This Week’s Housing Headlines Likely Will be Misleading. Here’s Why

Headline USA Editor
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This Week’s Housing Headlines Likely Will be Misleading. Here’s Why

(Orphe Divounguy, The Center Square) This week brings a deluge of housing market data, and all eyes will be on the new home sales and existing home sales reports. Last week, the headlines seized upon predictions of a 1.9% decline in home values this year – prompting many pundits to raise the alarm. Yet a closer look at the underlying trends reveals a far more nuanced story, one in which modest price adjustments coexist with steady sales growth and localized strength.

Restoring The Balance

Zillow’s modest price pullback reflects a simple reality: listings are rising faster than buyer demand. In the early weeks of the spring home‑shopping season, the number of new sellers jumped noticeably compared with last year, while the estimated number of potential buyers declined by roughly 1.1%. When supply outpaces demand, home values naturally soften. However, a large increase in the number of sellers coupled with a small decline in the number of buyers still translates to more total home sales. The increase in housing inventory coupled with mortgage rates that are still roughly 50 bps below year-ago levels is welcome news for home buyers.

Local Markets Defy the Narrative

The national statistics, however, mask dramatic variation at the metro level. Major markets such as San Francisco, San Jose, and Denver are experiencing inventory surges – not because buyers have vanished, but because demand is increasing at a slower pace than the number of homes coming on the market. These same metros led the country in year‑over‑year percentage gains in home sales during March.

The Role of Mortgage Rates and Consumer Confidence

One key factor tempering buyer activity has been wavering consumer confidence. When consumers fear a downturn, they curb their spending – especially for discretionary purchases and big ticket items. Compounding the uncertainty is April’s stock‑market correction, which wiped out trillions in household wealth.

Yet mortgage rates offer a countervailing tailwind. Since mid‑February, rates have fallen roughly 30 basis points, improving affordability and inviting some buyers back to the table. Lower borrowing costs mean monthly payments could improve for many would-be buyers – a dynamic that should support sales volumes through the months ahead.

In other news…

Adding to the week’s importance, several Federal Reserve officials – including Presidents Patrick Harker, Raphael Bostic, and Mary Daly – are slated to speak. Their remarks will shed light on central bankers assessments of the economy and the timing of future rate cuts. Traders, meanwhile, continue to price in three rate reductions in 2026, beginning at the June FOMC meeting.

Shooting Leads to Harvard Students Sheltering in Place

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Shooting Leads to Harvard Students Sheltering in Place

(Headline USA) Transit police in Boston were investigating a shooting on a subway platform at Harvard University on Sunday that prompted the school to issue a shelter-in-place order for students and staff.

Authorities temporarily rerouted passengers on part of the city’s subway system to shuttle buses as officers from various departments searched for a suspect.

Richard Sullivan, superintendent of the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority Transit Police Department, said in an email that a man armed with a gun fired four to five rounds at a “targeted individual” on the southbound platform at the Harvard Square station, according to a preliminary investigation. The suspect then fled the station.

There is no evidence the targeted person or anyone else was injured, he said.

Police were alerted to a report of shots fired around 2:15 p.m. A message was later sent to the Harvard community, urging people to shelter in the nearest building until further notice and that police were searching the area around the busy station, which is near the school’s main campus in Cambridge.

The message, which was posted on Harvard’s website, was removed later Sunday afternoon.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

 

Justices Alito Blasts SCOTUS for ‘Middle of the Night’ Order Blocking Gang Deportations

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Justices Alito Blasts SCOTUS for ‘Middle of the Night’ Order Blocking Gang Deportations

(Headline USA) The Supreme Court acted “literally in the middle of the night” and without sufficient explanation in blocking the Trump administration from deporting any Venezuelans held in northern Texas under an 18th-century wartime law, Justice Samuel Alito wrote in a sharp dissent that castigated the seven-member majority.

Joined by fellow conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, Alito said there was “dubious factual support” for granting the request in an emergency appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union. The group contended that immigration authorities appeared to be moving to restart such removals under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

The majority did not provide a detailed explanation in the order early Saturday, as is typical, but the court previously said deportations could proceed only after those about to be removed had a chance to argue their case in court and were given “a reasonable time” to contest their pending removals.

“Both the Executive and the Judiciary have an obligation to follow the law,” Alito said in the dissent released hours after the court’s intervention against Republican President Donald Trump’s administration.

The justices’ brief order directed the administration not to remove Venezuelans held in the Bluebonnet Detention Center “until further order of this court.”

Alito said that “unprecedented” relief was “hastily and prematurely granted.”

He wrote that it was not clear whether the Supreme Court had jurisdiction at this stage of the case, saying that not all legal avenues had been played out in lower courts and the justices had not had the chance to hear the government’s side.

“The only papers before this Court were those submitted by the applicants. The Court had not ordered or received a response by the Government regarding either the applicants’ factual allegations or any of the legal issues presented by the application. And the Court did not have the benefit of a Government response filed in any of the lower courts either,” Alito said.

Alito said the legal filings, “while alleging that the applicants were in imminent danger of removal, provided little concrete support for that allegation.” He noted that while the court did not hear directly from the government regarding any planned deportations under the Alien Enemies Act in this case, a government lawyer in a different matter had told a U.S. District Court in a hearing Friday evening that no such deportations were then planned to occur either Friday or Saturday.

“In sum, literally in the middle of the night, the Court issued unprecedented and legally questionable relief without giving the lower courts a chance to rule, without hearing from the opposing party, within eight hours of receiving the application, with dubious factual support for its order, and without providing any explanation for its order,” Alito wrote.

“I refused to join the Court’s order because we had no good reason to think that, under the circumstances, issuing an order at midnight was necessary or appropriate. Both the Executive and the Judiciary have an obligation to follow the law.”

The administration has filed paperwork urging the high court to reconsider its hold.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Israeli Bombs Multiple Tent Camps in Gaza, Killing Dozens

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Israeli Bombs Multiple Tent Camps in Gaza, Killing Dozens

(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) Overnight Israeli strikes on Gaza hit multiple tent camps sheltering displaced Palestinians, killing dozens, Gaza’s Civil Defense agency has said.

One attack hit tents in al-Mawasi, a tent camp in southern Gaza that Israel had declared a so-called “humanitarian zone” but continues to bomb.

“At least 16 martyrs [were killed], most of them women and children, and 23 others were wounded following a direct strike by two Israeli missiles on several tents housing displaced families in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis,” Mahmoud Bassal, spokesman for the Civil Defense, told AFP.

Another seven Palestinians were killed by an Israeli strike on tents in Beit Lahia, a city in northern Gaza that was the scene of large anti-Hamas protests on Wednesday. Two other Palestinians, a father and his son, were killed by an Israeli strike on another part of al-Mawasi. So far, there’s been no comment from the Israeli military about the attacks.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Thursday that at least 39 Palestinians were killed, and one body was recovered from the rubble over the previous 24-hour period. Another 73 Palestinians were wounded by Israeli attacks.

The Health Ministry’s numbers account for dead and wounded Palestinians brought to hospitals and morgues. “There are still a number of victims under the rubble and on the streets, and ambulance and civil defense crews cannot reach them,” the ministry said.

Since Israel resumed its genocidal war on March 18, which it did with full US support, the ministry said at least 1,691 Palestinians have been killed, and 4,464 were injured. Children account for 595 of those killed, or 35.2%.

This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.



Report: Kash Patel Using FBI Jet to Visit Girlfriend, Go to Sporting Events

Ken Silva
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Report: Kash Patel Using FBI Jet to Visit Girlfriend, Go to Sporting Events

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) More evidence continues to be reported about how FBI Director Kash Patel has snookered the MAGA movement.

Far from shutting down the FBI’s headquarters and turning it into a “museum for the deep state”—as he said he would before he was nominated—Patel has maintained the status quo in the bureau. Furthermore, he’s flip-flopped on domestic surveillance and now supports warrantless spying, he’s yet to release the Jeffrey Epstein files, and he hasn’t exposed the U.S. government’s involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, protests-turned-riots. In fact, he’s even promoted a top FBI official who hunted J6ers over the last four years.

And now, according to the New York Times, he’s cruising around on the FBI jet, courtesy of U.S. taxpayers. He’s probably using the jet to visit his girlfriend in Tennessee, too, the Times reported Sunday.

“Mr. Patel is enjoying bachelorhood, dating Alexis Wilkins, 26, a country music singer who lives in Nashville. Despite the challenges of being director, Mr. Patel appears to be making time for her,” the Times reported.

“According to flight-tracking data, one of the bureau’s Gulfstream jets has made three round trips to Nashville. On at least one of those stops, Mr. Patel conducted official business, visiting the local field office and meeting with Tennessee’s Republican senators, Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, along with sheriffs from around the state,” the newspaper reported.

“There is little information about the other trips, including who covered the cost, but it is not unusual for the director to take an F.B.I. plane for personal reasons. Directors must fly on government aircraft for their travel because of required access to secure communications equipment.”

The Times also reported that Patel took the FBI jet to a hockey game on April 6.

The Times explained that FBI directors must reimburse the government for use of the plane at the price of a commercial ticket. However, the price of a commercial ticket is far less than the cost of running a private FBI jet, the Times noted.

The Times added that the FBI is exploring the possibility of buying yet another jet for “required-use executive travel.”

“It was not clear why the bureau needed another plane,” the Times said.

Republicans, including Sen. Chuck Grassley, frequently railed against former FBI Director Chris Wray’s use of the FBI jet.

Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

Dan Bongino Injured at FBI Training Facility

Ken Silva
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Dan Bongino Injured at FBI Training Facility

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Conservative media personality and new FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino recently visited the bureau’s training facility, where he grappled with FBI martial arts instructors.

According to the New York Times, Bongino did not do well.

“During a recent visit to Quantico, Mr. Bongino got a taste of F.B.I. toughness when he hit the mats with an instructor skilled in jujitsu. Mr. Bongino did not fare well, several former agents said,” the Times reported on Sunday.

Bongino confirmed the report on Twitter/X, also revealing that he hurt in shoulder while grappling the FBI’s instructors.

“I injured my shoulder … The instructor I was grappling with got the best of me, because he’s incredibly talented. That’s why he’s there. And it was my not an ‘injury’ but a bit of swelling in my right elbow, not shoulder, because I’m 50 years old and I can’t recover like I used to,” Bongino said. “But I felt it was important to get on the mats anyway, because that’s what men do.”

Injury aside, Bongino’s update about his shoulder sparked criticism from Trump supporters, including Jan. 6 protestors, about his bureau’s lack of follow-through on some of Bongino and Director Kash Patel’s promises. They’ve yet to release the Jeffrey Epstein files, reveal the government’s involvement in the Jan. 6 riots, or arrest any corrupt government officials. In fact, they’ve promoted one of the top FBI officials, Stephen Jenson, who hunted Jan. 6 protestors over the last four years.

Bongino has insisted that change is taking place behind closed doors.

“Because you don’t see things happening in live time, does not mean they aren’t happening,” he said on April 4. “Not even close. You will see results, and not every result will please everyone, but you will absolutely see results.”

Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

JD Vance Meets Pope Francis on Easter Sunday after Tangle over Deportations of Illegals

Headline USA Editor
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JD Vance Meets Pope Francis on Easter Sunday after Tangle over Deportations of Illegals

(Headline USA) U.S. Vice President JD Vance met briefly with Pope Francis on Sunday to exchange Easter greetings, after they got into a long-distance tangle over the Trump administration’s migrant deportation plans.

Vance’s motorcade entered Vatican City through a side gate and parked near Francis’ hotel residence while Easter Mass was being celebrated in St. Peter’s Square. Francis, who has greatly cut back his workload to recover from a near-fatal case of pneumonia, delegated the celebration of the Mass to another cardinal.

The Vatican said they met for a few minutes at the Domus Santa Marta “to exchange Easter greetings.” Vance’s office said that they met, but provided no further details. In all, Vance’s motorcade was on Vatican territory for 17 minutes.

Vance and the pope have tangled over migration and the Trump administration’s plans to deport migrants en masse. Francis has made caring for migrants a hallmark of his papacy (even though he’s yet to open the borders to Vatican City).

Just days before he was hospitalized in February, Francis blasted the Trump administration’s deportation plans. Francis also appeared to respond to Vance directly for having claimed that Catholic doctrine justified such policies.

Vance has acknowledged Francis’ criticism but has said he will continue to defend his views.

Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, met with the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, on Saturday.

Vance’s office said he and Parolin “discussed their shared religious faith, Catholicism in the United States, the plight of persecuted Christian communities around the world, and President Trump’s commitment to restoring world peace.”

The Vatican, for its part, said there was an “exchange of opinions” including over migrants and refugees and current conflicts.

The Holy See has responded cautiously to the Trump administration while seeking to continue productive relations in keeping with its tradition of diplomatic neutrality. It has expressed alarm over the administration’s crackdown on migrants and cuts in international aid while insisting on peaceful resolutions to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

 

Ron DeSantis’s Ex-Comms Director Charged for Exposing Himself to Women

Jose Nino
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Ron DeSantis’s Ex-Comms Director Charged for Exposing Himself to Women

(José Niño, Headline USA) Fred Piccolo, who once shaped the public messaging for Governor Ron DeSantis, now faces criminal charges after authorities say he exposed himself to several women in a string of unsettling encounters.

Fred Piccolo, who briefly served as communications director for Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-FL, in 2020, was arrested last Tuesday, for allegedly exposing himself to a woman in Manatee County. 

According to arrest records, the incident took place at the end of March, when Piccolo allegedly stopped his vehicle in the gated Lakewood Ranch Golf & Country Club community to ask a woman for directions.

The victim reported that when Piccolo first approached her, he claimed he needed directions to Bee Ridge Road in Sarasota because “he just found out his girlfriend was married. Her husband came home ‘in the middle’ and he ran out with just a shirt he grabbed.” 

After receiving directions, Piccolo allegedly drove off, turned around, and pulled up alongside her again, asking her to repeat the directions. It was at this point that the woman noticed Piccolo was naked and “holding his erect penis in his hand.” 

Deputies noted in their report that Piccolo’s residence was only about 2.4 miles from the incident location, “contradicting the story he told [the victim] as to why he would be naked and why he would need to stop in his own neighborhood to ask for directions.” The woman later “confidently and quickly” identified Piccolo as the suspect in a photo lineup in early April.

This incident is not isolated. Piccolo is currently facing three additional charges of indecent exposure from incidents that allegedly occurred in Sarasota County between August and September 2024:

  1. On August 22, 2024, Piccolo allegedly exposed himself to a female employee at Banana Republic in the University Town Center Mall. According to the probable cause affidavit, he was “using one hand in a stroking manner to masturbate as he was looking at her through the opened fitting room door.”
  2. On September 3, 2024, Piccolo allegedly exposed himself to a female employee at Dillard’s department store in the same mall, where witnesses reported he was “naked from ‘head to toe'”.
  3. The following day, September 4, 2024, Piccolo allegedly returned to the same Dillard’s store and exposed himself to another female employee in a fitting/ 

Sarasota County authorities filed charges for these incidents in October 2024, but Piccolo was not arrested at that time. Instead, he was issued summonses to appear in court, where he has pleaded not guilty to all three charges. A trial date has been set for May 27, 2025.

In response to these allegations, Piccolo’s attorney, Eric Reisinger, has attributed his client’s behavior to a medical condition. “I would like to inform you that my client, Frederick Piccolo, has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease,” Reisinger stated. The attorney claims that “medications prescribed by his medical team have, regrettably, resulted in compulsive behavior and hypersexuality as side effects.”

Piccolo’s father, Rick Piccolo, corroborated this claim, stating that his son was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s disease about 10 years ago. In a statement, the elder Piccolo expressed remorse: “We are very sorry that any individuals were subjected to any inappropriate conduct and we will seek the medical and mental health services necessary to return him to the wonderful and caring individual we knew before this decade of medication he has endured.”

Beyond the current criminal charges, Piccolo has faced other allegations of sexual misconduct. In 2022, former State Rep. Jackie Toledo, a Republican based out of the Tampa area, filed a lawsuit against Piccolo claiming he sent her “unwanted, unsolicited, inappropriate and grossly offensive harassing text messages and images.”

According to the lawsuit, while Piccolo was serving as Toledo’s campaign manager during her congressional run, he sent her bare-chested selfies, comments about his wife’s breast augmentation surgery, and “at least one image… of his erection, while others involved Mr. Piccolo in various states of undress.” Toledo later dropped the lawsuit.

At the time, Piccolo denied Toledo’s allegations, claiming they had a friendly relationship and that “at no time did she express any outrage or offense at any of our banter.”

Fred Piccolo has had a long career in Florida Republican politics. He served as communications director for the Florida Speaker of the House under former speakers Jose Oliva and Richard Corcoran. 

In July 2020, Governor Ron DeSantis appointed him as the governor’s communications director, a role he held until January 2021, when he departed the office following controversy over a tweet he posted suggesting that for every photo of a COVID-19 victim, there should be 99 photos of individuals who survived the virus to provide balance.

After leaving the governor’s office, Piccolo joined the Florida Department of Education as an executive vice chancellor under then-Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran. Most recently, he served as director of marketing and media strategy at New College of Florida, where Corcoran currently holds the position of president.

Following his arrest, New College of Florida confirmed that Piccolo “is no longer employed by the college,” and his contact information was removed from the school’s website. 

With Piccolo’s court date approaching, the scandal continues to cast a shadow over DeSantis’s political circle and the processes used to vet top officials.

José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino 

Supreme Court Temporarily Halts some Venezuelan Deportations

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Supreme Court Temporarily Halts some Venezuelan Deportations

(Bethany Blankley, The Center Square) The U.S. Supreme Court on Saturday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deporting some Venezuelans in the country who’ve been identified as members of violent gangs, including the terrorist organization, Tren de Aragua.

“The government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this court,” the unsigned brief states.

More than 50 Venezuelan nationals were scheduled to be deported in the next flight; five flights were already conducted as part of the administration’s removal process under the Enemy Aliens Act.

The flights went to El Salvador, whose president, Nayib Bukele, is working with the Trump administration to detain violent criminal illegal foreign nationals deported from the U.S.

After a previous district court ruling demanding that some Venezuelan nationals sent to El Salvador be returned to the U.S., Bukele said, “too late,” they were already in his prison and he wasn’t complying, The Center Square reported. Bukele has said more than once that he will not remove terrorists from El Salvador’s maximum security prison, CECOT.

In March, President Donald Trump issued an executive order invoking the Alien Enemies Act in response to already declaring that the U.S. was being invaded by criminal foreign nationals, including TdA members, The Center Square reported.

In response, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of five Venezuelans in the U.S. illegally, requesting a district court in the District of Columbia to halt their deportations.

On April 7, the Supreme Court ruled the administration could continue Venezuelan deportations, arguing the lawsuit was filed in the wrong court, The Center Square reported. After the ruling, the ACLU, which filed the first lawsuit, filed lawsuits in New York, Denver and Brownsville, Texas, where the Venezuelans were being detained. In these cases, district court judges ruled against the Trump administration and those cases are being appealed.

The case in question before the Supreme Court is related to two Venezuelans detained in Anson, Texas, where a federal district judge in Abilene refused to grant the ACLU’s emergency request to block their deportation. The ACLU then filed emergency requests in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans and with the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, a hearing was held on Friday and the court issued its opinion shortly before 1 a.m. EST Saturday morning. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented.

The White House has yet to issue a statement.

Trump invoked the Enemies Alien Act after his administration began aggressively targeting TdA members in response to a record more than 1 million Venezuelans who illegally entered the U.S. under the Biden administration, including TdA members.

Under the Biden administration, for the first time in U.S. history, TdA criminals began operating en masse, terrorizing Americans and noncitizens nationwide; confirmed violent crimes by TdA members were reported in at least 22 states, The Center Square first reported.

Under the Trump administration, Venezuelan repatriation flights first began, paid for by the Venezuelan government, negotiated by the Trump administration, The Center Square reported.

Cooperation between the U.S. and El Salvador expanded under Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, representing a reversal of Biden administration policy that used taxpayer money and planes to transport illegal foreign nationals into the U.S.

Poll: 7 in 10 Americans to Celebrate Easter this Year

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Poll: 7 in 10 Americans to Celebrate Easter this Year

(The Center Square) Nearly 70% of Americans plan to celebrate Easter in some form this year, according to new polling.

Of the 69% who say they do plan to celebrate, 36% will celebrate it primarily as a religious holiday, 13% will celebrate it as a secular one, and 19% will celebrate it as both, according to the polling from Napolitan News Service.

The 69% figure is down slightly from previous years, when 73% to 74% of registered voters said they would celebrate between 2022 and 2024.

More than half – 52% – who are celebrating said they would do so as a religious holiday, according to the poll.

Of all registered voters polled, 47% said they are very or somewhat likely to attend church on Easter Sunday. That compares to 42% who said they were very or somewhat likely to participate in an Easter egg hunt.

On more specific questions related to Christianity, 77% said Jesus Christ existed and walked on the Earth while 9% said he did not. And 73% of all those polled said Jesus was the Son of God compared to 15% who said he was not.

When asked if Jesus died for theirs sins, 71% of all respondents said he did compared to 16% who said he did not.

The Napolitan News Service Survey of 1,000 registered voters was conducted April 9-10.

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