Roundup: Buyer’’s market / Retirement strain / Power surge 

Spring shift ahead: Signs of a more buyer-friendly housing market are emerging in time for the spring homebuying season. Home prices are rising more slowly, mortgage rates remain elevated (but have been mostly easing), and the number of homes on the market is up sharply from a year ago. Read more from The Associated Press. 

Savings under stress: Hardship withdrawals from 401(k)s are running about 15% to 20% above the historical norm, says Ed Murphy, CEO of Empower, the nation’s second-largest retirement plan provider by plan participants. Vanguard Group also warned earlier this year that hardship withdrawals were rising. Read more from Bloomberg. 

Tech giants knocking: U.S. electric utilities are fielding massive requests for new power capacity as technology giants search for viable locations for new data centers. A Reuters survey of 13 major U.S. electric utility earnings transcripts found nearly half have received inquiries from data center companies for volumes of power that would exceed their peak demand or generation capacity. Read more from Reuters.