U.S. HOUSING MARKET SIZZLES, TRIGGERING BIDDING WARS

House prices are skyrocketing around the nation, bidding wars are the norm and supply is scarcer than ever, notes Grumpy Editor.

Bloomberg also finds the market is too hot even for homebuilders.

“Demand is so fevered and construction costs are climbing so quickly,” observes Bloomberg, “that overwhelmed builders are suppressing orders and shifting away from fixed prices.”

Bloomberg adds, “In a global economy roiled by supply shortages, the U.S. housing market is struggling with a collision of pandemic-related forces that’s holding back new inventory just when it’s needed most. Buyers are stampeding for new homes as remote work upends employment, while soaring lumber costs and a shortage of workers are slowing construction. The result is home prices, already reaching unaffordable levels for many Americans, are set to keep rising.”

 

About 19 percent of builders are delaying sales or construction and 47 percent have added escalation clauses into contracts, allowing them to lift prices as costs increase, according to an April survey by the National Association of Homebuilders.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

AP MARKS 175TH YEAR.  The Associated Press is celebrating its 175th anniversary this month.  The AP was formed in May, 1846 when five New York city newspapers funded a Pony Express route through Alabama to carry news about the Mexican War to the northern part of the country. Today, it has bureaus in 250 locations in more than 95 countries and produces 2,000 daily stories and more than a million photographs a year. 

MEDAL OF HONOR AWARDED --- FOR KOREAN WAR ACTION.  President Joe Biden awarded the Medal of Honor on Friday to Ralph Puckett Jr., a 94-year-old retired Army colonel who led the capture and defense of a hill during the Korean War against an overwhelming Chinese attack.

VANDENBERG GETS NAME CHANGE.  Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, gets a periodic name change --- this time to Vandenberg Space Force Base. Space Force in 2019 was created as the sixth uniformed military branch.

 

NEW MISS UNIVERSE.  Andrea Meza, who holds a software engineering degree, is the new Miss Universe.  She edged ahead of Miss Brazil.

 

FOR DOGS...NO BARKING?  North of the border, Calgary's pet ownership bylaws are being updated and some of the proposed changes have some dog behavior experts worried...namely no barking.

 

GREENLAND OFF THE MARKET.  The U.S. is no longer interested in buying Greenland, says President Biden’s secretary of state, Antony Blinken.  “I can confirm that’s correct,” he tells reporters.  Former President Donald Trump eyed purchasing Greenland, a self-governing part of Denmark, even as its leaders said it wasn’t for sale.