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2024 housing trends: Lower rates, lower rents, more affordability

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:42 GMT

By Holden Lewis | NerdWalletAttention, home buyers, homeowners and renters: 2024 might treat you more kindly than 2023 did.The housing market was downright hostile in 2023. The 30-year mortgage rate rose from about 6% in February to 8% in October. The median home price peaked above $400,000. Home affordability plunged.2024 will bring lower mortgage rates, forecasters predict. If they’re right, home buyers will gain purchasing power. “It’ll be nice to move past the point where we’re not setting new records for unaffordability,” says Danielle Hale, chief economist for Realtor.com.If optimistic forecasts are accurate, more homeowners might list their homes for sale in 2024, even if it means giving up their low mortgage rates. And renters might get some relief too.Here are mortgage and housing trends to watch for in 2024.Mortgage rates should trend a little lowerFannie Mae, the Mortgage Bankers Association and the National Association of Realtors all predic...

More Republicans considering Cape Cod Senate run as Dylan Fernandes jumps into race

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:42 GMT

More Republicans said Tuesday they were mulling a run for a South Shore and Cape Cod Senate seat that will open up at the end of 2023-2024 legislative session as a local House Democrat tossed his hat into the race.Bourne School Committee member Kari MacRae, a Republican, said she plans to run for the post a week after Sen. Susan Moran, a third-term lawmaker from Falmouth, announced she would not seek reelection to the Plymouth and Barnstable Senate seat, and instead run for Barnstable Superior Court Clerk, an elected county position.MacRae, who unsuccessfully challenged Moran in 2020, said she was planning to run for the seat before Moran said she would not seek another term on Beacon Hill.“I definitely think immigration is the biggest problem, the way they’re handling it. Not necessarily the people themselves, but the way we’re handling it, and how much money it’s costing us. And I just think it’s misappropriation of funds,” MacRae said in a phone call with ...

Memorials to victims of Maine’s deadliest mass shooting to be displayed at museum

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:42 GMT

By DAVID SHARP (Associated Press)LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — Volunteers and city workers on Tuesday removed mementos, signs and other items that accumulated at the sites of the deadliest mass shooting in Maine history, reflecting a change in season and a new chapter in the area’s recovery.The handwritten signs, cards, bouquets and other items — more than a 1,000 of them — will be archived, catalogued and prepared for exhibition at a museum in Lewiston.Part of the process is practical: Snowfall makes it imperative to remove the memorials before they’re destroyed by either the elements or plows. But organizers also say it feels like the right time as communities continue to heal and grieve after 18 people were killed and 13 injured on Oct. 25.“We want to make sure the community doesn’t forget what happened and how the community came together. So bringing the items together feels like next stage,” said Rachel Ferrante, executive director of th...

Supreme Court signals it will uphold a tax on foreign income and leave a wealth tax for another day

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:42 GMT

By MARK SHERMAN (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday seemed inclined to uphold a tax on foreign income while leaving questions about a broader, never-enacted tax on wealth for another day.On the first issue, conservative and liberal justices voiced concerns that ruling for a Washington state couple challenging a provision of the 2017 tax bill would threaten other provisions of the tax code.After two hours of arguments, there seemed to be a consensus on the court to craft a narrow ruling that would avoid what Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said would be “several trillion dollars in lost revenues.”The case argued Tuesday was brought by Charles and Kathleen Moore of Redmond, Washington. They challenged a $15,000 tax bill based on Charles Moore’s investment in an Indian company. Backed by anti-regulatory and business interests, they contend that the tax violates the 16th Amendment, which allows the federal government to impose an...

Grand Theft Auto VI leak followed by an official trailer with a twist: A release date of 2025

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:42 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The highly-anticipated trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI arrived a little early after a copy was leaked online.Rockstar Games released its first look for the sixth game of the cult-classic video game series Monday evening — roughly 15 hours before the planned Tuesday morning unveiling — while citing the leak.“Our trailer has leaked so please watch the real thing on YouTube,” Rockstar Games wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, just after 6 p.m. ET Monday.Rockstar Games and its New York parent company, Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., did not provide further details on the leak. The company did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’ requests for comment early Tuesday.Still, avid Grand Theft Auto fans were able to learn a few things from the 90-second teaser — including that the next installment would be set in the Miami-inspired Vice City and star a female protagonist, a first for the franchise, named Lucia. The end of the video also confirmed...

El Niño winter has started. Here's what conditions are predicted for San Diego

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:42 GMT

SAN DIEGO — Winter has arrived in San Diego, and with it has come an El Niño climate pattern during the season for the first time in years.Forecasters with the Climate Prediction Center (CPC), a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, are predicting with 100% certainty that El Niño will last through early winter and 90% chance that it will continue to spring.For other parts of the country, the climate pattern is expected to be a stark change from the last three winters that have been dominated by La Niña, which typically brings a dry winter in the southern half of the U.S. and colder, wetter conditions in the north.But, San Diego may not seen much of that shift anytime soon.Since the beginning of the water year on Oct. 1, five of the region's six climate reporting sites have recorded a below-normal level of precipitation — most seeing under an inch accumulated between the two months.That trend is likely to continue through the end of the month, accordi...

Brookfield significantly under-reporting emissions: advocacy group report

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:42 GMT

TORONTO — Advocacy groups say Brookfield Corp. is substantially under-reporting its carbon emissions, even as the firm’s head of transition investing Mark Carney emphasizes the importance of increased disclosuresThe report by the group Investors for Paris Compliance, citing data from Private Equity Climate Risks, says the investments of Canada’s largest private equity investor emit over 13 times more than what Brookfield discloses in its most recent sustainability report.The discrepancies come in part because Brookfield doesn’t count the emissions linked to Oaktree Capital Management, in which it acquired a majority stake in 2019.The report says Oaktree’s holdings, especially in oil and gas, make up about half of the unreported emissions, while Brookfield also doesn’t report some emissions related to companies that it doesn’t have a controlling stake in, or that is emitted by end users.Brookfield says the report cites emissions data that are based...

Montreal mayor ‘out of danger’ after health scare during press conference

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:42 GMT

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is said to be out of danger after she suddenly took ill during a press conference today.Video from CTV News shows Plante trailing off in the middle of answering a question, before saying she didn’t feel well and slowly sinking to the ground.The mayor was seen seated on the ground surrounded by her staff, who called for medical attention.An update on Plante’s account on X — formerly Twitter — says the mayor experienced a “malaise,” or discomfort, but is out of danger. The message said Plante is receiving the medical care she needs and appreciates everyone’s concern.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was among those who responded to Plante’s message on X to wish her a speedy recovery.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2023.Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press

Wisconsin governor signs off on $500 million plan to fund repairs and upgrades at Brewers stadium

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:42 GMT

MILWAUKEE (AP) — After months of backroom wrangling, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed a bill Tuesday that spends half-a-billion dollars in taxpayer money over the next three decades to help the Milwaukee Brewers repair their baseball stadium.The governor signed the bipartisan package at American Family Field, calling the legislation a compromise agreement between the team and the public.“All in all, this plan ensures the Milwaukee Brewers will continue to call this city home for nearly 30 more years,” Evers said before signing the legislation on a stage set up at home plate.The Brewers say the 22-year-old stadium needs extensive renovation. The stadium’s glass outfield doors, seats and concourses need replacing, the stadium’s luxury suites and video scoreboard need upgrades and the stadium’s signature retractable roof, fire suppression systems, parking lots, elevators and escalators need work, according to the team.Brewers officials warned lawmakers the team might leave ...

Beware of debt relief scams that offer ‘pie-in-the-sky promises’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:11:42 GMT

TORONTO — For anyone facing spiralling debt and a falling credit rating, a debt relief consultant’s picture-perfect solution could bring a glimmer of hope. But experts say if their promises seem too good to be true, they probably are.“Anyone who makes a promise that they can eliminate your debt or boost your credit score is making pie-in-the-sky promises because it’s just not a possibility to do it,” said Brandon Smith, a licensed insolvency trustee with Ira Smith Trustee & Receiver Inc. in Vaughan, Ont.Smith, who has been in the business for almost two decades, said some debt relief consultants are misleading financially strained consumers with rosy pitches about debt relief programs and charging them for services they aren’t not qualified to carry out. The Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB), a federal agency which administers the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, issued a consumer alert last month for debt relief scams targeting indebte...