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.

Wednesday, May 20, 2026

Top Stories

Mortgage demand for new homes dives in latest swing

ANDREW MARTINEZ, National Mortgage News
Applications for loans on newly built homes in April fell on both a monthly and annual basis, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Tuesday. Lingering economic uncertainty and higher rates reversed a large uptick in such demand in March, and April represented the first year-over-year decline in new home applications since last October.

Gen Z women outpace Gen Z men in homeownership despite a decline in first-time buyers

ALEX VIEGA, Los Angeles Times (Subscription)
Single Gen Z women are outpacing their male counterparts when it comes to buying a home. NAR surveyed people who bought a home between July 2024 and June 2025. The survey included homebuyers from several generations, from Gen Z, ages 18-26, to the Silent Generation, ages 80 to 100. No other generation had a bigger share of single women homebuyers than Gen Z.

National News 

Breakthrough agreement in housing bill gives investors wins

EMILY WILKINS, CNBC
The U.S. House is poised to approve a bipartisan housing affordability bill Wednesday that would limit major investors from purchasing single-family homes while allowing them to build additional housing units.

Pending sales inch up, but real growth unlikely until late 2026 

LILLIAN DICKERSON, Real Estate News
Homebuyers showed "cautious optimism" in April as pending home sales increased 1.4% from the previous month and grew 3.2% year-over-year, according to National Association of Realtors data released Tuesday.

California News

S.F. plans huge expansion of affordable housing fund amid push to ease building rules

J.K. DINEEN, San Francisco Chronicle (Subscription)
San Francisco would more than double its annual contribution to an affordable housing trust fund under a charter amendment proposed by Supervisor Myrna Melgar with the support of Mayor Daniel Lurie. The charter amendment, slated for the November ballot, would boost the Housing Trust Fund contributions from $52 million a year to $125 million to build and preserve more housing.

Deal helps Fremont affordable housing project push ahead

GEORGE AVALOS, San Jose Mercury News (Subscription)
An affordable housing development that could produce hundreds of apartments in Fremont is moving forward after a real estate alliance bought the land needed for the project. USA Properties Fund and Riverside Charitable Corp., through an affiliate, paid $11.5 million to buy most of the parcels that would be required, documents filed on May 15 with the Alameda County Recorder’s Office show.

California Median Home Price Sets New Record

PHIL HALL, WRE News
California’s median home price hit a new record in April at $914,810, marking the first time the median price has crossed the $900,000 threshold since May 2025. The previous record high was set in April 2025 with $910,160. According to the California Association of Realtors (CAR), April’s price was a 2.9% uptick from March and the third consecutive month of year-over-year growth.

Industry News 

Don't let the dream become a nightmare: NAMB declares May mortgage fraud awareness month

KIMBER WHITE, Mortgage Professional America
Mortgage fraud is not a distant, abstract threat. It is happening every day, in communities across the country, targeting everyday homebuyers who are simply trying to close on the home they have worked so hard to purchase. 

Real Estate Technology 

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Property News 

Buyers are scooping up underwater San Francisco real estate

KASIA PAWLOWSKA, SFGate
Several rare San Francisco lots sold at auction Tuesday for eyebrow-raising sums, even in a city known for shocking prices. Located near the shoreline close to Candlestick Park, the lots were billed as “a unique opportunity,” with each offering 5,000 square feet, or about 1/10 of an acre of land. The lots sold for less than $1,000 a piece, but there was a catch, of course. All of them are submerged in the bay.

In Case You Missed It 

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Resources, Webinars, and Other Items of Interest 

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