What the experts say

Smaller homes for tighter budgets

Homebuilders have turned to smaller homes as housing becomes increasingly unaffordable, said Lance Lambert in Fast Company. “According to Parcl Labs,” a real estate analytics firm, “the median square footage for new construction homes fell” by 3 percent last year—from 2,098 in 2022 to 2,036 in 2023. It was “the biggest single-year dip over the past decade.” When the year started in 2014, the average new-construction home was 2,328 square feet. We’ve lost more than 300 square feet since then, while home prices have reached record highs. Some builders are trying out dramatically smaller options. At Elm Trails, a new development in San Antonio designed by Lennar, one of the country’s biggest builders, the homes “range from just 350 square feet to 660 square feet and were priced last year from $135,000 to $171,000.”

Few takers for student loan match

Employers could be doing more to help workers with student loans, said Medora Lee in USA Today. A new retirement saving benefit went into effect this year that lets companies match student loan payments with 401(k) contributions, essentially treating the loan payment as they would your own contribution to a retirement plan. The idea is “to help Americans avoid the choice of using their money to repay student loans or save for retirement.” But a survey by the nonprofit trade association Plan Sponsor Council of America found only 5 percent of eligible businesses have begun to offer the plan. When asked why not, “answers included cost, complexity, competing priorities, and lack of interest or necessity.”

The troubled time-share market

Time-share properties are in the discount bin, said Spencer Jakab in The Wall Street Journal. Secondary market sites like “eBay, RedWeek, and Timeshare Users Group show hundreds of listings going for just a dollar or even zero.” The bargains reflect desperation on the part of many sellers looking to get out of deals they thought were a ticket to paradise. “Due in part to rising inflation,” which has bumped the average time-share maintenance fee to nearly $1,200 per interval, taxes and costs are mounting. And many people are struggling with loans they took out for time-shares. Fifty-four percent of those who bought from industry leader Marriott Vacations Worldwide in 2022 used financing, with an average loan of $28,400 and a hefty average interest rate of 13.4 percent.