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☆ Tesla quietly spent $2 million on a technology Elon Musk previously trashed as a 'fool's errand'
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Ana Altchek | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewTesla spent around $2 million on lidar, a technology used in EVs that Elon Musk has previously referred to as a "fool's errand" and that any carmakers relying on it are "doomed." But according to a recent earnings report from lidar manufacturer Luminar, Tesla was its largest customer last quarter and "comprised more than 10%" of its revenue during the period. The CEO said Tesla EVs only rely on camera-based vision systems for driver-assist features. The Tesla CEO said he personally ran a project at SpaceX to create lidar sensors to help navigation. Last year, Tesla recalled over 2 million vehicles after regulators said its Autopilot system didn't protect enough against drivers misusing it.

Persons: —, Tesla, Elon Musk, Luminar, Lidar, lidar, Musk, Elon Musk's Organizations: Service, Business, Systems, SpaceX, Tesla, Luminar, Traffic Safety Administration, US Department of Justice Locations: EVs, Tesla's

☆ Renters' hopes of being able to buy a home have fallen to a record low, New York Fed survey shows
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The share of renters as of February who possess hopes of "residential mobility," or the belief from renters that they one day will be able to afford a home, fell to a record low 13.4% in the central bank's annual housing survey for 2024. Pessimism about future prospects comes amid a confluence of factors conspiring against the likelihood of renters being able to transition to home ownership. Moreover, mortgage rates have remained high by historical standards. Survey respondents expect housing prices to increase 5.1% over the next year, nearly double the 2.6% expected rate in February 2023 and above the pre-pandemic mean of 4.2%. Despite prospects for the Fed to cut interest rates before the end of 2024, respondents think mortgage rates are only going to go higher.

Persons: Freddie Mac, There's Organizations: New York Federal Reserve, New York Fed, National Association of Realtors, Fed, Federal, Market Locations: Manhattan, New York City, New

☆ A homebuyer's guide to the real-estate revolution
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

Real-estate agents' commissions have fluctuated between 5% and 6% of the sale price for decades, despite advances in technology and an influx of agents. The recent lawsuits, which accused the NAR and some of the country's largest brokerages of conspiring to keep agents' commissions unfairly high, could signal the start of a new era. If sellers aren't paying out commissions to buyers' agents, buyers themselves could end up on the hook. For example, what happens if the seller isn't willing to pay the buyer's agent's commission? In most states, the buyer's agent can technically just rebate that extra money to their client.

Persons: Austin Whitt, Whitt, —, I've, Steve Brobeck, Sabrina Brown, they've, Michael Warren, Sellers, Prentiss Cox, it'll, you've, doesn't, Jack Ryan, Ryan, homebuying, Rob Hahn, Wendy Gilch, Gilch, I'm, it's, David Dworkin, Dworkin, Cox, It's Organizations: Realtors, National Association of Realtors, NAR, Consumer Federation of America, Getty, University of Minnesota, MLS, Consumer Federation of, National Housing Conference, Justice Department Locations: Tennessee, Nashville, America, North Carolina, United Kingdom, Australia

☆ March homes sales dropped despite a surge in supply. Here's why.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Diana Olick | In Dianaolick | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Rising mortgage rates are likely the cause of the slowdown. Mortgage rates stayed lower in January, in the mid 6% range on the popular 30-year fixed loan. Inventory did improve slightly, rising 4.7% month to month to 1.11 million homes for sale at the end of March. Investors pulled back a bit, making up 15% of sales, compared with 21% in February and 17% in March of last year. Mortgage rates have moved even higher this month, with the average rate on the 30-year fixed hovering around 7.5%, according to Mortgage News Daily.

Persons: Lawrence Yun, It's, Yun Organizations: National Association of Realtors, Investors, Mortgage News Locations: West, That's

Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Nvidia, calling for more than 15% upside going forward. — Lisa Kailai Han 5:53 a.m.: Jefferies lowers Tesla price target, cites 'self-inflicted' wounds Tesla's troubles may not be over yet, according to Jefferies. The investment firm kept its hold rating on the electric vehicle maker and lowered its price target to $165 from $185. Jefferies analyst Philippe Houchois also said Tesla is plagued by shifting product priorities. — Lisa Kailai Han 5:53 a.m.: Morgan Stanley raises Nvidia price target Nvidia has already rallied more than 72% in 2024.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Jefferies, Patrick Cunningham, Erik Fyrwald's, Cunningham, — Lisa Kailai Han, Zillow, John Colantuoni, Colantuoni, Scott Schoenhaus, Schoenhaus, Lisa Kailai Han, Hess, Betty Jiang, CVX, Jiang, Tesla, Philippe Houchois, Joseph Moore, Moore, — Fred Imbert Organizations: CNBC, Nvidia, Citi, Management, & Biosciences, Jefferies, National Association of Realtors, Markets, GDRX, Barclays, Chevron, NVIDIA, AMD Locations: Tuesday's, China

☆ 11 U.S. cities where you need to earn over $200,000 to buy a typical home
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Mike Winters | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

You'll need to earn just over six figures to buy a typical home in the U.S. right now. San Jose is by far the most priciest place to buy a home, even among 10 other metro areas where qualifying income exceeds $200,000. Some of the wealthiest people in the U.S. live in cities like San Jose, San Francisco and Anaheim. In contrast to California's most expensive markets, the qualifying income needed to buy a typical home in the U.S. overall is $103,835. It's even cheaper in the Midwest and the South, where the qualifying income is $74,967 and $95,511, respectively.

Persons: NAR's Organizations: National Association of Realtors, Thousand Oaks, San, Housing Finance Agency, CNBC Locations: U.S, California, San Jose, Jose, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara , California, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Irvine , California, Francisco, Oakland, Hayward , California, Honolulu, Hawaii, Salinas , California, Diego, Carlsbad , California, Oxnard, Ventura , California, San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles , California, Angeles, Long, Glendale , California, Boulder , Colorado, Naples, Marco Island, Florida, San Francisco, Atherton, Midwest

☆ February home sales spike 9.5%, the largest monthly gain in a year, as supply improves
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-21 | by ( Diana Olick | In Dianaolick | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Sales of existing homes surged 9.5% in February from January to 4.38 million units, on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales were down 3.3% year over year, but it was the largest monthly gain since February 2023. Sales surged the most in the West, up 19.4%, and the South, up 16.4%. "Additional housing supply is helping to satisfy market demand," said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist. Inventory rose 10.3% year over year to 1.07 million homes for sale at the end of February.

Persons: Lawrence Yun, Yun Organizations: National Association of Realtors . Housing, Mortgage News Daily Locations: West, California, Florida, Georgia

☆ Redfin CEO reacts to NAR's $418 million commission lawsuits settlement
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-15 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailRedfin CEO reacts to NAR's $418 million commission lawsuits settlementRedfin CEO Glenn Kelman joins 'The Exchange' with CNBC's Diana Olick to discuss the implications of the National Association of Realtors' settlement on the real estate industry, how the settlement could affect Redfin's business, and more.

Persons: Glenn Kelman, Diana Olick Organizations: National Association of Realtors

☆ Home prices could go down now that the biggest group of real-estate agents agreed to lower commissions
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-15 | by ( Grace Eliza Goodwin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

The National Association of Realtors said it'd reduce commissions as part of a $418 million settlement. Cut commissions could lead to lower home prices but may force some agents out of the industry. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. AdvertisementThe entire real-estate industry could shift in homeowners' favor, thanks to a settlement by one of the most powerful groups of real-estate agents in the country. In a major win for consumers, it also agreed to amend its rules on commissions, The New York Times, which obtained a copy of the signed agreement, reported.

Persons: — Organizations: National Association of Realtors, Service, New York Times, Business

☆ Hedge funds are betting big against these stocks and it's working
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Pia Singh | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The latest short interest data reveals several stocks that are down both month to date and since the start of the new year. CNBC Pro screened FactSet data for stocks trading on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Exchange with the most short interest as of Feb. 29. Here are the names of these heavily shorted stocks: EV-related stocks and auto stocks are an ongoing target of hedge funds — and they're not performing well this year. There is also a significant amount of short interest, roughly 33%, in both Luminar Technologies , which makes technology for self-driving cars, and used car retailer Carvana . Short interest in the stock grew a whopping 44.9% during the latter half of February.

Persons: they're, TD Cowen, Jefferies, —, Nick Wells Organizations: Dow Jones Industrial, CNBC, New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq Exchange, Lucid, EV, ChargePoint Holdings, Luminar Technologies, Sunnova Energy

☆ Real-Estate Agents Use 'Steering' to Hide Cheap Houses From Homebuyers
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

Technically, the seller can promise as little as $0 to the buyer's agent; after all, why pay for someone you didn't hire? But multiple agents told me there are all kinds of ways shady practitioners try to skirt the rules. Critics say the stickiness of the going commission rate is evidence of steering's ubiquity. He said buyers' agents might call and say, "'Why is there no buyer's commission?" There are lots of willing brokers out there; if you suspect steering, agents told me, you've got plenty of options for a second opinion.

Persons: should've, Redfin, Julie —, Julie, Wendy Gilch, Gilch, they're, Doug Miller, Real, Rex, Keller Williams, I'm, Brendon Bowers, we're, Stephen Brobeck, Brobeck, they'll, you've, Rich, they've Organizations: Department of Justice, National Association of Realtors, Business, Facebook, Realtors, NAR, Consumer Federation of America, DOJ Locations: America, Minnesota, Austin, Houston, Kansas City , Missouri, Phoenix

☆ Cramer's Lighting Round: Allstate is a buy
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-09 | by ( Julie Coleman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Stock Chart Icon Stock chart icon Hawkins' year-to-date stock performance. Stock Chart Icon Stock chart icon PayPal's year-to-date stock performance. Stock Chart Icon Stock chart icon Kimberly-Clark's year-to-date stock performance. Stock Chart Icon Stock chart icon CVS's year-to-date stock performance. Stock Chart Icon Stock chart icon Lennar's year-to-date stock performance.

Persons: Hawkins, Kimberly, Clark, it's, It's, Lennar Organizations: PayPal

Though mortgage rates have ticked up a little bit in recent weeks, they're still well below the peaks reached in fall 2023, when 30-year mortgage rates neared 8%. Most major forecasts call for mortgage rates to go down further this year, which should help even more hopeful buyers afford homeownership. See more mortgage rates on Zillow Real Estate on ZillowMortgage CalculatorUse our free mortgage calculator to see how today's interest rates will affect your monthly payments. 30-Year Fixed Mortgage RatesThis week's average 30-year fixed mortgage rate is 6.69%, according to Freddie Mac. 15-Year Fixed Mortgage RatesAverage 15-year mortgage rates inched down to 5.96% last week, according to Freddie Mac data.

Persons: they're, Lawrence Yun, you'll, Freddie Mac, it's, they've Organizations: National Association of Realtors, Zillow, Federal Reserve Locations: Chevron

☆ December home sales slump to close out worst year since 1995
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Diana Olick | In Dianaolick | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Sales were 6.2% lower than in December 2022, marking the lowest level since August 2010. Full-year sales for 2023 came in at 4.09 million units, the lowest tally since 1995. Regionally, on a month-to-month basis, sales were unchanged in the Northeast and fell 4.3% in the Midwest. There were 1 million homes for sale at the end of December, making for a 3.2-month supply at the current sales pace. Individual investors, who make up a large share of all-cash sales, bought 16% of homes, down from 18% in November.

Persons: Lawrence Yun, Danielle Hale Organizations: National Association of Realtors, Midwest ., Mortgage News, Homes Locations: Northeast, West

The National Association of Realtors said Friday that existing U.S. home sales totaled 4.09 million last year, an 18.7% decline from 2022. Despite easing mortgage rates, existing home sales fell 1% in December from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.78 million, the slowest sales pace since August 2010, the NAR said. Last month's sales pace is short of the roughly 3.83 million that economists were expecting, according to FactSet. “The latest month’s sales look to be the bottom before inevitably turning higher in the new year,” said Lawrence Yun, the NAR's chief economist. The national median home sales price rose 4.4% in December from a year earlier to $382,600, the NAR said.

Persons: Freddie Mac, ”, Lawrence Yun Organizations: ANGELES, The National Association of Realtors, NAR, Federal Reserve, Treasury Locations: U.S

☆ The head of the National Association of Realtors abruptly resigned. She says she faced a blackmail threat.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-08 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read previewThe National Association of Realtors is grappling with more turmoil in its top leadership ranks just over two months after the trade group's CEO stepped down well before his planned retirement. The Chicago-based organization said Monday that NAR president Tracy Kasper has resigned, effective immediately, and is being succeeded by the trade group's president-elect, Kevin Sears. In a statement, the NAR said Kasper recently received a "threat to disclose a past personal, non-financial matter unless she compromised her position at NAR." In early November, former NAR CEO Bob Goldberg announced he would be stepping down nearly two months before his planned retirement.

Persons: —, Tracy Kasper, Kevin Sears, Kasper, Bob Goldberg, Nykia Wright, Kenny Parcell Organizations: Service, Association of Realtors, Business, NAR, Chicago Sun, Times, The New York Times Locations: Chicago, Kansas City , Missouri, The, Utah

☆ National Association of Realtors president says she is resigning after blackmail threat
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-08 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The president of the National Association of Realtors on Monday said she was resigning due to a blackmail threat that sought to "compromise" her leadership role. NAR President Tracy Kasper said she had notified the group's leadership team "that she recently received a threat to disclose a past personal, non-financial matter unless she compromised her position at NAR." President-elect Kevin Sears will immediately step into the post at the group, which represents more than 1.5 million members working in the residential and commercial real estate industries. and the majority owner of two other real estate companies in the state, according to her NAR bio. Also, the article was updated to reflect that Kasper wasn't president of the NAR in 2016.

Persons: Tracy Kasper, Kasper, Kevin Sears, Kenny Parcell, Bob Goldberg, Berkshire Hathaway, Silverhawk, CNBC's Diana Olick, Kasper wasn't Organizations: National Association of Realtors, NAR, New York Times, CNBC PRO Locations: Berkshire, Boise Valley , Idaho

☆ Prefab Homebuilder Veev Wanted to Fix the Housing Crisis. Here's What Went Wrong.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-05 | by ( Alex Nicoll | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

Veev also promised they would be green and less expensive, thanks to its factory process. The Veev representative said "no employee was requested to do so as a policy." The Veev representative said "production lines were not idle," and design errors were inevitable because the company was still testing its product. "While the Series D money was committed, not all of it was received," the Veev representative said. "Veev and Lennar made a joint decision to stop building the Gramercy project," the Veev representative wrote.

Persons: Henry Ford, Veev, Lennar, Elon, Veev Veev, Amit Haller, Ami Avrahami, Dafna Akiva, Haller, Ari Rauch, Rauch, Bond, Calcalist, I've, Scott Long, thatit, Long, Veev's Organizations: Federal Reserve, Business, Katerra, Industry, American, BI, NSF, Fortune, Employees, Dow Chemical, Lennar, Gramercy, Hayward, Wall LLC Locations: Hayward , California, homebuilding, San Carlos , California, Tel Aviv, California

☆ A new tiny-home community near San Antonio is raising eyebrows for marketing pint-sized houses for over $140,000
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-05 | by ( Maria Noyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elm Trails is a nearly finished tiny-home community near San Antonio. AdvertisementA tiny-home community near San Antonio, Texas, is raising eyebrows for marketing pint-sized houses for over $140,000. Elm Trails is the first tiny-home community built by Lennar, a home construction company based in Florida. He also suggested that Elm Trails skeptics don't know what a good property deal is in today's housing market. "Lennar San Antonio is very innovative about how they are thinking."

Persons: —, Rhonda Ober, Ober, I'm, Billy Rojo, Billy, Rojo, Realtor.com, Lennar Organizations: Service, Forbes Locations: San Antonio, San Antonio , Texas, Florida, Texas, Elm Trails, Elm, Henley, South Carolina, Lennar San Antonio

☆ November pending home sales were unchanged, despite a sharp drop in mortgage rates
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-28 | by ( Diana Olick | In Dianaolick | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Mortgage rates are key in this report, with the average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage soaring over 8% in mid-October before dropping sharply to 7.5% in the first week of November, according to Mortgage News Daily. Analysts had expected the drop to cause a slight gain in pending sales, but apparently it wasn't enough, given steep home prices and tight supply. Regionally, pending sales rose 0.8% month over month in the Northeast and 0.5% in the Midwest. Mortgage rates are now solidly in the mid-6% range, but the supply of homes for sale is still very low. "With mortgage rates falling further in December – leading to savings of around $300 per month from the recent cyclical peak in rates – home sales will improve in 2024," Yun added.

Persons: Lawrence Yun, –, Yun Organizations: National Association of Realtors, Mortgage News, Midwest ., Builders, CNBC PRO

The Justice Department, during the Trump administration, closed an investigation into the realtors organization. The Biden administration re-opened it in 2021 so it could probe how broadly housing listings are available and what fees home sellers pay to the brokers who represent buyers. The government's concern focused on private listings of homes, which NAR banned but left some exceptions, and a rule that requires sellers to pay the buyer's broker. Because of concern about "pocket listings," or private listings not available to the public, the NAR adopted a "Clear Cooperation Policy" in 2019 that was supposed to ban pocket listings but has been criticized for allowing exceptions. The NAR's Participation Rule had required brokers who listed a house to offer compensation to the buyer's broker.

Persons: Sarah Silbiger, Trump, Biden, Judge Florence Pan, Frederick Liu, Chris Michel, Diane Bartz, Chizu Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Justice Department and National Association of Realtors, The Justice Department, realtors, U.S ., Appeals, Circuit, NAR, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S

☆ Inside the chaotic Thanksgiving-weekend collapse of homebuilder startup Veev that left employees shocked and worried about their jobs
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Alex Nicoll | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

But for workers of Lennar-backed homebuilder Veev, they were spent scrambling to determine if they would still have jobs come Monday. Speaking to the "Veev Family," he wrote: "Family will stay in touch and together forever, even if it is going to be only within our hearts." The company has about 250 employees, according to news site Calcalist. "We call it the Veev family," Haller said. On a very personal note, for me Amit Haller, Veev was my personal journey in the past 15 years, half of my professional career and about ⅓ of my entire life.

Persons: Amit Haller, Veev, Haller, doesn't, we're, homebuilder, Kleiner Perkins, Bond, Lennar, Linda Keala, Ami, Amit Organizations: Business, Dragonfly, Wall, Center, Real Estate, Technology Innovation, Employees, Dafna Locations: California, Tel Aviv, Hayward , California, Haller, Reali, @nicollsanddimes, .

☆ See inside a 3D-printed tiny home being built to help address LA's housing crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Brittany Chang | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Woodbury University School of Architecture's students and faculty are 3D printing a tiny home. AdvertisementLos Angeles could soon welcome its first permitted 3D-printed tiny home being built by an unexpected team. AdvertisementWoodbury University School of Architecture's 3D-printed tiny home will be topped with solar panels, according to its rendering. Woodbury University School of ArchitectureWhen finished, the unit will be Los Angeles' first permitted 3D-printed home , according to Woodbury's architecture school. Woodbury University School of ArchitectureBut nobody's lining up to move in despite its desirable location less than a 10-minute drive from Hollywood Burbank Airport.

Persons: —, Brittany Chang Organizations: Woodbury University School, Service, Futures, Solar, Architecture, US Department of, Woodbury University School of, Woodbury University School of Architecture, Solar Futures, Hollywood Burbank Airport, Business, Woodbury University, University of Maine's Locations: Los Angeles, Woodbury, Burbank , California

While short bets are mounting in these stocks in recent weeks, some of the upward momentum could be due to a short squeeze playing out. Electric vehicle maker Fisker also saw short interest rise more than 10% to more than 49% of its float. That included artificial intelligence stock C3.ai, with short interest down a little over 3% to about 35% of shares outstanding. Short interest climbed 8% to 32.6 million shares shorted. Short interest increased 6% during the period to more than 27 million shares.

Persons: Fisker, Kohl's, Atmus, —, Fred Imbert Organizations: Nasdaq, CNBC Pro, New York Stock Exchange, Holdings, Luminar Technologies

☆ Homebuyers can expect mortgage rates in the 6% range next year, says NAR's Lawrence Yun
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailHomebuyers can expect mortgage rates in the 6% range next year, says NAR's Lawrence YunLawrence Yun, National Association of Realtors chief economist, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the state of the housing market, why he believes it's a strange market of record-high home prices, deep-slumping home sales, and more.

Persons: NAR's Lawrence Yun Lawrence Yun Organizations: National Association of Realtors

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