Category: Real Estate
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The Push for Fair Housing: Can Equity Triumph Over Hardball Politics?
The National Fair Housing Alliance keeps the public updated on housing access. Its recent reporting indicates that U.S. housing discrimination has been rising over the past decade. In our digital era, we cannot talk about discrimination without implicating automated systems. So we need to understand fairness in the context of our computer age. Technology can…
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Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Boss Faces Investigation—After Accusing Others of Loan Fraud
Real estate developer William (Bill) Pulte directs the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Pulte is also the self-assigned chair of the boards of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Now, an investigation is underway as to whether Pulte (together with select employees) has misused federal authority and resources.
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Can Buyers Waive the Inspection Upfront? Some States Might Jump on the “No” Train
A few U.S. states discourage sellers and agents from expecting homebuyers to waive their right to a home inspection. This is a consumer-protection issue for states. And that’s not all. The inspection companies don’t like to be left out of deals. And they are lobbying for what they call buyers’ Right to Home Inspection (RTHI)…
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Real Estate “Reset” in 2026? Redfin Thinks So; Here’s the Logic
In an article published this month, titled “Welcome to The Great Housing Reset,” Chen Zhao and Daryl Fairweather of Redfin write, “Next year will mark the beginning of a long, slow recovery for the housing market. The Great Housing Reset will take shape in 2026.” Significantly, Redfin predicts that incomes will rise faster than home…
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Mortgage Fraud Risk Rises, as White House Moves to Banish the Watchdog
Mortgage applications with signs of fraud have increased more than 8% since this time last year. The news comes from the property analytics firm Cotality. The firm runs algorithms through applications, pinpoints possible fraud, and maintains the National Mortgage Application Fraud Risk Index. Cotality notes that real estate fraud rises as more investors take out…
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Zillow Removes Climate Risk Scores From Home Listings
Zillow®, the online real estate powerhouse, has made a change on its website. And people are talking about it. Visitors no longer see a home’s risk score for climate factors like flooding or wildfire potential. Just last year, Zillow adopted calculations from First StreetTM, which assigns risk levels to specific homes. The risk scores rank…
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C’mon, FICO! Another Fee Hike for 2026?
FICO is doubling its price for issuing a credit score — from $4.95 to $10. According to the Equifax credit data company, this hike will potentially raise credit report costs across the industry by $100 million. Now, mortgage lenders need to decide whether to eat the extra cost, or make mortgage applicants cover the added…
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Shakedown in Miami: City Presses Deed Holder to Give Up Front Yard Space for Potential Street Expansion
Chad is a deed holder in Miami. He says the city is trying to take front yard space away from him. He only wanted to create a backyard dwelling unit. When he requested permission, Miami insisted that Chad must transfer a part of his front yard to the city. What’s more, the strange process Miami…
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Seeking Housing Market Info? Today, 61% of Home Buyers Check AI First.
Artificial intelligence is transforming real estate deals, says a new Realtor.com® survey. Through that survey, the National Association of REALTORS® found that eight out of ten U.S. home buyers use artificial intelligence (AI) when making their plans and navigating their home purchases. The top two AI models for buyers are OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.…
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Hopeful Buyers Running Away From Their Home Purchase Deals? Why?
It’s no longer a seller’s market. Why, then, in most areas across the country, has home buyer demand wilted? Even when they do sign purchase agreements, many buyers are “ghosting” their sellers. Brokers, agents, and lenders are beginning to notice the trend. New Redfin research finds 53,000 September 2025 purchase contracts were broken — by…
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“Warped”: Since 2010, Average Home Buyer Goes From Age 39 to 59. Typical First-Time Buyer Turns 40.
The numbers don’t lie. First-timers have never dealt with harsher circumstances in U.S. homebuying history. The typical age for first-time home buyers is now 40, according to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR). Fortune magazine points to the observation of Apollo chief economist Torsten Slok: on average, all buyers have aged. Using NAR’s data, Slok…
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Look Who’s Back in the Real Estate Market: Investment Firms Sense Opportunity
Home prices? They’re high. Mortgage rates? Not exactly low. Current deed holders with lower mortgage rates still don’t want to move if they can help it. And hopeful buyers keep renting, biding their time. Investors are “seizing the opening and ramping up” their activity, according to the financial data analytics firm Cotality. Market watchers such…
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Now, After the Building Spree, Top Texas Cities Are Full-Blown Buyers’ Markets
Some market watchers say Texas has the best prices in the country for home buyers at the moment. The Redfin real estate group is one of them. Redfin says there are many more homes for sale in Austin than potential buyers. Home prices are now back to where they were five years ago in the…
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Breaking Down the Debate on 50-Year Mortgages
So, the federal government is going to bring 50-year mortgages back? Yes, the idea has been tried before. Some lenders marketed 50-year mortgages back in the lead-up to the 2008 mortgage crisis — although those loans weren’t government-backed. We can’t tell how the federal government would try to make them work this time, but there’s…
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Financial Planning for Deed Holders: Keep the Mortgage?
Some deed holders, hoping to pay their loans down early, send extra money toward their mortgage principal each month. Why are they eager to pay down a mortgage balance faster than the loan agreement requires? Is that the best approach from a financial planning standpoint? Here, we go through some factors that prompt some deed…
