Week in Housing: September 11
Shelter inflation cooled while mortgage rates climbed to 6.76%, existing-home sales slipped below 4 million and an $8.1 billion apartment merger landed. The week that set up the Fed’s Sept. 16 decision.
Don Baker
Staff Reporter
Don Baker is a full-time staff reporter for RealtyWire, where he covers residential real estate, commercial real estate, multifamily housing, market trends, finance, construction, rental data, and regulatory issues affecting the real estate industry.
Before joining RealtyWire, Don worked as an investor relations director for a multifamily private equity fund, where he wrote investor updates and reporting materials on the performance, operations, and outlook of investment properties. That role gave him hands-on experience analyzing real estate trends, rental statistics, construction activity, financing issues, multifamily operations, compliance matters, and the legal and regulatory factors that shape property ownership and investment.
Don brings a broad understanding of both residential and commercial real estate to his reporting, with a particular focus on helping readers understand how market data, policy changes, capital markets, and local property trends affect buyers, sellers, investors, brokers, developers, and property owners.
He earned a Bachelor of Science in Business from Southern Illinois University and currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
Articles by Don Baker
Don Baker
Riverside, California Metro Area Top 5 Home Sales: New Estate at The Madison Tops the Week at $16.25 Million
A newly built estate at The Madison in La Quinta sold for $16.25 million, the highest-priced home sale reported in the Riverside, California metro area for the week ending September 6, 2026.
Tampa, Florida Metro Area Top 5 Home Sales: Davis Island Bayfront Closing Leads at $7.10 Million
A bayfront property on Davis Island sold for $7.10 million, the highest-priced home sale reported in the Tampa metro area for the week ending September 6, 2026.
Charleston, South Carolina Metro Area Top 5 Home Sales: New Daniel Island Park Waterfront Home Leads at $9.20 Million
A newly built waterfront home in Daniel Island Park sold for $9.2 million, the highest-priced home sale reported in the Charleston metro area for the week ending September 6, 2026.
Naples, Florida Metro Area Top 5 Home Sales: Port Royal Estate on Smugglers’ Bay Sells for $26 Million
A Port Royal estate on Smugglers’ Bay sold for $26 million, the highest of five reported home sales in the Naples, Florida metro area for the week ending September 6, 2026.
Little Rock, Arkansas Metro Area Top 5 Home Sales: Newly Built Park View Home Tops the Week at $1.64 Million
A newly built Park View home sold for $1.64 million, the highest of five reported sales in the Little Rock, Arkansas metro area for the week ending September 6, 2026.
Deltona, Florida Metro Area Top 5 Home Sales: New Palm Coast Waterfront Home Tops the Week at $2.90 Million
At $2.90 million, a newly built house on the Intracoastal Waterway in Palm Coast was the highest of five reported home sales in the Deltona, Florida metro area for the week ending September 6, 2026.
Palm Bay, Florida Metro Area Top 5 Home Sales: Cocoa Beach Closing Reaches $2.42 Million
A Cocoa Beach house with 100 feet of deep-water canal frontage sold for $2.42 million, leading the five highest-priced home sales reported in the Palm Bay, Florida metro area for the week ending September 6, 2026.
Fayetteville, Arkansas Metro Area Top 5 Home Sales: Bentonville House Sells for $1.43 Million
A Bentonville house sold for $1.43 million, the highest reported home sale in the Fayetteville, Arkansas metro area for the week ending September 6, 2026.
Fresno, California Metro Area Top 5 Home Sales: Newly Built Bullard Custom Home Tops the Week at $1.70 Million
A newly built custom home in Fresno’s Bullard area sold for $1.70 million, the highest-priced home sale reported in the Fresno metro area for the week ending September 6, 2026.
Sacramento, California Metro Area Top 5 Home Sales: Newly Built El Dorado Hills Estate Tops the Week at $3.50 Million
A newly built estate in the gated Serrano community of El Dorado Hills sold for $3.50 million, the highest-priced home sale reported in the Sacramento metro area for the week ending September 6, 2026.
CrossCountry Sets Its 2027 Conforming Loan Limit at $845,000, Ahead of FHFA
CrossCountry Mortgage raised its agency conforming limit to $845,000 on Sept. 10, up 1.47% from $832,750, more than two months before FHFA sets the official 2027 figure.
Fifth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Antitrust Suit Over Realtor Membership Rule
The Fifth Circuit affirmed dismissal Sept. 9 of a Texas broker’s antitrust suit challenging the three-way Realtor membership requirement for MLS access, holding the complaint failed to allege antitrust injury.
Cape Coral, Florida Metro Area Top 5 Home Sales: Captiva Beachfront Sale Tops the Week at $2.83 Million
A beachfront home in Captiva’s Beach Homes enclave sold for $2.83 million, the highest-priced sale reported in the Cape Coral metro area for the week ending September 6, 2026.
Stockton, California Metro Area Top 5 Home Sales: Acampo Home Sells for $1.62 Million
A $1.62 million sale in Acampo was the highest of five reported home sales in the Stockton, California metro area for the week ending September 6, 2026.
Springfield, Massachusetts Metro Area Top 5 Home Sales: Longmeadow Claims Three Spots as a Holland Lakefront Home Sells for $1.08 Million
A lakefront home with a private cove on Hamilton Reservoir in Holland sold for $1.08 million, the highest reported sale in the Springfield metro area for the week ending September 6, 2026.
Mobile, Alabama Metro Area Top 5 Home Sales: Rabbit Creek Waterfront Home Leads at $638,175
A renovated waterfront home on Rabbit Creek in Theodore sold for $638,175, the highest of five reported sales in the Mobile metro area for the week ending September 6, 2026.
Daphne, Alabama Metro Area Top 5 Home Sales: All Five Closings Land in Orange Beach, Topped by a $4.65 Million Penthouse
A Phoenix Key Tower I penthouse in Orange Beach sold for $4.65 million to lead five reported home sales in the Daphne, Alabama metro area for the week ending September 6, 2026.
Property Insurance Costs Hit a Record $209 a Month as Growth Slows to 8.7%
Intercontinental Exchange’s September Mortgage Monitor found property insurance costs rose 8.7% over the past year to a record $209 a month, with homeowners who switched carriers cutting premiums by 6.6%.
Spokane, Washington Metro Area Top 5 Home Sales: Casa Bella Estate on Nearly Four Acres Sells for $2.30 Million
A six-bedroom estate bordering protected parkland in Spokane’s Casa Bella neighborhood sold for $2.30 million, the highest reported home sale in the Spokane metro area for the week ending September 6, 2026.
Wilmington, North Carolina Metro Area Top 5 Home Sales: Bald Head Island Home Sells for $2.56 Million
A five-bedroom house on Bald Head Island sold for $2.56 million, the highest of five reported home sales in the Wilmington, North Carolina metro area for the week ending September 6, 2026.
Barnstable Town, Massachusetts Metro Area Top 5 Home Sales: 1931 Cotuit House Tops the Week at $6.05 Million
A 1931 house on Nantucket Sound in Cotuit sold for $6.05 million, the highest of five reported home sales in the Barnstable Town, Massachusetts metro area for the week ending September 6, 2026.
Peoria, Illinois Metro Area Top 5 Home Sales: Copperfield Custom Home Tops the Week at $858,750
A custom-built home in Dunlap’s Copperfield neighborhood sold for $858,750, the highest of five reported sales in the Peoria, Illinois metro area for the week ending September 6, 2026.
Mortgage Rate Locks Fall 9% in August as Rate-and-Term Refis Drop 47%
Optimal Blue’s August Market Advantage report shows total rate-lock volume down 9% from July and 3% below a year ago, with rate-and-term refinancing off 47% year over year even as the 30-year rate held flat at 6.72%.
Apartment Construction Time Falls to 18.9 Months but Stays Near Decade Highs
Multifamily buildings took an average of 18.9 months from permit to completion in 2025, 0.7 months faster than 2024 but nearly seven months longer than the 2013 low, according to NAHB’s analysis of Census Survey of Construction data.
Investor Share of Home Purchases Slips to 27% as Mega Investors Cut Buying by 10,000 Deals
Investors accounted for 27% of U.S. single-family home purchases between March and June, down from 28%, Cotality reported. The headline share barely moved, but the volume underneath it did: investors bought about 40,000 fewer homes than a year earlier, and the largest landlords accounted for a quarter of that drop.
Single-Family Building Falls in Six of Seven Geographies as Multifamily Shifts Back to Big Cities
NAHB’s Home Building Geography Index for the second quarter shows single-family construction contracting almost everywhere while apartment building concentrates in large metro cores and suburbs.
Construction Spending Slips to $2.16 Trillion in July as Single-Family Building Drops 3.2%
U.S. construction spending fell 0.5% in July to a $2.16 trillion annual rate, with residential work down 7.3% from a year ago while private office construction — the category that captures data centers — climbed 21.3%.
Credit History Tops Mortgage Denials as Zillow’s Rent Reporting Hits a Record
Zillow says a record 78,000-plus renters had on-time payments reported to credit bureaus in July, as its analysis of federal data shows thin credit files are now the leading reason conventional mortgage applications are denied.
Just 41% of New Apartments Leased Within Three Months, Lowest Rate Since 2023
Only 41% of apartments completed in the first quarter of 2026 were leased within three months, the seventh straight quarter below 50%, as the record delivery wave keeps pressure on lease-up.