DRE in the News

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.

Copyright © , California Department of Real Estate

Links to web sites do not constitute an endorsement from The California Department of Real Estate. These links are provided as an information service only. It is the responsibility of the user to evaluate the content and usefulness of information obtained from these sites. DRE does not provide full text articles - user must access expired articles via newspaper archives online or local public library.

Friday, October 10, 2025

National News

Building in a Flood Plain Seemed Impossible. These Homeowners Did It Anyway.

VAISHNAVI NAYEL TALAWADEKAR, The Wall Street Journal (Subscription)
The lot, which had a creek running around it, was five times the size of a typical city parcel in Austin but at roughly the same price. Plus, it was eight minutes from the airport, seven minutes from downtown, and close to nice restaurants. “It felt like a secluded forest,” says Ko. But there was one catch: it sat squarely inside a flood plain. Ko, who already lived in a home of her own in Austin, had no plans to modify the property, and saw this as an investment opportunity rather than a place to actually live.

Realtor associations, MLSs push back on steering allegations

BROOKLEE HAN, HousingWire (Subscription)
The slew of defendants in the Zea antitrust lawsuit filed against the National Association of Realtors (NAR) have been busy rejecting the lawsuit’s claims. On Wednesday, the defendants filed motions to dismiss the lawsuit, as well as a response in opposition to plaintiff Jorge A. Zea’s motion for preliminary injunction. Filed in August in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida’s West Palm Beach Division, the lawsuit claims that the defendants engaged in a “coordinated scheme” to restrict consumer choice and maintain elevated prices, harming his brokerage model.

New York AG Letitia James indicted on mortgage fraud charge

SARAH WOLAK, HousingWire (Subscription)
A federal grand jury indicted Letitia James, the New York attorney general, for bank fraud on Thursday, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter, told the outlet that James was indicted in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on one count after a mortgage fraud investigation.

California News

In parts of California, every new home is in the path of wildfires. Is it really safe?

KURTIS ALEXANDER & HARSHA DEVULAPALLI, San Francisco Chronicle (Subscription)
In California, 1 of every 5 new homes is built in an area prone to wildfire, according to a Chronicle analysis. In Nevada County, it’s every home. Residential development, in any amount, carries big risks in places that burn, yet such growth has been virtually impossible to avoid, especially in rural settings.

A ‘middle-income’ housing program didn’t deliver on promises of affordability. Can Oakland make it work?

KATE TALERICO, The Mercury News (Subscription)
Oakland officials have a new take on a controversial housing program that hasn’t always delivered the affordability it promised struggling renters. Across California, cities have signed on to a financing plan in which market-rate apartment buildings are bought and supposedly re-rented at rates affordable to teachers, nurses, and other middle-income workers. Instead, the deals often financially enriched bond investors and developers while delivering meager rent discounts — and causing local governments to lose millions in property taxes, an investigation by this news organization found.

Affordable townhomes and apartments are planned for this vacant Sacramento lot

THERESA CLIFT, The Sacramento Bee (Subscription)
Developers are planning to build affordable townhomes and apartments on a vacant lot in south Sacramento. Habitat for Humanity of Greater Sacramento is planning to build 23 townhomes at a vacant 5-acre lot at 2900 Wah Ave., near the Florin light rail station in the Woodbine neighborhood, according to a city webpage. The townhomes range from two to four bedrooms.

Industry News

Waller emerges as Fed chair contender, urges cautious rate cuts

LIEZEL ONCE, Mortgage Professional America
Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller, who expressed support for further interest rate cuts, has emerged as a candidate to succeed Jerome Powell as Fed chair. Sources confirmed he is one of five finalists under consideration by the Trump administration.

Senate passes ROAD to Housing Act to boost housing supply

SARAH WOLAK, HousingWire (Subscription)
The Senate on Thursday passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2026, which includes the bipartisan ROAD to Housing Act (S. 2651), just over a month after 28 housing groups urged the Senate to bring it to the floor for full consideration.

Veterans are missing out on billions in VA loan benefits

JONATHAN DELOZIER, HousingWire (Subscription)
Tens of thousands of veterans are missing out on the benefits of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) home loans each year, with billions of dollars in potential mortgage volume left untapped, according to a new analysis from Veterans United Home Loans. The report found that more than 58,000 VA loans went unused in 2024, representing nearly $28 billion in potential loan volume.

Mortgage execs advise lenders to embrace technology or risk falling behind

SARAH WOLAK, HousingWire (Subscription)
As mortgage lenders confront a “paradigm shift” driven by technology, cost pressures and temperamental market conditions, executives warned that those who fail to adapt risk being left behind. Speaking at HousingWire‘s 2025 Mortgage Banking Summit earlier this week, David Lykken, the president of Transformational Mortgage Solutions, and Adam Carmel, the CEO of Polly, offered a macro view of the current lending environment and urged lenders to accept the current lack of normalcy in the mortgage space.

Real Estate Technology

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Property News

Asking $90 Million: A Hudson Valley Farm on More Than 2,000 Acres

E.B. SOLOMONT, The Wall Street Journal (Subscription)
A sprawling farm with 10 houses is aiming to shatter the home-price record for New York’s Hudson Valley. Mill Farm, spanning roughly 2,150 acres, is asking $90 million—far more than any residential sale in Dutchess or Columbia Counties to date, according to listing agent James Augustine of Compass, who said it is extremely rare to find 2,000 acres of contiguous land surrounded by conservation land.

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