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Millennials become more active as buyers —  According to NAR’s Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends 2018 study, 36 percent of all home purchases in 2018 were by millennials, up from 34 percent in 2017. Click here to download the report. ...

As home prices rise, “exurbs” make a comeback —  An exurb is a sparsely populated area that’s too undeveloped to be considered a suburb but is seeing a new wave of suburban development. Read the Brookings Institute report, Finding Exurbia. ...

Staging remains important, agents say —  Fully 83 percent of buyers’ agents say that staging makes it easier for buyers to visualize a property as their future home, according to NAR’s 2019 Profile of Home Staging....

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Flat-fee broker casts skateboarding legends in ad claiming traditional agents will “go extinct” —  Flat-fee company Home Bay says the traditional business model is doomed to disappear. Watch their new television ad featuring skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, below. ...

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Look past these four myths about down-payment assistance programs —  Nationally, there are some 2,500 down-payment assistance programs giving buyers access to hundreds of millions of dollars, says Sean Moss, vice president of Down Payment Resource. See his presentation, Down Payment Programs 101, below. ...

Time to reexamine agency laws, consumer advocate argues —  The nation’s real estate agents are governed by a hodgepodge of agency laws that are bewildering to consumers, confusing to agents, and poorly enforced by regulators. That’s according to a new report by the Consumer Federation of America, The Agency Mess....

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Broker-to-Broker Recommended Reading  — The Power of Moments by Chip Heath and Dan Heath.  Click here to read part one. ...

Amid pressure on commissions, here’s how to defend yours —  Michael Lee, author of 111 Ways To Justify Your Commission, says that two-thirds of agents cut their commissions simply because clients ask. To justify commissions, Lee recommends preparing a catalog of the typical actions, research steps, procedures, and processes involved in any transaction. See a list from the Orlando Regional Realtor Association that can help you compile one of your own. ...

Feds broaden scrutiny of all-cash deals —  The U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network in November said it would dramatically expand its use of geographic targeting orders to track all-cash purchases of homes. See the Geographic Targeting Order. ...

Home buyers embrace Internet but also value agents, study finds —  Fully 99 percent of millennial homebuyers use the Internet to research properties, according to the National Association of Realtors’ Real Estate in a Digital Age 2018 Report, which shows consumers embracing both high-tech and high-touch models of searching for properties. ...

“Agrihood” trend takes root —  Real estate developers are marketing “agrihoods,” developments that include community farms. See ULI’s report on agrihoods....

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Housing market to see weaker price gains, rising mortgage rates —  The U.S. housing market will underperform the broader economy in 2019, according to the National Association of Realtors’ official forecast. See forecasts from the National Association of Realtors and the Mortgage Bankers Association....

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Agents investing in tech, value predictive analytics —  A survey by the National Association of Realtors finds that NAR members are spending on technology — and expect their brokers to invest, too....

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Five ways agents should watch their backs  — Real Estate Broker’s Insider went incognito at open houses and found many violations of basic safety protocol. Read our article, “Visits to open houses find few agents take security measures.” ...

Broker pay remains flat over decade  — See an interactive, state-by-state map of agent income....

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Broker uses perks, fun to attract agents, build company  — At Pepine Realty in Gainesville, FL, they try to keep things fun. The same is true at Davidson Realty. Read Sherry and Jim’s story here. ...

Company’s emphasis on dual agency yields lawsuit  — A new lawsuit says there’s a dark side to brokerage Houlihan Lawrence’s growth. See the lawsuit here....

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Realtors in low-tax states target tax-weary buyers  — Realtors increasingly are focusing on the tax savings that could be reaped by wealthy homeowners who move from states with high taxes to states which collect no state income tax. See a state-by-state ranking of tax burdens. ...

Millennials, a huge generation, continue to confound expectations  — While most millennials have entered peak household formation and homebuying years, they are becoming homeowners later and at lower rates, the Urban Institute says. Click here to read the full report, Millennial Homeownership....

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Is commission competition alive and well? Answer is still unclear  — See Real Estate Broker’s Insider’s most recent roundup of commission trends. ...

Opendoor raises big money from investors  — Opendoor, the iBuyer platform that promises to revolutionize home selling, in June raised $325 million to expand its business. Watch Opendoor’s television ad targeted at sellers. ...

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