Real Bought REMAX… But what about the Housing Market?!

Real just completed its $880 million REMAX takeover, creating a 180,000-agent real estate giant. Meanwhile, the housing market is shifting in the opposite direction: buyer demand is weakening, cancellations are rising, and home-price growth is slowing fast. In Episode 374 of tWiRE, we're looking at two major forces reshaping real estate at the same time: consolidation at the top of the industry and growing negotiating power at the consumer level. The Real + REMAX merger is officially closed, but the $880 million headline doesn't tell the whole story. We'll dig into the debt, ownership structure, massive stock buyback and leadership team behind the new Real REMAX Group. Then there's Compass. A new proposed class action lawsuit in New York City alleges the brokerage used its market position and listing strategy to reduce rental inventory available on Zillow-owned StreetEasy. We'll separate the allegations from the facts and look at why the private-listing fight continues to move from industry debate into courts and regulatory scrutiny. And in the housing market, buyers have more leverage, but affordability is still doing plenty of damage. In this live episode, we'll cover: • Real officially completes its $880M acquisition of REMAX, creating a 180,000-agent company • The financing, ownership structure and $450M share-buyback authorization behind the Real REMAX deal • Compass facing a new antitrust lawsuit over alleged efforts to pull NYC rental listings from StreetEasy • Why cash buyers are losing some of their pandemic-era advantage • Home-purchase cancellations reaching their highest level in nearly three years • Why late summer and early fall could offer some buyers their best negotiating window • New listings rising while pending home sales continue to weaken • U.S. home-price growth slowing to its weakest pace in a decade • New-home prices falling to a five-year low as builders fight for buyers • Why out-of-town buyers are increasingly targeting new construction • Mortgage rates climbing again and what that means for already-soft buyer demand The big question: **Is this finally becoming the buyer's market people have been waiting for, or are mortgage rates still too high for buyer leverage to really matter?** Join us LIVE on YouTube and tell us what you're seeing in your market. Every Wednesday, 12 PM CST! #RealEstateNews #HousingMarket #mortgagerates