As the question of affordability looms over homebuyers’ heads, recent reports by economists generally agree that the housing market is weighed down by economic and global constraints—though a new report offers some near-term reasons for optimism. The latest monthly Leading Economic Index (LEI) by nonprofit The Conference Board highlighted slight growth in many forward-looking metrics,…
New York looks likely to become the latest state to create restrictions on private listings. On June 1, the New York State Senate passed the Fair and Transparent Real Estate Listings Act, after amending the bill to include an opt-out option for sellers. The act’s intention is to prevent properties from only being available on…
Mortgage rates remain mostly better historically as this week and last observed some slight decreases, according to the latest data from Freddie Mac. However, the persistence of economic and market headwinds put this silver lining at risk. The latest Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey® saw the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) average 6.65% as of…
While mortgage rates and applications changed little last week, home-purchase applications retreated and were lower than last year’s pace, signaling to economists that continuing affordability challenges and economic uncertainty remain in place for price-sensitive buyers. The latest Market Composite Index from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)—its measure of mortgage loan activity volume and includes purchases…
Above: Keller Williams’ Mega Camp (photo courtesy of Keller Williams) Consumers aren’t spending that much. They aren’t confident in their earnings. They aren’t looking for jobs. Yet real estate keeps chugging along, Keller Williams Co-Founder Gary Keller noted in a speech to the company’s agents yesterday, in which he focused on the macro picture, including…
An appellate court today denied multiple appeals that had sought to overturn the National Association of Realtors®’ (NAR) 2024 settlement agreement, putting a legal period on the end of the seven-year long commission lawsuit saga that upended real estate practices and undermined NAR’s standing in the industry. A panel of three judges for the Eighth…
The plaintiffs who filed a recently dismissed lawsuit against Zillow over alleged steering to the portal’s mortgage services are looking to reopen the class action with an amended complaint, filed yesterday. The suit—originally filed back in November 2025 and later consolidated with another similar lawsuit Taylor v. Zillow—alleges that referrals to Zillow Home Loans are…
Economic uncertainty continues to push builders to temper their expectations (and pace of construction) based on the latest monthly new residential construction report by the U.S. Census Bureau. The Bureau’s report for July states that privately owned housing starts were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.24 million. This is a considerable decrease (12.4%)…
Housing transactions happen for a lot of reasons that real estate professionals are intimately familiar with—new job, new baby, new marriage. In the aggregate, though, most of these events can be classified as “household formations”—in simple terms, a new family is formed, and that family (usually) needs a new place to live. According to Harvard’s…
The Real Brokerage and RE/MAX—one of the world’s leading franchisors of real estate brokerage services—recently announced that shareholders of both companies approved Real’s proposed acquisition of RE/MAX at their respective special meetings, moving the major consolidation one step closer to finalization. Upon closing, the combined company will operate as Real REMAX Group, a holding company…
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