News for June 2023

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2023

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Why State Farm has decided not to insure homes in California

Will other states meet the same fate?

Read article 06/01/2023

By Mark Huffman

June is airbag recall repair month -- time to stop procrastinating

Does your vehicle have a dangerous airbag? Millions do.

For most folks, June means summertime -- picnics, vacations and outdoors fun.

For those in a handful of states, it's also time to check for dangerous airbag recalls.

Governors in Florida, Texas, Mississippi and Texas have declared June Airbag Recall Repair Month. There are currently more than 7.1 million vehicles on the road with at least one unrepaired, recalled airbag.

A recall of historic proportions

After 14 years, 24 deaths and more than 400 injuries, the United States is still dealing with Takata airbags -- the largest vehicle safety recall in its history.

When exposed over time to heat and humidity, these recalled airbags can transform from life-saving devices to life-threatening ones. In a crash, defective airbag inflators can rupture, sending metal shrapnel through the vehicle that can cause serious injury, disfiguration or death.

The campaign, in partnership with local Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram dealers and other Check To Protect Coalition members, aims to encourage drivers of all vehicles to make safety a priority by taking immediate action to prevent serious injury and death.

If saving your life isn't enough incentive, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram are giving away a $50 prepaid Mastercard for airbag repairs made in June.

Driving at risk

Due to a heightened risk of an airbag rupture, owners of certain recalled Chrysler and Dodge vehicles received a notification last November to stop driving their vehicles until their driver-side airbag is replaced. Chrysler and Dodge dealerships may either arrange for mobile repair at a person's home or send a complimentary tow truck.

Vehicle owners in communities of color, rural communities and low-income communities are disproportionately affected, as they are less likely to have the information, flexibility and access to repair recalls

Additionally, many owners of older or used vehicles may not be receiving recall notifications if their current ownership and address are not on file with the state or the automaker.

What to do

Visit CheckToProtect.org and enter a license plate number or Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), which is a 17-character ID found on the driver's side dashboard, side-door or most vehicle registration and insurance documents.

Schedule a free recall repair appointment at a local dealership.

If you have an airbag recall or any other safety recalls, follow the link to find your closest authorized dealership and schedule your repair. Recall repairs are always free at authorized dealerships, regardless of whether you're the registered owner of the affected vehicle.

Repairs can take as little as 30 minutes.

Many dealers provide complimentary transportation while vehicles are being repaired, and others have mobile repair service that bring the airbag repair service to a driver's home.

For most folks, June means summertime -- picnics, vacations and outdoors fun.For those in a handful of states, it's also time to check for dangerous ai...

06/01/2023

By James Limbach

Instacart has a new AI-powered search feature

‘Ask Instacart’ was designed to make grocery shopping more efficient for consumers

Read article 06/01/2023

By Kristen Dalli

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Home prices aren’t going down. Here’s why.

Prices are actually rising in all but the most expensive cities

In late 2022, when home prices leveled off in the face of rising mortgage rates, many prospective homebuyers hoped for a major housing market correction. Many “experts” on YouTube have been predicting a market crash for months.

So far, it hasn’t happened. In fact, one industry report says prices in many areas of the country are still going up, even while sales decline.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices, a thorough but lagging indicator of U.S. home prices, shows home prices recovered in March in all 20 major metro markets it monitors. Prices were up over February but down compared to March 2022. But there were plenty of exceptions.

Miami, Tampa, and Charlotte reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities in March. Miami led the way once again with a 7.7% year-over-year price gain, followed by Tampa in second with a 4.8% increase, and Charlotte replacing Atlanta in third with a 4.7% increase.

Prices are down in the most expensive markets

The cities where prices have fallen tend to be markets where prices have increased the most over the last couple of years. There are 19 of 20 cities reporting lower prices in the year ending March 2023 compared to the year ending February 2023, but even Chicago showed a small increase in March.

So why are prices going up again when the economy is slowing and mortgage rates remain above 6%? Housing experts say the answer is simple – it’s supply and demand.

Yes, it’s more expensive now to buy a home but there appear to be more people willing and able to buy than there are available homes. Greg McClure, a Realtor with Realty ONE Group in Sacramento, says that’s the case in his market.

“Sales are trending up, home prices are trending up but inventory will remain an issue through the rest of the year,” McClure recently told us.

Buyers face more competition

The lack of inventory means there is more competition among buyers. Homes don’t remain on the market for very long and sellers sometimes get multiple bids, even in this high interest rate environment.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports sales of existing homes dropped 3.4% in April but the median price declined only slightly. In many markets, it went up.

"Roughly half of the country is experiencing price gains," said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. "Even in markets with lower prices, primarily the expensive West region, multiple-offer situations have returned in the spring buying season following the calmer winter market. Distressed and forced property sales are virtually nonexistent."

Housing experts say this situation exists largely because the pace of building new homes has slowed considerably for more than a decade. New single-family home construction peaked in 2006 and hasn’t approached that level over the last 17 years.

In late 2022, when home prices leveled off in the face of rising mortgage rates, many prospective homebuyers hoped for a major housing market correction. M...