Today's hot news:   A slap on the wrist that just changed the real estate landscape, forever!

Hi everybody, Joe Hillner with Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty, where we guarantee the sale of your home or I'll buy it! 

Ok, so every week, I share market data to keep you informed with the local real estate market.  

Here is this week’s Boca Market Watch.

First, Single Family Homes:

This past week, 65 new listings, not bad, and ranging in price from $330K to $39.5M - now that's a spicy meatball!  11 homes back on the market, while 61 homes listed took a price decrease, and 3 sellers raised their asking price.  And  worse than the last couple of weeks, only 28 different properties under contract, and 22 going pending, about the worst week I can remember. 47 homes were unsuccessful in selling and were taken off the market or the listing expired outright, the highest that's been in years.  And another poor week for sales with 45 homes sold, ranging from $395K to $3.95M!

Next up, Condos and Townhomes:

78 new listings, pretty decent,  and ranging from $135 Grand to $6 Million.  15 units came back on the market, 55 properties with a price decrease, and 7 sellers with an increase.  And another light week with 36 different properties under contract, and just 26 going pending,  And 28 condos or townhomes were unsuccessful in selling and were taken off the market or the listing expired. 60 closed sales this week, a so so week, and ranging in price from $90K to $2.9M.

Here's what's making news right now.

On Monday, the FTC announced that it was hitting Opendoor, a national iBuyer, with a $62 Million fine for allegedly "tricking" consumers.  Opendoor is an internet buyer of residential real estate, operating all over the US, and right here in our area.

Regulators with the Federal Trade Commission on Monday accused the iBuyer of 'cheating' and 'tricking' consumers, their words. Opendoor disagrees with the allegations but has agreed to settle the case and pay the fine.  

Opendoor “pitched potential sellers using misleading and deceptive information” that suggested they would make more money by selling to the iBuyer than they would on the open market. However, the statement adds, “most people who sold to Opendoor made thousands of dollars less than they would have made selling their homes using the traditional process.”

Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, added in the statement that “Opendoor promised to revolutionize the real estate market but built its business using old-fashioned deception.”

“There is nothing innovative about cheating consumers,” Levine added.  The statement goes on to cite Opendoor marketing materials about consumer proceeds and argues homesellers lost money thanks to below market offers on homes and higher costs compared to using a traditional agent. 

The FTC also believes that Opendoor misrepresented other facts, including that the company stated it makes money from fees when in fact it earns via “buying low and selling high.”  Opendoor agreed to “stop deceiving potential homesellers,” and to “stop making baseless claims.”  WOW!

$62 Million sounds like a hefty fine, but Opendoor is sitting on $2.5 Billion in cash, so it amounts to a slap on the wrist.  And worse, nobody is going to jail!

But the plot thickens.  As I've reported previously, last year Zillow closed it's iBuyer segment they called Zillow Offers.  That failure cost them well over $400 Million and they've just completed selling off all of the homes that they previously purchased.

Yesterday, Zillow announced that it is forming a partnership with Opendoor.  It will allow homesellers to request a purchase price, right through the Zillow app.  Zillow is on a quest to create a housing super app that will keep homesellers, and buyers, locked in to their site without ever leaving.

So if you've ever wondered if Zillow hasn't gotten too big already, I have news for you - they're just getting started.  And by partnering with the unethical, if not outright criminal, corporate culture at Opendoor, who's to stand in their way?  Food for thought...