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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Friday, October 23, 2026
Top Stories
Trump Targets Mortgage Insurance, Refi Costs In Sweeping Housing Order
CZARINNA ANDRES, National Mortgage Professional
The executive order calls for automatic mortgage insurance cancellation, expanded title insurance alternatives, and cheaper refinances, potentially changing how lenders and servicers handle borrower costs
National News
Average long-term US mortgage rate eases to 7.32% in first pullback since late August
ASSOCIATED PRESS, San Diego Union-Tribune (Subscription)
The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 7.32% from 7.40% last week. One year ago, the average rate was 6.19%.
Mortgage rates drop for the first time in 2 months, but demand still falls further
DIANA OLICK, CNBC
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances decreased last week to 7.41% from 7.50% Applications for a mortgage to purchase a home fell a steeper 7% for the week and were 18% lower from the year before. Refinance demand dropped 2% or the week and 59% year over year.
California News
69 California ZIP codes make priciest-housing list, the most of any state
JONATHAN LANSNER, The Mercury News (Subscription)
Los Angeles County led the list with 15 ZIP codes. No. 2 was Santa Clara County at 13. Orange County was No. 3 at 12. Other Golden State counties with ZIPs on the list included San Mateo (7), San Diego (6), Marin (5), Monterey, San Francisco, and Contra Costa (3), and Santa Barbara (2).
A time bomb for renters: L.A. County’s cheapest apartments are getting old, fast
JACK FLEMMING, Los Angeles Times (Subscription)
Los Angeles County’s average home is 58 years old, and many of its cheapest rentals are in aging buildings that could become unlivable or be demolished.
California tiered home pricing
ft EDITORIAL STAFF, firsttuesday Journal
During July 2026, home prices slipped across all price tiers in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego. Even as home prices declined in the single month of July, prices remain roughly level with to slightly higher than a year earlier in all regions and price tiers.
California Voters Set To Decide on $25 Billion Program for Homebuyers—and Billionaires Tax
TRISTAN NAVERA, Realtor.com
California voters will soon determine whether or not to undertake several big housing reforms when they go to the polls in two weeks.
California Could Lose Up to 75% of Its Beaches—and Billions in Property Are Exposed
ALLAIRE CONTE, Realtor.com
Without intervention, 24% to 75% of the state’s beaches could disappear seasonally or permanently by 2100 as seas rise, according to models cited in California’s newly released Fifth Climate Change Assessment.
Industry News
Treasury unveils rule to ban large investors from homebuying
BLOOMBERG, The Orange County Register (Subscription)
The Treasury Department on Thursday proposed new regulations to bar large institutional investors from buying up single-family homes, the latest step in the process to implement the most controversial section of the sweeping bipartisan housing law passed this summer.
California insurance reviews go public: What real estate agents should know
JESSI HEALEY, Inman (Subscription)
California homeowners are paying 84 percent more for insurance than they did in 2020, according to Stanford University researchers. A new state regulation will let real estate agents and their clients see how regulators judge an insurer’s rate request before the company files it.
Real Estate Technology
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