Rental Vacancy Rose to 7.6% in the Third Quarter as Homeowner Vacancy Held Steady
New Census figures show a higher share of vacant rental housing than a year earlier, while the apparent rise in homeownership was not statistically significant.
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The Estate Wire — real estate news for November 7, 2026
Rents Have Risen Seven Months Straight and Are Still Below Last Year
Mortgage Rates Jumped 19 Basis Points in a Single Week to 6.95%
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Lodging REITs Returned 42.8% in the First Half While Apartment REITs Managed 8.3%
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Price Cuts Hit a September Record as Inventory Nears Pre-Pandemic Levels
Realtor.com's monthly housing report shows sellers trimming prices at the highest September rate since 2018 while pending sales post their steepest annual drop in more than a year.
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FHFA Index Shows July Home Prices Up 0.3%, but Regional Gains Range From a Loss to Six Percent
The federal repeat-sales index points to broad national appreciation of 2.6% over the year, masking a split between a weak Mountain division and a strong Middle Atlantic.
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New-Home Sales Jumped 6.4% in August, but the Median Price Fell Below Last Year's Level
Census and HUD data show builders moved more homes even as pricing slipped, with unsold inventory still running above eight months of supply.
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NAR Issued New Guidance on Listing Filters as the Clear Cooperation Debate Reopened
Three documents address IDX and VOW filtering under MLS Policy 8.5 and when a broker-to-broker call triggers the one-day listing rule.
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Real Grew Revenue 30% While Preparing to Absorb RE/MAX
One brokerage added agents at 26% a year; the other lost agents in North America. Shareholders on both sides approved the merger in mid-August.
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New-Home Supply Reached 10.3 Months in May as Builder Sales Slipped to 580,000
Census and HUD recorded 496,000 new houses for sale at the end of May — the inventory side of the equation moved less than the sales side.
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Existing-Home Sales Rose to a 4.17 Million Pace in May, With Inventory Back Above 1.5 Million
The National Association of Realtors reported a 3.2% monthly gain — the resale market's firmest month of the spring.
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June Resale Prices Set a Record Even as Sales Fell Back to 4.09 Million
A median of about $440,600 — the highest NAR has recorded — arrived in the same month transaction volume declined.
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Pending Home Sales Rose 3.8% in May, the Clearest Forward Signal of the Spring
NAR's contract-signing index reached 76.8, up 4.8% from a year earlier — a lead indicator that pointed to summer closings holding up.
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June Contract Signings Gave Back the Spring Gain, Falling About 5.4%
The Pending Home Sales Index slipped to roughly 72.5, erasing May's improvement and turning the annual comparison slightly negative.
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FHFA's Index Showed House Prices Down 0.1% in April and Up 2.0% Over the Year
The mortgage-backed repeat-sales measure of US house prices edged down on the month — a different picture from record median headlines.
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First-Time Buyers Fell to About 21% of Purchases, a Record Low in NAR's Generational Series
The median first-time buyer is now 40 years old, the oldest in a series that began in 1981, and baby boomers made up 42% of all buyers.
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New-Home Sales Fell 10.5% in July as Unsold Inventory Reached 9.6 Months
The Census and HUD new residential sales report showed builders sitting on the deepest supply overhang in years, with the median price down on the month.
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House Prices Rose 2.1% Over the Year but Four States Went Backward
FHFA's Q2 index found a widening regional split, with Alaska up 8.3% and the Pacific division barely positive.
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Home Values Have Now Fallen in Real Terms for a Full Year
Case-Shiller's May index rose 1.1% in nominal terms — well short of inflation, marking a twelfth straight month of real decline.
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The Homeownership Rate Slipped to 65.0% as Rental Vacancy Held at 7.3%
Census quarterly data showed ownership down three-tenths from the first quarter, with rental vacancy at its highest sustained level in years.
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Existing-Home Sales Fell 2.0% in August While Supply Reached a Decade High
NAR reported 3.98 million annualized sales and 4.9 months of inventory, the deepest supply in more than ten years.
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Contract Signings Barely Moved in August, but the Northeast Dropped 4.2%
NAR's pending index edged up 0.3% nationally while regional results split sharply, and signings remained about 30% below 2019 levels.
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August Home Prices Edge Higher as Buyers Gain Leverage
Redfin’s August index points to modest monthly price growth even as negotiating power shifts toward buyers.
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Seller Concessions Spread as Buyers Press Their Advantage
Nearly half of recent buyers received a seller concession, a sign that price is no longer the only negotiating lever.
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