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Want more housing market stories from Lance Lamberts ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. Just because a home listing gets a price cut doesnt necessarily indicate that the home actually sold for less than its comps. Some real estate agents use pricing strategies that intentionally list too high to test the market or create negotiation room. After all, even during the pandemic housing boomwhen home prices were surging18.7% of U.S. homes for sale in March 2021 still saw a price cut. That said, if the share of inventory receiving a price cut rises beyond typical seasonal patterns, it can suggest a market where homebuyers are gaining leverage. Conversely, if the share of inventory receiving a price cut falls beyond seasonality, it can indicate a market where home sellers are gaining leverage. Here’s how the percentage of U.S. active housing inventory receiving a price cut in March 2025 compared to the historical totals: March 2017: 25.6% March 2018: 26.6% March 2019: 26.4% March 2020: 22.8% March 2021: 18.7% March 2022: 21.3% March 2023: 29.4% March 2024: 31.7% March 2025: 33.9% How did ResiClub calculate this? We divided the number of U.S. homes for sale that received a price reduction in March by the total number of active U.S. home listings during that same month. The table below shows the raw data. (The Realtor.com data series we used for this analysis only goes back to July 2016.) Big picture: This data is just one more bit of evidence showing that the national housing markets supply-demand equilibrium has begun shifting in homebuyers’ favor ever since mortgage rates spiked in late spring 2022 and the pandemic housing boom fizzled out. Of course, this all varies significantly across the country. Some housing marketsparticularly in parts of the Midwest and Northeastremain relatively tight, with sellers still in control. Others markets have just shifted into balanced markets, while some pockets of the Sun Belt have turned into outright buyers markets.
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Every now and then, you run into a tool that truly wows you. Its rareespecially nowadays, when everyone and their cousin is coming out with overhyped AI-centric codswallop thats almost always more impressive on paper than in practice. And that, if you ask me, makes it all the more satisfying when you track down a tool that really, truly impresses. My friend, today is one of those days. Prepare to have your mind blown. Be the first to find all sorts of little-known tech treasures with my free Cool Tools newsletter from The Intelligence. One useful new discovery in your inbox every Wednesday! Your instant audio enhancer Our tool for today comes from a company youve almost certainly heard of. But Id be willing to wager you didnt know it offered this off-the-beaten-path treasure. The gem of which we speak is a simple little web app called, fittingly, Enhance Speechby Adobe. Enhance Speech lets you upload any audio recording of someone speaking. Its technically designed for podcasters, but it could be useful for practically anythinga spoken memo, a recorded conversation, even a recorded phone call. The site takes any recording you feed it and instantly improves its audio qualityremoving background noise and enhancing the sound of the speaking so its crisp, clear, and easy as can be to hear, no matter how sloppily or in what kind of environment it was recorded. Adobes Enhance Speech site couldnt be much simpler or easier to use. Itll take you about two minutes to perform an enhancement. And you dont need to create an account or anything: Just open up the Adobe Enhance Speech site in any browser, on any device in front of you. Click or tap the Choose Files buttonor drag and drop an audio file directly from your device onto the page, if youre using a computer. Enhance Speech works with most common audio file formats, including WAV, MP3, AAC, FLAC, and M4A. In a matter of moments, the site will serve up an enhanced version of your recording that you can either play on the page or download. You can play your enhanced audio right on the site or download it with one quick click. You can also just check out the built-in sample on the sites main page to see how impressive of a difference its enhancements make. It really is something. Enhance Speech is entirely web-basedno downloads or installations required. Its free to use with recordings up to 30 minutes in length and 500MB in size, with a one-hour-per-day upload limit. You can lift those limits and unlock a variety of advanced features with a premium plan, but that absolutely isnt necessary for the services core featuresand the limits are plenty generous for most casual use. Enhance Speech follows Adobes standard privacy policy, which ensures no personal data is ever shared or used in any eyebrow-raising way. Ready for more productivity-boosting goodness? Check out my free Cool Tools newsletter for an instant introduction to an audio app thatll tune up your days in delightful waysand a new off-the-beaten-path gem in your inbox every Wednesday!
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Getting your tax refund is the only fun part of filing your taxes every yearwhich can make it especially galling when Uncle Sam takes his sweet time sending your money. Waiting for a refund in 2025 has some added stress, considering the recent IRS layoffs, the departments plans for a 25% reduction in force, and the heartburn-inducing game of acting director musical chairs that played out during this years tax season. With all of that turmoil in the IRS, any taxpayer still waiting on a refund may worry their tax return got lost in the shuffle. The good news is that the IRS is still processing tax returns and refunds at a steady clip, even with a reduced workforce. Additionally, this department offers taxpayers a number of resources to soothe your worries about the status of your refund. Heres what you need to know about receiving your tax refund this year if it still hasnt hit your bank account. Believe it or not, tax refunds are on track If youve waited more than the 21 calendar days the IRS claims it takes to process your refund, you can be excused for assuming the DOGE cuts are responsible for the delay. But the IRS filing season statistics tell a different story. Despite the reduced workforce, the IRS is processing returns and refunds at a similar rate to last year. As of April 11, 2025, the IRS has processed 74,858,000 refunds for the 2025 tax seasona 0.2% increase compared to the 74,685,000 refunds processed as of the same time frame in 2024. Its also instructive to look at last years statistics from later in the tax season. The 2024 refunds processed by mid-April last year represented 71.2% of all refunds for the calendar year. That means its not unusual for more than a quarter of taxpayers to still be refund-less at this point in the tax season. Additionally, by May 10, 2024, nearly 90% of refunds had been processed for the yearwhich correlates pretty well to the nearly 92% of taxpayers who file on time. The remaining refunds paid out after mid-May 2024 were generally owed to late filers who got an extension. If you filed your taxes as of the April 15 deadline, youll probably receive your owed refund by mid-May at the latest. So is there a tax refund delay? While the beleaguered IRS is working full steam ahead under difficult circumstances, there are several global and individual reasons why you may not have received your refund: Filing volume: The volume of tax returns received by the IRS goes up steeply the closer it gets to April 15. The increased filing volume creates a bottleneck for IRS workers, which can delay your refund. Paper filing: Uncle Sam prefers e-filing, and taxpayers who file a paper return may have to wait four or more weeks to receive their refunds. Refund via check: If you requested a paper check instead of ACH deposit, that can also delay your refund. Tax credits: If you claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Child Tax Credit, that can delay your refund. Errors: An error on your return can delay your refund. Amended return: Filing an amended return can also cause your refund to take longer to process. Wheres my refund? One of the best updates to modern taxation is the IRS Wheres My Refund? tool, which allows you to check the status of your refund. Typically, you can use this tool within 24 hours of e-filing your current-year tax return. To check your refund status, you will need your Social Security number (or individual taxpayer ID number, or ITIN), your filing status, and the exact amount of your refund. There are three potential refund statuses: Return Received: This status indicates the IRS has received your tax return and is currently processing it. Refund Approved: This status shows that your refund has been approved and will be submitted as of the date listed. Refund Sent: This status indicates that the IRS has sent the refund either via ACH or paper check through the mail. ACH could take up to five days to appear in your bank account, and a paper check could take several weeks to show up in your mailbox. When to pick up the phone Calling the IRS for help is about as appealing as a colonoscopy, especially if you expect the wait time for reaching a real live human being to rival the run time for Wickedthe directors cut. However, you may need to reach out to the IRS by phone if there is no change to the refund status listed on the Wheres My Refund? tool after 21 calendar days or if the tool asks you to contact the IRS. Just remember that the IRS cant answer questions about your delayed refund until youve hit the 21-day mark. If youre ready to call the Taxpayer Assistance hotline, you can reach it at 800-829-1040 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time. The IRS is still working as designedfor now The 2025 tax season may seem more fraught than usual, but the IRS is still processing about the same number of returns and refunds as it has in past years. The delay on your refund may be related to when or how you filed your taxes, whether you took any tax credits, or if there is an error on your return. You can check the status of your refund using the online Wheres My Refund? tool, and give the IRS a ring if the status hasnt changed after 21 days. Just remember that if you do need to call, the IRS worker who answers the phone is almost definitely having a worse tax season than you are.
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