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, March 25, 2026
Top Stories
Mortgage rates pop to highest level since September 2025
MARIAN MCPHERSON, Inman (Subscription)
Hopes of a robust spring homebuying season are waning as mortgage rates reach a six-month high amid intensifying economic and political volatility. The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage ticked up to 6.55 percent on this week — an increase from Feb. 27, when rates finally hit a long-awaited 5.99 percent, according to Mortgage News Daily.
Mortgage demand drops more than 10% as rates hit the highest level since October
DIANA OLICK, CNBC
Mortgage rates rose last week to the highest level since last fall, and that pushed mortgage demand off a cliff. Total mortgage application volume dropped 10.5% last week from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index.
National News
Office pain eases as builders pause and conversions pick up
LIEZEL ONCE, Mortgage Professional America
The US office sector, long a flashpoint for lenders and investors, showed early signs of stabilizing as new construction slowed, decommissioning accelerated and adaptive‑reuse projects took more obsolete space out of circulation.
Nationally, the office vacancy rate stood at 17.6% in February, about 200 basis points lower than a year earlier, while average asking rents slipped to $32.79 per square foot, nearly 2% below year‑earlier levels.
Court Strikes Down New Treasury Residential Real Estate Reporting Rule
KELLY PH*ILLIPS ERB, Forbes
A lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of Texas has upended another Treasury reporting rule—this time targeting residential real estate transactions.
Months after the Treasury announced it would not enforce the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) against domestic companies, a new challenge—Flowers Title Companies LLC d/b/a East Texas Title Companies v. Bessent—has resulted in a federal court striking down a separate reporting regime focused on cash purchases of residential real estate.
Some homes are getting cheaper, creating an entry point for buyers
DAVE GALLAGHER, Real Estate News
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) estimates that the median price for a new single-family home in the fourth quarter of 2025 was $405,300, or $9,600 lower than the median price of an existing home. The median new home price was down 3.34% compared to a year earlier, while existing home prices have remained relatively flat or slightly increased year-over-year.
California News
California Borrower Sues UWM Over Credit Pull
KATIE JENSEN, National Mortgage Professional
A California woman has filed a federal lawsuit against United Wholesale Mortgage LLC, alleging the lender obtained her consumer credit report without authorization during an early-stage refinance inquiry, according to the complaint.
California legislators pitch bills to speed up certain types of home construction
STEPHEN HOBBS, Sacramento Bee (Subscription)
California legislators on Tuesday announced a package of bills that they hope will increase the use of homes built in factories and assembled on construction sites in an effort to help address the state’s high housing costs. The measures aren’t flashy but seek to provide more certainty around building standards, financing, and inspections to help increase the use of so-called modular homes.
Four-story buildings allowed in some single-family zones under L.A.’s plan to delay SB 79
JACK FLEMMING, Los Angeles Times (Subscription)
Since Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 79 into law last year, L.A. officials have been developing a strategy to stop its upzoning effects: Delay. The historic bill, which overrides local zoning laws to allow for taller, denser buildings near transit stops, represented a jarring shift for Southern California, a region built on the promise of suburban sprawl and single-family housing. But the bill’s authors included some flexibility for cities, including the ability to delay the upzoning until 2030 if cities add density on their own terms. That’s exactly what L.A. is planning to do.
Industry News
Supreme Court punts on CoStar appeal, clearing path for antitrust fight
HOLDEN WALTER-WARNER, The Real Deal (Subscription)
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the data giant’s petition to overturn an appellate ruling that revived monopoly claims brought by rival Crexi, Bisnow reported, setting the stage for a courtroom clash over control of commercial real estate data.
Real Estate Technology
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Property News
Altadena’s most expensive home is a $4M survivor of the Eaton fire
SANDRA BARRERA, Orange County Register (Subscription)
A gated, Mediterranean-style home on more than a three-quarter-acre lot in Altadena’s foothills is on the market for $3.995 million, making it the town’s priciest listing. But the asking price isn’t the only detail that would make a virtual real estate voyeur pause their scroll.
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