Author: openjargon

• Celebrity real estate agent Josh Altman named five cities to buy homes in before the prices get too hot.
• He said home prices in Atlanta, Dallas, Orlando, Phoenix and San Diego could "skyrocket."
• These cities are "booming with economic growth" and have rising populations, he said. 

There are five US cities where home prices are poised to skyrocket, so people looking to get homes there should move fast, "Million Dollar Listing" celebrity realtor Josh Altman says.

Speaking to the personal finance website GOBankingRates in an article published on Tuesday, he said that predicting which cities would be good investments required examining their economic growth, population trends, and infrastructure developments.

The five cities handpicked by Altman are Atlanta, Dallas, Orlando, Phoenix, and San Diego.

"These cities are booming with economic growth, rising populations, strong job markets, and great affordability," he told the outlet. "We see huge potential here."

Atlanta

Atlanta has a population of about 510,000 as of 2023.

Most of its residents are millennials, with its residents' median age being 33.6 years.

The median value of a home in Atlanta is about $429,990, per May data from real estate site Redfin.

It also has a dynamic business environment, with a 2023 analysis from LinkedIn showing that Greater Atlanta had the highest number of people setting up their own businesses of all US cities.

Dallas

Dallas in north Texas has a population of about 1.3 million as of 2024.

As with Atlanta, most of its residents are millennials, with its residents' median age being 33.1 years.

The median home value in Dallas is about $499,900, per Redfin, and has increased 20.7% year over year.

Texas has received a large inflow of residents from other states, particularly California. Between 2021 and 2022, more than 668,300 people moved into Texas, according to state-to-state migration data from the Census Bureau.

Dallas' mayor, Eric Johnson, said in January that people are attracted to Texas by its relatively lower cost of housing and living and a better quality of life.

Pengyu Cheng, a tech company program manager, previously told BI that he moved to Texas from San Francisco with his wife and purchased a two-story home for $825,000.

He said this was a fraction of what they could have paid in California, where they were renting a two-bedroom home for $3,100 a month.

Orlando

Popular for its Disney World and Universal amusement park, Orlando has a population of about 330,000, a 5.43% increase from 2020.

The median age of its residents is 34.67, and homes have a median price of $407,440, per Redfin. The median price has risen 8.7% year over year.

The city is luring people from its pricier neighbor, Miami, particularly young people attracted by its lack of state income tax, good weather, and job opportunities.

Phoenix

Phoenix is the fifth-most populous city in the US, with nearly 1.65 million residents.

The median age of its residents is young, at 34.4 years old. Houses have a median cost of $461,000, per Redfin, a figure that has risen 5.5% year over year.

The city is hot, not just in terms of its climate but also in terms of an inflow of new residents.

Young, wealthy people are putting down roots here, attracted by the warm weather all year round and the bigger, more affordable homes.

San Diego

The quieter sibling of Los Angeles, the seaside city of San Diego has a population of about 1.4 million and is the US' eighth most populous city.

The median age of San Diego residents is 35.8 years.

Prices of homes in this city top this list, with the median being $980,000, a figure reflecting a 7.7% increase yearly, according to Redfin.

But it's also true that housing in San Diego trends toward the pricier end. San Diego, along with four other Californian cities, was marked as "impossibly unaffordable," according to the 2024 Demographia International Housing Affordability report.

If Altman's words ring true and prices here are set to spike more, serious buyers should lock their house purchases in soon.

Altman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours.

• I'm a 35-year-old American mom living in the UK. 
• I took my three kids to the US for the first time in eight years and they were surprised by things.
• They thought cars and meals were big, and that there was always too much ice in drinks. 

It has been nearly eight years since my three Welsh children have visited my family in the United States. Even though I would have loved to make the eight-hour plane trip with them more often, logistics, the pandemic, and cost have kept us away.

For months, we prepared for our monthlong trip, with the kids getting increasingly excited about the food and fun they would have with their grandparents in a foreign land. Even though you'd imagine the two countries to be very similar as they speak English, there are multitudes of differences.

From my adult perspective, I know that healthcare, education, salaries, and culture widely vary, but I was excited to see what differences they, as children, would notice.

Bigger cars and bigger roads

After landing in Washington, DC, and retrieving our bags, we entered the parking lot. The two older kids quickly observed that the cars weren't like the ones in the UK. There were Chevrolets, GMCs, Lincolns, and endless pickup trucks.

They were also much bigger. In the UK, it's twice as expensive to fill a car with gas, roads are much narrower and windier, and there is less parking, so smaller cars are often preferable.

My kids immediately noticed that, along with cars, the roads in the US are much bigger than in the UK.

In DC, they tried to figure out how overpasses worked, roads overlapping each other in a complicated shape. In the UK, motorways, equivalent to highways, converge at roundabouts.

Even though they had expected it, they found it funny Americans drive on the opposite side of the road.

They were surprised by AC

The UK rarely gets very hot. At most, there are four to six weeks of the year when the temperature rises above 80 degrees Fahrenheit. When it does, we just open all the windows, strip down to our select few summer clothes, and keep the curtains shut because very few homes have air conditioning. Those weeks are boiling hot, but we grit our teeth and bear it because they don't last long.

When we got to our hotel the night we landed, they asked me what the metal box contraption making noise was in the corner of our room. It was the air conditioning unit, which pushes cool air through vents.

Since we've been here, they have relished in the ability to cool off inside after playing in the heat.

They think the portions are too big and there's always too much ice in drinks

We have been out to eat, and when my parents get the kids drinks in the house, ample ice is in every glass of water, juice, or soda.

The kids both love and hate it. They enjoy sucking on the ice as a novelty, but they've been complaining that the freezing cold temperature of the drink hurts their teeth.

You might have a few cubes of ice in a restaurant in the UK, but I have never once been served a drink in someone's home with ice in it.

They also feel like the portions are way too big. Our first meal in the US was at Bob Evans. The kids each ordered a kid's meal with a side of pancakes to share. The food was served to us over several trips.

"Look how many pancakes there are," one of the kids said when the plate of four enormous pancakes with syrup and jam was put down in front of us.

At the gas station, they were amazed by the size of the chip bags, chocolate bars, and drink cups. "All the food is big," one of them whispered to me as he gazed at the shelves of food.

• China's leader, Xi Jinping, is urging his country's scientists to innovate in the tech sector.
• While praising China's progress overall, he also highlighted several pressing shortcomings in the country.
• He said China's innovation was "still relatively weak," and had a shortage of top talent.

China's leader, Xi Jinping, made several admissions of the country's shortcomings in its race to become the world's tech powerhouse, saying its innovation is "relatively weak" and that its scientists are overburdened.

To be sure, Xi's remarks on Tuesday at a national conference in Beijing lauded China's science industries overall.

But he also highlighted glaring challenges and pressed the country to focus on tech growth, which he said is now the "main battlefield of international competition."

"Although the country's science and technology development has made great progress, its original innovation capabilities are still relatively weak," Xi said.

Indeed, Xi mentioned innovation 55 times in his speech on Tuesday, emphasizing it while discussing artificial intelligence, quantum technology, biotech, and new energy.

And China's tech breakthroughs are too scattered across various companies and sectors for Xi's liking, with him saying they suffer a "low degree of organization and coordination" that needs addressing.

Core technologies are out of China's hands, Xi says

Key to his push for innovation is the idea of China becoming self-reliant — a common theme across all of his ideologies — especially as tensions with the West grow.

"The scientific and technological revolution and the wrestling between superpowers are intertwined," Xi said.

While he did not name the US, Xi said it was clear China would have to fix how "some key core technologies are controlled by others."

The comment comes as the US has threatened to expand sanctions on several Chinese chip firms linked to Huawei and blocked the sale of advanced semiconductors essential to developing artificial intelligence technology.

Last week, the US Treasury Department labeled China a "country of concern" and proposed new rules to limit international investment in "the next generation of military, intelligence, surveillance or cyber-enabled capabilities that pose national security risks to the United States."

Researchers still caught up in red tape

Xi also raised a shortage of manpower and top talent in the tech and science spaces. Researchers were still complaining of "heavy non-academic burdens" like red tape with publishing papers, busywork in official reports, and asking for resources, he said.

He added that China would have to "improve incentive systems" like better awards for science and tech and a more even wage system for employees and researchers.

While the US has been in the middle of its own technological boom, thanks in part to giants like OpenAI, Nvidia, Amazon, and Microsoft, Business Insider previously reported that bosses in China's tech sector are upping the pressure on workers following the loss of around $1.3 trillion in market value by the country's top five tech companies since 2021.

The Chinese government has been especially focused on developing artificial intelligence technology. BI previously reported that an April report by Microsoft indicated China-linked social media accounts plan to use AI-generated media to influence elections in the US.

With all said on Tuesday, it's clear Xi wants China to not just be a major player in the tech space but to dominate it.

"We must bolster our sense of urgency. We must go further with our efforts to innovate," Xi said. "To occupy the commanding heights of science and tech competition and future development."

• Twitch streamer Kai Cenat was so frustrated with a video game that he got a therapist on his stream.
• He had been struggling for 60 hours to beat the final boss of "Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree."
• Cenat eventually beat the video game boss about six hours after the mental health session.

Frustrated with his performance against a video game boss, Twitch streamer and YouTuber Kai Cenat went viral on Tuesday evening for bringing a therapist to his livestream to help process his emotions.

Cenat, 22, was well into his 60th hour of fighting the final boss of the "Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree" when Aubri Williams appeared in his streaming room.

Williams, a full-time model who also provides counseling sessions, told Cenat that someone booked him an appointment with her, but did not say who.

What ensued was a bizarre blend of two worlds. For half an hour, Cenat haphazardly talked through the mechanics of "Elden Ring" as Williams taught him to breathe, think positively, and envision the outcomes of him achieving his gaming goal.

Cenat had been streaming his playthrough of the video game for a total of 92 hours, with six to seven hours of sleep interspersed between gaming sessions.

"I've been on the last boss for the past 60 hours of my life that I can't get back," Cenat lamented. "And I'm trying everything, I went to get a new weapon, I went to go upgrade new stuff like my dexterity, my arcane, I dropped my faith, I got more strength. I've done so much."

"Let's close our eyes for a sec," Williams said.

"Oh, I got scared, I see Radahn again," Cenat said, referring to the final boss blocking his victory.

Calming down and steeling his mind under Williams' guidance, Cenat played the boss fight again for her to observe.

"When I win, I win," Cenat said. Williams applauded his newfound positivity.

His character spun and slashed for several minutes but eventually fell to Radahn's two gigantic swords. A death counter on Cenat's stream updated to 992.

He slapped his knee in anger. "I got greedy," he said, raising his head and roaring the same words.

"You might need to pull away and give yourself a good five minutes of just resetting and putting your energy only on seeing that good run. Only a continuous good run," Williams told him later.

The streamer eventually appeared to get insecure. "92 hours and 992 deaths. Am I a bad player?" he asked Williams.

"I would probably have way worse. So no, you're actually a phenomenal player," Williams replied, encouraging Cenat to avoid "negative self-thoughts."

Her advice appeared to take root when Cenat's character died again. "It's OK," he said. "And that's fine. That was just fine."

After a few breathing exercises — and a brief segment where Cenat seemed to get suspicious that his therapist was laughing at his gaming performance — Williams wished Cenat luck and exited his stream.

Williams, who has 72,500 followers on Instagram, said on social media that she had opted not to run a full clinical session with Cenat when he was "trying to reach his goal" on a livestream.

"Did this young man need some mental health support during a tough time while he's legit LIVE STREAMING? Yes," wrote Williams, who said she has a Master's Degree in Marriage, Couples, and Family Counselling from Stetson University.

Cenat would defeat Radahn about six hours and 40 deaths later, or 67 hours after his first encounter with the video game boss.

It was the end of an ordeal for the streamer, who collapsed on the floor in ecstasy. He'd also broken down days earlier in front of his fans because he kept losing.

Williams and representatives for Cenat did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent by Business Insider outside regular business hours.

Cenat, with 11.7 million followers on Twitch, is one of the biggest creators on the streaming platform, just behind the likes of Tyler "Ninja" Blevins, who holds the top spot with 19.1 million followers.

The game that frustrated him, Bandai Namco's "Elden Ring," is notorious among avid gamers for its almost torturous difficulty but has sold over 25 million copies since its release.

Though its main title was launched in February 2022, Cenat was playing a recently released expansion, "Shadow of the Erdtree," when Williams appeared on his stream.

• Space barons Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have long had competing ambitions to take over the skies.
• Bezos' Blue Origin recently proposed a cap on SpaceX's launches due to environmental concerns.
• Musk slammed the move and gave the company a new moniker: "Sue Origin."

Jeff Bezos' rocket company, Blue Origin, thinks the FAA should cap SpaceX's launches — and Elon Musk isn't too pleased about it.

Blue Origin recently expressed concerns over the environmental impacts of SpaceX's rocket launches on nearby facilities in a filing to the FAA, which the agency published on Friday.

The company also recommended imposing a cap on the Starship-Super Heavy mega-rocket's "launch, landing, and other operations" so that it would have a "minimal impact on the local environment, locally operating personnel, and the local community."

"An obviously disingenuous response," Musk said on X on Tuesday. "Not cool of them to try (for the third time) to impede SpaceX's progress by lawfare."

"Sue Origin," Musk said in a subsequent post, taking a jab at the company's name.

This isn't the first time the two space barons have feuded.

In fact, Musk himself mentioned two other disputes that SpaceX had with Blue Origin in the past in an earlier post he made on Tuesday.

In 2013, Blue Origin filed a complaint with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) after NASA chose to lease one of its launchpads at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to SpaceX. The GAO rejected their complaint.

Then, in 2014, Blue Origin was granted a patent for a reusable rocket concept that involved landing the rocket on a boat. The US Patent and Trademark Office canceled the patent a year later after SpaceX protested that the technology being patented "was, at best, 'old hat' by 2009."

To be sure, Blue Origin isn't the only party that has flagged the environmental concerns posed by SpaceX's rocket launches.

In 2021, residents of Brownsville, Texas, told BI that rocket explosions at a nearby SpaceX launchpad were a source of environmental pollution.

"SpaceX explosions are littering our ecosystems, home to the endangered ocelot, aplomado falcon, and numerous migratory birds," Brownsville resident Bekah Hinojosa told BI's Kate Duffy.

SpaceX and Blue Origin did not immediately respond to requests for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.

• Greece implements a six-day workweek for select industries starting Monday.
• Workers will receive 40% more pay for extra hours and 115% more for holiday work.
• This contrasts global trends toward shorter workweeks, sparking backlash and protests.

As countries and companies worldwide trial a shorter workweek, one economy is moving to a six-day workweek.

Starting Monday, some workers in Greece could have 48-hour workweek. The change aims to tackle labor productivity issues stemming from unemployment and shrinking populations, which have left many employees to work beyond their hours without extra compensation.

The reform, which was passed in September, applies to workers in selected private industries, including retail, agriculture, and some service sectors. It also applies to businesses that provide round-the-clock services.

Workers will be paid 40% more for the extra hours worked.

Employees can be asked to split their work in various ways: working two additional hours a day or working a maximum of eight hours on a sixth day of the week. They will also be allowed to voluntarily have a second job with another employer of five hours a day, alongside their full–time job of eight hours.

Employers who follow the new structure are required to inform their workers of additional hours at least 24 hours before.

Change could 'kill' the traditional workweek

The new rules were met with backlash from trade unions and opposition groups.

One day before the bill was passed in the fall, thousands of public-sector workers, including teachers, doctors and transportation staff, marched to protest the reform.

While adopting the change is voluntary, opponents say the new bill will make six-day workweeks the norm because Greece has a poor history of conducting labor inspections.

The new law "will kill off the five-day work week for good," Aris Kazakos, a labor law professor at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, told German media outlet DW last week. The employer has the authority to require staff to work a sixth day in the week and staff cannot refuse to work, he said.

Kazakos also said he worried about the bill increasing safety risks for staff in industrial sectors. In 2023, 179 workers were killed in accidents at work in Greece, up from 104 the year before, DW reported.

Greeks work more than any of their European counterparts, even before the new bill. Per the OECD, they work an average of 36 hours a week, while workers in France, Netherlands, and Germany work less than 30 hours. US employees work about 35 hours a week on average.

Greece's reform is a stark contrast to initiatives other countries are taking to reduce the number of working days.

In April, Singapore announced that employees in the country will soon be able to request shorter workweeks and flexible hours. Iceland, Ireland, UK, and Spain have all experimented with four-day workweeks. Out of 61 UK companies that took part in the six-month trial in 2022, 54 have continued with the shortened week, with 31 of them saying they would do so permanently.

• Ford has issued a recall notice for over 550,000 of its 2014 model F-150 pickup trucks in the US.
• The recall came after users complained that the trucks would suddenly drop to first gear.
• At least two injuries were reported as a result of the transmission issue.

Ford has issued a recall for half a million of its F-150 pickup trucks after receiving hundreds of complaints that they suddenly downshifted to first gear.

The auto manufacturer will call back 552,188 units of its 2014 model truck in the US, according to documents by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) filed on June 14.

The total number of recalls worldwide is 668,000 units, per Reuters.

Ford said that it received 300 warranty reports, 96 field reports, and 124 customer complaints concerning some 482 vehicles, per Reuters. And vehicle users said they faced problems with their truck's transmission shifting unexpectedly to first gear, Reuters reported.

"A downshift to first gear without warning could result in a loss of vehicle control, increasing the risk of a crash," per the NHTSA document.

At least two injuries have been reported from the issue, per Reuters.

Ford said in the NHTSA document that owners would be notified by mail by July 1 and "instructed to take their vehicle to a Ford or Lincoln dealer to have the PCM calibration updated."

PCM refers to the Powertrain Control Module, which manages the functions of the car's engine and transmission.

The company said in the document that it would foot the cost of the repairs.

This week's recall is not the first time the company has had to bring in its pickup trucks because of this issue.

In 2019, it recalled 107,000 units of its 2013 F-150 model because it did not have the updates necessary to prevent a potential unintended downshift into first gear.

Last July, the company took back 870,000 trucks of its 2021 to 2023 models after receiving complaints that their parking brakes activated randomly while driving.

Despite the problems, Ford's F-series trucks have been one of the top-selling vehicles in the US for decades.

Other automobile companies have also had a bad week. On Tuesday, Tesla recalled 11,688 units of Cybertrucks after issues were detected with the vehicles' single giant windscreen wiper.

Released in November, the Cybertrucks have had a shaky rollout. Also, on Tuesday, 11,383 units were called back to address a separate issue with a trim in the trunk bed that could have been improperly attached.

And in April, nearly 4,000 units were recalled over a fault that could cause the vehicles' accelerators to jam.

Ford didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular working hours.