T3 Insight
Executive brief: articles and latest news
T3 Sixty’s monthly executive brief providing analysis on the most important trends and developments as well as a quick digest of the most notable news in the industry.
The industry has so many stories, blogs, press releases and announcements each month that we all struggle to digest the information and distinguish between truly meaningful developments and hype or advertisement.
With T3 Insight, T3 Sixty analyzes developing trends, provides new brokerage industry best practices, and creates new perspectives on recent developments in technology, leadership, and organized real estate, in a monthly executive brief. It helps executives understand how the industry is changing in real time.
Each monthly executive brief also includes a composite of latest news and current articles under the title “What We’re Reading.”
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
Have a question? Connect with our executive editor, Paul Hagey.
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Articles
Individual deep dive topics that T3 Sixty explores as part of the monthly executive brief
The articles listed here are an alternative view of the composite monthly brief. This offers an easy way to view recent, chronological, articles.
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January 2023
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The concept of a discount brokerage — in which brokerages offer services to real estate buyers and sellers for less than the predominant commission-based model — has existed for decades in the real estate space. This article provides a brief overview of where this model has been and where it may be headed.
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January 2023
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Every year, T3 Sixty ranks the nation’s 200 most powerful residential real estate brokerage leaders in the Swanepoel Power 200 (SP 200). The 2023 edition launched on January 10.
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January 2023
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After two years of rapid growth, home prices have slowed markedly as the housing market transitions to a period of lower sales amid higher mortgage rates. This article provides an analysis of the current home price trend and some details of how it has impacted metros.
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December 2022
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The real estate market has undoubtedly slowed. As the end of 2022 approaches, this article explores the market features to expect in 2023.
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December 2022
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In this 2023 Swanepoel Trends Report chapter digest, we present a high-level synopsis of the industry’s most profitable, national real estate brokerage company: HomeServices of America.
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December 2022
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In this 2023 Swanepoel Trends Report chapter digest, we present a high-level synopsis of three compelling real estate companies: At World Properties, Peerage Realty Partners and Place.
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November 2022
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Multiple listing services have been critical components of the American real estate system for nearly a century. They are, however, facing some significant changes and challenges as the industry matures into an increasingly scaled, well-capitalized enterprise, with advanced technology and new data capabilities and practices.
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November 2022
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The long-established compensation structure that undergirds the American real estate brokerage industry is facing unprecedented scrutiny from DOJ and FTC investigations and challenges from several high-profile, class-action antitrust lawsuits
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November 2022
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Bright MLS, the nation’s second largest multiple listing service, which serves over 100,000 subscribers in the Mid-Atlantic region, has been among a vanguard of MLSs innovating to create an expansive future for itself and other MLSs. In this video conversation, Bright MLS President and CEO Brian Donnellan discusses the evolution he sees in the MLS space and how he’s looking to navigate it.
What We’re Reading
Notable industry articles curated with T3 Sixty’s perspective
Every month T3 gathers most important news across all companies, brands and regions and created an executive summary for quick and easy review.
- Article available on Inman
Some former members of California-based Corcoran Global Living, which had been Corcoran Group’s largest affiliate and suddenly and surprisingly announced the shuttering of the company in late 2022, have banded together to form a new Corcoran affiliate Corcoran Icon Properties. Corcoran Global Living was one of the nation’s largest brokerages with over $8.1 billion in annual sales, so this transition is notable for the industry.
- Article available on Fortune
From February 2012 to June 2022 – 124 consecutive months – the Case-Shiller National Home Price Index reported month-over-month home price appreciation. July through October 2022 saw four consecutive months of monthly home price drops, down 2.4 percent from June’s peak. The correction is here. After years of accelerating growth and heat, home prices are readjusting as the Fed raises interest rates and the country works to stem inflation. This readjustment period could last for all of 2023 and then settle somewhat into a new normal. We’ll be tracking the data closely.
- Article available on New York Times
Approximately 6 percent of US real estate agents are Black and earn about a third of their white counterparts, according to U.S. Bureau and NAR data cited in this New York Times article. The article provide valuable insight on life as a Black real estate agent, who grapple with supporting clients and operating in a market marked with the legacy of discrimination and segregation. As the industry works to become more diverse, insight into some of the many different groups working in the space helps all of us better work to make this a more inclusive space.
- Article available on New York Times
The West is facing massive water-shortage issues. Lake Powell and Lake Mead, two key portions of the dammed Colorado River, provide water for millions of residents and businesses in the West, are drying up. This New York Times feature profiles a housing development of 500 to 700 homes in Arizona that is left without water service as neighboring Scottsdale, which had provided service, cut it off citing the need to conserve its allotment. This is just the beginning of a major readjustment to life and growth in the West as it confronts increasing populations and decreasing water reserves.
- Article available on Inman
The US Supreme Court denied NAR’s appeal to review a lower court’s ruling that a lawsuit the private listing firm The NLS (National Listing Service) filed against NAR and three large MLSs could proceed. The NLS alleges that NAR’s Clear Cooperation Policy, which requires brokerages to input listings into MLSs within one day of marketing publicly, and its application by MLSs violates antitrust provisions as the policy limits competition from listing databases not affiliated with NAR. In addition to this litigation, NAR faces significant legal challenges with the federal government and class-action suits challenging the industry’s traditional brokerage compensation model.
- Article available on Real Estate News
In a continued blow to the once-hot alternative financing trend, in which companies provided innovative financial products to consumers to streamline the selling and buying process, such as iBuying, Anywhere has announced it is winding down its division that offered those services RealSure. The company will focus on its stitching its digital offerings into a single platform for consumers. This refocus comes amid a lot of companies battening down the hatches for a tougher 2023 and focusing on more core business activities.
- Article available on Real Estate News
Effective January 1, Canada has begun a two-year ban on most international homebuyers in an effort to support affordability and availability of homes for Canadian citizens. The country has experienced outsized price appreciation in recent years, especially in some of its larger metros, which has attracted billions of dollars of real estate investment from foreign buyers and investors. The Canadian government has recently been more aggressive of a regulator of its real estate business, but should inventory remain an issue for US homebuyers, especially those with lower incomes and wealth, it could look to introduce policies to support citizen homeownership.
- Article available on The Wall Street Journal
Existing home sales dropped 7.7 percent from October to November, according to NAR’s latest existing home sales report. That marks the 10th consecutive month of month-over-month declines. The housing market has definitely turned. This stat reflects the new reality brokerages face as they confront 2023 – fewer home sales, which means fewer transactions and less revenue. This is the year when the validity of sharp business practices and profitable models reveal themselves.
- Article available on Inman
Houwzer, launched in 2015 and which provides discount brokerage services to consumers (such as a flat $5,000 listing fee to sellers), has acquired Trelora, a discount broker headquartered in Denver. Discount brokers have come and gone in the industry, and the promise remains big to those who attempt it. Philadelphia-based Houwzer has slowly gained traction over the years, while adding alternative financing services. It is showing promise as it continues to grow.
- Article available on The Wall Street Journal
Vacation-rental owners across the U.S. report dropping demand for their properties, as the supply of these rentals have skyrocketed. According to data from firm AirDNA, the number of available short-term rentals jumped 23.3 percent from October 2021 to October 2022. This has caused an average of 6 percent fewer nights booked per property in October 2022 compared the month a year previous. With interest rates at all-time lows as the pandemic began to wane, more buyers purchased homes with the intent of renting them as short-term rentals. The market has experienced a flood of supply. In addition, those looking to rent have begun looking farther afield as long-range travel has picked up after the pandemic.