CURATED for Agents — Tuesday, September 29, 2026

CURATED for Agents

An Agent’s Antitrust Case Against Zillow Moves Ahead, Rates Hit 7.58% & New Homes Undercut Resale

TUESDAY · SEPTEMBER 29, 2026

The industry made a lot of noise today. CURATED kept the 10 stories worth knowing and the context that explains them.

One read, and you know where the industry landed on each one.

👋 Agents. An agent’s antitrust case against Zillow is going forward.

A federal judge let a Washington agent’s Premier Agent case move ahead. Rates hit 7.58 percent, the highest since November 2023. New homes now cost less per square foot than existing ones. Fannie and Freddie will price FICO and VantageScore loans on one grid. And 80 percent of agents surveyed say their market is oversaturated. Let’s get into all of it.

Enjoy, — CURATED.

1st Take
Rates Hit 7.58%, the Highest Since November 2023
The Quick Take
The top-tier 30-year fixed rose from 7.50 to 7.58 percent on Tuesday, the highest since November 1, 2023. Rates climbed even as oil fell sharply, which Mortgage News Daily reads as the bond market resetting its expectations for Fed policy, growth, and inflation. Read more →

Why It’s Hitting
The ten-year Treasury is at its highest level since 2007. Mortgage rates are holding up better than that benchmark because they are priced off mortgage-backed securities rather than Treasuries directly.

📊 The Takes
Rates at 7.58 have agents bracing for more climb, betting on a later refinance, and reminding buyers that mortgages are faring better than the ten-year.

📉 Expects More Climb — ‘Every week I tell a buyer to wait, the rate gets worse.’

🔄 Counts on a Refi — ‘Buy the house at 7.6 and refinance when this breaks.’

🛟 Puts It in Context — ‘The ten-year is at a 2007 high. Mortgage rates are holding up better than that.’

2nd Take
A Judge Let an Agent’s Antitrust Case Against Zillow Move Forward
The Quick Take
Judge James Robart denied Zillow’s motion to dismiss a class action filed by Washington agent Stephanie Dupuis, who runs a team in Kitsap County. The proposed class covers agents enrolled in Zillow’s Preferred or Flex programs between January 16, 2022, and the filing date. The complaint alleges the number and quality of leads an agent gets depend on how many Zillow Home Loans pre-approvals they secure. Read more →

The Real Story
The complaint also calls the required use of Follow Up Boss an illegal tying arrangement. Robart dismissed a similar case, Taylor/Armstrong, in July but let the plaintiffs amend it, and Zillow wants that one tossed for good.

📊 The Takes
Agents in Zillow’s lead programs feel vindicated, admit they still need the leads, or point out that surviving dismissal is not the same as winning.

⚖ Feels Vindicated — ‘We all said the leads followed the loans. Now a judge will hear it.’

📥 Still Needs the Leads — ‘I can hate the program and still depend on it.’

⏳ Waits for a Verdict — ‘Surviving a motion to dismiss is not winning. A similar case was dismissed in July.’

3rd Take
New Homes Now Cost Less per Square Foot Than Existing Ones
The Quick Take
Zillow data show new homes sold for a national median of 205 dollars per square foot in July, below the 212 dollars for existing homes. From 2018 to 2024, new construction usually sold at a premium. Builders are using price cuts and incentives with 9.6 months of supply, and the steepest discounts are in the Sun Belt. Read more →

Why You’ll Feel It
In much of the country a resale listing now competes with a cheaper new build. New homes still sell at a premium in supply-constrained parts of the Northeast and Midwest. Builders also offer incentives many resale sellers cannot or will not match.

📊 The Takes
To many agents the new-build discount means sending buyers to builders, while some defend the resale and others call it a Sun Belt story.

🏗 Sends Buyers to Builders — ‘For a lot of my buyers, the new build is simply the better deal now.’

🏚 Defends the Resale — ‘Mature trees and an established street are worth something. I sell that.’

🧭 Sees a Sun Belt Story — ‘Where I sell, new construction still carries a premium. This is a Sun Belt story.’

4th Take
Fannie and Freddie Will Put FICO and VantageScore on One Pricing Grid
The Quick Take
Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will use a single grid for loan-level price adjustments on mortgages scored with either Classic FICO or VantageScore 4.0. Since early September, approved lenders have been able to use either score on eligible conventional loans. Read more →

What’s Changing
Pulte said keeping separate grids made zero sense. Lenders still have to use the same scoring model for every borrower on a loan.

📊 The Takes
One pricing grid looks like more approvals to many agents, though some want the fine print first and others leave scoring to the lender.

✅ Sees More Approvals — ‘Anything that gets a borderline buyer approved is a good day for me.’

🔍 Waits for the Fine Print — ‘One grid does not mean one score. I want to see the actual pricing.’

🏦 Leaves It to the Lender — ‘Scoring models are my lender’s job. I just need to know whether my buyer qualifies.’

5th Take
Three in Four Agents Say Homes Are Taking Longer to Sell
The Quick Take
Real REMAX Group’s August agent survey found three out of four agents say homes are taking longer to sell as inventory rises and buyers stay price-sensitive. Its Agent Optimism Index fell to 54.3 from 58.9 in July. That is still above 50, the line that signals a net positive outlook. Read more →

What This Means
Asked what is stretching days on market, 48 percent of agents named seller price expectations and 35 percent named buyers who cannot afford current rates. CEO Tamir Poleg says realistic pricing matters more than ever.

📊 The Takes
Slower sales get pinned on seller pricing first, then on payments buyers cannot carry, and by some on the rising inventory itself.

🏷 Blames the Price — ‘The house is not stale. The price is.’

💳 Blames the Payment — ‘My buyers want the house. They cannot carry the payment at these rates.’

📦 Blames the Inventory — ‘More listings means more choices. Buyers take their time because they can.’

6th Take
Home Prices Sped Up in July, and Real Values Still Fell
The Quick Take
The S&P Cotality Case-Shiller national index rose 1.9 percent from a year earlier in July, up from a revised 1.6 percent in June, the fifth straight month of acceleration. The 10-city composite rose 3.4 percent and the 20-city 2.5 percent. After inflation, real home values still declined. Read more →

The Stakes
The index reflects sales that closed May through July, when rates held in the mid-6 percent range. Those contracts were signed before the latest climb.

📊 The Takes
Sellers hear the nominal gain, buyers hear the inflation-adjusted loss, and some agents set aside an index built on contracts signed before rates climbed.

📈 Quotes the Headline — ‘Prices are still rising. That is what my sellers need to hear.’

🧾 Quotes the Real Number — ‘After inflation, owners are losing ground. My buyers should know that.’

⏪ Calls It Old Data — ‘Those contracts were signed before rates climbed. July tells me little about today.’

7th Take
A Senate Bill Would Match Down Payment Savings Five to One
The Quick Take
Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, with cosponsor Senator Ron Wyden, introduced the Homeownership Promise Act. It would have HUD set up Homeownership Promise Accounts and match every dollar a homebuyer saves with five. The bill was referred to the Senate Banking Committee on September 23. Read more →

Why It’s Burning
Accounts would top out at 60,000 dollars, with no more than 10,000 of it from the family’s own contributions. Merkley pitches it as a credible path to a modest home by age 30.

📊 The Takes
Five-to-one sounds great to agents with renters in mind, but plenty doubt the bill clears Congress and some expect sellers to price it in.

🎉 Loves the Match — ‘Five to one would put a down payment within reach for renters I work with.’

🗳 Doubts It Passes — ‘Two senators and a committee referral is not a law. I am not pitching it yet.’

💲 Fears Higher Prices — ‘Put more down payment money in buyers’ hands and sellers raise their prices.’

8th Take
Eighty Percent of Surveyed Agents Say Their Market Is Oversaturated
The Quick Take
The Close ran three surveys of its newsletter readers. Eighty percent said their market definitely feels oversaturated, and only 5 percent said competition feels normal. Sixty-four percent called professionalism among agents a major problem, and the same share said licensing requirements should be stricter. Read more →

Why People Are Mad
Counting everyone who said requirements could be at least somewhat stricter, 83 percent want a higher bar. Just 4 percent said becoming an agent is already difficult enough.

📊 The Takes
Most readers of The Close want stricter licensing, a smaller group would tighten it a little, and few would leave it alone.

📚 Raise the Bar — ‘Too many licenses, not enough careers. Make it harder to get in.’

🤏 Tighten It a Little — ‘Raise the bar a notch, but do not lock out the next good agent.’

🚪 Keep It Open — ‘Every agent started new once. The market sorts people out without a harder exam.’

9th Take
The Head of RESO Says MLSs Should License Their Data to AI Companies
The Quick Take
In a column, Sam DeBord, chief executive of the Real Estate Standards Organization, known as RESO, makes his case. He says a fragmented listing feed is worth little to anyone who wants a view of the whole market. MLSs can pay brokers incentives for more complete data while leaving them free to market as they choose. Read more →

The Bigger Picture
DeBord also wants MLSs negotiating now with the frontier AI companies. An early agreement could set a precedent for how listing data is governed.

📊 The Takes
Licensing MLS data to AI companies now is the favored move, with others wanting it locked down and some insisting the supplying brokers get paid first.

🤝 Wants the Licensing Deal — ‘Get paid by the AI companies now, before they stop needing us.’

🔒 Wants It Locked Down — ‘License it once and you never get it back.’

💵 Wants Brokers Paid First — ‘If the MLS sells our listing data, the brokers who supplied it get paid first.’

10th Take
Consumer Confidence Fell to 81.9
The Quick Take
The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index fell 6.7 points to 81.9 in September’s preliminary results, from 88.6 in August. Its Present Situation Index dropped 7.9 points to 109.3. The Expectations Index fell 5.9 points to 63.6, its third straight monthly decline. Read more →

What’s at Stake
The survey window ran September 1 through 23, which included the Fed’s rate hike. Expectations are the forward-looking part of the index, and they have now fallen three months running.

📊 The Takes
Falling confidence reads to agents as buyers already pulling back, a survey not worth shopping by, or a three-month slide in expectations to track.

😬 Feels It Already — ‘Buyers lose nerve before they lose interest. This index tells me where my pipeline is headed.’

🧭 Ignores the Index — ‘Confidence surveys never bought a house. Motivated people still move.’

🔭 Watches Expectations — ‘Expectations have fallen three months running. That is the number that shapes my spring.’

👋 Until tomorrow, Agents.

CURATED will be watching whether 7.58 is the ceiling.

CURATED for Agents

CURATED for Agents — the day’s real estate stories, and how the industry is reading them.

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