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, March 4, 2026

Top Stories

California’s home turnover crisis is getting worse

TESSA MCLEAN, SFGate
Californians are keeping their homes longer than ever, and new data shows that metros across the state are unlikely to reverse that trend any time soon. 

National News 

California Senator Aims To Ban ‘Predatory’ Investors From Buying Lots After Disasters

TRISTAN NAVERA, Realtor.com
Sen. Adam Schiff is putting forth a measure to ban investors from buying lots after natural disasters.
Under a new bill the California Democrat introduced Monday, institutional investors would be barred from making an offer on lots, parcels, or homes in a federally declared disaster area for six months after the disaster. S.3961, which doesn't yet have any cosponsors, is now in the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
The bill defines an investor as a company owning, directly or indirectly, 75 or more homes. These investors are also prohibited from soliciting land owners to sell their properties under the new bill.

California News

California homebuying falls below Great Recession lows

JONATHAN LANSER, San Jose Mercury News
California’s homebuying collapse is far different than the nation’s sales dip.
My trusty spreadsheet looked for clues in 21 years of sales stats from Attom, tracking closed deals for houses and condos, existing and newly constructed. The deep reluctance of house hunters to buy in 2023 and 2025 was compared with the ugliness of the 2007-2009 debacle.
Consider how far statewide sales have fallen recently.
California had 954,423 sales in 2023 -25, down from 1.25 million in 2007-09. So, homebuying was 24% slower over the past three years than during the housing nightmare. Yes, there are far fewer homebuyers these days than during the big crash.

Los Angeles woman faces 24 years in prison for real estate fraud

JOHN ROSS FERRAR, KTLA
A Los Angeles woman was formally charged with 25 felony counts of real estate fraud Monday in connection to a dozen falsely filed mechanics liens accusing Los Angeles County homeowners of millions of dollars in unpaid contracting work
The suspect, 58-year-old Rita Ortiz, now faces more than 24 years in state prison, if convicted. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman called the investigation “one of the most egregious cases of alleged real estate fraud” he’s ever seen.

Industry News 

California’s fire safety regulators are finally out with a ‘single stair’ report. They don’t love the idea

BEN CHRISTOPHER, Cal Matters
Two months past a statutory deadline, California’s top fire safety regulator published a report Monday on whether and how the state should legalize mid-rise apartment buildings with a lone staircase.
If this doesn’t sound like riveting news, you may have missed the brewing battle between pro-housing advocates and firefighting professionals over the cause of “single-stair reform” and whether America’s fire-averse building standards are standing in the way of more affordable, higher quality urban living.
The report, published by the Office of the State Fire Marshal, takes a fairly dim view of the “single stair” cause, but offers a few policy recommendations to state legislators should they move forward with the idea anyway.

Real Estate Technology 

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Property News 

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In Case You Missed It 

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Resources, Webinars, and Other Items of Interest 

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