Above, George Sarkis, left, and Manny Sarkis No one needs to explain to George and Manny Sarkis, co-founders of The Sarkis Team at Douglas Elliman in Boston, what “competing” is all about. Because when many of your clients are elite athletes, executives and business leaders, supreme performance expectations are a given. The Sarkis brothers have…

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Editor’s note: The COURT REPORT is RISMedia’s weekly look at current and upcoming lawsuits, investigations and other legal developments around real estate. Zillow iBuyer lawsuit requests new trial date A lawsuit by Zillow shareholders accusing the portal of “misleading” statements related to its short-lived iBuying business is aiming for a new trial date, with a…

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Homeowners are older than the general population, while younger generations are falling behind due to affordability challenges. There has been some expectation of a so-called “silver tsunami,” i.e., when older homeowners begin listing their homes this will boost supply across the housing market. Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist of Bright MLS and publisher of the Housing…

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Above: Jenni Bonura First Multiple Listing Service (FMLS) announced that Jenni Bonura will join the organization as its new chief growth officer, bringing two decades of senior real estate leadership experience to the multiple listing service. During Bonura’s 20-plus-year career with Harry Norman, Realtors®, she held numerous leadership positions before ultimately serving as president and…

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CHICAGO—The CEOs of Compass and Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) each testified Thursday, July 2 that Zillow executives threatened them directly over their companies’ resistance to its listing access standards, with MRED CEO Rebecca Jensen recounting a Zillow executive’s warning that she could expect her “phone to be dumped” and all of her “text messages…

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Above, from left, Mike Hickman, Chris Trapani, Dava Davin, Brad Clayton and Kate Reisinger While industry consolidation is triggering concern for some, many independent brokerages are saying, “bring it on.”  In an upcoming session at RISMedia’s CEO & Leadership Exchange, being held Sept. 30-Oct. 2 at the Fairmont Georgetown in Washington, D.C., MLS leaders will…

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Compass has announced the launch of “Home Platform,” its end-to-end AI-powered technology platform for real estate professionals, in what company President of Growth Rory Golod called “its single most important innovation in our business.” Compass said the deployment, now rolling out across the mega-brand’s company-owned brokerage brands, represents a historic milestone that Golod promised in…

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I started my first software company in 1983. I remember when Apple released the first mouse. The other day I was talking with my business partner, Brad Clayton, and he asked me where I thought AI was going. I said: “I’ve seen this movie before.” What’s happening with AI right now really reminds me of…

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The average 30-year-fixed mortgage rate dropped to its lowest level in seven weeks, but is still hovering in the mid-6% range, indicating to economists that buyers–mainly in the higher-income bracket–are coming to terms with this rate environment as the new normal.  The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate decreased 6 basis points to 6.43% from 6.49%…

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Job growth trended downward and came in below expectations in June, per the latest findings from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This adds another data point as the Federal Reserve moves to consider adjusting interest rates in coming months; in previous months, the Fed has been caught between both rising inflation and a weak…

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