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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Thursday, October 1, 2026
Top Stories
Average long-term US mortgage rate churns upward to its highest level in nearly 3 years at 7.28%
MICHELLE CHAPMAN, San Diego-Union-Tribune (Subscription)
The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate jumped this week to its highest level in nearly three years. The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 7.28% from 7.03% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the average rate was 6.34%. It is the sixth consecutive week that mortgage rates have increased. The average rate is now the highest it’s been since Nov. 22, 2023, when it reached 7.29%.
How 7% Mortgages Are Wrecking the Home-Buyer Playbook
NICHOLAS G. MILLER, Wall Street Journal (Subscription)
House hunters still face a financial double whammy rarely seen: rapidly rising mortgage rates and home prices that, while growing more slowly, keep hitting record highs. That has made the postpandemic housing market one of the most challenging in recent memory and limits the amount of financial maneuvering available to would-be buyers.
National News
U.S. Home-Flipping Profits Shrink in 2026, Investors Face Narrower Margins
MICHAEL GERRITY, World Property Journal
The U.S. home-flipping business continued to lose some of its financial appeal in the second quarter as investors completed more deals than in the first three months of the year but generated smaller profits on each transaction. The results extend a broader deterioration in flipping economics that ATTOM has documented over the past two years, as investors contend with narrower spreads between acquisition and resale prices.
Rate spikes cost home shoppers $19K in buying power
BRAD FINKELSTEIN, National Mortgage News
The spike in the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage during the between July and September cost potential home purchasers $19,000 in buying power, economists at First American calculated. "For a prospective buyer, that can mean shopping at a lower price point, bringing more cash to the table, or taking on a larger monthly payment," said Mark Fleming, First American chief economist. "It also puts more distance between what the typical household can afford and what homes currently cost."
California News
Santa Barbara passes historic rent stabilization ordinance in narrow vote
ANDREW PRIDGEN, SFGate
A narrow majority on the Santa Barbara City Council has accomplished something few other metros in California have been able to: a rent stabilization ordinance to help give — at least for the time being — those who live and work in the wealthy coastal community a better shot at remaining. It will cap rent increases on most properties built before 1995.
Building boom? LA-Orange County permits hit 2nd fastest multifamily pace since 1990
JONATHAN LANSNER, Orange County Register (Subscription)
Apartment developers in Los Angeles and Orange counties started 2026 with a splash, filing the second-highest number of building plans in the past 36 years. In the first eight months of 2026, permits were filed to construct 16,643 multifamily units in the two-county metropolitan area. Is that a building boom?
Industry News
Compass’s Reffkin gives MLSs an ultimatum: Change listing rules or face lawsuits
BROOKLEE HAN, HousingWire
Compass CEO Robert Reffkin told CMLS attendees his firm wants MLSs to stop fining agents for publicly marketing office exclusives. He said Compass is prepared to bring antitrust litigation starting mid-October, with an October 6 deadline for MLS rule changes.
Real Estate Technology
Are Realtors at risk of being replaced by AI agents?
ELIZABETH HERNANDEZ, San Diego Union-Tribune (Subscription)
There is a lot Anna McCaffery dislikes about artificial intelligence. For one, she worries children can’t write a proper sentence without generative AI programs like ChatGPT. “Particularly for kids, it’s dumbing things down that shouldn’t be dumbed down,” she said. But the 73-year-old trusted AI to sell her Denver home instead of using a traditional real estate agent, and her experience warmed her opinion of the industry-disrupting technology.
Property News
Where High Rents Drive People Into Poverty
ELIZABETH A. HARRIS, New York Times (Subscription)
The housing shortage in the United States not only drives up rents, it is also a significant driver of poverty, according to a new study released by the Pew Charitable Trust on Tuesday. The study examined parts of the country where lowering home prices would lift a significant number of people out of poverty — similar in effect to a major anti-poverty program — at a moment when the national conversation around housing has gained urgency at every level of government.
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