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Agents just hit their gloomiest outlook since fall 2023: 45% say listing pipelines are lighter than a year ago. Sellers picked the couch. Also: Dark Matter bought House Numbers' AI loan agents, and the 30-year sits at 7.118%. Free, weekdays: briefcase.email/subscribe

The midterms are tomorrow, and real estate's biggest stakes are down-ballot. Massachusetts votes on homes on 5K SF lots. Florida weighs a property tax exemption of up to $250K. Meanwhile, the 30-year rate slipped to 7.108%. Free, weekdays: briefcase.email/subscribe

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…