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.

Tuesday, June 23, 2026

Top Stories

California plans $11.3 billion housing bond for November election

ANDREW OXFORD, Orange County Register (Subscription)
California lawmakers said they have agreed to place an $11.3 billion housing bond on the ballot this November, aiming to expand affordable housing and homeownership. The proposal, Senate Bill 417, includes $10 billion of general obligation bonds for affordable housing programs and $1.25 billion of self-supporting revenue bonds for the state’s home loan program for veterans.

HUD adopts 14 changes to FHA policies, aiming to lower costs and ease credit access

FLAFVIA FURLAN NUNES, HousingWire (Subscription)
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is rolling out 14 changes to the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)’s single-family mortgage insurance program, including less stringent appraisal rules, expanded flexibility for the 203(k) rehab loan program and simplified closing forms.

National News 

‘Mega investor’ activity fell to 14-year low in 2025, report says 

LILLIAN DICKERSON, Real Estate News
Investor activity in residential real estate is experiencing a shift, with more small investors making up the market and retaining properties today than mega-investors. With new data suggesting large investors are pulling back from buying homes, small investors now make up nearly two-thirds of all investor purchases, according to a new report from Realtor.com.

NYC Suburbs and the Bay Area Are This Spring’s Most Competitive Housing Markets

DANA ANDERSON, Redfin News
More than half of homes are selling above asking price in Newark, San Francisco, San Jose and Nassau County, making them the most competitive markets in the nation. The AI boom is leading to bidding wars in the Bay Area, and in the Northeast, many metros are seller’s markets.

New home regulatory costs up 40% in 5 years, study finds 

DAVE GALLAGHER, Real Estate News
Research by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) found that the average regulatory costs for a new single-family home in 2026 total $131,734, up about 40% from 2021 when these costs equaled around $93,871. Regulatory costs totaled about $84,671 a decade ago.

California News

The hottest new features in California real estate may be the ones you can't see

TESSA MCLEAN, SFGate
More and more Californians are willing to shell out the additional funds needed to fireproof a home. And that premium comes with its own advantage: It might be the one path forward to relatively affordable home insurance.

Industry News 

EXp’s new COO: Agents need stability in a time of change

AJ LATRACE, Inman (Subscription)
Wendy Forsythe has spent decades in real estate leadership roles, building a reputation as an industry veteran and a visible voice in the brokerage world. Now, after serving two years as chief marketing officer of eXp Realty and helping lead a brand transformation, Forsythe has been promoted to chief operating officer of the cloud-based brokerage. 

AI is making fraud cheaper and faster, and half your borrowers have been targeted

MATT SEXTON, Mortgage Professional America
The same technology that has made mortgage origination faster and cheaper has done the same thing for the people trying to defraud it. New consumer data from TransUnion shows how widespread the problem has already become.

Real Estate Technology 

AI-mortgage broker Ralo opens, raises $2.9M of capital

BRAD FINKELSTEIN, National Mortgage News
Ralo, which claims to be the first artificial intelligence mortgage broker, has started business, having completed a $2.9 million seed round. The company says it uses artificial intelligence to automate the entire process, saving consumers money by cutting out loan officers, processors and underwriters, which it claims take hefty commissions.

Property News 

This city in Oklahoma is getting homes built twice as fast — and others want to copy it

JULIE Z. WEIL, Oklahoma City Journal Record
Building a house is a slow and expensive process, and many housing advocates are concluding that if the nation wants to fix its housing affordability problem, it needs to figure out how to build faster. Some urban planners have started looking to Claremore, an Oklahoma town of about 20,000 people along historic Route 66 outside Tulsa, as an example of how to do it.

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