Weekly Mortgage Applications Rebound Amid Federal Housing Administration Refinances
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USA Today
10 hours ago
- USA Today
A bill to renew the 'American Dream' of housing just passed a Congressional hurdle
A Senate committee unanimously approved a major housing bill July 29, signaling bipartisan support for an issue that's plaguing constituents in districts around the country. The Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream to Housing Act of 2025 was sponsored by Senator Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina, and Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat. The legislation aims to 'increase the supply of affordable housing in America' through a wide range of policies, including increasing construction, making small mortgages more attainable, reforming the appraisal process and supporting manufactured housing, among others. The legislation 'would be the most impactful and comprehensive piece of housing legislation since the Great Recession,' which began in 2007, said analysts at the Bipartisan Policy Center in a summary published after the bill passed through the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. One hint at just how comprehensive the bill is: it incorporates part of at least 27 previously introduced pieces of legislation, the summary explained, of which 23 were introduced with bipartisan sponsors. The national housing crisis has deepened – and it's also becoming more wide-reaching. Both parties' major presidential candidates focused on it on the campaign trail last fall, and legislators around the country remain concerned. Shaun Donovan, CEO and president of Enterprise Community Partners, who served as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the Obama administration, told USA TODAY in December, 'There is a political imperative that is much broader than I've ever seen around housing' as nearly every pocket of America, not just pricey coastal cities, becomes unaffordable. Home prices hit a new all-time high in 2024, with the median at $412,500. Using the traditional lender ratio of 31% debt-to-income, a borrower would need an annual income of at least $126,700 to afford a mortgage payment on a home of that price. 'Many people around the country, frustrated with the way we do American politics, wonder, is there any issue that brings this nation together?' said Senator Scott, who chairs the Senate Banking Committee, during the July 29 session. 'I'm here to say hallelujah! We have found one. It is housing.' Read next: The housing crisis threatens the American dream. What's next? Industry groups, including the National Association of Home Builders, the National Association of Realtors, and the Mortgage Bankers Association, released statements in support of the legislation. But even as advocates cheered the committee's step, some cautioned that the bill has a long way to go before it becomes law. The House of Representatives will take it up in the fall, noted the Bipartisan Policy analysts, adding, 'the bill proposes to enhance many existing federal housing programs and create new ones, but does not uniformly propose funding levels for these changes nor propose offsetting budgetary savings or revenue increases.'
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Palo Alto & CyberArk, Corning Q2 beat, Sphere price target
Market Domination host Josh Lipton tracks the latest market movers and stocks in this Market Minute. Palo Alto Networks (PANW) is reportedly in talks to acquire CyberArk (CYBR) in a deal that could exceed $20 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. Corning (GLW) stock is jumping after the company topped second quarter earnings and issued upbeat third quarter guidance. Sphere Entertainment (SPHR) stock gains after Goldman Sachs raised its price target, citing the company's new partnership with Abu Dhabi's Department of Culture and Tourism as a potential catalyst. Stay up to date on the latest market action, minute-by-minute, with Yahoo Finance's Market Minute. It's time for Yahoo! Finance's market minute. Palo Alto Networks reportedly has its sights set on acquiring CyberArk software. According to the Wall Street Journal, a deal could value CyberArk at more than $20 billion, and Palo Alto could finalize a deal for the firm as soon as later this week. Communications equipment company Corning reporting a beat on sales and earnings for the second quarter. Looking ahead, the company is also providing a better-than-expected outlook for the third quarter. JP Morgan noting that guidance should reinforce investor confidence and earnings upside opportunity in the second half of 2025. And Sphere Entertainment getting a lift, Goldman Sachs from raising its price target on that stock while reiterating its buy rating. Goldman noting that Sphere's agreement with the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism should act as a catalyst. And that's your Yahoo! Finance market minute. For more on what's trending on Yahoo! Finance, scan the QR code below to track the best and worst performing stocks of the session. Related Videos How is the Dow calculated? Here's a breakdown. Market is seeing 'pockets of speculation,' not 'excessive' froth Berkshire trims VeriSign stake, Novo Nordisk craters, PayPal falls Market's 'fuel' for further P/E expansion is 'nearing empty' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Forbes
11 hours ago
- Forbes
Governments Worldwide Race To Lock In AI Leadership
The Global Race for AI dominance heats up In the past three months, the global AI race went into overdrive. Washington, Brussels, Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul, and even India's Gujarat state rolled out ambitious plans for building AI capacity. These documents aren't the run of the mill, vague strategy memos. They are statements about plans to lead the next era of technology. These announcements all carry a similar urgency. They direct billions toward infrastructure, talent, and data systems, while defining which countries and companies will get access to these assets, as well as which will not. The AI Action plans all serve to direct government efforts and funding in a more direct manner than seen before, and these plans all aim to shake up the rapidly growing and shifting AI markets. The United States AI Action Plan: Deregulation and a Security Lens President Donald Trump left little to interpretation when he unveiled 'Winning the AI Race: America's AI Action Plan' on July 23. 'To secure our future, we must harness the full power of American innovation,' he said. His remarks and the text of the plan made clear that China was the country on his mind. The US plan structured its AI Action plan to move quickly. It calls for removing regulatory hurdles that might slow AI research or deployment and discourages state-level restrictions. Federal dollars will flow into chip plants, data centers, and AI-focused workforce training. Agencies are also being told to buy AI systems that align with the administration's definition of 'objective truth' and avoid what it calls 'ideological bias.' National security is also central to the US AI Action Plan. The government will tighten export controls on advanced AI hardware and software while creating 'secure AI export packages' for allies. Secretary of State Marco Rubio summed it up: 'America sets the technological gold standard worldwide, and the world continues to run on American technology.' Europe: Focused on Fixing an Infrastructure Deficit The European Union's AI Continent Action Plan, released before the US' action plan on April 9, is all about accelerating European AI efforts, if not catching up. Europe lags the US and China in cloud and data center capacity, and the plan directly addresses that. Brussels will fund massive 'AI factories' and 'AI Gigafactories' through public-private partnerships. Think CERN, but for compute power. The plan also promises to build out a unified market for data through new European Data Spaces. These shared datasets are meant to fuel AI model training without violating the bloc's strict data protection rules. 'Europe must become a global leader in AI innovation,' European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. Japan: A Lighter Touch Japan takes a different approach with a recent law aiming to achieve the same goals as the AI Action Plans. With the AI Promotion Act, which passed May 28, the goal is to make the country the 'most AI-friendly' place to invest and build. Instead of strict penalties, the law sets out broad principles and imposes specific obligations only on a handful of 'high-risk' uses. A new AI Strategy Headquarters, led by the Prime Minister, will coordinate the effort. That centralized approach is designed to make decisions and allocate resources quickly. South Korea: Focusing on Trust as the Foundation South Korea's Strategy to Realize Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence (May 13) focuses on ethics and user confidence. High-risk systems must notify users when they're in use, and the government will conduct social impact assessments to track how AI changes daily life. Officials say they want citizens to feel they can trust the technology from the ground up. China: Domestic Expansion, Global Outreach China launched two AI-focused initiatives in quick succession. The Digital China 2025 plan, released May 16, aims to spread AI through every sector of the economy and raise the country's computing power. And just earlier this week at the World AI Conference & High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance, Beijing presented an "action plan for global AI governance" as well as a new international AI governance body headquartered in Shanghai. Premier Li Qiang argued that the AI race can't be controlled by a handful of nations and companies. He promised to share open-source tools and breakthroughs with developing countries, particularly in the Global South, a clear counter to Washington's export restrictions. India's Gujarat State: Local but Ambitious And more at a local level, India's Gujarat state launched an Action Plan for Implementation of Artificial Intelligence that was approved this week, showing how AI competition is extending beyond the national level. The state plans to train 250,000 people in AI, launch 'AI factories' in smaller cities, and use the technology to modernize public services. What's Fueling this Latest Wave? There are a number of factors pushing governmental agencies to launch AI action plans and initiatives. The first is one of constrained power and compute resources. Every plan emphasizes compute power. Europe is building Gigafactories, China has a 300 EFLOPS target, and the US is fast-tracking data center permits. The second driver is that of talent shortages. The need for higher skilled AI workers both inside and outside the government is becoming critical. The US, EU, and India all say they need more AI-skilled workers. Training programs are growing and being launched everywhere. Another key driver is the realization that an AI strategy at the national level means increased national security. Governments are coming to the increasing realization that AI is a strategic asset. Some are tightening export controls, while others are fast-tracking sovereign AI models and building alliances through open-source sharing. What's missing is a shared approach to regulation. The EU has the AI Act, a dense set of rules set to take effect next year. Japan is going in the opposite direction, with minimal restrictions. The US has so far leaned on deregulation. That lack of consistency creates headaches for companies trying to operate in multiple regions. Will These Plans Bring the Market Together or Split It Apart? These new roadmaps raise a bigger question. Will governments find enough common ground to keep the AI market connected? Or will they carve it into rival blocs? Some see reasons for optimism. Countries are all worried about the same things: model safety, data security, and misuse. That could lead to at least basic shared standards, especially around how models are tested and hardened against attacks. Existing forums like the G7's Hiroshima AI Process have tried to lay that groundwork. But the split may already be happening. Washington is intent on protecting its technological edge through export bans. Beijing is using open-source promises and a proposed global AI body to build influence among developing countries. These two philosophies don't line up. If they harden, the world could end up with incompatible technical stacks and regulatory frameworks. For AI developers, that scenario would make life difficult. Building for multiple regimes means rewriting software, retraining models, and navigating a maze of compliance rules. A single set of standards would be easier, but the political realities don't point that way. The AI Race Continues to Heat Up The AI race keeps accelerating and heating up. The next phase will decide how connected or divided the global market becomes. Governments aren't waiting to see how AI technology evolves. They're laying down rules and infrastructure now, each trying to secure an advantage. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen put it bluntly: 'The global race for AI isn't slowing down. [The] Time to act is now.'
