Axios

U.S. housing prices are soaring, due to a combination of ultra-low interest rates, sky-high lumber prices and a supply-and-demand imbalance brought on by the pandemic. But with the federal foreclosure moratorium just lifted, things could soon change.

Axios Re:Cap speaks with Jeremy Wacksman, COO of real estate tech company Zillow, to better understand what the boom means for consumers and the country, and how long it might last.

Every week for the past year, Axios has published a map of where COVID cases are rising and falling in the U.S. Today, we retire our map because cases are decreasing nationwide, and have been for a while now. But COVID isn’t disappearing completely. So what will this next phase of the pandemic look like?

• Plus, the big question mark hanging over the summer Olympics.
• And, our skeptical space reporter explains why UFOs are having a moment.

Guests: Dr. Lauren Ancel Meyers, director of the COVID-19 Modeling Consortium at the University of Texas, and Axios' Ina Fried and Miriam Kramer.

Credits: Axios Today is produced in partnership with Pushkin Industries. The team includes Niala Boodhoo, Sara Kehaulani Goo, Dan Bobkoff, Alexandra Botti, Nuria Marquez Martinez, Sabeena Singhani, Amy Pedulla, Naomi Shavin, and Alex Sugiura. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at [email protected].

Go deeper:

• Coronavirus cases are at their lowest point in the U.S.
• Japan extends coronavirus state of emergency weeks before Summer Olympics
• The scientific hunt for life isn't about UFOs

For the second time in as many months, a major part of America’s infrastructure has been held for ransom by cybercriminals. This time is was a hack of JBS, the nation’s largest beef producer, which was forced to take its largest processing facilities offline.

Axios Re:Cap speaks with Laura Reiley, The Washington Post’s business of food reporter, about why the country’s meat supply chain is vulnerable, domino effects for the industry and what it all means for consumer prices.

President Biden was in Tulsa, Oklahoma yesterday to mark 100 years since the Tulsa Race Massacre. While there, he announced a plan to tackle the racial wealth gap in the U.S., aimed at increasing home and small-business ownership in communities of color.

• Plus, why some American visa holders are stranded in India.
• And, CDC vaccine cards become de facto passports.