New listings fall to the lowest level in nearly 2 years

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1. Zillow accuses Compass of ‘Hidden Listing Scheme’

In a court filing last week, Zillow accused Compass of running a 'three-phase Hidden Listing Scheme,' commonly known as the brokerage’s 3-Phased Marketing Strategy.

Zillow argues that Compass’s approach withholds listings from the MLS and public platforms in the early stages, limiting consumer access and reducing market transparency.

Zillow claims that a court order requiring it to display Compass’s listings would undermine its ability to uphold transparent, fair listing standards, encourage other brokerages to withhold listings for competitive advantage, and reduce consumer trust and market efficiency.

2. New listings fall to the lowest level in nearly 2 years

According to a new report from Redfin, new home listings dropped 3.2% in June — the lowest seasonally adjusted level since October 2023. It’s the biggest month-over-month decline since February 2023.

New listings fell 3.4% year over year, the first annual decline since October 2023.

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3. Catch up quick

🏢 A mixed-use 16-story apartment building in downtown Dallas welcomes its first tenants. (DallasNews)

🔓 Rently offers self-guided apartment tours via smart locks — but you’ll need to pay to unlock the door. (Futurism)

🏗️ The nation’s top 10 homebuilders accounted for a record 44.7% of all new single-family home sales in 2024. (NMP)

🕵️‍♂️ Immigration officials tell landlords to hand over tenant information. (APNews)

🏡 58.9% of online homebuyers in the 100 largest U.S. cities shopped for homes outside the city where they live. (Realtor.com)

🚀 Shares of Opendoor increased by over 400% in just one week, driven by retail investor hype on Reddit. (Investopedia)

4. Sellers start to lower asking prices

According to Redfin, the median asking price during the four weeks ending July 13 was $407,000 — up 2.9% year over year, the slowest growth in over four months.

Here’s what else the listing service reports:

• The median home-sale price is $401,120 — about $6K below the asking price

• Sale prices are up just 1.7% year over year

• 44% of sellers are offering buyer concessions, just under the record 45.1% from early 2023

• Supply is up: total homes for sale rose 12%, while pending sales slipped 2%

5. Housing starts tick up in June after hitting 5-year low

New home construction ticked up in June after hitting a five-year low in May. According to the Commerce Department, private home building reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.32 million units in June.

The number was up about 4.6 percent from May but still half a percent lower than June of last year.

Housing completions fell sharply in June, down nearly 15% from May on a seasonally adjusted basis — the lowest rate since January 2022. Meanwhile, permits to build new homes held steady month-over-month, remaining at an annualized rate of about 1.4 million. LINK

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