BOOM: Million-Dollar Homebuying Soars With Rich on Shopping Binge…
(Bloomberg) — Wealthy Americans, largely untouched by the recession and eager for more living space, have been on a homebuying binge.
Demand for million-dollar homes is growing faster than any other price tier in the pandemic-driven U.S. housing boom. In October, applications for mortgages larger than $766,000 jumped 59%, the biggest gain for all segments measured by the Mortgage Bankers Association. By comparison, the increase for mortgages from $150,000 to $300,000 was 13%.
Investors are concerned it might not last. Shares of luxury builder Toll Brothers Inc. fell the most in a month Tuesday after the company crushed estimates with a 68% jump in home orders for the three months through October.
BUST: 1 in 3 workers have pay cut
Roughly 1 in 3 full-time workers have experienced a pay cut due to the coronavirus pandemic this year, according to a recent MagnifyMoney survey of 984 professionals surveyed Nov. 6 to 11.
The economic upheaval of the pandemic starting in March caused many U.S. employers to institute temporary pay cuts in the spring. In the months since, about half of respondents said their pay has been restored.
However, while men and women experienced pandemic pay cuts at nearly equal rates, men, at 52%, were more likely than women, 44%, to say their pay has been restored.