| CURATED for Agents | Rates Climb at a Once-a-Year Pace, Sitzer Objectors Lose a Rehearing & Contract Cancellations Hit a Five-Year High |
FRIDAY · SEPTEMBER 25, 2026 Your one-stop read on the real estate day. Ten stories worth knowing, with the context behind each, so you can skip the tabs and feeds. What happened, what it means, and where agents land on it. |
|
| 👋 Agents. Rates moved faster than they usually do.
Mortgage rates climbed more than half a point in two weeks, a pace seen only three times in the 2010s. Objectors to the Sitzer and Gibson settlements lost their rehearing bid. Canceled home contracts hit a five-year high in August. A Better shareholder sued the lender and its founder, and Zillow counted 4.8 engaged shoppers for every listing. Let’s get into all of it.
Enjoy, — CURATED. |
| 1st TakeRates Rose Half a Point in Two Weeks, a Pace Seen Less Than Once a YearThe Quick TakeMortgage rates have climbed more than half a point in two weeks. Mortgage News Daily says that pace happens less than once a year on average, and only three times between 2010 and 2019. Friday itself was calmer, as afternoon gains pulled the average lender back to 7.43 percent. Read more →Why It’s HittingThe peak is still well below the 8 percent seen in October 2023. That is little comfort for a buyer who was pre-approved in August. | 📊 The Takes
Half a point in two weeks has agents urging buyers to lock, telling them to wait out the spike, or working the price instead.
📞 Locks It Now — ‘A move this fast can keep going. If my buyer has the house, we lock.’
🧘 Waits It Out — ‘I am not panicking anyone. A run this fast can reverse just as fast.’
🤝 Works the Price — ‘I cannot control the rate. I can push the seller on price and credits.’ |
| 2nd TakeSitzer and Gibson Objectors Lost Their Rehearing BidThe Quick TakeTwo objectors to the Sitzer/Burnett and Gibson commission settlements lost their bid for a rehearing. The appeals court upheld the Sitzer/Burnett settlements in rulings on August 19 and September 15, and the Gibson settlements on September 1. One more rehearing petition, specific to Gibson, is still pending. Read more →The Real StorySeparately, Batton counsel wants nearly 40 million dollars of the Tuccori settlement fund, and the Tuccori lawyers are opposing it. Two shareholder suits against Zillow executives were consolidated and stayed pending a related securities class action. | 📊 The Takes
The commission cases feel finished to most agents, though the legal fees rankle some and others are waiting on the last Gibson petition.
📕 Calls It Closed — ‘The rules already changed in my office. The appeals are just paperwork now.’
💼 Watches the Fees — ‘Nearly forty million for the lawyers. That tells you who this was built for.’
⏳ Waits for Gibson — ‘One Gibson petition is still pending. I will call it done when that one is.’ |
| 3rd TakeCanceled Home Contracts Hit a Five-Year High in AugustThe Quick TakeCanceled home sale contracts reached a five-year high in August, according to a Sept. 24 Cotality report. Nearly 12 percent of June contracts failed to close by the 60-day mark. Cotality said rising rates pushed buyers without rate locks past what they could afford. It said cancellations likely accounted for at least a third of August’s closed sales declines. Read more →Why You’ll Feel ItIf the trend continues, Cotality says rising rates may keep cancellations elevated through the fall. The odds of another hike are climbing too. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool put the chance of an October Fed increase at 68.6 percent, up from 55.4 percent a week earlier. | 📊 The Takes
Locking the rate at contract leads agent talk, followed by re-qualifying buyers before closing and a smaller camp expecting worse once this month’s rates show up.
🔒 Locks at Contract — ‘No more floating. My buyers lock the day we go under contract.’
🧾 Re-Qualifies Buyers — ‘I have the lender rerun my buyer at today’s rate before inspection, not after.’
📅 Calls It Lagging — ‘These were June contracts. The cancellations from this month’s rates haven’t shown up yet.’ |
| 4th TakeA Better Shareholder Says the Lender Misled InvestorsThe Quick TakeA shareholder filed a federal securities class action against online mortgage lender Better on September 21. It names founder and former CEO Vishal Garg and chief financial officer Loveen Advani. The suit alleges the company misled investors about potential monthly loan volume and played down economic conditions before a steep stock decline this spring. Read more →Why It’s HeatedThe complaint was filed in the Southern District of New York by shareholder Richard Gastwirt on behalf of others in the same position. It is built on the company’s own regulatory filings and public statements. | 📊 The Takes
Better’s legal trouble pushes many agents toward other lenders; others see only an allegation, and some leave the lender choice to buyers.
🏦 Steers Buyers Elsewhere — ‘I want a lender my buyers can trust to close. A securities suit does not help.’
⚖ Waits for a Ruling — ‘It is a complaint, not a verdict. A shareholder suit says nothing about my buyer’s loan.’
🙋 Leaves It to the Buyer — ‘Who my buyer borrows from is their call. I just need the file to close.’ |
| 5th TakeConsumer Sentiment Hit a Four-Month LowThe Quick TakeThe University of Michigan consumer sentiment index fell to 48.1 in September from 51.7 in August. That is the lowest reading in four months and down 15 percent from January. Views of current and year-ahead personal finances both weakened about 10 percent, with concern over high prices still rising. Read more →What This MeansBuying conditions for big-ticket goods improved slightly, in part because some consumers want to buy before prices rise further. The same instinct can move a hesitant homebuyer, or freeze one. | 📊 The Takes
Frozen buyers are the main read on falling sentiment, with a smaller camp chasing buyers who want in before prices rise and some trusting their open houses over any survey.
🥶 Sees Frozen Buyers — ‘Nobody signs a thirty-year note while feeling worse about their finances.’
⏩ Buys Before It Rises — ‘Some buyers want in before prices climb again. Those are the ones I am calling.’
📍 Reads the Local Market — ‘A national mood survey does not tell me who shows up to my open house.’ |
| 6th TakeMLSs and Realtor Associations Are Quietly SeparatingThe Quick TakeCanopy MLS named Steve Byrd its first standalone chief executive with no role at Canopy Realtors. Jerry Legrand is chief technology officer at the Greater Louisville Association of Realtors and APEX MLS. He says most of the separation is coming from MLS mergers, where the association may end up as one shareholder instead of the sole owner. Read more →What’s ChangingLegrand calls the Canopy move a win for those who want a separation of church and state, but an isolated one. Emily Girard of the Austin Board of Realtors and Unlock MLS says governance questions are now coming up in merger talks. | 📊 The Takes
Separation appeals to agents who want MLS fees spent on data, worries those who value the association vote, and barely registers with those who just need the feed.
🧱 Wants the Wall — ‘My MLS fees should buy data, not association politics. Split them.’
🤝 Keeps It Together — ‘The association is where agents get a real vote. Do not cut it out of the MLS.’
🤷 Just Wants the Feed — ‘Who owns the MLS is above my pay grade. I need listings that load.’ |
|
|