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☆ The US housing market added $2 trillion in value last year, boosted by a nationwide shortage of homes for sale
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Yuheng Zhan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The US residential market added $2.4 trillion in value last year, listings site Redfin said. AdvertisementThe housing market in the US added $2.4 trillion last year, jumping to $47.5 trillion. Though housing demand has been dampened by stubbornly high mortgage rates, the total value of the market climbed by 5.3% from December 2022, preliminary data released by Redfin on Wednesday showed. Pandemic-era mortgage rates fell below 3%, driving a frenzy of buying in 2020 and 2021. The combination of elevated mortgage rates, high home prices and a limited pool of homes for sale means homeownership is about as unaffordable as ever.

Persons: Redfin, —, aren't, Chen Zhao Organizations: Service Locations: Redfin, New York City, New Jersey, Midwest, Milwaukee, Grand Rapids, New York, Honolulu , Riverside, Denver

☆ 3 signs the economy is thriving — and 3 red flags to monitor
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Noah Sheidlower | Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Positive labor market data and GDP growth support this, but job opportunities in some sectors are down. Not all job data is positive, with job openings falling from their post-pandemic highs. Below are some of the signs the economy is thriving, as well as some warning signs. Labor market data is mostly positiveThe labor market is still stable despite gradually slowing, Kimbrough said during the forum. "I think the investment side of our economy is going to start to chip away a little bit at the discretionary consumption weight in our economy."

Persons: —, Marc Giannoni, LinkedIn's Karin Kimbrough, Charles Schwab's Liz Ann Sonders, Giannoni, Kimbrough, Jerome Powell, Powell, NerdWallet's Elizabeth Renter, Sonders, They're, there’s, there's, — Kimbrough, it’s Organizations: Federal, Service, Barclays, NYU Stern Economic, Labor, Conference, University of Michigan's, Market Committee, Health, New, New York City Housing Locations: York, New York City

☆ Annuity sales hit a record in 2023. Here's what to know about one popular option
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Fixed indexed annuity sales brought in a record $95.6 billion, up from 20% from the record hit the year prior. Indexed annuities earn interest that is calculated based on the changes within a market index, such as the S & P 500 or the Nasdaq 100. However, they also receive downside protection: They are credited zero interest if the index their annuity is tracking declines. The term of index annuities typically range from three to 15 years, according to Annuity.org . Fixed indexed annuities can also be complicated, warned David Blanchett, head of retirement research for PGIM DC Solutions.

Persons: Bryan Hodgens, Buyers, Hodges, Cannex, Melody Evans, Evans, David Blanchett, Blanchett, DIAs Organizations: Nasdaq, Cannex, Products, Insurance, TIAA, DC Solutions, FIA Locations: Connecticut

☆ Millennials Are Being Forced Out of Cities and Into Suburbs
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-08 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Millennial homebuyers aren't just leaving the urban core — they're moving to the farthest reaches of the suburbs. The 'youthification' of cities and far-flung suburbsFor nearly two decades millennials morphed dense, amenity-rich urban neighborhoods across America into exclusive playgrounds for the young and childless. Compared with Gen Xers and baby boomers, a much larger share of millennials moved to cities in their young adulthood — and stayed for longer. The pandemic only steepened a trend that's been ousting millennials from cities for years: rising housing costs in cities. Millennials could help transform suburban sprawl into town-like communities or small cities with more third places and a stronger sense of community, Panova says.

Persons: Jandra Sutton, Sutton, they're, pricey, they'll, Gen Xers, millennials, —, Millennials, — it's, Zers, Allison Levine, Tiffany Stuart, — Stuart, Stuart, Hyojung Lee, Lee, who's, John Natale, Rafay Qamar, didn't, Qamar, We've, Paul Stout, Stout, Tayana, Panova, Levine, Eliza Reman Organizations: bodega, Suburban Jungle, Harvard's, for Housing Studies, Seoul National University, New York City, Suburban, Business Insider's Locations: Tennessee, Nashville, America, San Francisco, Boston, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Austin, Denver, New York City, New Jersey, Flatbush, Wall Township , New Jersey, exurbs, New York, Chicago, Black, walkable, Sutton's

☆ Home prices are dropping in Las Vegas. Here are 5 of the cheapest homes for sale right now — all under $300K.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Kylie Kirschner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Las Vegas home prices are finally starting to drop, following a pandemic real estate boom. AdvertisementAdvertisementHome prices are finally starting to drop in Las Vegas, as the real estate market cools down after a pandemic boom. The housing market in Las Vegas defied projections during the pandemic, thriving when many analysts predicted that it would plummet. Now the moment has come for prospective buyers looking at Vegas real estate who've just been waiting for prices to drop. Read on to see five of the cheapest homes on the market in Las Vegas right now, all under $300,000.

Persons: —, That's Organizations: Vegas, Service, homebuyers Locations: Las Vegas, California, Vegas, San Francisco , Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, LA

☆ The race to create the 'Amazon of real estate' could change home buying forever
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

But after years of trying, the basic structure of buying and selling a home remains pretty much the same. Even if you accept a bit of intricacy, real estate remains a stodgy industry — and regulation is at the core of that resistance to change. Despite the best efforts of would-be disruptors to cut out this middleman, 88% of buyers this year enlisted a real-estate agent, a Zillow survey found. Short of a tech-enabled homebuying nirvana, there are some other changes that could make the process easier for consumers. Saul Klein, an early internet evangelist in the real-estate industry, told me he sees an approaching "paradigm shift."

Persons: that's, you'll, they're, it's, Mike DelPrete, Rob Hahn, DelPrete, aren't, they'd, pocketing, —, ClosingCorp, we're, John Berkowitz, hasn't, Berkowitz, They're, Bobby Bryant, Bryant, Rich Barton, Wendy Gilch, Gilch, Saul Klein, Klein, James Rodriguez Organizations: Companies, University of Colorado Boulder, National Association of Realtors, Ojo, Group Inc, Universal Locations: Washington, California, Georgia

☆ Billionaire investor Leon Cooperman says the S&P 500 won't hit a new high for years – and house prices will probably fall
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The billionaire investor said he didn't expect the S&P 500 to hit a fresh high for a long time. Cooperman said a "rolling correction" was underway and house prices were likely to drop. AdvertisementAdvertisementLeon Cooperman said stocks were overpriced, and the S&P 500 wouldn't notch a fresh high for a very long time. AdvertisementAdvertisementA handful of Big Tech names, including Tesla, Nvidia, and Microsoft, have pulled the major indexes higher this year, but excluding the so-called Magnificent Seven, stocks are virtually flat. He said in February that the S&P 500 was likely to bottom around 3,100 points, or 35% below its January 2022 peak.

Persons: Leon Cooperman, Cooperman, —, Jeremy Grantham, John Hussman, Goldman Sachs, Tesla Organizations: Service, Omega Advisors, Big Tech, Nvidia, Microsoft, Wall, Finance, Philanthropy Locations: Bronx

☆ 10 mistakes I made while selling my first startup and what I should've done instead
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Andrew Gazdecki | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

I lost my first acquisition offer, got married, almost lost another offer, persuaded the buyer to stick with it, and finally sold my first business. With my experience as a guide, I hope you can avoid these common acquisition mistakes and secure a better outcome. The private equity firm that acquired my first startup, Bizness Apps, asked for dozens of spreadsheets during due diligence. AdvertisementAdvertisementA broker would market my startup and connect me with potential buyers in return for a cut of the purchase price. Even in the closing stages, I continued selling my business and fostering a relationship with my buyer.

Persons: Andrew Gazdecki, might've, I'd, we'd, Bizness, I'm, you'll, you've, doesn't, could've, Weeks Organizations: Service, Apple, Google, Facebook, Adobe Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ Carbon accounting was red hot in 2021. Now it's facing widespread consolidation, investors say.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Carbon accounting startups peaked in 2021, raising over $5 billion from investors. The rise of carbon accountingThere are around 50 European carbon accounting companies, many of which didn't exist before 2019, according to Insider's own research. Venture capitalists are typically bullish on SaaS because it can scale quickly with few overheads, which is the promise many carbon accounting companies make. Carbon accounting business models often fell short of true SaaS scalability and instead relied on employees doing tasks manually, despite touting automation, investors said. The next generation of carbon accounting companies should be hyper-focused on one niche – for example, accounting for methane in the agricultural industry or water use.

Persons: Niklas Kaskeala, Antero Vartia, grimly, Kaskeala, That's, Namrata Sandhu, Luca Schmid, ClimateTrade, Germany's, Australia's Envizi, EcoOnline, Germany's Planetly, Buyers aren't Organizations: Sequoia, Octopus Ventures, Cherry Ventures, Balderton, Investors, Venture, Germany's TeamClimate, Watershed, IBM, Sage, SoftBank, KPMG, Enterprise, SAP, Oracle Locations: Helsinki, Finnish, Coatue, Europe, Zalando, London

☆ Goldman Sachs: 20 Cities With Highest and Lowest Home-Price Growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Laila Maidan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Goldman Sachs says determined home buyers aren't being deterred by higher interest rates. Strategists at Goldman Sachs no longer expect home prices to drop for the full year 2023. Homeowners who are locked into lower rates aren't likely to give that up in exchange for new property. Housing affordability has returned to its historic 2007 lows, according to Goldman Sachs' Housing Affordability Index. This means smaller, more affordable homes are increasing demand, leading to higher price growth in that part of the housing market.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Roger Ashworth, Goldman Locations: Charlotte, Atlanta

Added to valuations from December, major REITs, which build, own and operate property assets, have marked down office portfolios by roughly a tenth or less over the past year. Dexus shares have fallen 28% since 2022, while Charter Hall has nearly halved. "Buyers aren't willing to pay the price from the last valuations," said Winston Sammut, an investment manager at Sequoia Financial Group and a former executive at Charter Hall. Dexus and Charter Hall did not respond to requests for comment. "We're looking to see whether the fund managers, the Charter Halls, the Centurias, the Dexus are also getting large redemptions."

Persons: Tom Westbrook, Buyers, Winston Sammut, it's, REITs, Centuria, Grant Berry, Dexus, Ping, Blackstone, Amy Pham, Sammut, Australia's, Hostplus, that's, Pham, Lewis Jackson, Scott Murdoch, Sam Holmes Organizations: REUTERS, Charter Hall, Sequoia Financial Group, Charter, Reuters, SG Hiscock, Company, Blackstone, Sydney, Pengana Capital, Thomson Locations: Epping, Sydney, Australia, SYDNEY, Canberra, United States

☆ The only group that bull market buyers aren't buying right now is tech, says Jim Cramer
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailThe only group that bull market buyers aren't buying right now is tech, says Jim Cramer'Mad Money' host Jim Cramer breaks down the four camps of bull market buyers in the current market.

Persons: Jim Cramer

☆ 2023 will go down as 'the year of disappointment' for homebuyers and sellers, says top appraiser Jonathan Miller. Here's why he says it will take a long time for the market to normalize.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Marley Jay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

New York appraiser Jonathan Miller has written about US real estate for more than 25 years. He says it will take a few years for the supply of older homes to grow enough to really move prices. Yes, the housing market has come off the boil thanks to a steep increase in interest rates, and prices have slipped from their highs. That long period of low rates, followed by a boom in home sales after the pandemic started, severely reduced housing supply. Until then, Miller says a real correction in housing prices is unlikely because the shortage of homes for sale will keep prices from falling too much.

Persons: Jonathan Miller, they've, Miller, Miller Samuel, Douglas Elliman, Sellers, that's, it'll Locations: York, New York, New York City, Southern California , Florida, Boston

MUNICH, May 17 (Reuters) - Electric car maker Fisker Inc (FSR.N) is exploring collaboration with other companies to scale up market share faster, Chief Executive Henrik Fisker said on Wednesday. If we collaborate with someone, you can scale quicker ... it could be with suppliers, other car companies, tech companies - we are exploring all these avenues," Fisker said, speaking at the Reuters Automotive Conference in Munich. The PEAR will have 25% fewer parts than a comparable car today, Fisker said. Instead, Fisker will build vehicles from steel, combining multiple parts into one using single stampings, he said. Fisker said eventually the company plans to have production capacity in Europe, China, the United States and India.

☆ Electric cars could cost the same as gas-powered ones as soon as 2025 — so long as you buy small
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Electric cars could cost the same as gas-powered ones as early as the mid-2020s. That's only if shoppers go small, according to new analysis from the International Energy Agency. It's as long as shoppers buy small, according to the International Energy Agency's latest global EV outlook. Still, the average new EV cost $58,940 in March, according to Kelley Blue Book, while the average new gas-powered car went for $48,008. Bigger battery-powered vehicles have batteries that are two- to three-times larger than small cars, according to the IEA, which requires more critical minerals that are costly.

The average cost of a financed used car has risen significantly since the pandemic began. Even if the price of a used car comes back down, you might still get hit by high interest rates. Americans' cars are worth $313 billion more than 2020Many of the used vehicles on America's roads are worth considerably more now than they were last year. That means that while many used cars likely haven't appreciated in value, newer cars have risen in value significantly. All the used cars that were financed last year are worth a collective $1.5 trillion — $313 billion more than they were worth in 2020.

☆ New electric cars come with a built-in mystery: Nobody can predict their resale value
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

But it's hard to say exactly how a used EV depreciates without much historical data. There are many things to consider when evaluating a used EV. Nobody knows how much a used EV is worthThe way that used luxury and non-luxury gas-powered vehicles depreciate might not necessarily apply to used electric cars because of several caveats, according to Edmunds analysts. What data we do have on used EV sale prices may not apply to the cars coming out now. There isn't much used EV data available to know how an EV might depreciate.

☆ Rivian and Lucid's Q4 struggles signal an even tougher 2023 for EV startups
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Nora Naughton | Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The results from Rivian and Lucid signal a tough year ahead for EV startups, said Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting for AutoForecast Solutions. "As an investor you're going to be watching for every sign of trouble because you're now expecting a larger return on your investment." Rivian and Lucid's results came just after Tesla also missed analyst expectations for its fourth-quarter delivery results — and it has investors concerned. Previously, Rivian delivered more vehicles than it built in Q2 (accounting for vehicles built before the quarter that didn't make their way to customers), but only delivered about 89% of what it built in Q3. "With newcomers like Rivian and Lucid, that is going to be a warning sign for some people to begin with."

☆ Rents are falling — it could help pull mortgage rates down even lower
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Falling rents could help bring inflation down, leading to less mortgage interest rate hikes. And if this trend continues, it could even help ease inflation and ultimately lead to lower mortgage rates. Another important component in the slowing rent growth is that it could lead to cheaper mortgage rates. Slowing inflation has already translated to lower mortgage rates, which peaked at over 7% in October. Over the last five weeks, mortgage rates have declined by more than three quarters of a point — marking the largest drop since 2008.

☆ More Foreclosures, Easier Mortgages Would Help Fix America's Housing Market
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

These standards are based on factors including the borrower's financial stability and the state of the housing market and economy. Finding the right size for the credit box is much easier said than done. A tidal wave of foreclosures followed, plunging the US housing market — and the global economy — into chaos. Even just stabilizing the credit box over time could also help smooth out some of the boom-and-bust cycles that have come to define the housing market. "If we do not address this intrinsic cyclicality, the housing market will continue to experience boom-bust cycles, leaving destruction in their wake," the paper said.

☆ Car companies want to make billions by charging monthly fees for features like heated seats, but buyers won't pay up
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Tim Levin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Car companies expect to make billions charging customers recurring fees for vehicle features. As vehicles become increasingly connected to the internet, car companies aim to rake in billions by having customers pay monthly or annual subscriptions to access certain features. But car companies still haven't figured out exactly what customers are willing to pay for, and what feels like a frustrating upcharge. An April study by Cox Automotive found that 75% of consumers are not willing to subscribe to most vehicle features. Hackers have helped car owners upgrade their vehicles for years, and subscription features could be their next target, Vice reported.

☆ An investor with 35,000 rental houses is sitting on $3 billion of 'dry powder' as it waits for the perfect time to buy up thousands more homes
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Tricon Residential is one of the biggest owners of single-family rental homes in the US. Berman said the company expected to buy up 850 homes in the fourth quarter, for a total of 7,300 this year. Berman said the company was "slowing down today" so it could buy larger portfolios at discounted prices in the future. Single-family rental operators may be slowing down in the short term, but the biggest players have been adamant that the fundamentals of their business remain strong. "We also think that a lot of the startups in single-family rental may have trouble getting financing, and so maybe some portfolios shake loose.

☆ Goodbye, bidding wars. Home sellers are losing some of the power they've enjoyed for the past 2 years.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A surge in mortgage rates have cause buyers to sit on the sidelines. Whatever affordability buyers have gained through sliding prices, they are losing in mortgage rate hikes. As Americans face mortgage rates that are nearly twice as expensive as they were in 2021, more people are putting their homeownership dreams on pause. And that means sellers are not only losing leverage — they are also losing money. "Resourceful sellers understand that the market is intertwined with rising mortgage rates," Sam Chute, a Redfin listing agent said in a housing report on the decline of bidding wars.

☆ Home cheat home: How real-estate agents are ripping off homebuyers
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +20 min

The other day, Linda, the real-estate agent whom my wife and I used to buy our home, called me out of the blue. Real-estate agents, like doctors, are the friendly, knowledgeable face of a bewildering, price-gouging system. If Americans paid the same rate as the British, they would save more than $72 billion a year in real-estate commissions. The potential for big money, in turn, has led more and more Americans to become real-estate agents. Every dollar that is paid out in a real-estate transaction — to sellers, agents, inspectors, insurers, and the IRS — comes from you, the buyer.

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