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By Beth McGuire

Zillow and realtor.com® operator Move have settled their two-year long, contentious trade secrets lawsuit, it was announced Monday, with Zillow agreeing to pay its industry rival $130 million. The settlement, detailed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, is far less than the initial $2 billion Move had initially claimed in damages. The trial was originally set to begin today.

According to SEC documents, the receipt of the agreed-upon settlement of $130 million to be paid to Move, the National Association of Realtors and “three related entities,” puts an end to one of the industry’s most notable lawsuits ever. The filing states that the parties have agreed to dismiss all claims and counterclaims with prejudice, and the settlement agreement does not contain any admission of liability, wrongdoing, or responsibility by any of the parties.

To view the full SEC filing, click here.

According to statements released by both Zillow and Move, both companies were pleased to have the litigation behind them.

“Today, we reached an amicable resolution to settle our lawsuit with News Corp and the National Association of Realtors,” Zillow said in a statement. “The agreement allows us to put this litigation behind us, and continue our focus on innovation and the huge opportunity in front of us as the consumer-focused market leader.”

According to Move, “We are pleased to have reached an amicable resolution of this litigation. We look forward to putting the matter to rest and returning our full focus to simplifying the real estate process for consumers and the real estate professionals who serve them.”

In the most recent developments before the settlement, in pre-trial rulings last week, the Seattle judge reduced the potential damages against Zillow from $2 billion to $1.6 or $1.7 billion. And last month, the judge denied Move’s motion for saction against Zillow but did sanction Zillow exec Curt Beardsley by issuing an “adverse instruction” to jurors, or informing them that evidence is missing or has been destroyed.

The lengthy hearing has been ongoing since 2014 when Move, Inc., filed a claim that former Move execs Curt Beardsley and Errol Samuelson, stole trade secrets and destroyed documents when they left the company to join Zillow. While the lawsuit had contained several different allegations, it was the acquisition of Trulia by Zillow in 2015 that became one of the main points of contention in the dispute. Trulia, at the time was one of the three largest real estate portals in the industry and according to Move, Trulia was a potential strategic acquisition target. According to charges claimed in the suit, Move’s efforts to acquire Trulia were severely hindered by the resignation of Beardsley and Samulson, the two key Move executives familiar with Move’s strategic plans who had been hired away by Zillow during this time. Zillow then acquired Trulia for approximately $3.5 billion in 2015 in a stock-for-stock transaction.

Stay tuned to RISMedia for ongoing coverage.

…read more

From:: Finance and Economy

By Beth McGuire

Zillow and realtor.com® operator Move have settled their two-year long, contentious trade secrets lawsuit, it was announced Monday, with Zillow agreeing to pay its industry rival $130 million. The settlement, detailed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, is far less than the initial $2 billion Move had initially claimed in damages. The trial was originally set to begin today.

According to SEC documents, the receipt of the agreed-upon settlement of $130 million to be paid to Move, the National Association of Realtors and “three related entities,” puts an end to one of the industry’s most notable lawsuits ever. The filing states that the parties have agreed to dismiss all claims and counterclaims with prejudice, and the settlement agreement does not contain any admission of liability, wrongdoing, or responsibility by any of the parties.

To view the full SEC filing, click here.

According to statements released by both Zillow and Move, both companies were pleased to have the litigation behind them.

“Today, we reached an amicable resolution to settle our lawsuit with News Corp and the National Association of Realtors,” Zillow said in a statement. “The agreement allows us to put this litigation behind us, and continue our focus on innovation and the huge opportunity in front of us as the consumer-focused market leader.”

According to Move, “We are pleased to have reached an amicable resolution of this litigation. We look forward to putting the matter to rest and returning our full focus to simplifying the real estate process for consumers and the real estate professionals who serve them.”

In the most recent developments before the settlement, in pre-trial rulings last week, the Seattle judge reduced the potential damages against Zillow from $2 billion to $1.6 or $1.7 billion. And last month, the judge denied Move’s motion for saction against Zillow but did sanction Zillow exec Curt Beardsley by issuing an “adverse instruction” to jurors, or informing them that evidence is missing or has been destroyed.

The lengthy hearing has been ongoing since 2014 when Move, Inc., filed a claim that former Move execs Curt Beardsley and Errol Samuelson, stole trade secrets and destroyed documents when they left the company to join Zillow. While the lawsuit had contained several different allegations, it was the acquisition of Trulia by Zillow in 2015 that became one of the main points of contention in the dispute. Trulia, at the time was one of the three largest real estate portals in the industry and according to Move, Trulia was a potential strategic acquisition target. According to charges claimed in the suit, Move’s efforts to acquire Trulia were severely hindered by the resignation of Beardsley and Samulson, the two key Move executives familiar with Move’s strategic plans who had been hired away by Zillow during this time. Zillow then acquired Trulia for approximately $3.5 billion in 2015 in a stock-for-stock transaction.

Stay tuned to RISMedia for ongoing coverage.

The post Zillow Agrees to Pay $130M to Move, NAR by June 20th, Settlement Ends 2-Year Contentious …read more

From:: Real Estate News

The Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization unveiled a new plan to promote greater participation. Starting next year, it will simplify its membership structure to support broader participation in the creation and use of standards across the mortgage industry lifecycle. …read more

From:: Real Estate Wire

One of the most contentious battles in history of online real estate is now over, as Zillow announced Monday that it reached a settlement with Move over allegations of trade secret theft levied against two high-level executives at Zillow who once plied their craft at Move. And all it took was $130 million. Click the headline for the full story. …read more

From:: Real Estate Wire

By Susanne Dwyer

The latest national index produced by Florida Atlantic University and Florida International University faculty indicates the United States housing market as a whole is moving deeper into buy territory, suggesting that, on average, residential housing markets around the country are sound.

Based on numbers from the end of the first quarter, the latest Beracha, Hardin & Johnson Buy vs. Rent (BH&J) Index comes on the heels of the latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, which found home prices nationally climbed 5.4 percent since March 2015.

“This appears to be driven by a steady but strengthening job market, rising rents relative to rising ownership costs and recent slower growth in traditional financial portfolios consisting of stocks and bonds,” said Ken Johnson, Ph.D., a real estate economist who is one of the index’s authors and an associate dean of graduate programs and professor in FAU’s College of Business.

The BH&J Index measures the relationship between purchasing property and building wealth through a buildup in equity versus renting a comparable property and investing in a portfolio of stocks and bonds. It examines the entire housing market in the United States and isolates the markets of 23 major cities.

In terms of wealth creation, the U.S. housing market, when considered as a whole, has swung marginally more in favor of homeownership over renting a comparable property and investing monthly rent savings in a portfolio of stocks and bonds. Overall, 16 of the 23 metropolitan markets investigated moved in the direction of buy territory.

The metro areas of Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia and St. Louis remain solidly in buy territory.

“These cities should have room for price growth without much worry of overheating,” said Eli Beracha, Ph.D., co-author of the index and assistant professor in the T&S Hollo School of Real Estate at FIU. “This is especially true for Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Detroit.”

Cities such as Honolulu, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Pittsburgh, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle are hovering around what the index’s authors refer to as the “indifference point” between buying versus renting. In almost all of these metro markets, the BH&J Index score for the quarter moved in the direction of ownership.

“This movement suggests that most consumers in these markets appear to have learned from the real estate crash and now understand that residential property prices can get too high,” Beracha said. “This is a good sign for future housing price stability in these markets.”

Meanwhile, two hot housing markets, Dallas and Denver, continued to move deeper into rent territory but at a slower rate than earlier quarters.

“Strong economic support within these two markets should make for a soft landing in terms of slowing property price growth, increased marketing time for properties and lower probabilities that sellers will actually transact and close during a given marketing effort of their property,” Johnson said.

One particular market, Houston, continues to cause concern. Houston was already deep into rent territory, and its recent BH&J score plummeted significantly toward buy territory – a scenario …read more

From:: Finance and Economy

By Susanne Dwyer

The latest national index produced by Florida Atlantic University and Florida International University faculty indicates the United States housing market as a whole is moving deeper into buy territory, suggesting that, on average, residential housing markets around the country are sound.

Based on numbers from the end of the first quarter, the latest Beracha, Hardin & Johnson Buy vs. Rent (BH&J) Index comes on the heels of the latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, which found home prices nationally climbed 5.4 percent since March 2015.

“This appears to be driven by a steady but strengthening job market, rising rents relative to rising ownership costs and recent slower growth in traditional financial portfolios consisting of stocks and bonds,” said Ken Johnson, Ph.D., a real estate economist who is one of the index’s authors and an associate dean of graduate programs and professor in FAU’s College of Business.

The BH&J Index measures the relationship between purchasing property and building wealth through a buildup in equity versus renting a comparable property and investing in a portfolio of stocks and bonds. It examines the entire housing market in the United States and isolates the markets of 23 major cities.

In terms of wealth creation, the U.S. housing market, when considered as a whole, has swung marginally more in favor of homeownership over renting a comparable property and investing monthly rent savings in a portfolio of stocks and bonds. Overall, 16 of the 23 metropolitan markets investigated moved in the direction of buy territory.

The metro areas of Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia and St. Louis remain solidly in buy territory.

“These cities should have room for price growth without much worry of overheating,” said Eli Beracha, Ph.D., co-author of the index and assistant professor in the T&S Hollo School of Real Estate at FIU. “This is especially true for Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Detroit.”

Cities such as Honolulu, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Pittsburgh, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle are hovering around what the index’s authors refer to as the “indifference point” between buying versus renting. In almost all of these metro markets, the BH&J Index score for the quarter moved in the direction of ownership.

“This movement suggests that most consumers in these markets appear to have learned from the real estate crash and now understand that residential property prices can get too high,” Beracha said. “This is a good sign for future housing price stability in these markets.”

Meanwhile, two hot housing markets, Dallas and Denver, continued to move deeper into rent territory but at a slower rate than earlier quarters.

“Strong economic support within these two markets should make for a soft landing in terms of slowing property price growth, increased marketing time for properties and lower probabilities that sellers will actually transact and close during a given marketing effort of their property,” Johnson said.

One particular market, Houston, continues to cause concern. Houston was already deep into rent territory, and its recent BH&J score plummeted significantly toward buy territory – a scenario …read more

From:: Finance and Economy