Real Brokerage is acquiring RE/MAX in an $880M deal

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1. Real Brokerage is acquiring RE/MAX in an $880M deal

The Real Brokerage has announced plans to buy RE/MAX Holdings for $880 million, creating a combined company — Real REMAX Group — with more than 180,000 agents across 120+ countries and roughly $2.3 billion in annual revenue.

The RE/MAX brand and Motto Mortgage will both stay in place. Real CEO Tamir Poleg will lead the combined company, headquartered in Miami.

The deal brings together two very different models — Real's cloud-based, agent-centric platform and RE/MAX's sprawling franchise network — with Real betting its AI tools and transaction technology will lift per-agent productivity across the larger footprint.

It follows Compass's acquisition of Anywhere earlier this year, which created a ~$10 billion company of 340,000 agents. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026.

2. Rates keep falling but a 'crisis of confidence' is keeping buyers on the sidelines

The 30-year fixed rate dropped to 6.23% last week — down from 6.3% and nearly 60 basis points below this time last year. Purchase applications jumped 10% and are 14% above year-ago levels, suggesting some buyers are responding.

But economists aren't convinced it will hold. Realtor.com's Joel Berner says would-be buyers are "struggling with a crisis of confidence despite the fact that the market has turned in their favor," with Iran war uncertainty overriding the rate improvement for many.

Contract cancellations are also rising — 13.4% of March deals fell through, up from 12.5% a year ago and the highest March cancellation rate since 2023. More applications doesn't always mean more closings.

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3. More Nuggets

🏘️ Tired of high costs, some Americans are importing homes straight from China. (CNN)

📊 Charted: Japan’s growing ownership of U.S. homebuilders. (ResiClub)

⚖️ NEXA CEO vows countersuit, says loanDepot also poached loan officers and diverted loans. (NMN)

🆕 Powell is done. Will Warsh help with mortgage rates? (HousingWire)

4. Real estate group owner arrested on federal gun, drug trafficking, money laundering charges

Sam Stair, owner of S2 Real Estate Group — which manages more than 150 properties and 500 units across Milwaukee — is among 18 people arrested on federal charges including drug trafficking, gun charges, and money laundering.

Federal agents allege Stair knowingly rented properties to drug dealers for use as stash houses and trap houses, then deposited the proceeds alongside legitimate rental income to conceal the source.

Twenty-five properties tied to drug trafficking, overdose deaths, or alleged dealers were named in the complaint. His office manager was also charged for arranging rentals specifically to keep traffickers' names off the paperwork — and allegedly took a cut of drug profits on top of rent.

5. Maine becomes first state to regulate home equity investment products as mortgages

Maine Governor Janet Mills signed a law reclassifying shared appreciation agreements — products where homeowners receive upfront cash in exchange for a share of their home's future value — as mortgage loans subject to state oversight.

The new rules require enhanced cost disclosures, mandatory housing counseling and legal representation before closing, and hold downstream buyers of these loans liable for origination violations.

The stakes are high for HEI providers: payoff amounts can balloon by hundreds of thousands of dollars beyond the initial advance, often forcing a home sale. Regulators and consumer advocates have long argued these products function as loans regardless of how they're marketed.

☀️ You’re all caught up. See you on Wednesday!

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