2026

First-time homebuyer’s shrinking presence — what it means for real estate agents

The share of first-time homebuyers has fallen to 21% of all transactions — the lowest level since the National Association of Realtors (NAR) began tracking the data in 1981. For real estate agents, the shift is not a temporary blip. It’s a structural change reshaping how agents build their businesses, talk about value and prepare for a future in which the traditional pipeline of new homebuyers has...

U.S. Builder Sentiment Falls to Seven-Month Low on Geopolitical Uncertainty

U.S. homebuilder sentiment declined in April 2026 to its lowest level since September 2025, as elevated interest rates, rising construction costs and broader economic uncertainty weighed on demand at the start of the spring selling season. Confidence among builders of newly constructed single-family homes fell four points to 34, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing...

U.S. Builder Sentiment Falls to Seven-Month Low on Geopolitical Uncertainty

U.S. homebuilder sentiment declined in April 2026 to its lowest level since September 2025, as elevated interest rates, rising construction costs and broader economic uncertainty weighed on demand at the start of the spring selling season. Confidence among builders of newly constructed single-family homes fell four points to 34, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing...

Reverse Focus co-founder and HECMWorld editor Shannon Hicks to join HighTechLending

Reverse Focus co-founder and longtime HECMWorld editor Shannon Hicks announced Thursday that he will leave the reverse mortgage technology and media firm on May 1 to become chief content officer at HighTechLending. Hicks has spent the past 15 years helping to build HECMWorld into an education and marketing platform focused on Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs), according to a company announcement....

California court curbs Coastal Commission on building permits

A California home builder sought to build three additional houses on lots it had owned for more than two decades in a coastal county. That should have been easy. It had already built four nearby homes. But it wasn’t. Years of court hearings followed when a state agency overrode San Luis Obispo County’s authority and denied the building permits. On Thursday, the California Supreme Court ruled...

Cotality hires industry veteran Jason Nicosia to lead national real estate solutions

Cotality has hired residential real estate and proptech veteran Jason Nicosia as senior principal of national real estate solutions, the company announced Thursday. In the senior leadership role, Nicosia will serve as a strategic adviser to Cotality’s enterprise real estate clients, helping align the company’s data and technology products with clients’ long-term business goals and growth...

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