Here is your home news digest to start the week—read more by visiting the page.
💰 The real estate market isn’t doing too well, with economic uncertainty forcing potential home buyers to stay put; and now, that uncertainty is extending to home builders. While sales of new homes rose from February to March, homebuilders and contractors are seeing the writing on the wall: material costs have been rising, supply chain disruptions have been more frequent, and builders cannot plan projects based on current estimated costs knowing that those can rise after committing to a project. And as steep prices and mortgage rates continue to spook buyers, home builders are warning that this year may be a slow and costly one.
🪳 Cicada Brood XIV is set to emerge in 13 states on the east coast. Brood XIV is one of the biggest broods, and hasn’t been seen (or heard) since 2008. The bugs are expected to appear in parts of Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia in early May. Don’t worry—these bugs don’t bite and are actually good for the garden.
🪲 Scientists have discovered a genetic mutation that makes bed bugs that much harder to kill. And yes—this is the worst possible news when it comes down to getting rid of them. Entomologists from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University analyzed the genes of bed bugs and found that they had a resistance to dieldrin. Dieldrin is an insecticide developed in the 1940s as an alternative to DDT, which was banned due to its negative effects on human health and the environment. Dieldrin has a very similar chemical composition to fipronil, the insecticide we currently use against fleas and roaches. Though we don’t use this chemical against bed bugs, it has been proven effective in reducing and eliminating bed bugs. What does this mean for the war against the tiny critters? For now, not much—but scientists’ next step is uncovering when this mutation took place, so we can stay ahead of the next possible gene mutation that makes them nearly impossible to kill.
- Sophie Kaemmerlé, Executive Editor
