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Want more housing market stories from Lance Lamberts ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. Total active U.S. housing inventory for sale recently fell by 42,133 homes, from 871,509 in December 2024 to 829,376 in January 2025, according to the latest Realtor.com data. Historically, national active inventory usually declines during this seasonal month-over-month window, with the average decline since 2017 being -69,646 between December and January. The fact that inventory is rising year-over-year, combined with January’s smallest inventory decline for the month since Realtor.com began publishing data in summer 2016, strongly suggests that national active housing inventory for sale is likely to end the year higher. Heading into 2025, the average forecast model tracked by ResiClub projected U.S. active inventory for sale to increase by 12.5% in 2025. Through the end of January 2025, active inventory is growing at a rate of 25% on a year-over-year basis. In markets that maintain this (or greater) level of inventory growth, homebuyers will gain more leverage and power. Some markets that are sellers markets could become balanced markets, and some markets that are balanced markets could become buyers markets. Historically speaking, national active inventory usually begins its seasonal decline around August, and then begins to rise again around March. (Note: The seasonal cycle for new listings is a little different; it usually begins to rise around January and tops out around June.) While national active inventory is rising (+25% on a year-over-year basis), national active inventory at the end of January 2025 (829,376) was still 25% below pre-pandemic January 2019 levels (1,110,636). And that story varies a lot by market. The Northeast and Midwest remain fairly tight, while the Gulf region has softened. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r
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WeWard, an app that offers real-world rewards for walking, announced Wednesday it’s signed tennis champ Venus Williams as an investor and ambassador for the app. The app, which offers users points called Wards for steps taken, lets users track their movements or import pedometer data from tools like iPhone’s Apple Health, Android’s Google Fit, or Fitbit. When they’ve racked up enough Wards, they can be redeemed for gift cards, charitable donations, or even cash deposits to user bank accounts. “We’ve decided to do something very simple,” says cofounder and CEO Yves Benchimol. “We just give cash to people to walk.” In addition to tangible rewards, users can also collect virtual trading cards scattered at particular places on the map in a manner familiar to players of games like Pokémon Go, encouraging people to explore their surroundings on foot while racking up steps. About 6.5 million of the cards, dubbed WeCards, are collected every day. Users can also compete with friends, or within virtual leagues based on their activity levels, tracking their performance on virtual leaderboards and receiving virtual gold, silver, and bronze medals based on their rankings. The app has also hosted competitions around regions and countries, centered around events like the Olympics or Super Bowl, where players’ steps are added to totals for their locations. “Some people are way motivated by beating their friends and compete with their friends,” Benchimol says. “Others want to beat all the community.” So far, WeWard has distributed $20 million to its users and generated $1 million in charitable donations, according to the company. With the Venus Williams deal, users will be able to access special challenges and rewards linked to the tennis player, including sports tickets and Garmin watches. “A large part of staying well and active is simply by moving your body whichever way you can, and with WeWard, walking becomes a fun and rewarding experience,” Williams said in a statement. “Im excited to be part of a movement that encourages people to take that first step towards a healthier, more active lifestyle. Williams also recorded a video demonstrating her use of the app to track her steps, and WeWard pledged $25,000 to support the global antipoverty charity CARE, which both WeWard and Williams have supported in the past. And through a special “Venus Williams Championship” challenge, users will be able to contribute their steps to a collective total, triggering larger donations up to $40,000 as particular walking milestones are met. The app is free, with those rewards and donations paid for by ads and in-app affiliate shopping links, many of them to health, travel, and activity-oriented vendors like Nike, Columbia, Blue Apron, and Expedia. Users who follow those links can typically earn additional Wards through their purchases. But the company’s not in the business of selling location or activity data, Benchimol emphasizes, with that information collected solely to power step tracking and game experiences like WeCard collecting. WeWard naturally aims to help its users meet their own walking goals, and users typically increase their step counts by about 25% thanks to the app, Benchimol says. He’s hopeful the company can get that number closer to 50% within the next five years. Since the app bases rewards on step counts, users can walk indoors or outdoors, around the block or on a treadmill at a gym, as they see fit. “At the end, what matters is just the number of steps, and the fact that you are active every day,” Benchimol says.
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Slightly under 10 years ago, when I reviewed a new Apple MacBook, I devoted a surprising percentage of my wordage to its port. Yes, portit had only one. The sleek, minimalist laptop was one of the first devices in the world to sport USB-C, a new type of wired connectivity that carried both power and data over a cable with a slim, reversible connector. USB-C held the potential to replace pretty much all the other ports then in use on phones, tablets, laptops, cameras, headphones, and other gadgets. At the time, they included USB in its familiar, full-size form (officially known as USB-A), multiple variants of Micro-USB and Mini-USB, myriad proprietary power jacks, and on and on. If Apple could be convinced to phase out Lightningwhich USB-C, with its reversible connector, resembledthe new standard really would be the standard. I was giddy over the prospect of having only one type of cable in my life. That didnt happen overnight, or even within a few years. But today, I own only one device I use on anything like an everyday basis that requires me to make special provisions for its cable: my Apple Watch Ultra 2, which uses a magnetic charging puck. (Full disclosure: I occasionally haul out my old Nintendo 3DS handheld, which charges via a proprietary cable.) No doubt: USB-C has been a huge advance for my productivitynot just over previous forms of USB, but also even earlier technologies whose connectors look comically oversized and clunky in retrospect and sometimes even needed to be screwed into place. Just ending the days when I had to examine a cable closely to determine if I was holding it right side up for insertionMicro-USB, you were the worst!has been a joy. Last week, I even bought a tiny USB-C cable and put it on my keychain, so Im never without it when I want to transfer photos from my camera to my phone. In principle, I could always move them over via Wi-Fi, but USB-C remains much, much faster and more reliable. Still, the technology hasnt accomplished everything its theoretically capable of doing. For one thing, the version that arrived in 2015 turned out not to be the last wired connectivity standard anyone would ever need. There are now multiple flavors of USB-C, all sharing the same connector but varying considerably in capabilities. Over at Wirecutter, youll find Fast Company contributor Jared Newmans comprehensive review of USB-C cables. Along with providing buying recommendations, it steps through the details on USB 2.0, USB-C 3.1 Gen 2, and USB4 as well as Apples Thunderbolt, which isnt USB-C at all but uses the same connector. Distinguishing between all these variants matters if you care about data-transfer speeds. If youve got power-hungry devices and want them to charge quickly, you also need to pay attention to the wattage of the cable and the power brick you plug it into. For an even deeper dive into USB-Cs mysteries, I recommend this 2021 TidBits article by Glenn Fleishman, another Fast Company contributor. Its titleUSBefuddled: Untangling the Rats Nest of USB-C Standards and Cablescleverly conveys just how complicated the topic is. Before I revisited Jared and Glenns stories while writing this newsletter, I was more or less happy plugging any USB-C cable I had handy into whatever device I needed to hook up for charging or data transfer. Now Im obsessed with the possibility that Im slowing down stuff by using inadequate cabling. (USB4 cables and some USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 ones have specs printed on the connectors to indicate what they can do, but none of my cables seem to bear this essential information.) Theres another way in which USB-C has underperformed its potential. In theory, its universal adoption should make for a more sustainable tech ecosystem since it reduces the need to have on hand a zillion cables with different connectors. The European Commission certainly sees the technology as more Earth-friendly: As Apple admitted, to satisfy EU regulations, the company had to ditch Lightning for USB-C starting with 2023s iPhone 15. Apple could assume, but doesn’t, that everyone who buys a new iPhone already has a sufficient collection of USB-C cables; the company still includes one in every box. It does the same with AirPods Pro and iPads. Many other makers of USB-C devices also throw in a cableeven bargain-basement items like an $8 UV light I recently purchased. The bottom line is that Ive ended up with way more USB-C cables than I need, many of questionable quality. Having failed to figure out how to donate them to an organization that might put them to better use, I periodically drop off the crummier-looking onesand those that have failed altogetherat a local recycling center. Thats better than dumping them in the trash, but it doesnt seem great. I do envision a day when I dont own a humongous quantity of USB-C cables. At home, a half-dozen good ones might satisfy my needs; maybe slightly more if I keep some at the office and stow a couple in my suitcase. My brilliant new game plan is to only buy USB4 cables henceforth, regardless of whether I need them in any particular plugging-in context: Theyre more expensive, but also a hedge against obsolescence. For now, my cable clutter abides. I still have an orange toolbox stuffed with so many cables, its lid has snapped off. They include a few USB-C ones but also earlier types with a multitude of connectors, just in case I need them to connect something like an old iPhone or hard drive. Tangled and random, this thicket of obsolete technology sits in my garage, embarrassing me every time I walk by. May the day come when I can wave it goodbyeor at least winnow it down to fit in a shoebox. Youve been reading Plugged In, Fast Companys weekly tech newsletter from me, global technology editor Harry McCracken. If a friend or colleague forwarded this edition to youor if youre reading it on FastCompany.comyou can check out previous issues and sign up to get it yourself every Wednesday morning. I love hearing from you: Ping me at hmccracken@fastcompany.com with your feedback and ideas for future newsletters. Im also on Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads. More top tech stories from Fast Company Why AI chatbots are so unbearably chattyJust like us, AI tends to talk too much when they dont know the answer. Read More The iPhone 16e doesnt have MagSafeand thats a problemApples magnetic charging system is its biggest breakthrough in years. Read More What to know about Apples biggest-ever U.S. investmentThe iPhone maker plans to pour billions of dollars into new manufacturing facilities, research and development, and machine learning research. Read More Anthropics new Claude AI model can decide between speed and deep thinkingThe Claude 3.7 Sonnet model beats other leading thinking models in some key benchmarks.Read More Comedians are turning to LinkedIn to find a new audienceComics like Ben Sweeny are bringing satire to the buttoned-up world of LinkedIn, proving that workplace humor has a place on the job networking site. Read More The best apps to find new booksFrom Libby to BookBub, these tools will get you thumbing through your next great read in no time. Read More
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