Got a phone call first thing this morning from a good friend of mine, who is one of the smartest people in the industry, who flat out asked me why Realogy was publicly taking a stance against cooperation & compensation in the MLS. He’s usually able to figure stuff out, but this one, he said … Read more
I just saw this article from NAR Research come across my news feeds: Leading Economic and Housing Experts Predict Multiple Fed Interest Rate Hikes, Slowing Inflation and Home Price Growth in 2022. The key takeaway: More than 20 top economic and housing experts predict two quarter-point interest rate hikes by the Fed in 2022. Next … Read more
I’ve got a very busy week, but saw something on YouTube that made me want to explore a topic that I do plan on looking into deeper. So a brief post that is mostly a series of questions, all of which culminate in this one: Why is anybody buying mortgage-backed securities in 2021? Obviously, the … Read more
Three years ago, I wrote a post titled, “The Case for iBuyer Becoming the Default.” It came up in my social media feeds, thanks to the hard work of my social media manager. And the timing couldn’t have been better, since I’ve been thinking that I need to reassess iBuying as a category in light … Read more
Ben Thompson at Stratechery, the man responsible for setting Zillow on its path into iBuying, has published a newsletter discussing Zillow’s exit from iBuying. He’s very generous to Rich Barton and to Zillow, and eats a bit of crow. I rarely find anything in Thompson’s writings and opinions to disagree with, because he is one … Read more
I was in mid-air when the Zillow Q3 earnings release happened. By the time I had landed, there were dozens of texts, emails, and of course, social media postings. There were and are a lot of hot takes. I’m reasonably convinced that all or most are wrong in some significant way. Many are laughably shallow. … Read more
I was asked multiple times over the last few days about Zillow pausing its iBuying business, over email from some of you and in person at Inman that concluded last week. I haven’t written on it because I didn’t think it was a big deal, and others have already written on it. But since I’ve … Read more
I’ve now been asked by more than a few people on my take on the acquisition of Remine, the MLS technology provider, by MLS Technology Holdings, LLC., a new company formed by four major MLSs: ACTRIS (Austin), Heartland (Kansas City), FMLS (Atlanta) and Miami (er… Miami). Disclosure: I have personal relationships with three of the … Read more
Over on LinkedIn and on Facebook, the real nerds of real estate are posting how they’re en route to South Carolina for the RESO Fall Retreat. Hope my friends have a wonderful time on Kiawah Island. At the same time, a discussion of sorts has broken out over “native” data dictionary and so on. The … Read more