News Corp Stock Price, News & Analysis

Realtor.com has released its 2025 Best Markets for First-Time Homebuyers report, with Harrisburg, Pennsylvania ranking as the top location. The report highlights opportunities in the Mid-Atlantic and Florida regions, with Rochester, NY, and Villas, FL rounding out the top three spots.

Despite forecasted mortgage rates remaining above 6% throughout 2025, increased inventory is expected to provide more options for buyers. The selected markets offer advantages in housing costs, inventory availability, and location quality. All top 10 markets feature median listing prices well below the national median of $416,880, with prices ranging from $129,900 in Rochester to $236,950 in Villas, FL.

These markets are characterized by strong local economies with below-average unemployment rates, proximity to major job hubs, and forecasted price growth exceeding the national projection of 3.7%. Florida markets show particularly strong growth potential, with Altamonte Springs expected to see a 12.1% increase.

December 2024 showed a 22.0% increase in active home listings compared to the previous year, marking the 14th consecutive month of inventory growth. The median listing price decreased by 1.8% to $402,502, while newly listed homes increased by 0.9% year-over-year.

Homes spent an average of 70 days on the market, representing the slowest December since 2019. Among the top 50 metros, Miami (45.4%), San Diego (42.4%), and Denver (41.9%) led in active listing growth. The price per square foot rose by 1.3% nationally, with some metros experiencing significant increases, notably Cleveland (13.9%) and Hartford (12.9%).

The housing market showed signs of a seasonal slowdown, influenced by both holiday patterns and mortgage rates in the high 6% range. Despite this, increased inventory and slower market pace could present opportunities for winter buyers ahead of the spring season.

News Corp (NWS) has agreed to sell Foxtel Group to DAZN Group for an enterprise value of A$3.4 billion, representing over 7x fiscal 2024 Foxtel EBITDA. The deal includes full repayment of A$578 million in shareholder loans to News Corp and grants the company approximately 6% equity stake in DAZN with one board seat. Telstra will also sell its minority interest, receive repayment of A$128 million in loans, and acquire about 3% stake in DAZN.

The transaction, expected to close in second half of fiscal 2025, allows News Corp to focus on key growth segments: Dow Jones, Digital Real Estate Services, and Book Publishing. Foxtel's current CEO Patrick Delany and management team will continue leading the business, which will maintain its Australian-based operations while leveraging DAZN's global reach and technology.

Realtor.com reports that U.S. extra bedrooms have reached historic highs, with 31.9 million extra bedrooms in 2023, up from 31.3 million in 2022 and over four times the 7 million in 1980. The share of extra bedrooms has reached a record 8.8% of total bedrooms, driven by increasing bedrooms per home and declining household sizes.

The average number of bedrooms per home has grown from 2.5 in 1970 to 2.8 in 2023, while household size decreased from 3.1 to 2.5 persons. The trend is most prominent in the Mountain West and South, with Ogden, Utah leading at 12.2% excess bedrooms, while Miami, Florida has the lowest rate at 5.9%.

Realtor.com's November Rental Report shows median rents declined -1.1% year-over-year to $1,703, marking the 16th consecutive month of decreases. Despite this decline, affordability remains challenging for minimum wage workers in most major U.S. metros. In 44 of the top 50 metros, workers need extended hours to afford typical rentals.

In cities like Nashville, Austin, and Dallas, two minimum wage earners would each need to work 77-82 hours weekly to afford median rent, despite these areas seeing the largest rent declines. Only Denver and Phoenix allow two minimum wage earners to afford median rent working 40 hours or less weekly.

Looking ahead to 2025, 23 of the top 50 markets will see minimum wage increases, potentially reducing required working hours. Rents declined across all unit sizes, with studios showing the largest decrease at -1.6%, followed by one-bedrooms at -1.2% and two-bedrooms at -1.1%.

Realtor.com has released its Top Housing Markets forecast for 2025, highlighting areas primed for growth. The top 10 markets, exclusively in the South and West, are led by Colorado Springs, Miami, and Virginia Beach. These markets feature moderately affordable homes, abundant inventory boosted by new construction, and younger, diverse populations.

Key characteristics include: relatively lower-priced homes compared to national averages, strong military connections with over 1 in 7 households being active-duty or veteran, and significant international ties with 17.6% foreign-born residents. Government-backed mortgages (VA, FHA, USDA) play a important role in these markets, particularly in Colorado Springs, El Paso, and Virginia Beach, where more than half of recent mortgages were government loans.

News Corp has announced that HarperCollins Publishers CEO Brian Murray will be a participant at the upcoming UBS Global Media and Communications Conference. The event is scheduled for Tuesday, December 10, 2024, with Murray's session beginning at 9:00 AM EST.

Interested parties can access the live webcast through the News Corp investor relations website. A replay of the session will be made available on the same platform following the conference.

Realtor.com's 2025 Housing Forecast predicts a more balanced market with home prices growing by 3.7% and mortgage rates staying above 6%. Key projections include:

- Average mortgage rates of 6.3%, declining to 6.2% by year-end
- 11.7% increase in existing home inventory
- 13.8% growth in single-family new home starts, reaching 1.1 million homes
- 1.5% year-over-year growth in home sales to 4.07 million
- Virtually unchanged rents (-0.1%)

The forecast suggests broader economic factors will have a larger impact on housing than potential new federal policies. The market is expected to see its first balanced conditions in nine years, with months' supply improving from 3.7 to 4.1 months in 2025.

Dow Jones has acquired WorldECR, a London-based provider of news, data, and analysis on global export control and trade sanctions. WorldECR will operate as part of Dow Jones Risk & Compliance, which reported 16% revenue growth to $81 million in Q1 fiscal 2025. The acquisition includes WorldECR's subscription-based publications, practitioner guides, the annual WorldECR Forum, and CtrlAtlas database. This move follows Dow Jones's recent expansion of its stake in Ripjar and acquisition of A2i Systems, reinforcing its strategy to enhance specialized news and data services for the compliance community.