Mortgage rates move higher as inflation fears grow

Mortgage rates continued to rise this week, placing more strain on a 2026 spring housing market that was expected to be robust but is now fighting an uphill battle against a slowing economy. Mortgage News Daily reported Monday that 30-year fixed rates averaged 6.55%. That was up 6 basis points from

ERA President Alex Vidal doubles down on M&A as core growth engine

ERA Real Estate has quietly transformed mergers and acquisitions (M&A) from a tactical growth tool into a pillar of franchise recruitment strategy — closing 24 deals worth more than $1.5 billion in sales volume across 2024 and 2025. Many of these deals were initiated not by legacy franchisees but by

Home-Price Growth Sees Weakest Start to Year in Almost a Decade

Home prices remain elevated overall, but once again continued to see depreciation, marking a significantly weak start to 2026, according to the latest data. The January S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Home Price Index saw only a 0.9% gain to kick off 2026, down from a revised 1.1% gain in December (origin

Consumer Confidence Inches Up Despite Tariff and Geopolitical Conflict

Despite ongoing economic impacts surrounding the U.S. and Iran war, monthly consumer confidence as surveyed by the nonprofit Conference Board ticked up in March 2026.  The survey, with results collected between March 1-24 (entirely during the Iran war), found that consumer confidence ticked up to 91