HousingWire

Weekly pending sales Our pending home sales data provides a week-to-week perspective, though results can be affected by holidays and short-term fluctuations. This weekly pending sales data typically takes 30-60 days to be reflected in the sales data. We had the traditional July 4th weekend hit to the data, which happens every year, but even with that, demand was still positive year over year. Seasonality is kicking in on our weekly data line, but we always keep an eye out for year-over-year.

After months of deliberation, delays and drama, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act has finally crossed the finish line. The legislation, aimed at cutting red tape and making homeownership more attainable, is now the law of the land after President Donald Trump declined to sign or veto the bill before the deadline of midnight Eastern time Saturday.

Century 21 is riding a wave of franchise acquisitions and merger activity — a trend Chief Operating Officer Greg Sexton says is driven by the escalating demands of real estate technology. Sexton, who has spent more than two decades with the company, said the aggressive push into mergers and acquisitions (M&A) began as a strategic initiative following the pandemic and has since transformed into a core component of the brand’s identity.

Fifteen named plaintiffs allege that Veterans United Home Loans — the nation’s largest lender of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) mortgages — ran an illegal kickback and steering scheme that funneled borrowers into overpriced loans. The accusations were reiterated Thursday in court filings as the plaintiffs opposed a motion to dismiss an amended complaint that was filed by the lender in June.

Rechat has launched Testimonials, a new feature that enables real estate agents to collect, manage and use client reviews directly within the Rechat platform. The feature is integrated alongside contacts, transactions and marketing tools, allowing testimonials to automatically populate marketing materials, listing presentations and campaigns without requiring agents to switch between platforms. The feature is now available at no additional cost to Rechat users.

The American Real Estate Association (ARA) is joining the Missouri Association of Realtors and a coalition of organizations opposing Amendments 4 and 5 on Missouri’s Aug. 4 statewide ballot. Amendment 5 would authorize the state legislature to expand sales taxes to a wide range of goods and services without a public vote. ARA said the measure could reopen the door to transfer taxes on home sales, impose new taxes on services and lead to combined sales tax rates that opponents warn could exceed 20%.

Existing home sales came out yesterday showing slight year-over-year growth, but the headlines were all about home prices at an all-time high. However, most people weren’t focused on the fact that wages have been outpacing home prices for some time now, which is a positive. Yesterday I went on Yahoo Finance to talk about how the housing market is getting healthier, and today’s episode of the HousingWire Daily podcas dives into that conversation as well.

With a major policy win at hand, one of America’s most promising housing affordability solutions hidden in plain sight may get the close-up moment its stakeholders have fought for decades to earn. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act – on a white-knuckle countdown to midnight before going into law as expected – includes a provision that would eliminate a 1974 mandate that required manufactured homes to be built on a permanent steel chassis.

This is part 1 of a 3-part HousingWire special series on the impacts of data centers on housing. Data centers are creating a split-screen effect in housing markets: They can boost regional demand and land values, while homes near controversial sites may face buyer resistance over noise, water use, construction activity and long-term uncertainty.

One of the most consistent mistakes that buyers’ agents make today is ignoring one of the best sources of affordable housing available to their clients: distressed properties — short sales in particular. After more than 40 years in the real estate business and involvement in over 25,000 distressed property transactions, I’ve watched agents make this mistake repeatedly. They avoid short sales because they believe the process takes too long, too complicated or may never close.