Rate has introduced RateFi, a new mortgage product that allows qualified borrowers to use verified cryptocurrency as part of their income and asset qualification without requiring liquidation. 

Affordability continues to be a challenge in housing, and a new report from the National Association of Home Builders shows how that’s influencing both buyers and builders in 2026. 

After five years of worsening, housing affordability has finally started to improve, according to a new Redfin study. 

With mortgage rates approaching 6%, 5.5 million additional buyers that could not qualify for a mortgage one year ago would qualify at today’s lower rates, the National Association of REALTORS® said. 

In a rare housing market shift, newly built homes saw price reductions more frequently than existing homes in late 2025 for the first time in recent history, according to a new report from Realtor.com.  

As the housing market continues to adjust, design and community strategy have become drivers of buyer preference, according to Jenni Nichols, vice president of design at John Burns Research and Consulting.

Rate has entered a multi-year partnership with Alianza, a national grassroots soccer platform serving Latino communities, to expand access to bilingual homeownership education and financial resources. 

The change comes as Robert Reffkin takes the role of chairman and CEO of the newly formed Compass International Holdings.

“Today’s ruling is a clear victory not just for Zillow, but for consumers, agents, brokerages and the real estate industry at large,” a Zillow spokesperson told Agent Publishing.

Ryan Schneider, former CEO of Anywhere Real Estate, has left the company following its acquisition by Compass, a representative from Anywhere confirmed. 

The brokerage is the first defendant in the lawsuit that alleges that it, RE/MAX, Anywhere Real Estate and the National Association of REALTORS® conspired to fix agent commissions and inflate home prices. 

Advocus National Title Insurance Company, a Rate-acquired company, has appointed Kelli Fogarty as executive vice president, business development and Stan Czaja as executive vice president and general manager as part of a strategic effort to scale its underwriting platform nationwide. 

The Fed said that while economic activity has been expanding at a solid pace, job growth has remained low, and inflation is “somewhat elevated.”  

The report covers the progress the organization has made toward its 2026-2028 Strategic Plan. 

Investor-led purchases made up 34% of all single-family residential sales in the third quarter of 2025, up 25.5% year over year and 1% from the second quarter.

The publication cited acquisitions of Anywhere Real Estate and @properties Christie’s International Real Estate, as well as Compass’ improved profitability in 2025, as evidence of Reffkin’s power in the industry.