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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OneKey® MLS has announced that it is preparing to launch Ocusell’s List™ listing management technology into its multiple listing service, which serves 42,000 subscriber agents in Long Island, all five New York City boroughs and the Hudson Valley.  According to a release, as one of the earliest adopters to join Ocusell, OneKey® wanted a way…

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In the wake of elevated mortgage rates and rising year-over-year inflation, homesellers are doing their best to stimulate buyer behavior and get their listings off the market. According to a recent report by Bright MLS Chief Economist Lisa Sturtevant, about 40.1% of market listings in the Mid-Atlantic region have had their prices reduced as of…

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A new report from Zillow shows home sales up 7% in July–the strongest annual gain seen so far this year–but a closer look at the data reveals newly pending listings are up just 0.3% year-over-year, suggesting that the summer sales bump won’t last. According to Zillow, July’s headline sales figure reflects contracts signed weeks earlier,…

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