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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Tuesday, May 12, 2026
Top Stories
Home sales flat in April as lackluster spring homebuying season lurches forward
ALEX VEIGA, Los Angeles Times (Subscription)
The U.S. housing market has been in a slump since 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes were essentially flat last year, stuck at a 30-year low. They have remained sluggish so far this year, declining from a year earlier through the first three months of this year.
Inventory growth making housing more affordable
LOGAN MOHTASHAMI, HousingWire (Subscription)
Housing inventory growth since 2022 has reduced upward pressure on prices and improved market choice for buyers. With wages rising 3.6% and home prices up 0.9% year over year, the data point to gradual affordability improvement despite rate volatility.
National News
Blackstone launching lending platform for homebuilders
HOLDEN WALTER-WARNER, The Real Deal (Subscription)
Blackstone is putting forward a lending solution for homebuilders. The firm is launching a lending platform with support from affiliate Brio Homebuilder Solutions, Bloomberg reported. The goal of the platform is to finance the construction of 50,000 homes annually, which would be released for public sale.
Refi Volume Jumps To 4-Year High As ICE Reports Strongest Home Price Gain In Nearly Two Years
CZARINNA ANDRES, National Mortgage Professional
Lower mortgage rates earlier this year didn’t just stabilize demand; they helped reopen both sides of the mortgage market. A rebound in refis, combined with steady first-time buyer demand, is creating a more balanced opportunity set for originators. But that window may be sensitive to rate volatility.
Home Prices Posted the Biggest Increase in Over a Year in April
LILY KATZ, Redfin News
The median U.S. home sale price rose 2.4% year over year in April to $396,173—the biggest increase in 13 months—as house hunters came off the sidelines amid a stabilizing job market. It’s worth noting that while the housing market has been heating up, it’s still more sluggish than it was in recent years. Selling speed is increasing on a monthly basis, but homes still take longer to sell than they did a year ago, and sales and listings remain below pre-pandemic levels.
California News
In California’s unsettled race, most candidates see eye-to-eye on housing
BEN CHRISTOPHER, CalMatters
Earlier this year, in the windowless conference room of a downtown San Francisco hotel, one of the first gubernatorial candidate forums of the season kicked off with a simple question: “Do you think California’s housing shortage is primarily the result of local and state regulatory barriers to home building?”
California’s second-largest home insurer to raise rates this fall
MEGAN FAN MUNCE, San Francisco Chronicle (Subscription)
Farmers Insurance Group, the second-largest home insurer in California, is set to raise overall policy rates for homeowners by 1.5% this fall. Its rate hike, approved Monday, will take effect for the insurers’ nearly 915,000 homeowners at their next renewal date following Sept. 15, 2026, according to a filing with the California Department of Insurance.
Industry News
HomeServices, KW join launch of new tool to control listings
STEPHANIE REID-SIMMONS, Real Estate News
Cotality on Tuesday announced the launch of Cotality Broker Listing Exchange, or BLX, a listing management and distribution platform that allows brokerages to create, manage and distribute listing data from a centralized brokerage-controlled system before sending it to MLSs, portals and other partners.
Real Estate Technology
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Property News
Academy of Art sells Fisherman’s Wharf property that’s marked for housing conversion
LAURA WAXMANN, San Francisco Chronicle (Subscription)
For decades, the Academy of Art University was one of San Francisco’s most voracious real estate collectors. Now, it’s become one of its busiest sellers. The latest deal has the embattled for-profit art school selling 2300 Stockton St., a three-story office building near Fisherman’s Wharf, for $18.3 million, according to public records filed Friday.
In Case You Missed It
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Resources, Webinars, and Other Items of Interest
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