Pending home sales hit their lowest level in 5 years

Plus: HUD to lay off 4,800 employees

February 18, 2025

😄 Welcome back, it's Tuesday already.

Today's newsletter is 666 words — a 2.5-minute read.

1. HUD to lay off 4,800 employees

The Trump Administration is expected to terminate half of all employees at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as part of the administration’s latest effort to reduce federal costs.

Antonio Gaines, president of HUD’s Union, said the job cuts will significantly impact employees in offices that enforce civil rights laws, compile housing market data, and fund disaster recovery efforts. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA), which provides mortgage loans, will be exempt.

2. Federal judge blocks Trump’s mass firing at CFPB

A federal judge issued an order on Friday to halt the employee firings at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), delivering an early blow to President Trump’s rapid push to dismantle the agency.

US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson issued the order barring the CFPB from axing more employees, beyond those let go for performance issues or misconduct.

The order instructs CFPB officials not to “delete, destroy, remove or impair any data.” The order also prevents the agency from carrying out mass firings or issuing a “reduction in force” notice, the official government procedure for layoffs to any CFPB employee.

A MESSAGE FROM DAVE YOUR MORTGAGE GUY

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3. Catch up quick

🏛️ New York Stock Exchange to launch branch in Dallas. (Axios)

⚖️ Houston broker and former CBRE Vice Chairman, Lucian Bukowski, is suing CBRE. (Bisnow)

📉 Home delistings soar 64% to the highest level in nearly a decade. (AOL)

💰 How much money you need to buy a luxury home in every state. (Realtor.com)

🏡 JPMorgan launches build-to-rent business focused on the Southeast region. (JPMorgan)

📈 Top Houston-area communities where home sales surged in 2024. (HAR)

🎓 Fun read: Report: Texas now has more top-tier research universities than any other state. (CBS)

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4. DOJ weighs in on Zillow vs. REX appeal

In 2021, REX sued Zillow alleging that Zillow’s compliance with NAR’s no-commingling rule resulted in a significant drop in traffic to REX’s non-MLS listings. As a result, the company argued, its business suffered and eventually shut down.

While Zillow won the case in 2023, the DOJ is now urging the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider the ruling arguing that the lower court may have failed to address how this rule could unfairly limit competition in the real estate industry.

While the final decision from the Ninth Circuit is still pending, if the court ultimately rules in favor of REX and vacates the 2023 decision, the case could be sent back to a lower court, reopening the possibility of Zillow facing liability.

5. Pending home sales hit their lowest level in 5 years

According to Redfin’s January market update, pending home sales in January fell to the lowest level on record since April 2020.

Sales were down 6.3% year-over-year in January and fell 4.2% month-over-month, the steepest seasonally adjusted decline since August 2023.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

  • Active home listings reached their highest level since early 2020, rising 0.3% month over month and 12.9% year over year.

  • New listings hit their highest level since July 2022, rising 1.9% month over month and 4.7% year over year.

  • Existing home sales dropped 1.7% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.3 million, marking the steepest monthly decline since October 2023.

A MESSAGE FROM ENERGYSAGE

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