06.25.25

Written by Chase Majerus

Inventory’s up, flippers are out, and buyers? Still showing up.

The housing market is still buzzing with activity—but it’s not the same buzz as before. Inventory growth is cooling, flippers are hitting the brakes, and price gains are losing momentum. Still, buyers are showing up (even with 7% rates), and big-ticket sales like Bethenny Frankel’s $7.8M estate prove that demand hasn’t vanished.

This week, we dig into the surprise strength of purchase applications, why home price growth is slowing, and what HELOCs can actually do for you. Oh—and don’t miss that insane World War I-era factory turned dream home.

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Today's Agenda:

S1L Home Equity Loan

Use Your Home For The Best Future Gains

A home equity line of credit, or HELOC, lets you borrow against your home’s available equity. Applying for a HELOC with Synergy One Lending is fast and easy. Our application is fast, easy, and all online. If pre-approved, you’ll be instantly presented with your offer options.

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Inventory Slows, Price Cuts Rise, and Buyers Keep Showing Up

(from Housingwire.com)

Housing inventory in 2025 had been gaining steam, with new listings hitting 80,000+ twice this year—but momentum is fading. Last week’s 76,181 new listings was down from the week prior, and we’re still well below the normal 80K–100K range for this time of year.

Active inventory is inching closer to 2019 levels, but growth was sluggish: just a 3,129 home increase last week versus over 13,000 in the same week last year.

Meanwhile, price cuts are climbing. 40% of homes had price reductions last week—up from 37% in 2024—supporting a cautious forecast of 1.77% home price growth for the year. Real home prices are still expected to be negative when adjusted for inflation.

What’s surprising? Purchase applications. Despite 7% mortgage rates, we’ve now had 20 straight weeks of year-over-year gains. Weekly pending sales also beat last year:
2025: 70,352
2024: 67,087

Total pending sales topped 405,000 last week, slightly ahead of 2024, even as the seasonal peak has passed.

Mortgage rates stayed stable, slipping from 6.91% to 6.86%, despite Fed chatter and market noise. Spreads have calmed, but still aren’t back to normal. If they were, today’s rates would be 0.6%–0.8% lower.

Coming up: Watch for home sales reports, price trend data, jobless claims, and a flurry of Fed speeches. The market may be cooling, but it’s still active—and full of mixed signals.

Read more here

Major Manor

Bethenny Frankel's Applejack Farm Sells for Nearly $8M

(from Housingwire.com)

TV personality and entrepreneur Bethenny Frankel just sold her fully renovated estate in Greenwich, Connecticut for a jaw-dropping $7.825 million. Originally purchased for $4.2M in 2021, the historic property—Applejack Farm—blends 18th-century charm with modern luxury.

Property Highlights:

  • Location: Greenwich, CT (median home price: $1.8M)
  • Price: Sold for $7.825M
  • Lot Size: ~3 acres
  • Main House: 5 bedrooms, 6 full bathrooms + 2 half-baths, La Cornue kitchen with center island and dark cabinetry, formal sitting room with wood paneling and large fireplace, beamed ceilings, ornate molding, media room, bar, and gym
  • Guest Cottage: 2 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms + 1 half-bath
  • Additional Features: “Party barn” for entertaining, stone patio, covered porch, and lush grounds with mature trees
  • Originally founded in 1743, restored under Frankel’s ownership

Frankel says she “poured her heart” into transforming the property into a true family compound. The sale reflects Greenwich’s high-end market strength, where demand is outpacing supply—even for legacy estates like this one.

Read more here

Social Space

Our Top Social Links of the week

Read:
Why the housing market is so stuck, in 4 charts – Read here!

Video:
POV: You buy the house no one wanted – Watch here!

See Me:
WWI-Era Concrete Factory Transformed Into Dream Home by Architect Over 45 Years – See here!

Video:
The Platinum Triangle! aka Beverly Hill + more – Watch here!

Financial Fitness

Short Financial Fitness Sub Head Here

What if your home could help you pay off high-interest debt, remodel the kitchen, or even launch that dream business you’ve been sitting on for years? For many homeowners, that’s exactly what a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) does.

Think of it as giving your home a side hustle—except instead of making TikToks, it’s building wealth and flexibility.

What Is a HELOC, really?

A HELOC lets you borrow against the equity you’ve built in your home—kind of like tapping into a savings account you didn’t realize you had. Your home equity is calculated by subtracting what you owe on your mortgage from your home’s current value. So, if your home’s value has gone up (thanks, market or DIY skills), you may have more borrowing power than you think.

And you’re not alone in using it. Homeowners today are leveraging HELOCs to:

  • Consolidate high-interest credit card debt
  • Pay for home improvements (hello, new bathroom)
  • Cover college tuition
  • Fund wedding expenses
  • Finance a new business venture
  • Take time off to care for loved ones
  • Basically, a HELOC can help you afford life—on your terms.

Some lenders make tapping into your equity feel like solving a Rubik’s Cube underwater. Not us.

At Synergy One Lending, we’ve streamlined the HELOC process from top to bottom so that it’s:

  • Fast: We use automated home valuation and a soft-credit inquiry to give you an instant pre-qualification decision. No waiting around, no unnecessary
  • Easy: The entire process is online, including application, offer selection, and signing—so you can apply from the couch in your sweatpants. (No judgment.)
  • Flexible: We offer fixed loan amounts from $20,000 to $400,000, with terms of 5, 10, 15, or 30 years in most states. You’ll receive your full proceeds at funding, minus the origination fee. No surprises.

So, Is a HELOC right for you?

A HELOC is a smart financial tool—especially in a high-interest world. Whether you’re making your home work harder for you or just need cash flow for a major life event, it can provide the flexibility and control you need without refinancing your entire mortgage.

And with Synergy One Lending, you’ll have one of the fastest, most transparent HELOC processes out there.

Ready to see what your home equity can do? Apply online now and get your offer in minutes.

See if a HELOC is right for you

S1 FinFit App

Digital financial assistant at your fingertips

S1 FinFit is a FREE app that provides a roadmap to help you reach your financial and lifestyle goals, no matter how big or small! Free credit monitoring with alerts, set financial goals, create budgets, and keep track of your spending to see where your money is going.

Download the app on the appropriate app store with the links below!

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Flipping Fatigue Sets In

(from Housingwire.com)

The U.S. home flipping market just hit a six-year low in volume, with 67,394 homes flipped in Q1 2025, only 8.3% of all sales. While that share was slightly up from Q4, it’s the smallest number of flips since 2018.

Profit margins are sliding fast: the typical ROI dropped to 25%, down from 28% last quarter and well below the nearly 49% peak in 2020. It’s getting harder for investors to find underpriced homes worth the risk, especially with prices high and buyer demand cooling.

Cash is still king—62% of flips were all-cash deals—but even that edge is fading in high-cost markets.

Activity remains strong in the South, with cities like Macon, GA (21%) and Atlanta (15.9%) leading the flip rate. But ROI is falling almost everywhere. Spartanburg’s returns collapsed from 160% to 31%, and Austin barely broke even at 1%.

Flipping is still alive, but the golden window of fast profits and easy wins has clearly closed. With shrinking margins, fewer undervalued properties, and a market that’s shifting under investors’ feet, success now depends more on precision, timing, and market-by-market strategy than ever before

Read more here

Home Prices Cool, But Don’t Expect a Crash

(from CNBC.com)

National home price growth is losing steam—just +2.7% year over year in April, down from 3.4% in March, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index. That’s the slowest pace in almost two years.

  • Winners: Midwest and Northeast cities like New York (+7.9%), Chicago (+6%), and Detroit (+5.5%) are leading.
  • Losers: Pandemic boomtowns like Tampa (-2.2%) and Dallas (-0.2%) are slipping.
  • …and why? Higher mortgage rates (hovering near 7%) = fewer buyers (first-timers now just 30% of sales).
  • More homes are hitting the market, but inventory’s still below pre-2020 levels.
  • Still, a full-blown crash? Unlikely. Strong fundamentals and low inventory are keeping a price floor in place.

The market’s not breaking. It’s just sobering up.

Read more here

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