This week in charts
Weight comparison of Top 10 vs. Top 11 to 50 stocks in S&P 500 Index
Earnings per share revisions and valuations for Tech stocks
A wide range of expectations from sell-side analysts
Investor risk appetite
U.S. 10-year Treasury yields after shock events
Historical 20-year stock returns minus Investment grade bond returns
60/40 portfolio performance
U.S. term premium rising
Effects of tariffs on loan and bond markets
Top imports from China into U.S.
Number of Europeans travelling to the U.S.
Wealthy Buyers Are Backing Out of Multimillion-Dollar Home Deals
The luxury real estate has been largely unstoppable for the past few years, fueled by stock market gains and massive wealth appreciation since the pandemic. In places like New York, Palm Beach, Fla., Los Angeles and Aspen, Colo., wealthy buyers have plowed billions of dollars into the luxury home market with little regard for interest-rate hikes that have slowed the rest of the housing market.
Now, market gyrations and tariffs, both current and pending, are casting a shadow on high-end property as buyers pull out of deals or tap the brakes amid global economic uncertainty. In the U.S., the richest 10% have 36.3% of their total assets in stocks and mutual funds, according to a new report from Realtor.com, which found real-estate comprised 18.7% of their total assets. Until recently, luxury sales were on an upswing, and agents said high Wall Street bonuses indicated a strong year ahead.
Overall, the median sale price for U.S. luxury homes, defined as the top 5% of sales, rose 8.8% during the second quarter of 2024, more than twice as fast as nonluxury homes, according to the most recent data available from Redfin.
After markets lost $6.6 trillion in an epic two-day rout on April 3 and 4, fallout in the high-end real-estate market has been swift—even as many investors recouped losses during a market surge on April 9 following President Trump’s announcement of a 90-day pause on certain tariffs.
Kirman’s clients—international buyers who had been looking for six months—went into escrow on a house on roughly 1 acre two weeks ago and backed out of the deal on April 3, he said. They were within a contingency period and got their money back. “They got spooked,” he said. He said some buyers are swooping in to buy real estate as a hedge against the stock market, but others are pausing amid uncertainty. “When news cycles get too negative, it just really makes people second-guess their decisions,” he said.
Similar uncertainty is trickling throughout high-end enclaves around the country that have seen prices skyrocket amid high demand and limited inventory. “There’s a misconception that Aspen is insulated from a national or global economy,” said real-estate Steven Shane of Compass, who has brokered several megadeals in the affluent ski town since Covid. He said he saw $100 million worth of real-estate return to the market since April 2—including one of his listings, a roughly 7,900-square-foot house in Aspen’s West End that is asking $52.5 million. Listed in December, it was marked pending on Feb. 24, according to Zillow. It was relisted April 8. Shane declined to comment on why the deal fell through. “It’s a volatile market and people generally like certainty,” he said.
This week’s fun finds
6 Inspiring Talks From TED2025: The World’s Largest Ocean Cleanup, a Chocolate Connoisseur, and More
TED2025. The event, which took place April 7-11 in Vancouver, Canada, featured dozens of thought-provoking TED Talks, spotlighting innovative scientists, storytellers, global leaders, and more — all centered on this year’s theme, “Humanity Reimagined.”
The throughline for the week was “AI is gaining power at an astonishing pace, prompting a question that’s both alarming and illuminating: What are humans for?” To find the answer, the conference brought “those who can show what human flourishing might look like in the years ahead” onto the stage, and their perspectives were nothing short of eye-opening.
Why Pink Waves Were Suddenly Crashing Off the Coast of San Diego: Photos
Seawater often varies in hue — from crystal clear to chlorophyll-tinted green, and sometimes even neon blue thanks to bioluminescent plankton. But for three brief periods in early 2023, one small part of the Pacific Ocean sported a more novel shade: Waves were crashing against the shore looking pretty in pink.
Though some bodies of water appear pink naturally, thought to be due to the presence of certain types of algae or bacteria, the fuchsia color tinting the water off the coast of San Diego was intentionally caused by scientists who are hoping to learn more about the way the world’s oceans work.
