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Want more housing market stories from Lance Lamberts ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. Lennarthe nation’s second-largest homebuildertold investors on Friday that their spring selling season is off to a soft start. We do not see the seasonal pickup typically associated with the beginning of the spring selling season. So we continue to lean into our machine focusing on converting leads and appointments and adjusting incentives as needed to maintain sales pace. These adjustments came in the form of mortgage rate buydowns, price reductions, and closing cost assistance, Jon Jaffe, co-CEO of Lennar, said on the Friday earnings call. In addition to Lennar acknowledging a soft start to the spring season, here are six other key takeaways from its Q1 2025 earnings report, covering the period from December 1 to February 28. 1. Lennar continues to see weakness in Florida and Texas As ResiClub as reported, many markets in those states, particularly San Antonio in Texas and Cape Coral and Punta Gorda in Southwest Florida, have seen active inventory rise well above pre-pandemic levels and home prices decline amid weakened housing demand. “In general, homebuyers in Florida and Texas, our two highest volume states, needed more help than most other markets around the country,” Jon Jaffe, co-CEO of Lennar, said on the Friday earnings call. “We needed more incentives in Florida and Texas markets to assist buyers achieve mortgage payments they can afford as well as to offset both a slowing in migration environment and increased inventory. All markets around the country require incentives to assist buyers in the current home buying environment. 2. Lennar is deploying bigger sales incentivesespecially in Florida and Texas Lennar’s average sales price, net of incentives, declined 1% from $413,000 in Q1 2024 to $408,000 in Q1 2025. Last quarter, Lennar spent the equivalent of 13% of the final sales price on sales incentives, such as mortgage rate buydowns. For a $400,000 home, that translates to $52,000 in incentives. According to John Burns Research and Consulting, thats the highest incentive level Lennar has offered since 2009and its significantly higher than Lennars cycle low in Q2 2022, when it spent 1.5% of the final sales price on sales incentives. (See historical chart here.) Lennar co-CEO Stuart Miller said on Friday that: “These are outsized [incentives] for the moment and normalized incentives should be around 5% to 6%. In other words, where and when neededlike pockets of Florida and Texas where active housing inventory has bounced back and buyers have gained leverageLennar is cutting net effective prices through larger incentives to find the market and keep sales rolling. That said, a homebuilder’s average sales price can also be skewed by changes in home size. To at least some degree, this is the case for Lennar, which has introduced more smaller home offerings over the past few years. 3. More margin compression During the pandemic housing boom, publicly-traded homebuilders achieved record profit margins as home prices soared and buyer demand ran red hot. Once the national housing demand boom fizzled out in the summer of 2022, many large homebuilders made affordability adjustments where and when needed to maintain their sales pace. Despite some profit margin compression, almost every major homebuilder entered 2024 with gross margins still above pre-pandemic 2019 levels. However, in recent quarters, margin compression has returned. During Lennar’s December 2024 earnings call, CFO Diane Bessette stated that they anticipate further margin compression, with gross margins expected to range between 19% and 19.25% for Q1 2025. Lennars Q1 2025 gross margin ended up being 18.7%its lowest in over a decade. On the March 2025 earnings call, Lennar co-CEO Stuart Miller said he expects the company’s Q2 2025 gross margin to be 18% and that they expect to continue to see margin pressure on deliveries that will be sold during the quarter. 4. Lennar chooses volume over margins Last year, when it became clear that Lennar would have to choose between offering greater incentives in 2025 (i.e., smaller margins) or lower volume, the builder made it clear it would choose the former. We’re going to adjust to market. We’re going to maintain [sales] volume, Lennar co-CEO Stuart Miller said in December. Thats exactly what it did. Its also why net new orders in Q1 2025 (18,355) were essentially flat compared to Q1 2024 (18,130) despite the choppier sales environment. 5. No impact from tariffsyet Given that Lennar is Americas second-largest homebuilder, it serves as a good proxy to figure out how Trump administration policy could be impacting homebuilders. On Friday, Lennar executives stated that tariff policy has not yet impacted their business. “We’ve been in discussions regarding the potential impacts of tariffs with our supply chain,” Lennar co-CEO Jon Jaffe told investors on Friday. “These discussions all start with a review of margin reductions Lennar has already taken. This leads to a constructive effort to identify alternative sourcing and material strategies. Additionally, we prepare our trade partners to absorb potential increases to their supply chain costs in the event of tariffs To date, we have had no impact to our cost from tariffs and we will work closely with all our trade partners that further tariffs present themselves to mitigate offset cost impacts.” 6. No impact from immigration policyyet While it’s unclear how many undocumented immigrants work in construction, we know its a chunk. In 2016, Pew Research Center estimated that 13% of the U.S. construction workforce is undocumented. In 2021, the Center for American Progress estimated that 23% of construction laborers are undocumented (see the full breakdown above). While undocumented workers are more likely to be employed by subcontractors rather than the builder, business disruptions due to deportations, if they are to occur, would still be noticed by general contractors and homebuilders. So far, Lennar hasnt seen disruptions caused by changes in immigration policy. “With respect to potential labor disruptions that could derive from immigration policy enforcement, our consistent high volume makes our construction a priority for our trade partners,” Lennar co-CEO Jon Jaffe told investors on Friday. “To date, there has been no shortage of labor or impact to cycle time. Again, our strategic trade partners appreciate the financial impact to our margins of maintaining our consistent high volume and we expect to be as well-positioned as possible should any disruptions present themselves.”
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3:52 a.m.: Wake up. 3:54 a.m.: Pour out a cup of Saratoga Water. 4:04 a.m.: Work out next to a bottle of Saratoga Water. 5:49 a.m.: Dunk face in ice-cold bowl of Saratoga Water. These are just a few of the steps of fitness influencer Ashton Halls extremely specific morning routine, which grabbed the internets attention over the weekend for its oddly regimented timing and near-comical flaunting of wealth. One particular video of Halls schedule has amassed 98.4 million views on TikTok and 674.5 million views on X, spawning countless reactions and copycats, as well as shout-outs from Mr. Beast and Sweetgreen. And theres one brand thats clearly the winner amidst all of this publicity: Saratoga Spring Water. Viewers were quick to notice that Halls routinewhich also includes rubbing a banana peel on his face, doing dead sprints on a treadmill, and eating breakfast seemingly prepared by an in-home cheffeatured a disproportionate amount of product placement shots for Saratoga-branded water. In his most viral TikTok alone, the eye-catchingly blue bottle appears in around 25 different shots. Apparently as a result of this discourse, Saratoga Water’s parent company, Primo Brands, saw its stock rise by as much as 16% in premarket trading this morning, according to MarketWatch, although it was essentially flat by midday. Meanwhile, according to Google Trends data, search queries for the brand have spiked more than 1,000% to an all-time high since Sunday. Saratoga’s big brand moment? Now, dozens of TikTok and X users are putting their own spin on Halls ultra-privileged routine. Several influencers have attempted to capitalize on the moment by mimicking Halls routine shot-for-shot, including by purchasing their own bottles of Saratoga. Brands including the Detroit Lions and Sweetgreen have both posted tweets referencing Hall’s video. Even Jimmy Donaldson (aka MrBeast), the most popular creator on YouTube, took to X with his own joke about participating in the trend. Some have been more overtly critical. Makeup artist Matt Bernstein said in an Instagram story that the Hall’s video had an “extreme undercurrent of misogyny,” noting the presence of a woman who appears out of frame to present him with food and water. Others are taking a more satirical route. One X user posted a photo of their grocery cart, filled with only bananas and Saratoga water, and asked, am I forgetting anything? Another user captioned a GIF of rapper Lil Baby counting stacks of money, Saratoga water CEO for the next three weeks. One tweet with 4.3 million views simply shows a man standing in front of a fridge full of Saratoga with the caption “Locked in.” Saratoga finally responded to the trend with an Instagram post on Sunday telling users, Plunge. If you must, and crediting Hall for his video. Still, the brand has yet to truly capitalize on this moment with its own contenta move that seems like the natural next step, given its sudden visibility in the cultural zeitgeist. While Halls original viral video doesnt specifically list Saratoga as a brand partner, it seems probable that the content is sponsored, given that the brand invariably appears in almost all of Halls TikToks. We’ve reached out to Hall for comment. In a presentation for investors last month, Primo Brand executives shared that the brand has grown significantly since it was acquired in 2021, going from $13 million in sales that year to $71 million in 2024. Saratoga did not immediately respond to Fast Companys request for more information on how the recent trend has influenced sales.
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In the corners of social media dominated by wellness content, influencers recommend an assortment of treatments and products to support weight loss, fight exhaustion, or promote other desired health outcomes.Some of the endorsed approaches may be helpful. Many play into fads with scant evidence to back up enthusiasts’ claims, medical experts say.Some influencers encourage their followers to avoid specific food items, such as seed oils, while others advocate going all in on certain foods, such as the meat-heavy carnivore diet. There are video pitches for berberine, a chemical compound that’s been touted online as “nature’s Ozempic,” and for nonmedical IV vitamin therapy, which businesses popularly known as drip bars market as cures for hangovers or fatigue.To be sure, alternative health practices and cures that lacked the medical establishment’s backing were a part of popular culture long before the internet age. But the plethora of advice shared online has both prompted calls for safeguards and found a measure of mainstream acceptance.The new U.S. health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., had his Instagram account suspended in 2021 for posting misinformation about vaccine safety and COVID-19, but many of the ideas he champions have a widespread following. Critics of Dr. Mehmet Oz accused him of sometimes making misleading assertions on the talk show he used to host; Oz now is President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services.A Netflix series released last month explored the story of Belle Gibson, a popular Australian wellness influencer who amassed a following talking about curing her terminal brain cancer with a healthy lifestyle and alternative medicine. In 2015, Gibson admitted to lying about having a cancer diagnosis. Australia’s federal court later fined her for failing to donate money she said would go to charity through sales of her cookbook and app.With personal wellness remaining a hot topic, here are some tips health experts have for evaluating the material you see online: Be cautious when an influencer promotes products Most influencers have or want business relationships with companies that allow them to earn income by promoting products. The arrangements don’t necessarily mean content creators don’t believe in what they’re marketing, but they do have a vested interest in publicizing products that may or may not work.Creators can get paid for pictures or videos that hype up a product and also earn commissions on sales through features such as affiliate links. Experts note it’s therefore better to proceed with caution when someone inspires you to hit the “buy” button, whether it’s for natural supplements, teas with purported weight loss benefits or any other wellness products that show up in your social media feed.Research published last month in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed a sizable amount of Instagram and TikTok posts that discussed five popular medical tests mostly came from account holders with “some form of financial interest” in promoting the screenings.After analyzing roughly 980 posts on the two platforms, researchers said most of the posts they found were misleading and failed to “mention important harms, including overdiagnosis” resulting from healthy people having full-body MRIs or tests to detect early signs of cancer, evaluate microorganisms in the gut or measure hormone levels.Promoting dietary supplements has been a particularly lucrative exercise for many influencers, said Timothy Caulfield, a health policy and law professor at the University of Alberta. He views the supplements industry as “the backbone” of health misinformation aimed at consumers and designed to fuel billions of dollars in revenue.“It’s gotten to the point where if someone is selling a supplement, it’s a red flag,” he said. “I don’t think it was always like that, but it certainly is now.” Check for expertise In general, consumers should take all bold claims with a degree of skepticism, said Cedric Bryant, chief executive officer at the nonprofit American Council on Exercise. The goal of creators is to increase engagement with their content, and some influencers may be tempted to make unproven assertions to draw in more viewers.“If it’s too good to be true, it probably is,” Bryant said.Some health and wellness influencers have medical training, but many do not. Before taking health tips from someone on social media, it’s a good idea to make sure they have the proper expertise or at least able to share the data that led them to recommend certain products or lifestyle choices.In the fitness area, Bryant recommends checking to see if a creator holds certification from an accreditation organization and then confirming the information through the U.S. Registry of Exercise Professionals database.The American Medical Association and The American Board of Medical Specialties maintain searchable databases for medical doctors, which may help verify the qualifications of creators who share their legal names and general locations. States also operate databases that allow users to check if someone is licensed to practice medicine or has been disciplined for misconduct.If an influencer holding the appropriate credentials pushes certain products, consumers still may want to consider if a brand partnership or other factors are shaping their recommendations.Federal Trade Commission guidelines that reflected the agency’s interpretation of federal law directed influencers featuring specific products or services to prominently disclose any endorsements. Yet sponsorships and potential conflicts of interest are not always revealed.In 2023, the year the guidelines were issued, the FTC issued warnings to a dozen online influencers for failing to adequately disclose paid social media posts that promoted “sugar-containing products” and aspartame, a sweetener found in diet soda, ice cream and other foods. Some of the influencers were registered dieticians. Compare to the prevailing medical consensus If a creator cites studies to support health and diet claims, it’s best to check and see if what they’re saying aligns with the latest evidence-based medical consensus.“Just because somebody has an ‘M.D.’ after their name doesn’t make them entirely trustworthy,” said Elias Aboujaoude, a psychiatrist and Stanford University professor who studies the intersection of psychology and technology.Aboujaoude suggests double-checking health claims with traditionally reputable sources, such as major academic institutions or government health agencies. He also advised looking at studies cited by creators and assessing whether they’ve been published in reputable journals and subjected to peer review.In some cases, it might be too soon to know if promising results should be trusted or not, said Katherine Zeratsky, a registered dietitian with the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. For example, a study might show the benefits of a specific type of herb. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the findings have been replicated in other research, a requirement for treatment methods to be considered proven effective, she said. Haleluya Hadero, Associated Press
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