High interest rates make hunt for a new home even more challenging
(NEW YORK) — Rising inflation has driven mortgage rates up, making it difficult for many Americans to find an affordable home. As a result, many potential buyers find themselves waiting for an interest rate cut to bring mortgage prices down.
For more than a year, LaToya Trotter has worked closely with trusted real estate agent Shannon Welch to find an ideal new home in the vibrant Chicago area. Trotter purchased their current home in 2020 for $45,000 in an all-cash offer.
Interest rates have dropped from their 23-year high in 2023 but are nowhere near the 3% homeowners enjoyed in 2020. This puts home prices at an all-time high, dramatically increasing moving costs.
According to the National Association of Realtors, the current monthly payment for a median-priced home has more than doubled since 2019. Buying a starter home in more than 200 U.S. cities now costs $1 million.
“It’s sad because there are people in America that will never make $1 million in their lifetime,” Welch said. “So how can they afford a million-dollar home?
Trotter, a single mother and electrical engineer, is searching for a new home priced at $400,000 to secure her 14-year-old daughter Adoniah’s future. She wants to move closer to her daughter’s school. The teenager attends a private Catholic high school located 30 minutes away from their South Chicago home.
She visited a three-bedroom, two-bath home listed for $340,000 and a five-bedroom, three-bath home with an asking price of more than $459,000.
Welch is keeping a keen eye on the market for her client. She doesn’t dismiss Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris’ promise to build 3 million new housing units if elected, but she thinks that plan misses the mark in Chicago.
“We have tons of inventory throughout Chicago land,” Welch said. “We have hundreds of properties on auction. We have properties that are abandoned.”
Harris proposed a plan to assist first-generation homebuyers by providing a down payment of up to $25,000.
While Harris’ Republican rival Donald Trump has yet to outline a housing plan if he wins back the White House in November, the Republican National Party this year pledged to promote homeownership through tax incentives.
According to a recent ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll, more respondents trust Trump over Harris to handle the economy and inflation by 9 points. Over 85% of adults consider this a top issue in their presidential vote.
When asked who she’ll vote for this November, Trotter noted that she’ll back the candidate whose policies seem likely to offer her the best future.
“I’ll just again look to find whoever has policies that align more closely with what I’m looking to do today,” Trotter said. “It’s not about the past. It’s about looking forward.”
(NEW YORK) — Less than a week after Elon Musk publicly endorsed the candidacy of former President Donald Trump, he shared an edited video of Vice President Kamala Harris that used artificial intelligence to mimic her voice.
Musk, the wealthiest person in the world, spread the video on his social media platform X, where he boasts 192 million followers. The post appeared to violate X policies that disallow sharing “synthetic, manipulated or out-of-context media.” Later, Musk defended the video as parody, which is permitted on the platform when adequately labeled.
A similar firestorm broke out this week after X suspended an account affiliated with a fundraising drive in support of Harris called “White Dudes for Kamala.”
A message from X indicated that the account had been suspended for “violating our rules against evading suspension,” according to a screenshot posted by an event organizer. X, which plays host to nearly 250 million users, later reinstated the account.
The incidents stoked concern among some experts about the potential for Musk to wield X as a means of influencing public conversation about an election in which he holds a clear preference.
“It’s an unsettling situation,” Paul Barrett, a professor at New York University Law School and deputy director of the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, told ABC News. “It illustrates the power that can reside in the hands of a single individual because of the almost bizarre way our current communications architecture is structured.”
Some experts disagreed, however, saying critics lack evidence of Musk’s undue intervention at X. They also downplayed the role X plays in the wider political conversation, noting that a focus on the platform risks overstating Musk’s influence.
“I actually don’t think his ownership of Twitter or activities on Twitter make the slightest bit of difference,” Siva Vaidyanathan, professor of media studies at the University of Virginia, told ABC News, referring to the platform by its former name.
X did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment. The request also sought comment from Musk.
When Musk acquired Twitter in 2022, he vowed to relax content moderation and turn the platform into a “digital town square.” The company cut more than half of its staff, eased restrictions on some forms of speech and reinstated an account belonging to Trump, among other changes.
Meanwhile, Musk’s follower count soared. When he acquired Twitter, Musk had about 110 million followers. After adding more than 80 million followers, Musk has far surpassed the followings of top users like former President Barack Obama and pop star Justin Bieber.
In some cases, Musk has posted and amplified misinformation on X, including a post in January that falsely claimed a dependence on mail-in ballots would lead to a “rigged election.”
“As the owner of Twitter, he’s the person who’s supposed to police the content but he himself is engaging in the spread of fake information,” Hamed Qahri-Saremi, a professor of computer information systems at Colorado State University who studies social media, told ABC News.
After easing content moderation, the platform has come to rely on Community Notes, a system in which context is appended to false or misleading posts once it receives approval from a sufficient number of users. That system has proven inconsistent, however, allowing some false posts to spread widely without corrections, The New York Times reported last week.
Sam Woolley, a professor at the University of Texas School of Journalism who focuses on political communication and technology, said Musk’s commitment to free speech has fallen short in recent cases, for instance the temporary suspension of the account affiliated with “White Dudes for Harris.”
“Musk’s actions suggest serious contradictions with his stated free speech intentions on the platform,” Woolley told ABC News.
Some experts sharply disagreed with criticism of Musk regarding his oversight of X, saying he hasn’t interfered with the platform in a manner that suggests an intent to reward his political allies or punish his foes.
“Has Elon come out and specifically set a policy or rule for X that in turn would then say he’s abusing that power?” asked Jason Buckweitz, a professor of business at Columbia University who studies the digital economy. “I haven’t seen any evidence.”
“I don’t necessarily think it’s a concern unless there’s some level of negative influence,” Buckweitz added.
Plus, observers should not assume that Musk’s large follower count translates into immense impact, said Vaidyanathan, noting that some of the followers are likely bots and inactive users.
“The very exposure to or posting of something doesn’t mean that anybody saw it or believed it,” Vaidyanathan said. Many of the followers are likely supporters of Musk who would already back his preferred candidate anyway, he added.
For his part, Vaidyanathan said Musk still wields significant political influence as the owner of aerospace company Space X, which has current contracts with the U.S. government.
Joshua Tucker, director of the Center for Social Media and Politics at New York University, said Musk’s dual role as an owner and user of X raises a policy question surrounding the regulation of social media platforms.
Tucker, who declined to say whether X warrants government regulation, pointed to a law calling for the ban or sale of TikTok as an example of the federal government weighing in on social media. On Wednesday, the Senate passed bipartisan legislation that aims to protect children’s safety on social media, signaling further willingness to police the platforms.
“We continue to live in an era where we have to think very carefully as a country about what types of public policies to regulate the behavior of social media companies in terms of public health but also the information ecosystem,” Tucker said.
Speaking about Musk’s dual role on X, Tucker added: “If this is something the public finds objectionable, that’s ultimately a public policy question.”
(NEW YORK) — For the first time in its history, Instagram on Tuesday announced the launch of accounts designed specifically for teenage users with built-in privacy protections.
The new accounts, called “Teen Accounts,” will be automatic for all Instagram users under the age of 18, both for teens already using the app and for those signing up.
By default, Instagram users younger than 16 will need a parent’s permission to change their account settings.
The changes — expected to impact tens of millions of users — were announced by Instagram head Adam Mosseri in a live interview on ABC News’ Good Morning America.
“They’re an automatic set of protections for teens that try to proactively address the top concerns that we’ve heard from parents about teens online,” Mosseri said on GMA. “Things like who can contact them, what content they see and how much time they spend on their device … all without requiring any involvement from the parent.”
Mosseri said the rollout of Teen Accounts starts Tuesday with new users signing up for the app, while existing teen users will see their accounts switch to the new Teen Accounts model within 60 days.
Among the changes put in place by Instagram include a new privacy setting that, by default, places all teen users in private accounts. In order to switch to a public account, teens under age 16 will need a parent’s permission.
Under the private account setting, teens will need to accept new followers and only people whom they accept as followers can see their content and interact with them.
In addition, teen users will now automatically only be able to message with people they follow, or are already connected to, and parents will have a new tool in their settings that allows them to see with whom their teen has recently been messaging.
With the new accounts, teens will have the power to choose the age-appropriate topics they want to see more of on Instagram, like sports or art, and parents will also be able to see the topics their teens choose.
In order to limit the amount of time spent on Instagram, all Teen Accounts will be placed in “sleep mode” between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., while parents can also adjust their child’s time settings — including limiting access completely overnight — in the parental supervision tool.
Another change for Teen Accounts is that they will automatically be placed in more restrictive content settings, which will limit the content they see in search functions like Reels or Explore from accounts they don’t follow, according to Instagram.
Antigone Davis, vice president and global head of safety for Meta, the parent company of Instagram, told GMA the company is also implementing new ways to verify users’ ages.
“We are building technology to try to identify if you’ve lied about your age and then move you into those stricter settings,” Davis said. “This is a challenging area for industry, which is why, on top of building that technology that will try to identify age liars and put them into those protective settings, we also will have moments where, if we get a strong signal, we will ask you to age verify.”
Davis said that parents will be able to monitor their teens’ account and adjust their settings from their own Instagram accounts.
“The idea is to really make it simpler, so they [parents] have their own center that they can go and look and see what the privacy setting is for their teen,” she said.
Changes spurred by parents and teens
The changes for teen Instagram users come amid mounting evidence showing the dangers of social media for young users.
Social media use is linked with symptoms of depression and anxiety, body image issues, and lower life satisfaction for some teens and adolescents, research shows. Heavy social media use around the time adolescents go through puberty is linked with lower life satisfaction one year later, one large study found.
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, who previously issued an advisory highlighting a crisis in youth mental health, has said he believes being on social media “does a disservice” to kids early in their teen years. Noting the crisis among kids, the American Psychological Association last year issued the first guidance of its kind to help teens use social media safely.
In January, while testifying at a Senate hearing, Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, publicly apologized to parents, caregivers and loved ones of young people who they say were harmed due to social media use, telling them, “It’s terrible. No one should have to go through the things that your families have suffered.”
In his apology, Zuckerberg also emphasized Meta’s efforts on safety, adding, “This is why we invest so much and are going to continue doing industry-leading efforts to make sure that no one has to go through the things your families have had to suffer.”
Davis said the newly-announced changes to Instagram for teen users came after conversations with parents and teenagers around the world.
She said the company focused on making it simpler for parents to know how, when, and with whom their teens are engaging on Instagram.
“We’ve had these incremental changes along the way as we’ve been working back and forth with parents and experts,” Davis said of previous safety changes for teen users. “What we’re really trying to do here is standardize a lot of this approach.”
She added of the new features, “There are these broad protections that we have in place, and if your teen wants to change them, and they’re under the age of 16, they have to come to you for permission, they’ve got to invite you in. It’s just a different way of thinking about things.”
Parents and caregivers as well as teens can learn more about Teen Accounts by visiting Instagram.com/teenaccounts.
(NEW YORK) — Trump Media & Technology Group’s stock dropped more than 11% this week, suffering from sour sentiment after a weak earnings report and the return of former President Donald Trump to rival social media platform X.
The company’s woes stretch back to the middle of last month. Since then, the stock for the Truth Social parent company has plummeted by about 43%. Yet as the stock continues to slide, some of its investors remain unfazed, telling ABC News they are optimistic about the company’s financial outlook, or intend to stand by it as an expression of their support for Trump.
Todd Schlanger, an interior designer from West Palm Beach, told ABC News that he purchased shares in Trump Media because he supports Trump’s politics and believes in his businesses.
“I’m a Republican, so I supported him. When I found out about the stock, I got involved because I support the company and believe in free speech,” said Schlanger, who said he owns approximately a thousand shares of the company.
A frequent user of the social media platform, Schlanger boasted about the user interface – “It’s like a combination of X and Facebook” – and said he looked forward to the expansion of the company’s streaming services.
“I think it’s going to be as strong as Facebook or Twitter,” said Schlanger.
Other investors said they primarily saw Truth Social as a way to support the former president.
“I did it more as a statement to President Trump and to show support at the time. I wasn’t really looking to make a lot of money,” said Teri Lynn Roberson, who bought five shares of the company as the company neared its peak stock price after going public in March.
Roberson said she was unconcerned about the stock’s poor performance or the impact of Trump’s potential return to rival X, the latter of which she said could benefit Trump’s presidential campaign by expanding his audience of supporters beyond the “echo chamber” of Truth Social.
“I’m way at a loss, but I am OK with that. I am just watching it for fun,” Roberson said.
Truth Social’s stock performance holds significant financial implications for the former president, who owns a 65% stake in the company. Truth Social shares make up a large portion of Trump’s overall net worth, according to Fortune.
Truth Social did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Truth Social’s recent losses
An earnings report released last Friday showed, Truth Social had lost more than $16 million over a three-month period ending in June. The company brought in revenue of about $836,000, down 30% from $1.2 million a year earlier, the earnings report showed.
In a statement released following the earnings report, Truth Social CEO Devin Nunes applauded the company’s balance sheet, including $344 million in cash and no debt.
“From the beginning, it was our intention to make Truth Social an impenetrable beachhead of free speech, and by taking extraordinary steps to minimize our reliance on Big Tech, that is exactly what we are doing,” Nunes said.
Investors, however, reacted poorly to the quarterly report when trading opened on Monday, and the stock price continued to drop when Trump then posted on rival X for the first time in roughly a year. It marked just his second post on the platform since January 2021, when the company suspended Trump in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol “due to the risk of further incitement to violence.”
After tech billionaire Elon Musk purchased what was then known as Twitter in Oct. 2022, he lifted the ban the following month. On Monday, Musk spoke with Trump in an interview that was broadcast on the platform.
While the former president is bound by an exclusivity agreement with Trump Media & Technology Group to post personal content first to Truth Social, Trump can make “politically-related” posts on other social media sites, according to the agreement. Other than a series of political posts on Monday, Trump has refrained from using social media sites beyond Truth Social.
Michael Rogers, who owns a masonry company in Asheville, North Carolina, said he first bought shares of Truth Social in 2022, before the company went public. Since then, Rogers has acquired more than 10,000 shares, he said.
Rogers, who said he plans to vote for Trump in November, bought the shares as both an expression of political support and as a sign of confidence in the company’s financial outlook, he said. “It’s a 50-50 balance of the reasons I started investing in Truth Social,” Rogers told ABC News.
Trump’s return to X this week did not bother Rogers, since the platform allows Trump to reach a larger audience, Rogers said. The weak earnings report last Friday did concern him, however.
“The revenue just isn’t there,” Rogers said. “That’s something the company has to work on.”
Despite the stock’s recent struggles, Rogers said he retains confidence in the business.
“I’m in it for the long haul,” Rogers said.
Analyst outlook
Analysts described the performance of Truth Social as the characteristic fluctuation of a so-called “meme stock.” The term – made famous by pandemic-era examples such as GameStop and AMC – indicates a company that largely appeals to investors on the basis of ideology, rather than financial outlook.
Truth Social’s value climbed about 30% in the immediate aftermath of an assassination attempt against Trump in July, reaching a price of $40 a share. That figure marked the highest level for the stock in more than a month, but shares still stood well below a peak of about $66.
The share price now stands at about $23, amounting to a drop of nearly two-thirds from its peak.
Tyler Richey, an analyst at Sevens Report Research, said the decline of the stock price in recent weeks has coincided with the emergence of Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee. A surge for Harris in voter surveys has damaged perception of Trump’s election prospects, Richey told ABC News.
“The stock has ebbed and flowed with sentiment toward former president Trump,” Richey said. “It doesn’t help that Trump was pretty much exclusively using Truth Social and decided to join Elon Musk with X.”
Jay Ritter, a professor of finance at the University of Florida, said Truth Social’s poor financial performance leaves it vulnerable to negative news and darkens its long-term outlook.
“For a long time, I’ve been saying that the stock will be volatile but that the long-run trend will be down,” Ritter said.
“What’s lacking for the true believer in the company story is, ‘OK, where is the business strategy that will be generating revenue?'” Ritter added, noting by contrast that it makes sense for die-hard Trump supporters to back the stock.
“I don’t think it’s irrational for people to do that,” Ritter said. “On the other hand, I generally don’t go out of my way to further line the pockets of billionaires.”
Trump supporters rushing to purchase shares in Truth Social provided other investors an opportunity to cash in on the company’s tumultuous stock price. With anticipation building ahead of Trump Media & Technology Group’s merger in March with Digital World Acquisition Corporation, Mitchell Standley exercised a few call options – contracts that allow an investor to buy a stock at a predetermined price – to make a 1,500% return on his investment.
“It was basically just a pump and dump,” Standley told ABC News. “I knew that once they merged, all of his supporters were going to dump a bunch of money into it and buy it up.”
Since March, Standley has avoided the company, he said, attributing its volatile stock performance to a lack of business fundamentals.
“I made my money and am staying away from it,” Standley said.