Homebuyers not shopping for the best mortgages, foreclosure levels on the rise, and Zohran Mamdani’s very un-socialist new home. From the wild and wooly world of real estate, here are our Hits and Misses for the week of Dec. 8-12.
Miss: A Missed Opportunity. A new data analysis report by Zillow found nearly seven in 10 mortgage shoppers only submit one home loan application. While it is unclear why buyers are not vigorously shopping for better mortgage deals, their inaction could cost them over $1,000 a month. Kara Ng, senior economist at Zillow Home Loans, observed, “Buyers often spend months finding the right home, but only minutes comparing lenders. Even a small difference in rate can meaningfully shrink a monthly payment and expand the number of homes within reach. Affordability is tough enough today that buyers shouldn’t overlook any potential savings.”
Miss: An Unwelcome Trend. A total of 35,651 residential properties had foreclosure filings during November, according to data from ATTOM. This level of activity is down by 3% from October, but it is also up by 21% from November 2024. As ATTOM CEO Rob Barber observed, “November marks the ninth straight month of year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity, underscoring a trend that has steadily taken shape throughout 2025. Foreclosure starts were up 17% from last year and completed foreclosures rose 26%.” Barber added the “overall volumes remain well below historical highs,” but it is still a data trend that is going in the wrong direction.
Hit: Full Speed Ahead on Reverse Mortgages. This week, the Federal Housing Administration announced it was raising its limits on the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) to $1.24 million in 2026, a 3.3% increase from the $1.20 million limit in place during 2025. Although this increase is lower than the approximately 5% limit uptick from 2024 into 2025, it still represents the tenth consecutive year of increases. Clearly, the federal government has not lost its faith in HECMs, and with an expanding number of seniors it is safe to assume that another limit increase will be approved at this time next year.
Hit: Justice Served. Earlier this week, a federal judge ruled against how Illinois’ Cook County handles unpaid property taxes was unconstitutional. The Chicago Sun-Times reports US District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly stated the county’s annual tax sales violated the Fifth Amendment’s prohibition against taking property without just compensation and the Eighth Amendment’s ban on excessive fines. The ruling followed a class action lawsuit filed three years ago on behalf of more than 1,700 people who lost their homes in tax sales in recent years. The judge’s ruling did not cover whether the county was financially liable for the homeowners’ losses, with a hearing on that matter set for Dec. 16.
Hit: A Questionable Executive Order. The San Francisco-headquartered housing advocacy group YIMBY Law filed a lawsuit against California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order that suspended SB 9 development in Los Angeles County areas impacted earlier this year by catastrophic wildfires. SB 9 allows property owners in qualifying single-family neighborhoods to split lots and build up to two homes and two Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) on what was previously a single parcel. The law was designed to reduce regulatory barriers while adding new housing in markets where it is lacking. Newsom issued his executive order in July and YIMBY Law stated it was “an unprecedented move, making it harder and more expensive to rebuild.” Considering the obvious lack of results in the Newsom-engineered response to the wildfires, this lawsuit should serve as a reminder that the governor is making a bad situation worse.
Miss: Not So Socialist. New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced that he and his wife will take up residence in Gracie Mansion, the official residence for the mayor, after he is sworn into office on New Year’s Day. Mamdani is trading in his one-bedroom, $2,300 a month rent-stabilized apartment in the Astoria section of Queens for the rent-free, five-bedroom mansion located in Manhattan’s affluent Upper East Side. In an Instagram posting, he insisted his decision to occupy the mansion was based on his “family’s safety and the importance of dedicating all of my focus on enacting the affordability agenda New Yorkers voted for.” Odd, but as someone who professes to be a Democratic Socialist, shouldn’t he be living humbly among the people rather than isolating himself in a luxurious mansion?
Phil Hall is editor of Weekly Real Estate News. He can be reached at [email protected].
