Report: Home Prices ‘Unaffordable’ for Average Americans

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KATHERINE HAMILTON

29 Sep 2023415

3:10

Average Americans cannot afford to buy a home in a growing number of communities across the United States, according to a report released Thursday by real estate data provider ATTOM.

The report, CBS News noted, details how researchers analyzed 575 United States counties last year and found that 99 percent of those areas have home prices that are out of reach for “the average income earner” making $71,214 a year.

Housing experts blamed a few trends for driving up housing costs.

“Mortgage rates have topped 7%, adding hundreds of dollars per month to a potential house payment,” CBS News reported. “At the same time, homeowners who locked in at lower mortgage rates during the pandemic have opted not to sell out of fear of having to buy another property at today’s elevated rates, depleting the supply of homes for sale.”

Daryl Fairweather, chief economist of Redfin, told CBS MoneyWatch that the only people who are selling right now are “people who really need to move because of a life event — divorce, marriage, new baby, new job, etc.”

“That lack of new inventory is keeping prices high,” Fairweather said. 

The National Association of Realtors reported in August that the national median existing-home price was $407,100, up 3.9 percent from last year. Freddie Mac reported that the average interest rate of a 30-year home loan was 7.19 percent, up from 6.48 percent at the beginning of this year.

“The dynamics influencing the U.S. housing market appear to continuously work against everyday Americans, potentially to the point where they could start to have a significant impact on home prices,” ATTOM CEO Rob Barber said in a statement Thursday. “We will see how this shakes out as the peak 2023 buying season winds down.”

Housing experts told the outlet the findings add to a growing body of research showing a lack of affordable housing, especially for younger millennials looking to become home owners.

Dan Hnatkovskyy, co-founder of new home construction startup NewHomesMate, said that many first-time home buyers have “had to postpone their home-buying dreams,” while older buyers with more cash on hand can buy down interest rates or absorb a higher monthly payment as they buy homes across the U.S.

ATTOM defined “unaffordable” as the cost for someone who has to pay more than 28 percent of their income toward a particular home. ATTOM assessed that between a mortgage payment, homeowners’ insurance, and property taxes, home costs would require 35 percent of someone’s annual wages or more.

The cities with the least affordable homes include Los Angeles, Chicago, Phoenix, San Diego, and Orange County, California, ATTOM said. Areas around Cleveland, Detroit, Houston, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh “have the most affordable homes compared with median salaries for residents there,” according to the report. 

YOU WONDERED WHY THE BILLIONAIRE CLASS ARE VERY LIKELY TO BE DEMOCRATS???

The American Middle Class Crisis | Real Stories Noam Chomsky Wealth Inequality Documentary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08xP6a888cI

Renowned academic and author Noam Chomsky offers a thought-provoking exploration of the 10 principles that underlie the concentration of wealth and power, resulting in unprecedented levels of inequality and the erosion of the American middle class. In this enlightening documentary, Chomsky elucidates the causes and consequences of this profound societal shift. Through his keen insights and intellectual rigor, Chomsky reveals the mechanisms behind wealth concentration and its detrimental effects on society. He delves into the hollowing out of the American middle class, shedding light on the socio-economic challenges faced by millions. Chomsky's analysis uncovers the interplay between power dynamics and economic disparities, providing a critical examination of the state of inequality in America.

@peternorthrup6274 4 months ago I'm 64. Retired at 55. Corporate greed made the decision for me. 4 state's, 4 different companies, 4 plant shut downs. The people at the top cashed out. Hundreds lost there jobs. We never had kids. I worked in a trade. We could never trust any company with our future. I've seen many families destroyed. I was able to move. My wife worked freelance. Since the 70s inflation and Corporate greed eroded wages to the point we are at today. We have gone from the 1 income household to a 2 income household. And yet families are living paycheck to paycheck. What's next? 1 or 2 children will have to contribute to family bills. Young people simply don't stand a chance today. Im so glad I'm out. I'm not a rich man. My home is paid for. I'm lucky. Good luck to all.

Matthew Desmond on How to End Poverty, and His Book POVERTY, BY AMERICA | Inside the Book

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjY7a2E3pt4

 

Matthew Desmond discusses his new book POVERTY, BY AMERICA and its two central questions: Why is there so much poverty in America, and what can we do to eliminate it? Get the book: http://bit.ly/42pKqlG About POVERTY, BY AMERICA The Pulitzer Prize–winning, bestselling author of Evicted reimagines the debate on poverty, making a new and bracing argument about why it persists in America: because the rest of us benefit from it. The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages? In this landmark book, acclaimed sociologist Matthew Desmond draws on history, research, and original reporting to show how affluent Americans knowingly and unknowingly keep poor people poor. Those of us who are financially secure exploit the poor, driving down their wages while forcing them to overpay for housing and access to cash and credit. We prioritize the subsidization of our wealth over the alleviation of poverty, designing a welfare state that gives the most to those who need the least. And we stockpile opportunity in exclusive communities, creating zones of concentrated riches alongside those of concentrated despair. Some lives are made small so that others may grow. Elegantly written and fiercely argued, this compassionate book gives us new ways of thinking about a morally urgent problem. It also helps us imagine solutions. Desmond builds a startlingly original and ambitious case for ending poverty. He calls on us all to become poverty abolitionists, engaged in a politics of collective belonging to usher in a new age of shared prosperity and, at last, true freedom. ________________________

  

Yang: ‘Return to the Obama Years’ Not Enough for Biden — They Were Left Behind in Those Years,’ ‘They’re Pissed Off’

 

JEFF POOR

 

Late Tuesday on CNN, former Democratic presidential hopeful Andrew Yang, now a CNN contributor, warned that his old opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden could not defeat Trump with just a pledge to return to the years of former President Barack Obama alone.

According to Yang, it needed to start with an understanding of what problems facing the country led to Trump’s presidency.

“Donald Trump needs to be defeated,” he explained. “Forty-two percent of my supporters said they would not support the Democratic nominee in the general, in large part because when I ran, I ran for the problems that predated Trump. Like, Donald Trump would never be our president today if things were going well for a lot of people around the country. Bernie Sanders would not have almost been the nominee last time if things were going well for people around the country. So even as Joe Biden saying, ‘Hey, we need to defeat Donald Trump,’ he also has to say, ‘Look, things have not been working for millions of Americans, and after we defeat Donald Trump,’ we need to get deep into these problems, get our hands dirty and solve them. This can’t be a, ‘Hey, I’m better than Trump’ race. It has to be, ‘Hey. I understand how Trump became our president.'”

Yang told a CNN panel people were left behind in the Obama-Biden years, and they were not happy about it. He called on Biden to recognize that situation and address it, which he said would better his chances in the 2020 general election.

“I think he’s been talking about restoring a culture, tone and a soul of the country,” Yang added. “I was talking about putting more money in Americans’ hands because I saw we decimated entire ways of life in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin. And because I was talking in those terms about the real problems these people have experienced, again, 42% of my supporters were not going to support the Democratic nominee. I’m hoping that we can get some of those people to support Joe. But it would be helpful if Joe acknowledged it because one of the weaknesses of saying, ‘Hey, return to Obama years’ is that there are many Americans who were getting behind in those years, too, and they’re pissed off. And so, if you say, I’m going to revert, that loses to that group of people. There are so many Americans who just don’t think their institutions are working for him at all, and Joe Biden’s’s weakness is he represents those institutions. I’m endorsing Joe. We need Joe to beat Trump. But we’ll have a much better chance of that if Joe recognizes that our institutions have been failing many Americans for a long time.”

A video on the Make Amazon Pay website further states: “Amazon’s wealth has increased so much during the pandemic that its owners could pay all 1.3 million of its employees a $690,000 COVID bonus and still be as rich as they were in 2020.”

 

How Wealth Inequality Spiraled Out of Control | Robert Reich

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOI8RuhW7q0

 

 

Streets of Philadelphia "During Thanksgiving" Kensington Ave Documentary, Thursday, Nov 25, 2021.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNp_Vo78CWM

 

Inside Jeff Bezos Mansions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVURsBK1-zY

 

Jeff Bezos' $400 Million Flying Fox Yacht

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRYEcushHjc

 

Inside Jeff Bezos' $21,000,000 Car Collection

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu-Vy9Q6U4A

 

 

Inside Jeff Bezos' $78 MillIon Dollar Hawaii Estate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kELjWUwqllc

 

Inside Jeff Bezos' $300 Million Mansions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UsHq_99lJE

 

 

 

‘Make Amazon Pay:’ Workers in 20 Countries Plan to Strike on Black Friday

20KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images

LUCAS NOLAN

22 Nov 20210

3:29

Amazon employees in 20 countries are reportedly preparing to strike on Black Friday as part of a campaign titled “Make Amazon Pay.”

Business Insider reports that Amazon employees in 20 different countries are planning a mass strike on Black Friday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year, as part of the “Make Amazon Pay” campaign. The campaign includes a coalition of 70 organizations including Greenpeace, Oxfam, and Amazon Workers International.

 

Mural of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. (Thierry Ehrmann/Flickr)

 

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy (Isaac Brekken/AP)

The workers are demanding accountability from top executives who they believe are placing profits ahead of worker wellbeing. Individual workers “from oil refineries, to factories, to warehouses, to data centers, to corporate offices” are expected to take part in the walkout on November 26.

Make Amazon Pay wrote in a list of demands on its website: “The pandemic has exposed how Amazon places profits ahead of workers, society, and our planet. Amazon takes too much and gives back too little. It is time to Make Amazon Pay.”

The protests come as Amazon employees continue to complain of long hours, low pay, and strict performance review systems. Make Amazon Pay is demanding increased salaries, improved job security, and the suspension of the “harsh productivity and surveillance regime Amazon has used to squeeze workers.”

The group is also calling for a “pay back to society” which will include enhanced environmental sustainability efforts, increased transparency over the use of user data and privacy measures, and the immediate end of partnerships between Amazon and police forces and immigration authorities which are “institutionally racist.”

“Amazon is not alone in these bad practices but it sits at the heart of a failed system that drives the inequality, climate breakdown, and democratic decay that scar our age,” Make Amazon Pay wrote in its demands.

A company spokesperson told Business Insider that the company is “inventing and investing significantly” in several of the categories that the campaign is calling for action in, including climate efforts. The spokesperson said:

These groups represent a variety of interests, and while we are not perfect in any area, if you objectively look at what Amazon is doing in each one of these areas you’ll see that we do take our role and our impact very seriously.

Make Amazon Pay was formed in 2020 and has since helped to organize a number of strikes and protests against company policies. The campaign states on its website: “During the COVID-19 pandemic, Amazon became a trillion dollar corporation, with Bezos becoming the first person in history to amass $200 billion in personal wealth. Meanwhile, Amazon warehouse workers risked their lives as essential workers, and only briefly received an increase in pay.”

A video on the Make Amazon Pay website further states: “Amazon’s wealth has increased so much during the pandemic that its owners could pay all 1.3 million of its employees a $690,000 COVID bonus and still be as rich as they were in 2020.”

Read more at Business Insider here.

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com

 

 

Wealth-X report: Billionaire wealth surged during pandemic

Trévon Austin

A new report from research firm Wealth-X found that the global COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the growth of social inequality and witnessed an unprecedented accumulation of wealth among the most privileged layers in society. For the first time in human history, the world had more than 3,000 billionaires in 2020.

This amounts to a 13.4 percent increase in billionaires since 2019, currently totaling 3,204 individuals, with a median wealth of $1.9 billion. Billionaires’ collective wealth swelled to $10 trillion, a 5.7 percent increase from 2019.

 

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

“Viewed in aggregate, the global pandemic delivered a windfall to billionaire wealth, boosted by the flood of monetary stimulus and swelling profits in key sectors that coined a new wave of younger, self-made billionaires,” the report said.

Billionaire wealth has increased steadily since 1990, but one-third of these wealth gains have occurred during the pandemic. US billionaire wealth increased nineteen-fold over the last 31 years, from an inflation adjusted $240 billion in 1990 to $4.7 trillion in 2021.

The parasitic growth in wealth was most pronounced in the United States, the center of world capitalism. The ranks of billionaires in all of North America grew by 17.5 percent from last year. In fact, North America’s 980 billionaires account for 30.6% of the world’s billionaires.

The US was the top billionaire country in 2020. According to a report from Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) and the Institute for Policy Studies Program on Inequality (IPS), American billionaires have seen their collective wealth surge by 62 percent, approximately $1.8 billion, since March 18, 2020. Following North America, Asia saw its number of growing by 16.5%, for a grand total of 883. Asia’s billionaires saw their collective net worth grow to $2.6 trillion, a 7.5% increase.

The good fortune of this tiny layer of the world’s population over the past 18 months is all the more appalling when contrasted to the growing immiseration and impoverishment of billions of workers around the globe. As a few thousand billionaires amassed enormous sums of wealth, workers around the world lost $3.7 trillion in earnings during the pandemic, according to a report from the International Labor Organization (ILO).

The report estimated an 8.8 percent year-by-year decline in global working hours from 2019 to 2020, equivalent to 255 million full-time jobs. This is approximately four times greater than the recorded loss during the 2008-09 global financial crisis.

The lost working hours were due to massive cuts in working hours and unprecedented levels of job loss, impacting some 114 million people and their families. Significantly, 71 percent of these job losses came from “inactivity,” meaning at least 81 million people around the world left the labor market because they could not find work.

Women have been more adversely affected by the pandemic than men. Globally, employment losses for women stand at 5 percent, versus 3.9 percent for men. Women were much more likely than men to drop out of the labor market, most commonly due to childcare concerns. Younger workers have also been devastated. Employment fell by 8.7 percent among workers aged 15-24 years old, compared to 3.7 percent for adults. Generation Z, the oldest of whom is 23, has become the most unemployed generation and is on track to experience the same financial struggles as millennials.

In the US alone, the official poverty rate rose by 1.0 percent from 2019 to 2020, according to the US Census Bureau. The poverty rate grew to 11.4 percent, marking the first increase in the official poverty rate after five years of consecutive decline. In 2020, there were 37.2 million people in poverty, approximately 3.3 million more than in 2019.

At the same time, median household income in 2020 dropped by 2.9 percent from the previous year. This is the first statistically significant decline in median household income since 2011.

Over 86 million Americans have lost jobs, almost 38 million have been sickened by the virus, and over 675,000 have died from it. Between 2019 and 2020, the real median earnings of all workers fell by 1.2 percent. The total number of people reporting earnings decreased by about 3 million, while the number of full-time, year-round workers decreased by approximately 13.7 million.

The chief obstacle to solving the world’s burning social questions—whether the devastating impact of COVID-19 or the widespread growth of poverty—is the private profit interests of the capitalist ruling class. Every action these vultures have taken in response to the pandemic has been driven by the effort to protect the wealth and privileges of a few. To save lives and avert even further disaster, workers must fight for a policy based on the interests of the working class, the vast majority of society.