The US real estate market continued to normalize at the end of last year, with falling mortgage rates leading to a slight decline in prices, while a number of key indicators approached seasonal norms, according to data from Zillow, an online home sales and rental service.
Only a little more than a quarter of homes (28%) in the United States were sold above the originally listed price in November, Zillow data showed. Data for December is not yet available. This is the lowest figure since June 2020, when the housing market had just recovered from the initial shocks of the coronavirus pandemic and began to warm up. Meanwhile, the figure still remains higher than in November 2019, when the share of homes sold above the declared value was 21%. “The decline in mortgage rates has begun to help renew interest from buyers. If rates continue to decline this spring and buyer activity is in line with the seasonal norm, this year could be a normal or even boring one for the market,” said Jeff Tucker, senior economist at Zillow.
The standard time for a property to be on the market before receiving an offer is currently up to 30 days. This is significantly longer than last December, when the figure was 13 days, but much less than the 43 days in December 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic. The longest time to sell a property was recorded in Austin (68 days), Las Vegas (57 days) and Phoenix (55 days). At the same time, the fastest transactions were made in Hartford, Connecticut, Cincinnati and Kansas City. Monthly mortgage costs are currently about $1.8 thousand for average homes after a 20% down payment, which is more than $100 lower than in October, when the peak level was reached. Meanwhile, the figure is still 62% higher than in December 2021. Problems with housing affordability are weakening demand, Zillow notes.
Wealthy Russians subject to U.S. sanctions may try to evade them by investing in the U.S. commercial real estate market, the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) warned. The regulator urged U.S. banks to be vigilant, noting that the complex financing schemes and opaque partnership structures used in this market can help hide funds, writes The Wall Street Journal. FinCEN is the recipient of suspicious activity reports that financial institutions are required to file when they detect signals that a transaction is potentially illegal. The warning for banks issued by the regulator on Wednesday is another attempt by the U.S. Treasury Department to prevent wealthy Russian citizens from circumventing financial sanctions, the WSJ notes. “Thanks to international pressure and economic restrictions imposed on Russia by more than 30 countries, there are fewer and fewer opportunities for sanctioned Russian elites to move and hide their ill-gotten gains,” said Himamouli Das, acting head of FinCEN. The regulator outlined a number of signs and “red flags” that should alert banks. For example, sanctioned Russians may try to use investment pools or offshore funds to avoid inspections, he warned. Banks are usually not required to identify people who own less than 25% of shares in the funds. Thus, sanctioned individuals can reduce their stakes to avoid scrutiny while still retaining control of the fund, FinCEN says. They may use front companies and multi-level schemes involving multiple legal entities or trusts, as well as transfer assets to other family members or business partners to hide their involvement, the regulator warns. It notes that sanctioned individuals may not only invest in high-end and luxury real estate. In some cases, they may look for more discreet investments that provide a stable income without attracting unwanted attention. Using such strategies to evade sanctions is just as likely in small and mid-sized U.S. cities as it is in metropolitan areas, FinCEN notes. Last year, the regulator issued a similar warning to banks, advising them to pay close attention to transactions involving art, luxury yachts and jewelry.
The United States continues to help Ukraine and will announce another military aid package in the coming weeks, U.S. Presidential National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Sunday.
“We remain stable in providing security assistance. You know about the one aid package that we just announced, there will be another (aid package) in the next few weeks, about a similar time frame and the same amount that we’ve been sticking to over the last few weeks and months,” Sullivan told reporters aboard a flight from Vietnam to the G20 summit in Bali.
“We are also consulting with Congress about additional resources for next year,” the Biden adviser added.
Sullivan is accompanying President Joe Biden on visits to Cambodia and Indonesia, where he has attended U.S.-ASEAN and East Asian summits, and where he will attend the G20 summit in Bali.
Earlier this week, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said he had authorized a $400 million new shipment of weapons to Ukraine at the president’s behest.
The Pentagon informed that the delivery would include Hawk air defense missiles, four Avenger surface-to-air missile systems equipped with Stinger missiles, additional ammunition for HIMARS multiple-launch rocket systems, 21,000 155 mm artillery shells, 500 high-precision 155 mm artillery shells, cold weather gear and other military equipment.
A U.S. Department of Defense press release noted that the new U.S. aid package to Ukraine was the 25th since August 2021. In total, since the beginning of President Joe Biden’s administration, the United States has provided Kiev with military assistance worth over $19.3bn.
US Permanent Representative to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield has arrived in Ukraine on a visit, said Nate Evans, Director of Communications and Press Secretary of the US Mission to the UN.
“The US Ambassador to the UN is in Kyiv for a day of meetings to reaffirm the unwavering US support for Ukraine as it defends its freedom and sovereignty in the face of Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion,” Evans tweeted on Tuesday.
While in Kyiv, Thomas-Greenfield will meet with Ukrainian government leaders to discuss the unwavering US commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence, according to the US Embassy in Ukraine. She will oversee efforts to document and preserve evidence of atrocities committed by Russian forces and hear first-hand accounts from survivors.
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield will also discuss the global food security crisis exacerbated by Russia’s invasion and stress the urgent need to extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative into next year. She will also meet with humanitarian organizations working to meet the winterization needs of vulnerable populations affected by Russian attacks on energy and other civilian infrastructure.
Sales of new homes in the US in September fell by 10.9% compared with the previous month and amounted to 603 thousand in terms of annual rates, the country’s Department of Commerce said.
The rate of decline has become the highest since April this year.
According to the revised data, 677 thousand houses were sold in August, and not 685 thousand, as previously reported.
Analysts, on average, had expected new home sales to fall to 585,000 last month from the previously announced figure, Trading Economics reports.
Compared to the same month in 2021, the number of new home sales fell by 17.6% (732 thousand new buildings were sold in September last year).
The median price of a new home in the US jumped 13.9% to $470.6 thousand in September.
The number of new buildings put up for sale at the end of last month was 462 thousand, which was the highest figure since 2008. At current sales rates, it would take 9.2 months for all new homes in the US to sell (8.2 months in August and 6.1 months a year ago). Experts traditionally believe that a balanced market corresponds to an indicator of about 6 months.
New properties make up about 10% of the US housing market, but new home sales are recorded as soon as a contract is signed, making them a more relevant indicator of the state of the market.
The US authorities in the new version of the national defense strategy described Russia as an “acute threat” and China as a “major challenge” for Washington.
“Russia poses an acute threat. Even though the main challenge comes from China, recent events highlight the immediate threat from Russia,” the Pentagon said in a strategy text released Thursday.
At the same time, the Pentagon noted that, “despite the fact that divergent interests and historical mistrust between China and Russia may limit the depth of their political and military cooperation, relations between the countries continue to expand.”
The document emphasizes that Russia “continues to pose a serious threat in key areas,” including nuclear.
This includes the nuclear threat against the United States and its allies and partners, the threat of long-range cruise missiles, cyber and information operations, threats in outer space, the threat of chemical and biological weapons, and underwater warfare. strategies.
In particular, according to the document, Russia continues to modernize and expand its nuclear forces, which pose a “potential threat to the existence of the United States and its allies and partners.” The Pentagon notes that we are talking about both the 1,500 deployed Russian nuclear warheads subject to the START III treaty, and warheads for non-strategic nuclear weapons, which are not covered by any agreements. Thus, Russia remains a rival to the United States with the most combat-ready and diverse arsenal of nuclear weapons.
At the same time, the document recalls, the United States had a significant dialogue with Russia in the area of ”strategic dialogue and crisis management.” The United States and Russia also expressed their desire to extend the nuclear arms control regime beyond the scope of START III. However, the priorities of both countries differ on this issue, which indicates the need for dialogue “with regard to those goals that the US and the Russian Federation do not have the same, and the perception of those weapons systems that affect strategic stability.”
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin also presented this strategy at the briefing.
