On Our Radar

Vox, June 13, 2024, The Federal Government’s New Plan To (Maybe) Give Renters Straight Cash The federal government is laying the groundwork for a potentially major change to the nation’s largest rental assistance program, aiming to test an idea that would allow low-income tenants to pay rent directly with cash, rather than use traditional housing […]

UGA Today, June 12, 2024, Black Youth Are Paying An Emotional Toll Due To Racism A new study from the University of Georgia suggests some Black youth are internalizing racial discrimination, which may increase their rates of depression and anxiety. The analysis is part of a national study that followed over 1,500 Black American adolescents for

The Wall Street Journal, June 16, 2024, Wells Fargo Bet On A Flashy Rent Credit Card. It Is Costing the Bank Dearly. When Charlie Scharf took over as CEO of Wells Fargo WFC 0.08% increase; green up pointing triangle, one of his priorities was to expand the bank’s credit-card business. Now, a flashy partnership with a startup is complicating a

Wired, June 17, 2024, Banks Are Finally Realizing What Climate Change Will Do to Housing Rising sea levels, biodiversity collapse, extreme weather—these are the grisly horsemen of climate apocalypse. But don’t forget the fretting loan officers. A study published earlier this year found that US mortgage approvals tend to dip following periods of hotter-than-normal weather. For every

Greater Greater Washington, June 17, 2024, Want To Improve DC Schools? Build Teacher Housing The lack of teacher retention is becoming an epidemic: nationwide, 55% of teachers said they were contemplating leaving the profession, according to a 2022 survey by the National Education Association. Younger educators, teachers of color, and those working in low-income schools are even more likely

The Washington Post, June 17, 2024, TikTok Lifted This Family Out Of Public Housing. See Their Life Before And After Three years ago, Fanstasia Linda McLean, 30, was making about $175 per client braiding hair in her public housing apartment in Brooklyn. Today, she makes $245 working from a salon space in Nashville, and people

The Wall Street Journal, June 17, 2024, Citigroup Facing New Regulatory Knock On Its Living Will The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s five-member board intends to vote Thursday to downgrade its rating on Citi’s data-management systems to a “deficiency” from a “shortcoming,” people familiar with the matter said. The FDIC and the Federal Reserve had flagged

The New York Times, June 17, 2024, Biden To Give Legal Protections To Undocumented Spouses Of U.S. Citizens President Biden on Tuesday will announce sweeping new protections for hundreds of thousands of immigrants who have been living in the United States illegally for years but are married to American citizens, officials familiar with the plan said. Mr.

Vox, June 18, 2024, Yes In God’s Backyard? This Housing Solution May Be The Answer To Your Prayers. About five years ago, Harvey Vaughn, the senior pastor at Bethel AME, the oldest Black church in San Diego, heard a radio report about rising homelessness in his city. He wondered if his congregation, which owned a

The Hill, June 18, 2024, These 10 US Cities Are ‘Missing’ The Most Homes, New Report Finds It’s no secret the U.S. housing market has been hot in recent years. That has continued into 2024, despite mortgage rates staying close to 7% so far. The hot housing market during the COVID pandemic was coupled with

NPR, June 20, 2024, U.S. Home Prices Have Far Outpaced Paychecks. See What It Looks Like Where You live Millions of Americans are already shut out of buying a home, and the cost of buying one continues to rise. In past decades, it was common to find a house that cost roughly three times a

Axios, June 20, 2024, How Apple Is Winning The Financial Services Game The iPhone has become a platform for thousands of financial services companies, including buy now, pay later providers. The one guaranteed winner is Apple, which has ensured it takes no risk itself. Why it matters: An iPhone doesn’t just act as a metaphorical wallet, it’s also

BBC, June 21, 2024, What Are The Parties Saying About Housing? – Your Questions One of the biggest issues for voters in this election is housing – and the parties are fully aware of this. When pressed by the BBC’s Nick Robinson, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak admitted that owning a home has become more difficult. There

Reuters, June 20, 2024, US Single-Family Housing Starts Fall In May Single-family housing starts, which account for the bulk of homebuilding, declined 5.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 982,000 units last month, the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said on Thursday. Data for April was revised higher to show single-family starts rising to a

The New York Times, June 20, 2024, The Housing Market Is Weird and Ugly. These 5 Charts Explain Why. When the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates in 2022, most economists thought the housing market would be the first to suffer the consequences: Higher borrowing costs would make it more expensive to buy and to