A new report from Oxford Economics reveals that the housing market in the U.S. remains bleak, with soaring home prices and doubled mortgage rates leading to a significant drop in affordability, where only one-third of households can afford to buy a house. In June, home prices were 47% higher than in early 2020, and to afford a new home in Q3 2024, a household needs to earn $107,700 annually, nearly double the income required in Q3 2019. The most affordable metro areas are in the Midwest, such as Decatur, IL, Cumberland, MD, and Youngstown, OH, while the least affordable areas are in California and Honolulu, with San Jose being the least affordable where residents need an annual income of $461,000 to afford a home.
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Friday’s Jobs Report Will Be Confusing. Here’s How to Make Sense of It.
The Labor Department's latest monthly report on hiring and unemployment will include revisions for previous months, providing a more accurate picture of the U.S. job market but potentially causing confusion due to differing data sources and methodologies. The revisions are part of an annual process to reconcile survey data with more reliable sources, with recent job growth expected to be revised down, making the job gains during the Biden administration appear weaker. Additionally, the revisions...
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