ReportWire

Tag: Zillow

  • Rampant post-fire price gouging went unpunished, report alleges

    When the Palisades and Eaton fires displaced thousands of tenants last year, landlords across L.A. jacked up rental prices while the flames were still burning. Officials were quick to respond, vowing crackdowns on price gouging.

    A new report asserts that many of those threats were toothless.

    Published by activist organization the Rent Brigade, the report analyzed L.A. County’s rental market in the year after the fires. It found 18,360 potential examples of price gouging in listings, but only 12 lawsuits filed so far.

    Gov. Gavin Newsom put price-gouging rules into effect on Jan. 7, the day of the fires. They’ve been in place in L.A. County ever since, and they’re currently extended through Feb. 27, 2026. The protections prohibit landlords from raising rents by more than 10%, but many seemed undeterred by the rules.

    In the week after the fires, one agent told The Times that their landlord client said they “doubt it’ll be prosecuted,” ordering the agent to raise the price more than 10%. A Beverly Grove condo jumped from $5,000 to $8,000. A property in Venice listed for 60% more. A Santa Monica home got a price bump of more than 100%.

    “I was shocked by how many clear, unavoidable cases of price gouging there were,” said Philip Meyer, a volunteer with the Rent Brigade who co-authored the report. “A lot of folks didn’t seem to think there’d be any accountability, so they were breaking the law in plain view.”

    Meyer helped design a tracking system that scrapes data from Zillow to detect price hikes greater than 10%. He said price gouging predictably skyrocketed in the month after the fires, but then it continued all year long as enforcement lagged.

    “I’m not sure if people realized that price-gouging laws are still in effect,” he said.

    Illegal listings were scattered across the Southland, but the report said that 42% were found in L.A. County’s 3rd District, which covers Pacific Palisades, as well as the surrounding communities where many fire victims tried to relocate, including Malibu, Santa Monica, Venice and Calabasas.

    Last year, the Rent Brigade launched a campaign to inform tenants that they may have been victims of price gouging. Using the Zillow data, they sent out 2,000 postcards to addresses tied to suspect listings detailing their rights; Meyer said the goal was to help tenants contact authorities for enforcement.

    The report claims that as much as $49 million in excess rent may have been collected over the last year, an estimate found by totaling up all the asking prices above the legal limit. However, the actual number is likely significantly lower, since the $49-million mark assumes all 18,360 illegal listings were rented at the advertised price.

    It’s also likely that the 18,360 number is slightly lower, since data pulled from Zillow listings don’t provide information on actual leases signed — and don’t always provide the full picture.

    For example, a Zillow listing could show a previous asking price of $1,500 for a home last year, and an asking price of $6,000 a year later, which would register as a 300% increase. However, the $1,500 asking price could’ve been for a single room in the home, not the entire home — in which case the $6,000 wouldn’t be considered price gouging.

    However, it’s clear that thousands of landlords tried to take advantage of increased demand created by the fires, which is why officials at the state, county and city levels all vowed crackdowns.

    There have been plenty of legislative efforts to help enforce such a crackdown. In February, L.A. County raised the price-gouging penalty from $10,000 to $50,000, and the L.A. City Council raised the maximum penalty to $30,000. In July, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors made it easier to punish landlords by allowing the Department of Consumer and Business Affairs to bypass the district attorney and directly fine price gougers.

    Other laws were proposed, but fizzled out. A state law sought to raise the maximum fine for price-gouging and expand protections to hotels and other services, but it died in the Senate Appropriations Committee. Another state law sought to require listing platforms to remove listings suspected of price gouging, but it was vetoed by Newsom in October.

    Spokespeople for the city, county and state offices that deal with price gouging responded to the report’s claims that they weren’t doing enough.

    “As part of our department’s work to protect Californians following the fires, California DOJ formed a Disaster Relief Task Force, sent 753 warning letters to hotels and landlords who were accused of price gouging, and filed criminal charges against six defendants, including Los Angeles real estate agents and a landlord,” said California Department of Justice spokesperson Elissa Perez, who works with state Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta. “These are cases where the provable facts supported charges.”

    The report claims that L.A. County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman, who issued strong statements condemning price gouging, hasn’t prosecuted a single price-gouging case. A statement from his office acknowledged that no cases have been filed, but pointed to collaborations with the city and state, which have both filed price-gouging lawsuits.

    City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto’s office has filed seven price-gouging lawsuits — three civil, four criminal — ranging from individual landlords to housing companies such as Blueground and Airbnb. Bonta’s office has filed five, all against individual landlords. All 12 cases are currently pending or awaiting trial.

    Ivor Pine, a spokesperson for Feldstein Soto’s office, called the report inaccurate; the report claimed the office investigated only 1,100 cases but it actually investigated thousands more, which were included in its lawsuits against Airbnb and Blueground. He also questioned the report’s methodology, adding that relying exclusively on Zillow listings can be misleading and suggest price gouging that’s not actually happening since it only shows advertised rents, not actual leases.

    Pine added that enforcement efforts are ongoing and that all cases filed seek restitution of hundreds or thousands of dollars paid to victims.

    Jack Flemming

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  • Judge denies Compass request for ‘Zillow ban’ injunction – Houston Agent Magazine

    United States District Judge Jeannette Vargas denied Compass’ motion for a preliminary injunction in its federal antitrust lawsuit against Zillow on Feb. 6.

    “Given that consumers use multiple online home search platforms simultaneously at little or no cost, Zillow’s brand recognition and related network effect do not appear to have deterred prospective home buyers from cross-shopping amongst competitors or new entrants,” Vargas wrote in her opinion.

    She elaborated that even if Zillow possessed a 50% share or more of the market, Compass had not provided enough evidence of a monopoly to warrant a preliminary injunction. Such a court order would have prevented Zillow from enforcing its private-listing ban, which was introduced last May.

    A spokesperson from Zillow provided this statement:

    Today’s ruling is a clear victory not just for Zillow, but for consumers, agents, brokerages and the real estate industry at large. Zillow believes everyone deserves equal access to the same real estate information at the same time. Compass does the opposite — hiding listings away in its private vault, harming consumers and small businesses to benefit itself.

    Compass filed this baseless lawsuit in an attempt to force Zillow to participate in that exclusionary scheme — but today, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York rejected their effort to reduce transparency for consumers, ruling that Compass failed to show a likelihood of success on the merits. At a time when Americans are struggling to afford a home amid a major housing shortage, hiding listings in private networks only deepens the crisis. While Compass keeps consumers in the dark, Zillow turns on the lights to help people get home.

    Compass filed its initial suit against Zillow in June, alleging the listing giant’s policies violate antitrust laws. An upcoming trial will decide the merit of Compass’ claim.

    Robert Reffkin, chairman and CEO of Compass International Holdings, maintained that Vargas’ ruling is not a loss for the behemoth brokerage, which recently finalized its acquisition of Anywhere Real Estate Inc. in January.

    “Our lawsuit continues forward,” Reffkin told Agent Publishing. “With agents being our clients, we have an obligation to protect our agents from Zillow, which explicitly stated they are trying to ‘punish the agent.’”

    Reffkin’s allegation refers to an internal Zillow strategy document that referenced a “punishment list” of agents who don’t comply with Zillow’s listing policies.

    That list would presumably be full of Compass agents, seeing as the brokerage’s “private exclusive” listing model delays listing on the broader MLS in favor of its own off-market listing network.

    Zillow did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the assertion that it will take any retribution against noncompliant agents.

    However, Compass reiterated in a statement that the lawsuit “has nothing to do with private exclusives” but with Zillow’s insistence that publicly marketing listings must be publicly available on all listing services — including, of course, Zillow.

    Emily Marek

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  • Super Bowl LX: The ‘Big Game’ could mean big home-value boosts for Boston and Seattle – Houston Agent Magazine

    It’s no secret that championship rings can spur huge economic boosts for winning cities. Boston and Seattle, the respective homes of Super Bowl LX contenders, stand to benefit from such upswings after the game on Feb. 8.

    But are home values a part of that economic phenomenon? According to Zillow, yes: The site’s Home Value Index shows that in 13 of the past 20 years, home values in the metro area of the Super Bowl champion grew faster than the national average, increasing by an average of $4,437 more than typical United States houses in the year following a championship win.

    Both Seattle and Boston have benefitted from this trend in the past: When the Seahawks won the Super Bowl in 2014, Seattle home values increased by $13,667 more than the national average in 2015; when the Patriots won the very next year, Boston home values increased by $14,832 more than the national average the following year.

    The city with the biggest boost was Tampa, though: When the Buccaneers won in 2021, average home values increased by $25,262 more than the national average in 2022.

    However, Zillow analysts say homeowners in Seattle and Boston shouldn’t expect too much of a value boost if their city hoists the trophy on Sunday.

    “While this is a fun trend, it’s highly unlikely that a championship football team is the driving force causing home values to grow,” Senior Economist Kara Ng said in a press release. “Regardless of the outcome, the good news is that we are trending toward a healthier market nationwide, with more homes for sale and buyers better able to afford them.”

    Emily Marek

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  • The Agency partners with Rechat – Houston Agent Magazine

    Rechat is now integrated with The Agency and will serve as a centralized operating platform for the brokerage.

    Agents affiliated with The Agency will now have access to Rechat’s CRM, the People Center, as well as a range of tools including a marketing center and an AI agent assistant.

    “The Agency is one of the most respected luxury brands in real estate, and their commitment to thoughtful growth and agent empowerment aligns closely with how we build Rechat,” Shayan Hamidi, CEO of Rechat, said in a press release. “Our team across 18 countries and our platform are designed to help reduce complexity and support scale. This partnership reflects a shared belief that technology should enable great agents, not get in their way.”

    Rechat is also integrated with Follow Up Boss, SkySlope, ChatGPT, Zillow and Loft47.

    “The Agency was built on the belief that collaboration, innovation and world-class service go hand in hand,” said Mauricio Umansky, founder and CEO of The Agency. “Our partnership with Rechat reinforces that commitment, creating a more connected global ecosystem while delivering intuitive, best-in-class technology that drives efficiency, empowers our agents and ultimately elevates the client experience.”

    Emily Marek

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  • Robert Reffkin retains position as most powerful person in real estate – Houston Agent Magazine

    After a year of big moves for Compass, Chairman and CEO Robert Reffkin retained his position as the No. 1 most powerful person in real estate, according to the annual Swanepoel Power 200 from T3 Sixty.

    The publication cited acquisitions of Anywhere Real Estate and @properties Christie’s International Real Estate, as well as Compass’ improved profitability in 2025, as evidence of Reffkin’s power in the industry.

    Reffkin was also No. 1 on the SP 200 in 2024.

    Jeremy Wacksman, CEO of Zillow Group, ranked No. 2, following a profitable year for the real estate portal. T3 Sixty also noted Wacksman’s ongoing battle with Compass over exclusive listings.

    No. 3 on the list was Rocket Companies CEO Varun Krishna, who oversaw the group’s acquisition of Redfin in July; followed by eXp World Holdings Founder and CEO Glenn Sanford at No. 4 and Anywhere Real Estate President and CEO Ryan Schneider at No. 5.

    Also in the top 10 were Andy Florance, founder and CEO of CoStar Group at No. 6; Chris Kelly, president and CEO of HomeServices of America at No. 7; Howard “Hoby” Hanna IV, CEO of Hanna Holdings at No. 8; Nykia Wright, CEO of the National Association of REALTORS® at No. 9; and Leo Pareja, CEO of eXp Realty at No. 10.

    Emily Marek

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  • To ease recruiters’ fears of being replaced by AI, Zillow experimented with ‘prompt-a-thons.’ Now the real estate giant has 6 new recruitment tools | Fortune

    Recruiting teams are, in many ways, ground zero for AI disruption. A plethora of tasks historically performed by recruiters can now be performed by AI technology. But…with a world of possibilities at one’s fingertips, it can be difficult to know where to begin.

    Real estate tech giant Zillow has launched several AI tools for recruitment since it began experimenting in late 2023. HR Brew recently sat down with Roz Harris, Zillow’s VP of talent acquisition, engagement, and belonging, to discuss how her recruitment team has identified and adopted AI solutions.

    Where to begin? In November 2023, Harris’s team started looking into how AI could be used by recruiters.

    “We started looking at the possibility of AI. And what we found was, when you look at the role of a recruiter and what they do, about 80% of our jobs were what you would hear in the conferences about the mundane tasks” that AI could replace, she told HR Brew.

    To help ease recruiters’ fear of being replaced by AI, Harris and her team experimented with AI with prompt-a-thons.

    Zillow already used hackathons to develop consumer-facing features and products; Harris’s team adopted the practice for its internal AI use. For example, prompt-a-thon teams expressed a desire for more coaching on having difficult conversations with hiring managers. They devised a prompt that could be used on ChatGPT, including capturing details about the issue, as well as emphasizing soft skills like maintaining a rapport or trust with hiring managers. The result: solutions devised by recruiters themselves, not a top-down edict from leadership.

    “The problems that they would go to tackle were ones that, I think, if I had to put my leadership team in a room and say, ‘Let us go do this,’ we wouldn’t have come up with the same questions and challenges at all,” Harris said.

    After identifying the problems and solutions, Harris would bring in, what she called, the cavalry—the legal, enterprise tech, engagement and belonging, and TA teams—to assess the tools and determine usability.

    Prompt-a-thons have so far resulted in six AI recruitment tools, Harris said. Some were developed in-house, but most are vendor tools that Harris’s team were either early adopters of or helped develop. Harris said she hasn’t yet been told “no” by the cavalry, largely because she has followed their best practices, such as avoiding decision-making tools and personal identifiers (like race, gender, or identifying keywords) to assess candidates.

    “Luckily, I’ve been around for a while, and so has my leadership team. We kind of always knew we didn’t want AI to make decisions,” she said. “We stayed away from tools and things that did that.”

    Measuring success. The tools used by Harris’s team focus both on assisting recruiters and improving the candidate experience.

    On the job-seeker side, Zillow’s AI tools include assistants that help candidates find and apply to roles, and schedule and prepare for interviews. On the recruiter side, recruitment marketing software or LinkedIn Recruiter help source high-quality candidates, while another tool analyzes and provides feedback on interviews.

    “If you’re applying to a job at Zillow, you can have assistance in helping you do that, and it’ll help match you to some roles as well. We also then use AI to help the recruiter,” Harris said.

    Zillow’s AI-powered interview scheduler is intended to speed up hiring and alleviate recruiters’ workloads, which are huge; some roles, such as sales or marketing specialists, receive 4,000+ applications within a day of being posted.

    “As someone who started their career as a recruiting coordinator, I think it’s the scheduling tool that’s actually my favorite,” Harris said.

    In the past, Harris said recruiting coordinators would spend over a week coordinating schedules for interviews. Now, candidates receive a text or email with a link that shows the interviewer’s availability, and schedules a meeting, which has cut time spent scheduling an interview to 30 minutes—a 97% reduction saving recruiters as many as 450 hours per month.

    For any recruiting coordinator sweating at the sight of that stat, Harris shared good news: “They’ve upgraded their skills. They all still work at Zillow.”

    Many former coordinators now work in Zillow’s employee service center, or in executive assistant or program manager roles; others help manage the scheduling tool. (And, when the October AWS outage crippled the internet, those former coordinators helped manually schedule interviews.)

    Zillow has also leveraged AI to recruit candidates from a wider geographic area.

    After embracing its remote-first work model, called Cloud HQ, Zillow found it wasn’t a well-known employer in some cities. Harris’s team used tools, including newsletters and targeted actions to drive applications, as well as LinkedIn Recruiter to save time sourcing better candidates, Appcast, a recruitment advertising technology provider that Zillow said helped recruit across regions. Using those three channels, 558 hires were made in 2025 through mid-December.

    “We had a reputation in those areas where we had offices. Well, when you flip that on the head and say, we’re going to be a Cloud HQ and we’re going to be able to hire across the country, we don’t have a reputation everywhere,” she said. “AI helped us build reputation.”

    This report was originally published by HR Brew.

    Paige McGlauflin, HR Brew

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  • DC renters could see relief in 2026 as Zillow sees rent-buy gap narrowing – WTOP News

    Rent affordability is expected to continue improving in much of the country after a year where incomes rose faster than rents in nearly four out of five major metro areas, including D.C.

    Renters could see some relief in 2026, as Zillow predicts home values will stay relatively flat next year — easing pressure across the housing market and helping keep rent increases in check.

    Rent affordability is expected to continue improving in much of the country after a year where incomes rose faster than rents in nearly four out of five major metro areas.

    Rents increased about 1% year over year, while incomes climbed roughly 4% in the D.C. market, according to Zillow.

    In October, a median-income household spent 27.2% of income on the typical U.S. rent — the lowest share since August 2021.

    The gap between owning and renting is rapidly closing, particularly in D.C., Orphe Divounguy, a senior economist at Zillow, told WTOP. In the D.C. market, that gap has narrowed to about $400 a month.

    “The typical rent in the D.C. market, is roughly $2,400 compared to the cost of owning at about $2,800 in November,” Divounguy said. “With the gap closing, more and more renters will probably consider making the leap into buying their first homes.”

    A lot of people who are not able to afford to buy a home yet will keep renting as they start families. Divounguy believes that will lead to more and more child-focused amenities such as imagination centers and homework pods.

    “Property managers that invest in amenities that are more kid-friendly are going to be able to attract more renters, especially those with families, and keep them,” Divounguy said.

    According to the Zillow consumer housing trends report, nearly three in five renters plan to rent for at least the next year. Even if mortgage rates dropped, only 37% said they would buy, which is down from 45% last year.

    Renting is becoming a deliberate choice, reducing home-maintenance costs and supporting mobility.

    Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

    Luke Lukert

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  • Mortgage and refinance interest rates today, November 23, 2025: Fractional moves

    Mortgage rates have made fractional moves up and down for weeks without much change. According to Zillow data, the current 30-year fixed mortgage rate is 6.11%. The 15-year fixed rate is 5.62%.

    Here are the current mortgage rates, according to the latest Zillow data:

    • 30-year fixed: 6.11%

    • 20-year fixed: 5.94%

    • 15-year fixed: 5.62%

    • 5/1 ARM: 6.17%

    • 7/1 ARM: 6.08%

    • 30-year VA: 5.58%

    • 15-year VA: 5.33%

    • 5/1 VA: 5.32%

    Remember, these are the national averages and rounded to the nearest hundredth.

    These are today’s mortgage refinance rates, according to the latest Zillow data:

    • 30-year fixed: 6.28%

    • 20-year fixed: 6.19%

    • 15-year fixed: 5.73%

    • 5/1 ARM: 6.40%

    • 7/1 ARM: 6.43%

    • 30-year VA: 5.64%

    • 15-year VA: 5.30%

    • 5/1 VA: 5.35%

    Again, the numbers provided are national averages rounded to the nearest hundredth. Mortgage refinance rates are often higher than rates when you buy a house, although that’s not always the case.

    Learn whether now is a good time to refinance your mortgage.

    Use the mortgage calculator below to see how various mortgage terms and interest rates will impact your monthly payments.

    You can bookmark the Yahoo Finance mortgage payment calculator and keep it handy for future use. It also considers factors like property taxes and homeowners insurance when determining your estimated monthly mortgage payment. This gives you a more realistic idea of your total monthly payment than if you just looked at mortgage principal and interest.

    The average 30-year mortgage rate today is 6.11%. A 30-year term is the most popular type of mortgage because by spreading out your payments over 360 months, your monthly payment is lower than with a shorter-term loan.

    The average 15-year mortgage rate is 5.62% today. When deciding between a 15-year and a 30-year mortgage, consider your short-term versus long-term goals.

    A 15-year mortgage comes with a lower interest rate than a 30-year term. This is great in the long run because you’ll pay off your loan 15 years sooner, and that’s 15 fewer years for interest to accumulate. But the trade-off is that your monthly payment will be higher as you pay off the same amount in half the time.

    Let’s say you get a $300,000 mortgage. With a 30-year term and a 6.11% rate, your monthly payment toward the principal and interest would be about $1,820, and you’d pay $355,172 in interest over the life of your loan — on top of that original $300,000.

    If you get that same $300,000 mortgage with a 15-year term and a 5.62% rate, your monthly payment would jump to $2,470. But you’d only pay $144,671 in interest over the years.

    With a fixed-rate mortgage, your rate is locked in for the entire life of your loan. You will get a new rate if you refinance your mortgage, though.

    An adjustable-rate mortgage keeps your rate the same for a predetermined period of time. Then, the rate will go up or down depending on several factors, such as the economy and the maximum amount your rate can change according to your contract. For example, with a 7/1 ARM, your rate would be locked in for the first seven years, then change every year for the remaining 23 years of your term.

    Adjustable rates typically start lower than fixed rates, but once the initial rate-lock period ends, it’s possible your rate will go up. Lately, though, some fixed rates have been starting lower than adjustable rates. Talk to your lender about its rates before choosing one or the other.

    Mortgage lenders typically give the lowest mortgage rates to people with higher down payments, great or excellent credit scores, and low debt-to-income ratios. So, if you want a lower rate, try saving more, improving your credit score, or paying down some debt before you start shopping for homes.

    Waiting for rates to drop probably isn’t the best method to get the lowest mortgage rate right now. If you’re ready to buy, focusing on your personal finances is probably the best way to lower your rate.

    To find the best mortgage lender for your situation, apply for mortgage preapproval with three or four companies. Just be sure to apply to all of them within a short time frame — doing so will give you the most accurate comparisons and have less of an impact on your credit score.

    When choosing a lender, don’t just compare interest rates. Look at the mortgage annual percentage rate (APR) — this factors in the interest rate, any discount points, and fees. The APR, which is also expressed as a percentage, reflects the true annual cost of borrowing money. This is probably the most important number to look at when comparing mortgage lenders.

    According to Zillow, the national average 30-year mortgage rate for purchasing a home is 6.11%, and the average 15-year mortgage rate is 5.62%. But these are national averages, so the average in your area could be different. Averages are typically higher in expensive parts of the U.S. and lower in less expensive areas.

    The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate is 6.11% right now, according to Zillow. However, you might get an even better rate with an excellent credit score, sizable down payment, and low debt-to-income ratio (DTI).

    Mortgage rates have been inching down recently, but they aren’t expected to drop drastically in the near future.

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  • Zillow Made a Real-Estate App for ChatGPT in 6 Weeks. Here’s How 

    At OpenAI’s DevDay conference in early October, cofounder and CEO Sam Altman announced the addition of “apps” to ChatGPT—self-contained software programs that the large language model platform can invoke and use. One of the first such apps announced at the conference was Zillow, the industry-leading online real estate marketplace. 

    To connect with Zillow on ChatGPT’s website or app, users can simply ask to use Zillow by writing a message like, “Hey Zillow, find me 2 bed, 1 bath condos selling for $1 million in Brooklyn, New York.” You can also use the @ sign to ensure Zillow is invoked. These messages should direct ChatGPT to pull up a window containing a map of your neighborhood and a collection of listings that fit your specifications. As users get deeper into the research process, they’ll be encouraged to switch over to the full Zillow website and app. 

    Here’s how Zillow and OpenAI collaborated to create the app in less than two months. 

    Roughly six weeks before Altman’s announcement, a group of Zillow executives met with a contingent from OpenAI, who detailed the ChatGPT-maker’s system for creating apps within the platform. They explained the two crucial pieces of the system were OpenAI’s Apps Software Developer Kit, which gives developers the tools necessary to create ChatGPT-specific apps, and the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open-source standard developed by rival AI company Anthropic, which allows developers to connect external data to ChatGPT. 

    “It was very early days,” says Zillow chief technology officer David Beitel. “They had a few mock ups and a little bit of code working.” But Beitel says Zillow is committed to meeting customers where there are, and given that OpenAI recently announced ChatGPT has passed over 800 million weekly users, it made sense to take the plunge with the AI market leader. 

    Beitel says that Zillow got assurances they would have full control over their own data and the user interface of the app, which are necessities in a highly regulated industry like real estate. A small team got to work building the ChatGPT App, working closely with an OpenAI team both in person and remotely over Slack channels. 

    Because Zillow was working on this ChatGPT app while OpenAI was still designing the framework for this new tech, the process involved a lot of trial and error. “Things that were working would break the next day because they were making other changes,” says Beitel, “which is natural, that’s just part of the process.” Right up until the day before launch, he says, the Zillow team was making changes to the app. 

    Beitel, a founding employee of Zillow, is quick to note that the company has been heavily using artificial intelligence and machine learning since its launch in 2006. For instance, he says, for nearly two decades the company’s patented “Zestimate” system has used machine learning models to estimate the market value of a home. 

    Internally, Beitel says Zillow is using a mixture of AI products, including Google’s Gemini, OpenAI’s enterprise plan, and Glean, a startup that provides a platform for connecting various data sources into a personalized work assistant for employees. According to Beitel, these tools have collectively saved Zillow employees over 275,000 hours. “We don’t see this as replacing the employee or the agent,” Beitel says, “we see this as making them a super agent.”

    By using large language models, he says, Zillow can provide customers with much more personalized and useful information to help them navigate the home buying and selling journey. 

    On the engineering side, Beitel says that Zillow has embraced AI-assisted coding, and is even using vibe-coding platforms like Replit to create working demos of new ideas rather than just writing up pitches. 

    “The home buying process is very complicated,” says Beitel. “There’s lots of steps, there’s lots of people involved, there’s lots of information, there’s lots of decisions. It can take months.” These complications make the real estate sector prime for AI disruption. 

    Beitel says that Zillow was energized at the prospect of being the first (and currently only) real-estate app on ChatGPT. “We want to be there,” he says, “we have the best product, the right brand, and the right customer experience that OpenAI wants to put us in front of their customers.” 

    The early-rate deadline for the 2026 Inc. Regionals Awards is Friday, November 14, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply now.

    Ben Sherry

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  • Real Estate Is the Last Industry Built to Confuse You

    Despite modern tech and transparency everywhere else, real estate still thrives on confusion and control. Unsplash+

    Buying a home is the only major purchase in modern life that still feels like stepping into a maze designed to keep you lost. We can buy a car online, invest with a few taps or file taxes on an app, but in real estate, you’re still funneled through layers of middlemen, jargon and rules you don’t even know exist—until they cost you money. That’s not an accident. Complexity isn’t a bug in the system; it is the system. And for decades, the industry has normalized this as “just the way it works.”

    This culture of confusion plays out every single day. Buyers and sellers are handed a process that’s outdated, fragmented and opaque, and then told to trust it blindly. Property data is locked behind gatekept multiple listing service (MLS) systems. Costs are buried in ways that even experienced buyers don’t fully grasp. And instead of simplifying the experience, the industry has spent decades adding more layers on top of old ones, like stacking fragile scaffolding on a crumbling foundation.

    Opacity as a business model

    Real estate’s lack of transparency isn’t accidental. It’s structural. Historically, MLS data, the lifeblood of the housing market, has been tightly controlled by brokerages and associations. To access basic information, you’ve had to go through agents, who in turn pay dues to local associations, which feed national organizations. Consumers have never had true, unfiltered access.

    This structure has been incredibly lucratiive. When only a select few control information, they also control the pace, the pricing and the terms of every transaction. The less the average person understands about the process, the more reliant they become on insiders—and the harder it becomes to question what they’re being charged for.

    This model may have made sense decades ago, when data was literally stored in filing cabinets, but in 2025 it’s indefensible. We live in a world where consumers can track their packages in real time, invest in startups from their phones and get instant transparency into almost any service they use. Yet when it comes to buying a home, one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives, people are still operating in the dark.

    Other industries have already changed

    Look at almost any other major sector and you’ll see how technology has transformed information asymmetry. Retail embraced e-commerce, allowing anyone compare prices, read reviews and make informed decisions. Finance was democratized by fintech: companies like Stripe, Robinhood and Wise made transactions, trading and payments simple and visible to everyone. Travel went from depending on opaque travel agents to platforms where consumers can book flights, hotels and experiences directly and easily.

    These shifts didn’t just happen because technology appeared; they happened because the industries realized that consumer trust is good for business. Once transparency became table stakes, those who resisted it lost relevance fast.

    Real estate has been the outlier. It has adopted technology superficially, like sleek websites, digital listings and A.I. buzzwords, but the business model has barely budged. Underneath the shiny surface, the same closed MLS systems, commission structures and gatekeeping practices remain intact. Transparency hasn’t disrupted the core; it’s just been layered on top like paint over cracked plaster.

    Complexity costs real money

    This lack of transparency isn’t just annoying, it’s expensive. In many markets, buyers and sellers are still on the hook for large commissions baked into transactions, often without fully understanding why or how those fees are structured. Hidden costs and unclear responsibilities routinely push first-time buyers to their limits. Sellers often discover too late that they’ve overpaid for services that should be standardized or automated.

    Even basic property searches are shaped by these dynamics. Consumers don’t see the entire inventory of homes because listings can be held back, delayed or marketed selectively. Exclusive listings, pocket deals and other opaque practices are used to maintain control. Buyers think they’re getting a full picture, when in reality they’re looking through a keyhole.

    Proptech hasn’t gone far enough

    Platforms like Zillow were supposed to blow the doors open. Instead, they’ve made an already complicated industry even more confusing. Zillow and similar platforms gave consumers a glossy interface and more data than before, but they didn’t truly democratize access, they monetized it. These platforms sit between consumers and MLS data, prioritizing lead generation for agents over clarity for buyers and sellers.

    Rather than simplifying the journey, they’ve added another middle layer. For many buyers, the experience of scrolling through Zillow isn’t fundamentally different from working with an agent, it just feels modern. The same structural opacity remains underneath.

    The next generation of proptech has a chance to fix that, but only if it goes beyond aesthetics. Real transparency means opening MLS data, standardizing costs and giving buyers and sellers the ability to navigate transactions without gatekeepers. It means putting consumers at the center of the experience, not as leads to be sold, but as participants in a clear, navigable system.

    The industry has a choice

    Real estate is standing at the same crossroads that travel, retail and finance once faced. It can continue to defend a system built on gatekeeping and opacity, or it can modernize and rebuild trust through transparency. The industry’s cultural resistance to change has lasted longer than most, but cultural tides don’t stop forever.

    Consumers are no longer passive. They expect real-time updates, honest pricing and the ability to understand the systems they’re navigating. As regulatory scrutiny increases and tech entrepreneurs push for open systems, the industry can either lead the shift or get dragged into it.

    If real estate wants to stay relevant, and not end up like the travel agents who refused to adapt, it needs to treat transparency not as a threat, but as the foundation for the next era of growth.

    Real Estate Is the Last Industry Built to Confuse You

    Blake O’Shaughnessy

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  • Mortgage and refinance interest rates today, October 12, 2025: Best week of the year to buy a house

    Mortgage rates are down today. According to Zillow, the national average 30-year fixed rate is down two basis points to 6.28%, and the 15-year fixed mortgage rate has inched down by two basis points to 5.56%.

    According to new data from Realtor.com, today marks the start of the best week of the year to buy a house. Mortgage rates shouldn’t plummet anytime soon, so if you’re otherwise ready to buy a home, now could be a great time.

    Here are the current mortgage rates, according to the latest Zillow data:

    • 30-year fixed: 6.28%

    • 20-year fixed: 5.90%

    • 15-year fixed: 5.56%

    • 5/1 ARM: 6.52%

    • 7/1 ARM: 6.63%

    • 30-year VA: 5.88%

    • 15-year VA: 5.39%

    • 5/1 VA: 5.76%

    Remember, these are the national averages and rounded to the nearest hundredth.

    These are today’s mortgage refinance rates, according to the latest Zillow data:

    • 30-year fixed: 6.38%

    • 20-year fixed: 5.97%

    • 15-year fixed: 5.76%

    • 5/1 ARM: 6.83%

    • 7/1 ARM: 6.75%

    • 30-year VA: 5.96%

    • 15-year VA: 5.96%

    • 5/1 VA: 5.61%

    Again, the numbers provided are national averages rounded to the nearest hundredth. Mortgage refinance rates are often higher than rates when you buy a house, although that’s not always the case.

    Learn whether now is a good time to refinance your mortgage.

    Use the mortgage calculator below to see how various mortgage terms and interest rates will impact your monthly payments.

    Our free mortgage calculator also considers factors like property taxes and homeowners insurance when determining your estimated monthly mortgage payment. This gives you a more realistic idea of your total monthly payment than if you just looked at mortgage principal and interest.

    The average 30-year mortgage rate today is 6.28%. A 30-year term is the most popular type of mortgage because by spreading out your payments over 360 months, your monthly payment is lower than with a shorter-term loan.

    The average 15-year mortgage rate is 5.56% today. When deciding between a 15-year and a 30-year mortgage, consider your short-term versus long-term goals.

    A 15-year mortgage comes with a lower interest rate than a 30-year term. This is great in the long run because you’ll pay off your loan 15 years sooner, and that’s 15 fewer years for interest to accumulate. But the trade-off is that your monthly payment will be higher as you pay off the same amount in half the time.

    Let’s say you get a $300,000 mortgage. With a 30-year term and a 6.28% rate, your monthly payment toward the principal and interest would be about 1,853, and you’d pay $367,083 in interest over the life of your loan — on top of that original $300,000.

    If you get that same $300,000 mortgage with a 15-year term and a 5.56% rate, your monthly payment would jump to $2,461. But you’d only pay $142,946 in interest over the years.

    With a fixed-rate mortgage, your rate is locked in for the entire life of your loan. You will get a new rate if you refinance your mortgage, though.

    An adjustable-rate mortgage keeps your rate the same for a predetermined period of time. Then, the rate will go up or down depending on several factors, such as the economy and the maximum amount your rate can change according to your contract. For example, with a 7/1 ARM, your rate would be locked in for the first seven years, then change every year for the remaining 23 years of your term.

    Adjustable rates typically start lower than fixed rates, but once the initial rate-lock period ends, it’s possible your rate will go up. Lately, though, some fixed rates have been starting lower than adjustable rates. Talk to your lender about its rates before choosing one or the other.

    Mortgage lenders typically give the lowest mortgage rates to people with higher down payments, great or excellent credit scores, and low debt-to-income ratios. So, if you want a lower rate, try saving more, improving your credit score, or paying down some debt before you start shopping for homes.

    Waiting for rates to drop probably isn’t the best method to get the lowest mortgage rate right now. If you’re ready to buy, focusing on your personal finances is probably the best way to lower your rate.

    To find the best mortgage lender for your situation, apply for mortgage preapproval with three or four companies. Just be sure to apply to all of them within a short time frame — doing so will give you the most accurate comparisons and have less of an impact on your credit score.

    When choosing a lender, don’t just compare interest rates. Look at the mortgage annual percentage rate (APR) — this factors in the interest rate, any discount points, and fees. The APR, which is also expressed as a percentage, reflects the true annual cost of borrowing money. This is probably the most important number to look at when comparing mortgage lenders.

    Learn 6 tips for choosing a mortgage lender.

    According to Zillow, the national average 30-year mortgage rate for purchasing a home is 6.28%, and the average 15-year mortgage rate is 5.56%. But these are national averages, so the average in your area could be different. Averages are typically higher in expensive parts of the U.S. and lower in less expensive areas.

    The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate is 6.28% right now, according to Zillow. However, you might get an even better rate with an excellent credit score, sizable down payment, and low debt-to-income ratio (DTI).

    Mortgage rates aren’t expected to drop drastically in the near future, though they might inch down here and there.

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  • FTC sues Zillow and accuses it of buying off rival Redfin

    The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing home-search website Zillow, alleging that it paid rival Redfin $100 million to eliminate competition in the online listing business. The suit refers to a deal inked back in February between the two companies in which Redfin allegedly agreed to become “an exclusive syndicator of Zillow listings.”

    The allegations suggest that Redfin began copying over listings from Zillow instead of creating its own listings, which gave Zillow much more control over the space. The suit also accuses Redfin of agreeing to end contracts with advertising customers in an alleged attempt to cede more ground to Zillow.

    The FTC went on to suggest that this anti-competitive practice would lead to higher prices and worsening terms for both renters and advertisers. “This agreement is nothing more than an end run around competition that insulates Zillow from head-to-head competition on the merits with Redfin for customers advertising multifamily buildings,” the lawsuit said.

    Zillow released a statement on the suit, which was published by CNN. The statement called the previous deal with Redfin “pro-competitive and pro-consumer” and noted that “our listing syndication with Redfin benefits both renters and property managers and has expanded renters’ access to multifamily listings across multiple platforms.”

    Redfin also disagrees with the allegations from the FTC, saying that “by the end of 2024, it was clear that the existing number of Redfin advertising customers couldn’t justify the cost of maintaining our rentals sales force.” The company went on to suggest that “partnering with Zillow cut those costs and enabled us to invest more in rental-search innovations on Redfin, directly benefiting apartment seekers.”

    The FTC further alleges that Redfin laid off hundreds of workers as part of the deal, going on to help Zillow hire some of these employees. Basically, the agency is accusing Zillow of acquiring a large part of Redfin’s business, all while hiding behind the idea of a partnership to avoid scrutiny. The FTC has asked the court to end the agreement and consider a divestiture of assets.

    This isn’t the only current legal dispute that Zillow finds itself in. A real estate brokerage company called Compass issued its own lawsuit back in June, accusing Zillow of engaging in anticompetitive practices.

    Lawrence Bonk

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  • Mortgage and refinance interest rates today, September 28, 2025: Adjustable rates are falling

    Today’s mortgage rates have shifted in different directions, depending on their term. According to Zillow, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate is up slightly to 6.47%, and the 15-year fixed rate has ticked down to 5.66%.

    However, the rate on the 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) has decreased for the third day in a row. It could be a good time to get an ARM because they usually start out with lower rates than what you’ll get with a fixed-rate mortgage. If you plan to sell your house before the intro-rate period ends, you can enjoy lower rates until then. And who knows — by the time your rate changes in a few years, market rates could be lower.

    Dig deeper: The best mortgage lenders for first-time home buyers

    Here are the current mortgage rates, according to the latest Zillow data:

    • 30-year fixed: 6.47%

    • 20-year fixed: 6.10%

    • 15-year fixed: 5.66%

    • 5/1 ARM: 6.66%

    • 7/1 ARM: 6.88%

    • 30-year VA: 5.89%

    • 15-year VA: 5.59%

    • 5/1 VA: 5.32%

    Remember, these are the national averages and rounded to the nearest hundredth.

    Learn more: 8 strategies for getting the lowest mortgage rates

    These are today’s mortgage refinance rates, according to the latest Zillow data:

    • 30-year fixed: 6.55%

    • 20-year fixed: 6.25%

    • 15-year fixed: 5.83%

    • 5/1 ARM: 6.91%

    • 7/1 ARM: 7.54%

    • 30-year VA: 6.16%

    • 15-year VA: 6.05%

    • 5/1 VA: 5.82%

    Again, the numbers provided are national averages rounded to the nearest hundredth. Mortgage refinance rates are often higher than rates when you buy a house, although that’s not always the case.

    Read more: Is now a good time to refinance your mortgage?

    Use the mortgage calculator below to see how various mortgage terms and interest rates will impact your monthly payments.

    Our free mortgage calculator also considers factors like property taxes and homeowners insurance when determining your estimated monthly mortgage payment. This gives you a more realistic idea of your total monthly payment than if you just looked at mortgage principal and interest.

    The average 30-year mortgage rate today is 6.47%. A 30-year term is the most popular type of mortgage because by spreading out your payments over 360 months, your monthly payment is lower than with a shorter-term loan.

    The average 15-year mortgage rate is 5.66% today. When deciding between a 15-year and a 30-year mortgage, consider your short-term versus long-term goals.

    A 15-year mortgage comes with a lower interest rate than a 30-year term. This is great in the long run because you’ll pay off your loan 15 years sooner, and that’s 15 fewer years for interest to accumulate. But the trade-off is that your monthly payment will be higher as you pay off the same amount in half the time.

    Let’s say you get a $300,000 mortgage. With a 30-year term and a 6.47% rate, your monthly payment toward the principal and interest would be about $1,890, and you’d pay $380,504 in interest over the life of your loan — on top of that original $300,000.

    If you get that same $300,000 mortgage with a 15-year term and a 5.66% rate, your monthly payment would jump to $2,477. But you’d only pay $145,823 in interest over the years.

    With a fixed-rate mortgage, your rate is locked in for the entire life of your loan. You will get a new rate if you refinance your mortgage, though.

    An adjustable-rate mortgage keeps your rate the same for a predetermined period of time. Then, the rate will go up or down depending on several factors, such as the economy and the maximum amount your rate can change according to your contract. For example, with a 7/1 ARM, your rate would be locked in for the first seven years, then change every year for the remaining 23 years of your term.

    Adjustable rates typically start lower than fixed rates, but once the initial rate-lock period ends, it’s possible your rate will go up. Lately, though, some fixed rates have been starting lower than adjustable rates. Talk to your lender about its rates before choosing one or the other.

    Dig deeper: Fixed-rate vs. adjustable-rate mortgages

    Mortgage lenders typically give the lowest mortgage rates to people with higher down payments, great or excellent credit scores, and low debt-to-income ratios. So, if you want a lower rate, try saving more, improving your credit score, or paying down some debt before you start shopping for homes.

    Waiting for rates to drop probably isn’t the best method to get the lowest mortgage rate right now. If you’re ready to buy, focusing on your personal finances is probably the best way to lower your rate.

    To find the best mortgage lender for your situation, apply for mortgage preapproval with three or four companies. Just be sure to apply to all of them within a short time frame — doing so will give you the most accurate comparisons and have less of an impact on your credit score.

    When choosing a lender, don’t just compare interest rates. Look at the mortgage annual percentage rate (APR) — this factors in the interest rate, any discount points, and fees. The APR, which is also expressed as a percentage, reflects the true annual cost of borrowing money. This is probably the most important number to look at when comparing mortgage lenders.

    Learn more: 6 tips for choosing a mortgage lender

    According to Zillow, the national average 30-year mortgage rate for purchasing a home is 6.47%, and the average 15-year mortgage rate is 5.66%. But these are national averages, so the average in your area could be different. Averages are typically higher in expensive parts of the U.S. and lower in less expensive areas.

    The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate is 6.47% right now, according to Zillow. However, you might get an even better rate with an excellent credit score, sizable down payment, and low debt-to-income ratio (DTI).

    Mortgage rates aren’t expected to drop drastically in the near future, though they might inch down here and there.

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  • Mortgage rates are falling. How far will they go?

    Mortgage rates are falling. How far will they go?

    For many prospective homebuyers, the last two years have been brutal as high home prices and mortgage rates produced the most unaffordable housing market since the 2000s bubble.

    Many experts don’t expect drastic improvement soon, but a shift could finally be underway.

    The cost of a 30-year fixed mortgage has fallen from above 7% in May to the low-6% range as of last week. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve is expected to cut its benchmark interest rate for the first time since it began raising it in 2022 in a bid to fight inflation.

    “I think for the next two years, we are in a world where the pressure is on rates to come down,” said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist with real estate brokerage Redfin.

    How much mortgage rates will decline is unclear.

    The cost for a mortgage is heavily influenced by inflation because institutional investors that buy 30-year mortgages that are packed into bundles don’t want to see the value of their investment eaten away.

    Experts attribute the recent decline in mortgage rates to easing inflation, as well as expectations that because consumer prices are rising less, that will enable the Fed to cut its benchmark interest rate.

    The central bank’s federal funds rate does not directly affect mortgage rates, but it can do so indirectly since it sets a floor on all borrowing costs and provides a signal of how entrenched the Fed thinks inflation is.

    Keith Gumbinger, vice president of research firm HSH.com, said a Fed cut Wednesday may not move mortgage rates much because, to some extent, mortgage investors have already priced in the expectation that rates would decline.

    More cuts, however, are expected in the future.

    Gumbinger said if the Fed achieves a so-called soft landing — taming inflation without causing a recession — he would expect mortgage rates to be in the mid-5% range by this time next year.

    If the economy turns sour, mortgage rates could fall further, though even in that scenario Gumbinger doubted they’d reach the 3% and below range of the pandemic.

    Orphe Divounguy, a senior economist with Zillow, predicted that rates would not even fall to 5.5% but would stay around where they are, arguing that the economy is relatively strong and inflation is unlikely to ease much.

    “I don’t think we are going to see a huge drop, but what we have seen has been great for homebuyers so far,” he said.

    Indeed, even modest drops in borrowing costs can have a big effect on affordability.

    If a buyer puts 20% down on an $800,000 house, the monthly principal and interest payments would equal $4,258 with a 7% mortgage; $3,837 with a 6% mortgage; and $3,436 with a 5% mortgage.

    Whether dropping rates bring lasting relief is another question. Falling borrowing costs could attract a flood of additional buyers and send home prices higher — especially if increased demand isn’t met by an increase in supply.

    For now, the number of homes for sale is increasing modestly, rates are falling and home price growth is slowing.

    In August, home prices across Southern California dipped slightly from the prior month. Values were still up nearly 6% from a year earlier, but that was smaller than the 12-month increase of 9.5% in April, according to data from Zillow.

    In theory, this combination of factors could provide prospective buyers an opportunity to get into the market. Many don’t appear to be doing so.

    According to Redfin, 7.8% fewer homes across the U.S. went into escrow during the four weeks that ended Sept 8 compared with a year earlier.

    In Los Angeles County, pending sales were up 2% from a year ago but down from earlier in the summer.

    Fairweather said buyers might not be jumping in now because they haven’t realized rates have gone down or they are temporarily scared off by recent changes to real estate commission rules.

    Some agents say they are noticing a pickup.

    Costanza Genoese-Zerbi, an L.A.-area Redfin agent, said she’s recently noticed more first-time buyers out shopping, leading to an uptick in multiple offers in entry-level neighborhoods where people are more sensitive to rates.

    Other agents aren’t seeing much of a boost.

    Real estate agent Jake Sullivan, who specializes in the South Bay and San Pedro, has a theory: Homes are still far more expensive than they were just a few years ago.

    Home insurance costs have risen as well.

    “The cost of living is just so high,” Sullivan said.

    Andrew Khouri

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  • A program to move unhoused folks directly into permanent housing secured funding, but sustainability is an issue

    A program to move unhoused folks directly into permanent housing secured funding, but sustainability is an issue

    A proposed funding contract to help move unhoused people directly into permanent housing passed through a Denver City Council committee.

    But questions remain on its sustainability and overall budget concerns.

    The Safety and Housing committee approved Wednesday the $5 million contract between Denver and Housing Connector, a nonprofit that helps connect people experiencing homelessness and service providers to property owners.

    The proposed contract is part of the city’s rapid rehousing strategy within All In Mile High, the mayor’s rebranded homelessness initiative.

    “Street to Lease” is a rapid rehousing program that looks to skip the transitional housing phase and instead move people from encampments directly into permanent housing.

    The plan is to work with smaller encampments in less centralized areas of the city, said Cole Chandler, the senior advisor for homelessness resolution.

    Through the proposed contract, Housing Connector will perform housing navigation and leasing coordination to about 250 households over two years.

    How does Housing Connector work?

    Housing Connector uses Zillow to find vacant units and build relationships with property owners. Through those relationships, the nonprofit can work with landlords on rental requirements, bypassing qualifications such as credit checks that systemically hold back would-be renters.

    The nonprofit would also handle the distribution of move-in funds and rental assistance. Each person within the “Street to Leasing” program will receive one year of rental and utility assistance. Housing Connector will also provide insurance on the units if necessary.

    A bus waits to take residents of this encampment on Arkins Court, by the South Platte River, to a new “micro community” site across town. Dec. 31, 2023.
    Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

    “Through [Housing Connector’s] relationships with landlords, they’re able to really be a strong liaison and if there’s challenges that are coming up with an individual in the housing unit, they’re able to work through those with the landlord in order to help preserve the person in the housing unit,” Chandler said.

    The final part of the contract will focus on providing wraparound services and case management. With the help of the Department of Housing and Stability, along with the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, participants will receive mental and physical health care, peer navigation, workforce training, behavioral health and substance misuse support and more housing navigation.

    Ultimately, the goal of the program is to provide a path toward stability.

    People who’ve been living in an encampment around 20th and Champa Streets downtown wait in line to board a bus to a new hotel shelter in Central Park. Dec. 7, 2023.
    Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

    “What happens through rapid rehousing is that we encounter somebody on their very worst day,” Chandler said. “They’re living in an encampment on the street. Their degree of stability is extremely low. We bring them indoors, we provide stability, provide case management. Over time, people are going to be able to increase their income. For some people, they’re going to be able to get back to work and they’ll be able to take over more and more of their rental payment.”

    There’s also the option to apply for vouchers if that need arises, Chandler added.

    The city ran a pilot of this program in April, working with an encampment of about 12 people. All 12 were placed into permanent housing.

    Councilmembers had questions about the program, primarily its sustainability and funding

    During the committee, councilmember Paul Kashmann asked whether the city will transition to utilizing this model of housing as opposed to first putting people in transitional housing.

    Chandler said both housing methods are tools in getting people off the street but the rapid rehousing model does eliminate the costly efforts of transitional housing. The plan, eventually, is to scale up rapid rehousing efforts and decrease shelter usage.

    However, both models are needed because ultimately some people aren’t ready to enter into permanent housing.

    City Councilmember Paul Kashmann questions Denver real estate director Lisa Lumley during the body’s weekly legislative meeting. Jan. 16, 2023.
    Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

    The funding for this program will come from American Rescue Plan Act, ARPA, dollars. About $4,250,350 of the proposed $5 million contract would be going toward rental assistance.

    The funding is where the problem lies for Councilmembers Amanda Sawyer and Stacie Gilmore.

    Sawyer said while the program may be successful, using ARPA dollars makes the program unstable because that funding mechanism is set to run out.

    She added that this has been her issue with the mayor’s initiative since the onset. Sawyer pointed toward the current sheltering model. According to the All In dashboard, the city has moved almost 1,600 off the streets. About 300 people who never entered a shelter or micro-community have been placed into leased permanent housing.

    City Council member Amanda Sawyer sits at her desk during the body’s weekly legislative meeting. Jan. 16, 2023.
    Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

    Out of those who were in a shelter, about 45 people are currently in leased permanent housing but 165 people have returned to unsheltered homelessness and 47 people have an unknown status.

    Sawyer said instead of “moving quickly,” declaring a state of emergency and funding programs with viable city dollars that have shown a low success rate, such as the sheltering model, the city could have invested in programs such as rapid rehousing that do work.

    “You cannot have sustainable programs without a sustainable funding source. $5 million of ARPA funds for this for one round, that’s great. ARPA is done. How are we going to pay for this after that,” Sawyer said. “If we had done our due diligence to begin with…we would be able to dedicate the real dollars and not temporary ARPA dollars to be able to support a really successful program that will actually make a difference in our city.”

    Gilmore also took issue with the city using ARPA funding. She also again asked for a spending breakdown of the All In program.

    Some councilmembers also wanted more transparency overall for All In Mile High.

    In April, committee members received an update on the program that noted that not all of the funding budgeting for the program in 2023 was spent.

    While the city still intends to spend that money, Gilmore asked for more transparency in where the dollars were going and where they were coming from.

    During the committee meeting, Gilmore was told she’d have those numbers in May. Chandler said the city will now provide that breakdown in June.

    Chandler added that the rapid rehousing program is something HOST has wanted to “deploy for some time.” He said the city is looking into the programs launched through All In and what are the one-time costs versus the recurring costs within the initiative.

    It’ll be an ongoing conversation as the city evaluates contracts and performance, Chandler said.

    “You are exactly right in your assessment that we are having critical conversations around what are we going to continue and what are we … are not,” Chandler said. “I think that this is a program that is worth investing in and is worth bringing into our community.”

    The contract will go before the full council sometime in the coming weeks.

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  • Casino mogul Steve Wynn and his billionaire neighbor in Florida pay $108 million for mansion on Aspen Mountain

    Casino mogul Steve Wynn and his billionaire neighbor in Florida pay $108 million for mansion on Aspen Mountain

    Only a handful of states can claim a single-family home sale topping $100 million. Colorado has joined that rarified group with the record $108 million closing on Monday of 419 Willoughby Way on Aspen’s Red Mountain.

    “It is great for the market. It is a testament to how special a community Aspen is on a global scale,” said listing agent Riley Warwick, who is with the Saslove & Warwick Team at Douglas Elliman Real Estate.

    The founder of the Bellagio and Wynn resort casinos, Steve Wynn, teamed up with Thomas Peterffy, a pioneer in computerized and discount stock trading, to purchase the home for close to the $110 million the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month.

    Patrick Dovigi, founder and CEO of Green for Life Environmental and a former professional hockey player in Canada, was the seller. Dovigi, who has invested in several Aspen properties, purchased the home in 2021 for $72.5 million from Lewis Sanders, former chairman and CEO of Sanford C. Bernstein.

    “Only a few markets have reached that kind of sale,” said Julie Morrah, president of Aspen Title & Escrow, which handled the title and escrow work on the purchase.

    The U.S. saw its first $100 million home sale two decades ago. Since then, about two dozen sales, not counting Monday’s purchase, have crossed that mark, according to the Wall Street Journal.

    Most $100 million-plus home sales have happened in Manhattan; Miami and Palm Beach, Fla.; Los Angeles and Malibu, Calif.; and Hawaii. Aspen now joins that list.

    Monday’s sale busted a short-lived record for Colorado set last Thursday of $77 million paid for Owl Creek Ranch, also in Aspen.

    So how did Dovigi reap a 50% return in just three years? He and his wife, an interior designer, remodeled the property, originally built in 2009.

    The house sits in a prime location at the base of Red Mountain overlooking Aspen. At 22,405 square feet, the house has 11 bedrooms and 17 bathrooms, a guest house, a large garage, and a heated outdoor pool.

    Pitkin County has capped future home construction at a maximum of 9,250 square feet, Warwick said. Unless the rules change, Aspen won’t ever see a new home built at that size, so scarcity also helped push the price higher.

    Unlike a traditional closing where sellers, buyers and their agents sit across from each other at a table and hand over keys once the wire clears, the deal was done remotely and through attorneys, which is typical for the highest-end homes.

    “You have a lot of attorneys involved doing a lot of the heavy lifting,” Morrah said, noting that a deal of that size had extra tight security.

    Aldo Svaldi

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  • Looking to buy or sell a home this spring? Here’s what to expect

    Looking to buy or sell a home this spring? Here’s what to expect

    Spring is less than a month away, and with it typically comes a busy time to buy and sell a home in Southern California.

    The holidays have passed. The weather is warmer. At least in theory, families should have enough time to find a home, move and settle in before their children start school in the fall.

    But during four years of a pandemic-influenced market, seasonality has at times gone by the wayside and home prices have whipsawed up, down, then back up again.

    So what should you expect if you are looking to buy or sell a home this spring?

    Borrowing costs

    If you are buying a home, prepare to pay a high mortgage interest rate.

    Prospective buyers had received some good news in recent months as the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage fell from a high of 7.79% at the end of October to 6.6% in January.

    Mortgage interest rates tend to follow inflation and during that time inflation showed signs of easing. But in recent weeks, economic reports have signaled inflation may be harder to eradicate than some expected and mortgage rates have resumed their climb.

    As of last week, the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage was 6.9%, according to Freddie Mac. That means the monthly payment on an $800,000 house is $128 more a month than that bottom in January, but $387 cheaper than the peak in October.

    According to the latest forecast from the Mortgage Bankers Assn., buyers shouldn’t expect drastic relief this year. The trade group expects rates to average 6.6% during the second quarter and end the year at 6.1%.

    If you are selling your home, high rates mean you will have fewer people touring your open houses than during the pandemic boom and you may need to rethink what your home is worth.

    However, there are buyers out there at today’s higher rates and some houses still receive bidding wars. Wealthy buyers can easier stomach a mortgage rate around 7% and may be able to pay all cash.

    “I wouldn’t call it a hot market,” said Tracy Do, a real estate agent who specializes in Northeast L.A. “It’s very tempered.”

    Homes for sale

    If you are looking for a home, you may wonder where they’ve all gone. However, the experience might be somewhat easier than it’s been.

    For the first time since 2021, new listings in January — homes hitting the market for the first time — were up compared with a year earlier in L.A. County, according to Zillow. Similar trends were seen across Southern California.

    Inventory has been extremely tight because many homeowners have decided not to sell, unwilling or unable to give up their 3% and below mortgages.

    Orphe Divounguy, a senior economist with Zillow, said he believes that “lock-in” effect is starting to wear off, as more people decide they’d rather get on with their lives and move than keep a low mortgage rate.

    But Divounguy and other economists don’t expect a return to normalcy soon, given the depths of the inventory crisis. In part that’s because of the difficulty of building houses in places like California, but also because high mortgage rates will still prohibit some from selling.

    According to Zillow, there were a total of 10,887 homes on the market in January in L.A. County, both new listings and homes that remain on the market unsold. That was 13% below a year earlier, but an improvement from the 26% annual decline recorded in September.

    Real estate agent Do said she is not seeing a flood of calls from people seeking to list their house.

    Some of the calls she does get come from people asking her to run the numbers to see if it makes more financial sense to lease their house rather than sell it since rents are high and they have sub-3% mortgage rates.

    “They are just thinking of keeping it as long-term investment, because they can,” Do said. “They have such a low overhead.”

    High prices

    If you’re looking for a screaming deal, you’ll be disappointed, according to many economists.

    According to Zillow, home prices across the six-county Southern California area dipped slightly in November and December, while they remained largely flat in January.

    Part of the reason is high mortgage rates prevented buyers from bidding up the cost of housing. But economists say part of the lack of movement in values is seasonality, since the winter is typically a slow time in the market.

    As buyers return this spring, some experts predict there will be enough of a mismatch between supply and demand to send prices back up.

    Overall, Zillow expects home prices in January 2025 to be 4.5% higher than January 2024 in the Inland Empire counties of Riverside and San Bernardino. Across Los Angeles and Orange counties, prices are predicted to climb 2.6%.

    However, economists say prices could fall if the Federal Reserve’s actions to beat back inflation push the nation into a recession.

    Andrew Khouri

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  • DC’s apartment rental ‘singles tax’ is almost $12K – WTOP News

    DC’s apartment rental ‘singles tax’ is almost $12K – WTOP News

    D.C. has the highest share of one-person households in the nation, at 48.2% of all households, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. That’s considerably more than the 28.6% average nationally — and those living alone pay a price for it.

    D.C. has the highest share of one-person households in the nation, at 48.2% of all households, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. That’s considerably more than the 28.6% average nationally — and those living alone pay a price for it.

    Real estate firm Zillow has calculated what it calls the “singles tax,” or the difference between housing costs for people living alone compared to those living with a spouse, partner or roommate.

    In the D.C. metro area, the singles tax is an average $11,452 a year, ranked fourth-highest among metropolitan areas.

    Zillow’s list is based on the average cost for renting a one-bedroom apartment — an average $1,909 a month in the D.C. area. It does not include other cost-of-living expenses that are footed by single-dweller households, such as utilities, streaming services, cable or Internet.

    “Those things add up. And if you are dividing by half, then, yes, you would definitely save that money as well,” said Emily McDonald, Zillow rental trends expert.

    Nationwide, the singles tax in 2024 is an average $7,110, an increase of more than $100 from last year. New York City tops the list with an average singles tax of $20,100, $600 more than a year ago.

    The singles tax in San Francisco is $13,438. In San Jose, Texas, it is $11,967.

    While the singles tax for single renters is among the highest in D.C., it actually hasn’t changed much from a year ago, largely because rents here have stabilized.

    “It is actually down about $50 from last year, which is pretty telling about the rental market in Washington, D.C.,” McDonald said.

    On the flip side, and by just reversing the math, moving in together, getting married or taking on a roommate has a “couples discount” of $22,905 combined per year in the D.C. metro, in other words, how much two people paying the rent cut their housing expense.

    There are plenty of people living alone that are doing so by choice. It may not be the best financial situation, but there are trade-offs some may think are worth it.

    “If you want to live alone and pay that extra price, there is definitely a benefit to it. You don’t have to worry about what you’re going to watch on TV every night. You can make your apartment exactly how you want it to be. You don’t have to worry about who is going to wash the dishes that night,” McDonald said.

    Below are the singles taxes and couples discounts 10 U.S. metro areas, courtesy of Zillow:

    (Courtesy Zillow)

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    © 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

    Jeff Clabaugh

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  • Opinion: In L.A., real estate envy is all too real. I can't stop looking at Zillow

    Opinion: In L.A., real estate envy is all too real. I can't stop looking at Zillow

    I was leaving a friend’s housewarming party on a street of nice single-family homes in Los Angeles a few years back when my curiosity got the best of me. I pulled up Zillow on my phone, entered her address and blinked at the property’s purchase price. I suppose I could have just asked her. In Los Angeles, talking about the cost of real estate is common, and I’ve often heard people comparing their refinance interest rates or saying how much they had to pay over the asking price. But by pursuing the information privately, I could digest my feelings about not being in a position to afford a house of equal value because I came from a different family of origin, because I was unmarried, because our writing careers had unfolded differently.

    This emotional aspect of homeownership isn’t discussed in articles that make the choice between buying and renting seem as low impact as choosing whether to eat carbs. Of course, it’s a financial investment and should theoretically be approached without sentiment. But it’s also one of the most loaded tenets of the American dream. When a belief or ideal has been drilled into your subconscious, detaching your values and self-identity from the fantasy can be difficult. This is true, even for people like me who were raised outside the mainstream.

    When I was a child, my mother and some friends bought 100 acres of land in Maine, creating an intentional community as part of the Back to the Land movement in the 1970s. Four families, including my own, designed and built properties — with our own hands — as well as the organic gardens, compost bins and wood piles that supported our chosen way of life. Everything was purposeful, such as our home being heated by solar energy and wood we mostly cut from our land. We ate our vegetarian, home-grown meals together under our skylights and at regular neighborhood potlucks. At the time, I felt like an outsider at school. Most families in our village had lobstered for generations and did not understand our preferences. But even then, I sensed I was being raised thoughtfully and well.

    All of this introduced me to the idea that owning a home was a conscious commitment to creating a small oasis of mindful, environmentally friendly, community-oriented living, as well as an act of stewardship — my parents own 30 acres of woodland that our family will never develop. And while I rebelled at 15 by moving to Massachusetts to start college early, I internalized these values and have been looking for my own version ever since.

    Perhaps it was this unusual upbringing that made me always love peeping in other people’s windows, to see how they lived by comparison. On runs through my neighborhood, I have spied scenes of a boy practicing piano or my neighbors watching “Jeopardy” by the light of their Christmas tree. As a child, I drew elaborate underground squirrel-houses with bunk beds and roller rinks. As an author, when I’m creating a new character I go to their hometown’s Zillow page and seek their living situation, scouring photos for my scene-setting. In my forthcoming novel, the main character, Mari, is a ghostwriter who sleuths intel about her client by looking up her home on Zillow. But I don’t need an excuse to peruse the site. Even though I’m not in the market to buy, I love to get lost in the fantasy of other houses, other lives.

    This tendency to look up residences in my neighborhood, for sale or not, morphed into looking up homes to which I am invited. Like many things in life, you only have to do it a few times for it to become a habit, whether it feels good or not. When I looked up a former mentor’s new home, the elegant, high-ceilinged rooms, alluring yard and swimming pool gave me all the feelings we can have about an old friend whose career has skyrocketed when ours has not yet hit the same heights.

    Perhaps I should stop. Or perhaps it’s a healthy way of getting a handle on how I compare myself to others and assess where I am in my own life, and what my level of success or acquisition says about me. Perhaps, just as it fuels my writing, it helps me envision the many possible future stories of my own life.

    Finally, in 2017, I compromised on my desire for a home and bought an investment property in Joshua Tree. Many of my friends also own places there, so in that way I was becoming part of a community as I had long sought. But owning a house that I would live in had become such a potent signifier, and even though I’m well aware that being able to buy property anywhere is a luxury many others will never have, this still felt like a concession. I knew vacationers would frequent it more than I would.

    The day I decided to buy the home, I peered up at the sky through one of the perfectly placed windows and nearly wept because the space was that beautiful. The Los Angeles real estate market — and the rental market — had beaten me down, and I had given up thinking I had a right to anything as nice as this property. Except I did, and I do. We all have this right. And now, sometimes, I pull up the Zillow listing for my house and smile at this little corner of the world where I fulfilled a dream and took the first step into my own version of stewardship.

    Sarah Tomlinson is a writer in Los Angeles. Her first novel, “The Last Days of the Midnight Ramblers,” is to be published Feb. 13.

    Sarah Tomlinson

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  • 3 reasons why the frozen housing market of 2024 is actually more active than before the pandemic, Zillow says

    3 reasons why the frozen housing market of 2024 is actually more active than before the pandemic, Zillow says

    Low inventory levels, high mortgage rates, and rising home prices have left the U.S. housing market frozen for the past year. But a new Zillow report suggests that the housing market today is actually more active than it was before the pandemic—even with inventory levels bottoming out in late 2023.

    Competition has cooled significantly since pandemic peaks, Zillow says, but it’s still hotter than pre-pandemic norms, with homes selling at a faster rate. That’s largely due to a lack of available inventory, Orphe Divounguy, Zillow senior economist, tells Fortune. 

    “Inventory is slowly increasing, but remains relatively low,” he says. “This means buyers have fewer options and homes are going under contract 50% faster than pre-pandemic norms.” Today’s 6% mortgage rate will “tamp down competition” for houses than when buyers were vying to purchase at sub-4% rates during the pandemic, he adds, but it won’t completely eliminate it.

    Although high mortgage rates and home prices are locking out some homebuyers, there are three ways that the housing market is still more active than it was before the pandemic, Zillow argues.

    1 – Homes are selling much faster than before the pandemic

    Remember the pandemic-era housing market when homes were flying off the market in just a number of days? While today’s market isn’t moving quite that fast, it’s still going at a quicker pace than before 2020. 

    Listings that sell are going under contract in a median of 30 days, Divounguy says. That’s one day less than last year and 50% faster than the pre-pandemic median of 45 days, he adds. In December 2021, buyers snatched listings in just 13 days. 

    “Homes are selling quicker than pre-pandemic norms largely due to low inventory levels and pent-up buyer demand,” Divounguy says. But buyers who were “sidelined” by 8% mortgage rates are “likely to resume their search” as rates continue to drop this year, he adds. 

    2 – Limited inventory means stiffer competition

    Around the time that mortgage rates peaked at 8%, existing-home sales plummeted a stunning 15% in September 2023 on a year-over-year basis to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.96 million transactions, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). That was the lowest figure since the world economy and U.S. housing market were emerging from the Great Financial Crisis in 2010.

    “Although supply has also improved somewhat, changes in mortgage rates have a larger impact on demand than on supply,” Divounguy says. “As a result, competition among buyers remains stiff.”

    While purchases are happening at a faster pace than before the pandemic, the lack of supply means that there are fewer housing transactions overall, Divounguy says. In fact, inventory levels are 36% lower than pre-pandemic levels, “a shortfall large enough to keep competition relatively brisk,” according to the Zillow report. That means that homebuyers trying to break into today’s market are up against some pretty stiff competition—and have had to start making concessions to finally get a house. 

    “People are not entering the market expecting to get everything they want,” Michael Martirena, a real estate agent with Compass Florida, tells Fortune. “This results in bids and offers on less desirable properties and keeps inventory tight at multiple price points.” Plus, nearly 30% of all listings sold above asking price in December 2023, according to Zillow. Only 16% of listings had price cuts, which was the lowest share since April 2022.

    3 – Increased home values and mortgage rates

    Mortgage rates reached a multi-decade high late last year while home prices increased each month, according to the Case-Shiller index. In turn, the typical mortgage payment was up 7.5% year-over-year in December 2023, according to Zillow. 

    But what’s even more striking is that the figure is 106.5% higher than the pandemic average. Today, the typical home in the U.S. is $344,000 and has a monthly mortgage payment of $1,790, assuming a 20% down payment, according to Zillow. But now that the Federal Reserve is slowing its roll on more interest rate hikes, mortgage rates are more likely to even out. In turn, this rate lock should loosen its grip on sellers, Divounguy says, bringing more activity back into the market. 

    “More than one in five homeowners are considering selling, compared to 15% one year ago,” he says. “Homeowners are sitting on massive equity—home values are up 41% nationwide since 2019—and roughly 70% of sellers turn around and purchase another home.”

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    Sydney Lake

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