Good news for prospective homebuyers
Marketplace
American Public Media
4.6 • 8K Ratings
🗓️ 30 December 2025
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Home price growth is cooling, new reports show. Though homeowners may be struggling to sell at asking price, it is good news for prospective buyers. Especially those who’ve been waiting on the sidelines for a good deal. But, as with most housing issues, the slowdown is regional. Also in this episode: Auto sales were strong in 2025, Gen Zers see cash in a new light, and an unlikely government funds a U.S.-based GED program for Mexican immigrants.
Every story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.
Marketplace is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at marketplace.org — and consider making an investment in our future.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | At Pluralsight, we don't just teach skills. |
| 0:02.8 | We are building the tech workforce who deliver results fast, accelerated by top-tier content. |
| 0:08.6 | Lead with confidence, lead with expertise. |
| 0:11.1 | Visit us at Pluralsight.com to tap in and learn more. |
| 0:16.8 | We've got a bit of a variety show for you today. |
| 0:19.8 | We'll talk about home sales, we'll talk about car sales, and we'll talk about the disappearance |
| 0:24.7 | and delight of cold, hard cash. |
| 0:29.0 | From American Public Media, this is Marketplace. |
| 0:47.2 | In New York, I'm Kristen Schwab in for Kyrisdal. It's Tuesday, December 30th. Thanks for tuning in. |
| 0:55.4 | We started the show yesterday with some potentially welcome news about the housing market, pending home sales were up in November. |
| 1:01.7 | Today we stay on the housing train with some more cautious optimism. We got the S&P, |
| 1:09.2 | cotality, Case Schiller Home Price Index for October. And it says nationally, home prices are, yes, |
| 1:13.8 | still rising, but the rate of growth is slow, which is generally better for buyers, maybe, kind of, sort of, depending on where you live. Marketplaces, |
| 1:20.8 | Carla Javier starts us off. Home prices are the first factor that people look at, for they can |
| 1:25.9 | even consider buying a house. |
| 1:28.1 | Those prices are important for homeowners, too, because for most of them, their house is among |
| 1:32.6 | their biggest investments, says Timothy Savage at New York University. |
| 1:36.9 | They're paying a 30-year fixed mortgage. They slowly pay down that mortgage. The house |
| 1:42.8 | ideally appreciates a bit in value. |
| 1:46.3 | Though the latest case-shiller numbers, which go through October, show that appreciation |
| 1:50.7 | has been slow, says Nick Godek with S&P Dow Jones Indices, which puts out the home price |
| 1:57.0 | report. The latest print showed us that for the national index, we're looking at just a 1.4% |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in 12 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from American Public Media, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of American Public Media and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.