California Gov. Newsom To Order State Officials To Begin Dismantling Homeless Encampments

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US homelessness reaches highest point since at least 2007

There are more people without housing in the US amid a lack of homes for sale and apartments available to rent.

12/27/24 2:26PM

Homelessness in the US grew by 18% year on year as of January 2024, reaching its highest point since the federal government began counting in 2007.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development said in a report released Friday that the spike in people without housing could be traced to rising inflation, natural disasters, an influx of immigration, and the end of Covid-era government programs like the Child Tax Credit.

A lack of affordable housing is linked to the fact that there are simply fewer homes for sale and apartments available to rent. That’s partly because of rising mortgage rates, which makes it less appealing for current homeowners to sell and harder for new buyers to enter the market.

The 30-year fixed mortgage rate has been sitting above 6% since 2022, a level it hadn’t reached since 2008. Mortgage rates tend to track the 10-year US Treasury yield, which recently hit a seven-month high as traders ratchet down expectations for how much more easing the Federal Reserve will deliver following a string of hotter-than-expected CPI inflation reports and the potential that President-elect Trump’s fiscal and trade policies could add to price pressures.

With fewer people being in a position to buy homes, real-estate stocks have taken a hit. The Vanguard Real Estate ETF is down 3.5% over the past five years. Construction firms like DR Horton and Lennar are each down more than 6% this year.

Max Knoblauch

Celsius shares get an energy kick from a boosted stock rating and price target

With much of the broader market in need of a few hundred milligrams of caffeine, shares of energy drink maker Celsius are seeing some increased fizz on Monday, climbing 8% in afternoon trading.

Behind the surge: an upgrade from “hold” to “buy” from Truist Securities, along with a $10 bump in the stock’s 12-month price target to $45.

Truist appears to like Celsius’ $1.8 billion late February acquisition of rival energy drink maker Alani Nu. The deal will reportedly bump Celsius’ energy drink market share from 11% to 16%. According to Truist, the deal “provides [Celsius] with an extremely strong position in the women’s segment of the US energy drink category.”

1 in 6 mortgages

Max Knoblauch

Mortgage giant Rocket Cos on Monday said it’s buying Mr. Cooper, the largest mortgage-servicing company in the US, for $9.4 billion in an all-stock deal. If approved, the acquisition would add 7 million clients to Rocket’s roster and send its servicing book total up to a whopping $2.1 trillion. Rocket would control of one out of every six US mortgages.

The announcement comes in the same month that Rocket announced plans to buy real estate listing platform Redfin for $1.75 billion. The Redfin deal is expected to close in the second or third quarter, followed by the Mr. Cooper deal in the fourth.

This consolidation blastoff is happening as US home sales remain anemic, with elevated borrowing costs weighing down sales. Home sales rose 4.2% in February from the month prior, but were down 1.2% year over year. Prices climbed for the 20th month in a row — with the US median sale price up nearly 50% over the past five years.

Max Knoblauch

Virgin Atlantic warns that US travel demand is seeing some turbulence

British carrier Virgin Atlantic, which is 49% owned by Delta, said it’s seeing signs that US travel demand is slowing down.

Though the carrier still expects to see US revenue rise this year on a capacity bump, investors quickly dumped shares of IAG, the parent company of rival British Airways.

The comments didn’t help things for the big four US airlines either, which are all trading down Monday. Delta, United Airlines, American Airlines, and Southwest have collectively lost more than $24 billion in market cap this year. Last week, the four stocks dumped another $5 billion as investors sold off shares on signs of travel dampening due to President Trump’s tariffs.

Waning UK travel mirrors data from last week that bookings for flights between the US and Canada are down up to 76%.