THE BYTE

Welcome to the BYTE, where we serve up the latest home and tech news from the last week for you to sink your teeth into.

This week we’re taking a BYTE out of the winter housing market, BnB’s being all about the experience, new software that will make you wonder what you really said, new drone applications, and a map may never be the same. Dig in!

Generally

Who? What? Where?

Americans are staying put as mover rate hits historic low. Millennials are moving inward, away from the coasts and more new homes are on the way.

Tell Me More, Tell Me More

The U.S. Census Bureau put out a report on how many people are moving homes and the numbers are down 11.2% from last year putting us at the lowest percentage of movers basically ever. Of the people that are moving, millennials specifically, are moving away from major coastal cities and moving inward. 8/10 of the biggest cities in millennial growth were inland cities with most coastal cities showing declines. Also for those people that are moving, there are more homes on the market with a 26.4% jump from last year in work beginning on new homes.

Welcome, Ready For An Adventure?

Bed and Breakfasts Have Changed Forever

Airbnb is now interested in more than just where you are staying on vacation; now they want to help with what you’re doing while away as well. Airbnb Trips is the latest innovation from the brand, but follows about the same model. Now they allow hosts to not only advertise their place but also the experiences for the people there, basically turning them into personal tour guides for their cities. This is essentially shifting the company into a full on travel agency and the services are already rolling out in over 50 cities worldwide.

Take Notes

Did They Really Say That?

With Adobe’s new program the answer that question may soon be, “Maybe?” Project VoCo is basically the Photoshop for audio. The complex algorithm built into the program breaks down more than just the words spoken but the exact sounds and even in the beta version can sound very similar to a human’s voice. With only 20 minutes of someone talking you could effectively input that, the program breaks it down, and you can type in anything for it to spit out in that person’s voice. Cue many scandals in the near future.

Drones For Days

Drones are everywhere and people are actually doing pretty cool things with them. Intel and Disneyworld teamed up for one amazing drone show to celebrate this holiday season. Another example of drones being used for good is this new company called Fleetlights. The soon to be released service allows people, primarily in places without streetlights, to walk without wandering in the dark as a drone with a spotlight follows from above.

I Believe I Can Fly

Google Earth VR now lets you feel like just that. The catch however is that it’s only really available on the very high-end VR sets for now. Regardless, flying around and exploring Paris or London as if you were there seems pretty great. Hopefully it becomes more accessible soon…

Totally Unrelated

Happy TurkeyDay

Before we all gather around and eat delicious food this weekend, here is a video of some kids trying out the thanksgiving sides from the past several decades.

THE BYTE

Welcome to the BYTE, where we serve up the latest home and tech news from the last week for you to sink your teeth into.

This week we’re taking a BYTE out of the decision, top home sites shifting media gears, a new app to help you measure twice, how VR is changing home design, and some new materials working their way into everyday life. Dig in!

Generally

The Race Is Over

As pretty much everyone on planet earth knows the elections are over and Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential race.

What Do People Think? What Else Happened?

The final presidential result was a bit a surprise for many as almost all pre polls put Hillary Clinton ahead. Many of the top builders put out statements regarding the results. The general sentiment is that Donald Trump should be good for the housing industry, however his actual plans have been vague so far. Another big winner on election night was public transit around the country especially in Atlanta, LA, and Seattle. These cities (and more across the country) passed measures to increase funding to many public transit programs across the cities. In other related news, this polarizing election has had people considering the move to Canada, here are the real numbers on where and who is interested in the move north.

There’s Change A Brewin’

Coming To A Site Near You

Realtor.com is looking to rapidly ramp up the use of 3D tours and high quality video. The goal is to find ways to engage more buyers in their listings. Realtor.com is actively trying to more seamlessly integrate 3D tours such as Matterport tours.

Take Notes

Scan We Build It?

A new app from Occiptal called Canvas allows users to scan a room with an iPad and use the scan for measurements. With the help of a special attachment on the front of your iPad you can stand in one place and slowly pan across the room and get a 3D scan that will accurately measure distances and spaces within the area. It looks pretty easy and has a “send to CAD” feature that could be very helpful for designer and builders.

See It To Believe It

Architects are really getting into the Virtual Reality thing. With the new advances in VR, architects are able to design buildings in the virtual world, see where things fit within the home, look at the lighting throughout the day, and so much more. They are also able to show their customers pretty close to exactly how things are going to look and can help them really fulfill and build their dream property. As this tech pushes forward it could change the designing part of building all together.

Welcome To The Party

As the virtual world continues to push forward it can be easy to forget about the physical realm that is also making innovative products. From ceramic tiles made from recycled beverage containers that are stronger and more weather proof to colored conductive inks that look like normally printed ink but can carry an electric current through them.

Totally Unrelated

Don’t Look Down

If you’re deathly afraid of heights probably don’t watch these French people surf on a zip line and then BASE jump from the board.

THE BYTE

Welcome to the BYTE, where we serve up the latest home and tech news from the last week for you to sink your teeth into.

This week we’re taking a BYTE out of the ups and downs of prices, a big decision tomorrow, another unfortunate recall, a fresh light on yard/home security, and a band pushing VR forward. Dig in!

Generally

What’s On The Up And Up?

Not San Francisco or New York, at least not the rent. For the first time in a long time, rental prices are going down in top markets.

Why Is This Happening?

The average rent across the U.S. is continuing to rise. However, 60% of the top 10 markets showed a decrease. San Fran, NYC, Honolulu, San Diego, and Miami all showed a decline in average rent because of an influx of supply. We are in a historic boom of apartment and condo builds and these are driving down prices and increasing incentives (think first couple months of rent free living.) For some of these cities it is the first decrease in over a decade. If this trend continues it might not be a good influence on getting people to start buying houses…

Decisions, Decisions

It All Comes Down To This

Tomorrow is the day. Tuesday, November 8^th has finally come and we will finally have reached the end of this long election season. No matter who you are voting for it is important to know the facts and details to make an educated vote. BuilderOnline recently put out some details around a hot topic this election season, immigration and the role it plays in the housing industry. Interesting points they called out were that 15% of all construction jobs are manned by unauthorized immigrants and a good portion of new immigrants are strong workers looking to get in the workforce. There are several measures up for a vote this election so be informed and go vote!

Take Notes

Keep ‘Em Coming Back

Samsung has issued another recall, this time on 34 models of their top load washing machines. Some of these machines were manufactured as long ago as 2011 and they are being recalled because the top lid has a tendency pop off during the wash cycle. Samsung is offering repairs, replacements, or full refund (if purchased 30 days ago).

Cue Police Chase Flashbacks

The newest in smart home tech gadgets, we have the Sunflower Home Awareness System. The system has a series of smart sensors in your yard that detect when something, or someone, is there that shouldn’t be. When system decides it wasn’t an animal or person that lives at the house it deploys a drone to fly in the air and shine a spotlight on the unexpected person. When it will be available to the public wasn’t announced, but we can’t wait to see it on the next episode of Cops.

Rooftop Concerts

Everyone is getting on the VR train. Avenged Sevenfold jumped in the virtual game in a big way. They announced an album with a live VR concert on a Hollywood rooftop. There were several cameras that could be watched from and drones flying around the building with cameras as well. It was quite the event and might be the start to more live broadcasted events allowing people anywhere to watch.

Totally Unrelated

No, No, No

Gmail’s new app will give you 5 seconds after you hit send to undo and get that message back you didn’t mean to send to your ex.

THE BYTE

Welcome to the BYTE, where we serve up the latest home and tech news from the last week for you to sink your teeth into.

This week we’re taking a BYTE out of new numbers showing a welcome shift for the home market, an internet shut-down, smart homes under attack, vacation homes changing the renting game, and a new way to display art. Dig in!

Generally

Shop Til You Drop

Realtor.com conducted a survey in September on the active home shoppers in the market. Big take-a-ways? First time buyers accounted for 52% which is up from 33% last year.

Tell Me More

The top goals for home ownership were the same across the age groups: privacy, family needs, and asset accumulation. The first time buyers percentage was dominated by the older millennials (age 25-34). This may be what we’ve all been waiting for…millennials buying homes. Most of these shoppers are looking to buy within the next 7 months. Could 2017 be the long awaited year of the millennials buyer? 

Dyn And Dash

System Overload

Over the weekend Dyn, a DNS provider, saw outages from several “distributed denial of service” (DDoS) attacks. In simpler terms their system was overloaded with so much traffic from fake IP addresses it caused several major sites to go down, Spotify, Twitter, Soundcloud, and Airbnb just to name a few. No one has taken credit for the attack but it was the first attack like this on this large a scale. Now everyone: Dyn, Homeland Security, and Dyn’s competitors, are working together to figure who was behind the attack and how they did it.

Take Notes

A Little Less Home Security Please

The Internet of Things (IoT) isn’t quite safe, yet. People are concerned about the security of these devices because they are extremely easy to hack and few of them need a password of any kind. The focus so far has been on ease of use and not at all on securing the technologies so the IP addresses can be hacked. The concepts are here to stay and security will only improve, but it may be time to do a little more research before buying that smart home camera.

Airing It Out

Airbnb is getting so popular now that people are worried it is affecting rent prices and home/apartment availability. They might not be wrong. Initial studies show that especially in big cities with dense Airbnb listings the rent is higher and the availability is lower than usual. A lot of factors play into housing, so it is hard to say, this early on, if this is directly a result of Airbnb’s popularity or if they just play a small role in it. However with more home sharing happening every day the marketplace could start to change pretty quickly.

Motion Pictures

E02 is the latest in thin video displays for hanging art on your wall. With the screen being very thin, crisp, and even dims when the lights are out in the room, you can display gifs, cinemographs, and basically any digital art seamlessly in your house. If you are a true art connoisseur you can subscribe to their Art Club and they will put museum worthy art work on the wall.

Totally Unrelated

Your Wildest Dreams Finally Came True

With Girl Scouts cookie season quickly approaching we will see an added bonus this year, Girl Scout cookie cereal. These hit the stores in January so be ready to stock up.