11 Best Sites for Real Estate Tech News in 2023
Real estate had an exciting 2022.
My 2022 predictions were awful (though I predicted they would be awful, so I got something right!)
Interest rates turned the market flat as Jerome Powell fought inflation. Realtors are bracing for tougher markets as transaction volume has plummeted. iBuyers took a major step backwards as Opendoor lost money and RedfinNow closed up shop. The number of Realtors nationally peaked in 2022 and fell while entering 2023. Realogy made a somewhat head-scratching rebrand to Anywhere.
The battle between the “tech-enabled agent” and “agent-enabled tech” continues, as agents try to figure out when technology is a friend and when it is a foe.
Savvy real estate professionals are going to keep plugged into the discussion and keep their ears close to the ground.
Here are some of the best sources for keeping up with real estate news, new tools, and forward-thinking opinion makers.
Inman
Inman is the #1 resource for all real estate tech news, and there is no competition for that top spot.
Unfortunately, it also requires a paid subscription to access most of the content.
It is worth it! If you are a serious agent, I recommend subscribing, reading, and commenting.
Brad Inman is not only an industry thought leader but also sponsors Inman Connect, possibly the most important convention in the real estate world after NAR’s annual convention.
Disclosure – I’ve been published on Inman a couple of times myself, though it’s been a while. Not sure if that needs to be disclosed or impacts anything, but thought I would brag a bit.
The Real Deal
The Real Deal is a real estate magazine with a lot of content and breaking news stories.
It includes hyperlocal stories siloed into sections for local areas like New York, Los Angeles, South Florida, Chicago, and the Tri-State area. They added Texas not too long ago! About time!
It also has its own little section just for tech news.
It’s a must-subscribe if you are trying to follow real estate news, real estate politics, and proptech, not only in the residential space but commercial as well.
HousingWire
HousingWire is like the Associated Press for real estate. They have articles on breaking news from the entire industry, including GSEs like Fannie Mae, regulations from CFPB, startup fundraising, brokerage news, market stats, and more.
Mixed in are articles like “Six reasons why agents should stop answering their phones – Seriously!“.
Of course, they have a section for articles about real estate technology news, proptech, and venture capital.
CRETech
CRETech is the leading commercial real estate technology magazine. Like Inman, they have their own convention that is a must for commercial agents, brokers, and managers.
They have their own services including content marketing services like ebooks and blog articles, social media management, and even video/drone videography.
The Notorious ROB
Rob Hahn is an opinion maker and industry voyeur, reflecting on events like MLS consolidation and the politics at NAR.
He and W+R Studios co-founder Greg Robertson have a podcast called Industry Relations which is a must for anyone paying attention to the macro-trends in the real estate industry.
Rob’s observations are always insightful, even when wrong (which is seldom).
It’s a must-read for anyone who wants to peek behind-the-curtain of power politics at NAR, brokerage leaders, and the future of big data in real estate.
Rob has launched his own podcast in 2019, as well as VIP paid content on his site in addition to the Red Dot publication. But there is still a lot of free must-read commentary available!
Geek Estate Blog
Geek Estate is a subscription-based community for real estate tech entrepreneurs and agents.
There is some public blog content that is short and worth consuming, especially for quick takes on new real estate products and companies. But you’ll have to subscribe for $97/quarter for the long-form content and community of techies.
Strongly consider joining if you want to be able to network and connect with proptech CTOs and founders.
Hooquest
No shame here, plugging myself!
If you are reading this, hopefully you found the info helpful!
The main purpose of my site is to review real estate technology products like CRMs, email marketing software, websites, and more, as well as articles on using those technologies to improve your real estate business.
I’ll also share my own take and perspective on the industry from time to time, from my background as a licensed agent, a former iBuyer employee, and in my current role pricing single-family homes for an institutional landlord.
WAV Group Consulting
The WAV Group is a consulting firm for brokers, tech companies, and more.
They consult on a full range of topics, including industry trends, marketing, management, as well as conducting industry research.
Their blog has consistent content that includes a lot of actionable insights into the trends facing the real estate industry today. They are one of the consultants for Broker Public Portal and a champion of that initiative.
National Real Estate Post
Frank and Brian had a light-hearted and fun video series that dips frequently into the mortgage side of the house, as well as real estate brokerage topics. They were not shy about sharing their thoughts and opinions.
Frank isn’t as involved in the show now but Brian is still going strong as well as new faces that bring in the bigger picture of real estate financing, Fannie and Freddie, and more.
Following their YouTube and page will broaden your scope and give you an unvarnished perspective to consider about the macro industry environment.
Mike DelPrete
Mike DelPrete has catapulted himself into the center of discussion with his analytical industry reports predominantly concerning the iBuyer trend.
He’s a consultant for several startups like Homeward, Side, and Zavvie, as well as a teacher at the University of Colorado Boulder.
His best content is in the form of paid reports, but he also posts regular insights and teasers that include more information than you’ll find anywhere else.
He’s got the data-driven goods on iBuyers, broker franchises, the portals, and even insights into European real estate movers and shakers. He’s a must-follow for anyone plugged into real estate tech.
Follow him on LinkedIn, too!
RIS Media
RIS Media was founded in 1980 with a real estate magazine and has been a consistent and important content producer ever since.
They have their own podcast, real estate leadership events, Power Broker rankings, and more.
Some of their content is exclusive to members, but there is a good amount of resources that are free as well. It is definitely worth checking out and adding to your reading list!
Others
A few other sources of news, opinions, or information that I follow include:
- Byron Lazine
- FitSmallBusiness
- TheClose
- Vendor Alley
- InboundREM
- Luxury Portfolio International
- Luxury Real Estate News
- Easy Agent Pro Blog
- Placester
- Kyle Handy
How to Keep Up With News
I use Feedly to follow my favorite real estate news sources. Simply paste the URLs of your news sources or search within Feedly to create a single news feed with all the latest articles.
Feedly
FREE+. Feedly is a news aggregator that lets you select any and all of your news and website sources, group them by category, and build your own content feed. This lets you see and share the highlights of the latest and greatest from your own, curated sources specific to your needs.
Social Media Opinion and Newsmakers
In addition to Feedly, I use Twitter to curate my news feed and find it useful to subscribe to many of these publications, as well as other Twitter influencers in the real estate space.
Facebook groups are also great for keeping on top of the real estate agent chatter and fun.
Conclusion
We are only in the infancy of the real estate data age. Our industry will not look the same in 10 years. From machine learning, virtual reality, and blockchain, the home buying and selling experience will be constantly changing at faster and faster speeds.
There is no excuse not to stay current on best practices and real estate technology news!
Updated March 22, 2023; Originally published July 17, 2018
It’s a great, helpful list.