Californians aren’t rushing to buy either homes or new vehicles – a sign of skittish consumers in a wobbly economy.

My trusty spreadsheet reviewed two sets of annual statewide sales data: new-vehicle purchases from the California New Car Dealer Association, covering cars and light trucks, and homebuying reports from real estate tracker Attom, which tallies houses, condos, existing properties, and newly built ones.

Let’s start at the car lot. The association estimates that California dealers will sell 1.79 million vehicles in 2025, a 2% increase from 2024, following a 1% decline in 2024. Politely, that’s flat.

Next, you see home sellers aren’t faring much better.

If current sales continue through the year’s first eight months, 317,000 California residences are expected to be purchased i

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