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CURATED for Agents
The Fed Hikes for the First Time in Three Years, a Judge Denies Zillow & Compass Offers $1,000 to Pull StreetEasy Listings
WEDNESDAY · SEPTEMBER 16, 2026
Instead of checking a dozen sources, check one. CURATED went across the industry and kept the 10 stories worth knowing, with the context the headline leaves out.
One read, and you still get how agents are reading it.
👋 Agents. The industry picked a loud day to hand us.
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The Federal Reserve raised rates this afternoon for the first time since 2023. A federal judge denied Zillow in Chicago, and MLSs across the country are reading the ruling as theirs. Compass is offering its New York agents a thousand dollars in ad spend to pull listings off StreetEasy before that policy lands tomorrow. Nineteen consumer groups want the state attorneys general to look at both companies. Redfin says sellers outnumber buyers by more than they ever have, and the share of homeowners sitting on real equity is the lowest in nearly five years. Let’s get into all of it.
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Enjoy, — CURATED.
1st Take
The Fed Raised Rates for the First Time Since 2023
The Quick Take
The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate to a range of 3.75 to 4 percent, breaking a streak of meetings in which it held steady. It is the first increase since July 2023. The Federal Open Market Committee was unanimous. Chair Kevin Warsh moved while President Trump was still publicly criticizing the Fed for not cutting.  Read more →
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Why It’s Hitting
Rates set by the Fed do not directly determine mortgage rates, but higher borrowing costs spill across the economy. The industry has spent years asking for cuts, so this one lands badly. One read circulating today is that a serious inflation push pulls long-term Treasury yields down and takes mortgage rates with them.
📊 The Takes
A lost fall season tops the worries, while a strong group says bonds saw the hike coming and a hopeful few expect long-term yields to drop.
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🍂 Fall Is Over — ‘Every buyer on my board just got a reason to wait until spring.’
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🔍 Already Priced In — ‘My rate sheet follows the 10-year, not the Fed. The bond market saw this coming.’
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🤞 Bets on Lower Yields — ‘A Fed that gets serious on inflation can pull long yields down. Mortgage rates could follow.’
2nd Take
A Judge Denied Zillow, and Every MLS Noticed
The Quick Take
A federal judge denied Zillow’s request for a preliminary injunction against Midwest Real Estate Data and Compass, and dissolved the restraining order it had granted in part in May. Judge John J. Tharp wrote that Zillow has not made the strong showing needed to succeed on its antitrust claims. The case is now stayed for private arbitration.  Read more →
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Why It Matters
The court did not hand Zillow nothing. Tharp found it had shown irreparable harm and no adequate legal remedy, then denied the injunction on likelihood of success and antitrust injury. The MLS says the ruling reinforces its ability to enforce data licensing agreements. That is the winning party’s reading.
📊 The Takes
MLS backers see a template for saying no, others see a live case since the judge found irreparable harm, and some see sellers losing portal reach.
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🏛️ Calls It a Template — ‘If Chicago can enforce its own license, so can mine.’
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⚖️ Says Zillow Isn’t Done — ‘The judge still found irreparable harm. Zillow lost a motion, and the rest goes to arbitration.’
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📡 Worries About Exposure — ‘My sellers want every portal they can get. Anything that narrows the feed worries me.’
3rd Take
Compass Is Offering $1,000 to Pull StreetEasy Listings
The Quick Take
StreetEasy’s updated listing policy takes effect September 17. A publicly marketed home that is not posted the same calendar day is flagged the first two times. The third non-compliant listing and any after it will not publish to StreetEasy, Zillow, or Trulia, and the agent loses StreetEasy Experts eligibility.  Read more →
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The Stakes
Compass is offering its New York agents a 30-day thousand-dollar digital package across Google, Facebook, and Instagram for removing listings first. It is ad spend, not cash. Some agents plan to restore their listings later this week. Compass would not comment on any of it.
📊 The Takes
Frustration at being caught between two companies runs deepest, with some agents taking the ad package on principle and others keeping listings up because sellers want buyers.
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😤 Stuck in the Middle — ‘Two companies are using my listing to make a point. I’m the one explaining it to the seller.’
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🚪 Takes the Ad Package — ‘A portal doesn’t get to tell me when my seller goes public.’
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📌 Stays on StreetEasy — ‘My seller wants buyers. Pulling the listing off the portal doesn’t produce a single one.’
4th Take
Nineteen Consumer Groups Asked Every State AG to Look at Zillow
The Quick Take
Nineteen consumer organizations signed a letter to the National Association of Attorneys General asking for an investigation into Zillow and Compass. The signers include the Consumer Federation of America, the American Economic Liberties Project, and the Open Markets Institute. They target private listings and Zillow’s compliance with its settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.  Read more →
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What’s at Stake
The letter calls Compass’s private listings information-hoarding and says referral-fee requirements leave agents with no room to discount. It is a request, not a case. Zillow answered on the record that pocket listings are the real gatekeeping, and Compass declined to comment.
📊 The Takes
Referral fees at every step draw the sharpest complaints, pocket listings take blame as the real gatekeeping, and a skeptical slice shrugs until an attorney general files.
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🧾 Sees Toll Booths — ‘Every step of my deal has somebody standing on it collecting a fee.’
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🔄 Blames Pocket Listings — ‘The gatekeeping is the pocket listing, not the portal that shows every home.’
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✉️ Just a Letter — ‘A letter is a request, not a case. Wake me when an attorney general files.’
5th Take
Equity-Rich Homes Hit Their Lowest Level in Nearly Five Years
The Quick Take
ATTOM reports that 41.1 percent of mortgaged homes were equity-rich in the second quarter, meaning the balance owed is no more than half the value. That is down from 43.3 percent in the first quarter and 47.4 percent a year ago, the fourth straight quarterly decline. Seriously underwater homes held at 3.2 percent, up from 2.7 percent a year ago.  Read more →
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Why You’ll Feel It
Equity is what funds the move up, the remodel, and the down payment on the next house. This is the fourth consecutive quarterly decline in the equity-rich share. ATTOM’s chief executive calls both measures healthier than before 2020 and moving the wrong way.
📊 The Takes
To the largest group, four straight declines make a trend; a second camp sees fewer move-up sellers ahead, and a third notes equity is still healthier than before 2020.
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⬇️ Calls It a Trend — ‘Four straight quarters down. That is a trend, not noise.’
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🏡 Watches the Move-Ups — ‘Equity funds the next down payment. Less of it means fewer sellers trading up.’
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🧮 Points at the Baseline — ‘Forty-one percent equity-rich would have looked great in 2019.’
6th Take
Sellers Now Outnumber Buyers by 57.9 Percent
The Quick Take
Redfin counted an estimated 1,534,918 sellers against 972,300 buyers in August. It is the widest gap in records that begin in 2013, up from 52.1 percent in July. Nashville is the strongest buyer’s market in the country at 139 percent more sellers than buyers, followed by Miami and Houston. Thirty-six of the 49 metros Redfin analyzed are now buyer’s markets.  Read more →
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The Real Story
It is only a buyer’s market for people who can still afford to buy. High costs and economic uncertainty have kept many would-be buyers out entirely. The leverage is real. The pool of people able to use it is not growing.
📊 The Takes
Agents are pressing the new leverage, calling it useless to buyers who cannot qualify, or watching Nashville, Miami, and Houston tip hardest toward buyers.
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🤝 Sees Real Leverage — ‘Repairs, buydowns, closing costs. I ask for all of it.’
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💸 Nobody Can Afford It — ‘A buyer’s market you can’t qualify for is still a stalled market.’
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🌴 Watching the Sun Belt — ‘Nashville, Miami, Houston. The boom markets are where buyers have the most room.’
7th Take
Zillow Executives Are Accused of Selling $81M Before the News
The Quick Take
A Zillow shareholder has sued chief executive Jeremy Wacksman along with other officers and directors, alleging breaches of fiduciary duties, unjust enrichment, and waste of corporate assets. The suit says they failed to disclose antitrust risk tied to the 2025 rental syndication agreement with Redfin, then sold more than 81 million dollars in company stock before that risk became public.  Read more →
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Why It’s Heated
Wacksman is accused of selling 7.2 million dollars in shares between February and September of 2025. Co-founders Rich Barton and Lloyd Frink allegedly sold more than 63 million between them. The case is derivative, so it seeks damages for the company itself.
📊 The Takes
Stock-sale timing is the sticking point for the biggest camp; the rest either wait for Zillow’s answer or shrug, since no listing or split changes.
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💰 Points at the Sales — ‘Line the sale dates up against the disclosure. That timing needs explaining.’
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⏳ Waits for the Defense — ‘One complaint, zero findings. An allegation isn’t a verdict.’
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🤷 Shrugs It Off — ‘Nobody’s listings move, nobody’s split moves. Next story.’
8th Take
Seller Impersonation Attempts More Than Doubled Since 2024
The Quick Take
The American Land Title Association surveyed 245 title professionals across 40 states. Fifty-nine percent had at least one seller impersonation attempt in 2025, more than double the 28 percent reported the year before. In April of this year alone, 45 percent saw an attempt, against 19 percent in the same month two years earlier.  Read more →
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What’s Changing
Spoofed contact details are the most common tactic, reported by 87 percent of firms. Nearly six in ten now see manipulated voice or image technology in these attempts. The defenses rated most effective are identity verification and reaching the seller through a channel you confirmed yourself.
📊 The Takes
The favored fix is calling sellers on a number you confirmed yourself, with identity checks on every new seller next and in-person meetings for the most cautious.
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📞 Confirms the Channel — ‘I never reply to the email that found me. I look up the owner and call a number I confirmed.’
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🔐 Checks Every ID — ‘Every new seller clears an identity check before I sign anything. A nice voice on the phone proves nothing.’
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👥 In Person Only — ‘Cloned voices, doctored photos. If I can’t meet the seller face to face, I’m not listing it.’
9th Take
Your Buyer May Be on Camera Before They Reach the Door
The Quick Take
Homeowner associations are installing license plate readers and cameras that scan for rule violations. Realtor Leigh Brown is asking fellow agents whether that is a material fact a buyer should be told about. Flock Safety’s technology now reaches more than 6,000 communities. In Georgia this month, residents sawed down cameras that their association had installed without a vote.  Read more →
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The Bigger Picture
Brown has worked with buyers who hold protective orders against a spouse. If a plate is captured, she says, the wrong person can find out where that client now lives. Association documents were written long before any of this technology arrived.
📊 The Takes
Three instincts surface on HOA cameras: tell the buyer, sell them as security, and worry about who pulls the plate data later.
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📋 Wants It Disclosed — ‘Put it in the MLS and let the buyer decide.’
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🔒 Sells It as Security — ‘Buyers in gated communities pay for security. Knowing who drives through is the point.’
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🚨 Worried About Misuse — ‘The camera isn’t the problem. Who pulls the plate later is.’
10th Take
The Best Week to Buy Starts September 27
The Quick Take
Realtor.com puts the best week of the year to buy at September 27 through October 3. Its analysis says that week could carry up to 31.9 percent more active listings than the start of the year, and save a buyer roughly 14,000 dollars against the summer peak on a median home near 416,000 dollars.  Read more →
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What This Means
The date is a national average, and your market is not a national average. The same analysis says buying later can mean a lower price, and buying earlier means more to choose from. And a quarter point on the rate eats much of the saving anyway.
📊 The Takes
Calling every fence-sitter is the top use for the date, ahead of agents whose zip codes ignore national calendars and those who say a quarter point eats much of the savings.
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📅 Using the Window — ‘It gives me a reason to call every buyer on the fence.’
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🙄 Calls It a Gimmick — ‘The best week in my zip code has never matched a press release.’
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📉 Rates Beat Dates — ‘Save it on the price, lose it on the payment.’
👋 Until tomorrow, Agents.
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CURATED will be reading what the rate sheets do with it.
CURATED for Agents
CURATED for Agents — the day’s real estate stories, and how the industry is reading them.
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