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U.S. home sales hit their lowest level since 1995, and President Trump says he will overhaul FEMA as he tours hurricane damage in North Carolina.

Plus, the luxury real estate market in Washington, D.C. is blowing up as people jockey to be close to the new president.

If you are a business tight in its country, you want to be close to decision makers.

You want to be in the room.

You want to be part of that conversation.

And that sometimes does require FaceTime with the ultimate decision maker or their deputies.

It's Friday, January 24th.

I'm Alex Oscella for the Wall Street Journal.

This is the PM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today.

U.S. home sales dropped last year to their lowest level in nearly 30 years.

According to data out this morning from the National Association of Realtors,

existing home sales fell 0.7% in 2024 from the year prior to 4.06 million.

Here to tell us more about what's going on in the housing market is WSJ Real Estate Bureau Chief Craig Carman.

Craig, sales are low, while prices seem to be quite high still.

The national median existing home price in December was $404,400, a 6% increase from the year before. What is going on here?

Yeah, it is a strange dynamic where you're seeing sales are knee-making, yet prices are hovering around all-time highs. And it's really an expression of the

limited supply in the market. The market has been below its historical norm for inventory for most of

...