New York AG charges suspect in alleged deed theft involving 92-year-old homeowner

New York Attorney General Letitia James has charged a Queens resident with allegedly stealing the Brooklyn home and savings of a 92-year-old woman with dementia, in a case highlighting how deed theft continues to strip home equity and housing security from elderly homeowners in New York City. On Thu

Viral ‘71% zero deals’ claim clashes with NAR 2026 member data

Data makes it easier to do our jobs in real estate — but accuracy and trust are more important than ever. We live and work in an age of nearly instant information and timesaving technology. This has had a profound impact on those of us in the world of real estate. With the tools at our disposal, we

VA updates appraisal rules, adjusts fees in some regions

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has updated several home loan appraisal requirements, removing and revising certain Minimum Property Requirements (MPRs), the agency announced Thursday. The changes are now in effect and reflected in the revised VA Lenders Handbook. The agency said in a n

Portals and brokerages escalate real estate vertical integration race

The modern battlefield offers a lesson in real estate vertical integration. Look around. Rocket bought Redfin. Compass combined with Anywhere to become the country’s largest brokerage, north of 340,000 agents. Zillow is fighting over listing access. Homes.com is still buying its way to portal releva

ARA adds REMAX president Chris Lim to board

The American Real Estate Association (ARA) has added REMAX president and chief growth officer Chris Lim and investor Andrew Dodge to its board of directors, expanding its leadership, according to an announcement on Thursday.  As part of the move, ARA will provide all REMAX agents in the United State

Finding meaning in a busy world: The modern originator’s path to pursuit, purpose, passion and peace

The mortgage industry has never been short on movement. In just the past decade, we’ve seen the rise and fall of companies, shifts in market leadership, the emergence of new technology and the kind of disruption that forces every originator to stop and ask: What am I really building? We’re operating

In land acquisition, the fastest decision wins

Every piece of land worth buying is a race. A broker hears that a landowner might sell fifty acres, and within an hour, twenty buyers know about it. Whoever gets to a confident number first, the price the seller will actually accept, wins it. Everyone else is analyzing yields and preparing bids for

KB Home Q2 2026 earnings point to scale vs execution debate

Homebuilding’s mid-year public company earnings season is now looking through the prism of the back half of 2026. Each of the sector’s players had better have put themselves in a good position for some heavy lifting and outperformance, rather than lugging around a forgettable first half. In that lig

Experienced Realtors hold the line in a tough housing market

Seasoned real estate agents are anchoring the residential market as buyers confront the toughest affordability environment in decades, according to the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) 2026 Member Profile, published on Thursday. The annual report, based on 2025 transactions and trends, shows

Senators push bipartisan plan to ‘save Social Security’

U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) are calling on Congress to shore up Social Security by lifting the cap on wages subject to payroll taxes. The proposal comes as policymakers and financial professionals warn of looming funding shortfalls and widespread confusion among

Young buyers are priced out in most U.S. metros, Pew data shows

Buying a first home has gotten materially harder for young adults in most major U.S. metros since 2019, as home values have far outpaced income gains and higher mortgage rates push monthly payments out of reach, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of American Community Survey data. The s

JPMorgan Chase names co-presidents as Dimon succession plan takes shape

JPMorgan Chase has named Doug Petno and Troy Rohrbaugh as co-presidents effective immediately — the clearest step yet in the board’s planning for an eventual successor to CEO Jamie Dimon. Dimon, who has led JPMorgan since 2006, remains as chairman and CEO. Over his tenure, he has reduced the bank’s

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 —