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Tag: Inventory

  • LI housing market remains chilled with sales and inventory down | Long Island Business News

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    The Blueprint:
    • Long Island had 4,305 homes listed for sale in January 2026, 16.4% fewer than January 2025.
    • There were 1,394 closed on Long Island in January 2026, down 6.7% from January 2025.
    • Median home prices in rose 3% to $835,000 compared to January 2025.
    • Median home prices in increased 4.5% to $700,000 compared to January 2025.

    The Long Island housing market has started 2026 as cold as the weather, with sales and down and home prices up. 

    While 2025 ended with a record low number of Long Island homes listed for sale, January didn’t see much improvement. There were 4,305 Long Island homes, including single-family, condos and co-ops, listed for sale with OneKey MLS at the end of last month, just 18 more than the record low of 4,287 the previous month and 16.4 percent fewer than the 5,146 homes listed for sale at the end of Jan. 2025. 

    The historically low inventory of homes for sale has been stifling sales and pushing prices higher. There were just 1,394 closed homes sales on Long Island last month—616 in Nassau County and 775 in Suffolk County, according to OneKey MLS data. That’s more than 17 percent fewer than the 1,685 closed home sales from the previous month and 6.7 percent less than the 1,494 closed sales from Jan. 2025. 

    Sales have also been impacted by high home prices, limiting the pool of prospective buyers. The of closed single-family home sales in Nassau in January was $835,000, same as it was the previous month and about 3 percent higher than the $810,000 median price recorded in Jan. 2025, according to OneKey MLS. 

    In Suffolk, the median price of closed single-family home sales last month was $700,000, same as it was the previous month, but 4.5 percent higher than the $670,000 median price of Jan. 2025. The Suffolk numbers don’t reflect all sales on the East End. 

    Molly Deegan

    So far, the lowest  in three years have not led to an increase in listings or sales. The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is 6 percent as of Thursday, lower than any point in 2025 and the lowest since Sept. 2022, according to Bankrate.com. By comparison, rates averaged 6.9 percent towards the end of Jan. 2025. 

    While home sales were also down nationally, the Northeast region saw the biggest decline last month, down 8.3 percent year-over-year, according to the National Association of Realtors. 

    “January felt noticeably slower on the ground, and that experience closely mirrors what the OneKey MLS data is showing,” Molly Deegan, broker-owner of Sea Cliff-based Branch Real Estate Group, told LIBN. “Sales were down, inventory remained tight, and pricing held firm—continuing a pattern we’ve seen for the better part of the last two years.” 

    Deegan said that there is also a strong seasonal and psychological element at play in the current market, with buyers and sellers waiting for clearer signals around rates, the economy, and the broader political landscape. 

    “Housing is deeply influenced by policy, from interest-rate decisions and inflation management to tax considerations, she said. “Uncertainty can be enough to keep people on the sidelines.” 

    As to what it will take to turn the real estate ship around, Deegan said a more predictable rate environment, even if rates remain higher than they were pre-2022, would go a long way toward restoring confidence.  

    “Increased inventory will follow as homeowners accept that ultra-low rates are unlikely to return, and life circumstances take precedence,” she said. “The good news is that the fundamentals of the Long Island market remain very strong. A diverse employment base, resilient small businesses, and deep ties to healthcare, education, and professional services continue to provide a stabilizing force and support housing demand.”


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    David Winzelberg

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  • Amazon CEO warns prices have gone up from tariffs

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    Some of the things people buy the most are at their most expensive point of the year as the calendar changes over to 2026. Our get the facts data team dug into what actually caused the prices of some items to go up or go down. Let’s start with beef. Right now, the average price for ground beef is 823 per pound and 967 for steaks, the highest prices for both all year. Several factors like President Trump’s tariffs. Cattle inventories and an aging farming population contributed to the increase, but so did something called the New World screwworm, *** parasitic fly that produced *** deadly disease in some places like Mexico. Another grocery staple that is more expensive now, coffee. Our get the Facts data team found the price rose each month throughout the year, maxing out at 926 cents *** pound. Two of the world’s biggest coffee producers, Brazil and Vietnam, Were impacted by drought and excessive rains earlier this year, which reduced coffee production, and Brazil saw an additional 40% tariff over the summer as well. One of the biggest talking points, especially from President Trump about the state of the economy was egg prices. They are one of the few items tracked that actually are cheapest now. Egg prices saw their biggest price hike in nearly 10 years in January, then rose to an all-time high of 623. Per dozen in March. This was in large part to ongoing bird flu outbreaks. Egg prices would start falling in the summer and are now 286 *** dozen. Some other groceries that saw increases this year, cookies, potato chips, bacon, cheddar cheese, and orange juice. But it wasn’t all increases at the supermarket. Some items are cheaper now compared to January, like pasta, white bread, tomatoes, and strawberries. In Washington, I’m Amy Lou.

    If your next Amazon order seems more expensive, President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs may be partially to blame, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said Tuesday.Like many retailers, Amazon and its vast network of third-party sellers loaded up on inventory ahead of Trump’s tariff rollout last spring. But that supply ran out by the fall, Jassy said in a CNBC interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.“So you start to see some of the tariffs creep into some of the prices, some of the items,” he said. “Some sellers are deciding that they’re passing on those higher costs to consumers in the form of higher prices, some are deciding that they’ll absorb it to drive demand and some are doing something in between.”The comments are a stark shift from last June, when Jassy said in a CNBC interview that the company had not seen “prices appreciably go up.” That was after Amazon drew the direct ire of Trump and members of his administration following reports that the e-commerce giant planned to display how tariffs were impacting prices.After Trump spoke with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos at the time, a company spokesperson told CNN the move “was never a consideration for the main Amazon.” It was only being considered for certain products on its spinoff site, Haul, which sells items below $30, the company said.On Tuesday, though, Jassy said: “We’re going to do everything we can to work with our selling partners to make prices as low as possible for consumers, but you don’t have endless options.”In a statement, though, the company told CNN that overall price levels have not changed more than expected. “While we are seeing prices for some sellers and some brands go up, overall the prices of products on Amazon have not changed outside of normal fluctuations,“ an Amazon spokesperson said.And the White House said it maintains that foreign exports are footing that tariff bill.“The average tariff imposed by America has increased by almost tenfold under President Trump, and inflation has continued to cool from Biden-era highs,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement.“The Administration has consistently maintained that foreign exporters who depend on access to the American economy, the world’s biggest and best consumer market, will ultimately pay the cost of tariffs, and that’s what’s playing out,” he added.Amazon isn’t the only retailer warning of higher prices because of tariffs. Walmart, Target and Home Depot and many other companies have publicly said tariffs are making products more expensive. And while overall consumer inflation was modest last year, many businesses surveyed by the Federal Reserve in its latest Beige Book, a collection of anecdotes, warned they’re planning bigger price hikes this year.

    If your next Amazon order seems more expensive, President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs may be partially to blame, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said Tuesday.

    Like many retailers, Amazon and its vast network of third-party sellers loaded up on inventory ahead of Trump’s tariff rollout last spring. But that supply ran out by the fall, Jassy said in a CNBC interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

    “So you start to see some of the tariffs creep into some of the prices, some of the items,” he said. “Some sellers are deciding that they’re passing on those higher costs to consumers in the form of higher prices, some are deciding that they’ll absorb it to drive demand and some are doing something in between.”

    The comments are a stark shift from last June, when Jassy said in a CNBC interview that the company had not seen “prices appreciably go up.” That was after Amazon drew the direct ire of Trump and members of his administration following reports that the e-commerce giant planned to display how tariffs were impacting prices.

    After Trump spoke with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos at the time, a company spokesperson told CNN the move “was never a consideration for the main Amazon.” It was only being considered for certain products on its spinoff site, Haul, which sells items below $30, the company said.

    On Tuesday, though, Jassy said: “We’re going to do everything we can to work with our selling partners to make prices as low as possible for consumers, but you don’t have endless options.”

    In a statement, though, the company told CNN that overall price levels have not changed more than expected. “While we are seeing prices for some sellers and some brands go up, overall the prices of products on Amazon have not changed outside of normal fluctuations,“ an Amazon spokesperson said.

    And the White House said it maintains that foreign exports are footing that tariff bill.

    “The average tariff imposed by America has increased by almost tenfold under President Trump, and inflation has continued to cool from Biden-era highs,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement.

    “The Administration has consistently maintained that foreign exporters who depend on access to the American economy, the world’s biggest and best consumer market, will ultimately pay the cost of tariffs, and that’s what’s playing out,” he added.

    Amazon isn’t the only retailer warning of higher prices because of tariffs. Walmart, Target and Home Depot and many other companies have publicly said tariffs are making products more expensive. And while overall consumer inflation was modest last year, many businesses surveyed by the Federal Reserve in its latest Beige Book, a collection of anecdotes, warned they’re planning bigger price hikes this year.

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  • Existing-home sales end 2025 at highest pace in almost 3 years  – Houston Agent Magazine

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    Existing-home sales in the U.S. jumped 5.1% month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.35 million in December, surpassing the consensus expectation of 4.23 million and representing the highest rate in almost three years, the National Association of REALTORS® said. Year over year, sales rose 1.4%. 

    “2025 was another tough year for homebuyers, marked by record-high home prices and historically low home sales,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “However, in the fourth quarter, conditions began improving, with lower mortgage rates and slower home price growth. December home sales, after adjusting for seasonal factors, were the strongest in nearly three years. The gains were broad-based, with all four major regions improving from the prior month.” 

    Housing inventory fell 18.1% from November to 1.18 million units, which represents a 3.5% gain from December 2025. Given the rate of sales, the nation had a 3.3-month supply of unsold homes, down from 4.2 months in November but up from 2.2 months a year earlier. 

    “Inventory levels remain tight,” Yun added. “With fewer sellers feeling eager to move, homeowners are taking their time deciding when to list or delist their homes. Similar to past years, more inventory is expected to come to market beginning in February.” 

    The median existing-home price rose 0.4% year over year to $405,400, marking the 30th straight month of annual increases. Meanwhile, the average mortgage rate was 6.19% in December, down from 6.24% the previous month and 6.72% a year ago. 

    Regionally, sales were up month-over-month across the board. Year-over-year, sales rose in the South, were flat in the Midwest and West, and declined in the Northeast. 

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    John Yellig

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  • Housing Tracker: Southern California home values rise slightly in October

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    Southern California home prices rose in October, stopping a five-month skid that saw the average home value fall more than $14,000 since April.

    In October, the average home price across the six-county region climbed to $860,773 — a 0.01% increase compared to September. However, prices were still down 1.4% compared to October 2024.

    Economists and real estate agents say a variety of factors have slowed the market, including high mortgage rates, rising inventory and economic uncertainty stemming from tariffs. The same factors continued in October, but the uptick reflects a slight dip in inventory as more sellers choose to hang on to their homes.

    Listings in L.A. County fell 2% month-over-month, and the share of homes with price cuts dropped slightly as well. But there’s still inventory aplenty compared to 2024. In October, there were 19% more homes for sale than there were last year.

    Back then, rising mortgage rates were knocking many buyers out of the market. Values started increasing again when the number of homes for sale plunged as sellers backed away, unwilling to give up mortgages they took out earlier in the pandemic with rates of 3% and lower.

    Real estate agents say homeowners increasingly want to take the next step in their lives and are deciding to move rather than hold on to their ultra-low mortgage rates. But many first-time buyers, without access to equity, remain locked out.

    Add on the economic uncertainty and you get a market that’s noticeably downshifted.

    If the Trump administration’s policies end up pushing the economy into a recession, some economists say home prices could drop much further.

    For now, Zillow is forecasting that the economy will avoid a recession and home prices will increase over the next year. The real estate firm expects that one year from now, home prices in the Los Angeles-Orange County metro region will be 1.4% higher than they are now, though that number is lower than the estimated national increase of 1.9%.

    Note to readers

    Welcome to the Los Angeles Times’ Real Estate Tracker. Every month we will publish a report with data on housing prices, mortgage rates and rental prices. Our reporters will explain what the new data mean for Los Angeles and surrounding areas and help you understand what you can expect to pay for an apartment or house. You can read last month’s real estate breakdown here.

    Explore home prices and rents for September

    Use the tables below to search for home sale prices and apartment rental prices by city, neighborhood and county.

    Rental prices in Southern California

    The median rent across Los Angeles ticked down for the second consecutive month, dipping to $2,206 in October. The downward trend has continued in most markets across Southern California, but the January fires could be upending the downward trend in some locations.

    Housing analysts have said that rising vacancy levels since 2022 had forced landlords to accept less in rent. But the fires destroyed thousands of homes, suddenly thrusting many people into the rental market.

    Most homes destroyed were single-family houses, and some housing and disaster-recovery experts say they expect the largest rent increases to be in larger units adjacent to burn areas in Pacific Palisades and Altadena, with upward pressure on rents diminishing for units that are smaller and farther away from the disaster zones.

    A recent L.A. Times analysis of Zillow data found that in ZIP Codes closest to the fires, rents rose more than in the rest of the county from December to April.

    Other data sources show similar trends.

    In Santa Monica, which borders the hard-hit Palisades neighborhood, the median rent rose 2% in October from a year earlier, according to data from Apartment List.

    Apartment List does not have data for Altadena, but it does for the adjacent city of Pasadena. Rents there rose 1.2% in October from a year earlier.

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    Jack Flemming, Hailey Wang

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  • New home inventory is at its highest level since just before the housing market collapse that led to the Great Recession, but that doesn’t mean it’s the same market

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    The U.S. housing market’s inventory is growing, putting pressure on prices and slowing new construction, according to fresh research from the Bank of America Institute. As of June, existing-home supply reached 4.7 months, the highest level since July 2016. New-home supply surged even further to 9.8 months—its highest point since 2022—highlighting how quickly inventory is building across the housing market.

    The influx of available homes reflects sluggish demand, with builders citing weak buyer urgency, affordability challenges, and lingering job instability. The Institute noted new-home inventory is now at its highest level since 2007, the year before the housing market collapse that led to the Great Financial Crisis.

    ResiClub co-founder Lance Lambert told Fortune that the rising inventory tells us that “homebuyers are gaining leverage” as slack in the housing market is increasing. “The Pandemic Housing Boom saw too much housing demand all at once, home prices overheated too fast in many markets, and underlying fundamentals got too stretched.”

    Lambert characterized the last few years as a “recalibration period” where the housing market is smoothing out that excess. Mounting inventory sucks out appreciation in more markets—and even causes outright corrections in some markets’ home prices. He said he expects the underlying fundamentals to slowly improve as that happens and incomes keep rising. “It takes time.” This period is different from 2007, he said, because that window saw a far greater weakening of the housing market and upswing in resale inventory, along with unsold, completed newbuild homes.

    BofA Research

    One striking shift: The median price of a new home has actually fallen below that of an existing home—a reversal of the usual market dynamic. BofA said this pricing inversion underscores how builders are being forced to discount amid rising supply and softer demand. “Builders are starting to pull back on new home starts in many markets,” Bank of America wrote. While the slowdown is broad-based, conditions vary regionally, with some areas such as the Midwest proving more resilient than others.

    “Since the Pandemic Housing Boom fizzled out in 2022, and the affordability squeeze was fully felt,” Lambert told Fortune, “the national power dynamic has slowly been shifting from sellers to buyers as homes have a harder time selling and active inventory for sale builds.”

    Still, Lambert noted the inventory picture varies significantly across the country. For instance, it remains most limited across notable sections of the Midwest and the Northeast, although still growing, he said. On the other hand, active inventory has neared or surpassed pre-pandemic 2019 levels in many parts of the Sun Belt and Mountain West, and he said that is where homebuyers have gained the most leverage.

    The trend comes as the Federal Reserve has begun trimming interest rates in an effort to support both broader economic growth and housing affordability. Whether those cuts will be enough to reignite demand remains an open question.

    For now, the data signals a market in transition: high inventory, moderating prices, and builders caught between a cautious consumer and the need to manage supply.

    For this story, Fortune used generative AI to help with an initial draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing. 

    Introducing the 2025 Fortune Global 500, the definitive ranking of the biggest companies in the world. Explore this year’s list.

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    Nick Lichtenberg

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  • When Is the Right Time to Think About Your Holiday Inventory? | Entrepreneur

    When Is the Right Time to Think About Your Holiday Inventory? | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    It’s currently summer, so most people are thinking about attending barbecues and buying fireworks — not planning their holiday shopping season. However, if you run a brick-and-mortar store or ecommerce business, this is the best time to begin thinking about the holiday inventory.

    Successful planning in June and July will set you up for profitability in November, December and January. Here are six ways you can successfully plan for increased inventory demand during the holiday season.

    Related: July Is Just Early Enough to Start Planning for Holiday Selling

    1. Come up with a timeline

    The holiday season is the most profitable sales period for most retailers. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), holiday sales exceeded $964 billion in 2023, a 3.8% increase from the previous year.

    So start by coming up with a timeline of key dates when you can anticipate increased sales and demand. These dates most likely include:

    Think about the shipping cut-off dates for each of these holidays, and add them to your calendar. That way, you can let customers know the last days to receive standard and expedited shipping on their orders.

    2. Determine what you’ll need

    Next, you’ll forecast the types and amount of inventory you’ll need for the holiday season. Having enough inventory on hand to meet customer demand will ensure you don’t lose out on business to competitors. It will also help you avoid overstocking items you don’t need.

    The best way to estimate holiday demand is by looking at previous sales data and taking note of customers’ shopping patterns. Of course, shopping habits can change slightly from year to year, so you also want to look at industry trends. For example, you can see what your competitors are doing and how they’re preparing for the holidays. And if you have an NRF membership, you’ll receive insights into consumer and retail trends.

    Once you’ve done adequate research, you can begin planning your holiday inventory. You can also start to think about when you should begin marketing and how much staff you’ll need to have on hand to manage the increased demand.

    3. Do an inventory audit

    An inventory audit involves regularly reviewing your inventory for accuracy. During an inventory audit, you’ll verify that your physical inventory matches what you’ve recorded in your financial records. An inventory audit can also help you spot inefficiencies in your supply chain.

    To perform an inventory audit, you’ll start by organizing your inventory to reduce the odds of miscounting items. From there, you’ll begin physically counting and recording each item into your inventory management software.

    Once the audit is complete, you’ll reconcile the count with your inventory records. If there are any discrepancies, you can investigate where they came from. You can also begin developing a plan to reduce discrepancies in the future.

    Related: You Should Be Planning Now for Holiday Sales — Here’s How

    4. Check in with your suppliers

    Once you know how much inventory you’ll need to meet the holiday demand, you should begin reaching out to your suppliers. Checking in early with your suppliers will ensure you’re on the same page and you’re not caught off-guard by changes to their order times or pricing.

    It’s also a good idea to ask if any of your suppliers offer pre-sale discounts or promotional pricing. It never hurts to ask, and some may be willing to give you a discount for large orders.

    5. Think about financing

    As you begin planning for your holiday inventory, one of the biggest issues is how you’re going to pay for everything. Many small businesses don’t have the cash flow to pay for a large inventory order, shipping supplies and the unexpected costs that come along with it.

    If you find yourself in this place, financing may be a good solution. Inventory financing is a one-time loan or ongoing line of credit you can use to purchase inventory for your business. The inventory purchased is used as collateral for the loan.

    Financing can help you maintain consistent cash flow during seasonal fluctuations in your business. It will also give you the flexibility to respond to increased customer demand. If you’re interested in exploring your financing options, you should begin looking into this now so you’ll be well prepared come fall.

    6. Place your orders early

    Many customers begin their holiday shopping in September and October out of concern over product shortages and slow shipping times. So you want to place your inventory orders as soon as possible so you can capture those early shoppers.

    However, it’s impossible to forecast exactly how much inventory you’ll need, and you’re bound to run out of items. So you also want to have a plan for how you can quickly replenish out-of-stock items. For example, a good inventory management system will alert you when you’re running low on certain items and need to re-order.

    Related: Keep Calm and Holiday On: How to Plan for the Holidays Year-Round

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    Joseph Camberato

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  • Southern California prices are at a record. Could relief be on the way?

    Southern California prices are at a record. Could relief be on the way?

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    Southern California home prices hit a record for the third-straight month in May, but there could be some help on the horizon.

    Although home prices increased, more listings are finally coming onto the market, giving cash-strapped home buyers more options.

    What is happening?

    In May, average home prices across the six-county region rose nearly 1% from April to $875,409, according to data from Zillow. It was the third consecutive month that prices hit a record and values are now 9% above May 2023 levels.

    Why are home prices rising?

    Simply put, there are too few homes for sale in Southern California for all the people who want to buy here.

    Economists and real estate agents say the long-running problem was made worse after mortgage rates surged in 2022.

    At first, home prices fell as buyers pulled away and the inventory swelled. But prices started rising again last year as homeowners increasingly chose not to sell, unwilling to give up rock-bottom mortgage rates on loans taken out before and during the pandemic.

    The pullback among sellers became so prevalent that it even got its own name: the seller strike.

    What is happening with inventory?

    Things are improving. As interest rates stay higher for longer, more homeowners are deciding to get on with their lives and list their home for sale, deciding additional space, a new job or other factors are more important than keeping a 3% mortgage.

    In April, most Southern California counties saw the total number of homes for sale increase for the first time since the first half of 2023.

    Last month, inventory jumped again. In Los Angeles County, total listings were 13% higher in May compared with a year earlier; Orange County rose by 6%; in Riverside County, 14%; San Bernardino County, 15%; Ventura County, 18%; and San Diego County, 30%.

    “That’s a very positive development,” said Stuart Gabriel, director of the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate. “We have just been incredibly short on supply.”

    If I a want to buy a home, what does the inventory increase mean for me?

    Well, at the most basic level, there will be more options from which to choose.

    Inventory is still very low historically so don’t expect your home search to be a breeze, but it could mean fewer bidding wars and an easier time getting into a house.

    Gabriel said the inventory increase probably isn’t enough to send home prices down, but, if the trend holds, home prices should rise less than they are today.

    Mike Simonsen, founder of real estate data firm Altos Research, said sellers are already more likely to trim their list prices than last year.

    He doubts that overall values will turn negative this year and, like Gabriel, expects only slowing appreciation in the L.A. area. But that could change in 2025.

    “If rates are still in the 7s, prices flat or down is a real scenario,” Simonsen said.

    On the other hand if rates noticeably drop, Simonsen said, demand is likely to pick up more than inventory, setting the stage for home prices to rise even faster than they are now.

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    Andrew Khouri

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  • In a first, most California houses sell for over $900,000

    In a first, most California houses sell for over $900,000

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    Want a house in California? It’ll likely cost you over $900,000.

    The statewide median sales price for a previously owned single-family house surpassed $900,000 for the first time in April, a shocking figure that underscores just how unaffordable housing has become across the Golden State.

    The April median of $904,210 is up 11.4% from the same month a year earlier, according to data from the California Assn. of Realtors. The median — the point where half the homes sold for more and half for less — has now climbed more than $100,000 in just over two years.

    That rise in home prices comes despite the fact mortgage rates are sky-high relative to recent memory. Last week, the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage was 7.02%, more than double the 3% and below rates seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Freddie Mac.

    High prices and high rates have created the most unaffordable housing market in a generation, but economists say prices keep rising because many homeowners refuse to sell and give up their sub 3% rates, creating an extreme shortage of inventory.

    Wealthy Californians also have hordes of excess cash they can plow into down payments that help offset high borrowing costs.

    If prices keep rising at 11% a year, the California median house price would climb above $1 million in 2025.

    That may not happen, however.

    In recent weeks, more homes have started to come onto the market as some owners start to decide a new home is more important than a low rate.

    Inventory is still extremely tight and economists don’t expect the floodgates to open. But in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties, total listings in April climbed above year-ago levels for the first time since the first half of 2023, with each county recording an increase of at least 5%.

    Orange County was the only county to see a decline, while in San Diego County, inventory has risen for two consecutive months and is 18% above what it was a year ago.

    Some experts say the supply increase likely isn’t enough to send home prices down, but it should make values climb at a slower pace.

    That might mean a $1-million median is a bit further off, but not by much.

    “If we don’t hit it in 2025, we will probably hit it in 2026 — minus a big downturn in the economy,” said Jordan Levine, chief economist with the California Assn. of Realtors.

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    Andrew Khouri

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  • Buying a home in Southern California? There are now more options

    Buying a home in Southern California? There are now more options

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    For much of the past year, the Southern California housing market has been defined by an extreme shortage of homes for sale.

    The abnormal scarcity — compounded by the region’s long-running underproduction of housing — emerged when homeowners chose not to sell and give up pandemic-era mortgage rates. The so-called seller strike helped pushed home values to new records, despite rising borrowing costs.

    Now the inventory picture might be changing.

    “It’s getting a little bit better,” said Eneida Contreras, a Compass real estate agent who specializes in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys.

    In April, the number of homes listed for sale in most Southern California counties rose from the same month a year earlier, according to data from Zillow.

    Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties turned positive for the first time since the first half of 2023, each recording an increase of at least 5%.

    Orange was the only county to see a decline, while in San Diego, inventory has risen for two consecutive months and is 18% above what it was a year ago.

    To be sure, the availability of homes remains at historically low levels. But as it rises, it opens the possibility that prospective buyers will have an easier time making the largest purchase of their lives.

    Jordan Levine, chief economist with the California Assn. of Realtors, said more homes are coming onto the market because owners are increasingly accepting that the new normal is interest rates in the 6%-7% range.

    As people get married, divorced and have children, the “benefit of the low rate starts to be outweighed by having a house that doesn’t work,” Levine said. “Ultimately, these are people’s homes, too, and they are not just straight-up investments.”

    Levine said he expects inventory levels to increase and home prices to be lower than they would have been if inventory continued to shrink. However, he and other experts said home prices are unlikely to decline. That’s because though more owners are coming to terms with high rates, many will likely choose to keep their sub-4% mortgages — a phenomenon known as the lock-in effect.

    Other factors are at play. The economy is growing, and while most Southern California households can’t afford to buy, there’s a sizable population of techies, Hollywood types and other white-collar workers who can funnel excess cash into large down payments that offset high mortgage rates.

    “The current level of inventory rise — which is a little bit, but not a lot — is likely to slow price appreciation but not turn it negative,” said Mike Simonsen, founder of Altos Research, a real estate data firm.

    The rise in inventory is providing opportunities for buyers with means, but the market is still tough.

    Interest rates are above 7%, and even if home prices rise at a slower pace, they will set records.

    In Los Angeles County, the average home price in April was $890,516, an increase of 1.4% from March and surpassing the previous record, set in June 2022.

    The six-county Southern California region climbed above its 2022 average home price record in March. It set another all-time high last month, reaching $875,388.

    If mortgage rates noticeably decline, the lock-in effect could lessen and bring more homes onto the market. Falling mortgage rates would also immediately make housing more affordable.

    Whether falling rates provide much relief is another question. Lower borrowing costs may bring a flood of additional buyers who quickly gobble up new listings and supercharge price growth.

    “Building more housing is really what is going to break that cycle,” said Nicole Bachaud, a senior economist with Zillow.

    According to the latest forecast from the Mortgage Bankers Assn., rates will remain high but will drop to 6.4% by the end of 2024.

    Carol Otero of Rodeo Realty is among the Los Angeles agents seeing an increase in inventory. She estimated that the number of homes for sale in some San Fernando Valley neighborhoods has at least doubled in the past few weeks.

    Buyers are eager.

    Last Friday, Otero listed a four-bedroom home in Northridge. She said she has received six offers, all above the $869,000 asking price.

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    Andrew Khouri

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  • Tax implications of cannabis rescheduling – Cannabis Business Executive – Cannabis and Marijuana industry news

    Tax implications of cannabis rescheduling – Cannabis Business Executive – Cannabis and Marijuana industry news

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    Tax implications of cannabis rescheduling – Cannabis Business Executive – Cannabis and Marijuana industry news





























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    Michael Harlow

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  • Opinion: California’s greenhouse gas emissions are rising — and we’re not even counting them all

    Opinion: California’s greenhouse gas emissions are rising — and we’re not even counting them all

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    California has committed to substantially reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, aiming for carbon neutrality by 2045. The pledge is key to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s claims of climate leadership, which featured prominently in his recent visits to China and the United Nations.

    But the California Air Resources Board recently released a preliminary greenhouse gas inventory suggesting the state’s emissions increased slightly last year compared with the previous year. This is of course bad news, since addressing climate change requires deep and swift emissions reductions.

    What I’m even more concerned about, however, is that the state’s greenhouse gas inventory undercounts emissions in the first place. Although the issue seldom gets attention, California’s inventory excludes emissions from a variety of sources, including wildfires and industrial sectors such as shipping, aviation and biofuels.

    Imagine a smoker who promises to quit but continues to make broad exceptions for smoking at work and social events. Regardless of what the smoker tells the doctor, their lungs will reflect the truth.

    California’s greenhouse gas inventory is likewise not just going in the wrong direction but also ignoring a lot of harmful sources of emissions. Indeed, the state even measures and lists some of these emissions in its reports. But they’re not counted toward its overall greenhouse gas footprint, which it uses to attest to its efforts to combat climate change.

    These omitted emissions have serious consequences: Relying on CARB’s estimates alone, the state’s reported greenhouse gas footprint would be about 20% greater if it included its omitted emissions. And that doesn’t include the emissions the agency doesn’t even list in its inventory, such as those from wildfires, which are largely human-caused, measurable and manageable.

    The omissions also have repercussions for California communities. Many of the industries whose greenhouse gas emissions are excluded from the official inventory — including shipping, aviation, refineries and biofuels — produce additional pollutants that affect nearby communities. People living near these facilities are harmed by that pollution regardless of whether officials choose to count those facilities’ emissions. Particularly in communities with historical and continuing environmental injustices, these omissions compound the problem.

    The city of Stockton, for example, agreed to produce a greenhouse gas inventory as part of a settlement of a lawsuit alleging that its general plan did not adequately consider environmental impacts. Yet its greenhouse gas inventory excludes emissions from the very industries that contribute to local air pollution and environmental injustices. In fact, the emissions excluded by the city are four times greater than those it reported.

    These emissions omissions are not unique to California. Indeed, national governments exclude international shipping and aviation emissions from reports to the United Nations required by the Paris agreement, relying partly on outdated and politicized methodologies.

    While the Paris agreement allows for such omissions, it doesn’t prevent countries from improving their accounting methods. What’s more, subnational governments such as California’s are not parties to the agreement and therefore not bound to its methodologies. In fact, unlike its national counterparts, California once counted transportation emissions from biofuels such as ethanol but reclassified them in 2016.

    Nor is this issue confined to governments: Corporate emitters are also part of the problem. One study found that technology companies’ greenhouse gas declarations undercounted their emissions, sometimes by orders of magnitude. And corporate “net zero” pledges often arbitrarily count emissions in ways that don’t amount to actual reductions.

    What’s the solution? Only a full account of greenhouse gas emissions can allow us to appropriately attribute responsibility to each emitter and determine its progress in reducing its contributions to climate change. We need greenhouse gas accounting systems that are rigorous, complete and interoperable.

    This is a daunting task but not a hopeless one. Senate Bill 253, which Newsom recently signed into law, requires large corporations operating in California to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and include emissions throughout their supply chains. That’s critical: Disclosing emissions across supply chains will help hold emitters responsible for their complete greenhouse gas footprints.

    While SB 253 is a very good first step, the Air Resources Board should apply the same standard to the state’s greenhouse gas inventory. Measuring California’s complete footprint requires including upstream and downstream refinery emissions as well as those from aviation, shipping, biofuels and wildfires.

    Getting greenhouse gas accounting right is ultimately crucial to dealing with climate change. Until governments and corporations completely and accurately account for their contributions to the problem, their promised solutions will fall short.

    Leehi Yona is a JD-PhD candidate and Knight-Hennessy Scholar at Stanford University whose research has focused on greenhouse gas emissions accounting.

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    Leehi Yona

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  • How AI Can Revolutionize Our Broken Supply Chain | Entrepreneur

    How AI Can Revolutionize Our Broken Supply Chain | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    The Covid-19 pandemic sent shockwaves through the global supply chain, exposing vulnerabilities and inefficiencies that were previously hidden. From inventory mismanagement to port backlogs, the pandemic magnified a myriad of issues that challenged even the most robust supply chains. As businesses search for innovative solutions to address these problems, Artificial Intelligence (AI) stands out as a powerful ally. We explore how AI-driven predictive analytics can support and enhance experienced human decision-making in the face of evolving global supply chain dynamics.

    The power of AI in tackling supply chain challenges

    The pandemic brought to light several key challenges that businesses must address to ensure smooth operations in their supply chains. By leveraging AI, organizations can gain insights into crucial aspects such as inventory management, container allocation, demand fluctuations, freight pricing and port operations. Let’s examine how AI can help tackle some of these challenges.

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    John Monarch

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  • Diablo 4’s Inventory Situation Is Pretty Crummy

    Diablo 4’s Inventory Situation Is Pretty Crummy

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    It’s been two months since Diablo IV came out and players are airing their frustrations with the game, particularly now that season one is underway. One of the most contentious aspects of the loot-hunting action-RPG right now is inventory management, which has become a hot topic in the community.

    Diablo IV – Bear Bender Build

    Read More: Here’s The Big Overhaul Diablo IV’s Getting After That Hated Patch

    Diablo IV, like previous entries in Blizzard’s storied franchise, features a massive amount of loot; expect a constant deluge of gear drops from bosses and chests and dungeons as you travel the world of Sanctuary. With a total of 110 inventory slots, your bag will inevitably run out of space. And that’s fine, until you need to make room for that awesome armor or weapon you just snatched. There are some options for clearing your inventory, but the process is so cumbersome and tedious that players are feeling burnt out from over-micromanaging their wares, a feeling I’ve experienced during my own playtime.

    The problem with managing Diablo IV gear

    The Diablo IV subreddit is inundated with folks decrying inventory management. With post titles like “Comparing items and clearing inventory is overwhelming” and “Inventory management is burning me out from this game,” it’s clear folks have grown weary of frequently rummaging through the in-game bag. Part of the problem is you can’t dismantle or salvage items anywhere in the world. Maybe it’s to make the game feel more lifelike, but to break gear down into other resources, you must travel to a blacksmith at any of Sanctuary’s many towns. This not only interrupts the loot-kill-loot loop by forcing you back to a borough to tend to equipment, it also wastes time as you head back to a town by either backtracking on foot/horseback or sitting through a long loading screen when teleporting. Either way, with a full inventory, looting becomes impossible until you clear more space in your inventory.

    Diablo IV’s Strongholds Are A Great Way To Level Up This Season

    Diablo IV’s Strongholds Are A Great Way To Level Up This Season

    Aside from salvaging, you could drop useless things to make space for better loot. However, while doing so is easy with a few button presses, it’s ultimately a self-defeating endeavor as every piece of gear can be sold or broken down, which is far better for your longer-term bottom line. Maybe you can’t use that level 75 dagger with your Sorcerer, but the iron or cash you can turn it into are necessary and vital for character growth, particularly for upgrading your current equipment. And this process of inspecting every item to determine whether to break it down, drop, or sell has been at the forefront of players’ minds.

    Diablo IV players are tired of rummaging their bags

    In a popular August 8 Reddit post, user FullStackNoCode joked that fiddling with inventory in Diablo IV is “like having to pee every five minutes.” They went on to explain that they’re “tired of running to town” just to manage the bag, saying a solution could be to allow players to sell or scrap items immediately.

    “That’s all just busywork anyway, and highly annoying,” FullStackNoCode wrote. “Then, our bag space could be reserved for things that we want to be looking at/thinking about.”

    Image: Blizzard

    Another popular post from July 21, a day after Diablo IV’s Season of the Malignant started, saw user jlarue2010 say this new content update should be called “season of inventory management.” This is in reference to malignant hearts, season-exclusive items offering statistical buffs for your characters such as strength or defense that also happen to take up inventory space.

    “Seasonal items need seasonal stash tabs IMHO,” Green_Cloud replied.

    Players are also bumping up against the limits of their item stash, a separate area which lets you easily transfer items between your characters. A popular July 26 post from user Protocide559 explained how they won’t start a second character due to their stash already feeling tight just from saving gear for their current Druid. Diablo IV’s seasons require you to start new characters to participate, but because of the limited storage space, Protocide559 said they’re sticking with their pre-Season One Druid and refusing to play multiple characters like they did in previous Diablos.

    “[Blizzard will give you a chance to buy more storage space. Don’t worry,” user vague_diss joked in reply.

    Diablo IV’s inventory will get better, just at a later time

    For its part, Blizzard has addressed some parts of bag management. Gems, items that can be slapped onto gear to provide buffs such as health on kill or additional gold collecting, will take up less inventory space in a future update. The company also said storage upgrades are coming, but again, at a later time. It’s great that inventory management will become less frustrating as time goes on, particularly considering how tedious it was in previous Diablo games. In the first Diablo, for example, your inventory was divided into a grid. A gem would take up one slot while an axe might take up three, thus filling up quicker. The series has moved beyond grid-based inventories, but Diablo IV’s inventory limitations are still finding ways to annoy players and interrupt game flow.

    Read More: Diablo IV Players Are Getting Banned For Transferring Characters Between Realms

    This happens to my partner and I all the time. We’ll grind dungeons for minutes on end, only to stop right in the middle of it to scour our inventories to make space for the new thing that just dropped because we ran out of space. We do this for what feels like every 10 or so minutes as our bags fill up nonstop, repeating the process of inspecting and culling. It becomes draining after a while, especially when Diablo IV can’t stop spilling loot all over the place.

     

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    Levi Winslow

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  • 5 Ways Retailers Can Unload Excess Inventory | Entrepreneur

    5 Ways Retailers Can Unload Excess Inventory | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    The struggle is all too real when it comes to excess inventory in retail. Market volatility and unpredictable events make it difficult for merchants to accurately forecast demand, resulting in excess stock.

    That, coupled with inflation and the fact that consumers are being more mindful of discretionary spending, means retailers today are holding on to more inventory than they’re comfortable with.

    Retail Customer Experience reports that half of U.S. retailers are dealing with excess stock and 27% wrote off surplus inventory as a loss in 2022. And if that weren’t concerning enough, 53% indicated their business will face “dangerous ramifications” if the excess stock remains unsold.

    In light of these challenges, it’s crucial to implement strategies that address excess inventory head-on. That way, you can minimize financial losses, create space for new merchandise and improve overall business performance.

    Let’s look at five ways to do just that.

    1. Be proactive with stock transfers

    If running multiple stores, regularly review stock levels across different locations. Optimize inventory distribution by strategically unloading (i.e., transferring) surplus stock from locations with high inventory counts to those with greater sales potential.

    For instance, if a certain SKU is underperforming in one store, but is doing well in another, consider initiating a stock transfer sooner rather than later. Don’t wait until the end of the season to take action. Pay attention to your daily and weekly sales data, then take preemptive measures accordingly.

    Quick, decisive action is possible if you have a centralized retail inventory management platform for all your locations. By ensuring all your stores are managed from a single system, you gain better visibility into your inventory levels and streamline operations.

    Related: Free Up Your Finances By Avoiding the Pitfalls of Excess Inventory

    2. Leverage your online store and marketplaces

    Expand your reach beyond brick-and-mortar by setting up shop online. This doesn’t just mean selling on your website; in many cases, retailers will benefit from selling on social media and online marketplaces.

    These platforms provide access to a vast online audience actively seeking products, so by listing your excess inventory on these sites, you’ll be able to get more eyeballs on them—and potentially more sales.

    3. Re-merchandise products

    In some cases, it isn’t the product that’s stale; rather, it’s the merchandising strategy behind it.

    Unloading excess stock doesn’t necessarily mean donating products or selling them for a massive discount. If you’re sitting on surplus products, you may be able to sell them faster by changing how they’re displayed.

    Perhaps you can showcase unique ways to use an item. Maybe you can implement a bit of storytelling in your windows or shelves. Think outside the box and get creative with your displays to make surplus products more enticing to customers.

    Related: The Best Way to Move Your Excess Inventory

    4. Implement promotions

    Sales and promos are classic tactics for getting rid of surplus stock, and for good reason: they work. Research from Google reveals 87% of shoppers say that getting a good deal is an important consideration when deciding which retailer to buy from.

    As for which type of offer to implement, consider the following.

    Discounts: Incentivize customers to purchase surplus stock by offering discounts. This can include seasonal sales and clearance events. In some cases, you could instill a sense of urgency by running flash sales or limited-time promotions to encourage customers to take action ASAP.

    Buy One Get One (BOGO): Get rid of surplus stock faster by selling them two (or more) at a time. BOGO promos lend themselves well to categories like apparel and accessories; shoppers appreciate the opportunity to mix and match. BOGO also works well for beauty products, as customers enjoy the chance to stock up on cosmetics and skincare items.

    Gift with purchase: If you’re having difficulties unloading excess inventory, offer them as freebies. This tactic clears out excess stock and can improve basket size and order values, especially when you offer gifts with qualifying purchases.

    5. Negotiate return to vendor agreements

    Consider using return-to-vendor (RTV) agreements to address excess inventory. RTV contracts allow retailers to return unsold merchandise to the original suppliers.

    Depending on your relationship with vendors, it may be feasible to negotiate the ability to return unsold products. Remember that an RTV agreement could mean paying more per unit.

    RTV agreements can also add complexity to your operations, especially if you’re running multiple stores. Coordinating the logistics of packing, shipping and tracking unsold goods can be difficult and lead to operational costs.

    Final words

    Getting rid of excess stock requires a strong inventory management system and a proactive approach to inventory management. You can reduce the negative impact of surplus stock by keeping a close eye on your inventory reports and taking proactive steps to correct course.

    From there, ensure you cover all your sales channels to get merchandise in front of as many shoppers as possible. And if you want to boost conversions, add some promotions to the mix. Finally, consider negotiating RTV agreements with your vendors to minimize the risk of surplus stock.

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    Ana Wight

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  • Free Up Your Finances By Avoiding the Pitfalls of Excess Inventory | Entrepreneur

    Free Up Your Finances By Avoiding the Pitfalls of Excess Inventory | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Most companies have a lot on their plates currently. The rapid shifting of societal and economic elements has brought challenges to getting funds, sustaining cash flow, finding partners and dealing with essentially every other aspect of running a startup.

    Supply chains usually don’t make it into the startup headlines. But in today’s climate, the chaos of global supply and demand means that supply chain management is one of the most crucial skills early-stage teams need to get right.

    Even the largest retail companies — such as Target — have recently gone public about their supply chain issues and the impact of excess inventory. They are announcing drastic strategies of cutting prices and canceling orders to regain their inventory equilibrium and free up warehouse revenue.

    And if giants like Target are having trouble demand forecasting, smaller businesses and startups are in even more precarious situations, often without cash buffers to support wasted materials and orders.

    Related: How Advanced Analytics Can Put an End to the $50 Billion Retail Overstock Problem

    How does excess inventory happen?

    When your inventory strategy hinges on fulfilling demand, rather than considering lead times for replenishment, you end up over-ordering. Bulk buying seems cheaper in the short term and less risky than letting orders go unfulfilled. Still, eventually, you’ll probably end up with a case of musical chairs: You can’t shift inventory quickly enough, it piles up and you need to store or shift it because no room remains for the new product you’re trying to impress the market with.

    This also happens because of a lack of accurate demand forecasting, but forecasting tools only work when they can find patterns. When you have an inventory management solution to make deliveries and consumption more predictable, you can order more frequently in smaller batches. This way, you’ll have less inventory tied up and sitting around, and you’ll have more ability to be nimble — to intervene and course-correct — without saturating your warehouses. The biggest gap in demand forecasting and planning systems is their inability to support real-time intervention.

    Why is excess inventory significantly impacting early-stage companies?

    A stunning number of startups find that the money tied up in excess inventory could equate to a round of funding. That’s funding that could support the startup’s research, survival, growth or next development phase. What might seem like a temporary glitch becomes a significant hindrance to a startup’s long-term success and life expectancy.

    Managing material goods should be vitally important to startup founders; without it, they just won’t be able to stay financially nimble enough to take chances and grow.

    Take Peloton, for example. This VC-backed company found itself with products with huge physical components (bikes and treadmills) that were no longer selling in droves. Peloton faced dire financial consequences because of this wasted inventory and had to take emergency measures, including laying off thousands of employees and canceling plans for a new manufacturing facility.

    Rivian, an electric vehicle manufacturer, is the latest casualty of excess inventory. An inability to sell its physical product meant it had to hike prices before it had even developed enough to sell at scale. The final nail in the coffin? The company made the critical mistake of asking customers who had already ordered the lower-priced vehicle to make up the difference.

    The sad thing is that this could have been a very different story; the company admits that if it hadn’t struggled so much with its supply chain issues, it could have produced two times more units.

    Related: 3 Ways Small Businesses Can Survive the Supply-Chain Crisis

    How should startups deal with the immediate problem of excess inventory?

    Before startup leaders can begin practicing better demand forecasting, they’ll need to deal with the immediate problem of excess inventory and insufficient cash.

    How startups resolve this initial state of affairs will depend on their unique financial situation. If they need the cash to stay alive, faster cash velocity is better than inventory as an asset on their balance sheet. For most inventory-heavy startups, there are more excess and wasteful dollars tied in inventory than the savings they are gaining from laying off employees right now.

    One immediate step that can lighten the load is to cancel all upcoming orders that are in excess of your needs. If you can access real lead time data, you can reroute or cancel inventory. You shouldn’t have to consider laying off employees when there’s excess inventory that could be monetized.

    How do you know when it’s time to make this kind of intervention? You might be seeing changes in demand, abnormally long lead times, changes in on-shelf availability, etc. Keep an eye on the materials passing through (and getting stuck) in your supply chain.

    Related: How Better Inventory Management Can Improve Your Finances

    How can startups use AI to forecast demand?

    Newer retailers and early-stage startups can use AI-powered tools to better plan demand going forward, and it needn’t mean retraining or relearning everything you know about supply chains. Consider these strategies:

    1. Keep an eye on lead time estimates

    Looking ahead at real lead time estimations for your goods can help you plan for potential excess inventory. Understand how often a supplier can deliver. Look at global shipments to determine if you will get your materials on time to either distribute or manufacture. This information can set up more accurate expectations for the rest of production and beyond. It also helps you advise customers ahead of time rather than apologizing after you’ve let them down.

    2. Don’t undersell your clearance inventory

    Price your clearances properly; there is no need to price something 50% off when a 40% discount would result in the same purchase volume. The great thing about awareness of lead times is that you don’t need to go to desperate measures. You can see ahead at the whole picture and put more gradual, smaller measures in place to deal with excess inventory.

    3. Actively manage inventory buffers

    Inventory buffers shouldn’t just stagnate because excess inventory (even in the form of a planned buffer) can oversaturate your supply chain, causing the flow of goods to grind to a halt. If you can actively manage inventory buffers for critical goods, factoring carrier and demand disruption patterns, you can create a healthier flow even when the market environment is in turmoil.

    Excess inventory happens to the best (and biggest) of us. But when you’re an early-stage company fighting to fuel your way ahead with VC funding and struggling to find enough spare cash to make changes, then excess inventory can drag your business down and threaten its future. By focusing on your supply chain and reading lead time estimates to manage the flow of your material goods, you can take back control and free up your finances.

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    Ali Hassan

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  • No Man’s Sky Update Made Player Inventories ‘Unrecognizable’

    No Man’s Sky Update Made Player Inventories ‘Unrecognizable’

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    Spaceships do battle in a procedurally generated universe.

    Image: Hello Games

    Last week’s comprehensive update to No Man’s Sky brought with it a host of changes. Some made the game far more malleable and approachable, while others, like tweaks to inventory mechanics, have been the subject of controversy within the community. Seemingly in response to the backlash, Hello Games appears to be making some adjustments to how the inventory works in the game’s experimental PC build.

    No Man’s Sky’s “Waypoint” update brought with it a sudden change to the game’s inventory system. Naturally, the term “inventorygate” has developed in response. The result has been the usual rush of memes, review bombs, since-locked Reddit threads with gamers arguing over whether the game is “ruined” or not. Those upset over the changes have a point, however: The updated inventory layout limits players to three tech upgrade slots, capping potential power levels below what they were pre-update. However, the game’s October 10 experimental build added additional upgrade slots, suggesting the devs are looking to address the playerbase’s fairly widespread outrage.

    An experimental update, however, might not be enough to quell the frustration many have aired. Steam reviews alone have taken a recent trend toward a “Mixed” status, with many specifically calling out the inventory changes. “The most recent update essentially deleted dozens of hours of grinding,” reads one Steam review. “With the new 4.0 update my inventories are unrecognizable and after all the grind time I have spent it all seems useless,” reads another.

    The backlash hasn’t been universal, though. While many are “complaining that they worked 100+ hours for upgrades that are now functionally useless,” as one Reddit thread puts it, others have found that the tweaks and restrictions bring more balance and challenge to the game. The negative responses do appear to be the loudest, however, and it’s uncertain if those have influenced Hello Games’ decision to expand the slots in the experimental build.

    The experimental build patch notes on Steam note that Hello Games has added “additional free technology slots,” both for players newly updating their game to the Waypoint version and folks who already have existing saves. You can access No Man’s Sky’s experimental build by right-clicking on the game in your Steam library, selecting “Properties,” navigating to “Betas,” entering the password “3xperimental”, and choosing the “Experimental” build.

    A comparison image of different builds of No Man's Sky show off updated inventory slots.

    Pictured: Above is the more limited inventory of the current build. Below reveals the expanded slots in the experimental version.
    Image: Hello Games / Kotaku

    The changes are clearly visible on a brand-new save I created to test with. As expected, the regular, stable, build of the game only provides three possible technology slots at the top. Updating to the experimental build, however, doubles the slots on the top row. Further updates to the beta branch since October 10 also fix other issues many had with unlocking inventory slots and navigating the menu overall.

    Though these changes have yet to be merged into No Man’s Sky’s stable build, there is no indication yet as to when or if these will be made permanent. Kotaku has reached out to Hello Games for comment.

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    Claire Jackson

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  • Tracking Farm Maintenance Just Got a Whole Lot Easier With the TractorPal App

    Tracking Farm Maintenance Just Got a Whole Lot Easier With the TractorPal App

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    Press Release
    –


    updated: May 3, 2017


    Volga, South Dakota, May 3, 2017 (Newswire.com)
    –
     TractorPal, LLC is pleased to announce the New TractorPal Version 2.0 is now available from the App Store and on Google Play for free.

    TractorPal version 2.0 is rebuilt from the ground up on an all new platform to run quicker and add features you wanted.

    TractorPal keeps inventory and maintenance records for all agriculture machines and attachments, including cars and trucks. Users are also able to email all records to service dealers or potential buyers. Built by farmers in South Dakota for farmers all over the world, this app will simplify machine care in three ways:

    Track Inventory:
    Log all of large and small machinery and automobiles, including tractors, pickups, lawn mowers, cars, combines, sprayers, loaders, skid loaders, backhoes, attachments, and more. TractorPal can track each item’s serial number, model year, purchase date and price, original miles/hours, and users can even save a picture of items. 

    Track Service and Receive Reminders:
    TractorPal simplifies the record-keeping process. TractorPal records each item’s maintenance (e.g., changing oil, filters, tires, and irregular repairs), and will remind users when service is required. Users can even set their own reminder intervals. This app will even record the part numbers used!

    Email Records:
    Ever walk into the dealership and ask for all the filters for a machine, and they ask for a serial number or the part number? Now, all that impossible-to-remember information will be stored in a user’s phone. Just email or show your phone to the parts person; it’s that easy! With the service records at your fingertips, TractorPal makes selling a machine easier, whether the buyer is down the road or across the nation. With TractorPal this information is ready to go. Simply click ‘email report ’ and send.

    TractorPal has already been talked about in the USA, Canada, Australia, Netherlands, Ireland, India, South Africa, Denmark, and more. It has also been downloaded over 30,000 times.

    Download for free right now on your Android device, iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.
    Apple Download ~ Android Download

    Media Contact
    Keith King
    605-691-9233
    keith@tractorpal.com

    Source: TractorPal, LLC

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