The financial news that actually matters
Median asking rents are easing in enough large U.S. markets that a threshold which once looked untouchable is starting to give way again. In a dozen major metros, median asking rents are now back under $2,000 a month, a notable turn after the pandemic-era run-up pushed that level from warning sign to baseline in many…
Homeownership has become harder to reach for the typical American household, and the numbers behind that shift have grown difficult to ignore. The National Association of Realtors’ Housing Affordability Index, one of the housing market’s most widely followed gauges, fell to its weakest level on record in data going back to 1989, reflecting the combined…
Homeowners insurance is getting harder to find in parts of California, Florida, and Texas, and the problem is no longer confined to a few zip codes after a bad storm. In all three states, insurers have been cutting exposure, limiting new business, tightening underwriting, or refusing to renew some policies as catastrophe losses mount and…
Foreclosure pressure was building across the U.S. housing market heading into the end of 2025, with more borrowers falling behind even as the broader economy avoided the kind of collapse that defined the last housing bust. The shift has been gradual rather than explosive, but it has become difficult to ignore. Monthly and quarterly foreclosure…
Home Depot beat Wall Street expectations in its fourth-quarter earnings report, but the results still carried a warning about the American homeowner. Beneath the headline beat was a customer base that is putting off ambitious renovations and sticking to smaller repairs, replacement purchases, and practical upkeep. That matters because Home Depot is more than a…
More than 1.1 million U.S. homeowners ended 2025 owing more on their mortgages than their homes were worth, the highest tally since early 2018. That does not mean the country is heading into a replay of the last housing crash. It does mean the easy-equity era that defined much of the pandemic housing boom has…
Home insurance is becoming one of the fastest-rising housing costs in America, and the increase is no longer confined to a handful of disaster hotspots. Premiums are climbing because insurers are pricing in a harsher reality: more destructive wildfires, more expensive flooding, and repair costs that keep rising after every major event. What was once…
American homeowners are sitting on one of the largest paper fortunes in modern U.S. housing history. Collective home equity has climbed to roughly $35 trillion, a towering gap between what owner-occupied housing is worth and what households still owe on it. On paper, that is a remarkable show of financial strength. In practice, much of…
National apartment rents have started to move in the other direction after years of relentless increases, giving tenants some long-awaited leverage. The shift is modest, but it matters. After rent spikes helped drive household stress and keep inflation stubborn, a softer market is finally emerging as thousands of newly completed apartments reach lease-up at the…
Mortgage rates moved lower again in mid-February, opening a refinance window that had been mostly shut for much of the past two years. For homeowners who financed at 6.5% to 7.5% during the recent rate spike, even a modest drop has started to change the math in a meaningful way. That shift matters because refinancing…