry level inventory on the market, homes in Opportunity Zones represent some of the few remaining affordable options for prospective homebuyers,” Sharga added. “This is especially important for first-time buyers, who typically have to stretch their finances in order to be able to afford a home.” Both the overall housing market and Opportunity Zones are facing headwinds today that didn’t exist a few months ago, as mortgage rates have risen to 5 percent, the stock market has fallen, and consumer price inflation is at a 40-year high. But those uncertainties have yet to stifle price growth. High-level findings from the report include: Median prices of single-family houses and condominiums rose from the fourth quarter of 2021 to the first quarter of 2022 in 2,617 (55 percent) of the Opportunity Zones around the U.S. with sufficient data to analyze, and increased from the first quarter of 2021 to same period this year in 3,529 (78 percent) of those zones. By comparison, median prices rose quarterly in 58 percent of census tracts outside of Opportunity Zones and annually in 80 percent. (Among the 5,092 Opportunity Zones included in the report, 4,722 had enough data to generate usable median-price comparisons from the fourth quarter of 2021 to the first quarter of 2022; 4,550 had enough data to make comparisons between the first quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022). Measured year over year, median home prices rose at least 20 percent in the first quarter of 2022 in 2,231 (49 percent) of Opportunity Zones with sufficient data. Prices rose that much during that time period in 44 percent of other census tracts throughout the country. Typical single-family home values in 55 percent of Opportunity Zones increased from the first quarter of 2021 to the first quarter of 2022 by more than the jump in the overall national median home price. Nationally, the figure rose 16.6 percent, year over year. Measured quarterly, prices in Opportunity Zones increased at a slower rate than in most of 2021. But 52 percent of zones still saw larger quarterly improvements from late 2021 to early 2022 than the national uptick of 1.7 percent. Among states that had at least 25 Opportunity Zones with enough data to analyze during the first quarter of 2022, those with the largest portion of zones where median prices rose year over year were in the West. They were led by Utah (median prices up, year over year, in 97 percent of zones), Arizona (97 percent), Nevada (93 percent), Oregon (88 percent) and Florida (87 percent). Of all 5,092 zones in the report, 1,807 (35 percent) still had median prices in the first quarter of 2022 that were less than $150,000 and another 779 (15 percent) had medians ranging from $150,000 to $199,999. Median values in the first quarter of 2022 ranged from $200,000 to $299,999 in 1,092

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