Home prices continue to soar
Home prices across the nation grew 4% year over year in the first quarter, the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency said Tuesday.
Prices climbed in 89 of the nation's 100 largest metropolitan areas, the FHFA said. The sharpest increase was in Newark, New Jersey (11.6%), followed by Providence-Warwick, Rhode Island, and Detroit-Dearborn-Livonia, Michigan (10.5%). The steepest decline happened in Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida, where prices fell 9%, the agency said. Lakeland sits about halfway between Tampa and Orlando.
At the state level, prices rose the most in Rhode Island (11.4%), followed by West Virginia (9.3%) and Connecticut (9%). Prices fell the most in Hawaii (2.2%).
In welcome news for buyers, a Homes.com report using exclusive data found that home price growth in the U.S. overall further slowed in April, a sign that there could be a shift from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market. Last month, costs for single-family homes, townhouses and condos grew by just 1.3% compared to a year earlier.
NAHB gives $90,000 to rebuild veterans' homes
The National Association of Home Builders announced Tuesday that the Home Builders Industry Disaster Relief Fund has awarded two grants to homeowners in Georgia and Ohio to help rebuild their homes after a natural disaster destroyed them.
The first grant, for $50,000, went to an 88-year-old Army veteran who lost his Augusta, Georgia, home in Hurricane Helene. The NAHB gave the money to the Home Builders Association of Greater Aiken-Augusta Region, which is rebuilding the house with the help of volunteers.
The second grant, for $40,000, went to the Western Ohio Home Builders Association, which rebuilt the home of two brothers with disabilities in Indian Lake — one of whom is a veteran. The brothers lost their home to an EF3 tornado that struck the area in March 2024, the NAHB said.
Consumer confidence improves amid stock market optimism
Consumer confidence rose to 98 in May, up from 85.7 a month ago, according to the Conference Board.
The confidence rating improved in part because Americans have a rosier outlook on the labor market and their ability to earn income from employment, said Stephanie Guichard, senior economist with the Washington, D.C.-based think tank. Most of the survey results used for this data were collected after May 12, which is when the White House paused tariffs on some products imported from China, Guichard and the Conference Board noted.
“With the stock market continuing to recover in May, consumers’ outlook on stock prices improved," Guichard said in a statement. "This was one of the survey questions with the strongest improvement after the May 12 trade deal.”
The Conference Board said Americans' plans for purchasing homes, cars and vacations also rose notably between April and May.
Adam Schiff urges Trump to restore FEMA grant money
Millions of dollars slated to help structurally reinforce earthquake-prone apartment buildings have been withdrawn from California, and one legislator is demanding that the funding be restored.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency decided to end its Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program in April, describing the grant as "yet another example of a wasteful and ineffective FEMA program."
About $33 million of that money was slated to fortify 750 to 1,500 multifamily buildings, said Senator Adam Schiff, Democrat of California. In a letter to FEMA last week, Schiff said California needs those federal funds to help prepare for the state's next big natural disaster.
"By eliminating this critical source of federal funding, we are leaving those who can least afford it at the greatest risk of displacement, which could cost lives," Schiff wrote.