Realtor.com moves headquarters from California to Texas

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1. Austin asking rents dropped 16% in January

According to a report by Redfin, Austin's median asking rent dropped 16% year over year in January to $1,399, the steepest decline among the 44 major metropolitan areas analyzed. The figure is now 22% ($400) below its record high of $1,799, set in August 2023.

Redfin attributes the sharp rent declines in Texas metros to increased housing construction.

Nationwide, the median asking rent was $1,599 in January, nearly unchanged from a year earlier (-0.1%) but up 0.5% month over month.

2. Homebuilder headaches: Trump imposes 25% tariff on steel and aluminum

On Monday, President Donald Trump imposed a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports into the United States, with no exceptions or exemptions, pushing homebuilders back into a situation where a tariff on building materials could raise the cost of constructing new homes.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has been sounding the alarm on the potential impact of Trump’s order to bump up tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico by 25 percent, especially since Canada is the largest exporter of steel to the USA.

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3. Catch up quick

🏡 Texas cities where home prices are predicted to drop in 2025. (NoradaRealEstate)

🚀 Texas new-home permits accounted for 15% of the nationwide total in 2024. (Realtor.com)

🚫 The Trump administration has stopped work at the CFPB. (APNews)

 🎉 Douglas Elliman promotes Melissa Web to President of Brokerage for Texas. (TRD)

🛒 Fun read: H-E-B is giving away a year's worth of groceries to one person every day through June 9. (H-E-B)

4. Senator Amy Klobuchar reintroduces bill to expose rental algorithms

Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota has reintroduced the Preventing Algorithmic Collusion Act after it failed to gain traction in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The Act directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to audit rental companies that develop or use algorithms to set rental prices.

• In the audit, companies would be required to disclose the source of their pricing algorithm, outline the rules and data the algorithm uses to set prices, explain how they source data for the algorithm, highlight any instances of price discrimination among consumers seeking the same or similar products, and share whether there is a human review process for the prices set by the algorithm.

5. Realtor.com moves headquarters from California to Texas

Realtor.com announced last Thursday that its headquarters will move from Santa Clara, California, to Austin, Texas.

According to Realtor.com, the move is due in part to a 'boom' in the Texas real estate market. Last year, six of the ten most popular ZIP codes in the U.S. were in the Lone Star State.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott applauded the move and said the Lone Star State provides a home where companies “have the freedom to grow their business.”

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