Disappointing housing and personal finance data reports, an unlikely business enjoying property tax breaks and a land transfer that rights a historic wrong. From the wild and wooly world of real estate, here are our Hits and Misses for the week of June 17-21.
Miss: What’s Wrong with This Picture? Today’s data report from the National Association of Realtors highlighted a housing market that is more than a little off-kilter – existing home sales dipped by 0.7% in May from April and were down 2.8% from one year ago, even though the total housing inventory was up 18.5% from one year ago. On top of that, the median existing-home price for all housing types was $419,300, the highest price ever recorded. Will this be the new normal? Only time will tell.
Miss: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? More unfortunate data news came from a new nationwide survey published by Monmouth University’s Polling Institute, which found 46% of respondents complaining they were having difficulty maintaining financial stability, while 45% of respondents said they were “basically stable” in their financial situation and a mere 9% boasted their financial situation is improving. And not to get too political, but it should be noted that the 46% of respondents expressing problems maintaining their financial stability represented a continued increase of monetary stress during the Biden era – in Monmouth’s polls conducted between 2022 and 2023, that share ranged between 37% and 44%, compared to a 20% to 29% range during the Trump era of 2017 to 2021.
Hit or Miss: Cause and Effect, or Not? One of the most provocative stories of the week involved U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) linking illegal immigration to housing affordability. Vance took to X (formerly Twitter) to comment on remarks by financial writer James Surowiecki, who denigrated the notion that the housing market would improve under Donald Trump. Said Vance: “Not having 20 million illegal aliens who need to be housed (often at public expense) will absolutely make housing more affordable for American citizens. But I see the left’s strategy of making fun of people for suffering under Biden policies continues apace.” Whether Vance is right or wrong can be debated – and it was, with vigor, in the comments section of our coverage of Vance, and we’re grateful for the reader input on these thorny subjects.
Hit: A Kinky Consideration. We usually don’t call attention to our competition in the real estate media, but the spotlight should be shined on the Chicago Sun-Times for the article featuring this headline: “Sex Dungeon on Near West Side Has Gotten Property Tax Breaks for Decades.” We’re not going to summarize the contents of this article – and due to its NSFW contents, you may want to ensure you’re reading it an appropriate setting. But in all seriousness, it is a compelling investigation of how a highly unlikely business might have taken significant advantage of local property tax loopholes.
Miss: A Bad Call? This week, the Bank of England opted to hold interest rates at their 16-year peak of 5.25%. While the nation’s inflation rate dropped to central bank’s target of 2% last month, the Bank of England’s policy makers voted 7-2 to hold rates ahead of the July 4 national election. And while the central bank stressed the election was “not relevant to its decision,” Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, a Conservative member of parliament, was not convinced. “It is a political decision by the Bank of England,” he said in an interview with The Telegraph. “Inflation is now on target and rates need to be cut. That we are in an election period ought to make no difference but the Bank has made a decision based on short-term politics rather than economics.”
Hit: A Long Time Coming. Earlier this week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the state’s support for the return of over 2,800 acres of ancestral land to the Shasta Indian Nation. According to the Sacramento Bee, the Shasta people historically inhabited land in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon, but their lands were seized by eminent domain in 1910 for the construction of the Copco dam. The transfer includes land previously buried under reservoirs created by dam. “By listening to and working with tribes across the state, including to return ancestral homelands and restore the environment, we are healing deep wounds and rebuilding trust between our people,” said Newsom.
And on an unrelated note, today is National Take Your Dog to Work Day. I don’t know about you, but I work from home and Mila Jane Hall’s day did not require an extensive commute:
Phil Hall is editor of Weekly Real Estate News. He can be reached at [email protected]
Cover photo courtesy Anthony B. Sanders
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