Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
U.S. home prices have finally dipped into the red after two years of relentless gains, reviving memories of the last time the market cracked in spectacular fashion. The shift has stirred fresh talk of a 2008-style collapse, but the data and expert forecasts point to a very different kind of downturn. I see a market…
Importing an electric car into Nigeria has never been cheap, but one dealer’s recent experience has turned into a cautionary tale for the entire market. A Lagos-based importer says it cost a staggering $20,000 just to clear a single Tesla at the port, a bill that rivals the value of many brand-new vehicles. The story…
Austin’s once white-hot housing market has cooled so sharply that some agents now complain their listings just sit, and a few have started grumbling about a “Rogan effect,” arguing that the city’s most famous transplant helped inflate expectations on the way up and is now a symbol of the comedown. The reality is more complicated….
Donald Trump returned to the White House promising to bring housing costs back within reach, casting himself as the president who would finally tame runaway prices and open the door to homeownership again. Early moves to push down borrowing costs and curb Wall Street’s role in the housing market were billed as proof that relief…
President Donald Trump is not just tolerating high housing costs, he is embracing them as a policy goal. In recent remarks, he has said plainly that he wants home values to rise, even as millions of would-be buyers are locked out of the market. The comments crystallize a housing strategy that prioritizes existing owners’ wealth…
For many would-be buyers, the sticker shock on a $500,000 listing is only the beginning of the problem. The real barrier is a quiet line on the mortgage application that decides, long before you tour the kitchen, whether you will ever get the keys. That line, the income figure lenders plug into their formulas, has…
In Florida, a long simmering fight over neighborhood control has collided with tragedy. After a deadly confrontation inside a homeowners association community, a state legislator’s outrage has hardened into a campaign to give residents the power to dismantle their HOAs altogether. The clash is no longer just about parking rules or paint colors, it is…
Americans are still on the move in 2026, but the pandemic-era free‑for‑all has settled into a clearer pattern of winners and losers. A handful of Sun Belt and Mountain West destinations are pulling in new residents with cheaper housing, jobs and lifestyle perks, while a different set of high‑cost or slow‑growth states are watching more…
The era of rock-bottom pandemic mortgages is finally giving way to something more familiar, and for many homeowners the shift is jarring. After years of clinging to 2% and 3% loans, the typical new 30‑year rate is now hovering around 6%, with some offers dipping just under that line. The surprise is not only that…
Mortgage borrowers are catching a rare break. After a bruising stretch of rate spikes, the typical 30‑year loan is now sitting near its lowest level in roughly three years, giving both first‑time buyers and would‑be refinancers a window of opportunity. The open question is how long that window stays cracked, and whether the next big…