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CNBC
24 minutes ago
- CNBC
How home equity has changed in every U.S. state since 2020—West Virginia ranks No. 1 for growth
Homeowners in West Virginia have gained more home equity over the past five years than anywhere else in the country. Home equity — the difference between what your home is worth and what you still owe on it — has surged 450% since 2020 in the Mountain State, according to a new Bankrate analysis. While home equity isn't spendable cash unless you sell or borrow against it, a surplus still adds to homeowners' net worth. That extra value can make it easier to qualify for a home equity loan or line of credit, free up cash for renovations and, if you sell, put more cash toward retirement. It can be a significant financial boost, too, considering that housing makes up the largest share of household wealth for most Americans, according to New York Federal Reserve data. Bankrate compared Zillow's typical home values with Experian's average mortgage balances for active borrowers in all 50 states in early 2020 and early 2025 to measure the change. In Zillow's terms, "typical" reflects the value of a mid-market home — roughly those in the middle third of the market, rather than a simple average or median sale price. Here are the five states where average home equity has grown the most since 2020, as a percentage: West Virginia has long had some of the nation's most affordable homes, but with U.S. home prices surging since the Covid-19 pandemic, the state's median sales price rose from $122,196 in March 2020 to $175,176 in March 2025 — a 43% increase, according to Zillow. Many of these homeowners locked in low 30-year fixed mortgage rates before they tripled in recent years, further boosting equity gains. That said, the home equity amount is only $35,931, one of the lowest amounts of any state. The same trend shows up across the rest of the top five states for equity growth, including low-cost markets like Oklahoma and Kansas. Rising prices combined with low mortgage rates have fueled large gains for many homeowners in these states. In contrast, the only state with negative equity is Louisiana, at -22%. Declining home prices, climate risks and growing insurance costs are likely driving the decline, Bankrate says. More generally, homeowners in the South and Midwest have seen the most home equity growth on average over the last five years, while homeowners in the West have seen the least on average. Nationwide, the average home equity amount in 2025 is $112,430 — up 142% from 2020. Here's each U.S. state's average home equity growth since 2020, shown as both the percentage increase and the current dollar amount, sorted alphabetically.
CNN
3 hours ago
- CNN
Trump's policies have already hurt New York City. Now he's threatening a federal takeover of the city
Donald Trump ImmigrationFacebookTweetLink Follow President Donald Trump is threatening to seize control of New York City. But the city may face even bigger problems from Trump's policy agenda than the military potentially marching through Central Park or Times Square. 'I'm going to look at New York in a little while,' Trump said Monday while he took federal control of Washington, DC's police force and mobilized National Guard troops. This follows Trump's deployment of the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles in June. But it's the Trump administration's economic and immigration policies that are already damaging America's largest city and may hurt its future. These policies – along with GOP cuts to the social safety net — could also stymie Zohran Mamdani's affordability agenda. Mamdani, the democratic socialist favored to become New York City's next mayor, won the Democratic primary in an upset victory on promises to make the nation's most expensive city more affordable. 'Broadly, the city's economy and public safety are in a strong place. The risks to them at this moment are largely coming from Trump and the erratic nature of tariffs,' said New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, a previous mayoral candidate who has endorsed Mamdani. Trump's tariff policies 'pose very real risks to the global economy and cities that are closely tied into it — New York City, first and foremost.' New York City is on track this year to record the lowest number of shootings and murders in its recorded history. And its economy has bounced back from the devastating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The city lost 23% of its jobs during March and April 2020 but now has roughly 200,000 more jobs than it did pre-pandemic, according to the Labor Department. But Trump's trade war is weakening those hard-fought gains. New York City's thousands of businesses added just a net 956 private-sector jobs in the first half of the year. While that counted as growth, it was the slowest outside a recession in decades. 'Trump's policies create conditions that will likely be inconducive to job growth in the near future,' the left-leaning New School's Center for New York City Affairs said in a July report. Trump's policies are also keeping foreign tourists away from one of the most desirable cities in the world to visit. International tourism is expected to fall by 17% this year, or 2 million fewer travelers, led by Canadian visitors staying home after Trump threatened to annex the country. Meanwhile, Trump's deportation push is reverberating through New York City's economy, labor market and immigrant communities. New York State has roughly 670,000 undocumented immigrants, and 80% are in the workforce, mainly in food service, construction and home health care. The labor force participation rate in New York City among Hispanic men, one target of Trump's deportation efforts, has dropped 3.6 percentage points since the third quarter of 2024, according to the New School. It was the largest decline of any group. Trump's anti-immigration agenda also damages the 'competitive advantage' and 'mystique' New York City has long enjoyed as a destination for creative talent from around the globe, said Bradley Tusk, a venture capitalist and political strategist. Many in New York City's business community have been supportive of Trump's policies on taxes, deregulation and attempting to bring jobs back to America. Bill Ackman, John Paulson, John Catsimatidis and other city business leaders have also praised Trump. In a statement to CNN, White House spokesperson Kush Desai said the Trump administration has implemented a 'multi-faceted, pro-growth agenda of deregulation, the tax cuts of The One Big Beautiful Bill, fair trade deals, and tariffs.' Leading businesses have responded by pledging trillions in new manufacturing investments into the United States, he said. 'If New York Democrats stopped abetting violent crime and got out of the way of productive enterprise instead of putting forward radical communists like Zohran Mamdani, New York could be booming under President Trump, too,' Desai said. Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act enacted last month jeopardizes the financial stability of the city in the coming years, state officials and budget experts say. 'Prospectively, federal budget cuts are the most serious threat to the city,' said Kathryn Wylde, the longtime leader of the Partnership for New York City, an influential business group. 'The New York economy is doing very well. Our tax base is stronger than ever. The question is how long will that last if we have mass deportations, high tariffs and a loss of federal funds?' The bill will result in 1.5 million New Yorkers losing health insurance coverage; 300,000 households losing some or all of their SNAP benefits; $13 billion in cuts to New York's health care system with 200,000 job losses; higher long-term energy costs by eliminating clean energy projects, according to state estimates. New York State also faces a $34 billion budget deficit in the wake of federal spending cuts and a softening economy, the biggest gap since the 2008 financial crisis, the state's comptroller announced in a report last week. 'Like other states, New York now faces a new crisis it has to overcome,' state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in a statement. State governments will be 'facing drastic reductions in federal aid that could force difficult decisions about state revenue and spending priorities.' Trump's public threats against New York City have ramped up in recent months. After Mamdani won New York City's Democratic mayoral primary in June, Trump warned he may use federal power to seize control if Mamdani becomes mayor. (Mamdani's campaign did not respond to request for comment.) The Trump administration also sued to block New York City's congestion pricing program, which would choke off a key revenue source to upgrade public transit, and warned it would withhold federal funding for transit projects if New York did not comply. Many of New York City's power brokers are concerned about Trump's public attacks against the city but also about the prospects of Mamdani's victory. He has vowed to freeze rents on rent-stabilized units, make public buses free, implement universal child care and build affordable housing units. He said he would push state leaders to raise taxes on higher-income earners and corporations to pay for his plans. Many business leaders have lined up against him. 'I wish I were hearing more from some of the business leaders expressing concerns about Zohran about these very real and present dangers that are not theoretical and are happening right now under Trump,' Lander said. He also acknowledged that the more precarious fiscal landscape Trump's policies have created may make it tougher for Mamdani to push the state to adopt his programs. 'Money that is needed to address cuts to Medicaid or SNAP or housing assistance is money that you can't use to expand childcare or free buses or affordable housing,' Lander said.
Newsweek
3 hours ago
- Newsweek
Rent Is Rising Fastest in These US Cities
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. After two years of declining or flat rates, rent is back on the rise across the U.S. as a shrinking supply might be enabling landlords to increase prices, according to a new report by Redfin. The median asking rent climbed 1.7 percent—the equivalent of $30—in July compared to a year earlier, reaching $1,790. It was the largest increase since January 2023 and the second consecutive year-over-year increase of 2025 after the one reported in June, when rent rose 0.4 percent. Renters Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place The U.S. is going through a once-in-a-generation housing affordability crisis that has pushed homeownership out of reach for millions of Americans. As a result, the renting population has grown across the country, especially in suburban areas, as renting remains more affordable than buying almost everywhere in the nation. But rental costs also surged during the pandemic, as low supply met surging demand. Even as they have been stabilizing and even falling since reaching their peak in mid-2022, rent prices remain much higher than they were before the COVID-19 health emergency. American tenants are stuck between a rock and a hard place: nearly half of over 21 million renter households in the country have been cost-burdened, meaning they spent more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. But buying a home is not an option, as prices remain sky-high, mortgage rates are still hovering between 6 percent and 7 percent, and other costs—including home insurance premiums and property taxes—are on the rise. Why Rents Are Rising Again Rents are rising because the supply of rental units across the country is shrinking, according to Redfin, and possibly shifting the power toward landlords. "Asking rents may be climbing because shrinking apartment supply is coinciding with growing renter demand, which is being fueled by the high cost of homeownership," said Redfin Senior Economist Sheharyar Bokhari in a press release. "Rents have been sluggish for the past two years because the pandemic building boom created a surplus of supply, which left landlords scrambling to fill vacancies and gave renters negotiating power. But now a slowdown in apartment construction may be shifting the balance of power toward landlords." In some parts of the country, especially Florida and Texas, the rise in demand for rental units and homes during the pandemic sparked a construction boom that saw these states adding hundreds of properties to their market. But in the midst of the current slowdown in the U.S. housing market, due to dwindling demand, falling sales, and growing inventory, developers have been cutting back on new projects. Permits to build multifamily housing (normally used for rental units) have fallen 23.1 percent since the pandemic construction boom, according to Redfin. Where Rents Are Rising the Most The biggest year-over-year increase in the nation was reported in San Jose, California, where the median asking rent jumped by 8.8 percent in July. Chicago, Illinois, followed with an 8.6 percent increase. It was trailed by Washington, D.C. (8.5 percent), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (7.7 percent) and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (7.5 percent). These metropolitan areas are seeing these huge increases because supply is shrinking. In San Jose, permits to build apartments in the city have fallen 74.5 percent since the pandemic, according to Redfin. In Philadelphia, permits fell by 62.1 percent. Curiously, Pittsburgh actually experienced one of the biggest increases, at 131 percent. Rent fell year-over-year in July only in these metros where supply has risen the most in recent months. Jacksonville, Florida, reported the biggest decline at -3.5 percent, followed by Austin, Texas (-2.6 percent), Louisville, Kentucky (-2.4 percent), Cincinnati, Ohio (-1.7 percent), Phoenix, Arizona (-1.1 percent), Cleveland, Ohio (-1 percent), and Orlando, Florida (-0.2 percent).
