Now that the Iran conflict is behind us and oil prices have fallen significantly, we can hopefully move into the second half of 2026 with less drama for housing. It would be great if the economic backdrop was less like an episode of 24 and more like Saved by the Bell. How did housing hold up with oil prices above $100 at one point, and some people talking about three Fed rate hikes in 2026? Let’s...

Passing the midway point of a remodel can be an exciting time. After weeks (or months, but hopefully not years) of being in a state of disarray, things finally start to feel as if they’re coming together....

Keeping mosquitoes and pollen out while letting breezes through, screens can make all the difference on a porch. But do you go for a fully retractable or removable option, vinyl panels that roll down or screens that stay up year-round? See the choices designers made for the five screened porches...

Time is money when you’re running your own business, so it pays to find ways to do more in less time (without cutting corners, of course). If you’re looking for ideas on how to go about it, you’ve come to the right place. Here, six design and construction professionals on Houzz share the...

Legislation moving through Congress would increase fees on U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) loans, creating a new flashpoint for the mortgage industry. H.R. 6047, which would expand benefits for severely disabled veterans and survivors, would offset its costs by raising fees. The fee for the Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan (IRRRL) program would rise from 0.5% to 1.42%, while the VA...

A decade after addressing a room full of real estate agents as a motivational speaker, Barry Long is being recognized as a 2026 National Association of Realtors (NAR) Fair Housing Champion. Home accessibility search standards that Long co-developed are being adopted by multiple listing services (MLS) nationwide — transforming how homebuyers living with disabilities find properties. Long, a T5...

You hear them in a conference session, jot them down in your notebook, and then weeks later you find yourself still thinking about them while walking the dog, sitting on an airplane or reading another industry headline (from HousingWire, of course). That happened to me with something Ron Leonhardt, founder and CEO of CrossCountry Mortgage, said during his session with Clayton Collins at The Gathering....

Homebuyers in Florida have filed a lawsuit against Compass challenging a transaction fee the brokerage charged them upon the close of their August 2024 home purchase.  Filed on Tuesday in Palm Beach County, Florida circuit court by plaintiffs Jeff and Melissa Efron, the suit accused Compass of “unfair and deceptive business practices” for allegedly uniformly charging “an undisclosed flat-fee to...

A question has hovered over America’s publicly traded homebuilders as the price, pace and margins plot thickened on or about February 28, 2026. How big is big enough anymore, especially with the cloud of uncertainty that intensified on the day the Iran War began? Taylor Morrison Home Corp.‘s recently filed proxy statement, detailing the process that culminated in Berkshire Hathaway‘s agreement...

Classic kitchen designs endure for a reason. Features such as Shaker-style cabinetry, bridge faucets, warm wood accents and timeless finishes create spaces that feel welcoming and connected to a home’s architecture. But classic doesn’t have to mean predictable. In the following five...