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…

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The mid-to-late summer housing market appears to be plodding along, as pending activity in July slipped to a low for the year, according to the latest data from the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). NAR’s Pending Home Sales report found that sales dipped 2.3% month-over-month and 2.2% year-over-year in July. This is the second month…

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Redfin, the real estate brokerage powered by Rocket, announced on Aug. 17 a partnership with Winnie—one of the largest marketplaces for childcare and early education in the U.S.—to bring local childcare information to every for-sale home listing on Redfin.  Home searchers can now view daycare and preschool options closest to each listing, along with details…

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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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Builder sentiment remains muted from economic and geopolitical uncertainty, elevated mortgage rates and rising construction costs, with the latest data and analysis from homebuilders painting an overall still-muddled picture of near-term housing demand and affordability. Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes inched up one point to 35 in August, according to…

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Real estate’s Multiple Listing Service (MLS) was built on a century of shared data and mutual trust among brokers. Now, a panel of industry executives says that trust between agents and consumers is fraying as more properties get pulled into private listing networks. And, increasingly, panelists warn trust and cooperation between rival brokerages is wearing…

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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. NAR said it will “suffer prejudice” without Umansky fraud documents The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) is continuing to spar with PLS.com Founder Mauricio Umansky in the listing startup’s lawsuit against the organization.…

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The American Real Estate Association (ARA) has announced the appointment of John Blount as its chief lobbyist. Blount previously served as chief lobbyist for the National Association of Realtors® (NAR).  According to ARA, the hire signals its intent to be a strong national voice on real estate policy. With Blount, ARA gains a Washington veteran…

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Consumer attitudes toward the economy reversed course as sentiment fell by nearly 8% so far for August. The University of Michigan’s monthly preliminary consumer sentiment survey reported a sharp decline. On a month-over-month basis, consumer sentiment dropped by 7.6%, ending the nation’s two-month streak of consecutive growth. The decline is more severe on an annual…

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Not so very long ago when people decided they were ready to become homeowners, most didn’t even think to consider a condo. The American Dream was a standalone house. It still is, but with limited inventory in many places and elevated mortgage rates and prices, suddenly a less expensive condo is more logical and achievable…

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