Monday 11.27.23

East Tennessee Market Stats

As of the last 72 hours, the East Tennessee MLS has experienced the following changes in the real estate market:

105 new listings | 12 Coming Soon | 27 closed transactions | 112 pending

As of October 23, 2023, there are 4289 listings, which is a decrease from 4389 compared to the same time last year. Despite the decrease, the market continues to show moderate activity with a current average of 33 days compared to 31 days same time last year.

Another Mortgage Rate Drop

By Diana Olick CNBC - Mortgage demand is finally crawling out of the basement as interest rates continue to move lower. Total application volume increased 3% last week from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($726,200 or less) decreased to 7.41% from 7.61% and points decreased to 0.62 from 0.67 (including the origination fee) for loans with a 20% down payment.

“U.S. bond yields continued to move lower as incoming data signaled a softer economy and more signs of cooling inflation. Most mortgage rates in our survey decreased, with the 30-year fixed mortgage rate decreasing to the lowest rate in two months,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s deputy chief economist. “Mortgage applications increased to their highest level in six weeks, but remain at very low levels.”

Israel’s Insidious Narrative About Palestinian Prisoners

More than two-thirds of the Palestinians proposed for release by Israel under the truce have not been convicted of any crimes. Most were arrested as children.

By Jeremy Scahill

The Israeli government's narrative surrounding the Palestinian prisoners being released during this temporary ceasefire is both insidious and dishonest. Interior Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has banned Palestinians from celebrating their release. “My instructions are clear: there are to be no expressions of joy,” he said. “Expressions of joy are equivalent to backing terrorism, victory celebrations give backing to those human scum, for those Nazis.” He told Israeli police to deploy an “iron fist” to enforce his edict.

The Netanyahu government and its supporters have promoted a narrative that these prisoners are all hardened terrorists who committed violent crimes. This assertion relies on a farcical “Alice in Wonderland”-inspired logic of convicting them by fiat in public before any trial, even the sham trials to which Palestinians are routinely subjected. Israel released a list of the names with alleged crimes they committed. And who is making these allegations? A military that acts as a brutal occupation force against Palestinians in the West Bank.

The vast majority of the 300 Palestinian prisoners proposed for release by Israel are teenage boys. According to the list, 124 of the prisoners are under the age of 18, including a 15-year-old girl, and many of the 146 who are 18 years old turned so in Israeli prisons. According to the definitions laid out in the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, these Palestinians were children when they were arrested by Israel.

₄

Israel’s Long Reign of Violence

A look back at the wars on Palestine, from 1948 to today.

The civilian death toll wrought by Israel’s siege of Gaza is staggering. More than 14,000 Palestinians have been killed, nearly half of them children. More than 1.7 million Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced from their homes. President Joe Biden has presided over an open spigot of U.S. weapons and support for the war of annihilation being waged by the far-right government of Benjamin Netanyahu.

This week on Intercepted, the esteemed historian Rashid Khalidi joins Jeremy Scahill and Murtaza Hussain for a wide-ranging conversation about the long arc of the history of Israel’s political, economic, and military campaigns against the Palestinian people. Khalidi, a professor at Columbia University, is the author of several books, including “The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine.” Khalidi also discusses how the war on Gaza will impact Biden’s legacy and the role of the United States in facilitating the current war and those of the past 75 years. “Biden has done permanent harm to the standing of the United States in the world, in the Muslim world, and in the Arab world. Permanent harm,” says Khalidi. “He has alienated young generations that will think of the United States in terms of Gaza for a very long time.”

Historian Rashid Khalidi on Israel’s Long Reign of Violence

'Dead' Versus 'Killed': A Closer Look at the Media Bias in Reporting Israel-Palestine Conflict

Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza after an airstrike by the IDF that killed 500 Palestinians.

During war and conflict – when disinformation is pumped the most – the public needs to be informed in the most accurate way possible to avoid hate speech and warmongering.

The most essential type of journalism in this process is peace journalism. Peace journalism refers to a journalistic practice that is based on facts, which seeks creative solutions for peace and pays attention to the use of language. What is needed is a language of peace, rather than reducing war to sports news where opposing sides are described as ‘winners’ and ‘losers’.

It is necessary to avoid reporting and viewing a conflict merely from the point of view of immediate trigger(s), but it would be useful to look at the underlying issues, such as not only the visible aspects but also the invisible causes that do not meet our eyes. It serves the journalistic cause to come out with possible consequences of a conflict and the connected issues. It is also important to report on the possibilities of the parties to come to a common ground, instead of focusing on their differences. We did not see examples of such journalism either in the international or in the Turkish press.

early morning brew

NC provides WH Christmas tree for the 15th time

This year marks the 15th time a tree from the Tar Heel State was chosen as the official Christmas tree for the White House, more than any other state in the nation. The last time was in 2021, when a Fraser fir tree was donated from Peak Farms, owned by Rusty and Beau Estes, from Jefferson in Ashe County.

“Ruby,” a 78-foot tall red spruce from North Carolina’s Pisgah National Forest, was chosen as the 2022 US Capitol Christmas Tree.

14 million people under winter weather alerts

Much of the nation was in the midst of colder-than-normal temperatures as a winter storm moved from the Texas Panhandle and Plains states to the Great Lakes and the East Coast.

A Plains-to-Great Lakes storm is putting 14 million people under winter weather alerts while contributing to a sensation neglected amid reports of alarming climate change: cold.

Below-normal temperatures were expected from New Mexico to Kansas and from Oklahoma to the Upper Midwest, as the seasonal west-to-east upper-level low-pressure system brings rain and, in some places, half a foot of snow, federal forecasters said.

Shoppers break one-day holiday sales record

By Eva Rothenberg, CNN - Whether they jostled through brick-and-mortar stores or toggled between tabs and virtual carts, holiday shoppers were eager to participate in Black Friday this year.

Both in-store and online retail sales increased year-over-year unadjusted for inflation, according to Mastercard’s SpendingPulse insights, which noted that apparel, jewelry, and restaurant categories saw considerable spikes. In-store sales jumped a little more than 1%, while e-commerce led the charge with an increase of 8.5%.

However, Sensormatic Solutions, which tracks shopper traffic at brick-and-mortar stores, found that visits on Black Friday were up 4.6% from 2022. This is a turnaround for retailers, the company said, as foot traffic has been down an average of 2.4% this year.

The 398 best Cyber Monday 2023 deals

quote of the week

“The Israeli concept that security is its exclusive right somehow generates the U.S.-enforced notion that the Palestinians are obligated to deliver security to the Israelis while Israel delivers death and destruction with impunity to the Palestinians.”

― Hanan Ashrawi

Mark Moussa

Mark Moussa is a real estate expert, investor & and coach who lives in Knoxville, Tennessee. He is a graduate of the University Of Tennessee Knoxville with a degree in Journalism and Political Science. He is recognized as an expert and thought leader in the real estate industry. Email Mark