Return to Transcripts main page
CNN 10
How Much Income is Needed to Buy a Home? Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired April 09, 2024 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COY WIRE, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Terrific Tuesday to you. Welcome back to CNN 10. I`m your host, Coy Wire. We`ve got a lot to get to, not a
lot of time to do it. So let`s get right to it.
We start today talking about the current housing market in the United States. The dream of buying a home in America is becoming more expensive.
High mortgage rates, rising home prices and low home inventory are pushing home ownership further out of reach for first time buyers.
A new bank rate analysis says Americans wanting to buy a medium-priced home need to make at least $110000 a year. That`s almost a 50% increase in the
last four years. This changes the calculation for potential homebuyers who are torn between buying or renting a home. Here`s Redfin.com`s Chief
Economist, Daryl Fairweather, with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DARYL FAIRWEATHER, REDFIN.COM CHIEF ECONOMIST: Right now, it is more affordable to rent than it is to pay for a mortgage. And historically, that
hasn`t been true. But if the mortgage payment that you would have to pay is less than 30% of your monthly income, then that means that you can afford
that mortgage pretty comfortably. How long are you going to stay in the home? If it`s for more than five years, there is a good chance that you
will build enough equity such that when you go to sell your home, you will make a return on your investment. But if you sell too soon, you might end
up losing money.
So it`s a risk and a reward. We`re expecting this next year to be a bit better for buyers than it was last year. That`s because mortgage rates have
started to fall and also more listings of homes are coming on the market, which means there are more options for buyers.
We are forecasting a slight correction in prices this year, down 1%. But it`s just not enough to really make it or break it for a homebuyer. It`s
probably going to keep getting less affordable, unfortunately.
There`s a tradeoff that a lot of young people have where the places where they can earn the most money are the places that have the most expensive
housing. So I think it`s completely valid to say, like, I want to live in New York City, for example, and I`m going to have access to all these jobs
that are going to improve my career prospects. And then one day when I am more established in my career, I`m going to, say, move to a suburb where
it`s more affordable and I`m going to be a homeowner that focus on your entire life and not just like reaching this one goal that isn`t as
attainable as it used to be.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: Pop quiz, hot shot. Inside what European country would you find Vatican City, the smallest independent state in the world?
England, France, Germany or Italy?
Located inside Italy, Vatican City is officially the smallest country in the world and roughly the size of 82 football fields.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Move over, Pisa, there`s another leaning tower in Italy. Built in the 12th century, the Garisenda Tower in Bologna, Italy,
started tilting just two centuries later. It now leans at a four-degree angle, slightly more than the Tower of Pisa currently tilts.
In 2023, scientists concluded the Garisenda was at high risk of collapsing and authorities temporarily closed off the streets around it. The city
plans to use the same equipment used to save the Tower of Pisa for this 20- million-dollar multiyear restoration project.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: That`s one tower I would not want to get caught taking a selfie under.
Now, this next story is a bizarre one that could have broader consequences. There`s an unusual phenomenon happening with some fish off the coast of
Florida that`ll make your head spin. CNN`s Bill Weir has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GREGG FURSTENWERTH, FLORIDA KEYS LIFETIME RESIDENT: I started diving when I was eight years old with my mom, so I`ve been in the water for a very
long time.
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gregg Furstenwerth has seen a lot in his life spent underwater around the Florida
Keys but he`d never seen anything like this.
FURSTENWERTH: I noticed the fish were spinning and so I started taking video of that. But I really had no idea what I was looking at.
WEIR: Since last fall, he`s seen stingrays moving upside down, Goliath groupers flailing on their sides, and dozens of other species swimming in
tortured flailing loops.
FURSTENWERTH: Well, I mean, I`ve said that, you know, it`s like I`m in the middle of a disaster movie and I`m that guy yelling from, you know, the
mountain top, trying to get people to pay attention.
WEIR: State Fish and Wildlife officials, and Florida`s Bonefish and Tarpon Trust have logged nearly 200 incidents with over 30 species acting this
way, mostly in the lower Keys but as far north as Miami.
MICHAEL ROLPH, CAPTAIN, MYKEYS TOURS: Yes, this is crazy. I was out on a six-hour charter, I had two people on the boat, and we we`re down off a
ligament by the bank and we`ve happened to see a fish floundering on the flats.
And then, so we got close to him. We wanted to see if there was a problem. And we could obviously tell that he was in distress.
WEIR: It turned out to be a sawfish, a critically endangered species that might lose four or five mature adults a year. But in just a few months, at
least 27 have beached themselves or died after intense episodes of what anglers are calling the spins.
MIKE PARSONS, PROFESSOR, THE WATER SCHOOL AT FLORIDA GULF COAST UNIVERSITY: So typically, when we think of fish acting strangely or dying, we there
think of low oxygen conditions in the water or red tide. And so we saw neither.
WEIR: At The Water School, Florida Gulf Coast University, Mike Parson`s team is part of a statewide effort to solve the mystery of the spinning
fish.
And while tests for most toxins have turned up empty, the most promising suspect is found living off seaweed at the bottom. A tiny critter named
Gambierdiscus.
ADAM CATASUS, RESEARCHER, THE WATER SCHOOL AT FLORIDA GULF COAST UNIVERSITY: This is the highest we`ve seen of the Gambierdiscus cells of
the Keys. We don`t know if it`s the main cause.
WEIR: The single-cell algae can produce various neurotoxins and is showing up at record-high levels. But it`s just one more stressor on Marine life
already reeling from pollution, overfishing, and off-the- charts ocean heatwaves brought by climate change.
PARSONS: So there`s concern and curiosity, I guess, on, could the hot, hot temperatures in the summer cause some changes that may be led to the fish
behavior now. And we just don`t really have all the pieces together to try to link one for the other.
FURSTENWERTH: They really have no idea what is happening. I mean, there is no concrete conclusive proof of what is happening yet. And that is still to
be determined, which is quite terrifying.
WEIR: It is scary, isn`t it?
FURSTENWERTH: It is because, if it continues, it`s going to be the end of this ecosystem as we know it.
WEIR (on camera): Off the charts, ocean temperatures are, of course, just one of the massive stressors on marine life down here these days. There was
a three-year study recently in which 100% of the bonefish that were tested in the Keys turned up at least seven different pharmaceuticals from opioids
to antidepressants. And so this behavior has not been seen before, but it is sort of an attack from a thousand different angles for the creatures
living down here and may be a warning for the rest of us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: Today`s story getting a 10 out of 10 is positively paw-some. Who`s ready to party? This special dog just turned two years old and his grateful
police department threw him an awesome birthday bash.
Jimmy has been a comfort dog for the Las Vegas PD for a year, spreading love and joy to the department. In such a short amount of time, though,
he`s traveled to hundreds of cities, comforting people who face traumatic events. Good boy.
Jimmy enjoyed the celebration with cool hats, colorful balloons and even his own cake.
All right, superstars, we want to throw a party of appreciation for the best doggone viewers on the planet. And that is you.
Shout out today to Waseca Junior and Senior High School in Waseca, Minnesota. Rise up.
And we`re also showing some love today to the fine folks up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at Penn Treaty School. Thank you for
subscribing to our CNN 10 YouTube channel. You rock.
See you right back here tomorrow. And thanks for joining us. I`m Coy Wire. And we are CNN 10.
END
