“Build affordable housing.” Easier said than done. Build it where? Which surplus city properties would be good candidates for this kind of project? What types of policies do a better job of fostering housing development? To chip away at the unknowns, San Diego has joined a pilot program with 10 other cities that will provide data and expertise over the next two years. The pilot is operated and funded on a pro bono basis by a real estate software company, Tolemi, and Accelerator for America, an economic development nonprofit. The pilot’s aim: use big data and shared insight to inform policies that will boost economic stability — in this case, by focusing on housing access and affordability.
Artificial intelligence has increasingly put its stamp on technology in recent years and will likely do the same for the commercial real estate industry, according to a new JLL report. AI isn’t the first technology to transform CRE in recent years, however, making its foray into the industry more of an evolution than a revolution, according to Yuehan Wang, global research associate and lead for the JLL Global Technology Research Program. Investors, developers, and corporate occupiers have projected that AI is one of the top three technologies to have the biggest impact on the industry during the next three years, according to JLL.
Pacaso, a company that buys residential properties and then sells them to a consortium of buyers, has filed a lawsuit against the city of Newport Beach in federal court, claiming the city’s effort at amending its existing timeshare ordinance directly attempts to “preclude Pacaso and its homeowners from enjoying the benefits of second home ownership in Newport Beach.” The Newport Beach City Council in May moved to expand its timeshare ordinance to include fractional home ownership — a growing real estate trend, where multiple buyers enter an agreement to purchase a property and split its usage based on the percentage of ownership by each party.
More than 1 in 4 dollars invested in American startups this year has gone to an artificial intelligence-related company, Crunchbase figures show. At first glance, that may not sound too shocking. AI is generating more buzz than ever, and we’ve seen a plethora of enormous financings recently for companies in the space including those to OpenAI and Anthropic. Comparing 2023 and 2022, however, one striking takeaway is how much larger the share of investment going to AI has become. It’s more than double year-ago levels.
Zillow has won a federal court case against a real estate startup, defeating claims that it violated antitrust and consumer protection laws when it separated certain listings on its website. More than two years after real estate brokerage Rex filed the case in federal court in Seattle, a jury has sided with Zillow. The change to Zillow’s website allegedly tanked traffic to Rex’s listings, and the company sued Zillow and the National Association of Realtors, claiming the change illegally limited competition.
Mighty Buildings, a 3D printing construction technology firm, has raised $52 million in a new funding found. Total funds raised since inception now reach $150 million. The round was co-led by Wa’ed Ventures, the $500 million innovation-focused venture capital fund backed by Saudi Aramco, and by Bold Capital Partners. Mighty Buildings has delivered more than 50 sustainable, prefabricated housing units to date.
Wint, a so-called “water intelligence” company that says it uses AI to detect and stop leaks, has raised $35 million in a Series C round of funding. Wint has developed a water management system that alerts users when there may be a leak, with the ability to configure the system to automatically shut down where the leak is detected. Customers may include anyone from facility managers and construction firms, to data centers and any enterprise looking to bolster their carbon emission reports with hard data.
Wire fraud prevention company CertifID has raised $20 million in a Series B funding round. The financing will help the firm develop fraud prevention products for the real estate industry, which is facing a sharp uptick in fraud. According to CertifID, the real estate sector relies chiefly on manual processes to verify banking and identity information — even as it processes trillions of dollars worth of payments each year — giving fraudsters a lucrative pool of victims.
New York-based mortgage platform Roam has secured a $1.25 million seed round, allowing the company to officially launch its services. Roam focuses on a distinctive niche within the mortgage industry: assumable mortgages. Assumable mortgages allow qualified buyers with a government loan to purchase a home by assuming responsibility for the sellers’ mortgage terms, including the current balance and interest rate.
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