Only, the outlet did not simply publish a standard, run-of-the-mill puff piece on gay, lesbian, and transgender Americans, the outlet attempted to make a claim that they were being discriminated against in housing markets in uber-liberal California without providing any evidence whatsoever showing how LGBTQ people in the Golden State were being treated any differently than anyone else trying to buy a home in the country's most overpriced market.
The headline, " ‘I can’t win in this market’: Why LGBTQ homebuyers say mortgage rates are hitting them especially hard," attempts to set the tone by blatantly insinuating that residents who are part of that community are being discriminated against solely because of their lifestyle.
The piece centers around Skandar Mrad, who works at NASA's jet propulsion lab in Pasadena, and his bid to find his first home after losing roommates.
The article explains that Mrad, who was living in the Los Angeles area, wanted to move much closer to work because the hours-long daily commute was extremely taxing on him. He wound up finding an apartment closer to work, but when his roommates moved out, he decided he would try to buy his first home.
It is at this point that CNBC turns his difficulty in finding a house even remotely close to his job into a blatant act of anti-LGBTQ bias with a stretch that is so extreme it is comical.
In essence, CNBC lays out the same hurdles everyone in California and throughout the country are facing, but then tries to make it an 'LGBTQ-only' problem.
"He began looking for homes earlier this year, and that five-mile radius soon expanded to 30 miles. At the same time, the Federal Reserve began hiking its benchmark interest rate, sending mortgage rates soaring. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage jumped to 5.78% the week of June 16, according to Freddie Mac, seeing its biggest one-week jump since 1987," the piece notes.
"That has led to rapid changes in what Mrad might have to pay. Mrad, who is looking at small single-family homes and condos, said he has seen the potential monthly payments on similar properties rise by more than $500 a month since his search process began," the outlet said.
Well, sure -- but it's also "led to rapid changes" in what everyone now has to pay when it comes to buying a home, especially in California, where property values are insanely overpriced.
There there is this passage, which was presented out of context in the headline:
Even with those higher rates, the competition has been fierce. In May, Mrad said he bid more than $600,000 for a property listed at $575,000. The winning bid came in at $650,000.
“I can’t win in this market. There’s no way,” Mrad said.
A lot of Californians feel that way; how is that an LGBTQ-only issue?
In fact, to that very point, the very next paragraph in the story makes that case: "Mrad’s frustrations are shared by many prospective home buyers across the country over the past two years. Home prices shot up, starting in 2020, as (a) stimulus from Congress and the Federal Reserve coincided with a work-from-home boom."
But then the piece tries to make a tenuous claim that this is a gay/lesbian/bi/trans issue:
This rapid rise in the cost of a home is particularly impactful for the LGBTQ community, which is less likely to own a home. First-time homebuyers have to pay the higher prices without getting a boost from the value selling an existing property that they own.
According to the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, 50% of LGBTQ adults and 64% of LGBTQ couples own their own homes. For non-LGBTQ groups, those numbers are 70% and 75%.
Why are they 'less likely to own a home?' That isn't explained. But then CNBC goes on to contradict its insinuation once again:
Historical data on homeownership rates by sexuality were not tracked by the Census Bureau, but surveys from the LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance suggest that home ownership for couples and singles in the community has been trending up since the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015. Zillow reported in 2021 that LGBT people accounted for 12% of homebuyers, up from 7% in 2019.
This story is gaslighting garbage, and at a time when there is plenty else keeping Americans divided.
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