To everyone at Compass who celebrates Easter and Passover this weekend, my very best to you, your friends and family.

DID YOU KNOW? U.S. single-family rents increased 2.9% year over year in February 2019, up from a 2.7% increase in February 2018, according to the CoreLogic Single-Family Rental Index.

DID YOU KNOW? New Mexico beat out Florida as the number 1 destination for retirees to move to. (Marketwatch)

DID YOU KNOW? On April 3, Fannie Mae updated a document called the “Second-Home Rider.” The previous version of the rider, in force since 2001, was interpreted by many lenders and homeowners as completely prohibiting second-home owners in mortgages backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac from renting the property. The rider’s new language now explicitly allows homeowners to rent a second home after one year of ownership, and it allows short-term renting in the first year under certain conditions. (WSJ)

DID YOU KNOW? As home prices soared in recent years, homebuyers’ struggles with worsening affordability understandably garnered a lot of attention. But affordability isn’t just an ownership problem. Some data indicate that since the last housing boom homebuyers overall have fared better than renters. Nationally since 2005, the monthly cost to rent a single-family home has increased significantly (up 36% in December 2018 compared with December 2005), while the monthly principal-and-interest mortgage payment that homebuyers face is still slightly lower. (CoreLogic)

DID YOU KNOW? Census Bureau data show that the estimated number of cost-burdened, owner-occupied homes with a mortgage fell 32% over the 10-year period, from 19.4 million in 2007 to 13.2 million in 2017. Over the same period, the estimated number of cost-burdened, renter-occupied homes rose nearly 19%, from 16.8 million in 2007 to 19.9 million in 2017.

DID YOU KNOW? NETFLIX is investing $100 million by 2024 to build 6 new sound stages in Brooklyn and add 127 jobs to the 32 it already has in Manhattan. Netflix’s new corporate offices will cover 100,000 square feet at 888 Broadway, the old ABC Carpet and Home.

Great article! by Leonard Steinberg with Compass