Real Brokerage to acquire RE/MAX

🗓️ Welcome back. Enjoy the final days of April this week.

Today’s newsletter is 731 words—a 2.5-minute read.

1. Real Brokerage to acquire RE/MAX

RE/MAX Holdings will be acquired by tech-focused The Real Brokerage in a deal valued at approximately $550 million, the companies announced Monday. Including debt, the total transaction value is about $880 million.

• The combined company, Real RE/MAX Group, will bring together more than 180,000 agents worldwide, including roughly 80,000 in the U.S.

RE/MAX investors can choose either 5.15 shares in the new company or $13.80 in cash per share. After the transaction closes, existing Real shareholders are expected to own about 59% of the company, with RE/MAX investors holding the remaining stake.

2. Home sale profits dip below 45%

In Q1 2026, homeowners earned a 44.1% profit on typical single-family home and condo sales, according to ATTOM. That’s down from 47.2% in the previous quarter and 50.2% a year earlier.

The 44.1% margin marks the lowest level since Q1 2021, continuing a steady pullback from the 63.5% peak in Q2 2022. Even so, seller returns remain well above pre-pandemic norms, when profits hovered around 30%.

Margins remain low in major Texas cities. Among large metros, the lowest returns were seen in San Antonio (19.9%), Houston (25.4%), Dallas (27.4%), and Austin (27.4%). Outside Texas, New Orleans posted the lowest return at 14%.

A MESSAGE FROM DAVE YOUR MORTGAGE GUY

FHA buyer. Seller owned it 45 days. We still closed. Most agents would've said wait. Or walk. Due to the 90-day FHA Rule. Here's what most people get wrong about this rule:

• You can go under contract before day 90 — the contract date doesn't matter

• The trigger is the FHA case number — that can't be ordered until day 91

• The 90-day clock starts from the title recording date — not the purchase date

I tracked the recording date, ordered the case number on day 91, and closed 2 weeks later.
The buyer didn't lose the house. They just needed a lender who knew the actual rule.
Got a buyer looking at a recently flipped or relisted home? Forward them this before they walk.

3. Catch up quick

⚖️ Supreme Court upholds Texas’ newly redrawn congressional map. (Axios)

🕰️ Mispriced DFW homes are taking longer to sell. (TRD)

🏠 Homeowners are putting up ‘For Sale’ signs as days get warmer. (Redfin)

🚀 Home prices have surged 551% since 1980. (BestInterest)

🚨 Austin-based residential appraiser True Footage sues San Francisco startup Automax AI, alleging copyright infringement. (BizJournals)

A MESSAGE FROM WHARTON

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4. Powell era draws to a close as Fed expected to hold rates steady

Federal Reserve policymakers begin their two-day meeting on interest rate policy Tuesday, marking the final rate decision before Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s term expires on May 15.

All signs point to the Fed keeping rates unchanged at the current range of 3.5% to 3.75% when the Federal Open Market Committee concludes its meeting on Wednesday (Apr. 29).

Although Trump has pushed for lower interest rates, the outlook for additional rate cuts this year has dimmed following the war with Iran, which sent oil prices soaring and renewed inflation concerns.

🧑‍⚖️ Related news: DOJ ends criminal probe of Jerome Powell. (APNews)

5. Laredo leads Texas in rent affordability

Laredo is No. 18 among the country’s most populous cities for affordable rent, according to a new analysis by WalletHub. Plano, Amarillo, and Brownsville also rank in the top 50.

The study compared median annual gross rent to average household income. In Laredo, that ratio is 19.34%, compared to 21.25% in Brownsville, 22.15% in Austin (No. 65), 22.78% in Fort Worth (No. 72), and 24.42% in San Antonio (No. 110).

Dallas is No. 122 with a rent-to-income ratio of 25.05%, and Houston is No. 126 at 25.20%. Garland has the highest ratio among Texas cities at 25.80%, ranking No. 143.

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