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 5, 2026
Top Stories
Home Prices Increased in 71% of Metro Areas in First Quarter of 2026
National Association of Realtors
Home prices rose in 71% of metro markets (167 out of 235) during the first quarter of 2026, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ latest quarterly report. This is down from 73% in the fourth quarter. Seven percent of metro areas (16 out of 235) recorded double-digit price gains, up from 5% last quarter. The report provides the real estate ecosystem—including agents and homebuyers and sellers—with quarterly metro-area data on median home prices and housing affordability.
CFPB Scales Back Small Business Lending Rule, Easing Burden On Smaller Lenders
National Mortgage Professional
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has finalized a scaled-back version of its small business lending rule under Regulation B, sharply narrowing which lenders must comply and what data they must collect. The most significant change: lenders must now originate at least 1,000 small business loans annually — measured over the prior two years — to fall under the rule. That’s up from the original 100-loan threshold, effectively carving out a large share of smaller institutions.
National News
Office vacancy rates dip, but landlords continue to grapple with hybrid work
MARY DIDUCH, The Real Deal (Subscription)
The national vacancy rate for office properties came in at 17.8 percent in March, down 210 basis points year over year, according to a report from research firm Yardi Matrix. Of the top 25 markets in the country, 18 posted yearly declines in their vacancy rates. However, the national, elevated vacancy rate also underscores how the hybrid work environment that many employees have grown accustomed to is hurting landlords.
Mortgage lenders now have more credit score options. What homebuyers should know
SARAH AGOSTINO, CNBC
Mortgage lenders are now permitted to use a credit score called VantageScore 4.0 as part of their underwriting process instead of a “classic” FICO score, which has been the only approved score for decades, government officials announced April 22. At some point in the coming months, another alternative score, FICO 10T, will also be permitted. The change applies to mortgages sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, government-sponsored enterprises that are the largest purchasers of mortgages on the secondary market.
California News
‘Just won the lottery’: A trending home financing option is gaining popularity in Calif.
TESSA MCLEAN, SFGate
When Eric Rewitzer and his wife Annie Galvin decided to move out of San Francisco after 30 years in the city, they found their dream home in Amador County. It was just what they were looking for — 13 acres of land with a timber frame home and a little art studio — but they couldn’t afford it. Two months later, in January 2019, a woman wandered into their San Francisco gallery and revealed that she was the owner of that home they loved. What she proposed, which ultimately led to a successful sale, is called seller financing.
Affordable homes are set to sprout in San Jose after property deal
GEORGE AVALOS, San Jose Mercury News (Subscription)
Hundreds of affordable homes could sprout near a San Jose train station after a long-time Bay Area developer and an experienced builder of affordable homes teamed up to buy the site for the project. The project is slated to produce 260 apartments, of which 257 will be affordable units. Three of the apartments will be market-rate manager’s units, a file posted by the state Treasurer’s Office shows.
California: State Farm violated law in handling of L.A. fire insurance claims
LEVI SUMAGAYSAY, CalMatters
State Farm could face millions of dollars in penalties and a possible temporary suspension of its license in California as a result of hundreds of alleged law violations related to its handling of claims from the Los Angeles County fires last year. California’s largest individual property insurance provider “showed a troubling pattern of claims handling practices” after the fires, the state’s Insurance Department said Monday. The department is seeking a hearing into the matter, which comes after an investigation it opened into State Farm’s conduct last June.
Industry News
Experts say MLS competition, consolidation to heat up after nationwide expansion
TAYLOR ANDERSON, Inman (Subscription)
The nationwide expansion of large multiple listing services in recent days could signal an acceleration of MLS consolidation — and intensify competition among entities that previously operated in relative silos, industry experts said. The signal comes amid an intense and ongoing period of MLS consolidation, where entities of all sizes are merging and shrinking the number of MLSs nationwide. With major MLSs expanding beyond their cores, that trend may accelerate.
Real Estate Technology
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Property News
As In 1950s, Prefab Homes A Potential Housing Solution
JEFFREY STEELE, Forbes
In the late 1940s, a return stateside of millions of G.I.s created a critical post-war U.S. housing shortage. Eager to start families, returning soldiers dreamed of homes and wide-open spaces. But a shortage of houses at attainable prices left them hemmed into apartments in the teeming urban enclaves they sought to flee.
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