Real estate

Two heavyweights in the US residential real estate market, Compass Inc. and Zillow Inc., will face off in a New York courtroom this week in a legal battle that could reshape the future of how homes are marketed and sold in the country.

Contract closings increased 1.5% to an annual rate of 4.06 million in September, the highest in seven months, according to National Association of Realtors figures released Thursday.

Opendoor Technologies Inc. shares surged by as much as 69% Thursday after announcing the return of its co-founders to the board and a new chief executive officer. 

The company also made several new executive appointments in 2025 as it aims to turn itself into a national one-stop shop with end-to-end home buying services.

Funding for Volo Loans, which assists U.S. homebuyers in Costa Rica, comes after recent polling showed a significant share of Americans open to moving abroad.

Whether current conditions favor buyers or sellers is up for debate, as economic uncertainty begins to influence consumer behavior, The Real Brokerage said.

Offices, apartment buildings and retail locations in Los Angeles face a tangle of difficulties as the smoke clears from January's wildfires. High on the list is inadequate insurance, a common problem in California.

Gov. Gavin Newsom modeled his latest order on a similar ban imposed in Hawaii following the 2023 Maui wildfire that aimed to protect community wealth.

The former president of the servicing giant stepped down from his previous role in early 2024 but continued to hold board positions at parent and partner businesses.

The residential market is expected to face challenges from stubbornly high mortgage rates and limited supply in 2025, particularly after Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments on Wednesday indicating fewer rate cuts are coming.

The bond-market selloff unleashed by Donald Trump's presidential victory last week ended almost as quickly as it began. 

The median age of a first-time buyer reached a record of 38 — about a decade older than in the 1980s.

The nation's highest court has no deadline to address the petition and can reject it without an explanation.

The launch of joint-venture business Aclara Lending comes through a new agreement between the real estate enterprise and mortgage broker Barrett Financial Group.

The changes laid out in the agreement are technical, revolving around paperwork consumers complete at the beginning of the buying or selling process, and they add new wrinkles to an already complicated undertaking.

The move further diversifies a company working to grow beyond its roots in what is currently a small — but possibly expanding — single-family distressed market.

More than a quarter of the respondents to a Redfin survey don't know how much their agent got, with 19% unaware of who actually paid them.

The downward trend comes as servicers and agencies continue to implement programs aimed at keeping borrowers in their homes.

In the four years since February 2020, rents have risen overall by approximately 28%, Corelogic found.

The top five states have an average realtor commission rate of 6.04%.