Latest news with #Hale
Newsweek
6 hours ago
- Business
- Newsweek
Is the US Housing Market Finally Shifting Toward Buyers?
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. For the first time in years, buyers finally seem to be gaining the upper hand over sellers in the U.S. housing market, as listings surge all across the country. And yet, for many Americans trying to get on the property ladder, it hardly feels like a victory worth celebrating considering mortgage rates are still hovering around the 7 percent mark and prices are still nearing their pandemic peaks. The truth is that, despite rising inventory and dwindling sales giving buyers more options and more negotiating power, the U.S. is not yet, technically, a buyer's market. "If you use months supply, the hallmark metric of whether or not we are in a buyer's or seller's market, we are not in a buyer's market," Danielle Hale, chief economist at said in a statement shared with Newsweek. The U.S. had 4.4 months supply in May—meaning that if homes sold at the current pace, buyers would go through the number of listings available in 4.4 months. Historically, a buyer's market starts at six months supply. "While some are calling this housing market a buyer's market, I would say the market is shifting in a buyer-friendly direction. We're moving from a pretty seller-friendly housing market to one with more balance," Hale said. Not a Buyer's Market Yet, but Buyers Are Gaining Power For Hale, the recent shifts in the U.S. housing market signals that the country is moving in favor of buyers—and under certain aspects is already behaving more like a buyer's market than a seller's one. For one, inventory continues rising: in May, it was up 31.5 percent year-over-year, marking the 19th consecutive month of year-over-year inventory growth, though it remains 14 percent below pre-pandemic levels, according to data from Photo-illustration by Newsweek/Getty/Canva Homes for sale on the market are now taking longer to sell, to the point that many sellers are increasingly offering price reductions in order to close a deal. In May, the typical U.S. home spent 51 days on the market, six days longer than the same time last year. It was the 14th straight month of homes taking longer to sell on a year-over-year basis. In the same month, 19.1 percent of listings reported price cuts—the highest share for any May since at least July 2016, when started tracking data. While home prices remained flat year-over-year in May, at $440,000, presenting an enduring challenge for buyers, those looking to purchase a home now have a chance to negotiate a better deal with sellers. "Buyers can expect that they will not only have more options to choose from, but they will also have more time to consider their choices in a market with less competition from other shoppers," Hale said. "While in a seller's market, buyers may have to be willing to forgo a lot of typical contract protections, in a buyer's market, sellers are likely to be more open to negotiating on price and other contract terms as well." According to Hale, this year Americans are going to enjoy "the most buyer friendly summer in nine years," as well as "the first 'balanced' housing market since 2016." The Last Time Buyers Had the Upper Hand The U.S. housing market has seen sellers dominate over buyers for so long that many might have forgotten how it felt when the dynamics were reversed. "The most recent span of a buyers' market in housing came on the heels of the mid-2000s housing boom," Hale said. "At one point, housing demand was so languid and home sales were so slow that months supply got very close to the one-year mark, at 11.9 months." In 2008, in the midst of the housing crash, the months supply averaged 10.4 months for the whole year, Hale said. This scenario—an "extreme buyer's market," as Hale called it—is unlikely to repeat itself anytime soon due to the chronic underbuilding the country has experienced nationwide since the Great Recession. "According to the housing supply report, we have a deficit of nearly 4 million homes nationwide," Hale said. "Of course, regional variation in construction means that the severity of shortage or recovery varies widely as well, and it's possible that we'll see some metro areas tip into buyer's market territory even as the national picture is still fairly balanced and other metros remain in seller's market territory," she added. "This means that buyers will want to pay specific attention to local trends in addition to the national context. That's not necessarily a new or different feature of the housing market, but it's one that I expect the current moment and near future to reinforce for both buyers and sellers." The Markets To Watch for Buyers The markets that are expected to see the steepest price drops are those where inventory has surged the most recently—with Florida and Texas leading this slowdown. expects listings rising all across the country but particularly in the South and West, where inventories are already higher. These markets—including Phoenix, Tampa, Denver, Jacksonville and Austin—are already seeing the largest share of price cuts in the nation. Over 28 percent of listings in these metropolitan areas had their original asking price slashed by sellers last month, according to senior economist Jake Krimmel previously told Newsweek that "the key for price changes will be to track growing inventory and time on market, especially relative to their pre-pandemic levels when the market was more balanced." Markets with high inventory and where homes for sale spend longer time on market are more likely to see price corrections, Krimmel said. The Northeast and Midwest, which have seen lower levels of inventory growth, are likely to see more price stability this year.
Time Magazine
2 days ago
- Business
- Time Magazine
How Oura Keeps Pushing Smart Ring Tech Forward
On a Monday morning in late April, Oura CEO Tom Hale was feeling well-rested despite having stayed up later than usual the night before to catch the latest episode of The Last of Us . Clicking through data logged by his smart ring, he ticked off stats he was pleased with. Hale had gotten close to eight hours of sleep ('pretty rare' for him these days), including nearly 90 minutes of deep sleep. His 'efficiency'—how much time in bed he was actually sleeping—was 91 out of 100. 'My timing was perfect,' he says. 'I didn't get up in the middle of the night, which is a very typical thing for me.' Hale's sleep stats are the very reason he decided he wanted to join Oura, the Finland-based company that pioneered the smart ring category. During a stressful period in the fall of 2021, he was having trouble sleeping. He bought an Oura Ring and then made a handful of behavior changes based on its feedback about his sleep habits, like no longer drinking alcohol to unwind in the evenings. Within six weeks, he experienced dramatic results. The fix 'made me want to be a part of the company,' he says. It just so happened that Oura was searching for a new CEO, and the company is now thriving under Hale's leadership. In December, Oura announced its member base and revenue more than doubled in 2024. It's now sold more than 2.5 million rings, including the Oura 4, which was released in October. That device introduced the company's 'smart sensing' technology, which tracks blood oxygen levels, heart and respiratory rates, skin temperature changes, and movement. TIME spoke to Hale about what he attributes the company's success to, how health data can spur action, and why Oura is prioritizing women's health. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. These days, the ring can collect data on more than 20 biometrics. Which are you most excited about? I'm trying to age gracefully, and the two things I'm concerned about are heart health and metabolic health. I hate to admit this, but I have a sweet tooth. So for me, the metabolic part is controlling my blood sugar. Right now, I'm wearing a continuous glucose monitor. As of May, our partnership with Dexcom supports integration of that data, which means it can flow between Dexcom devices and the Oura ring and app. What I don't like to see is an enormous blood-sugar spike. I've learned there are some foods that aren't what you might consider to be a sugar bomb, but still have that effect. Rice turned out to cause a huge spike. Just by dialing back rice in my diet or consuming smaller portions, I'm able to stay within my range. That's important, because I don't want to go into prediabetes. The partnership with [glucose monitor maker] Dexcom seems like a natural fit—two companies that value data. We met with the CEO of Dexcom, and when he and his staff walked into the room, they were all wearing Oura rings. I was like, 'Well, I'm wearing a Dexcom sensor right now.' That technology was developed for people with diabetes. We want to be part of the solution that keeps people from even getting to that stage. Part of that is understanding which foods are going to affect you in a very discreet way. The thing that's so powerful about this tool is that your glucose and your glycemic response and your insulin response are going to be different based on how rested you are, what activity you've done and when you did that activity. Your genetics and biome also play a role. So a big part of what we're trying to do is educate people. You've described the Oura Ring as a doctor in the pocket—a tool to help scale up preventive care. What exactly does that mean? Wearables are a tool—they're not the answer for everything. But they're a very powerful tool, both from the perspective of predicting things or giving you feedback, and educating you and motivating you to do the things that are hardest in preventive care—changing behaviors. For example, I stopped drinking alcohol [at night], and that was a behavioral change rooted in 30 years of my adult life. I changed it very quickly when I saw that alcohol ruined my REM sleep. We're not trying to be like doctors—but the fact of the matter is, there simply aren't enough in the U.S. With Oura, you have something on your body that's monitoring you and knows when you have a deviation from the norm. I would call it algorithmic care. There's a set of conditions in your biometrics, and we can say, 'Hey, you're getting sick, you're getting a cold, maybe you need to be checked out for something a little more serious. Maybe you should go talk to a doctor and share this data.' It's ultimately a tool that's part of your overall care. I've heard Oura staffers call what the company does 'giving your body a voice.' Is that a common phrase around the office? We say it all the time. What's really different about Oura is the fidelity of the information because of overnight tracking, as well as the accuracy of the finger [as a data collection site]. Getting it right builds trust. Lots of competitors are popping up, yet Oura's membership keeps growing. Do you attribute that to the trust you're describing? It's a couple things. If the Oura Ring says to you, 'Hey, it looks like you're getting sick,' you might go, 'Oh, I feel fine.' But two days later, when you're on the couch surrounded by Kleenex, you realize: 'It told me something I didn't already know.' That's the magic. The degree to which Oura can surprise you with something you don't know happens frequently and is, on balance, more often right than it is wrong. It's not always perfect, but it's pretty close. That gives us an edge. The other thing that's really important is that we nailed the use cases for women. How do you see women using the ring? Maybe in your late teens or early 20s, it's about knowing when you're going to have your cycle and planning for contraception. Then, as you enter your late 20s or 30s, maybe it's conception. A lot of Oura customers are trying to conceive. One of the things Oura does is it gives you a really good signal about your fertile window—which is actually our first U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved feature. Then there's pregnancy, a real focus for us this year. How do your biometrics change during pregnancy? What should you expect? Is this something maybe you need to talk to your OB-GYN about? But our vision is that we should be able to serve women and give their body a voice over pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause and menopause—that entire timeframe. Are there stories you've heard from Oura users that really stand out in your mind? So many. There was the grandfather who started to see his metrics decline. His grandkid was looking at it and said, 'Hey, grandpa, this doesn't look good. We should get you checked out.' It turns out he was on the brink of a myocardial infarction [heart attack]. There's a Paralympian who was visiting his parents at home. He's a sprinter, and he's like, 'You know, I'm not feeling great.' He's looking at his app and it's saying, 'Major signs, major signs, something is going on,' and he's like, 'No, I don't want to tell my parents because they'll put pressure on me to suck it up and keep competing.' It turns out he had appendicitis, and he basically credited Oura with helping him have the courage to say, 'I need to get this checked out. Something is going on.' Those kinds of stories aren't strictly speaking happy stories. But people get the opportunity to have agency in their health journey and to take action. That's really powerful. Disclosure: Investors in Oura include TIME owner and co-chair Marc Benioff
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
These 2 Texas metros offer some of the biggest home price cuts this summer. See which
After a slow spring, housing markets in parts of the U.S. are becoming increasingly buyer-friendly, including areas in Texas! Overall, the South and West are brimming with options and big deals, according to a study by The real estate website gathered data in May 2025 on the share of listings offering price cuts, which is a key indicator of a buyer-friendly market. May figures for the median list prices and the median days on the market were also collected to determine the country's 10 metros with the largest price cuts. Here's what data reveals about the current housing market. found the South and West generally offered more choices to house hunters. New listings, which measure the number of owners putting homes up for sale, have increased by 3.8% from the same period last year. "A growing number of for-sale homes in some markets is helping to rebalance the market, giving buyers more negotiating room than they've seen in several years," Chief Economist Danielle Hale said. Phoenix, Arizona, was the metro with the highest share of listings with a price cut (31.3%). The median days a Phoenix home spent on the market was 58 — a full week longer than the national median. Tampa, Florida, ranked second with 29.9% of listings having a price cut and 60 days as the median time a home spent on the market. Tampa also had a median list price of $417,500, more than $20,000 below the national median. Denver, Colorado, ranked No. 3 in the list, with the largest increase in active listings among the top 10 metros at 63.9%. However, Denver also had the second-highest median list price among the group. Despite pandemic-era construction booms, demand has faded as mortgage rates rise and the economy remains uncertain. This has prompted sellers to significantly lower their asking prices. In Austin, the number of new listings skyrocketed 13.2% from May 2024 to May 2025 — the most of any metro on the top 10 list. The overall inventory of for-sale properties in Austin also increased by 26.5% as the median price declined by 6.3% to $525,000. This was the biggest annual drop among the 50 largest U.S. metros, according to the May 2025 Monthly Housing Market Trends Report. As of May, 29.2% of all listings in the Texas capital offered price reductions. A construction spree during the peak of COVID-19 resulted in over 60% more active inventory in Austin compared to 2019. Now that this excess of homes has lingered on the market for over six years, prices have softened. "Sellers are responding, and these areas — concentrated in the South and West — show the highest share of price cuts, with more than 1 in 4 listings in each market having a price reduction," Hale said. Austin isn't the only Texas metro that made list. Dallas ranked No. 8, with a massive surge in active listings second only to Denver. Rank Metro State Median list price Active listings Days on the market Share of listings with a price cut 1 Phoenix Arizona $525,000 23.1% 58 31.3% 2 Tampa Florida $417,500 31.2% 60 29.9% 3 Denver Colorado $600,000 63.9% 38 29.4% 4 Austin Texas $525,000 26.5% 46 29.2% 5 Jacksonville Florida $405,000 31.2% 60 28.8% 6 Charleston South Carolina $539,000 36% 45 27.3% 7 Salt Lake City Utah $585,000 38.2% 44 27.1% 8 Dallas Texas $440,000 44.8% 45 27% 9 Palm Bay Florida $389,000 24.5% 65 27% 10 Portland Oregon $610,707 34.3% 44 26.8% This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: 2 Texas metros offer some of the biggest home price cuts this summer
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
These 2 Texas metros offer some of the biggest home price cuts this summer. See which
After a slow spring, housing markets in parts of the U.S. are becoming increasingly buyer-friendly, including areas in Texas! Overall, the South and West are brimming with options and big deals, according to a study by The real estate website gathered data in May 2025 on the share of listings offering price cuts, which is a key indicator of a buyer-friendly market. May figures for the median list prices and the median days on the market were also collected to determine the country's 10 metros with the largest price cuts. Here's what data reveals about the current housing market. found the South and West generally offered more choices to house hunters. New listings, which measure the number of owners putting homes up for sale, have increased by 3.8% from the same period last year. "A growing number of for-sale homes in some markets is helping to rebalance the market, giving buyers more negotiating room than they've seen in several years," Chief Economist Danielle Hale said. Phoenix, Arizona, was the metro with the highest share of listings with a price cut (31.3%). The median days a Phoenix home spent on the market was 58 — a full week longer than the national median. Tampa, Florida, ranked second with 29.9% of listings having a price cut and 60 days as the median time a home spent on the market. Tampa also had a median list price of $417,500, more than $20,000 below the national median. Denver, Colorado, ranked No. 3 in the list, with the largest increase in active listings among the top 10 metros at 63.9%. However, Denver also had the second-highest median list price among the group. Despite pandemic-era construction booms, demand has faded as mortgage rates rise and the economy remains uncertain. This has prompted sellers to significantly lower their asking prices. In Austin, the number of new listings skyrocketed 13.2% from May 2024 to May 2025 — the most of any metro on the top 10 list. The overall inventory of for-sale properties in Austin also increased by 26.5% as the median price declined by 6.3% to $525,000. This was the biggest annual drop among the 50 largest U.S. metros, according to the May 2025 Monthly Housing Market Trends Report. As of May, 29.2% of all listings in the Texas capital offered price reductions. A construction spree during the peak of COVID-19 resulted in over 60% more active inventory in Austin compared to 2019. Now that this excess of homes has lingered on the market for over six years, prices have softened. "Sellers are responding, and these areas — concentrated in the South and West — show the highest share of price cuts, with more than 1 in 4 listings in each market having a price reduction," Hale said. Austin isn't the only Texas metro that made list. Dallas ranked No. 8, with a massive surge in active listings second only to Denver. Rank Metro State Median list price Active listings Days on the market Share of listings with a price cut 1 Phoenix Arizona $525,000 23.1% 58 31.3% 2 Tampa Florida $417,500 31.2% 60 29.9% 3 Denver Colorado $600,000 63.9% 38 29.4% 4 Austin Texas $525,000 26.5% 46 29.2% 5 Jacksonville Florida $405,000 31.2% 60 28.8% 6 Charleston South Carolina $539,000 36% 45 27.3% 7 Salt Lake City Utah $585,000 38.2% 44 27.1% 8 Dallas Texas $440,000 44.8% 45 27% 9 Palm Bay Florida $389,000 24.5% 65 27% 10 Portland Oregon $610,707 34.3% 44 26.8% This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: 2 Texas metros offer some of the biggest home price cuts this summer
Hamilton Spectator
5 days ago
- Sport
- Hamilton Spectator
Arizona extends baseball coach Chip Hale's contract 4 years through 2030
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Arizona has extended baseball coach Chip Hale's contract four years through 2030 after he led the Wildcats back to the College World Series. Terms of the deal announced Monday were not released and must still be approved by the Arizona Board of Regents. 'Arizona Baseball has long been one of the nation's premier programs, and coach Chip Hale has honored that legacy while elevating our standard of excellence,' Arizona athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois said in a statement. 'He is a proud Wildcat, a proven leader, and a tremendous ambassador for the University of Arizona. With Chip leading the way, we are well-positioned to compete for championships and continue developing exceptional young men on and off the field.' Hale has led Arizona to the NCAA Tournament four straight times since returning to Tucson to coach his alma mater in 2021. The Wildcats returned to the College World Series this year for the first time since 2021. Hale, a former manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks, has led Arizona to consecutive conference tournament championships, coached six All-Americans and two first-round Major League Baseball picks. ___ AP college sports:
