Assorted Links Saturday

4 bed, 3 bath, no garage door: The unlikely woes holding up home building.

The next affordable city is already too expensive: In Spokane, Washington, home prices jumped 60 percent in the past two years. The increase is fueled by buyers fleeing the boom in cities like Austin. Who will have to flee next?

Is there a way out of America’s impossible housing mess? The first step, according to economist Jenny Schuetz, is recognizing there is more than one housing crisis.

The Great Resignation is also the Great Retirement of the baby boomers. That’s a problem.

Inside the obscure corner of Wall Street that is making billions trading inflation: Small teams have been making the most of global price shocks with trades.

Existing home inventories are remarkably low:

Investors bought a lot of houses last year:

This chart shows existing home sales by region:

New privately-owned housing units authorized but not started, monthly

Russia-Ukraine tension is driving up gas prices:

$450 million in port grants: The U.S. Maritime Administration announced on Wednesday nearly $450 million in FY22 competitive grant funding for projects to help ports speed cargo flows and ultimately lower costs for consumers. This is nearly double the amount released in FY21.