In today’s highly competitive housing market, millions of Americans are priced out of buying a home, often competing with all-cash offers well above asking prices. Rents are skyrocketing, too, causing overall housing affordability to collapse at its fastest rate on record. Roben Farzad, host of public radio’s Full Disclosure, joins John Yang to discuss.

Vocabulary: An all-cash offer refers to up-front payment for a property in full without a mortgage (loan from the bank for some portion of the home cost). Property sellers often prefer all-cash offers if available because they are simpler and faster than waiting for a buyer’s mortgage approval.

Watch the video above to learn more, and then answer the discussion questions in the upper-right corner of this page.

This lesson was originally posted here on PBS NewsHour Classroom on June 13, 2022. Check out more resources at NewsHour Classroom