{"id":81893,"date":"2024-01-27T01:15:12","date_gmt":"2024-01-27T09:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=81893"},"modified":"2024-01-30T10:34:52","modified_gmt":"2024-01-30T18:34:52","slug":"black-coffee-27-jan-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id81893-black-coffee-27-jan-2024.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: Where There’s Smoke …"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe …<\/em><\/p>\n

Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance.<\/p>\n

I hope everybody had a wonderful week. And with that, let’s get right to this week’s commentary, shall we?<\/p>\n

For gold is tried in the fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of adversity.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

– George Santayana<\/strong><\/p>\n

Credits and Debits<\/strong><\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? The final home sales figures for 2023 are in and they were the lowest since 1995<\/a>. In fact, barely 4 million housing units were sold last year – a result of higher interest rates, diminishing personal incomes due to the effects of inflation, and affordability of homes. And first-time buyers are still struggling; they made up just 29% of December sales. Historically they make up 40% of the market. Even realtors know that is not<\/strong><\/em> the sign of a healthy market. And speaking of dubious signs:<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> We\u2019re sure that most of those first-time homebuyers who continue to be shut out of the market wouldn\u2019t be surprised to discover that a new survey found that just 20% of the general public say their financial situation is improving. However, Americans who have a postgraduate degree and an annual income of more than $150,000, 74%<\/a> say their finances are getting better. In fact, one of those financially fortunate survey takers was recently caught on tape:<\/p>\n