Top 10 Counties with the Largest Annual Price Increase

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Top 10 Counties with the Largest Annual Increase in Median Home Price in Q1 2026 Link

• Mercer County, Pennsylvania, saw the biggest jump in the country with a 29% annual increase in median home prices.

• Other areas seeing a massive spike include Warren County, Kentucky, at 23% and both Fayette County, Georgia, and Richland County, Ohio, at 22%.

• Nationally, median prices rose 8% since early 2024, even as homeownership remains less affordable than historical norms in 97% of the counties studied.

Tight Supply Drives MOB Rents Higher Link

• Average asking rents hit a record high of $25.23 per square foot because there is very little new construction hitting the market.

• Demand for these spaces stayed strong with over 1.2 million square feet of positive absorption, causing the overall vacancy rate to dip to 9.8%.

• Investment in the sector jumped to $6.1 billion in the final quarter of 2025, which is more than double the volume from the previous quarter.

Front Yard Living Is on the Rise and It Could Boost Curb Appeal and Value Link

• Homeowners are shifting their focus from the backyard to the front to create spaces for social connection and community.

• Popular upgrades like new seating, lighting, and front porches can significantly increase a home’s sale price and curb appeal.

• Simple projects like replacing a front door can offer a massive return on investment, sometimes as high as 188%.

10 Best Real Estate CRMs Of 2026: Forbes Link

• Lofty is the top pick for its AI tools that handle marketing plans and lead qualifying, while Boldtrail is best for those needing high-quality IDX websites.

• Affordable options like Agile CRM and Zoho CRM offer strong document management and integrations, whereas premium tools like BoomTown focus heavily on lead generation.

• The best choice depends on specific needs like team collaboration, which Wise Agent leads, or email marketing where Pipedrive stands out with its easy drag-and-drop builder.

What Is Zillow Preview, and What Does It Mean for Home Buyers? Link

• Zillow Preview is a new feature that lets certain brokerages show home listings on the site before they officially hit the open market.

• For buyers, this means getting a first look at properties that were previously kept hidden in private agent networks or "pocket listings."

• While Zillow used to fight against these private deals to keep things fair, they are now embracing them to give their users an edge in a tight housing market.

Tool of the day: RestB.ai

Computer vision and AI solutions helps you understand the content of your property images and translate it into actionable insights to enable you to improve valuation accuracy, automate time-consuming manual processes, and enhance the way people interact with properties.

Zillow CEO to WSJ: AI is Reducing Friction in Real Estate link

Zillow is leveraging AI to create a seamless "housing super app" that integrates search, financing, and closing into a single digital flow to accelerate U.S. transaction speeds.

HomeSage.ai Launches Browser Extension to Help Real Estate Investors Spot Deals Faster link

This tool democratizes advanced property data by allowing U.S. investors to instantly analyze risk and profitability metrics directly within their browsers, significantly shortening the "speed-to-lead" window in a competitive market.

A Real Estate Agent Built What the Industry Hasn't Yet, Using Nothing But AI link

This grassroots development signals a shift where individual U.S. agents are bypassing corporate tech stacks to build bespoke, AI-driven automation that solves hyper-local market inefficiencies.

• Metiundo, German MF Smart metering, raised a $47.6M A round led by Octopus.

• DiligenceSquared, a CRE due diligence co, raised a $5M seed led by Relentless.

• ProcodeAI, a construction planning stack, raised $4M in funding led by Story.

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$100k for 2,400 sq ft in Ohio… fully updated. Would you buy this?

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Vidit

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