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.

Monday, August 17, 2026

Top Stories

Inventory edges slightly higher year over year as rates rise

LOGAN MOHTASHAMI, HousingWire (Subscription)
Mid-August inventory increased as demand softened with mortgage rates above 6.64%, though rates remain under 7% due to improved spreads. New listings are in seasonal decline, and pending sales and purchase apps have recently turned slightly negative year over year.

Housing investor confidence falls to its lowest in survey history

LIEZEL ONCE, Mortgage Professional America
Real estate investor confidence in the single-family market has dropped to an all-time low. Forty-five percent of respondents to a quarterly industry survey said conditions have worsened, the highest negative reading in the index's three-year history.

National News 

Housing and Childcare Consume More Than Half of the Typical U.S. Family’s Income–But Costs Vary Widely by Metro

DANA ANDERSON, YINGQI XU, Redfin News
Nationwide, the typical working family buying a home today would spend roughly half (52%) of their annual income on housing and childcare combined. But where a family lives can dramatically change how much of their budget goes toward these two major expenses.

Affordability Pressures Keep Builder Confidence Low

ROBERT DIETZ, Eye on Housing
Builder sentiment remains muted from economic and geopolitical uncertainty, elevated mortgage rates and rising construction costs. August marked the 16th straight month that at least 30% of builders reported cutting prices to support demand.

California News

Program on California ballot could cut home down payments to 3%. What’s the catch?

CHRISTIAN LEONARD, San Francisco Chronicle (Subscription)
Proposition 37, embedded deep in the laundry list of potential policies that Californians will vote on later this year, would allow the state to loan middle-income residents up to 17% of the purchase price of a newly constructed home. Combined with a traditional mortgage, the loan could allow homebuyers to put down as little as 3% on their new home.

Aging Californians aren’t leaving their longtime homes. It’s worsening the housing crisis

GRACE TOOHEY, Los Angeles Times (Subscription)
California‘s aging population is driving down the state’s average household size, as senior residents are increasingly staying in their single-family homes well after their children move out. This “spreading out” effect means that more homes are needed to house the same number of people — providing yet another squeeze on the state’s already-urgent housing crisis.

Industry News 

Real-RE/MAX Deal Nears Closing, Putting 180,000-Agent Mortgage Network Within Reach

CZARINNA ANDRES, National Mortgage Professional
The Real Brokerage’s proposed acquisition of RE/MAX Holdings is nearing the finish line, bringing the company closer to controlling not only one of the world’s largest real estate networks but also a significantly larger pipeline for mortgage referrals. Once completed, the combined company will operate as Real REMAX Group and support more than 180,000 real estate professionals across more than 120 countries and territories.

Mortgage insurers report another strong quarter of profits

BRAD FINKELSTEIN, National Mortgage News
In the second quarter, private mortgage insurers wrote 21% more new business versus the first quarter and 17% more than one year prior, data aggregated by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods found. After the reporting season ended, Bose George raised the earnings targets on four of the five companies he followed, Radian being the exception.

Real Estate Technology 

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Property News 

Nevada is trying a radical solution to boost affordable housing

SARAH HERSCHANDER, Vox
In cities where space is tight, underused golf courses are, in theory, ideal canvases for new housing. These huge, repurposed tracts of land can fit thousands of new units — ideally, affordable ones — alongside other amenities like parks or basketball courts smack in the middle of some of the country’s most desirable and well-connected neighborhoods.

In Case You Missed It 

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Resources, Webinars, and Other Items of Interest 

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