When Rocket Companies and Zillow find themselves in the crosshairs of federal litigation over alleged referral kickbacks, the industry takes notice. As the headlines fixate on the big players, a quieter anxiety is building among independent mortgage bankers (IMBs) and smaller lenders who lack the firepower to go toe-to-toe in a prolonged legal battle. The…
The United States added 115,000 jobs in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, significantly beating analysts’ expectations as employers continue to shrug off high energy costs and geopolitical uncertainty—something buyers and sellers have been less willing to do. With an unemployment rate now at 4.3% and an average 48,000 payrolls added per month…
A federal judge in Virginia has denied a motion to dismiss the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) major antitrust lawsuit against Zillow and Redfin, clearing the way for the case to advance. U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga issued the ruling Wednesday night, rejecting arguments from the two companies that the FTC’s allegations didn’t meet the legal…
Compass remains in headlines this week as CEO Robert Reffkin addressed the industry’s “shifting stance on phased marketing” in the company’s recent Q1 2026 earnings call, as the brokerage touts new synergies and business growth from its recent acquisitions. Speaking to investors, Reffkin said that he and other Compass executives are “pleased to see several…
Fierce portal giant competitors Zillow and Realtor.com have announced a new collaboration where, beginning this summer, Zillow Preview pre-market listings will also be available on Realtor.com®—listed as “Realtor.com Preview” listings. The move, being hailed by the portals in a release as setting “a new standard for pre-market transparency,” will allow buyers to see more homes…
Sales of new single-family houses in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 682,000, according to estimates released jointly May 5 by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). That was 7.4% above the February rate of 635,000, and 3.3% above the March 2025 rate of 660,000.…
MARIS (Mid-America Regional Information Systems)—an MLS serving real estate professionals across Missouri and Illinois—has announced significant growth in both listing inventory and geographic coverage. In 2026, MARIS stated it has experienced unprecedented expansion in listing activity, with total active inventory reaching 71,153 listings across all property types. This growth is supported by MARIS’s growing regional…
Chicago-based MLS Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) maintains a private listing network, which it has consistently defended even against pressure from other industry power players such as Zillow. Now, MRED’s private listing network is expanding outside Illinois, following an announcement on April 24 that the MLS is partnering with Compass to take its whole platform…
Editor’s note: Econ Review is a roundup of the month’s housing and economic market data reports. As spring progresses, the industry is awaiting data related to how the season shaped up ahead of another potential boom in activity over the upcoming summer. Here are some highlights from the housing and economic data that hit the…
Lawyers who launched the original buyer lawsuits—making largely the same accusations as Burnett but claiming homebuyers suffered harm—will seek to block the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) from striking a deal in a copycat case, asking a federal judge to block that deal based on what they describe as a “reverse auction.” In a filing…
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