As Life Happens, “Locked-in” Homeowners Pay Off Below-4% Mortgages: Share Drops to 54%, Lowest since Q4 2020

Core PCE price index jumps MoM by most in 13 months on Non-Housing Services. Recreational Services blow out. Durable Goods continue 6-month trip out of deflation.

US Government Fiscal Mess: Debt, Deficit, Interest Payments, and Tax Receipts: Q4 2024 Update on an Ugly Situation

by Wolf Richter • Mar 27, 2025 • 159 Comments

The Deficit-to-GDP ratio and Debt-to-GDP ratio get even uglier.

In the South & West, Pending Sales of Existing Homes Mark Worst February in the Data, as Inventories in Florida, Texas, California Surge

by Wolf Richter • Mar 27, 2025 • 52 Comments

Frozen sales meet ballooning inventories.

Home Buyers Still on Strike, Waiting for Lower Prices, Lower Rates, and Higher Incomes

by Wolf Richter • Mar 26, 2025 • 107 Comments

Demand for mortgages to purchase a home has plunged by nearly double the rate of sales of existing homes.

In the West, Inventory of New Houses for Sale Jumps to Highest since 2007. In the South, it’s Bigger than During Housing Bust

by Wolf Richter • Mar 25, 2025 • 87 Comments

Bring on the supply of new houses! Prices drop, as homebuilders try to sell the inventory, but are still far too high.

SPAC Implosion Keeps on Giving: Genetic Data of 15 Million Customers up for Grabs at 23andMe Bankruptcy Auction

by Wolf Richter • Mar 24, 2025 • 78 Comments

California Attorney General urges Californians to direct 23andMe to delete their genetic data and samples.

Services Activity Jumps in March, Cost Pressures from Tariffs & Staffing Well Up

by Wolf Richter • Mar 24, 2025 • 44 Comments

But “competition limited the pass-through of higher costs to selling price … which will harm profits.”

Treasury Yield Curve Re-Inverts with Sag in the Middle, as Government Swats Down 10-Year Yield. But Mortgage Rates Don’t Follow all the Way, Spread Widens

by Wolf Richter • Mar 22, 2025 • 105 Comments

Short-term Treasury yields of 6 months or less stay put above 4%.

Fed’s Operating Losses Declined to $78 Billion in 2024, “Unrealized Losses” Rose to $1.06 Trillion

by Wolf Richter • Mar 21, 2025 • 77 Comments

QE has produced years of hangover.

Where Condos Already Came Unglued: 10 Big Cities with Price Drops from 10% to 22% from Peak

by Wolf Richter • Mar 21, 2025 • 80 Comments

Austin, Oakland, San Francisco, Detroit, New Orleans, Jacksonville, Denver, Portland, Seattle, Mesa. Tampa is almost there, as are other markets.

Buyers Strike Not Letting Up: Sales of Existing Homes Have Worst February since 2009, as Inventory Surges

by Wolf Richter • Mar 20, 2025 • 85 Comments

Too-high prices trigger demand destruction, market freezes.

Fed Sticks to Wait-and-See, Sees Only 2 Cuts in 2025, “Dot Plot” Shifts Hawkish amid Rising Inflation & “Uncertainties.” Slows Treasury QT, Maintains MBS QT

by Wolf Richter • Mar 19, 2025 • 156 Comments

“Dot plot”: 8 of 19 participants see either no cut or just 1 cut in 2025.

Who Holds the Ballooning US Government Debt, even as the Fed and Foreign Holders Unloaded Treasury Securities in Q4?

by Wolf Richter • Mar 18, 2025 • 59 Comments

An increasingly important question in iffy times. Here are the holders as of Q4, who dumped, who bought.

Not Just in the US: Inflation Dishes Up Another Nasty Surprise in Canada, Throwing Further Rate Cuts into Doubt

by Wolf Richter • Mar 18, 2025 • 64 Comments

But it’s not in housing; it’s spread across much of the economy. And it’s not just the end of the temporary GST (goods & service tax) holiday.