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
|
Thursday, October 09, 2025
Top Stories
Trump’s call for Fannie, Freddie to spur building is ‘a mystery’
KATY O'DONNELL, The Orange County Register (Subscription)
President Donald Trump’s recent social media post calling for mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to boost homebuilding is sowing confusion in an industry already grappling with a stalled market and higher construction costs. Trump asked the two government-controlled firms, which together back more than half the residential mortgage market, to “get big homebuilders going” in a Truth Social post on Sunday, but did not elaborate on what he had in mind. Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, Fannie and Freddie’s regulator and conservator, shared the post on X and vowed that he was “on it.”
National News
For Homes by the Water, Closing Just Got More Complicated
RUKMINI CALLIMACHI, The New York Times (Subscription)
In Clearwater, Fla., Bridget Neumann, an insurance broker, has spent the past week trying to replace a policy that no longer exists — at least right now. With the federal government shuttered, the National Flood Insurance Program has paused issuing new policies that many home buyers need to secure their mortgages.
California News
Bay Area homebuyers preparing to swoop into the market as mortgage rates dip
KATE TALERICO, The Mercury News (Subscription)
After a slower-than-expected spring and summer sales season, the Bay Area’s housing market is expected to see renewed activity this fall following a dip in mortgage rates to their lowest level in nearly a year. Last week, in anticipation of the Federal Reserve’s announcement that it would cut rates for the first time in nine months, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate dropped to 6.26%, down from a high of 7.04% in January. Agents and loan officers say it could be enough to pull hesitant homebuyers and sellers back into the market, giving this year’s sluggish housing market an end-of-the-year bump.
Why this wealthy Bay Area suburb is at the center of the next big fight over California housing
BEN CHRISTOPHER, CalMatters
In January 2023, the town council of Los Altos Hills, a mansion-studded bedroom community perched above Silicon Valley, reluctantly voted to legalize some apartment buildings. It was a historic vote. Incorporated in 1956 by well-to-do hill dwellers trying to keep out the encroaching urbanity of nearby cities, the town’s “country residence zoning” rules only permit the construction of one type of building: Single-family homes, and no more than one per acre.
Industry News
Zillow sounds alarm on worrying housing market, mortgage concern
JEFFREY QUIGGLE, The Sacramento Bee (Subscription)
Many Americans have recently been engaged in an ongoing struggle to purchase homes, largely made difficult because of well-documented affordability complications.
Most homeowners feel the Fed's recent cut is 'too little, too late'
LIEZEL ONCE, Mortgage Professional America
United States homeowners have voiced deep skepticism about the Federal Reserve’s recent quarter-point rate cut, with a majority calling the move “too little, too late” to ease their financial burdens or spur action in the housing market, according to a new Unlock Technologies survey.
Shutdown slowing FHA, VA approvals; USDA loans are on hold
MATT CARTER, Inman (Subscription)
The FHA’s Office of Single Family Housing and some of its mortgage insurance programs are “operational but with limited services,” HUD said in bulletin to lenders.
Real Estate Technology
Realtor.com launches AI-powered home search tool
BROOKLEE HAN, HousingWire (Subscription)
Realtor.com is upping its artificial intelligence game. The listing portal is launching its own AI-powered home search tool, according to an announcement on Thursday. Realtor.com said the new search experience was designed to empower consumers to find homes the way they actually talk and type.
Zillow’s ChatGPT integration could redefine — or violate — MLS policies
BROOKLEE HAN, HousingWire (Subscription)
Zillow made waves on Monday when it announced an app integration with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Through the integration, consumers can type a description of what they’re looking for in a property into ChatGPT, and it will provide them with listings complete with photos, maps and pricing, all powered by Zillow. This integration differs from other recent announcements involving artificial intelligence, such as Inside Real Estate’s HomeSearch AI. The listing data is fed from Zillow to another website, ChatGPT, instead of being kept within Zillow’s domain.
Property News
No stories today
In Case You Missed It
No stories today
Resources, Webinars, and Other Items of Interest
La Niña has returned. Here’s what it means for California weather
GREG PORTER, San Francisco Chronicle (Subscription)
La Niña conditions are official in the central Pacific, according to an update Thursday from the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center. The declaration upgrades the previous “watch” to a La Niña Advisory, the agency’s formal signal that the phenomenon has taken hold and is expected to persist into early 2026.
Decorating Tips From People Who Take Halloween Very Seriously
DORIE CHEVLEN, The Orange County Register (Subscription)
Every fall, Kristi Hemric bedecks the stoop of her Manhattan brownstone with skulls, gourds or fall foliage. Across the country, in Los Angeles, Glenn Geller and his husband, Jim Maresca, display over 250 light-up pumpkins on their lawn. In San Diego, Joshua Schauert converts his yard into a free haunted house and maze that has become so popular that it brings visitors from Europe. In New Orleans, David and Jessica Gentry last year hired security detail to corral the visitors who flocked to their yard to watch their animatronic skeletons perform song-and-dance numbers.
