{"id":88477,"date":"2025-07-26T01:00:03","date_gmt":"2025-07-26T08:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=88477"},"modified":"2025-07-30T10:31:56","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T17:31:56","slug":"black-coffee-26-july-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id88477-black-coffee-26-july-2025.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: Home Cooking"},"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

A girl phoned me the other day and said, ‘Come on over, there’s nobody home.’ I went over. Nobody was home.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2013 Rodney Dangerfield<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? When it comes to household credit ratings, there are “free” credit scores offered by companies like Credit Karma \u2013 and then there is the industry standard<\/strong><\/em>, FICO, which is used by the lending industry. With that in mind, the average FICO score<\/a> for Americans now stands at 715. While that score is respectable, it’s still 25 points below what is typically considered the threshold for an “excellent” credit score by lenders \u2013 and the corresponding best lending rates that come with it. For those of you not tracking this at home, the decline is one point lower than the January 2025 average, and a two-point drop from April 2024.<\/p>\n

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Credit:<\/strong><\/span> For those who are wondering if they\u2019re saving enough money every year, perhaps this look at the latest generational saving habits<\/a> will help. It turns out that in 2024 the millennials socked away an average of $12,004, Gen X set aside more than $7000 saved, and Gen Z squirreled an average of $6165. As for the baby boomers, they managed to save $3400. Take that for what it’s worth – which probably isn\u2019t much. But “help” is on the way. At least according to one<\/strong><\/em> rocket surgeon …<\/p>\n

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Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Of course, it’s hard to buy your first home if you don’t have a lot of savings for a down payment \u2013 and first-time homebuyers need a lot<\/strong><\/em> of savings these days, especially at today’s elevated prices. But iaccording to financial analyst Wolf Richter, the housing market may be starting to show the first signs of cracking. According to him, “The year-over-year (YoY) price gains of mid-tier single-family homes, condos, and co-ops in the US nearly vanished in June: prices rose by just 0.2%<\/a> compared to June a year ago.” Only time will tell. On the other hand, what\u2019s that we see over yonder?<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> One thing is certain: The cost to keep a roof over your head in the Big Apple is higher than ever – especially for renters. The median rent for a Manhattan one-bedroom apartment in June was a record-breaking $4625<\/a>. What\u2019s more, 25% of Manhattan tenants ultimately paid above the landlord\u2019s list price – that\u2019s an all-time high for June. It\u2019s no better in Queens, where bidding wars nearly matched Manhattan at 24%. Then there\u2019s Brooklyn, which outpaced both with a whopping 32% of tenants facing bidding wars. Meanwhile, over at the Home & Garden Television<\/em> help desk…<\/p>\n

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Credit:<\/strong><\/span> By the way, Richter also notes that the price moves were highly dependent on the local market. He says, “Of the 33 metropolitan areas that we track, the number with YoY price drops has expanded every month this year. At the end of 2024, only 6 of the 33 metros had YoY price drops. In June, the number rose to 21 (from 18 in May). The three additions: Los Angeles<\/a>, San Jose, and Nashville. And the YoY price drops worsened in nearly all of them, including in San Diego (from 1.9% in May to 2.4% in June).\u201d Needless to say, many people are actually rooting for a much broader and deeper downturn \u2013 if not an outright market collapse.<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Speaking of local markets, the green agenda is backfiring. The average summer wholesale power prices across the US northeast grids \u2013 which are more dependent on green energy than the rest of the country \u2013 are the highest in the nation<\/a>, far exceeding those in Texas, the US average, and even the traditionally high-cost West Coast markets. As for the rest of the world …<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> In fact, Zero Hedge notes that electricity prices are so high in the northeast that 1 in 3 households in central Maryland are behind on their utility payments<\/a>. Imagine that. Then again, here in the Golden State, there are probably just as many residents who find themselves in the same boat, thanks to similar green energy policies (along with a big dollop of excessive energy taxes and political graft) …<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Meanwhile, back on the West Coast, California\u2019s unemployment rate rose to 5.4%<\/a> in June, tying Nevada for the highest rate in America, and strongly suggesting that the Golden State\u2019s economy is underperforming relative to the rest of the country. Well… at least for some<\/strong><\/em> people:<\/p>\n