Despite a historic shortage of homes for sale, homebuilders are actually slowing production, handcuffed by skyrocketing commodity prices and shortages of land and skilled labor. Single-family housing starts dropped more than 13% in April compared with March, the U.S. Census reported Tuesday. That’s the sharpest decrease since last April, when the pandemic shut down the
Real Estate
Whether it’s a kitchen remodel or dedicated work space, after a year of staying in, most homeowners have at least entertained the idea of a home renovation project. Yet anyone who has tried to tap their house for cash might be in for a surprise. Skyrocketing home prices have resulted in a record amount of
Real estate agents leave a home for sale during a broker open house in San Francisco, California. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images A brief drop in mortgage interest rates sent some borrowers rushing to their lenders to see if they could get any savings. That sent total mortgage application volume up 2.1% last week from
Pedestrians walk past signage for SoftBank Group outside a store in Tokyo, Japan, Nov. 29, 2018. Kiyoshi Ota | Bloomberg | Getty Images Digital mortgage lender Better.com announced Tuesday that it will make its market debut by merging with Aurora Acquisition Corp., valuing Better at $7.7 billion. The company, ranked No. 15 on last year’s CNBC Disruptor 50
A general view of the Oakland Athletics playing against the Houston Astros with a limited capacity crowd at RingCentral Coliseum on April 03, 2021 in Oakland, California. Ezra Shaw | Getty Images Perhaps Major League Baseball is bluffing as it plays a game of baseball liar’s dice to help the Oakland Athletics secure a new
From gas and groceries to computers, cars and clothing, Americans are already paying more for everyday expenses. As the economy reopens in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, consumers are putting their stimulus checks, enhanced unemployment benefits and stashed cash to work. Yet all that spending — coupled with supply chain setbacks — is
Akapong Osotsil / EyeEm | EyeEm | Getty Images Consumer debt edged higher during the first three months of 2021, due primarily to a jump in mortgages and auto loans, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday. Total household debt balances rose by $85 billion in the first quarter, a 0.6% increase that brought the total level
The work-from-anywhere culture of the coronavirus pandemic is not going away with vaccines, and that has created an opportunity for small cities to lure new residents. So-called digital nomads are in high demand and are now being offered cash to relocate. Programs are popping up across the country. The poachers don’t want the workers to
People wear protective face masks outside Salesforce Tower in New York City. Noam Galai | Getty Images Cloudera exited its downtown San Francisco office early last year with plans to sublease the space and move its employees south to the software company’s Silicon Valley headquarters. But the pandemic left the company with nobody to take
A man wearing a mask walks past the headquarters of the People’s Bank of China, the central bank, in Beijing, China, as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, February 3, 2020. Jason Lee | Reuters BEIJING — While investors around the world fret over inflation, China’s central bank has more
Contractors work on single-family homes under construction in the Cadence Park development of The Great Park Neighborhoods in Irvine, California, on Wednesday, April 14, 2021. Bing Guan | Bloomberg | Getty Images Strong buyer demand is keeping homebuilders confident, but the risk of rising construction material costs continues to weigh on housing affordability. Builder sentiment
Nearly two-thirds, or 64%, of millennials (ages 25 to 40) say they have at least one regret about purchasing their current home, according to a new poll of more than 1,400 U.S. homeowners from Bankrate. Only about 45% of Gen X (ages 41 to 56) and 33% of baby boomers (ages 57 to 75) reported
People like to stick with what they know. Your home may be your most valuable asset, but that does not mean it is your best investment, according to CNBC commentator and co-editor of the new book, “How I Invest My Money.” And the equity in your home can be misleading. “It’s really a form of
As millennials begin to turn 40 in 2021, CNBC Make It is launching Middle-Aged Millennials, a series exploring how the oldest members of this generation have grown into adulthood amid the backdrop of the Great Recession and the Covid-19 pandemic, student loans, stagnant wages and rising costs of living. When it came to buying a home,
Pope Francis is using his pulpit to call attention to climate migration. “When we look, what do we see? Many are being devoured in conditions that make it impossible to survive. Forced to abandon fields and shorelines, homes and villages, people flee in haste carrying just a few souvenirs and treasures, scraps of their culture
A sign advertising an open house in Corona Del Mar, California. Scott Mlyn | CNBC Higher mortgage rates are hitting the refinance market hard and may finally be taking their toll on homebuyers. Mortgage application volume fell 2.2% last week compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. The
Scott Heins | Getty Images News | Getty Images Most renters struggling during the coronavirus pandemic won’t have to worry about being pushed out of their homes for at least another three months. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has extended the national eviction ban that’s been in place since September through the end
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. Jeenah Moon | Getty Images Prosecutors in Manhattan have subpoenaed Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg’s personal bank records, The New York Times reported Wednesday. The prosecutors, who are conducting a sweeping probe surrounding Donald Trump and his company, are also questioning gifts that Weisselberg and his family received
A sale pending sign is posted in front of a home for sale on July 17, 2014 in San Francisco, California. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images The U.S. housing market is suffering from its lowest supply in history, and that is taking an increasingly hard toll on sales. Pending home sales, a measure of signed
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks at an event in Birmingham, Alabama, on March 26, 2021. Andi Rice/Bloomberg via Getty Images A group of Senate Democrats issued a proposal Monday to tax unrealized capital gains of wealthy estates at death. The plan comes as President Joe Biden prepares to unveil a major infrastructure plan that’s expected