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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Monday, July 07, 2025
Top Stories
Government job growth kills possibility of July rate cut
LOGAN MOHTASHAMI, HousingWire (Subscription)
The irony of the 2025 labor market is that the most critical jobs report before the next Federal Reserve meeting — where President Trump is calling for significant interest rate cuts — has been bolstered by a sector that he and Elon Musk attempted to undermine: government labor. Without the massive boost from state government workers, the private payroll data would be showing a gain of only 74,000.
Armando Falcon on the FHFA’s move toward crypto mortgages
SARAH WOLAK, HousingWire (Subscription)
It’s been just over a week since Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to start preparing for the use of cryptocurrency in single-family mortgages. With limited guidance beyond the FHFA’s directive, mortgage originators and industry experts are working to assess how cryptocurrency could be applied to mortgages. They’re evaluating potential use cases, volatility risks, collateral pricing and implications for the underwriting process. Among these experts is Armando Falcon, chairman and CEO of Falcon Capital Advisors and the former director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), now known as the FHFA.
National News
Canadian Buyers Are Dropping Out of the U.S. Housing Market
RONDA KAYSEN, New York Times (Subscription)
Canadians have dramatically slowed their searches for homes in the United States in the wake of tariffs by the Trump administration, according to new data from Redfin, shared exclusively with The New York Times.
Saudi Fund Invests Hundreds of Millions in Proposed NYC Skyscraper
PETER GRANT & ELIOT BROWN, The Wall Street Journal (Subscription)
Saudi Arabia’s government fund is taking a two-thirds stake in a site for a planned Manhattan skyscraper, the latest sign that foreign investors are flocking back to New York’s rapidly recovering real-estate market. The Kingdom’s Public Investment Fund is teaming with Related Cos., which has said it is planning to build a 1,200-foot tower on the site. The New York developer and the Saudis own this site one block from Central Park, which was purchased last year for more than $600 million.
California News
California lawmakers side with landlords to kill renter eviction relief
RYAN SABALOW, The Orange County Register (Subscription)
Sen. Aisha Wahab implored her colleagues to think of hospitalized patients and struggling families as she pitched a proposal to give tenants a full two weeks to pay their past due rent before their landlords could start the eviction process.
San Diego preparing to put downtown operations building on the market
JENNIFER VAN GROVE, The San Diego Union-Tribune (Subscription)
San Diego is preparing to offer the forlorn and soon-to-be empty municipal building on the outskirts of the Civic Center for sale or lease. On Wednesday, San Diego’s Land Use and Housing Committee voted 3-0 in favor of declaring the City Operations Building at 1222 First Ave. as surplus. The action advances the committee’s recommendation to the full City Council for consideration later this month and signals the city’s intent to soon solicit developer interest in the 1.4-acre site.
San Pablo passes on implementing stronger renter protections
SIERRA LOPEZ, The Mercury News (Subscription)
When it comes to housing insecurity in San Pablo, more education on existing tenant protection laws, not stronger rent control, are what residents need, according to city leadership. Having been flooded with emails from renters and affordable housing advocates as well as property owners and realtors, San Pablo councilmembers held a special meeting Tuesday to receive an overview of the city’s current housing regulations and the potential impacts of adopting a rent stabilization policy.
Union presses Sacramento to reach conclusion on Railyards protest
ANNIKA MERRILEES, The Sacramento Bee
The local hospitality workers’ union — locked in a battle over affordable housing requirements for the Railyards — on Thursday accused the city of dragging its feet in counting protests lodged by a group of the district’s residents. Aamir Deen, president of Unite Here Local 49, said during a news conference Thursday that “a clear majority” of residents had filed protests — enough to put the city’s financing agreement for the project on hold for a year. By the union’s interpretation of state law, the city was required to determine that during a committee hearing last week.
Industry News
Compass attacks NWMLS claims as ‘misleading and self-serving’
BROOKLEE HAN, HousingWire (Subscription)
Compass is not happy with the claims of Northwest MLS (NWMLS) in the MLS’s motion to dismiss the brokerage’s antitrust lawsuit against it. In a statement publicized Thursday — but as of Monday was not filed on the suit’s court docket — Compass called the statements made by NWMLS in its filing “misleading and self-serving.” According to the statement, Compass strongly rejects NWMLS’s claims that Compass is looking to pursue a “free-rider strategy,” and that the company “extracts value from others without a corresponding contribution for that value.” The Robert Reffkin-helmed firm claims that these statements are “completely baseless and deliberately misleading.”
Anthony Lamacchia takes real estate’s fight to Trump
TRACEY VELT, HousingWire (Subscription)
It’s not every day that a real estate broker finds himself briefing a president on the National Association of Realtors‘ commission lawsuit settlement and the continued involvement of the Department of Justice in real estate matters. But for Lamacchia Companies CEO Anthony Lamacchia, that moment arrived unexpectedly — and he wasn’t about to pass it up. Lamacchia, a Boston-area broker who’s known for his candor and industry advocacy, was invited to a private roundtable discussion with Donald Trump just weeks before Trump’s second-term inauguration.
Lenders face growing climate risk in luxury real estate lending
CANDYD MENDOZA, Mortgage Professional America (Subscription)
As climate disasters intensify across the United States, high-net-worth buyers are increasingly factoring environmental risk into their real estate decisions – pushing lenders, developers, and agents in the luxury market to adapt. The US experienced a record-breaking $128.2 billion in total weather-related damages in 2024 alone, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information. That toll has triggered a fundamental shift in the luxury real estate landscape, particularly in regions most vulnerable to wildfires, flooding, hurricanes, and extreme heat.
Real Estate Technology
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Property News
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In Case You Missed It
Sacramento landlords get new limit for annual rent hikes. What’s the percentage?
THERESA CLIFT, The Sacramento Bee
Starting this month, Sacramento landlords have a stricter limit for how much they can raise rent for certain apartments. Landlords of apartments that are covered by the city’s Tenant Protection Program will not be able to raise annual rent more than 7.7%. The new cap, which went into effect Tuesday, is the lowest percentage since 2020.
Resources, Webinars, and Other Items of Interest
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