🇺🇸 Mortgage Mayhem

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📉 Biden Job Approval: Approve 42, Disapprove 55 (Rasmussen Reports)

📉 Biden Job Approval: Approve 42, Disapprove 53 (NY Times/Siena)

🐎 2022 Generic Congressional Vote: Democrats 42 Republican 43 (Rasmussen Reports)

🐘 2022 Generic Congressional Vote: Democrats 46 Republican 44 (NY Times/Siena)

TRENDING

Right: Most vulnerable Democrats won't say border is secure, or if they'd welcome illegal migrants in home districts (Fox News)

Right: Chuck Schumer has bad news for Nancy Pelosi, House Democrats — and reportedly doesn't even try to hide it (Blaze)

Right: Trump mulled trading Puerto Rico for Greenland: Book (Washington Examiner)

Left: Ron DeSantis' Martha's Vineyard stunt is straight out of Stormfront and "border militia" rhetoric (Salon)

Left: Ron DeSantis is getting *exactly* what he wanted (CNN)

Left: Trump Openly Embraces, Amplifies QAnon Conspiracy Theories (Huffington Post)

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More After Martha's, Puerto Rico Goes Dark, Biden Says Don't

US: No, DeSantis is not a human trafficker or kidnapper (The Hill)

US: Hurricane Fiona Causes Entire Island of Puerto Rico to Lose Power (People)

World: President Biden warns Vladimir Putin not to use nuclear weapons: "Don't. Don't. Don't." - 60 Minutes (CBS News)

World: The Queen's final journey (CNN)

US: Trump's 2024 triumph (Axios)

Sports: Texas Longhorns football ran up nearly $280,000 tab for recruiting visit by Arch Manning, 8 others (ESPN)

Business: DirecTV fumbles NFL Sunday Ticket... again (The Verge)

Tech: Here's What the iPhone 14 Pro's Cameras Can Do (CNET)

World: Tycoon Gautam Adani is now richer than Jeff Bezos (NPR)

World: The Global Rise of Unhappiness (Gallup)

US: This New Electric ‘Flying Car’ Can Be Piloted With a Driver’s License—and It Will Fit in Your Garage (Yahoo)

US: West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice signs into law bill restricting abortion after 8 weeks for adults (Fox News)

Sports: Kyrie Irving under fire over sharing Alex Jones conspiracy video (Chron)

ECONOMY

Mortgage Mayhem

The average rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage continues to climb as the Federal Reserve tightens its monetary policy in a bid to slow inflation. Rising borrowing costs have caused more would-be homebuyers to decide to rent or delay purchasing a new home.

Reporting From the Right: Average interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgage hits 6% for first time in 14 years (Fox Business)

Reporting from the Left: Mortgage Rates Hit 6%, First Time Since 2008 Housing Crash (US News & World Report)

From The Flag: Rising mortgage rates have put pressure on the housing market, which experienced a meteoric rise during the pandemic and the expansion of remote work. Meanwhile, the August CPI showed inflation remains persistent after the previous report was more optimistic. Here’s more from both sides.

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Evaluating Affordability, Financial Planning, and the Need for Change

• Although rates have risen, would-be homebuyers should still purchase now as opposed to waiting out lower rates, which will mean a return to bidding wars.

• While many young people feel home ownership is out of reach, it can be achieved with the right planning and some adjusted thinking.

• The entire homebuying process needs an overhaul in order to achieve equity and avoid leaving Black and Latino families behind.

“Homebuyers Might as Well Take the Plunge” Conor Sen, Bloomberg: “Would-be homebuyers who have decided to wait for mortgage rates to fall so they can afford to leap back into the market should realize that waiting isn’t going to help — they would just be swapping their too-expensive financing problem for a bidding-war pricing problem as the number of houses for sale shrinks. The best hope for homebuyers now might be to just go ahead and accept the higher mortgage rates and hope to refinance later. The inventory of houses for sale is the biggest reason to think that buying now might be the best option. The surge in homes for sale that we saw in the first half of 2022 has not just ended, but reversed. New weekly listings have declined significantly since July and are down 17.5% year-over-year according to Redfin. The pace of new listings is now sharply below levels seen in the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021.”

“Take heart, young house hunters. It is possible to buy a home” Dave Gallegos, The Colorado Sun Op-ed: “Bidding wars are generally behind us. Homes are staying on the market longer, and buyers aren’t typically paying over the asking price. Sellers are making concessions, and in some cases, agreeing to contingencies. … (Yet) roughly 70 percent of Americans between the ages of 23 and 40 report that they can’t afford to buy a home — and the young adults I meet with each month reflect that sentiment. What I’ve found after talking to them, however, is that many could afford a down payment in the next year or so if they take a more critical look at their expectations and values. This is neither a criticism nor an attempt at minimizing the struggle… Rather, a critical eye provides the means to move ahead by addressing affordability head on.”

One more opinion piece from the Left: I’ve spent 30 years working with homebuyers. Here's how Bank of America falls short. Mike Loftin, NBC News Op-ed

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Rising Rates May Cripple Housing Market, Democrats See Opportunity

• Because rates have risen so rapidly people who bought recently are effectively “stuck” in place, which also reduces housing stock.

• Democrats will push for more socialism as mortgage rates rise, similar to the proposed cancellation of student loans.

• The left continuously attempts to gaslight the American public by claiming the economy is doing well but numbers don’t lie.

“America Faces a Housing Bust” Justin Lahart, Wall Street Journal: “It is a big change from January, when the average rate was 3.45%... Back then, another banner year for housing seemed likely. The job market was strong, household balance sheets were in good shape, the persistence of hybrid work-from-home plans continued to make living farther away from city centers seem reasonable and more of the millennial generation seemed primed to become homeowners. All those things still seem true, but the numbers don’t work any more. Compounding the problem, a lot of people who already own homes are effectively stuck in them. … Moreover, there have been several waves of refinancing since 2008, the last one coming during the pandemic, when the average mortgage rate got as low as 2.65%. With the exception of people who have paid off or nearly paid off their mortgage, moving to a new home isn’t very easy—and of course they need to find someone to buy their old home first.”

“Free mortgages will be next” Cheryl K. Chumley, Washington Times Opinion: “The more government offers giveaways, the more greedy low-information lazies grab at the giveaways… In short order, America moves from a nation of individualists, bent on bringing up their own families by pulling on their own bootstraps, to a nation of whiney, entitled socialists who truly believe government exists to provide for them, from cradle to grave, simply because they exist. … Businesses are screaming for workers; help wanted signs are everywhere. Yet this White House, this administration, this president want to pretend as if families with kids in college can’t find employment to pay their own tuition and pay off their own loans? … First, health care. Next, college loans. Soon to come? Mortgages and housing costs. After all, if health care is a right and college education a right, then certainly housing is a human right as well. … Democrats won’t stop until the entire country’s gone socialist.”

One more opinion piece from the Right: Numbers Really Do Matter Bill Hansmann, American Thinker

FLAG THIS

Where Do Housing Prices Go From Here?

Mortgage rates are impacted by Federal Reserve policy, as the central bank sets its “target rate,” which helps guide what banks and lending institutions charge each other to borrow money overnight. As the Fed hikes rates to fight inflation, mortgage rates rise.

Now, polling data suggests Americans anticipate home prices will fall amid higher mortgage costs. For the first time since August 2020, respondents expect prices will fall (by 0.4%) over the year (Fannie Mae).

In a separate survey that polled financial analysts, 80% said US home prices need to drop by 10% or more to be fairly valued (Reuters).

FLAG FINDS

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Unabomber Manifesto, Slight Improvements, Silkworms

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The Guardian: 100 Ways to Slightly Improve Your Life Without Really Trying

Popular Science: Five Skills to Learn in Your Spare Time, and How to Master Them

The Atlantic: How Hobbies Infiltrated American Life

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