A Pennsylvania port town has become one of the most popular housing markets across the nation as bargain-hunting homebuyers look for the best deals.
Erie is located on Lake Erie. It is Pennsylvania’s one and only Great Lakes Port. The community is known for its affordability and high quality of living, which have propelled it to the top of Realtor.com’s list of the hottest housing markets.
In the June issue of the Hottest Housing Markets Report, Erie was ranked second, behind only Hartford, Connecticut. Hartford had topped the report for the second month in a row. This report measures demand by analyzing the unique views of each property listed on Realtor.com, as well as the speed of the market.
Erie had 3.3x the number of visitors per home as the national average in June. The average property was also sold within 29 days, the same time frame as Hartford, and six days quicker than last year. In contrast, in June the median U.S. house was only on the market 53 days.
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Hannah Jones, Realtor.com’s senior economist said that the scarcity of inventory is one major factor driving Erie’s popularity.
While other markets are seeing some improvement in the availability of inventory, Erie is still experiencing a decline. She said that as a result of this, “the market is continuing to heat up in comparison to the rest”
HOUSING AFFORDABILITY WILL IMPROVED AS THE HOME PRICE GROWTH COOLS DOWN, REALTOR.COM PREDICTIONS
Erie has about 91,000 residents and a median price of $239,000, about $200,000 less than the national average. It is also about half as much as Hartford.
This made Erie, New York the second-most affordable city amongst the top 20 housing markets in the United States, only behind Binghamton (New York), which last month had a median house price of $227,000
Erie is a great place to live in the Great Lakes Region. It offers a high quality of life and affordability.
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Realtor’s Report noted that both the Northeast and Midwest continued to dominate the 20 most hotly sought-after housing markets, with 16 high demand communities located in the Northeast.
In June the median home prices in America fell 2.5% over last year, while pending sales increased for the 7th consecutive month.
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Jones stated that the combination of declining prices and increasing contract signings indicates sellers meeting buyers at their level. Sellers who price realistically will be rewarded by engagement.

The Xbox fans are tired of the constant mass dismissals at Xbox. Microsoft’s new Player Voice Portal, launched in early 2018, has heard them say as much. Last week, a call for “ending studio closures”, posted on a blog post has become incredibly popular with more than 3,000 votes. This frustration is the result of years and years worth of cancellations, cuts and other problems in struggling tech giant’s gaming division.
The top trending Xbox feedback post reads: “The layoffs of 3,200 employees at XBOX are unacceptable.” This is part of a trend that led to more than 10,000 layoffs in just two years at XBOX. Numerous studios (Compulsion Games, Double Fine, Undead Labs, Ninja Theory, Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin, Alpha Dog Games, Roundhouse Studios ) have closed, or their futures are in jeopardy, while numerous games were canceled. Both developers and gamers agree: “This Cannot Continue”. (Note that while Microsoft itself has laid off over 10,000 employees in the past two years, Xbox’s number is less).
The Xbox user Witt Yao then goes on to make a list of requests in order to ensure that the corporate reset meets the needs of Xbox users:
Stop studio closures and keep teams together. Closed studios are bad for fans.
XBOX already has a profit without having to reach a billion users every day – Stop limiting XBOX with the Microsoft Accountability Margin’s unrealistic expectations.
Belief in the Developers: Negotiate with developers and unions on a good-faith basis so that they are able to better represent both the interests of developers and players.
The failure of leadership is evident in layoffs. There are no executive bonuses given when there has been a laid off.
Investing in gaming’s future is a smart move. Instead of investing in unpopular technologies, such as AI, that gamers don’t like or want to use. The most valuable asset for a videogame company is its game development experience.
The first is an insult to Xbox for showing State of Decay 3 and hinting at a new Hellblade during its Summer showcase only for Ninja Theory, and Undead Labs – the developers of these games – to be spun out weeks later. While we are unsure of the exact compensation package for Xbox’s Asha Sharma, her team and other executives, we know Microsoft’s Satya Naddella received a total pay increase to $96m for fiscal 2025.
While Sharma may have framed her reset as an overdue corrective action after Xbox spread itself thin in the Game Pass age, it is the reality that Xbox has been making massive cuts on a regular basis. In early 2024, around 1,900 employees were let go. Later that year, around 650 people were laid off. In July 2025, a bunch of developers were also cut. Even the most recent round of bloodletting is not complete, as another 1,600 employees will be axed over the next year.
One user wrote today, “I agree with you that layoffs represent a leadership failure.” This was posted on the Xbox Feedback Portal. These are talented developers. “If you can’t figure out how to profit from their skills, the failure lies with the leaders.” A second person echoed this sentiment. They wrote: “There’s no good reason for letting this many experienced people go.” These people, with their experience combined, have shaped gaming for who knows how many years. Microsoft takes away thousands of jobs to no benefit. “I will not renew my Game Pass.”

Chipotle, a fast casual restaurant chain announced Monday that it will open its first Mexican restaurant this week.
Store opening in Nuevo Leon’s San Pedro Garza Garcia on Thursday. Chipotle says the store opening was part of a previously announced partnership between the Mexican food chain and restaurant group Alsea.
Chipotle says that the opening of its first restaurant in Mexico on Thursday is just the beginning of an expanded roll-out in Mexico. The company plans to expand into Mexico City by 2027.
In a press release, CEO Scott Boatwright stated that “we are entering Mexico as a company with a deep respect for Mexico’s culinary history and an unwavering commitment to deliver the Chipotle Experience with Excellence.” Our research confirms that customers are interested in fresh, high-quality food that is served quickly and with customization.
Chipotle will open 350-370 additional restaurants in 2018, as the company tries to recover growth following a year of stagnation and attract customers through new menu options. Part of this strategy is international expansion via partnerships.
It chose Monterrey because it has a “strong economy and growing population, as well as its status [as] one of Mexico’s leading innovation and business hubs”. It will serve the same menu that is available at its U.S. restaurants.
Chipotle signed the Mexico Development Agreement with Alsea last year, as the U.S.-based chain broke into the Mexican market. The chain has more than 4100 locations worldwide. This includes countries in the Middle East, Europe and Asia.

Homebuyers on a budget have discovered their next destination, which is an unusual one. It’s a city in the snowbelt region of Lake Erie that was better known decades ago for its lake-effect storms rather than its real estate boom.
Erie, Pa. was ranked No. Realtor.com’s list of June 2026’s most hot housing markets in the United States ranked Erie, Pa. No. 2. This is a jump of 12 places over the past year and an astonishing 17 positions since just May. Hartford, Conn., held on to the number one spot, for a second month in a row.
Last month, the city, which has been nicknamed Gem City for its beautiful harbor view, attracted 3.3 times more online traffic per listing than the average national figure.
Erie’s homes are selling in just 29 days. This is six days faster than the pace of Hartford and matches Hartford. In contrast, the median house in America sits on the market for 53 days without finding a buyer.
Prices at rock bottom are what attracts people.
Erie has a median price of $239,000. This is about $200,000 below the national average and roughly half what Hartford buyers pay. This makes Erie the second-cheapest housing market among the top 20 markets, behind only Binghamton in New York, which sells homes for an average of $227,000.
Fred Amendola of Keller Williams Flagship Realty, told Realtor.com that Erie’s affordability is what makes it so appealing to buyers. Some people in the area might not see it, but others moving to the area or returning from another region will.
Amendola bets that the window will not remain open indefinitely. Amendola expects the prices to rise once mortgage rates begin dropping. Buyers who act now can lock in an incredible deal.
Supply crunch is one of the factors driving this frenzy. It’s getting worse. Inventory has dropped 74% from pre-pandemic levels compared with just over 1% decline in the previous year.
Hannah Jones, Senior Economist at Realtor.com said that “the hotness in Erie has been largely driven by a significant scarcity of inventory.” While other markets are seeing some improvement in the availability of inventory, Erie is still experiencing a decline. The market is heating up in comparison to other parts of the nation.
Erie isn’t all about the price. Erie is within two hours of Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo. Residents can access larger job markets while still enjoying the small city life.
Erie Insurance is the economic anchor of the area, supported by universities and hospitals. The Erie Playhouse and Warner Theater are also popular attractions, as well as minor-league sports and college athletics.
Erie’s growth is part of an overall pattern. Northeast and Midwest dominated top 20 with 16 spots each. Kenosha in Wisconsin was the top-ranked Midwest city at No. The fourth-ranked city in the Midwest, Kenosha, Wis., attracted triple as many property views than average.
Norwich, Conn. came in third place behind Hartford and Erie as markets that are losing listings within 25-35 days.

WASHINGTON – The Pentagon has suspended part of the cybersecurity requirements it had set for industry. This is specifically in relation to third party assessment. They cited onerous costs, especially on smaller firms.
Kirsten Davies (the chief information officer at the Pentagon) told reporters today that she was suspending the Cybersecurity Model Certification Phase II requirements. These were scheduled to take effect on November 10, 2026. I want it to be very clear that investing and maintaining a robust cybersecurity is a non-negotiable critical priority for the Department of War as well as our Defense Industrial Base. The legal obligation for industry partners to safeguard federal data is not eliminated by this action.
Davies said later: “We’re not reducing cyber-security through this measure.” “We are cutting the red-tape.”
In a memo published by the Pentagon on July 10, it was noted that the current version of CMMC imposes “significant and often prohibitive” burdens to the Defense Industrial Base, particularly small and nontraditional businesses which are at the heart of American innovation. Administrative compliance is important, but it cannot be at the expense of industrial base and warfighting capabilities.
It is a priority for the current administration to remove perceived barriers and bureaucratic obstacles in order to accelerate the delivery of new systems and capabilities, while simultaneously trying to grow the industry base.
CMMC is in development since 2019, at least during the Trump Administration. The concern at the time was that America’s adversaries could infiltrate suppliers and contractors to gather information to give them a major advantage. This program was designed to strengthen the industrial security so that adversaries could not exploit the weakest links.
In its original form, the cybersecurity framework was divided into five levels based on how secure and classified the company’s work is. The Biden administration reworked CMMC 2.0 in 2021 to reduce the five levels down to just three. The memo’s Phase II was aimed at requiring both self-assessment and third-party assessments every three years.
What is the change? I’ll be straight. We have stopped complex audits. Michael Duffey (Undersecretary for Acquisition and Sustainment) told reporters that we are ceasing to require third party assessors and auditors. We are immediately cleaning up all active solicitations. “I have instructed our program managers to modify or amend any current solicitation for defense contracts that contains these suspended requirements.”
According to Pentagon documents, these audits are applicable to assessments by third parties as part of CMMC Phases or Levels II and III.
It was difficult to find enough qualified organizations to perform the audits, which created a huge backlog of companies that hoped to be in compliance and receive an audit.
We’re seeing over 100,000 DIBs still needing a third party assessment and there are somewhere around 100 or maybe just a bit over 100 assessors available to do that. The math doesn’t add up for small and medium businesses to be compliant before the old transition date of November 10, 2026,” Davies explained.
In the memo, it was stated that Small Business Administration data and feedback have shown that the current CMMC Program is “structurally inconsistent with our need for rapid expansion of the DIB.”
Pentagon now will initiate a Task Force that will perform a comprehensive evaluation of CMMC, and will serve as a central hub to synthesize industry feedback. This will be based on public requests for information about compliance challenges. In 60 days the task force will release a report recommending measures to lower entry barriers for non-traditional and small companies, and prioritize speed of capability.
The Pentagon has said that during the review period of 60 days, it will enforce cybersecurity baseline compliance using the NIST SP 800171 Rev. 2 standard. This will be done through self assessments, where the Pentagon says the focus will be on tangible cyber hygiene, rather than administrative overhead.
Officials insisted the suspension would not compromise cybersecurity.
Duffey stated, “We are not lowering standards in any way.” We expect that businesses adhere to NIST’s standards. We’re eliminating the bureaucracy associated with third-party assessments.
This decision will likely please the defense industry, which has long complained that the CMMC regime created too many barriers for the defense sector. Small companies are especially affected by this because they lack the resources necessary to comply with the requirements for testing and compliance.