Share this article!

Fewer homes on the market, a stalled wind energy project gets reanimated, and an ancient Roman stadium is unearthed. From the wild and wooly world of real estate, here are our Hits and Misses for the week of Sept. 22-26.

Miss: Rut Roh. The most jolting data news story this week was Redfin’s announcement that active listings of homes for sale during August were down by 1.4% from July, the largest seasonally adjusted decline since June 2023. Although active listings last month were up 9.7% year-over-year, this marked the smallest year-over-year increase since March 2024. New listings dipped 1.1% month-over-month to the lowest seasonally adjusted level since January 2024 and were also down 2.6% year-over-year. “High housing costs and economic jitters have rattled buyers, and that unease has spilled over to sellers,” said Chen Zhao, Redfin’s head of economics research, adding, “We currently expect existing home sales to end the year at around 4.05 million, or roughly flat compared to 2024, which was the worst year for sales since 1995.” If this is the shape of things to come, the housing market is still seriously out of shape.

Hit: The Answer Really is Blowin’ in the Wind. Kudos to Judge Royce Lamberth, a Reagan appointee, who granted a preliminary injunction that will temporarily allow for the continued construction on a nearly completed offshore wind project that was shut down by the Trump administration. The Revolution Wind project, which is 80% finished, is designed to provide electric power to 350,000 households in Connecticut and Rhode Island, but it was halted last month by the administration over unspecified national security concerns. Lamberth’s ruling stated that Orsted and Skyborn Renewables, the developers behind the project, were “likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction,” but the Department of the Interior claimed it would continue “its investigation into possible impacts by the project to national security and prevention of other uses on the Outer Continental Shelf.” Considering that the president actively loathes wind turbines, the Interior gang have no choice but to press ahead.

Miss: Something Else is Blowin’ in the Wind. Stephen Miran made his first speech in his capacity as a temporary governor of the Federal Reserve with a bizarre speech this week where he insisted the central bank’s key interest rate should be closer to 2.5% than its current level. The Associated Press covered Miran’s presentation before the Economic Club of New York where he claimed having fewer immigrants will make rents lower and expand the availability of homes for sale. He also claimed tariff revenues should reduce the deficit. Miran acknowledged he is still a White House economic adviser, albeit on a brief leave of absence, but insisted, “At the end of the day, I make my own analysis based on my own understanding of economics and how the economy works,” adding the president “never asked me to set policy in a specific way.” To quote a certain band from Liverpool: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Miss: Pulte Talking Big Again. This week, the irrepressible Bill Pulte took a break from insulting Lisa Cook to take a few jabs at former President Biden. On his personal X account, he declared, “Effective Immediately, US Federal Housing is TERMINATING Biden’s ‘racial equality committee’ which was dishonestly labeled ‘Affordable, Equitable, and Sustainable Housing’. We are, instead, focused on the safety of the market and restoring the American Dream!” In a statement issued by the Federal Housing Finance Agency – which, by the way, is the real name of his agency, not US Federal Housing – Pulte declared a withdrawal from the Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System with the quip, “Biden drove housing costs up with politicized nonsense that prioritized climate activists over American families. Consistent with President Trump’s Executive Orders, we are removing these distractions to ensure Fannie, Freddie, and our housing finance system stay laser focused on delivering the American dream of homeownership.” What is more curious – the fact that Pulte is still bashing Biden even though the man left Washington last January, or that he constantly talks about strengthening the housing market but has yet do anything about making housing more affordable and plentiful?

Hit: Playing Ball, Ancient-Style. We often cover news stories relating to stadium construction and renovations, but here is a stadium story that tops them all. Ancient Origins reports on the excavation of an 1,800-year-old stadium built by the Romans in the ancient city of Syedra in Turkey’s Mediterranean region. According to this news report, the stadium measures “approximately 200 meters in length and 16 meters in width, was carved directly into the bedrock at an altitude of 340 meters above sea level … the structure had remained partially hidden for centuries, with only sections of the seating rows visible before the current excavation campaign. The findings suggest the stadium could accommodate between 2,000 and 3,000 spectators, making it a substantial venue for its time period.” This stadium was a tribute to both ancient Rome’s engineering prowess and athletic culture – and we suspect that unlike today’s city and state government the Roman Empire didn’t face any public backlash about the use of public funding for sports stadiums.

Miss: Grow Up, Please. This week, Florida’s Lake County Commission unanimously approved a proposal to create roadside markers in honor of the slain conservative commentator and activist Charlie Kirk, but not everyone attending the commission’s hearing brought dignity to the proceedings. WESH.com reports that opponents to the plan to honor Kirk violently disrupted the proceedings, turning what was supposed to be a cordial meeting into hours of “contentious debate, jeers, middle fingers being raised toward commissioners and the removal of three public speakers by deputies.” Really, is that how adults are supposed to behave? Kirk advocated for a cordial exchange of ideas, not screaming and extended middle fingers. The childish and stupid behavior of the Kirk haters during this meeting suggest that some people in Lake County would benefit from a vigorous mental health intervention.

Phil Hall is editor of Weekly Real Estate News. He can be reached at [email protected].