Texas cities with the fastest-growing home prices

☀️ Happy Tuesday! We’re glad to have you back.

Today's newsletter is 720 words, a 3.5-minute read.

1. Compass challenges Zillow's listing policy in court

Ahead of a Nov. 18 hearing on its legal challenge to Zillow’s new listing rules, Compass filed a supplemental brief with the federal court in New York on Friday. The company accuses Zillow of weaponizing its dominance in the home portal market to crush competition and force home sellers and agents to list properties on its platform first.

Compass further alleges that Zillow implemented an anticompetitive “Zillow Ban” that punishes agents who allow homeowners to publicly market their listings on competing websites or brokerages before posting them on Zillow.

The filing also claims Zillow enforced compliance through intimidation, citing data showing that 90% of agents who received a Listing Access Standards notice abandoned off-Zillow marketing strategies entirely.

2. Luxury home prices climb 5% in September

According to Redfin’s latest report, luxury home prices rose 4.8% year over year in September to a record high of $1.26 million.

Luxury home sales were essentially unchanged (+0.3%) from a year earlier, suggesting stabilization after last year’s sharp slowdown. By contrast, non-luxury home sales slipped 0.3% year over year, remaining near their lowest level since at least 2013.

The typical luxury home took 52 days to go under contract, six days longer than last year, while non-luxury homes sold in a median of 43 days, seven days slower than a year ago.

A MESSAGE FROM DAVE YOUR MORTGAGE GUY

You’ve probably heard that home values have risen a lot in the past few years… but what are you actually doing with that equity?

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• 🏡 Using equity for a down payment on a second home or investment property

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Your home is more than a place to live. It’s also a financial tool. With interest rates improving, this could be the best time to explore your options.

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3. Catch up quick

💸 Texas cities with the fastest-growing home prices. (Stacker)

📸 Texas broker goes viral, but will it sell homes? (TRD)

🥴 Real estate is entering its AI slop era. (Wired)

🏠 Median monthly housing payment posts biggest decline in nearly a year. (Redfin)

🏙️ Cities where home values have changed the most over the last 50 years. (Realtor.com)

🕯️ Former Vice President Dick Cheney dies at 84. (TheHill)

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4. Home turnover rate hits lowest level in 30 years

According to an analysis by Redfin, only about 28 out of every 1,000 homes changed hands between January and September, the lowest home turnover rate since at least the 1990s.

San Antonio experienced the steepest decline among the nation’s 50 largest metro areas, with its turnover rate plunging nearly 27% from 2024.

5. Texas metros lead in share of homeowners without mortgages

A record 40.3% of homeowners now own their homes outright, up from 32.8% in 2010, reflecting a steady rise in mortgage-free ownership, according to a ResiClub analysis via the NYPost.

Over half of the nation’s 35 million mortgage-free owners are age 65 or older, and nearly two-thirds own their homes free and clear. Regions with older populations and lower home values, like Texas, report the highest rates.

Among the 200 largest U.S. metro areas, four of the top five with the greatest shares of homeowners without mortgages were in Texas: McAllen (61.8%), Brownsville (57.8%), Beaumont (57.1%), Kingsport, Tennessee (56.2%), and Longview (55.8%).

6. Texans keep Googling how to 'leave America'

According to moveBuddha, one in three Americans say they’d like to move abroad, including 62% of Gen Z, and their Google searches show it.

Texas ranked No. 15 nationwide, with a surge in searches for phrases like “move abroad” and “move overseas.”

States most likely to Google "Leave America"

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