🏠 America's Biggest Cities Have 5.5 Million Empty Homes

🏠 Cities Grapple with Housing Woes as Millions of Homes Sit Vacant

Despite the tight housing market, major US cities have a significant number of vacant homes.

A study from LendingTree found an average vacancy rate of 7.22% across 50 metros, that’s 5.475 million homes gathering dust!

New Orleans, Miami, and Tampa are leading the pack with the highest vacancy rates. But these homes aren’t going to ease the housing market pressure. Most are either waiting to be rented out or are vacation homes.

High vacancy rates could mean an area is a hot vacation spot or investor magnet. But pair high vacancy with low home prices, and you might be looking at socioeconomic issues.

Affordability is a big challenge for many Americans. High mortgage rates are keeping potential buyers and sellers on the sidelines, creating a lock-in effect.

Borrowing costs have hit a two-decade high of 7.53%, causing mortgage applications to plunge to their lowest level since 1996.

🎧 Spotify Premium Adds Free Access to Audiobooks in Australia and the UK

Spotify is offering 15 hours of free audiobook access monthly to its premium users in the UK and Australia, with plans to expand to the US.

This move is part of Spotify’s strategy to diversify its revenue streams and compete with Amazon’s Audible.

Spotify aims to reach one billion users and $100 billion in annual revenue by 2030, banking on high returns from its expansion into podcasts and audiobooks.

The company, which raised its premium plan prices last year, is now sweetening the deal by offering over 150,000 audiobooks to subscribers, with options for additional purchases.

💼 The Job Listing App Where You Can Slide into a Recruiter’s DMs

Boss Zhipin, China’s largest online recruitment platform, uses AI to match job seekers’ qualifications with job listings. And it lets you talk to recruiters directly, with no middlemen involved.

Users create a profile and receive a personalized feed of jobs. The platform’s design aligns with China’s workplace culture, emphasizing directness and pragmatism.

Users can initiate calls, exchange WeChat contacts, send resumes, or express disinterest directly in the chat.

Amid China’s youth unemployment crisis, Boss Zhipin has become a vital resource, reaching 43 million monthly active users by the end of Q2 2023.

⚡ 3 Cool Tools

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