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, July 29, 2026
Top Stories
Homeownership Rate Falls to 65.0% in Q2
HANNAH JONES, Realtor.com
The U.S. homeownership rate held at 65.0% in the second quarter of 2026, statistically unchanged compared with both the prior quarter and a year earlier. While the rate remains within the narrow low-to-mid-65% range that has characterized the market in recent years, it continues to run well below the pandemic-era highs seen in 2020. Ongoing affordability pressures and a limited supply of reasonably priced homes continue to cap ownership gains.
Starter Homes Are Piling Up While Luxury Homes Fly Off the Market
KARA NG, Zillow Research
The U.S. housing market is splitting in two. Luxury homes are selling at a faster pace than a year ago, with shrinking supply and growing bidding wars. Starter homes are piling up on the market, sitting longer and drawing price cuts as buyers fail to show up. The pattern mirrors a broader economic divide, with stock market gains supporting demand at the high end while rising everyday costs weigh on potential starter-home buyers.
National News
Foreign Buyers Purchased $45.3 Billion Worth of U.S. Homes from April ‘25 to March ‘26
National Association of Realtors
Foreign buyers purchased $45.3 billion worth of U.S. existing homes from April 2025 through March 2026, according to the National Association of REALTORS® 2026 International Transactions in U.S. Residential Real Estate report. This is a 19.1% decrease in the dollar value of homes purchased and a 14% decrease in the number of properties from the previous 12-month period.
Real estate brokers say rising mortgage rates derail early 2026 housing rebound
BROOKLEE HAN, HousingWire (Subscription)
After early 2026 momentum, brokers report buyer and seller pullback as 30-year conforming mortgage rates moved up to 6.94%. Estimates in the field peg existing home sales near 4 million, roughly 400,000 fewer transactions than projections made before late February.
California News
The Tortured History of a San Francisco Ballpark That’s Finally Becoming Housing
PETER GRANT, Wall Street Journal (Subscription)
San Francisco’s Candlestick Park was widely considered baseball’s worst stadium before it was demolished in 2015. The oblong structure churned up powerful gusts coming off the Bay, leading fans to wear parkas to games even on summer evenings. Now, after a series of false starts and missteps, a California developer is about to start work on transforming the blustery site into one of the Bay Area’s largest master-planned neighborhoods.
Industry News
Largest local Realtor association gets even bigger
Real Estate News
Miami Realtors + RWorld has merged with Martin County Realtors of the Treasure Coast (MCRTC), expanding the association and its multiple listing service to encompass five more southeast Florida counties. The announcement follows the spring merger that created Miami Realtors + RWorld, a move that made the combined organization the largest local Realtor association in the U.S. This newest expansion brings its membership total to approximately 94,000 real estate professionals.
How a fake termite report created a compliance disaster
TROY PALMQUIST, SUMMER GORALIK, Inman (Subscription)
When a licensed real estate agent purchased a home for a quick flip, he allegedly concealed a termite report that identified active infestations. After the buyers discovered termite damage and filed a complaint, the California Department of Real Estate uncovered a much broader pattern of misconduct, including alleged document fraud, failure to disclose material facts, inadequate broker supervision, unauthorized use of electronic signatures and unlicensed activity, transforming what began as a termite dispute into a case study in systemic brokerage failure.
Real Estate Technology
Inman unveils new platform, calls it the 'Bloomberg of real estate'
JESSI HEALEY, Inman (Subscription)
Inman CEO Tom Bohn introduced a new platform for the company at Inman Connect San Diego, describing it as a single destination for real estate news, data and community that he compared to a Bloomberg terminal for the residential industry. He said the platform, referred to as Inman 2.0, is designed to consolidate the fragmented sources agents and brokers currently rely on for news and data.
Property News
Pick Your Favorite $575,000 Home
ANGELA SERRATORE, New York Times (Subscription)
This week’s properties are in Oregon City, Ore., St. Louis and Birmingham, Ala.
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