Last year, a record 6% of workers in 401(k) plans took a hardship withdrawal. That is up from 4.8% in 2024 and a prepandemic average of about 2%. The median withdrawal was $1,900.
Financial Distress
Chicago took the top spot in a ranking of U.S. cities by financial distress. Chicago saw a 30% increase in residents allowed to skip payments due to financial difficulty, and it also ranked near the top for the number of distressed accounts per capita. Houston, Las Vegas, Dallas and Los Angeles rounded out the top five.
Market Dispersion
While the S&P 500 has traded within a range of just 2.7% in 2026, the average company in the index has moved within a band that is about seven times as much. That ratio is the largest since at least 1994, signaling a market with unusually high divergence in returns between different companies.
Housing Supply
Housing supply currently sits at 7.6 months. Anything over six months typically cues a buyer's market, giving shoppers more leverage to negotiate for concessions.
Homebuyers
Homebuyers need to earn at least $111,252 per year to afford the median-priced home, based on December data. That's still well above the median household income of just over $86,000, but it's down from $115,870 in 2024 and $120,609 in 2023.
Forward Multiples
Companies in the State Street Software ETF trade at roughly 19 times their next 12 months of earnings, down from a peak of more than 47 times in 2022. Companies in the broad S&P 500, meanwhile, are trading at close to 22 times forward earnings.
Private Asset Managers
Shares of many large private-asset managers peaked around late 2024 or early 2025, following a long surge. Now, after recent sharp price drops, those firms’ shares are each down by at least 30% since the start of 2025.
Originations and Servicing
In 2008, banks originated around 60% of mortgages and serviced about 95% of mortgage balances. As of 2023, banks originated 35% of mortgages and serviced 45% of mortgage balances.
CMBS Issuance
Total issuance of CMBS reached roughly $125.6 billion in 2025, up about 21% from the prior year and the highest annual volume since before the financial crisis.
CRE Maturities
More than half of the roughly $100 billion of commercial real-estate loans packaged into securities and coming due this year are unlikely to repay at maturity. That compares with a maturity payoff rate of about 75% in 2024 and 2025 and more than 80% in 2023.