CoStar stockholders back directors, approve pay plan

CoStar Group stockholders approved all proposals at the company’s annual meeting on Tuesday, including the reelection of eight director nominees and an advisory vote on a redesigned executive compensation plan, the company said in an announcement on Thursday. The vote gives CoStar leadership a gover

Qualia expands wire fraud protection platform for title and escrow

Qualia has expanded its wire fraud prevention platform, Qualia Shield, adding new automated verification capabilities designed to help title and escrow companies identify potential fraud during real estate transactions. Shield is integrated into the Qualia title and escrow operating system and autom

HomeServices, Elliman notch legal wins in commission suit saga

While their homebuyer commission lawsuit settlement agreements are still waiting for final approval, both HomeServices of America and Douglas Elliman notched legal wins this week in the homebuyer commission litigation saga.  In a ruling Tuesday, Florida-based District Court Judge K. Michael Moore de

The next credit gap: When BNPL, rent and trended data collide

As mortgage underwriting absorbs Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) activity, rent payment history and trended credit data, consumers face a new challenge: understanding how everyday financial behavior is being interpreted by increasingly sophisticated scoring systems. Credit modernization is not the problem

ROAD work ahead

A fiendishly brilliant advertising copywriter working for Benetton during the “hanging chads” Presidential election controversy in 1992 took a circa-1973 Yogi Berraism and transformed it for a New York City billboard on the heavily trafficked northbound West Side Highway. “It ain’t Oval ‘til it’s Ov

FHFA pushes GSEs to embrace chattel loans in Duty to Serve proposal

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has proposed replacing its existing Duty to Serve (DTS) regulation with an outcome-based framework that would change how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac support manufactured housing, affordable housing preservation and rural housing. The proposal, released in a n

The checklist real estate agents need for estate sale referrals and timing

For a decade, the housing industry has waited for a “silver tsunami,” a wave of homes released as older owners downsize or pass away. The wave has not arrived on schedule, and recent data suggests it may never break the way it was predicted. But the homes that trickle on to the market have something

From recovery to real estate: Tracy Jones Team climbs to No. 1 in Ohio

Northeast Ohio real estate agent Tracy Jones is setting a top-ranked transaction pace after overcoming some of life’s most difficult circumstances. Today, her Keller Williams-affiliated real estate team ranks No. 1 in Ohio among medium teams for transaction sides on RealTrends Verified’s rankings —

AARP awards $8.3M in senior-focused housing and community improvement grants

AARP, the nation’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to serving older Americans, on Wednesday announced more than $8 million in grants across the country. The funds aim to make communities more livable, with specific targets toward improving housing, public spaces, transportation and digital

New home sales fall in May as rate shock, inflation squeeze buyers

New home sales pulled back in May as elevated mortgage rates, sticky inflation and consumer uncertainty again tested the upper limit of what buyers can afford, the latest U.S. Census and HUD report shows. Sales of newly built single-family homes fell 7.3% from April to a seasonally adjusted annual r

Most AI-altered listings go undisclosed, California law bans it

More than 1 in 10 primary listing photographs on the nation’s four largest real estate portals show evidence of digital alteration — and over 90% of those images carry no visible disclosure, according to a new study. The analysis by real estate intelligence platform Coraly examined just under 40,000

Why we can’t get more housing construction in the US

New home sales tanked this morning and had a slightly lower negative revision. But the bigger story is that demand is the main reason housing construction hasn’t been growing for years, and we simply have too much completed supply for sale for construction growth to ramp up. Let’s remember this less

Trump abruptly delays signing of 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act

President Donald Trump on Wednesday abruptly canceled a planned signing ceremony for a bipartisan housing bill, saying he would withhold action on the measure until Congress passes the SAVE America Act, a sweeping election bill that has become a centerpiece of his second-term agenda. Trump was sched

Fannie and Freddie’s new rules change the playbook for condo buyers, sellers and managers alike

In March of this year, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac unveiled a major change to condominium lending, financial and insurance standards aimed at improving the way condos are bought, sold and managed. These updated rules change the criteria for prospective condo buyers to obtain conventional financing th

Congress passes 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, sends bill to Trump

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act passed the House of Representatives after clearing the Senate and now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk for signature in the coming days. The housing package aims to reduce homeownership costs and improve housing supply while incorporating priorities from Co

Boomer Foster launches Paul Wesley Real Estate brokerage

As a child Boomer Foster, the nephew of Long & Foster co-founder Wesley Foster, wrote three goals on a scrap of paper in crayon: Play in the NFL Practice law with his dad Be president of Long & Foster “I was too slow for the NFL, but I played football all four years at University of South Carolina,

Why mortgage rates haven’t followed oil prices by moving lower

Many people in the housing industry are wondering why mortgage rates haven’t fallen even as oil prices have dropped from $111 per barrel to less than $73 today. The 10-year Treasury yield is at 4.48% and mortgage rates are near their yearly highs. This is a fair question, and we have already discuss

Mortgage rates move near 6.8% as the potential for a Fed hike grows

Mortgage rates are moving higher as 2026 nears its midway point. And sentiment has shifted when it comes to rate expectations as more housing market observers are predicting at least one rate hike this year — a stark contrast to the start of 2026 when multiple cuts were on the table and sub-6% rates

Builders planned for undersupply, now demand is the swing factor

The “emerging trends” in housing story over the past decade or more has been a tale of magnitude variations on a theme: constrained supply eclipsed by growing demand. If there is one conclusion that rises above all others in this year’s “The State of the Nation’s Housing 2026” report, it is that the

Realtor.com: Investor home purchase activity was stable in 2025

Investor activity in the U.S. housing market remained resilient in 2025 even as overall home sales fell to one of their lowest levels in decades, according to a report released Tuesday by Realtor.com. Investors purchased roughly 534,000 homes last year, a 0.7% increase from 2024, while their share o