Home-sale prices fall for first time in more than three years

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Today's newsletter is 638 words — a 2.5-minute read. Let’s dive in…

1. Houston leads homebuilding outlook despite rising inventory

Houston ranked No. 1 for homebuilding prospects in PwC’s annual Emerging Trends in Real Estate report, up from third place last year. The city also ranked sixth among real estate markets to watch, down one spot.

The Houston area had 16,660 active single-family and condo listings in September, an 80% increase from three years earlier. Zillow also found that 4.3% of single-family homes listed for rent in the area had previously been listed for sale before being withdrawn, twice the national average.

Demand remains stronger for luxury homes priced above $800,000, while sales of homes priced between $300,000 and $800,000 have remained flat or declined.

2. Home-sale prices fall for first time in more than three years

The median home-sale price fell 0.1% year over year to $389,601 in the four weeks ending Oct. 25, according to a Redfin report. It marked the first annual decline in more than three years.

Here are other key takeaways:

• Pending home sales dropped 15.9% year over year to 276,352, the lowest level in records dating back to 2021. Sales declined across all 50 major metros.

• New listings fell 4% year over year to their lowest level since January, while active inventory rose 2.2% to 1.51 million homes.

• Texas markets also showed weakness. Median sale prices fell 4.6% in Austin, while new listings dropped 12.9%. Dallas and San Antonio recorded even steeper declines in new listings, down 17.6% and 18.7%, respectively.

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3. Catch up quick

🏰 Highland Park mansion relists for $32 million, topping Texas’ luxury market. (DallasMorningNews)

🔑 Texas markets lead in accidental landlord activity. (ResiClub)

🚨 MLSListings joins six MLSs in legal fight over Compass listing practices. (HousingWire)

🚀 Open Real Estate gathers 826 brokerage support letters in first week. (BusinessWire)

4. eXp expands coming soon listings to RealScout

eXp Realty plans to make its coming soon listings available on RealScout later in 2026, expanding their reach beyond Realtor.com, Homes.com and ComeHome.com. The companies have not announced a launch date.

The integration will allow agents and buyers to view pre-marketed properties directly within RealScout's search platform. eXp CEO Leo Pareja said the added exposure will give sellers more visibility before their homes officially hit the market.

The move builds on eXp's March agreement to distribute coming soon listings through Zenlist to Realtor.com, Homes.com and HouseCanary's ComeHome.com. The brokerage said the agreements are nonexclusive.

5. Zillow settles iBuying investor lawsuit for $212.5M

Zillow has agreed to pay $212.5 million to settle a securities class action alleging it misled investors about the performance of its Zillow Offers iBuying business in 2021.

Investors claimed company leaders overstated the program’s home-purchase volumes, pricing accuracy and operational improvements, leading shareholders to buy Zillow stock at artificially inflated prices. Zillow shut down Zillow Offers in November 2021 after struggling to accurately forecast home prices.

The proposed settlement includes no admission of wrongdoing and remains subject to court approval. It covers eligible investors who purchased Zillow Class A or Class C shares between Aug. 5 and Nov. 2, 2021. Separate shareholder derivative lawsuits remain pending.

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