COVERAGE INFORMATION:
California Department of Real Estate (DRE) NEWS CLIPS service coverage:
Monday through Friday (except state holidays) each week includes electronic format articles retrieved from newspapers or news services that report real estate related news in California and some national services. Coverage is for California newspapers that are available electronically via the Internet - and any significant related breaking news.
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Copyright © , California Department of Real Estate
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Wednesday, February 4, 2026
Top Stories
New transit housing bill revives California’s Democratic divisions over local control
NADIA LATHAN, CalMatters
Just months after lawmakers enacted major reforms to speed up home and apartment building, a new proposal seeks to force even more cities to allow housing near major transit hubs. It has reignited divisions among Democratic lawmakers who are wary of the state telling cities how and where to build.
San Francisco Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener’s Senate Bill 677 seeks to close a loophole that backers of the bill say some cities are using to get out of last year’s reforms intended to allow more apartments to be built near major bus and train stations.
National News
How old is too old for a 30-year mortgage? Here's what to consider
SCOTT NEUMAN, NPR
At 69, Norman Schenck is preparing to retire. He and his wife, Lorie Schenck, 67, live in a Detroit suburb and are hoping to relocate to central Ohio to be closer to their grandchildren.
For about the past two decades in Michigan, they've been renting a condo. But in this new chapter of their lives, they're facing a huge decision: Do they put a big chunk of their retirement down to buy a house in the new location, or continue to rent?
A surprising share of homeowners have high mortgage rates. Here’s the breakdown
DIANA OLICK, CNBC
The share of U.S. homeowners with high rates on their mortgages has jumped sharply in just the last few years.
That’s having a marked impact on the refinance market and a somewhat more muted impact on home sales. Rates have been front and center in the debate over how to improve home affordability — and for good reason.
In 2022, after mortgage interest rates hit more than a dozen record lows, sparking a refinance bonanza, barely 10% of homeowners had 30-year fixed mortgages with rates above 5%. Just four years later, that share has jumped to over 30%, according to ICE Mortgage Technology. About 20% of borrowers have mortgages with a rate over 6%.
California News
Palisades fire victims will see building permit fee relief during recovery
DAVID ZAHNISER, Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday signed off on a plan to give financial relief to Palisades fire victims who are seeking to rebuild, endorsing it nearly 10 months after Mayor Karen Bass first announced it.
On a 15-0 vote, the council instructed the city’s lawyers to draft an ordinance that would spare the owners of homes, duplexes, condominium units, apartment complexes and commercial buildings from having to pay the permit fees that are typically charged by the Department of Building and Safety during the recovery.
New bill aims to make California FAIR Plan cover all insurance risks, not just fire
MEGAN FAN MUNCE, San Francisco Chronicle
New legislation announced Monday would require the California FAIR Plan to provide insurance for more than just fires — a potential major shift for the state’s insurer of last resort.
Over the course of California’s insurance crisis, the number of people with FAIR Plan policies has exploded, and the plan now covers more homes in the state than all but a handful of private insurance companies. In many of the most wildfire-prone parts of the state, the FAIR Plan has become the only option available.
Another Bay Area city moves to outlaw short-term rentals
KASIA PAWLOWSKA, SF Gate
A Santa Clara County town is on the way to joining Sausalito in prohibiting any kind of short-term rentals and making advertising any such property a punishable crime. At a Jan. 21 Saratoga City Council meeting, council members voted 4-1 to explicitly ban short-term rentals and promotion of the listings on any platform, with fines ranging from $1,500 for a first offense and up to $5,000 for a third violation.
Industry News
The Unsettling Rise of AI Real-Estate Slop
FRANKLIN SCHNEIDER, The Atlantic (Subscription)
At first, the idea of using AI to create real-estate-listing pictures seemed like a decent proposition to Kati Spaniak, an Illinois-based agent. Like anyone who works on commission, real-estate agents are under tremendous pressure to reduce overhead costs, and a tool that produces images of a furnished home—without an agent having to actually furnish it—could save thousands of dollars. More and more brokers seem to have the same idea: A recent survey of Realtors found that nearly 70 percent of the participants had used AI.
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