Housing Wire

DECEMBER 27, 2024

As you plan your 2025, its important to be intentional about including self-development activities. After all, our business will only grow as much as we do as business owners. With hundreds of books to choose from, it can be overwhelming to know which one will truly have a positive impact on your life and your business. To help, we reached out to real estate agents nationwide to compile our list of the best books for real estate agents.

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Real Estate News

DECEMBER 24, 2024

In an email to leaders, the association said PARs refusal to stop offering its MLS Choice option leaves NAR no choice but to defend its trademark and model.

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Keeping Current Matters

DECEMBER 3, 2024

A lot of people assume spring is the ideal time to sell a house.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 30, 2024

All the housing market data for 2024 is in, and its fair to say that the housing market surprised us again! However, there are two big trends that stand out as we launch into 2025 affordability and sellers in the market. The elephant in the room is affordability. Home prices finished 2024 up a few percent nationally and mortgage rates are at their highest level in seven months back over 7% as we head into January.

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Don’t just react to changes, plan for them, so you can approach the new year with confidence, direction, and a competitive edge for your business. Having a well-defined business plan helps you chart a clear course, navigate challenges, and set a foundation for growth. This workbook gives you the key steps to outline what matters and will ensure you’re moving ahead.

Development

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 30, 2024

Rising housing inventory levels in 2024 may not be the positive sign of market health that they appear to be. High inventory levels contribute to another problem as active listings are remaining unsold for longer periods. Although higher home prices , rising mortgage rates and other expenses are obvious factors, there may be more to the story. Rising supply is one of the housing market highlights of 2024, according to HousingWire Lead Analyst Logan Mohtashami , who said that housing inventory is

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 23, 2024

New home sales grew over last month in the latest Census report , but homebuilders are now facing a supply issue their inventory is building up. This is the reason why housing starts are at recession levels today. Monthly new home sales have been stagnant for the past two years. When mortgage rates decline, sales improve, but it becomes more challenging for builders and buyers when rates rise.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 19, 2024

The housing industry is getting an early Christmas gift. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that existing-home sales in November rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.15 million, a 4.8% increase over the revised October number and a 6.1% increase year over year. The annualized rate is the highest seen since the tally of 4.22 million in March 2024 , and its the highest year-over-year increase since a 23% gain in June 2021.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 19, 2024

Its late December so all the 2025 mortgage rate forecasts have been published. Unfortunately, all of them are already wrong. Most housing market analysts expect mortgage rates to spend the year with a 6 handle. The most optimistic predictions assume 2025 will see mostly low 6s for the 30-year fixed rate mortgage. And yet with pesky inflation data not falling as quickly or as far as expected, Fed chair Jerome Powell suddenly changed his language in the Fed meeting on Dec. 19.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 21, 2024

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell played the Grinch last week for the housing market, sending mortgage rates higher after his remarks at the Fed presser on Wednesday. Despite this, we had positive data on existing home sales , purchase applications, and our weekly pending contract figures. Total active listings are experiencing their traditional seasonal decline, but with less than two weeks left in the year, its evident that there are ready homebuyers in America.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 28, 2024

The most positive development in the housing market over 2024 has been the increase in active housing inventory , which is approaching the levels seen in 2019. Although those 2019 levels represent a five-decade low before COVID-19, the market was still functioning better than it did from 2020 to 2023. During the first few years of COVID-19 recovery, there was an unhealthy imbalance, with too many buyers competing for too few homes.

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Speaker: Abdi Ali, Sr. Lease Accounting Consultant

Join this insightful webinar with industry expert Abdi Ali, who will discuss the challenges that can arise from managing lease accounting with spreadsheets! He will share real-world examples of errors, compliance issues, and risks that may be present within your spreadsheets. Learn how these tools, while useful, can sometimes lead to inefficiencies that affect your time, resources, and peace of mind.

Industrial

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 27, 2024

Theres no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to finding the right transaction management software for your real estate business. Whether youre running a large brokerage, managing a small team or working on your own, the right transaction management platform can take the worry out of compliance and lighten your workload. Your unique business needs will determine which transaction software is right for your business.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 19, 2024

The COVID-19 pandemic turned previously sleepy cities into boomtowns.Expanded or permanent work-from-home policies gave people more flexibility in where to live, and those in uber-expensive markets like San Francisco and Manhattan took advantage by moving to areas where they could get more space for less money. This created incredibly competitive housing markets in smaller cities that pushed sales and prices sky high.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 30, 2024

In this weeks episode of the RealTrending podcast , host Tracey Velt sits down with Tiffani Marroquin, head of growth and innovation for JPAR Real Estate. They discuss the utility of artificial intelligence (AI) for the real estate industry, as well as JPARs solutions designed to enhance agent and brokerage performance. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 17, 2024

The criminal charges against the Alexander brothers are now affecting Side s civil lawsuit against them. Side has filed a preliminary injunction against Tal and Oren Alexander and their brokerage, Official Partners , that seeks to prevent them from dissipating, hiding or moving collateral for a loan that Side claims the brothers have defaulted on. Side a white-label brokerage that affiliated with Official Partners argues that the criminal charges filed against the Alexanders last week require

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As the real estate market evolves, technology has become essential for success. According to NAR, only 26% of agents feel their brokerage provides the necessary tech tools and, as a result, agents seek teams and brokerages who prioritize technology investments! Whether you manage an established team or are forming a new one, this guide outlines key considerations and necessary applications to thrive.

Agents

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 20, 2024

Despite 2025 housing market predictions changing fast , there are still key themes and trends for real estate leaders to watch to best serve their clients and business. Jessica Lautz, deputy chief economist and vice president of research at the National Association of Realtors and upcoming speaker at the Housing Economic Summit, sat down with HousingWires Senior Director of Events Brena Nath to answer a few questions on what she thinks is to come for real estate in 2025.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 17, 2024

The American dream is synonymous with two ideas. One is the idea that anyone in this country can find a path to economic success regardless of their circumstances at birth. The second idea is the symbolic encapsulation of the first idea: homeownership. Owning a home is the signifier of economic success, but over the last few years, that milestone has gotten farther out of reach for first-time homebuyers.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 20, 2024

Home sales in 2024 have been well below historic norms. Higher prices, higher mortgage rates and limited inventory are making for a slow market among buyers and sellers alike. Real estate investors tend to be more insulated from these dynamics, particularly from mortgage rates, as they are more likely to buy properties with cash. But even investors have purchased fewer homes this year.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 7, 2024

Last week, we witnessed a Santa Claus rally in mortgage rates alongside improved housing demand. The economy continues to create jobs, with wages growing at an annual rate of 4%. We also see growth in our pending contract data compared to 2022 and 2023. Additionally, the purchase application data delivered another pleasant surprise with positive results.

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Sales

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 30, 2024

Despite rising mortgage rates through much of 2024, recent indications show growing boldness among homebuyers heading into the new year. A report released Monday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) showed an increase in pending home sales for the fourth consecutive month. NAR’s Pending Homes Sales Index (PHSI) report is a forward-looking source that predicts home sales based on contract signings.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 27, 2024

If youre reading this article, youre not alone. Youve likely heard about real estate teams and how they can impact your career but what exactly are they, and why are so many agents joining or building teams? Its a big decision to make whether youre just starting or want to take your career to the next level. Its important to understand how real estate teams work for you to decide whether its the right career move for you.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 18, 2024

The fallout from Fed day got out of hand very quickly. The market reacted badly to the FOMC statement and remarks by Federal Reserve Chairman Powell during the Q&A presser, sending the 10-year yield and mortgage rates higher. Also, the Dow was down over 1,000 points today. So what gives? Market players were already talking about how the Fed would dial back rate cuts in 2025, but Powell didnt sound sure of himself in that press event and left an opening to create tighter financial conditions.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 17, 2024

Rent prices have fluctuated alongside home prices in this year’s housing market. More inventory can bring down prices, but some renters still struggle to meet the rental price hikes found in new construction. Seattle-based brokerage Redfin released a report this week that highlighted a 1.5% increase in asking rents for newly constructed apartments in 2024 the biggest spike in 18 months.

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Speaker: Sarah Santa Ana, Real Estate Coach, Move4Free Realty

Networking is one of the crucial elements in every real estate organization's success. Both agents and real estate companies need to maintain robust networking links. This is why social media is essential for any real estate professional! Social media enables you to stay in touch with your present clients, maintain connections with your past clients, and engage potential customers and investors.

Agents

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 5, 2024

Vetted by HousingWire | Our editors independently review the products we recommend. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Are you looking to add a dose of inspiration, humor and expertise to your Instagram feed? From luxury property tours to laugh-out-loud real estate memes, these 21 agents and influencers bring the best of the industry right to your phone.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 20, 2024

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) this week announced a new final rule establishing affordable housing goals for the loan purchases of government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from 2025 through 2027. The goals, originally proposed in August , are largely unchanged from the initial draft. They are designed to support equitable housing access for low-income families and families in low-income areas, according to an announcement.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 20, 2024

A new bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives proposes to relieve Federal Housing Administration (FHA) borrowers of mortgage insurance premiums (MIPs) once they reach a certain level of home equity , aligning FHA policies with those of conventional loans. Introduced by Reps. Gregory W. Meeks (D-N.Y.) and Pete Sessions (R-Texas) on Thursday, the bipartisan bill allows borrowers to stop paying mortgage insurance once their loan-to-value (LTV) ratio reaches 78%, rather than paying it f

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 8, 2024

U.S. mortgage holders experienced a home equity increase in the third quarter of 2024 up 2.5% year over year to a total of $17.5 trillion nationwide. But that was down from 8% growth in the second quarter, and negative equity also ramped up for the first time in two years, according to a CoreLogic report. CoreLogic’s Q3 2024 Homeowner Equity Insights report showed that the total number of mortgaged homes with negative equity rose by 3.5% from the second quarter.

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Speaker: Trey Willard, Realtor/Team Leader at Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

In order to create continued success in today’s real estate market, realtors need to utilize an arsenal of technology that will increase their efficiency and presence on social media. Using technology to manage your prospects and tap into their needs through websites, social media, and other channels is critical for real estate success in 2022 and beyond.

Agents

Housing Wire

DECEMBER 16, 2024

As the year draws to a close, available unsold inventory of homes on the market is nearly 27% greater than a year ago. Almost every market in the country has more homes available now than at the end of 2023. Ten states have more inventory unsold than in 2019, which was the last sort of normal year before the pandemic. A few states have more homes on the market now than any time in the last eight to 10 years.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 27, 2024

A new report from Redfin revealed that active listings climbed 12% year over year (954,703 listings) during the four weeks ending December 22, though that was the smallest increase since March. Pending home sales sat at 58,267 for the four weeks, marking a year-over-year change of -3.4% the first drop in three months, per Redfin’s data. New listings were unchanged at 54,077.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 3, 2024

With technology rapidly advancing, Zumper is the latest company in the real estate industry to dive into artificial intelligence (AI) assistants. The rental portal this week launched an AI assistant named Zoe, which according to the company can answer “virtually any renter question about a property or its neighborhood.” Zoe can also help manage the process of renting an apartment by requesting tours and submitting leads.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 2, 2024

Ryan Serhant ’s eponymous brokerage has been in rapid growth mode this year following the success of the Netflix show “Owning Manhattan,” and now investors want in on the action. SERHANT. announced Monday that it secured $45 million in a Series A funding round led by real estate venture capital firm Camber Creek and participation from Left Lane Capital.

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In the rapidly changing real estate landscape, achieving profitability requires a strategic approach beyond traditional methods. Our guide, "The 4 Pillars to Brokerage Profitability," outlines four essential pillars for scaling your real estate business: a seamless lead-to-close technology ecosystem, tailored integrated solutions for teams and agents, value-added success services and community support, and consumer-centric operations throughout the full homeownership lifecycle.

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