While mortgage rates remain elevated, a slight retreat this past week drove home-purchase application activity up for the first time in several weeks.  The latest Market Composite Index from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)—its measure of mortgage loan activity volume and includes purchases and refinances—shows mortgage application activity increasing this week 3.6% on a seasonally…

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As many Americans blasted their ACs and took to the roads for summer vacations in July, the cost of energy decreased slightly while inflation overall rose slowly. For the month of July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased slightly by 0.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis. This…

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Cynthia Taylor, senior vice president of agent software and advertising at Zillow, is reshaping how technology supports real estate agents in a rapidly evolving market. She oversees a broad portfolio of tools designed to help agents grow their business and deliver standout client experiences. This year Taylor landed a coveted spot on RISMedia’s 2026 Real…

The post A Deep Dive With Tech Exec Cynthia Taylor on the Mission Behind Zillow’s Suite of Agent Products appeared first on RISMedia.

As we slip into the second half of 2026, major homebuilders are looking past this challenging year and making their predictions for the future in a so-far very unpredictable market.  Three major homebuilders—D.R. Horton, Lennar Corp and PulteGroup—ended their earnings calls over the last few weeks with optimistic yet guarded sentiments, as the real estate…

The post Big Builders Cite Consumer ‘Anxieties,’ Oil Prices as Weighing on Market appeared first on RISMedia.

Discount brokerage Homie Technology, Inc.’s appeal to reverse the dismissal of its lawsuit against the National Association of Realtors® (NAR)—as well as Anywhere, REMAX, Keller Williams and HomeServices of America—has been dismissed. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit issued its judgement Tuesday, dismissing the appeal, with the Circuit judges stating in the…

The post Appeals Court Dismisses Homie’s Request to Reopen NAR Lawsuit appeared first on RISMedia.

Independent real estate brokerage FirstTeam has announced the next phase of its strategic national expansion in Kansas and Missouri. Led by broker-owner Scott Eckhoff and Rival Real Estate, the expansion establishes the company’s first Midwest presence with a community office in Kansas City. “From our initial meetings with FirstTeam®, it was clear that they saw…

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Inside Real Estate, the technology company behind its BoldTrail CRM and AI real estate platform, has announced two steps in its AI roadmap for BoldTrail BackOffice: The launch of ComplianceAI, an automated compliance-review capability built in partnership with SetWave, and the upcoming launch of BackOffice MCP, giving brokerages a direct, secure line between their data…

The post Inside Real Estate Advances AI Strategy With Launch of ComplianceAI and Direct AI Assistant Integration With BoldTrail BackOffice appeared first on RISMedia.

Peabody, Massachusetts, (that’s Pee-buh-dee for out-of-towners), a commuting-distance suburb of Boston located about 15 minutes Northeast on the city’s pricey North Shore, is taking first prize in this year’s Hottest Zip Codes of 2026 report from Realtor.com®, which ranks zip codes based on how many views listings receive and how quickly homes sell.  According to…

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The private listing debate quickly got messy within the industry. Real estate rivals suddenly couldn’t agree even on the definition of “private,” and the disputes have often become technical and insular—seller choice versus transparency, monopolies and conspiracies, the Wall Street boogeyman and the out-of-touch incumbents. But as brokerage and MLS leaders updated policies and focused…

The post Lawmakers and Consumers Have Questions About Private Listings. Does the Industry Have Answers? appeared first on RISMedia.

In the technological revolution of AI, more and more data centers that house the processors and servers for this tech are being built across the country, and they’re getting bigger and bigger.  As AI continues to become more popular, and the data centers continue to grow, there are many questions at play in real estate…

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