Markets with the highest effective property taxes

Plus: Judge again halts CFPB’s 1,500 layoffs

April 21, 2025

👋 Welcome to the first Monday of the rest of your life. Today's newsletter is 723 words — a 2.5-minute read.

Disclaimer: Average mortgage rates as of April 17, 2025. © MND Daily Rate Index.

1. Judge halts CFPB’s plan to layoff 1,500 employees

DOGE’s attempt to fire nearly everyone at the CFPB was paused on Friday by a federal judge, who said she was “deeply concerned” about the plan and issued an order warning that administration officials appeared to be “thumbing their nose” at the courts.

The decision leaves in limbo a bureau created after the Great Recession to safeguard against fraud, abuse and deceptive practices. Trump administration officials argue that it has overstepped its authority and should have a more limited mission.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said she was worried the layoffs would violate earlier court decisions. In her written order, she said the administration was poised to “decimate the agency and render it unable to comply with its statutory duties.”

2. Markets with the highest effective property taxes

The average property tax on a U.S. single-family home rose 2.7% in 2024 to $4,172, per ATTOM. Total taxes fell 1.6% to $357.5 billion, reflecting a cooler housing market.

Northeast and Midwest states carried the heaviest burdens. New Jersey topped the list with an average bill of $10,135—nearly 10 times West Virginia’s $1,027.

Here are the states that had the highest effective property tax rates in 2024:

  1. Illinois: 1.87%

  2. New Jersey: 1.59%

  3. Connecticut: 1.48%

  4. Nebraska: 1.32%

  5. Ohio: 1.31%

  1. Iowa: 1.24%

  2. New Hampshire: 1.23%

  3. Kansas: 1.22%

  4. Vermont: 1.22%

  5. Pennsylvania: 1.16%

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3. More Nuggets

🏡 Private listings negatively impact both buyers and sellers. (inman)

🤖 Sam Altman admits that saying "Please" and "Thank You" to ChatGPT is wasting millions of dollars in computing power. (Futurism)

👓 FBI warns property owners and agents of growing title fraud. (FBI Boston)

🏘️ CEO of $39 billion homebuilding empire says spring selling season is suppressed because of plummeting consumer confidence and affordability constraints. (Fortune)

💸 Place buys Remine at auction for $1.5M in cash. (VendorAlley)

4. Capital One’s acquisition of Discover gets OCC’s conditional approval

Capital One’s $35 billion acquisition of Discover got the greenlight from bank regulators on Friday, who noted the approval was conditional on the resolution of pending enforcement actions against Discover.

The approvals, on the surface, seem to be the last two regulatory steps required to finalize the biggest merger in the banking industry in at least six years.

The deal greatly expands Capital One’s credit-card business and gives the bank a card network. Discover’s card network is one of few that compete with Visa and Mastercard. After the merger, Capital One would have more than $650 billion in assets.

5. 1 in 4 Americans will pause major purchases, like homes, amid tariffs

Tariff threats have left Americans on edge, with 24 percent of U.S. adults saying they’re canceling plans to purchase a home or car due to economic fears, according to Redfin polling data released Thursday.

An additional one in three (32%) are delaying plans to make a major purchase. That’s according to the Redfin-commissioned survey conducted by Ipsos between April 10-14, 2025. The nationally representative survey was fielded to 1,004 U.S. adults.

President Trump’s April tariff plan—10% on all countries, 145% on China—has triggered stock market volatility. Though steeper tariffs are paused, economists warn the measures could raise prices, dent consumer confidence, and heighten recession risks.

6. GSE’s to recall fraudulent mortgages

☀️ You’re all caught up. See you on Wednesday!

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