Weekly Real Estate News Quiz: Think You're Up On The Biggest Headlines?
Greg Schwartz, the president of media and marketplaces and a 12-year veteran of Zillow, is leaving the real estate tech giant at the end of the year, the Seattle-based company confirmed to Inman Monday. Zillow will shuffle oversight of the company’s segments among its current leadership with no current plans to replace Schwartz’s role.
Read the story here.
Buy a puppy was not on the checklist
Realogy’s nascent benefits program is expanding to the company’s entire roll of agents, the real estate holding company announced Monday.
Spark, an agent member association, will give agents access to “individual healthcare, disability insurance, life insurance, auto and home insurance, identity theft protection, human resources solutions, workers’ compensation insurance and commercial property or building insurance,” according to Realogy.
Existing-home sales grew 1.9 percent in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.46 million units, according to data by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released on Thursday. The uptick comes after a slight drop last month.
The median existing-home price in October was $270,900, a 6.2 percent increase from the same time last year and the 92nd month of annual gains. Sales are also up 4.6 percent year-over-year.
Consumers in the South and Midwest are about to get more immersive shopping experiences thanks to a new partnership between virtual home staging startup rooomy and furniture retailer Havertys.
The partnership will allow design consultants at Havartys — which operates 122 furniture showrooms — to transform customers’ two dimensional home photos into photorealistic 3D renderings. The consultants will use a custom interior design tool powered by rooomy’s 3D technology, and will be able to place Havertys products into the images.
A groundbreaking, three-year investigation by Long Island newspaper Newsday uncovered multiple instances of discriminatory practices after testing nearly 100 real estate agents and secretly recording hundreds of hours of conversations while looking at the listings of more than 5,000 homes.
The investigation focused on the following brands: Douglas Elliman, Century 21 Real Estate, Charles Rutenberg Realty Inc., Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage on Long Island, Coach Realtors, Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty, Laffey Fine Homes, Keller Williams Realty, The Corcoran Group, Signature Premier Properties, Realty Connect USA and RE/MAX LLC.
Only Corcoran and Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty were the two brokerages where no discrimination was reported.
Real Trends, a real estate brokerage news and consulting firm, released on Tuesday its inaugural comparison of the top agents affiliated with the industry’s top brands. The study found that Keller Williams‘ top five producers are more productive, in terms of individuals and teams, than agents at any other real estate brand.
Compass grabbed the top spot for sales volume for individuals, followed by Sotheby’s International Real Estate and Coldwell Banker. Keller Williams was once again at the top of the list, in terms of team sales volume, followed by RE/MAX and Coldwell Banker.
Ninety percent of millennial renters want to become homeowners. However, a new study by Apartment List revealed that 12.3 percent of them never expect to achieve that goal — a 1.6 percent increase from last year.
Mounting student loan debt, booming home prices, an inability to save a sizable down payment, and dwindling financial assistance are to blame for millennials’ less-than-rosy outlook on homeownership.
Referring to a Newsday investigation into discriminatory real estate practices that exposed 10 brokerages on Long Island that treated many non-white homebuyers unfairly, Corcoran CEO Pam Liebman spoke to Kearns about how Corcoran managed to be one of only two brokerages not to be exposed by the newspaper for unequal treatement by agents.
Kanye West seems to have taken a shine to the state of Wyoming. The rapper and producer just purchased a second ranch in the state for $14,495,000.
Read the story here.