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LIRA report: Home remodeling decline projected

Annual spending on improvements and maintenance to owner-occupied homes is projected to slow sharply in early 2027, according to the latest Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity from the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. The new LIRA shows year-over-year growth in home renovation and repair spending of just 0.5 percent by the first quarter of 2027 — a pace that remains positive in nominal terms but is less than overall inflation. “Growth in remodeling permits and retail spending on building products has been flat recently, ...

Kia issues Telluride SUV recall

NEW YORK — Kia America has issued a new recall for nearly 463,000 of its Telluride SUVs, urging owners to again park their vehicles outside and away from buildings after several customers reported fires following previous repairs. The recall, announced this week by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, replaces a prior one Kia initiated in 2024. Certain Tellurides from the 2020-2024 model years are affected, with the NHTSA warning that the front power seat motor of these vehicles may overheat due to a stuck slide knob. That could result in a fire while the car is parked ...

Prices of existing US homes hit all-time high

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes slowed in June, but a key measure of home prices climbed to an all-time high, adding to affordability challenges for prospective homebuyers. Existing home sales fell 2.4% last month from May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.09 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. Sales rose 2.8% compared with June last year. The latest sales tally fell short of the roughly 4.21 million pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet. Home sales have been mostly hovering close to a 4-million annual pace going back to ...

New York sues chemical companies

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York’s attorney general sued several large chemical and agricultural companies on Thursday, alleging they knowingly sold harmful so-called forever chemicals used in cosmetics, non-stick cookware and other products. The lawsuit against 3M, DuPont de Nemours, The Chemours Company and Corteva and other manufacturers is the latest legal action over PFAS, which have been linked to an increased risk of certain cancers and developmental delays in children. “Big companies like 3M and DuPont knowingly sold toxic products that threatened New Yorkers’ health and ...

Ticker: Oil prices rise after Trump says ceasefire is ‘over’

Oil prices rose, and stock markets dropped in shaky trading worldwide after President Donald Trump raised doubts about the temporary truce in the war with Iran. The S&P 500 fell 0.3% Wednesday after sinking as much as 1.1% earlier in the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.1% after Trump said the agreement to pause fighting with Iran was over. The Nasdaq composite erased an early slump and rose 0.2% after Trump said in the afternoon that the most recent fighting did not mean a return to full-scale war. Brent crude oil’s price climbed 5% above $78 per barrel. John Deere ...

Ticker: Fed unveils members of new task forces

Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, economist Raj Chetty and former Bank of England governor Mervyn King are among a slate of names released by the Federal Reserve Thursday that will help develop recommended changes to the central bank’s operations. Warsh called for “regime change” at the Fed last year while he was under consideration by the Trump administration to replace former chair Jerome Powell. Yet it’s not yet clear how transformative the task forces will be. News outlets urge judge to sanction OpenAI The New York Times, the Daily News and other media outlets are ...