The first year of the Trump administration saw much back and forth as the President put in place various tariffs on U.S. imports, including goods imported from historical trading partners such as Canada and Mexico. Most of these tariffs have now been struck down—the Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, ruled that Trump does not…
When the Compass-Anywhere deal closed in early January with little fanfare—only three months after it was announced—there were at least some raised eyebrows. A deal of that magnitude often elicits significant regulatory scrutiny, with multiple federal agencies given a chance over the course of months to examine how a merger will affect markets or whether…
Three mortgage companies have been accused of violating the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) in a new lawsuit filed in the Western District of Missouri. The newly filed Peyton v. Veterans United Home Loans takes aim at the mortgage company as well as Realty Search Solutions (aka Veterans United Realty) and the Mortgage Research…
At the January 2026 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, the voting body chose to leave interest rates unchanged. The Federal Reserve’s dual mandate of price stability and maximum employment have been at crossroads the past few months; inflation has trickled up, but the labor market shows signs of softness. At the January meeting, concerns…
At the end of 2025, the leading indicators of the economy suggested a slowing contraction, but enduring consumer cynicism. The latest Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) report from nonprofit business research organization The Conference Board found a 0.2% decline in December, compared to a 0.3% decline in November. The report’s baseline (measured against 2016, rated at…
In the pandemic boom market, a lot of people did very well. Listing agents could sell a home for 10% over asking in a weekend; homeowners refinanced or cashed in on big equity jumps; middle-income families took advantage of low rates to snatch up their dream homes. But there is one group that maybe didn’t…
Continuing challenges to affordability—namely higher construction and financing costs—once again kept builder confidence in the negative territory, according to the latest data from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The latest NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) saw builder confidence slip one point to 36 in February, following the two-point fall seen in January…
While 2025 overall was markedly disappointing for homebuilders, large jumps in new construction at the end of the year seem to outline a brighter future for 2026, one that builders are looking to approach with caution. A delayed New Residential Construction report from the Census Bureau found that housing starts in December came in at…
In a mostly technical legal briefing filed last week in Virginia federal court, rivals Zillow and Redfin jointly pushed back against a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and five states’ attorneys general that alleges the two companies violated federal antitrust law when they struck a rental “syndication” agreement late last year, arguing…
Editor’s note: The COURT REPORT is RISMedia’s weekly look at current and upcoming lawsuits, investigations and other legal developments around real estate. Rhode Island agent Kyle Seyboth under fire, again The Delva family—a Haitian immigrant family at the center of the Rhode Island Attorney General’s lawsuit against top agent Kyle Seyboth—has now filed their own…
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