briefcase :) real estate newsletter

US home-sale prices just fell year over year for the first time in three years. By 0.1%. Sellers call it a rounding error; buyers call it a start. Plus: the 30-year rate slid to 7.24%, a monthly low, and Rocket booked a $709M profit. Free, weekdays: briefcase.email/subscribe

The Fed held rates at 3.75% to 4%, and two officials voted to hike anyway. Borrowers are already rate dodging: ARMs hit 11.3% of mortgage applications, a one-year high. Plus: $143B in Q3 CRE sales and a new No. 1 housing market. Free, weekdays: briefcase.email/subscribe

Home values rose 2.1% in August and still lost to 3.4% inflation, per Case-Shiller. That's the 15th straight month of real declines. Your house is now a savings account with a lawn. Plus: builders cut prices and the Fed decides today. Free, weekdays: briefcase.email/subscribe

Sellers are now chipping in on buyers' closing costs. About 21% of September listings cut their price, a four-year high, and Redfin counted ~63% more sellers than buyers. Today's Square Footage, free every weekday: briefcase.email/subscribe

The housing order got signed, and rates blinked: Freddie Mac's 30-year fell to 7.32% from 7.40%, the first weekly drop in two months. Also: Treasury wants to bar investors with 350+ homes from buying more. Today's Square Footage, free: briefcase.email/subscribe

Washington drafted an order to make mortgages cheaper. Half of borrowers already have one: 49% of US mortgages sit under 4% (Realtor.com). Meanwhile, applications fell 5.3% as rates dipped to 7.41%. Today's Square Footage, free: briefcase.email/subscribe

Homebuyers set a record, the bad kind: pending home sales fell 7.3% in September to the lowest reading since 2001. Housing starts slipped 5.2% too. That's the lead in today's Square Footage. 10 real estate stories, 5 minutes, free: briefcase.email/subscribe

Builder confidence just fell to 29, its lowest since June 2012. Buyer traffic at model homes: 18. Builders are still waiting for that call. That's the lead in today's Square Footage. 10 real estate stories, 5 minutes, free: briefcase.email/subscribe

In 1990, the median home cost 3x income or less in three-quarters of the biggest US markets. Today it's 3 out of 100. That's the stat we can't shake from today's Square Footage. 10 real estate stories, 5 minutes, free: briefcase.email/subscribe

A record 22% of home sellers just cut their price, and US asking prices fell for the first time since March. Somewhere, a listing agent is deleting the word firm. Mortgage rates: still 7.40%. Top 10 US real estate stories, free every weekday: briefcase.email/subscribe

Sellers now outnumber buyers by 62.6%, a Redfin record. September CPI hit 3.7%, and Oct. 28 Fed hike odds jumped to 47% from 22%. We send the top 10 US real estate stories free every weekday: briefcase.email/subscribe

Existing-home sales +1.5% in Sept (3.99M pace, NAR). Rates still near 7.6%. Office sublease at a post-2020 low. A 1969 Futuro UFO asks $1.495M. We send the top 10 US RE stories free every weekday: briefcase.email/subscribe

Roughly 1 in 7 US home deals fell apart in September (14.5%, per Redfin). Jacksonville: 19.9%. Meanwhile a former Manhattan garage lists for $80M, bulletproof door included. We send the top 10 US real estate stories free every weekday: briefcase.email/subscribe

The MBA says mortgage rates stay above 7% through 2027. Meanwhile a $13.95M Utah mansion has a pool that rises into a ballroom. Finally, something in housing that comes down on command. The top 10 US real estate stories, free every weekday: briefcase.email/subscribe

Mortgage rates: up 7 weeks in a row, now 7.40%. A San Francisco house: listed at $7.999M, sold for $15M. The 2026 housing market is two markets in a trench coat. The top 10 US real estate stories, free every weekday: briefcase.email/subscribe

Fannie Mae's secret #condo blacklist: Are you unknowingly blocked? 😱 briefcase.email/p/blacklist-…

Moore's Law meets real estate: How tech's prophecy is dynamically reshaping the industry 🚀 From AI-driven valuations to smart homes revolutionizing comfort, the digital transformation is profoundly influencing property landscapes, accelerating progress at an unprecedented pace. briefcase.email/p/moore-s-la…

The economic S-word, "stagflation," has Wall Street on edge and your portfolio trembling 😳. This toxic mix of stagnant growth and rising inflation threatens to upend markets and investor confidence worldwide. briefcase.email/p/stagflatio…

AI agent set records: $100M closed without coffee, lunch, or bathroom breaks 😱AI revolutionizes real estate sales as first artificial agent closes $100M in deals, challenging human agents and redefining the industry's future of property transactions. briefcase.email/p/first-ai-r…

Wall Street is freaking out about #stagflation like it's 1979 all over again. Remember when your parents couldn't afford gas OR mortgage payments? We might be heading back to that economic paradise with more avocado toast and TikTok dances to distract us from our financial doom. The free market solution? BUILD MORE #HOUSING. Not tariffs that add $10K to construction costs. briefcase.email/p/stagflatio…