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5% mortgage rate seen as tipping point to unlock housing supply

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:47 GMT

By Alex Tanzi | BloombergUS homeowners are nearly twice as willing to sell if their mortgage rate is 5% or higher, but just one in five mortgaged homes meet that criteria.For those who have a mortgage rate of at least 5%, 38% said they’re planning on selling their homes, according to a quarterly survey by Zillow. Just 21% of holders with rates below that dividing line said the same.Existing-home sales have fallen almost every month since the start of last year as higher mortgage rates disincentivize owners from moving. Prospective buyers have sought out new construction instead since inventory on the resale market is so low.About 80% of mortgage holders reported having a rate of less than 5%, and about 90% have a rate of less than 6%, Zillow said. Almost a third reported a rate of less than 3%.Mortgage rates “are unlikely to return to 5% in the near future,” said Orphe Divounguy, a senior economist at Zillow Home Loans. “That means many homeowners will move only for major life event...

Barabak: Trump’s Big Lie and the Republican Etch A Sketch strategy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:47 GMT

Some things are so obvious, they scarcely bear mention.Birds fly. Fish swim. Politicians say things they hope will get them elected.That’s not as terrible as it might sound.Candidates could have the most ingenious proposal to, say, banish poverty and end hunger, but what good is that if they can’t win office and at least try to implement their vision?There is, however, an important qualitative difference between telling voters what they’d like to hear or dialing an issue up or down depending on the audience and knowingly, calculatedly telling a flat-out lie.Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. That is an incontrovertible fact.And yet for many Republicans — including most of those seeking the party’s 2024 nomination — Trump’s irrefutable loss and direct responsibility for the Jan. 6 insurrection are a verity they dodge and duck.At least right now.Florida’s flailing governor, Ron DeSantis offers a prime example.The won’t-back-down-culture warrior, who gleefully stoops to swat at teach...

Monterey Park, 6 months after mass shooting, seeks gun dealer ‘buffer zone’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:47 GMT

Still recovering from a mass shooting that left 11 dead, the Monterey Park City Council will decide Wednesday, Aug. 2, on whether to adopt an ordinance that would add a “Firearm Protection Zone ” to the city’s municipal code.If adopted, the ordinance would regulate firearms dealers within the city’s jurisdiction by creating a buffer zone to separate gun dealers from certain “sensitive receptors” such as homes and schools.“We’re doing everything we can to curb the use of both legal and illegal guns in the city,” Councilmember Thomas Wong said.On Jan. 21, 11 people were slain and nine were injured at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio after a gunman’s shooting spree. The gunman used a semi-automatic handgun in his rampage. The gun was purchased in Monterey Park but it was not registered in California, authorities said.The shooter, Huu Can Tran, 72, was found to have been hoarding ammunition and firearms. He killed himself after a standoff with police hours after the event.“The City Counci...

‘They pretty much emptied the entire store’ — California jewelry store hit by smash-and-grab robbers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:47 GMT

At least $1 million worth of jewelry was stolen from a business during a smash-and-grab robbery in Irvine on Monday, nine days after police arrested three suspects on suspicion of robbing Kay Jewelers at the Irvine Spectrum.The latest robbery occurred around noon at Jewels By Alan, a store in the Park Place shopping center on Michelson Drive and Jamboree Road. A sales associate and two customers were inside the store, along with the owner and business partner, when a man dressed in black entered the business and smashed a showcase near the door.RELATED: A hardware store that lost $700,000 to shoplifters illustrates the woes behind a multi-county Bay Area spike“The sound of (the glass breaking) echoed so loudly, it really sounded like a gunshot,” said the owner’s business partner Michael, who did not provide his last name for fear of being targeted.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Shoplifters cost Fremont hardware store $700,000 last year amid multi-county spike ...

USWNT advances in World Cup after surviving scoreless draw with Portugal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:47 GMT

By ANNE M. PETERSON | AP Sports WriterAUCKLAND, New Zealand — A goal post saved the United States from elimination at the Women’s World Cup.Ana Capeta nearly scored for Portugal in stoppage time but her shot hit the left post and the United States escaped with an uninspiring scoreless draw Tuesday night that got them through – just barely – to the knockout round.The U.S. won only one game in group play for the first time in tournament history, scoring just four goals over three games. With the scoreless draw, the top-ranked United States fell to second in the group behind the Netherlands and will head to Melbourne, Australia, for a Round of 16 match on Sunday against the Group G winner, most likely third-ranked Sweden.“We should have put some in the back of the net and we didn’t. We own that,” Alex Morgan said. “We’re not happy with the performance we put out there. But at the same time, we’re moving on.”The Americans, the most successful team ever at the World Cup with four titles,...

Opinion: Political outrage is currency and RFK Jr. really stirs it up

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:47 GMT

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has always had a famous name — yet until recently, his association with the anti-vaccine movement and fringe theories about the dangers of Wi-Fi has relegated him to the sidelines of America’s national discourse. Why are the presidential candidate’s paranoid views suddenly appealing to a wider audience?It’s partly a product of our era. Public health authorities have fumbled Americans’ trust. And we live in a time when hyperbole goes viral and reason gets drowned out. Risk communication consultant Peter Sandman has long contended that public perception of risk is determined only partly by the size of the health hazard. The rest is outrage. This is why, for example, people tend to get more worked up about chemicals carelessly dumped in drinking water than more-dangerous chemicals that end up there by accident.Outrage is Kennedy’s main weapon and rhetorical tool. Social media algorithms favor outrage over reason — and the mainstream media tends to follow whatever’...

I Was Just Subpoenaed By Trump’s Georgia Grand Jury. Here’s What I’ll Tell Them.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:47 GMT

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis sits in a courtroom in the Fulton County Courthouse on July 11, 2023, in Atlanta.Photo: Brynn Anderson/APOn Monday afternoon, I met an investigator from the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office in a nondescript parking lot downtown in Atlanta. He handed me two subpoenas to testify before one of the grand juries empaneled here considering charges in the 2020 election interference case with Donald Trump.I’m at Buteco, a bar in East Atlanta. I don’t drink anymore. I’m thinking about it.It’s the second time I’ve been asked to testify. A year ago, I sat in front of a grand jury on the third floor of the courthouse — which is now buttressed with orange barricades in anticipation of incipient madness — to describe barging into a semi-clandestine meeting of Republicans pretending to be Georgia’s official electors in December 2020.For more than two years, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has...

Relieved Americans escape and move on at the Women’s World Cup

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:47 GMT

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — Ana Capeta hit the post, a miss that saved the Americans in the Women’s World Cup.Both the United States and Portugal were scoreless in stoppage time in Tuesday night’s Group E finale. Capeta, who had substituted in just two minutes prior, nearly gave Portugal a massive upset — and a berth in the knockout stage — as her shot beat American goalie Alyssa Naeher. But not the post.The ball hit the left post and saved the Americans from elimination by mere inches.A blast of relief ran through every American player, coach and fan in Eden Park.“That was stressful. I was like (expletive),” said Megan Rapinoe, using a curse word to describe her emotions.In the end, the United States is moving on after its 0-0 tie with Portugal. It was good enough – just barely – for second behind the Netherlands. Portugal would have needed a victory to knock the two-time defending champions and top-ranked team in the world. While they may not be playing their best at ...

Surgery Partners: Q2 Earnings Snapshot

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:47 GMT

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (AP) — BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (AP) — Surgery Partners Inc. (SGRY) on Tuesday reported second-quarter earnings of $18.9 million.On a per-share basis, the Brentwood, Tennessee-based company said it had net income of 15 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs and stock option expense, were 28 cents per share.The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 7 cents per share.The surgical facilities operator posted revenue of $667.6 million in the period, which fell short of Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $667.9 million._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on SGRY at https://www.zacks.com/ap/SGRYSource

Russia accuses Ukraine of a drone attack on Moscow that hit a building already struck just days ago

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:42:47 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A drone crashed into the same skyscraper in central Moscow for the second time in two days, damaging the building’s facade and further underscoring the Russian capital’s vulnerability. Russian authorities accused Kyiv of staging the attack which occurred early Tuesday. Russian officials have claimed that the repeated attacks on the capital region reflect failures in Ukraine’s counteroffensive to recapture Russian-occupied territory. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said over the weekend that “the war is gradually coming back to Russian territory,” but stopped short of taking responsibility for the attacks.On Tuesday, his adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, tweeted that Moscow “is rapidly getting used to a full-fledged war,” without confirming or denying Kyiv’s involvement in the attack.The repeated drone strikes underscore Moscow’s vulnerability as Russia’s war in Ukraine drags into its 18th month.Russia’s Defense Ministry said that it shot down two Uk...