Key points:
- Canopy MLS subscribers will have the option to pre-market listings using new Limited Exposure and Firm Exclusive options, launching early next year.
- CEO Anne Marie DeCatsye stresses the changes, based on subscriber feedback, were made to “provide relief for listing agents” — not to appease any one brokerage.
- Canopy won’t implement NAR’s delayed marketing category, but it has adopted NAR’s revised interpretation of agent communications as they relate to Clear Cooperation.
Canopy MLS is rolling out new listing options that will enable agents to pre-market their seller’s property — without displaying price history or tracking days on market.
While the additions resemble the National Association of Realtors’ “delayed marketing exempt listings” category, introduced in March, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based MLS opted to “do what made sense for Canopy” rather than implement NAR’s version, Canopy MLS CEO Anne Marie DeCatsye told Real Estate News.
More flexibility for listing agents, sellers
By early next year, Canopy MLS’s 22,000-plus subscribers will have two new listing options, “Limited Exposure” and “Firm Exclusive,” the MLS announced this week.
Limited Exposure listings will be available for showings, but excluded from IDX, VOW and syndication feeds. Price history will be stored but not displayed to other subscribers, and days on market will not be tracked.
The Firm Exclusive option allows listing brokers to enter listings into the MLS system, but they will only be viewable by agents within that brokerage. Canopy will record price changes, but that price history will not appear in the listing’s history or reports, the MLS said.
In the meantime, Canopy will also modify its “Coming Soon-No Show” status to suppress price history. Once the listing becomes active, only the newest price will be visible, though days on market and all future price changes will be displayed from that point.
‘Changes not made to appease one firm’
The suppression of days on market and price history aligns with the views of some large brokerage leaders — notably Compass CEO Robert Reffkin — who argue that displaying those metrics, which Compass refers to as “negative insights,” can disadvantage sellers.
But, DeCatsye said, “Canopy MLS did not make any changes to appease any one firm in particular” but to “provide relief for listing agents as the market shifts,” noting that the changes were based on feedback from subscribers.
“Relief” means “enabling agents with the flexibility to meet their clients’ needs,” DeCatsye said.
“We believe agents should not have to choose between meeting their client’s requests and adhering to rules that are meant to address challenges but occasionally create obstacles,” she added.
“These changes help to restore fairness for everyone involved, especially buyers and sellers.”
A ‘balance’ between seller control and transparency
Some industry leaders have emphasized that displaying days on market and price history is core to a transparent marketplace, even questioning the motives of those who want to obscure such data.
But in the current environment — where “listings are staying on the market longer, showings are fewer, and buyers’ and sellers’ expectations are often unrealistic,” according to DeCatsye — Canopy’s Limited Exposure option gives sellers more control initially while ensuring “buyers and agents have access to complete and transparent information” once the listing is on the open market.
“[I]t balances seller choice with the need for clear, accurate data that builds trust among consumers and maintains fairness in the marketplace,” DeCatsye said.
Canopy won’t adopt NAR’s delayed marketing category
Canopy’s changes come in advance of NAR’s Sept. 30 deadline for Realtor-affiliated MLSs to implement its optional Multiple Listing Options for Sellers (MLOS) policy.
The policy, intended to complement Clear Cooperation, introduces a new category of listings called “delayed marketing exempt listings” (DMEL) that can be withheld from IDX and syndication feeds for an MLS-determined period of time, which could be zero days.
In August, Canopy’s board of directors independently decided to update its listing options for sellers and declined to adopt NAR’s DMEL category, the MLS said. Some other large MLSs have also chosen to forgo implementation.
DeCatsye, a champion for MLS freedom from Realtor association control, stressed that Canopy had made its own decisions with regard to which options to offer sellers.
“When NAR came out with the DMEL proposal, we looked at it but decided that we would continue to move forward with what made sense for Canopy,” DeCatsye said.
Policy changes alleviate agents’ ‘single biggest frustration’
DeCatsye declined to compare Canopy’s new policies with NAR’s, but they appear to align.
Effective immediately, Canopy’s “Firm Exclusive Agreement” will allow agents within a listing brokerage “to share listings directly with their clients and customers through one-to-one” communications. Previously, Canopy allowed such listings to be shared with clients who had signed agreements, but not with unsigned customers.
The MLS has also adopted NAR’s most recent interpretation that “one-to-one, agent-to-agent communications about listings do not trigger” a CCP violation — an interpretation, NAR said when announcing its MLOS policy, meant to clarify CCP rules.
DeCatsye disagreed with this characterization, saying it was “a change, not a clarification.”
NAR’s original guidance, she said, indicated that “agent-to-agent communications constituted public marketing, thereby triggering CCP.” While Canopy complied with the policy, it found that original interpretation “extremely difficult to enforce.”
“The single biggest frustration surrounding CCP was the fact that agents could not pick up the phone and call an agent in another firm to see if they had a buyer without triggering CCP,” DeCatsye said.
Texas Real Estate Commission Consumer Protection Notice | Texas Real Estate Commission Information About Brokerage Services
Increasing inventory, prices in Lakes Region real estate market | real estate
in UncategorizedWe’re almost halfway through September, and a friend of mine indicated the leaves are already starting to turn up north. Looks like we have two months left for our fall selling season before the holidays begin.
I thought I would research what inventory is available for sale in the Lakes Region, to give you an idea on what is for sale.
Personally, I’m finding more inventory, more price reductions, and longer days on the market. We are seeing the market drop from its record highs to a more manageable pace. However, Realtors I talk to indicate it’s a difficult market, hard to predict. Many properties are selling at close to the asking price if they are priced well. However, many properties are overpriced, and we are seeing longer days on the market with major price reductions.
Let’s take a look at what is currently available for sale in several of our communities.
Single-family homes
Laconia has 56 homes for sale with a median list price of $724,949 and average list price of $1.05 million. There’s been a median 43 days on the market and total list volume $50.95 million.
Gilford has 37 homes for sale with a median list price of $1.07 million and average list price $1.62 million. There’s been a median 50 days on the market and total list volume $59.97 million.
Meredith has 47 homes for sale with a median list price of $950,000 and average list price $1.74 million. There’s been a median 79 days on the market and total list volume $82.01 million.
Center Harbor has four homes for sale with a median list price of $845,000 and average list price $2.57 million. There’s been a median 42 days on the market and total list volume $10.28 million.
Wolfeboro has 39 homes for sale with a median list price of $899,000 and average list price $2.06 million. There’s been a median 44 days on the market and total list volume $80.40 million.
Moultonborough has 37 homes for sale with a median list price of $1.39 million and average list price $1.77 million. There’s been a median 48 days on market and total list volume $65.70 million.
Alton has 43 homes for sale with a median list price of $699,000 and average list price $1.20 million. There’s been a median 53 days on the market and total list volume $51.67 million.
Northfield has 21 homes for sale with a median list price of $379,000 and average list price of $472,183. There’s been a median 70 days on the market and total list volume $9.19 million.
Tilton has two homes for sale with a median list price of $469,950 and average list price of $469,950. There’s been a median 26 days on the market and total list volume $939,900.
Gilmanton has 18 homes for sale with a median list price of $594,949 and average list price of $831,394. There’s been a median 47 days on the market and total list volume $14.96 million.
Belmont has 26 homes for sale with a median list price of $693,500 and average list price $1.39 million. There’s been a median 41 days on the market and total list volume $36.31 million.
There are 48 waterfront homes for sale on Lake Winnipesaukee with a median list price of $3.95 million, average list price of $4.45 million, 89 median days on the market and total list volume of $213.90 million. There are only five properties priced under $2.1 million.
Laconia has 57 condominiums for sale with a median list price of $589,900, average list price of $684,913, 112 median days on the market and total list volume of $39.04 million.
In addition to the 57 condos currently listed for sale, there are presently 27 condo sales that are shown as active under contract, and there are a number of new developments where all of the units have not been released for sale yet. Many new projects are in early stages of development.
You can see from the stats above that inventory has been increasing in the Lakes Region; however, the average listing prices have accelerated, and sellers have to be cautious of not over-pricing their properties in a competitive market.
•••
This article was written by Frank Roche, president of Roche Realty Group with offices in Meredith and Laconia, and can be reached at 603-279-7046. Visit rocherealty.com to learn more about the Lakes Region and its real estate market.
MLS’s new listing options obscure price history, days on market
in UncategorizedCanopy MLS’s “Limited Exposure” status, which also excludes listings from feeds, is designed to offer flexibility and “restore fairness for everyone involved.”
Key points:
Canopy MLS is rolling out new listing options that will enable agents to pre-market their seller’s property — without displaying price history or tracking days on market.
While the additions resemble the National Association of Realtors’ “delayed marketing exempt listings” category, introduced in March, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based MLS opted to “do what made sense for Canopy” rather than implement NAR’s version, Canopy MLS CEO Anne Marie DeCatsye told Real Estate News.
More flexibility for listing agents, sellers
By early next year, Canopy MLS’s 22,000-plus subscribers will have two new listing options, “Limited Exposure” and “Firm Exclusive,” the MLS announced this week.
Limited Exposure listings will be available for showings, but excluded from IDX, VOW and syndication feeds. Price history will be stored but not displayed to other subscribers, and days on market will not be tracked.
The Firm Exclusive option allows listing brokers to enter listings into the MLS system, but they will only be viewable by agents within that brokerage. Canopy will record price changes, but that price history will not appear in the listing’s history or reports, the MLS said.
In the meantime, Canopy will also modify its “Coming Soon-No Show” status to suppress price history. Once the listing becomes active, only the newest price will be visible, though days on market and all future price changes will be displayed from that point.
‘Changes not made to appease one firm’
The suppression of days on market and price history aligns with the views of some large brokerage leaders — notably Compass CEO Robert Reffkin — who argue that displaying those metrics, which Compass refers to as “negative insights,” can disadvantage sellers.
But, DeCatsye said, “Canopy MLS did not make any changes to appease any one firm in particular” but to “provide relief for listing agents as the market shifts,” noting that the changes were based on feedback from subscribers.
“Relief” means “enabling agents with the flexibility to meet their clients’ needs,” DeCatsye said.
“We believe agents should not have to choose between meeting their client’s requests and adhering to rules that are meant to address challenges but occasionally create obstacles,” she added.
“These changes help to restore fairness for everyone involved, especially buyers and sellers.”
A ‘balance’ between seller control and transparency
Some industry leaders have emphasized that displaying days on market and price history is core to a transparent marketplace, even questioning the motives of those who want to obscure such data.
But in the current environment — where “listings are staying on the market longer, showings are fewer, and buyers’ and sellers’ expectations are often unrealistic,” according to DeCatsye — Canopy’s Limited Exposure option gives sellers more control initially while ensuring “buyers and agents have access to complete and transparent information” once the listing is on the open market.
“[I]t balances seller choice with the need for clear, accurate data that builds trust among consumers and maintains fairness in the marketplace,” DeCatsye said.
Canopy won’t adopt NAR’s delayed marketing category
Canopy’s changes come in advance of NAR’s Sept. 30 deadline for Realtor-affiliated MLSs to implement its optional Multiple Listing Options for Sellers (MLOS) policy.
The policy, intended to complement Clear Cooperation, introduces a new category of listings called “delayed marketing exempt listings” (DMEL) that can be withheld from IDX and syndication feeds for an MLS-determined period of time, which could be zero days.
In August, Canopy’s board of directors independently decided to update its listing options for sellers and declined to adopt NAR’s DMEL category, the MLS said. Some other large MLSs have also chosen to forgo implementation.
DeCatsye, a champion for MLS freedom from Realtor association control, stressed that Canopy had made its own decisions with regard to which options to offer sellers.
“When NAR came out with the DMEL proposal, we looked at it but decided that we would continue to move forward with what made sense for Canopy,” DeCatsye said.
Policy changes alleviate agents’ ‘single biggest frustration’
DeCatsye declined to compare Canopy’s new policies with NAR’s, but they appear to align.
Effective immediately, Canopy’s “Firm Exclusive Agreement” will allow agents within a listing brokerage “to share listings directly with their clients and customers through one-to-one” communications. Previously, Canopy allowed such listings to be shared with clients who had signed agreements, but not with unsigned customers.
The MLS has also adopted NAR’s most recent interpretation that “one-to-one, agent-to-agent communications about listings do not trigger” a CCP violation — an interpretation, NAR said when announcing its MLOS policy, meant to clarify CCP rules.
DeCatsye disagreed with this characterization, saying it was “a change, not a clarification.”
NAR’s original guidance, she said, indicated that “agent-to-agent communications constituted public marketing, thereby triggering CCP.” While Canopy complied with the policy, it found that original interpretation “extremely difficult to enforce.”
“The single biggest frustration surrounding CCP was the fact that agents could not pick up the phone and call an agent in another firm to see if they had a buyer without triggering CCP,” DeCatsye said.
Mortgage rates fall ahead of likely Fed cut. Will it help housing?
in UncategorizedSecond half hurricane season risks
On the peak day of hurricane season, the Atlantic is storm-free, a rare occurrence. However, warm waters could fuel a dangerous late-season surge.
In September 2024, investors were eagerly expecting the Federal Reserve to deliver its first interest rate cut in four years at an upcoming meeting. Mortgage rates had been falling, but many Americans were “locked in” by ultra-low pandemic-era rates and unable to afford to move. If the Fed made a cut, the thinking went, it could unlock a flood of activity into the housing market.
It’s now September 2025, and it’s déjà vu all over again.
In a matter of days, the Fed is widely expected to deliver its first rate cut in a year. Mortgage rates have been falling since June and now stand at an 11-month low. And while home sales have limped along at the worst pace since 1995, there’s no lack of pent-up demand.
More: Housing market rewind: Home sales drop in 2024 to level not seen since the ’90s
A year ago, housing market observers were more optimistic. Now, there’s some skepticism.
Among other things, mortgage rates may not cooperate.
“My expectation right now is a 25-basis point cut, which the market has already fully priced in,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist for Realtor.com. “But the market has really high expectations for the Fed to move quickly and I think it’s an open question whether the Fed will in fact move that fast. That does create a situation where interest rates could go up if the Fed doesn’t meet those expectations.”
Hale thinks the housing market overall is a bit healthier than the low level of sales might indicate, however. Most importantly, there’s a better balance of power between buyers and sellers than there has been in years.
Nationwide, there were five months of supply on the market in August, Realtor.com data show, the best summer inventory situation in nearly a decade. Even better, seven metro areas were firmly in buyers’ market territory, meaning there were at least six months of supply available for purchase.
Yet, sellers are willing to pull their homes from the market if they don’t get the price they want, Hale said. What’s more, a lot of Americans still have mortgage rates that are low enough to make the idea of a move daunting, and affordability overall hasn’t improved much even as the economy has softened.
Veteran housing analyst Ivy Zelman agrees that between prices and rates, homeownership is simply out of the picture for many Americans. It would take a whopping 60% of the paycheck of the average buyer to afford all-in housing costs – mortgage, insurance, and property taxes – on the median-priced home, Zelman said in a Q&A session with reporters in mid-September.
More: housing market USA TODAY’s housing content
With that in mind, the question of whether to rent or buy favors renting, to the tune of about $812 per month on average, which Zelman reckons is the biggest margin since the early 1980s. For lower-income households, “it’s really challenging out there,” she said.
See also: Inflation ticked up in August, but Fed rate cut in play as jobless claims surge
One contrarian view comes from David Lazowski, president of national growth and recruitment at Fairway Home Mortgage.
“We’re at the beginning of what we think could be a period of declining rates,” Lazowski said. For the past several weeks, Fairway loan officers have been inundated with refinance applications, and he thinks that activity will soon spread to purchases as well.
Lower rates don’t just allow buyers more purchasing power, he pointed out; they also entice owners with low rates to make the next move.
“There’s tremendous pent-up demand for purchases,” he said. “There are so many people on the sidelines. We think we could see several years of the purchase market being strong. I know that’s contrary to popular thinking, but think about the demographic of people who have not yet bought but want to try. We are hardly in a bubble.”
Lancaster County real estate market showing strength
in UncategorizedLancaster County‘s real estate market showed strength in August with increases in pending listings and closed sales, the Lancaster County Association of REALTORS reported.
The August statistics were distributed by the Lancaster County Association of REALTORS and offer a current view of Lancaster County’s real estate market. The monthly report comes from the association’s official database, courtesy of Bright MLS.
“During the month of August, the real estate market continued to show strength with Pending Listings up 7.2% (459), and closed sales up 6.1% (487) from August of 2024,” LCAR President Mike Julian said in a statement. “This strength is underscored by the List-to-Sold ratio remaining over 100% (102.9%). The slight increase in Active Listings (612) and Average Days-On-Market (23) should be held in check by a 5% decrease in New Listings (474).”
New listings numbered 474, which was a decrease from July’s 499 total and a 0.4% drop from the August 2024 total of 476. The new pendings rose 1.1% from the 454 in July and over 7% from 428 in August 2024.
Closed sales increased 3% from 473 in July and more than 6% from the 459 a year ago at this time. The median sold price of $365,000 marked a 1.4% increase over July’s $360,000, and an 8.6% increase over the August 2024 price of $336,000.
Why the real estate market is tilting toward buyers
in UncategorizedSponsored by: The Mortgage Link and Eastern Title & Settlement. The Real Estate Top Performers discuss why the market is benefitting buyers.
'Housing market just went on sale' as mortgage rates hit 11-month low
in UncategorizedReal estate: Effects of local elections on the housing market
in UncategorizedDEBBIE SPURLOCK
Main Street Nashville
As a realtor at a small-town brokerage, I spend every day helping people make some of the biggest financial decisions of their lives. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s the fact that local elections matter—big time—especially for the housing market.
When most people think about politics and real estate, their minds jump to national issues such as interest rates, the economy or who’s in the white house. But what really moves the needle in towns like ours are the city council, county commission and mayoral races. These are the folks who decide zoning laws, land use regulations and development approvals. One vote on the county commission can determine whether a new subdivision gets built or potentially blocked.
When leaders work across party lines, things get done and projects start to move forward. Builders have clarity, and families feel secure investing in their future. But when local politics becomes a battleground, the market can freeze. I’ve seen buyers back out of deals just because of uncertainty around who’s in charge and what their policies might be.
Take Coffee County, for example. After a change in leadership, the new administration placed a moratorium on development in rural areas, and just like that, the market shifted.
This fall and into next year, as voters across our region head to the polls, I encourage everyone—no matter your party—to think about how your vote affects your neighborhood, your property and your community’s future. Good governance is one of the best foundations any housing market can have.
Debbie Spurlock is the managing broker/owner at Red Bird Realty in Dickson, Tennessee. With over 26 years of experience in the real estate industry, she brings with her a demonstrated history of working in sales, new home sales, short sales, foreclosures, and single-family homes.
Nine cities hold one-third of $55 trillion U.S. housing value — but that’s all changing
in UncategorizedWhen it comes to savings accounts, the most valuable in the world is the U.S. housing market, storing the combined wealth of presidents and plumbers, scientists and security officers, supply chain managers, engineers and investors from around the world.
As of June 2025, the combined value of the U.S. housing market exceeded $55 trillion, with $20 trillion in wealth accruing just since 2020. One-third of that value is concentrated in nine metro areas, with individual valuations exceeding $1 trillion.
Shifting market dynamics since the COVID-19 pandemic have altered where future gains — and losses — in housing wealth may emerge, according to recent research published by Zillow. In the past year, for example, 9 of the 10 largest housing markets have a combined net loss in home values, as a “chronic affordability crisis” puts downward pressure on home prices.
Smaller markets have thus far played an outsized role in the $862 billion of housing wealth gained since June 2024, helping to establish what Realtor.com describes as a “rare state of balance” in the summer housing market. Though local conditions vary significantly across regions and metros, some markets have begun to favor homebuyers instead of home sellers due to increased inventory levels and softening prices.
A five-month supply of homes nationally has not been available during summer months since Realtor.com began tracking the metric in 2016. “Months of supply” is commonly used to represent how long it would take to sell all currently listed homes at a given sales pace. Fewer than four months generally signals a seller’s market, more than six months favors buyers, and somewhere between the two reflects a measure of market balance.
New construction has played a crucial role in contributing to available inventory and overall gains in housing wealth for markets around the U.S. Zillow reports that newly constructed homes added $2.5 trillion in national housing value since early 2020 — about 12.5% of total gains over that period — with the largest share of new construction value gains in Utah (23%), Texas (22%), Idaho (22%) and Florida (20%).
Cooling home price gains and sluggish sales were a defining feature of the summer housing market, helping for-sale inventory pile up. In June alone, 26.6% of for-sale listings cut their prices, the highest level for June since 2018, according to Zillow data. So-called “pandemic boomtowns” like Raleigh, N.C., Nashville, Tenn., and Phoenix observed the largest cuts.
Declining prices in those cities reflect a larger trend across the Sun Belt. Years of massive home price gains and rising insurance costs have rounded out the affordability edge that Southern markets once enjoyed. After the past year, home price gains have grown more concentrated in the Northeast and Midwest.
After New York, which gained $216 billion in housing wealth during the 12 months ending in June, the states that accrued the most home value according to Zillow were New Jersey ($101 billion), Illinois ($89 billion), Pennsylvania ($73 billion), Ohio ($49 billion) and Michigan ($48 billion).
Pandemic leaders like California, Texas and Florida lost housing wealth in the last year, shedding $106 billion, $109 billion and $32 billion, respectively. Since early 2020, the state housing markets with the largest total value gains are California ($3.4 trillion), Florida ($1.6 trillion), New York ($1.5 trillion) and Texas ($1.2 trillion).
Though active listings rose 20.9% annually on a national level in August, active listing growth has decelerated since May and the gap to pre-pandemic levels has begun to widen once more. Active listings nationally sit 14.3% below 2017 to 2019 levels, up from 12.9% in June, according to Realtor.com.
Price dips have kept home investors active as affordability challenges reduce competition from owner-occupied buyers. In the second quarter of 2025, 3 in 10 home sales went to an investor buyer, according to real estate market analytics firm Cotality.
Any marked improvement in mortgages rates, though, could spark a surge of competition from owner-occupied buyers, renewing upward pressure on prices. Cotality’s U.S. Home Price Insights report for September projects the national home price growth rate of 1.4% from July 2024 to July 2025 to more than double to 3.9% from July 2025 to July 2026.
For now, Realtor.com data suggest that 7 of the 50 largest U.S. metro areas are firmly buyer’s markets, with four in Florida: Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville and Tampa. The other two are New York City and Riverside, Calif.
The D.C. region's real estate market didn't take a dive. What happened instead?
in UncategorizedRedfin flags shocking signal in housing market crisis
in Uncategorized