Tesla Price Cuts, Followed by other Automakers, Plus Surging Incentives, Hit Average Transaction Prices, after Toxic Spike

Detroit automakers hugely overstocked, ready for a strike. By Wolf Richter for WOLF STREET. The average transaction price (ATP) for Tesla models in the US fell by 19.5% year over year in August, according to Cox Automotive. Most EV makers had been aiming for the higher end because that’s where they thought the easy money would be. But … Read more

Mortgage-Rate Buydowns by Homebuilders Are Now All the Rage to Prop Up Sales, Lowering Effective House Prices in a Big Way, but Don’t Get Picked Up by House Price Data

Appraisers have not yet caught on to it either. By Wolf Richter for WOLF STREET. Homebuilders don’t have the luxury of outwaiting the market, or waiting for the Fed to slash rates, or whatever, they must build and sell homes, that’s their business, no matter what the conditions in the market. And the market is struggling with 7%-plus … Read more

The Most Splendid Housing Bubbles in America, August Update: 4th YoY Price Drop Overall, 10 of 20 Cities with YoY Drops. Month-to-Month, Selling Season Begins to Fade

Year-over-year price drops in San Francisco, Seattle, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Denver, Portland, Dallas, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Tampa suddenly. By Wolf Richter for WOLF STREET. Today’s S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index for “June” is a three-month moving average of home prices whose sales were entered into public records in April, May, and June, and it still shows the … Read more

EV Maker VinFast’s Market Cap Spikes to $159 Billion on 9th Day of Trading. This Stuff Would Be Hilarious if it Weren’t so Serious

As an extra special for VinFast, I’m keeping a beautiful slot open in my increasingly packed pantheon of Imploded Stocks. By Wolf Richter for WOLF STREET. Despite the general collapse of the stocks that had gone public via merger with a SPAC, and in particular the collapse of EV SPACs, some of which have already filed for bankruptcy, … Read more

Each of the Past 7 Julys Had the Lowest Inventory of Existing Homes on Record. Inventory Fell for 16 Years. One Big Reason: Technology

A home enters inventory when it’s listed for sale and exits inventory when the sale closes. Technology sped up the clunky processes in between. By Wolf Richter for WOLF STREET. There has been a lot of noise about how the inventory of existing homes in July, at 1.11 million, was the lowest for any July on record. It … Read more

Mortgage Rates Adjust to New Era, Jump to Highest since 2001. Long-Term Treasury Market Slowly Coming out of Denial

The new era of “higher for much longer.” The 40-year bond & mortgage bull market died in late 2020. By Wolf Richter for WOLF STREET. Today, Freddie Mac’s weekly measure of the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate hit a two-decade high of 7.23%. The next higher rate, 7.24%, occurred in June 2001. Beyond that single week in 2001, … Read more

Home Sales Plunge Further as Demand Vanished at these Prices. Even Cash Buyers Pull Back. Supply Keeps Rising

Prices drop month-to-month and from peak (June 2022). Days on the market jump. Homeowners with 3% mortgages vanished as buyers and sellers in equal measure, entire market shrank. By Wolf Richter for WOLF STREET. Sales of previously owned homes (houses, condos, and co-ops) fell further, by 2.2% in July from June, to a deep-dismal seasonally adjusted annual rate of … Read more

San Francisco House Prices Plunged Faster (-29%) in 16 Months of Housing Bust 2 than in the First 16 Months of Housing Bust 1

But the Bay Area cannot keep up with the spectacular collapse of prices during Housing Bust 1. That had been a doozie. By Wolf Richter for WOLF STREET. In San Francisco, the median price of single-family houses dropped by 8.5% in July from June, and by 14.1% from a year ago, to $1,460,000 million, according to the California … Read more

Full Commercialization of Robotaxis Arrives in San Francisco

Not everyone is happy. By Wolf Richter for WOLF STREET. Robotaxi regulator, the California Public Utilities Commission, after hours of testimony from supporters and opponents, voted on Thursday to allow GM’s Cruise and Alphabet’s Waymo to charge riders for driverless robotaxi service, day and night, anywhere in San Francisco, with no cap on fleet sizes. They can now … Read more

Mortgage Rates Jump to Holy-Moly 7.09%, FHA Rates to Highest in 20 Years, Pulling Rug Out from Under Home Sales in August

Mortgage applications to purchase a home: -40% from 2022 and 2019, 3rd worst week since 1995, behind only two weeks in February. By Wolf Richter for WOLF STREET. The 7%+ mortgages are doing their magic on the housing market as they keep buyers out of the market, and home sales sagged further in late July and August, from … Read more