All articles tagged with #housing
CNN argues that the U.S. economy looks solid on paper—2.2% growth in 2025, a strong job market, wage gains, and inflation easing with a stock market near record highs—yet consumer confidence remains near historic lows, affordability problems in housing and child care persist, and rising delinquencies plus a widening wealth gap paint a more mixed, politically charged picture ahead of the State of the Union.
Despite a resilient economy and cooling inflation, CBS News reports Americans’ top economic concern remains affordability, driven by rising food costs, a tight housing market and higher health-care premiums. Pew data place food, housing and health care at the forefront of worries ahead of President Trump’s State of the Union. While the administration touts measures like housing-market reforms and drug-price initiatives, economists caution that a lasting relief requires addressing a persistent housing shortage and ongoing health-insurance costs, with staples such as ground beef and coffee up significantly and 2026 health insurance premiums rising about 6–7%.
President Trump pivots to blaming 'institutional investors' for high housing costs and pushes a ban; Catherine Rampell explains that these investors own only a small share of single-family rentals, have been net sellers while shifting to build-to-rent, and banning them would likely have little effect on affordability and could raise costs in some markets. Real fixes require zoning reform, streamlined permitting, and broader policy changes, while demagoguery about Wall Street misses the bigger picture.
The WNBPA delivered a counterproposal to the WNBA demanding 25% of league revenue (about 27.5% over the life of the deal) and team-provided housing for players in the early years, while reducing the proposed salary cap to near $9.5 million. The league countered that the proposal is unrealistic, could cost hundreds of millions, and may delay the season, noting its own offer would share under 15% of revenue in year one with a $5.65M cap that would rise over time. With the season about 80 days away, talks continue alongside expansion drafts and free agency; players had previously authorized a near-unanimous strike.
Blizzard partners with Zillow to launch a Zillow-style housing explorer for World of Warcraft, letting players browse in-game homes across Azeroth ahead of the Midnight expansion, with the new Hearthsteel currency enabling real-money microtransactions and refunds while highlighting regulatory considerations.
With the May 8 start looming, the WNBA blasted the union’s latest CBA counterproposal as 'unrealistic,' warning it would cost teams hundreds of millions. The WNBPA’s offer calls for about 27.5% of gross revenue over the deal (down from 31%), including housing concessions, while the league’s proposal ties revenue sharing to net revenue and promises higher salaries and stricter facilities requirements; the parties still must hammer out two drafts and free agency before training camp.
Blizzard is signaling a broader push for World of Warcraft’s housing and player-expression features, with more customization options, skins, and flair to engage players—especially Gen-Z—while testing new world and difficulty concepts like Prey in Midnight and Legion Remix's world-tier experiments. The company hints there will be more details at BlizzCon 2026, and World of Warcraft: Midnight is already available for preorder on Windows PC.
Construction executives say immigration raids on job sites are scaring workers and driving up construction costs, threatening housing supply and Republican gains among Hispanic voters, prompting calls for visa reform and targeted policies to address labor shortages while warning that aggressive enforcement could hurt the GOP politically.
California lawmakers led by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks are reviving factory-built housing as a way to cut costs and speed up construction amid a housing shortage. The piece traces the idea’s long history—from early 1970s attempts to modern mass production to the collapse of Katerra—and outlines current momentum, including hearings and Terner Center research. The allure is potential hard-cost savings (roughly 10–25%) and faster timelines, but challenges loom: massive upfront factory costs, financing risks, the need for continuous production, local permitting and code hurdles, and labor politics. Proposals range from insuring projects to standardizing building codes and building a pipeline of off-site projects, but a scalable, statewide shift remains uncertain even as California presses ahead in 2026.
The House voted 390-9 to approve the bipartisan Housing in the 21st Century Act under suspension, launching a fast-track path to merge with the Senate’s ROAD to Housing Act and secure White House support. The package expands affordable and manufactured housing, modernizes development programs, strengthens borrower protections, and adds a community-bank lending provision, setting up a likely bicameral negotiation and potential conflicts with Senate Democrats’ preferences. The live feed also touches on tariffs votes, Epstein files and Maxwell’s deposition, and DHS funding talks, but the housing bill remains the main focus.
President Trump advocates keeping home prices high rather than boosting construction to lower costs, arguing rising values protect homeowners even as economists say increased housing supply is needed; the piece notes that single-family construction permits fell about 9.4% year over year, while lawmakers from both parties seek incentives to spur building, a stance that could bolster older voters while potentially alienating younger voters ahead of the 2026 elections.
Trump’s housing approach is unlikely to fix the affordability crisis. The piece argues prices rise with incomes—especially among college-educated workers—so simply deregulating or freeing up zoning won’t rapidly bring rents and home prices down. Studies suggest adding housing stock could gradually ease prices, but at slow speeds (often decades in major cities), and even then would also raise land and construction costs. Rent control and other fixes have mixed outcomes, so broad, effective reform is more complex than cutting regulation alone.
WNBA owners sent a counter-proposal to the players’ union, keeping revenue sharing below 15% of league revenue and reintroducing a limited housing plan tied to a developmental roster (two spots per team with per-game pay and housing benefits, including studio apartments for lower-salary players and one-bedroom units for early-career players in the initial years). The league also offered non-economic concessions (pregnant-player trade consent, no marijuana testing, higher performance bonuses) while salaries remain well below union expectations. Talks continue ahead of a May 8 season start, with concerns a deal by early February is needed to avoid delays.
Small landlords in New York City warn that Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s proposed rent-freeze for rent-stabilized units could push many of them out of business, highlighting a clash between tenant protections and the livelihood of small-property investors.
In private and public remarks, President Trump and NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani found surprising common ground on ULURP, the city’s land-use approval process, with Trump signaling support for reforms that could speed up development. The exchanges—rooted in Trump’s longstanding real-estate interests in New York—signal a potential, issue-focused opening for collaboration on housing in a city facing a severe affordability crisis, even as broader political disagreements persist.