09.12.2025
Good Day,
After a little hiatus, back with some fun tidbits to brighten and inform your day. Also market reports and a few spectacular homes from around the country.
DID YOU KNOW?
Some good news to ponder this morning:
1. The Global extreme poverty rate was 43% in 1985: now it is less than 9%. (World Bank)
2. Global Life expectancy was 62.2 years in 1985.... it had increased to 73.2 years by 2023. In the US, life expectancy has increased from 74.56 years in 1985 to 79.25 in 2024.
3. Millennials are now financially better off than baby boomers were at the same age, and they're on track to become the wealthiest generation in human history.
4. In 1968, one out of every 350,000 passengers who boarded a commercial plane died. In 2022, it was 1 per every 13.7 million!
5. And the 10-year treasury dipped below 4.2.....4.159.....
Mortgage rates took a sharp downward turn last week....and while rates are in the lower 6's, you can get better rates for shorter term loans. Borrowers with a credit score between 780 and 850 could lock in a 30-year fixed mortgage rate of 6.19%: it jumps to 6.39% for credit scores between 700 and 739. A rate closer to 5% is possible with a 7/1 ARM.... (CNBC)
The cost of company health insurance plans for employees are expected to jump by an average of 6.5% in 2026, the biggest increase in 15 years. (FT)
AI - “When the assistant is much smarter than you, how are you going to retain that power? There is only one example we know of a much more intelligent being controlled by a much less intelligent being, and that is a mother and baby . . . If babies couldn’t control their mothers, they would die. The only hope for humanity is engineering AI to become mothers to us, because the mother is very concerned about the baby, preserving the life of the baby, and its development. That’s the kind of relationship we should be aiming for.” - Geoffrey Hinton, Computer Scientist (FT)
HOME SWEET HOME
"For the wealthiest buyers, homes must now heal. Perhaps the real luxury now isn’t a sprawling penthouse or a private screening room, but waking up rested, with your cortisol levels in check and a community of friends and neighbors close by who you enjoy working out with.” (FT)
The Associated General Contractors of America reported in August that worker shortages are now a leading cause of project delays, with 92% of firms saying they are struggling to hire. This could impact GDP growth, especially manufacturing: An estimated 45% of workers in farming, fishing and forestry are immigrants, along with 30% of construction workers and 24% of service workers. Reducing migrants from the labor force might impact social security: The US is 35 million workers short of what the Social Security Administration estimates will be required in the 2030's to support that program. (Bloomberg)
More than 16 million people aged 65 and older in the U.S. live alone, roughly 28% of that age group, almost triple the share in 1950. Among the reasons: increased longevity, higher divorce rates among older adults and children more scattered than previous generations. (WSJ)
Bay Area Updated Market Reports
More Bay Area Market Reports
August 2025 Housing Snapshot
Source- Calculated Risk
- New listings in Santa Clara dropped 12.9% year-over-year, falling from 1,256 in August 2024 to 1,094 in August 2025.
- Santa Clara has one of the largest YoY declines among the listed markets in the table. Only San Diego (-13.1%) shows a slightly bigger drop.
- Santa Clara’s new listings decline outpaced the overall market decline of -3.9% YoY, suggesting tighter inventory. (Altos Research)
Around the World
- Canada, the UK and Finland are considered the least affordable countries in the world for EXPATS. (Internations)
- How is Spain's economy growing rapidly, outstripping other European countries? Strong tourism, heavy infrastructure investment, an increase in the renewable share in the electricity mix over the past 5-6 years has implied a drop of 40% in wholesale electricity prices, and the 90% of the increase in labor force has come from in migration: While other European countries are closing their borders, Spain will welcome nearly a million migrants over the next 3 years, through work visa schemes and the granting of residence permits to undocumented workers. (CNBC)
As always, my best to you and yours,
Katherine
