Federal Reserve warns of "brewing U.S. housing bubble"
CBSN
Homebuyers have faced a tough proposition during the pandemic: Swallow rapid price increases and forgo typical steps like house inspections, or risk getting left out of the real estate market. Those dynamics have caused some observers to question whether the U.S. is repeating the housing bubble of the early 2000s, which led to a painful housing crash in 2006 and the Great Recession the following year.
The answer, warns the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, is that the market is showing "signs of a brewing U.S. housing bubble."
That may be unsettling to millions of potential homebuyers who are coping with a myriad of financial pressure points. For one, mortgage rates are swiftly rising, reaching an average of 4.67 for a fixed 30-year loan for the week ended March 31 — the highest since 2018, according to Freddie Mac. And the national median listing price has jumped to a record $405,000, Realtor.com said on March 31.
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.
The knock at the door came at nighttime on Mother's Day 2008 in Oregon, where Jessica Ellis' parents lived. It was around 9:20 p.m. and his wife, Linda, was already in bed; her father Steve Ellis told CBS News, that he thought someone let their animals out — but two soldiers in Class A uniforms were standing at the door.