FINWIRES · TerminalLIVE
FINWIRES

Most Americans Support Policies That Would Improve Housing Affordability, Redfin Survey Shows

By
Most Americans Support Policies That Would Improve Housing Affordability, Redfin Survey Shows

Most US residents back federal policies that would help lower housing costs, a survey by Redfin showed Friday, largely in line with the broad bipartisan support behind an affordable housing bill that was recently passed by Congress.

Some 79% of Americans support tax breaks for first-time homebuyers, while 77% favor policies aimed at lowering housing costs, the online real estate brokerage said, citing its survey of 4,000 US residents.

About three-quarters of Americans support caps on rent hikes, low-income housing initiatives, and down payment assistance programs, while 54% back policies that make it easy to build homes in their area, according to the report.

Earlier this week, Congress passed the bipartisan 21st Century Road to Housing Act. The legislation, which is aimed at easing the national housing crisis by boosting supply and expanding affordable homeownership, among other measures, is stalled as President Donald Trump reportedly delays signing it.

"For over a decade, the prevailing view was that housing was a local issue best left to city councils and mayors," Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather said Friday. "But housing affordability has become a national crisis."

While Democrats showed higher enthusiasm, support remains heavily bipartisan, as 83% of Democrats and 74% of Republicans back general affordability policies, while 85% of Democrats and 77% of Republicans favor first-time buyer tax breaks, the survey showed.

"By passing this bill out of the Senate Banking Committee 24-0, Republicans and Democrats alike showed that affordability is a priority," Fairweather said. "The great accomplishment of the bill itself is that it uses solutions like zoning reform and improved permitting to prove that government policies can make people better off without spending big."

Earlier in the week, a Redfin report showed that US home prices increased 0.3% in May on a seasonally adjusted basis, the fastest monthly gain since January. Official data showed that new-home sales unexpectedly declined last month as prices moved higher.

Related Articles

Tokyo Inflation Swells to 1.7% % in June, Adding Pressure on BOJ
US Markets

Tokyo Inflation Swells to 1.7% % in June, Adding Pressure on BOJ

Consumer prices in Japan's capital rose 1.7% year over year in June, accelerating from 1.4% the previous month, keeping pressure on the Bank of Japan as it continues its tightening cycle.The latest print was in line with the Trading Economics forecast of 1.7%, but remained below the BOJ's 2% price stability target.The headline Tokyo consumer price index stood at 112.7 against a 2020 base of 100 unchanged from May, but up from 110.8 in June 2025.On a seasonally adjusted basis, prices rose 0.3% from May, also faster than the 0.2% increase between April and May.Core CPI, which strips out fresh food items, climbed 1.6% in June from a year earlier, quickening from the 1.3% growth in May. The so-called "core-core CPI," which excludes both fresh food and energy prices, edged up 1.9%, also picking up from 1.6% the previous month.In June, food prices excluding fresh items rose 3.9%, with meat prices up 6.3% and confectionery items up 4.9%.Housing costs climbed 2.1%, with rents up 1.3% a year earlier. Healthcare costs swung to a 1.5% gain in June from flat movement in May. Transport and communications rose 3%, slowing from 3.3% in May.Childcare fees, however, fell a sharp 100% year over year, reflecting the government's move to ease costs on childbirth, childcare and education.Earlier this month, Japan launched a program allowing any child to enroll in nurseries, regardless of their parents' employment status. To fund this, along with child allowances and a 100,000-yen grant for pregnant women, corporate employees will pay an average of 500 yen per month starting in fiscal 2026.These measures trimmed 0.49 percentage points from Tokyo's overall CPI.Elsewhere, energy continued to fall in June, with prices dropping 2.3% year over year, although the pace of decline narrowed from 3.7% in May as gasoline prices fell at a softer rate of 1.3% from the 8.1% drop in May due to government subsidies.ING Think analysts on June 19 said, "The government's price cap on gasoline and renewed utility subsidies should keep inflation below 2%."Tokyo's CPI figures are closely watched as an indicator of nationwide trends. In May, Japan's national headline inflation ticked up to 1.5% from 1.4% in April, but missed the Trading Economics forecast of 1.6%.Core CPI rose 1.4% year over year in May, unchanged from April's reading, while core-core CPI inflation eased slightly to 1.8% from 1.9% in April, falling below the Trading Economics forecast of 1.9%.The Tokyo data arrives days after the BOJ raised its policy rate by 25 basis points to 1.0%, the highest level since 1995.In a speech on Wednesday, BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda reiterated the risk of inflation exceeding the central bank's 2% target."Given that the underlying inflation rate is approaching 2% and the current monetary environment is accommodative, we believe that we will continue to raise the policy interest rate and adjust the degree of monetary easing in accordance with economic, price, and financial conditions," Ueda said in his prepared speech to the National Shinkin Bank Convention.The timing of the adjustments will depend on the impact of the Middle East conflict on the Japanese economy, Ueda said.

Nikkei 225
Update: Nasdaq Extends Losing Streak; Apple Plunges After Price Hikes
US Markets

Update: Nasdaq Extends Losing Streak; Apple Plunges After Price Hikes

(Updates with market moves at the end of the day.)The Nasdaq Composite extended its losing streak to a fourth session on Thursday as a sell-off in Apple (AAPL) shares soured sentiment on Wall Street.The Nasdaq fell 0.5% to 25,358.6, while the S&P 500 ended just below the flatline at 7,357.5. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1% to 51,920.9.Among sectors, consumer discretionary saw the steepest decline, while industrials paced the gainers.Apple shares slumped 6.1%, the biggest drop on the S&P 500 and the Dow. The tech giant increased iPad and MacBook prices amid surging memory and storage chip costs.Wedbush Securities said Apple is unlikely to lose customers as a result of the price hikes.Microsoft (MSFT) followed Apple on the Dow, shedding 3.5%. Microsoft announced price increases for the Xbox 512 gigabyte console and the Xbox 1 terabyte model, effective Aug. 1.Micron shares jumped nearly 16%, the third-biggest gainer on the S&P 500. Late Wednesday, the semiconductor manufacturer provided a fiscal fourth-quarter outlook above Wall Street's estimates and reported stronger-than-expected results for the prior three-month period.Darden Restaurants (DRI) issued a full-year earnings outlook below market estimates Thursday, while the restaurant operator's fiscal fourth-quarter sales fell short of expectations. Shares of the Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse parent fell 0.3%.US Treasury yields were mixed, with the two-year rate down 2.5 basis points at 4.13%, while the 10-year rate was little changed at 4.40%.In economic news, US consumer spending rose more than projected in May, while the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation metric accelerated to the fastest reading in more than two years, government data showed.Demand for US durable goods decreased less than estimated in May despite a plunge in civilian aircraft orders, government data showed.US real gross domestic product increased at a 2.1% annualized rate in the first quarter, up from 1.6% growth reported in the second estimate, according to latest official data released Thursday."For the Fed, still nominally elevated inflation remains unfavorable to say the least and clearly justifies a higher policy target," Stifel said in report e-mailed to. "However, with a still solid pace of activity thanks to a resilient consumer and stable labor market conditions, any expectation of a temporary, or 'transitory', impact can quickly derail a hawkish conviction at the Fed to reverse course and simply reinforces the (Federal Open Market) Committee's position on the sidelines."West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 2.4% at $72.03 a barrel in Thursday late-afternoon trade, while Brent rose 2.2% to $75.39.Gold was last up 0.8% at $4,041.40 per troy ounce, while silver fell 0.3% to $57.90 per ounce.

Dow JonesNasdaq CompositeS&P 500$AAPL$DRI$MSFT$MU
New Home Listings Drop to Nearly Four-Month Low, Redfin Says
US Markets

New Home Listings Drop to Nearly Four-Month Low, Redfin Says

New home listings in the US dropped to their lowest level in nearly four months as home-buying activity remained soft, Redfin said Thursday.New listings of homes for sale totaled 357,733 during the four weeks to June 21, down 1.7% from a four-week period to June 14. The print marked the lowest level since February, according to the online real estate brokerage.The total number of for-sale homes dipped 0.4% as pending home sales continued to tick lower."Prospective home sellers are backing off partly because they notice soft homebuying demand," the firm said. "Homebuying demand is sluggish because housing payments are stubbornly high."The median home-sale price increased 2.5% year over year to a record $408,814, while the average mortgage rate hit 6.47% for the week ended June 18."Buyers are also jittery due to widespread economic uncertainty, stemming partly from inflation and the back-and-forth on Iran peace talks," Redfin said.Annual inflation, as measured by the personal consumption expenditures price index, accelerated to 4.1% in May, the fastest print since April 2023, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said Thursday.Single-family home sales in the US unexpectedly declined sequentially in May as prices moved higher, government data showed Wednesday."Buyers are regularly including inspection contingencies in their offers, which is one sign that they have the negotiating power; when sellers have power, buyers often waive the inspection," Redfin Premier Agent Ben Ambroch said.Last month, nearly half of US home sellers offered concessions, the highest share on record for May, to close sales in a cooling market, Redfin said Monday.