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Today: Building permits remain active across the Southeast with HIC Land expanding master-planned communities, nearly half of U.S. sellers are offering concessions as the Fed signals home prices must drop, and Compass faces a shareholder lawsuit claiming it bypassed normal antitrust review to close the Anywhere merger.
Seller concessions have hit 44.7% of home sales nationwide, the highest rate in six years, per Redfin. That includes price cuts, rate buydowns, closing costs, and repairs. If you're pricing a listing in Richland or Lexington County, assume buyers expect help. The median home price appears stable at $429K nationally, but after concessions, the effective price is closer to $410K. Adjust your CMAs accordingly. BiggerPockets
A Fed official has stated plainly that home prices must drop to restore affordability. This isn't a soft landing suggestion. It's a warning. If you have investor clients holding overpriced inventory or sellers waiting for spring to list at last year's comps, have the conversation now. The leverage has shifted. BiggerPockets
Hispanic buyers remain active but face a narrowing affordability window. Higher interest rates, insurance premiums, and property taxes have reduced purchasing power. FHA 203(k) and conventional renovation loans (financing both purchase and repairs) are underutilized tools. If you're working with first-time buyers in lower price ranges, particularly in neighborhoods needing updating, this is how they compete against cash investors. Know which local lenders offer these programs. HousingWire
Production homes (tract builds) made up 72% of single-family starts in 2025. Spec homes now sell at three different points: 12.3% before construction starts, 29.3% during construction, and 31.5% after completion. Buyers touring finished or near-finished homes have more leverage than those buying off plans. Time-to-completion averages 7.4 months for production homes, 11.7 for contractor-built, and 14.3 for owner-built custom projects. Price accordingly when advising clients. Redfin
HIC Land (South Carolina-based) has appointed Victor Padilla as co-CEO and is expanding into master-planned communities across the Southeast. The firm now operates in eight states with $300M in total investments, 48,000 lots under development or control, 7,500+ multifamily density units, and 700+ acres of commercial property. HIC's core business is land development: acquiring entitled land, installing infrastructure, and delivering finished lots to homebuilders. If you represent builders or land investors in the region, HIC is a potential pipeline partner for inventory. HousingWire
Nearly half of sellers are negotiating. That means foreclosure and short sale opportunities are opening as sellers who overpaid in 2021-2022 face margin compression. Watch for price reductions, expired listings, and FSBOs in submarkets where inventory is climbing faster than absorption. This is sourcing season. BiggerPockets
RXR is scaling its residential platform nationally with a $5B operating portfolio (8,000+ units), 2,800 units in development, and $2B in structured residential transactions over the past 30 months. The firm prioritizes "eds, meds, and well-led" markets (strong education, healthcare, public investment, business-friendly climate) and now operates in 11 gateway markets including Arizona, Florida, Colorado, California, and North Carolina. RXR named Gerard Norcia to lead the residential business and promoted Whitney Arcaro to COO. If you're sourcing multifamily or mixed-use opportunities in Sun Belt or Western markets, track RXR's activity. Commercial Observer
Century Communities acquired History Maker Homes (Texas), but the Mitchell family retained Jabez Development (their land platform) and ONM Living (build-to-rent). After five generations and 25,000 homes, they separated homebuilding from land development. The takeaway: land relationships, entitlement expertise, and local knowledge hold value independent of production capacity. If you represent developers or investors, consider whether your edge is in building or in controlling where things get built. HousingWire
Global equity release (reverse mortgages and home equity products for seniors) is projected to reach $52B annually by 2035, up from $17.7B currently. U.S. volumes are forecast to grow from $7.1B to $21.3B by 2035. Eligibility typically starts at age 55 in North America. Funding remains a barrier in some markets, with banks and securitization the primary sources. If you work with senior clients or aging-in-place scenarios, reverse mortgages and HELOCs for seniors are gaining traction. HousingWire
Compass faces a class-action lawsuit from former Anywhere shareholders claiming the company misrepresented regulatory risks during the merger. The suit alleges Compass hired lobbyist Mike Davis to bypass normal DOJ antitrust review, contradicting disclosures that both firms would use "reasonable best efforts" to obtain regulatory approvals. Senator Elizabeth Warren and others flagged antitrust concerns before the deal closed. Compass says the allegations are without merit. If you're affiliated with Compass or Anywhere, monitor this. Regulatory scrutiny of the merged entity is not over. RISMedia, HousingWire
CRMLS filed a federal lawsuit against Compass over exclusive inventory and cooperation rules. CRMLS argues that Compass wants to access MLS data from thousands of brokerages while withholding its own listings for exclusive financial benefit. The case has been assigned to Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker in the Southern District of New York. Texas-based Unlock MLS sent a similar letter to Compass disputing its characterization of MLS rules. If you're an MLS subscriber, watch how this plays out. It could reshape data-sharing obligations. RISMedia
The Supreme Court declined to hear Zillow's appeal in a shareholder lawsuit (Jaeger v. Zillow Group Inc.) related to the shutdown of Zillow Offers. Plaintiffs argue Zillow failed to disclose material facts about the iBuying business. The case now moves to trial. No direct South Carolina angle, but this is the end of Zillow's attempt to avoid a jury. RISMedia
Criminals used 79 dormant domains to impersonate The Ashton Real Estate Group (Nashville), sending fraudulent emails from IP addresses in China and Russia. The team owned ~400 domains for future use but never secured them with email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC). Without these protections, scammers can spoof sender information and impersonate agents in wire fraud schemes. The FBI reported $275.1M in real estate fraud losses in 2025. If you own unused domains, lock them down. If you don't, you're handing scammers your brand. HousingWire
Optimal Blue acquired CRM platform Usherpa to integrate pricing intelligence with borrower engagement. The move connects product and pricing engines (PPE) directly to lead conversion workflows, eliminating the gap between rate shopping and follow-up. Optimal Blue also integrated direct lock functionality with Fannie Mae's PE - Whole Loan platform, allowing lock desk users to execute best-efforts locks without leaving their pricing workflow. If you refer clients to lenders, ask whether they're using integrated PPE/CRM tools. Faster lock execution means fewer deals killed by rate changes. HousingWire