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Amazon engineers called out their employer for conducting mass layoffs while it commits to spending $200 billion this year on AI infrastructure. View More

In this articleAMZNFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT The Amazon headquarters in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, US, on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. David Ryder | Bloomberg | Getty Images A group of Amazon engineers appeared at Seattle City Council hearings on Wednesday to throw their support behind efforts to regulate the development of giant AI data centers in the area, which are getting constructed while their employer is engaged in mass layoffs. "It's been reported that this year, Amazon is spending $200 billion dollars on capital, with most of it going to data centers and AI," Patrick Schloesser, a software engineer at Amazon Web Services, said at a hearing. "Microsoft is spending $190 billion. Meanwhile, the leaders at my company have laid off 30,000 corporate employees in the last eight months. What that tells me is that Big Tech is desperate to build as much compute capacity as it can, as fast as it can." Representatives from Amazon didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.Officials in Seattle voted to approve a one-year moratorium on new large-scale artificial intelligence data centers to allow time for the city to regulate the projects. The proposal came after four developers approached a local utility provider to pitch building five large scale facilities in Seattle. Two of those developers have since withdrawn their proposals following public outcry, the Seattle Times reported.Seattle joins a growing list of cities and counties that are seeking to place limits on the explosive growth of AI data centers. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 14 states are considering legislation that would pause or ban new data centers. A report from Data Center Watch found that in 2025, at least $156 billion in data center projects were blocked or delayed amid local opposition and litigation. Tech's hyperscalers are showing no signs of slowing down. Amazon, Microsoft, Google parent Alphabet, and Meta have committed roughly $700 billion this year to capital expenditures, mostly for AI infrastructure. At the same time, the tech giants and others in the industry are looking for ways to cut costs, including through layoffs. The 30,000 corporate job cuts at Amazon that Schloesser cited have all come since October, part of an attempt by CEO Andy Jassy to remove layers and slash bureaucracy so the company can operate like what he calls the "world's largest startup." In February, Amazon announced it plans to spend $200 billion on capital expenditures this year, with the majority of that going toward AI infrastructure. It reaffirmed that forecast in April. Schloesser, who has worked at Amazon for nearly six years, urged Seattle officials to require data center developers to commit to using renewable energy to power facilities and no longer use non-disclosure agreements or shell companies when announcing new projects."You've got to provide good jobs building these things, and you've got to pay a new tax that funds city jobs every time you conduct a large layoff," Schloesser said. Schloesser and the two other Amazon engineers who spoke at the hearings, Liesl Wigand and Darius Irani, are part of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice. The group of current and former Amazon workers has repeatedly pressed the e-retailer on its climate stance, treatment of its workforce and other issues. In November, the group penned a letter to Amazon executives calling on the company to establish a "more responsible rollout of AI," and "get real about the costs of AI and the guardrails we need." Wigand, who has worked for Amazon for more than 12 years, characterized Amazon's push to embrace the technology as an "all-costs-justified AI build out." "The biggest issue is a belief that AI should be how we solve everything, while ignoring the resources that it costs," Wigand said. "This culture is omnipresent across tech. That's why local governments, in collaboration with community stakeholders, should be setting the terms for data center buildout."The one-year moratorium was approved unanimously by the council's Land Use and Sustainability Committee on Wednesday. WATCH: OpenAI deepens Amazon ties watch nowVIDEO3:4903:49OpenAI deepens Amazon ties as relationship with Apple fraysTechCheck Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Broadcom reported fiscal second-quarter results on Wednesday and missed estimates for revenue. View More

In this articleAVGOFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT Broadcom CEO Hock Tan speaks at the digital X event in Cologne, Germany, on Sept. 13, 2022.Ying Tang | Nurphoto | Getty Images Broadcom reported weaker-than-expected revenue in its fiscal second-quarter earnings report. The stock slid in extended trading and fell further on disappointment that CEO Hock Tan didn't raise the company's full-year target of $100 billion in artificial intelligence chip sales. Here's how the chipmaker did versus LSEG consensus estimates:Earnings per share: $2.44, adjusted, versus $2.40 estimatedRevenue: $22.19 billion versus $22.27 billion estimatedRevenue climbed 48% from $15 billion in the same quarter a year earlier, Broadcom said in a statement. Sales have climbed in recent quarters, driven by demand for custom AI chips, including Google's tensor processing unit.The company said revenue this quarter will be about $29.4 billion, versus $28.53 billion expected by Wall Street analysts. Broadcom shares are up close to 40% this year as of Wednesday's close, topping the Nasdaq's 16% gain. The stock has multiplied almost ninefold since the end of 2022, when ChatGPT kicked off the generative AI boom.Net income increased to $9.31 billion, or $1.91 per share, up 88% from $4.97 billion, or $1.03 per share in the same quarter a year earlier. Adjusted earnings exclude stock-based compensation and tax adjustments. Broadcom helps other technology companies build custom chip designs, offering intellectual property and other essential technologies that AI chips require. It has attracted increased attention from investors as cloud giants design their own custom chips. In December, Tan said that Anthropic had placed an order for $10 billion in AI chips.  Read more CNBC tech newsMeta is trying to sell AI agents to businesses in latest effort to diversify away from adsSpaceX targets fixed $135 IPO roadshow price at $1.75 trillion valuation, source saysOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to meet with lawmakers, Trump officials in D.C.Tesla's China-made EV sales jump nearly 40% in May as domestic market rebounds Tan said on an earnings call with analysts that Broadcom has six core custom chip customers, including Anthropic, Google, Meta and OpenAI, which are driving the company's growth in AI revenue. But Tan didn't raise the company's forecast for AI semiconductor sales in 2026. "We expect this momentum to continue into fiscal year 2027 and reiterate our AI semiconductor revenue guidance to be in excess of $100 billion," Tan said. Tan also said that the company would offer "chips only," instead of the complete integrated AI systems Broadcom had previously said it would be providing to its customers.AI revenue more than doubled in the second quarter on an annual basis to $10.8 billion, which Tan attributed to the company's custom AI chips as well as other parts needed to network them together. He said the company expected AI revenue to triple in the current quarter to $16 billion. "The bookings that are coming are not for immediate delivery," Tan said. "Some they hope to have, but the reality they all accept is they need to align quite a few other things in place before they can deliver."Broadcom reported $15.1 billion in revenue from semiconductor solutions, the company's chip sales division, which also includes networking parts and Wi-Fi chips in addition to AI accelerators and networking. That revenue topped a StreetAccount estimate of $14.72 billion. It also sells enterprise software, much of which it acquired through its purchase of VMWare in 2023. Broadcom reported $7.18 billion in infrastructure software revenue, which was up 9% on an annual basis, but fell short of the $7.32 billion in sales expected by analysts polled by StreetAccount. WATCH: Meta and Broadcom deepen AI chip partnership through 2029 watch nowVIDEO4:1404:14Meta and Broadcom deepen AI chip partnership through 2029Closing Bell: Overtime Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Based on SpaceX's updated IPO prospectus, Elon Musk owns shares in the company worth over $866 billion. View More

Elon Musk is photographed at SpaceX in Brownsville, Texas. Marvin Joseph | The Washington Post | Getty Images The world's richest person is on the doorstep of trillionaire status. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk owns a stake in his reusable rocket maker that's worth $866.5 billion on paper, according to the company's updated IPO prospectus published on Wednesday. SpaceX said it plans to price its upcoming IPO at $135 a share for a valuation of about $1.77 trillion. For the 54-year old Musk, the SpaceX offering, which is expected next week, comes 16 years after he took Tesla public. Now he owns stock in the electric vehicle maker that's worth about $355 billion, and has options that could add over $100 billion to that number. Musk's voting control of SpaceX after the offering will be north of 82%, according to Wednesday's filing. However, he has to hold onto all of his shares for a year. "We believe that Mr. Musk's substantial ownership interest in us provides him with an economic incentive to assist us to be successful," SpaceX said in the risk factors section of the prospectus. After the 366-day lock-up period, "Mr. Musk will not be subject to any obligation to maintain his ownership interest in us and may elect at any time thereafter to sell all or a substantial portion of or otherwise reduce his ownership interest in us," the filing says. Musk's net worth has been steadily building for well over a decade, with Tesla's stock starting to pop in a big way in 2013. He first became the world's wealthiest person in 2021, passing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. But Tesla's stock sank 65% in 2022, before again soaring to new heights in the years that followed. Forbes currently lists Musk's net worth at $826 billion, way above Google co-founder Larry Page, who sits in second place just below $300 billion. Assuming SpaceX hits the Nasdaq next week at or near its expected valuation, Musk will oversee two of the eight most valuable U.S. companies. SpaceX would be ahead of Tesla and Meta among the trillion-dollar names. But by revenue, SpaceX is much smaller than those megacaps. Last year, SpaceX generated sales of $18.67 billion. Meta, meanwhile, topped $200 billion in revenue, and Tesla recorded sales of almost $95 billion.Some investors have speculated of late that Musk's ultimate plan could be to merge SpaceX and Tesla as a way to consolidate artificial intelligence resources and to streamline future capital raises. He has lucrative economic incentives at each company that include some far-out benchmarks. SpaceX has linked Musk's compensation rewards to two milestones: achieving a $7.5 trillion market cap and colonizing Mars with at least 1 million inhabitants. Meanwhile, Tesla shareholders approved a pay plan late last year that consists of 12 tranches, with each payout tied to market cap gains and operational achievements.—CNBC's Lora Kolodny contributed to this reportWATCH: SpaceX looking to price IPO at $135 per share watch nowVIDEO5:2005:20SpaceX looking to price IPO at $135 per share, offering 555.6 million sharesClosing Bell: Overtime Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Macy's has been in the midst of a turnaround under CEO Tony Spring, who has worked to close underperforming stores and reinvest in ones worth keeping open. View More

In this articleMFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT The Macy's in Herald Square is seen on June 3, 2026 in New York City. Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images Macy's posted its strongest fiscal first-quarter comparable sales performance in four years on Wednesday, as the legacy department store's turnaround continues to show progress. Led by the 200 so-called reimagined stores Macy's has upgraded, comparable sales grew 3% overall during the quarter and 1.6% at its namesake banner.  At Bloomingdale's, comparable sales grew 10.2%, helped by an array of buzzy brands, a "fun factor" unique in the luxury landscape and the recent bankruptcy of rival Saks Fifth Avenue, CEO Tony Spring told CNBC in an interview. "Is the disruption in the marketplace helpful to us? Sure," he said. "Is it the primary reason we're growing? No." Spring said better-than-expected sales and profitability led the company to raise its full fiscal-year guidance after previously taking a cautious outlook. It's now expecting 2026 net sales to be between $21.5 billion and $21.75 billion, largely ahead of expectations of $21.59 billion, according to LSEG. It anticipates adjusted earnings per share will be between $2 and $2.20, up from a previous range of between $1.90 and $2.10 and well ahead of expectations of $2.07 at the middle and high end, according to LSEG.It now expects comparable sales to climb between 0.5% and 1.2% for the year, versus a previous outlook of a 0.5% drop to a 0.5% increase. Macy's shares were up more than 2% in premarket trading Wednesday.Many retailers have reported strong growth during their fiscal first quarters in recent weeks due in part to higher-than-usual tax refunds. Some companies issued more cautious guidance for the current quarter over concerns less stimulus in the economy could lead to slower demand, especially as shoppers pay more for gas due to the war in the Middle East.Spring said tax refunds "definitely" helped during the first quarter, but weren't the only reason why Macy's grew. Crucially, the same trends the company saw during the first quarter have so far continued into the second, he said. "We did raise our guidance in both sales and profit for the remainder of the year to reflect the business trends that we're seeing as we start the second quarter, so pleased with the second quarter to date and the breadth of the categories that are performing," said Spring. "Don't see any significant change in the consumer approach to our categories and our business across all three of our name plates." He said the steady consumer behavior led Macy's to hike its outlook "despite the macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty."Here's how the department store did in its fiscal first quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:Earnings per share: 13 cents adjusted vs. 3 cents expectedRevenue: $4.68 billion vs. $4.61 billion expectedThe company's reported net income for the three-month period that ended May 2 was $63 million, or 23 cents per share, compared with $38 million, or 13 cents per share, a year earlier. Adjusting for restructuring costs and other one-time charges, Macy's posted earnings per share of 13 cents.Sales rose to $4.68 billion, up about 2% from $4.60 billion a year earlier. Macy's is about two years into a three-year turnaround that Spring has spearheaded since taking over as the retailer's chief executive. It's included closing underperforming stores at dead malls across the country and reinvesting in the ones it decided to keep open.Those investments have included a focus on retail fundamentals, like ensuring stores have enough staff, are enjoyable to spend time in and are stocked with items people actually want to buy."We're not doing the fancy stuff, we're doing the stuff that makes the biggest difference in the business," said Spring. "We are really focused on product, we are really focused on taking care of the customer, and I think the results show that when we do those two things consistently, and we don't get bored, we stay relentless in our commitment, we get the results we're looking for." Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

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Uber said the cuts were not driven by AI, which has allowed many tech businesses to cut costs and automate workloads. View More

In this articleUBERFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi answers audience questions during a recording of the "On With Kara Swisher" podcast at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center on December 15, 2025 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images Uber is slashing 23% of jobs in its people division as it seeks to streamline operations under the direction of new president Jill Hazelbaker.CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a memo that the "changes are necessary to maximize the effectiveness of the People team and the enormous potential ahead of us."The affected segments include recruitment and human resources staff. Uber did not disclose the number of employee cuts, but a spokesperson for the ride-hailing giant said they account for "well under 1%" of its 34,000 employees.In a note to affected teams, Hazelbaker, who was promoted to president and chief corporate affairs officer last month, said the layoffs aim to build a "more connected, modern, operationally excellent organization."Some segments have become "complex and fragmented, with overlapping responsibilities, unclear ownership, and teams operating too far from the businesses and partners they support," she added. Read more CNBC tech newsMeta is trying to sell AI agents to businesses in latest effort to diversify away from adsSpaceX targets fixed $135 IPO roadshow price at $1.75 trillion valuation, source saysOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to meet with lawmakers, Trump officials in D.C.Tesla's China-made EV sales jump nearly 40% in May as domestic market rebounds Bloomberg was the first to report the news. Uber joins a growing list of companies laying off employees, with many firms citing the benefit of artificial intelligence in automating workloads and improving efficiency. The food delivery and ride-hailing company said the cuts did not result from AI.This week, Uber confirmed it put tiered caps on spending for employees' agentic tools, following a Bloomberg report. The base tier is at $1,500 per month, and the limits go up from there, the company said.Uber's tech chief previously said that the company exceeded its 2026 AI budget within four months, The Information first reported. In an email to CNBC, a spokesperson said these are "soft limits" geared toward agentic and coding tech, and budgets are set per tool."We have had spend tiers on some agentic AI tools for several months," they wrote.— CNBC's MacKenzie Sigalos contributed to this article. watch nowVIDEO6:2606:26Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi on Q1 results: We're building for the long term hereSquawk Box Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Two key tech companies reporting earnings after the bell could determine the next move higher or lower. View More

In this articleMAGSFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT watch nowVIDEO1:0701:07Options traders bet on strong Broadcom earningsOptions Action The S&P 500 has rallied nearly 20% in the last nine weeks, an historic surge that has made even the most bullish investors blush. And while its nine-day winning streak appears at risk, two key tech companies reporting earnings after the bell could determine the next move higher or lower: Broadcom, the chipmaking giant that doubles as a software provider, and Crowdstrike, a cybersecurity leader that's helping lift cloud stocks out of a bear market.At more than $2 trillion, Broadcom is now bigger than two of the "Magnificent Seven" stocks and is up just shy of 40% year-to-date, far outperforming any of its mega-cap peers in the top 10 stocks of the S&P 500. That brings its 1-year move to 88%, compared to 29% in the Mag-7 ETF (MAGS).Traders are preparing for an 8% swing in AVGO after earnings, according to the options-implied move. That's about standard for the stock, which has moved a median 9.9% after earnings over the past two years, according to Cboe LiveVol data. Stock Chart IconStock chart iconBroadcom and Crowdstrike, YTD Call volume outpaced puts in Broadcom almost two-to-one Wednesday, with about an even level of call selling versus buying, and more than $400 million of total $520m in options premium traded in calls, according to SpotGamma. Of the top 20 contracts by volume, 18 expire on Friday. The most popular by volume and dollar amount as of writing is the 500-strike call.Options volumes are much lower in Crowdstrike and the flows don't lean notably in either direction. Still, pressure is on for the cybersecurity stock that's more than doubled in price off March lows and now trades at a market cap of almost $200 billion, just shy of Palo Alto Networks, which dropped 6.5% today despite reporting earnings Tuesday that beat most analysts' estimates.Crowdstrike traders are also bracing for an 8% move, notably steeper than the median 4.6% swing over the past two years of reports. The stock's actual move on earnings has underperformed the implied move for the last 7 quarters. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Pulte is widely viewed as a Trump loyalist who has targeted the president's political foes during his tenure leading the housing regulatory agency. View More

Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) questions Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent during a Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs hearing in Washington, DC on February 5, 2026.Nathan Posner | Anadolu | Getty Images Republican Sen. Thom Tillis on Wednesday blasted President Donald Trump's pick to lead the U.S. intelligence community as an "incendiary attack dog" who has no path to being confirmed by the Senate.The remarks on CNBC's "Squawk Box" from the retiring North Carolina senator added to the growing backlash against Bill Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, whom Trump appointed acting director of national intelligence on Tuesday on top of his housing role."I don't think he has a prayer" of making it through the Senate and becoming the permanent DNI, Tillis said of Pulte. watch nowVIDEO12:0812:08Sen. Tillis on Bill Pulte: An 'incendiary attack dog' who has no path to being confirmed by SenateSquawk Box Tillis joins a parade of lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats, recoiling from Pulte's appointment. Pulte, who has no known prior experience in an intelligence role, is widely viewed as a Trump loyalist who has targeted the president's political foes during his tenure leading the housing regulatory agency.The move to appoint Pulte now risks further breakdown on issues Congress has been deadlocked on for weeks, including reauthorization of a crucial surveillance law. It also exacerbates a simmering rift between the president and the Senate, which has been repeatedly angered by a series of moves from the White House. "Whoever told the president to go ahead and commit to this publicly before vetting it should lose their jobs, because they should know that the math just works against Pulte being confirmed," Tillis said.But the senator also acknowledged that the Trump administration could skirt the issue by simply leaving Pulte in place with the "acting" title instead of trying to push for full confirmation.Tillis also suggested that Pulte's promotion could imperil Congress' efforts to pass legislation, including reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which governs warrantless surveillance.Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., urged Thune to help convince Trump to reverse Pulte's appointment, a person familiar with the matter confirmed to MS NOW on Wednesday.If that reversal doesn't happen, all options are on the table, Warner warned, including tanking a bipartisan deal to extend FISA Section 702, the person said.Warner on Tuesday said Pulte's appointment gives him pause. "The idea that you put in somebody unqualified, who also has a record of weaponizing confidential information, and I'm supposed to ask, 'just trust us?" he said.Pulte used his access to mortgage records atop the federal housing apparatus to target Trump's political enemies and refer them for prosecution, a history that has alarmed intelligence analysts who warn that Pulte will now hold the keys to the most sensitive U.S. secrets. Those targets include Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who both faced allegations of mortgage-related wrongdoing by Pulte.Tillis said the appointment represents poor decision making at the White House. "They need to understand timing," he said of the Trump administration. "Whoever these people are in the White House need to get the hell out of the White House.""I am tired of amateur hour," he added.Trump said Pulte will serve as acting DNI while continuing to work as FHFA director and chairman of the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Pulte is succeeding outgoing DNI Tulsi Gabbard, who said last month that she would resign June 30.Tillis told CNBC that Pulte "got removed from his family board the moment the family no longer owned 51%," and later made such critical statements "that his father and aunt disavowed him having any association with their family trust."Tillis was referring to reports that Pulte, a scion of the founder of homebuilding giant PulteGroup, was pushed off the company's board in 2020 amid disagreements with other directors. The senator also appeared to reference a statement from the Pulte Family Charitable Foundation, clarifying that Bill Pulte, who maintains a highly active social media presence, does not speak for his family "in any capacity.""Why do I bring that up? I bring it up because it suggests a temperament that's probably not right for the DNI role," Tillis said."I don't believe he's ever had a security clearance. He clearly has no experience in intelligence, he has no geopolitical experience, no international connections — the sorts of things you would look for" in a DNI, Tillis said."He's got a structural problem. He simply doesn't have 51 votes on the Senate floor, and he may not even have the votes in [the Senate intelligence] committee, and we just need to tell the president that clearly," the senator said.The White House repeated a statement from Tuesday when asked Wednesday about Tillis' comments. "The President chooses the best and most talented people to serve in his Cabinet," spokesman Davis Ingle said by email. "Bill Pulte is a great selection and he will do a great job on behalf of the American people." Read more CNBC politics coverageMichael Dell courted Trump early. His company has reaped rewardsTrump DOJ ‘lawfare’ fund temporarily blocked by judge as suit proceedsBondi defends handling of Epstein files to House panel Tillis isn't the only Republican to voice concerns about Pulte.Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who lost his primary election last month after Trump backed a rival Republican, said during an interview Tuesday at CNBC's CEO Council Summit that Pulte does not appear "competent" to serve as acting DNI.Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, "We don't need a weaponized DNI, we need professionals there."Pulte has rubbed fellow members of the administration the wrong way in the past, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who reportedly nearly came to blows with the housing chief last year. When Tillis asked Bessent in a Senate Finance Committee hearing Wednesday if he had actually threatened to punch Pulte in the face, Bessent replied, "I actually said I was going to kick his ass."Bessent added "that was last summer .... many teams have fights in the locker room, and then go out and win for the team on the field."— CNBC's Garrett Downs and Luke Fountain contributed to this report. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Frustrated sellers are pulling their homes off the market at an increasingly high pace, as demand weakens and bidding wars wane. View More

Homes in Rancho Cucamonga, California, US, on Saturday, May 9, 2026. Kyle Grillot | Bloomberg | Getty Images More frustrated home sellers were giving up, right in the midst of the all-important spring market, according to new data.Nationwide, 5.8% of all home listings were pulled off the market in April, according to Redfin, a real estate brokerage. That ties with December for the highest share of homes delisted since March 2020, when the pandemic hit and the housing market froze. Delistings in April were up 3.8% compared with March. The increase comes as higher mortgage rates, elevated gas prices and weaker consumer confidence take their toll on housing demand. Sellers are no longer in the driver's seat and aren't getting the prices they want. Atlanta saw the highest share of homes come off the market in April, with 1 in 10 delisted. San Jose, California, followed with roughly 9% pulled, then Los Angeles (7.8%), Dallas (7.8%) and Seattle (7.7%). Mortgage rates had been falling at the start of this year, with the 30-year fixed briefly touching the 5% range at the end of February, according to Mortgage News Daily. They then jumped sharply when the war with Iran started and have remained elevated since then. "Buyers know they have negotiating power, often offering under the asking price and completing inspections, but some sellers just won't budge," said Patricia Ammann, a Redfin agent, in a release. Home prices have been easing, but are still higher than they were a year ago and have even begun to strengthen more recently. "Markets that depend more heavily on traditional mortgage financing and rate-sensitive buyers are seeing prices stay relatively flat," said Selma Hepp, chief economist at Cotality, in a release. "Overall, fewer markets posted year-over-year price declines in April than in prior months, pointing to continued stabilization across the housing market."   Get Property Play directly to your inboxCNBC's Property Play with Diana Olick covers new and evolving opportunities for the real estate investor, delivered weekly to your inbox.Subscribe here to get access today. Signed contracts on existing homes, so-called pending sales, did rise very slightly in April, up 1.4% from March, according to the National Association of Realtors. That is likely due to higher inventory, which was up nearly 6% from March. Listings in some parts of the country are starting to pile up, as new ones come on the market and other ones sit. Homes are sitting on the market longer, causing some buyers to simply give up as the all-important spring season draws to a close. Some homeowners who pulled their homes off the market over the past year relisted them in April, according to Redfin, hoping to take advantage of the spring market, despite higher mortgage rates. The report found 2.5% of the homes on the market in April were relistings, tied with the prior two months for the highest share since mid-2020 when there was a sudden surge in housing demand. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

At the World of Concrete India 2026 event in Mumbai, industry leaders underscored the need for innovative technologies and sustainable practices to meet the country’s growing infrastructure demands View More