CoStar Group has added a new independent director to its board of directors. On Monday, the Andy Florance-helmed firm announced the appointment of Nana Banerjee to the firm’s board of directors. Banerjee’s appointment expands the board to nine members, including eight independent directors.  “On beh

When every deal feels personal, even winning gets expensive. There is a particular look you start to recognize once you have been around the real estate industry long enough. You know the one. That steely, thousand-yard stare that comes from decades of real estate. It shows up at open houses around

On January 15, 2026, the FHFA provided documentation to the Housing Policy Council (HPC) in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request made in July of 2023.  Those documents, though redacted, clearly indicated that the GSEs did not recommend approving two scores as was directed by the F

Lower mortgage rates and less volatility have been one of the key positive stories in 2026 for the housing market. Until last week, rates were under 6.25% all year and we didn’t see much volatility, which is a key variable for a healthy housing market. However, a lot of that changed last week as the

New Western released a new report examining the role of real estate investors in supplying entry-level housing. It found that small investors added far more homes in the starter-home price range than homebuilders in 2025. The company’s 2026 Flip Side Report on residential real estate investing trend

President Donald Trump on Friday announced two executive orders that aim to increase the U.S. housing supply and consumer access to mortgage credit. One of the orders directs various federal agencies — including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Federal Housing Finan

The White House announced on Friday afternoon its effort to challenge what it calls “unnecessary regulatory barriers” to homebuilding by issuing a broad executive order to reduce environmental, permitting and programmatic restrictions that federal officials say are contributing to the nation’s housi

In the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, overwhelmingly approved by the Senate on Thursday, is a provision titled, “Homes Are for People, Not Corporations.” This provision seeks to impose new restrictions on institutional investors in the single-family housing market. Under the provision, entities o

A federal judge on Friday blocked subpoenas that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) served the Federal Reserve in a case involving Jerome Powell’s Congressional testimony on the central bank’s headquarters renovation, concluding the effort appeared designed to “harass and pressure” him to lower in

Uncertainty, margin compression and the gut-check math of affordability are the givens of a new-home market impatiently waiting for relief on at least one of those three fronts.  Most public homebuilders – facing this indefinite limbo – are doing the same thing: slowing down. Production starts are t

iBuyer Opendoor’s recently launched mortgage product — which promises below-market interest rates after the company removed its markup — has sparked debate across the industry about who absorbs the cost and whether the model is sustainable. Some industry professionals view the offering as similar to

The private listings debate just got louder. Howard Hanna Real Estate Services has launched HannaList, an internal listing network that allows Howard Hanna agents to share listings exclusively with Howard Hanna buyer agents before those properties ever reach the MLS. Combined with what Compass has b

Phil Crescenzo Jr., a high-producing loan officer in South Carolina, is joining NFM Lending. The move was announced Friday on social media by NFM managing director Greg Sher. Crescenzo comes to NFM after a two-year stint as Southeast division manager for Nation One Mortgage Corp. His prior experienc

With the closure of its merger with Anywhere Real Estate now in the rearview mirror, Compass International Holdings (CIH) is looking to get all 340,000 real estate professionals under its all-in-one technology platform. On Friday, the firm announced that Shay Artzi will spearhead this effort in his

For years, the housing industry anticipated that the aging demographic would steadily release inventory into the resale market. Instead, many older homeowners are remaining in place longer than expected — and the reasons go far beyond sentiment. As someone who began my career building a mortgage len

New Jersey homeowners could see smaller property tax relief benefits under a budget proposal unveiled Tuesday by Gov. Mikie Sherrill, as the state confronts fiscal pressures and persistently high costs of living. In her first budget address since taking office, Sherrill proposed tightening eligibili

Japan-based real estate and construction giants have spent the past decade quietly building footholds across the U.S. housing market. By early 2026, those footholds are transforming into a noticeable wave of expansion. The latest development comes from Tokyo-based Hajime Construction Co., Ltd., whic

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) urged the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to revise elements of its proposed partial claim and loss-mitigation policies for VA-backed mortgages, arguing that the draft rules could leave veteran borrowers at a disadvantage compared to others. In a comme

When the Senate overwhelmingly passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act on Thursday, longtime real estate analyst Steve Murray zeroed in on a number at the center of the legislation: 350. That figure, under the bill, defines a “large institutional investor” — a category that triggers strict limit

Like its residential construction counterpart – homebuilding – the more than $500 billion residential remodeling industry remains highly geographically fragmented and varies widely in firm size, despite a slight increase in M&A activity since the COVID pandemic. In an industry dominated by small ope