ther diana oleic looks at some o the e facing. there are houses for sale, but not nearly new. e buyer high housing demand struggling to afford down payments as home price dwanes are accelerating gep. they're not back to normal levels of production. add all that up and you see why sales are now slumping. higher mortgage rates, yes, they've been sitting near lows and all the talk of higher rates hasn't happened yet, but the federal reserve is goi sheet an inflation rises, it could taper more, both of which could push rates higher. then there's the interest deduction. it's never on the table, except maybe now. paul ripe suggested it could be improved and industry insiders say the treasury is considering cutting the current cap of $1 million in mortgage debt in half. bottom line if the market doesn't see more supply in the coming months, which is not expected, affordability will weaken more and keep even more potential buyers on the si sidelines. for "nightly report, i'm diana oleic in washington. >> to read more about housing's challenge, head to our websi big lots lifts earn gui

diana oleic explains why buyers are hold iing back. >> sales of exis lowest level in almost a year. well below exp realtors put the squarely on simply. >> the investors have gobbled up many of the properties and then the market was down and therefore, there's very little available for home buyers for owner occupancy at the lower price point. >> that is where most of the demand from younger, first time buyers is. builders aren't helping much either. still focusing on move up product, even though their sales slumped in july as well. the inventory of homes for sale has been dropping for three straight years and pushing home prices to new highs. july's median sale price hit a new record. part of that is just because more high-end homes are selling. at the start of 2013 when home prices were beginning to bounce off the bottom of the housing crash, the share of homes sold above $1 million was just 9% of sales. 40% of the market was homes priced below $100,000. today, that high-end share is more than 14%.th some are calling it an invenn crisis with no turn around in sight. not even in the

diana oleic tells us why. >> demand for housing is still high. but the number of available listings continues to drop. even now in summer, when housing is supposed to slow down. not the case as demand index from red fin shows the same number of buyers requesting home tours in july and june, but number of offers written dropped , down 11%. that is showing up in the mortgage demand as well. applications for a loan to purchase a home dropped last week and have been down three out of the past four weeks, this as mortgage interest rates hover near five-week lows. it's not the rate, it's a lack of everything affordable to buy, and not just in the hottest markets either. the national supply is now at the lowest level sin1982. that's because homebuilders dropped off the map during the recession and have still not returned to even normal historical levels of production. even the number of vacant homes nationwide is at a 17-year low. again, not demand, but supply. the worse this situation gets, the higher prices will go, which will sideline more first time

diana oleic takes a look at what's behind the new boom in top of the line real estate. >> the trouble with these super expensive homes was well, they were too expensive. sale prices had been b lagging the rest of the market for the past few year, but now, they've .urned around for one simple nope, not that. although it didn't hurt. it's really this >> luxury sellers are getting back in sync with reality. which is something that's been lacking for the last several years. buyers won't come up to meet their number. >> sellers lowered prices, buyers came back and now for the first time in three years, luxury home sale prices are seeing bigger gains than the rest of the markets. this according to red fin, which defines luxury as top 5%. again, because sales are up, 19% in the million dollar plus range. all those sales caused the inventory of million dollar plus homes for sale to drop over 9%. that after growing for more than a year. >> what we're seeing is is inventory declining, but that's lifting expiring that wering menon icantly over where they set numbers that had no connection with r

for "nightly business report", i'm diana oleic in washington. >> and coming up, uber has a new ceo. but the challenges are mounting before he even begins. we'll expl here's a look at what to watch for tomorrow. a big data day starting with jobless claims. we get a sense of how the consume r is faring when income and a snapshot of housing demand with july pending home sales. that's what to watch for on thursday. >>> ford is reportedly looking a at puing s technology into its commercial trucks. ford's vice president of autonomous vehicles told reuters the goal is getting they will on the road by 2021, including things like delivery and ride sharing services and speaking of ride sharing, a day after saying he would take the job, uber's new ceo got a an all hands on meeting at the company's headquarters. and he told employees uber could go public in 18 to 36 months. diedra tells us what else is next for uber's chief who has a lot on his plate already. >> it's official. he will be uber's next ceo starting the job this following tuesday after a se process, the stock -- drop out in the 11t