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For three years, rising mortgage rates and elevated home prices locked millions of would-be buyers out of the market. Monthly payments climbed, budgets shrank, and starter homes slipped out of reach.Now, a shift is underway, the numbers behind it are bigger than most people realize. A new analysis from Zillow finds that a buyer’s purchasing power has jumped by more than $30,000 compared to a year ago. The calculation is based on real changes in mortgage rates and household incomes. The question is whether that extra room in your budget opens real doors. Here’s what you need to know before the spring homebuying season kicks into gear.Zillow reports a $30,302 jump in what buyers can affordA median-income U.S. household can now comfortably afford a $331,483 home with a 20% down payment, according to Zillow’s February 2026 analysis. That’s $30,302 more than a year ago and the highest level of purchasing power since March 2022. Three forces are driving the shift. Mortgage rates dropped from an average of 6.96% in January 2025 to 6.1% by January 2026, based on Zillow’s data. Household incomes edged higher. Home-price growth flattened.Together, those factors cut the typical monthly principal-and-interest payment by 8.4% year over year. The recent low point for affordability was October 2023, when rates hit 7.62%, and a median household could only afford a $272,224 home.How lower rates created room in your monthly budgetThe rate environment has moved meaningfully over the past year. On February 26 2026, Freddie Mac reported the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.98% and that was the first time in three and a half years it dropped below 6%.As of March 12, the 30-year rate averaged 6.11%, per Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey. A year ago, the same rate sat at 6.65%. That half-point difference matters.What rate relief looks like in dollarsOn a $330,000 home with 20% down, moving from 6.65% to 6.11% saves you roughly $100 per month in principal and interest. Over a 30-year loan, that adds up to more than $36,000.Freddie Mac chief economist Sam Khater noted the market is responding. “Existing-home sales increased 1.7% in February,” Khater said. “Purchase applications also increased this week, a welcome sign as buyers enter the spring homebuying season.”The cities where buyers gained the most groundThe biggest dollar gains showed up in the most expensive housing markets. Even small rate drops translate into large budget differences in high-cost metros.Top metro areas by year-over-year purchasing power gain:San Jose, California: nearly $74,000San Francisco: $56,115Washington, D.C.: $48,881San Diego: $46,506Boston: $46,390Median household incomes in San Jose and San Francisco exceed $140,000, far above the national figure. The percentage gain in your budget matters more than the raw dollar amount when comparing markets.82,300 more homes now fit within your price rangePurchasing power is only useful if there are homes available to buy. Zillow found that roughly 82,300 additional homes have come within budget for median-income households compared to a year ago.More Real Estate:Why selling a home to your child for a dollar can backfireCommercial Real Estate Outlook 2026: Analysts See Signs of RecoveryRedfin says mortgage rates, profits are hitting real estate nowAbout 447,000 affordable listings were on the market in January 2026. That represents 40.3% of total listings, up from 34.8% a year earlier. Total housing inventory reached 1.1 million homes, a 6% annual increase.Markets with the biggest jump in affordable inventory:Houston: nearly 4,000 more homes within reach for median earnersPhoenix: more than 3,400 additional affordable homesDallas, Miami, and Atlanta also added thousands of qualifying properties.Markets where home values declined over the past year delivered a double benefit. You get both cheaper financing and lower prices in those areas, stacking the affordability gains.First-time buyers still face steep barriers despite the gainsThe affordability improvement is real but it hasn’t leveled the playing field for everyone. The National Association of Realtors’ 2025 report found that first-time buyers made up just 21% of all purchases. That’s the lowest share since tracking began in 1981.The typical first-time buyer is now 40 years old, another record high. Before the Great Recession, first-timers consistently represented about 40% of the market.Why the entry barrier remains high:All-cash purchases hit a record 26% of sales, favoring equity-rich repeat buyers over first-timers who need financing.A median-income household still devotes 32.3% of income to a typical mortgage payment, per Zillow.Zillow’s $331,483 figure assumes a 20% down payment, but the median first-time buyer only puts down 10%, according to NAR.NAR deputy chief economist Jessica Lautz put it clearly: the low first-time buyer share reflects a market starved for affordable inventory. A $30,000 gain in purchasing power helps. It does not solve the structural shortage.Zillow expects rates to keep falling through 2026Zillow forecasts that mortgage rates will continue drifting lower through 2026. The company projects existing-home sales rising 4% this year compared to 2025. Further rate declines would unlock additional purchasing power for home shoppers.But rates are not guaranteed to fall in a straight line. Geopolitical tensions, including the ongoing conflict in Iran, have pushed 10-year Treasury yields higher in recent weeks. That directly affects mortgage pricing. The 30-year rate ticked up from 6.00% on March 5 to 6.11% on March 12, per Freddie Mac.Related: Zillow predicts mortgage rate, housing market changeJ.P. Morgan’s 2026 housing outlook projects rates staying above 6% even with potential Fed cuts. The direction is favorable, but a fast return to the sub-5% environment of 2021 is not on the table.How to use this window before competition heats upImproved purchasing power creates opportunity. But only if you move strategically. Here’s how to position yourself heading into spring 2026.Steps to take now:Get preapproved, not just prequalified: Preapproval verifies your financials and shows sellers you’re serious. It also locks your rate for a set window.Use Zillow’s BuyAbility tool or a similar calculator: Plug in your actual income, credit profile, and current rates. Generic estimates often overstate what you can handle.Compare at least three lenders: Freddie Mac data shows that getting one extra quote saves an average of $600 over the life of the loan. Three quotes can save $1,200.Watch your debt-to-income ratio: Lenders typically cap this at 43%. Even if you qualify, stretching beyond 35% of gross income on housing leaves little room for emergencies.Don’t wait for a “perfect” rate. If you can afford the payment today, you can refinance later when rates drop further. But you can’t recover time spent sitting on the sidelines while prices and competition increase.The fine print behind the $30,000 headlineZillow’s headline number is powerful. But a few assumptions shape the math. You should understand them before making any decision.Key caveats:The analysis assumes a 20% down payment. Most first-time buyers don’t have that. With 10% down, your payment is higher, and you’ll owe private mortgage insurance.The calculation excludes property taxes and homeowners’ insurance. Both have risen sharply in many states. In some markets, insurance alone jumped 20–40% since 2022.A 32.3% income-to-mortgage ratio falls within lender limits. But financial planners generally recommend keeping total housing costs below 28% of gross income.Rates can reverse quickly. Inflation surprises, geopolitical escalation, or a hawkish Fed could push rates back above 6.5%.The $30,000 gain is real. Just make sure you’re calculating your personal budget before making a move. Your numbers may look different from the national median.Related: Iran war causes mortgage rate surge​

The furniture retail sector has suffered from economic distress in the last year with major home furnishing companies closing stores and filing for bankruptcy protection.Companies that have filed for bankruptcy include AFC Acquisition Corp., owner of Albuquerque-based furniture chain American Home Furniture & Mattress, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to reorganize its business, close certain stores, and continue operating on March 4.American Signature Inc., which operated Value City and American Signature Furniture chains, filed for bankruptcy in November 2025 and began liquidating its 89 stores in January 2026.The furniture industry has cited declining sales, as a result of a multi-year housing slump, and rising product and labor costs driven by inflation and higher tariffs, for a reduction in furniture company sales and profits.Financial distress has led another major chain to file for bankruptcy and liquidate its stores.

38-year-old American Mattress will liquidate its stores in Chapter 7 bankruptcy.Shutterstock

American Mattress liquidates in Chapter 7Iconic, family-owned mattress retail chain American Mattress has lost its battle to remain in business, as its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case has been converted to Chapter 7 liquidation.A going-out-of-business-liquidation sale had not been announced, and the company had not announced the number of employees affected by the store closings, at last check.Judge Mary F. Walrath of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware signed an order on March 16 converting the American Mattress Chapter 11 to Chapter 7 liquidation after approving motions from the U.S. Trustee and the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the case at a March 13 hearing, according to Furniture Today.The Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors alleged in a Jan. 28 conversion motion that the debtor had not made meaningful progress toward reorganization, had not filed a reorganization plan, and had operated without credible financial projections, a business plan, or independent financial oversight.The U.S. Trustee also filed a motion on Jan. 30 to either convert the bankruptcy case to Chapter 7 or dismiss the case, since the debtor had not paid rent for leased stores, had not paid professional fees, and had recorded $1.26 million in operating losses since November.The Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based furniture chain, which operates 45 locations in four states, including Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Florida, however, confronted the Chapter 7 conversion filings with an objection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on March 3, 2026, claiming that a buyer has offered to purchase its assets and pay all cure costs, Furniture Today reported.American Mattress said in its objection that if its case were converted or dismissed, only the secured lender would be paid proceeds from the liquidation, while unsecured creditors would receive nothing.In its objection, American Mattress said it had cashflow problems since it filed for bankruptcy, which it said it was addressing, and it was developing an exit strategy from bankruptcy. It also planned to file an asset sale motion, the report said.The debtor’s parent, AFM Mattress Company LLC, filed its Chapter 11 petition on July 6, 2025, listing $1 million to $10 million in assets and liabilities and seeking to reorganize its business and restructure debt.AFM Mattress Company did not file a restructuring plan or name a new funding source at the time. The debtor has approximately 100-199 creditors, and the petition indicated that funds will be available for distribution to unsecured creditors.The debtor had reportedly been closing locations with notices posted on front doors stating, “Store Temporarily Closed.” The notices provide a phone number to call for questions and to inquire about orders.American Mattress, which was established in 1988, features top mattress brands, including Serta, Beautyrest, Sealy, Tempur-Pedic, Purple, and Stearns & Foster.The mattress retailer’s financial distress matches distress in the furniture business nationwide, as sales declined 0.82% for 2025, compared to 2024 unadjusted, according to the CNBC/National Retail Federation Retail Monitor.For January 2026, furniture and home furnishings sales declined 0.31% month over month seasonally, the report said. February results have not been released yet.“Furniture, of course, is many times a discretionary and deferrable expense, so weakness in the overall economy or declines in consumer confidence, like we’ve seen the last few months, can impact consumers’ willingness to spend,” Mark Laferriere, an assurance partner at Smith Leonard, told Homes.com in November 2025.“Furniture purchases are also tied to the overall housing market, which has been sluggish, but could be primed for a resurgence with higher inventory and the ongoing reductions in interest rates,” Laferriere added, as TheStreet’s Daniel Kline reported.Related: Major pizza chain’s franchisee files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Eli Lilly has spent the last decade transforming from a reliable but unremarkable dividend payer into one of the most talked-about stocks on Wall Street.Its obesity and diabetes franchise, built around tirzepatide, the active ingredient in both Zepbound and Mounjaro, has sent the dividend stock soaring and reshaped how investors think about the pharmaceutical sector. Valued at a market cap of $883 billion, Eli Lilly (LLY) stock has returned more than 1,500% in the past decade, after adjusting for dividend reinvestments. Despite these outsized gains, it is down 13% from all-time highs. Lilly brought in $65.2 billion in revenue last year, a jaw-dropping 45% growth rate for a company that’s been around since 1876.But HSBC just dropped a blunt verdict on the stock, and it’s one that income investors should take seriously.HSBC turns bearish on Eli Lilly stockHSBC downgraded LLY stock to “reduce” from “hold” and cut its price target to $850 from $1,070. With the stock currently trading near $989, that target implies meaningful downside from today’s level.The firm’s concern isn’t that Lilly is a bad company. It’s that expectations have run too hot.Related: Eli Lilly’s pill solves the biggest problem with weight lossWall Street broadly assumes the obesity drug market will eventually surpass $150 billion. HSBC’s own estimate puts the total addressable market somewhere between $80 billion and $120 billion by 2032, a wide gap that could leave investors disappointed.The bank also pointed to pricing pressure as a serious issue. Price cuts in 2026 represent a clear headwind for Lilly, and HSBC suggested that much of the recent sales momentum is being driven more by pricing dynamics than true product differentiation.LLY stock dividend snapshotEli Lilly has paid a dividend for almost 30 years and has raised the payout for 12 consecutive years, according to Fiscal.ai data. Since 2014, Eli Lilly has increased its dividend at an annual rate of 11%. Analysts forecast the health care heavyweight to increase free cash flow from $9 billion in 2025 to over $47 billion in 2030. More Dividend Stocks:Dividend-paying restaurant stock stumbles as gas prices surgeMegacap dividend stock may make sweeping layoffs to offset AI costs156-year-old energy giant to pay $17 billion in dividends as oil spikes to $110Given an annual dividend expense of $6.2 billion, Eli Lilly has enough room to raise dividends at an accelerated pace. Wall Street estimates the dividend payout to almost double through 2030. But its yield is modest given how much the stock has appreciated. Here’s what investors should know.Annual dividend: Approximately $6.92 per shareDividend yield: Roughly 0.70% (based on a share price of about $989)12-year dividend growth rate: Approximately 11% annuallyConsecutive years of dividend payout: 29 yearsEx-dividend frequency: QuarterlyThe low yield won’t attract income-focused investors looking for immediate cash flow. But the low payout ratio and double-digit dividend growth rate signal that Lilly has the capacity to keep raising its dividend well into the future, even as it continues to invest aggressively in its pipeline.Orforglipron launch may disappoint One of the biggest wild cards heading into the second half of 2026 is the launch of orforglipron: Lilly’s oral obesity pill, awaiting Food and Drug Administration approval, expected as early as April.HSBC flagged that compliance and persistence rates for oral drugs may underperform expectations, and that discontinuation rates seen in clinical trials suggest the market is getting ahead of reality.

Eli Lilly has a widening product portfolio.Porrini/Shutterstock

Eli Lilly CFO Lucas Montarce pushed back on that skepticism during the Cowen conference, saying Lilly feels “really good” about the product profile and highlighted a key convenience advantage.Unlike Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy pill, which requires patients to take it with limited water and wait 30 minutes before eating, orforglipron has no such food or water restrictions.Montarce also noted the drug is a daily treatment where ease of use will matter over time.Still, Novo Nordisk’s oral Wegovy reached 50,000 weekly prescriptions in under three weeks, CNBC reported. Lilly will be entering a market where the competition already has a head start and brand recognition working in its favor.What LLY stock investors should watchHSBC’s downgrade isn’t a death sentence for LLY. Wall Street price targets for the stock range from $850 to $2,000, which tells you just how wide the disagreement is right now.The near-term story hinges on orforglipron’s approval and early launch performance. If the pill gains traction with patients who’ve been waiting for a convenient oral option, the bears could look foolish quickly. If compliance rates disappoint or pricing pressure bites harder than expected, HSBC’s $850 target starts to look a lot more reasonable.For long-term dividend investors, the bigger picture is this: Lilly has nearly quadrupled in size over the last decade. Its pipeline extends well beyond obesity into cardiovascular disease, oncology, Alzheimer’s disease, and immunology. And with Medicare coverage for anti-obesity medications set to begin no later than July 1, volume could expand in ways that help offset the pricing headwinds.HSBC may be right that the stock is priced for perfection. But the company itself is far from a broken story.Related: Barclays names 2 drug stocks investors should own in 2026

War headlines have a way of making every portfolio feel fragile.For three straight weeks, the Iran conflict did exactly that. It sent oil prices soaring roughly 40% since the first U.S.-Israeli strikes on February 28, rattled shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz, and shaved 3.6% off the S&P 500 in the process, according to CNBC. If you opened your brokerage account during those weeks, the numbers looked like a slow bleed with no bottom in sight.Then Monday happened.The S&P 500 climbed 1% on March 16 to close at 6,699.38, its strongest session in five weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 388 points, or 0.8%, to close near 46,946, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.2%, according to the Associated Press. Artificial intelligence and semiconductor stocks drove the Nasdaq’s outperformance, with Nvidia leading the charge ahead of its GTC 2026 developer conference, according to The Independent.It was the kind of relief rally that reminds you how quickly the market can shift once the fear begins to price itself out.

Market deliver surprising rebound from Iran conflict chaos.Shutterstock

What actually drove stocks higherThe Iran conflict did not end. Oil did not collapse. The Federal Reserve did not cut rates.What changed on Monday was more subtle, and frankly more important for long-term investors to understand.Crude oil prices, which had briefly surged past $100 per barrel last week for the first time in four years, showed early signs of stabilizing. White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told Reuters that tankers were already “starting to dribble through” the Strait of Hormuz, and expressed confidence the conflict would resolve “in the near term, rather than months.””Already, we are witnessing tankers beginning to trickle through the straits, which I believe indicates how limited Iran’s resources are,” Hassett said.That was enough for markets to breathe again.Goldman Sachs added fuel to the fire with a research note arguing that “the supply shock today appears narrowly concentrated in the energy sector,” a key distinction from the 2021-2022 inflation surge that rattled the entire global economy, according to the Wall Street Journal. The note landed just 48 hours before the Fed’s March 18 rate decision, and markets priced in a 99% probability that the central bank would hold rates steady between 3.5% and 3.75%, according to CBS News.More Wall StreetBillionaire Dalio sends 2-words on Fed pick WarshTop analyst bets these stocks will boost your portfolio in 2026Bank of America sends quiet warning to stock market investorsThat combination, tankers moving, Goldman offering calm, and the Fed expected to do nothing dramatic, gave investors enough cover to buy.The Iran conflict rewrite of the safe-haven playbookHere is the part that surprised even veteran market watchers.In a normal geopolitical crisis, investors sell stocks and buy government bonds. Demand drives bond prices up, yields down. That is how it has worked for decades.This time, it did not work that way.U.S. Treasury yields climbed instead of falling as the conflict escalated. The bond market’s traditional safe-haven status was tested as investors worried more about inflation from disrupted oil supplies than about immediate economic collapse, according to a CNBC report on the bond market’s unusual behavior.Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon described this dynamic bluntly at the Australian Financial Review Business Summit on March 3.”I think the market reaction has been more benign, given the magnitude of this, than you might think,” Solomon told the audience.But he was not dismissing the risk. Solomon specifically questioned whether the conflict would filter through to global energy supply chains in a lasting way.”Does this become a more prolonged thing? Does it start to filter through to energy supply chains? Does it have other impacts that affect consumer sentiments and consumer behaviors in different parts of the world?” Solomon said. “Those are the things that I think you have to watch, and you don’t have enough information or data at this point to be clear.”The Hormuz chokepoint, and why it matters to your energy billThe numbers behind the Strait of Hormuz disruption are genuinely staggering.In 2025, approximately 13 million barrels of oil transited the strait daily, accounting for nearly 31% of all maritime crude shipments, according to energy consultancy Kpler data cited by CNBC. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards commander declared the strait closed on March 2, warning that any ship attempting to pass would be set on fire, according to Times of Israel.Brent crude closed above $100 a barrel on March 12 for the first time since August 2022, surging 9.2% in a single session as tanker attacks broadened across the Arabian Gulf, according to Bloomberg. On Monday, March 15, Brent briefly spiked to around $106 a barrel following fresh U.S. strikes on Kharg Island, according to Trading Economics.Here is what that translated to at the pump.Gasoline prices nationally hit a national average of $3.79 per gallon as of March 17, the highest since October 2023, according to CNNU.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 3.7% to trade around $97 a barrel on Tuesday, while Brent remained above $100Since the conflict began Feb. 28, Brent has surged more than 38% and WTI has climbed roughly 40%, according to ReutersShipping activity through the Strait has been largely suspended, with tankers stranded and fears of attack keeping vessels out, according to the New York TimesThe LNG disruption hit Qatar hard, which routes nearly all of its supply through the Strait, according to TheStreetThe Stimson Center noted that a serious Hormuz disruption could remove 8 million to 10 million barrels per day from world supply, a scale large enough to overwhelm any available spare capacity elsewhere.Morgan Stanley’s warning the rally may not stick yetNot everyone is ready to call the all-clear.Morgan Stanley’s chief U.S. equity strategist Mike Wilson told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday that the S&P 500 could still dip to around 6,300 by early April, roughly 5% below where the index closed the prior Friday, before any more durable recovery takes hold.[4]”There’s risk around, still around oil. There’s Fed uncertainty… so that could weigh on some of the lower parts of the market in the short term,” Wilson said.His concern is not that the bull market is over. Wilson believes the current decline is “mature in time and price,” pointing out that half of the Russell 3000 constituents are already down at least 20% from their peaks. That is a correction working through the system, not a collapse.On the other side of the ledger, Wilson’s own Morgan Stanley outlook page acknowledged that a sharp and persistent rise in oil prices poses the most direct risk to the duration of the business cycle, and that stocks could struggle into April as a result.The stocks Wilson’s team still likes during this stretch include Walmart, Delta Air Lines, and Northrop Grumman, which has surged more than 8% in 2026 as demand for defense contractors has climbed alongside the war.What this means for your portfolio right nowHere is the practical reality.The S&P 500 entered 2026 near 6,857, and as of March 12 it was trading around 6,684, down about 2.5% year to date but up approximately 19% year over year, according to Capital.com’s S&P 500 outlook. Monday’s rally helped, but the index remains below all its short-term moving averages.The Federal Reserve’s meeting on March 17 and 18 will be the next major catalyst. Markets currently price nearly zero chance of a rate cut at this meeting, with the CME FedWatch tool showing roughly 4.7% odds of a cut as of mid-March. The base case for the first cut has now shifted to September 2026.Goldman Sachs projected the S&P 500 would deliver a 12% total return in 2026 as of January, driven by 12% earnings-per-share growth, according to Goldman Sachs Research. That projection was made before the Iran war added an oil wildcard to the equation.The harder question is not what Wall Street thinks. It is what you do with that volatility when it lands in your account.Historical data shows the S&P 500 has, on average, been higher one, three, six, and twelve months after comparable geopolitical shocks, according to Capital.com’s analysis. That pattern may not repeat perfectly with today’s elevated valuations and oil price pressures, but it suggests that panic selling during the worst of the Iran headlines would have cost you Monday’s recovery.If you own a diversified portfolio and did nothing during the last three weeks of volatility, you are approximately back to where you were before the war premium hit hardest.That is not a glamorous outcome. But it is exactly what patient investing is supposed to look like.Related: Veteran analyst sends blunt message on Nvidia stock after GTC