NAR Says Typical First-Time Homebuyer Age Was 40 in 2025, up from 33 in 2021. But Is this Accurate? by Wolf Richter • Dec 5, 2025 • 25 Comments A narrative gets debunked. The affordability crisis remains.
CMBS: “Commercial Mortgage BS” by John McNellis • Dec 5, 2025 • 26 Comments “We should have learned our lesson and sworn off CMBS forever”: McNellis, commercial real estate developer.
Fed Balance Sheet QT: -$37 Billion in November, -$2.43 Trillion from Peak, to $6.54 Trillion by Wolf Richter • Dec 4, 2025 • 55 Comments Standing Repo Facility at zero, after doing its job calming the repo market at month-end. QT ended on December 1, but in November, QT continued.
Low-Fire Low-Hire Job Market, after Massive Overhiring by Big Tech & Others in 2021 & 2022 by Wolf Richter • Dec 4, 2025 • 52 Comments But today’s initial unemployment insurance claims were a doozie that’ll reverse next week.
Private-Sector Job Trends by Industry: From Job Destruction in “Information” to Job Creation in “Mining & Natural Resources” by Wolf Richter • Dec 3, 2025 • 54 Comments Three-month average job creation dips into negative for the first time since 2020, per ADP data.
Services Inflation Accelerates Further in the Euro Area, Drives Overall & Core CPI Higher by Wolf Richter • Dec 2, 2025 • 20 Comments Services inflation was on the ECB’s worry-list when it kept rates unchanged for the third meeting in a row.
Mortgage Rates, 10-Year & 30-Year Treasury Yields Jump, Wiping out in One Day the Entire Drop of Last Week by Wolf Richter • Dec 2, 2025 • 118 Comments The bond market went back to work on Monday.
Manufacturing Grew for 10th Month of 11 in 2025: S&P. Manufacturing Declined for 9th Month Straight: ISM. What Gives? by Wolf Richter • Dec 1, 2025 • 19 Comments What even are these manufacturing PMIs?
Mortgage Rates Are Not Too High. What’s too High Are Home Prices that Exploded by 40-70% in 2 Years, Creating the “Affordability Crisis” by Wolf Richter • Nov 29, 2025 • 175 Comments But there is a solution to this affordability crisis.
New Vehicle Inflation: the “WOLF STREET Ford F-150 XLT & Toyota Camry LE Price Index” Going back to 1990 v. CPI by Wolf Richter • Nov 28, 2025 • 112 Comments Now updated with the prices for the 2026 model year.
Amazing How Central Bank Money-Printing Reversed around the World after the Inflation Shock by Wolf Richter • Nov 27, 2025 • 80 Comments Balance sheets of the Fed, ECB, BOJ, BOE, and central banks of China, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, and India as % of GDP.
Despite their Ultra-Sour Mood, Americans Splurge at Restaurants & Bars like There’s No Tomorrow by Wolf Richter • Nov 26, 2025 • 170 Comments Far outdistancing inflation and blowing by food & beverage stores.
PPI Inflation Bounces Back by Wolf Richter • Nov 25, 2025 • 23 Comments Food and energy prices spiked in the delayed Producer Price Index for September.
AI-Spending War and AI-Debt Pile-Up Could Squeeze Share Buybacks by Wolf Richter • Nov 24, 2025 • 95 Comments Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Oracle, Meta, and Nvidia spent $1.1 trillion on share buybacks in 5 years to pump up their shares. That’s at risk.
The 14 Bigger Cities & Counties with the Biggest Price Declines of Single-Family Homes (-10% to -25%) from Peak to October by Wolf Richter • Nov 23, 2025 • 49 Comments Oakland, Austin, New Orleans, Manhattan, Lee County (Cape Coral, Fort Myers), Sarasota County, San Francisco, Birmingham, Washington DC, Denver, Phoenix, Contra Costa County…
Credit Card Delinquencies, Balances, Burden, Credit Limits, and Collections in Q3 2025 by Wolf Richter • Nov 21, 2025 • 78 Comments Despite all moaning and groaning and sour feelings in consumer land, credit card delinquency rates improved further.
Federal Government Job Cuts Still Hitting Employment Data: The Labor Market by Major Industry in Charts by Wolf Richter • Nov 20, 2025 • 36 Comments Federal and state governments cut 122,000 employees this year through September. But other industries hired.
The 24 Bigger Cities where Condo Prices Have Dropped by 12% to 29% through October by Wolf Richter • Nov 19, 2025 • 46 Comments The Condo Bust deepens and spreads to more cities, unwinding some mindboggling Condo Bubbles.
Treasury Market Scuttles Hope for December Rate Cut, Doubts January Cut, after Hawkish Fed Minutes by Wolf Richter • Nov 19, 2025 • 31 Comments “Many participants suggested that … it would likely be appropriate to keep the target range unchanged for the rest of the year.”
Social Security Fiscal Year 2025: Trust Fund Balance, Income, Outgo, Deficit, and Interest Rates by Wolf Richter • Nov 18, 2025 • 83 Comments The deficit doubled, as benefit payments spiked in part due to the expansion of Social Security, while income rose only slowly.
