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Show Notes
Today on Real Estate Backstage … Keller Williams takes on outside investment capital for the first time … The United States Treasury announces that it will not enforce the BOI reporting requirement of the Corporate Transparency Act … The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals sides with Zillow over REX and the DOJ … Some of Trump’s tariffs go into effect, while some are delayed … And the most recent labor market numbers are a bit of a mixed bag.
Keller Williams takes on major investment from Stone Point Capital
According to Inman:
“Keller Williams will sell an investment stake in its 42-year-old company to Stone Point Capital. Amid news of the historic sale, Chris Czarnecki, the former CEO of Broadstone Net Lease, a real estate investment trust, was named to replace Mark Willis as Keller Williams’ chief executive officer, a position that has been vacant since late January. Cofounder [sic] Gary Keller will remain in his role as executive chairman of the company.
‘This is an exciting milestone for all Keller Williams agents and franchisees,’ Gary Keller said in a statement. ‘We’ve built an incredible foundation and as we focus on each agent’s personal development and their continual sales growth, we welcome the partnership and backing from the team at Stone Point Capital.’
Terms of the deal, including the precise ownership stake Stone Point is taking, were not made public. A spokesperson told Inman that Keller Williams will be owned by “Gary Keller, Stone Point Capital, and other members of the company’s leadership team.” Czarnecki will also be ‘coinvesting alongside Stone Point,’ the spokesperson said.”
(Source: Inman.com)
CoStar Group Closes $1.6 Billion Acquisition of Matterport
According to Inman:
“Nearly a year after announcing its acquisition of spatial mapping company Matterport, Virginia-based portal CoStar Group has completed the $1.6 billion deal.
“CoStar Group and Matterport have long shared a vision of digitizing the real estate industry, and today, we officially unite to realize that future together,” CoStar founder and CEO Andy Florance said in a written statement. “Matterport’s cutting-edge 3D capture and AI-powered property insights have already transformed how residential and commercial properties are marketed and experienced.”
“By integrating Matterport’s groundbreaking digital twin technology with our vast property data and online marketplaces, we are creating an unparalleled solution for buyers, sellers, and renters to explore properties with greater depth and insight than ever before,” he added.
The Matterport acquisition has been a key part of CoStar’s earnings outlook for the past year, as the company plans to leverage Matterport’s 3D interactive floor plans to bolster the Homes.com search experience. In CoStar’s third quarter earnings, Florance said integrating Matterport technology was a key part of bringing Homes.com out of a membership growth plateau, alongside hiring a larger dedicated sales team.”
(Source: Inman.com)
Treasury Plans to Not Enforce the BOI Reporting Rule
According to NBC News:
“The U.S. Treasury Department announced it will not enforce a Biden-era small business rule intended to curb money laundering and shell company formation. In a Sunday evening announcement, Treasury said in a news release that it will not impose penalties now or in the future if companies fail to register for the agency’s beneficial ownership information database that was created during the Biden administration.
Despite efforts by small businesses to undo the rule in the courts, it remains in effect. On Sunday, President Donald Trump on his Truth Social media site praised the suspension of enforcement of the rule and said the database is ‘outrageous and invasive.‘
‘This Biden rule has been an absolute disaster for Small Businesses Nationwide,’ he said. ‘The economic menace of BOI reporting will soon be no more.’
In September 2022, the Treasury Department started rulemaking to create a database that would contain personal information on the owners of at least 32 million U.S. businesses as part of an effort to combat shell company formations and illicit finance.
The rule required most American businesses with fewer than 20 employees to register their business owners with the government as of Jan. 1, 2024. Small businesses are targeted because shell companies, often used to hide illegally obtained assets, tend to have few employees.
Treasury officials, including former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, said the regulatory burden would be small, costing about $85 per business, but would offer benefits to law enforcement officials seeking to track down money launderers and other criminals. She said in January 2024 that more than 100,000 businesses had filed beneficial ownership information with Treasury.
The rule and its legislative authority — the Corporate Transparency Act, an anti-money laundering statue passed in 2021 — have been mired in litigation. In 2022, a small business lobbying group sued to block the Treasury Department’s requirement that tens of millions of small businesses register with the government. On Feb. 27, Treasury’s Financial Crimes and Enforcement Network said it would not take enforcement actions against companies that do not file beneficial ownership data with the agency.”
(Source: nbcnews.com)
Ninth Circuit Sides with Zillow
According to RISMedia:
“The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday affirmed a lower court decision denying listing service startup REX’s attempt to revive claims that Zillow and the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) conspired to implement the ‘no-commingling’ rule in violation of antitrust statutes, as the long-running lawsuit appears to have finally fizzled.
In a six-page ruling, Judges Sidney Thomas, Daniel Bress and Ana de Alba wrote that REX—a Texas-based discount brokerage that originally sued NAR and Zillow back in 2021—had failed any ‘concerted action’ by defendants, and also could not retroactively allege a conspiracy between individual MLSs and Zillow.
‘Each NAR-affiliated multiple listing service independently chose whether to adopt the rule, and indeed twenty-nine percent of them did not. The rule was in fact optional and does not establish a(n) (antitrust) agreement by itself,’ the three-judge panel wrote.
The ruling comes swiftly after oral arguments, which notably drew participation from the Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division. On February 13, a lawyer for the DOJ had explicitly argued that optional rules created or enforced by NAR or MLSs could be ‘mandatory in nature.’
That clearly did not convince the Ninth Circuit, whose decision is likely to represent the end of the claims by REX, which has argued that the ‘no-commingling rule’ was a way to ensure non-MLS companies could never compete with REALTOR®-controlled MLS listings.
In a statement provided to RISMedia, an NAR spokesperson called the lawsuit ‘meritless,’ and said the organization was ready to put the long-running controversy in the rearview.
‘In affirming the decision of the district court, the appeals court emphasized what we’ve said from day one—NAR’s no-commingling rule never constituted an antitrust violation. The rule is optional, leaving MLSs the choice whether to adopt it,’ the spokesperson said.”
(Source: RISMedia.com)
HUD Secretary to Cut Regulation, Boost Supply
According to RISMedia:
“In one of his first official speaking engagements after being sworn in as HUD secretary earlier this month, Turner addressed the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Leadership Council, which met in Las Vegas in conjunction with the 2025 International Builders’ Show …
Turner pledged to work with home builders and all interested stakeholders to find long-term solutions that make homes more affordable, spur business creation and create economic opportunity for all Americans.
‘It’s time we unleash the power of the private sector and the free market to build our way out of the housing affordability crisis’ said Turner. ‘We are going back to the drawing board to restore efficiency at HUD.’
The HUD secretary further emphasized that as part of this process, ‘the foundation of a stable fiscal house is regulatory reform. At HUD, we are taking inventory and terminating all cumbersome regulations that make it harder for individuals and families to realize the American Dream of homeownership.’”
(Source: RISMedia.com)
Trump Delays Tariffs
According to HousingWire:
“The Trump administration announced Wednesday that it’s granting a one-month tariff exemption for automobiles from those two countries. The move came in consultation with ‘the big three autodealers.’ It’s unclear if the pause comes with concessions from Canada and Mexico.
The move has been telegraphed since the 25% Canadian and Mexican tariffs took effect on Tuesday. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said on Bloomberg TV that a compromise between the nations is possible, giving a vague potential outcome that the tariffs could ‘meet somewhere in the middle.‘
In potentially bigger news, Trump also said that so-called ‘reciprocal’ tariffs will take effect on April 2. That would impose a duty on all imports that matches the percentages that other countries have on American goods. It has the potential to reset the price structure on a substantial portion of the economy.
Rather than tying the tariffs to changes in trade policy, the duties on those countries are intended to force commitments from Canada and Mexico to curb the flow of fentanyl into the U.S.
When President Donald Trump announced the pause on Canadian and Mexican tariffs at the beginning of February, it came in exchange for military deployments to their respective borders with the purpose of combating illegal immigration and drug trafficking …
The auto exemption has homebuilders feeling left out. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) previously made a plea to the administration to exempt building materials from China, Mexico and Canada. Homebuilders heavily rely on exports from those countries, particularly for hardware, appliances and lumber.
Rather than getting an exemption, Trump has threatened to put a tariff on Canadian lumber exports, floating that it’s potentially a national security threat. He also said Tuesday that he would impose a 25% duty on steel and aluminum imports on March 12.
If the country-specific tariffs stick and he adds duties on lumber and steel, it would cause a substantial rise in the cost of building a home. A report from John Burns Real Estate Consulting (JBREC) concluded that tariffs would not only increase construction costs, but also likely raise borrowing costs.
Builders have warned that tariffs impacting construction materials would contradict a memo Trump signed at the beginning of his second term that called for emergency relief in home prices.”
(Source: HousingWire.com)
Honda to build Civic in Indiana instead of Mexico
According to Reuters:
“Honda has decided to produce its next-generation Civic hybrid in the U.S. state of Indiana, instead of Mexico, to avoid potential tariffs on one of its top-selling car models, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The change underscores how manufacturers are scrambling to adapt to U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada. While several automakers have expressed concerns about the levies, Honda’s move is the first concrete measure by a major Japanese car company.”
(Source: Reuters.com)
Jobs Data
According to Reuters on Thursday:
“The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, suggesting that the labor market remained stable in February, though turbulence lies ahead from tariffs on imports and deep government spending cuts … Weekly jobless claims [fell by] 21,000 to 221,000.”
(Source: Reuters.com)
According to Yahoo Finance on Friday:
“US nonfarm-payrolls add 151,000 jobs last month, slightly less than the 160,000 expected by economists while the unemployment rate ticked up from 4% to 4.1%.”
(Source: finance.yahoo.com)
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