The single-family rental (SFR) market is no longer a niche corner of real estate. It now makes up a significant share of the rental housing sector, fueled by years of steady growth. While institutional investors have entered the space with purpose-built communities and large portfolios, the majority of these properties are still owned by individual landlords. This mix of ownership creates both opportunities and responsibilities for real estate agents.

Agents are often the bridge between landlords and renters, which means they are uniquely positioned to protect both sides from costly mistakes. Doing so requires more than simply filling vacancies, it demands awareness, diligence, and up-to-date education on fraud prevention and compliance.

Fraud is a growing concern in rentals, and it impacts landlords of all sizes. A recent NMHC Pulse Survey found that 93 percent of landlords have come across fraudulent tenant documents, with 84 percent detecting false income or employment claims. Losses can range from $1,000 to $5,000 per fraudulent tenant. Snappt reports that 6.4 percent of all rental applications in 2024 contained manipulated documents with over 80,000 fraudulent files in just one year.

These numbers show why agents can’t rely on outdated screening methods or assume fraud is only a problem for large operators. While big players like Invitation Homes and Progress Residential use AI-powered verification and document authentication at scale, more than 80 percent of SFR properties are still in the hands of small landlords, many of whom lean on their agents for guidance and protection.

The risks don’t stop with applications. Fake listings have surged, leading to a 45 percent increase in rental scam complaints to the FTC and Better Business Bureau over the past two years. Victims often lose security deposits or first-month rent payments before realizing they’ve been duped. Nearly half lose $1,000 or more, and 8 percent lose over $5,000.

For agents, the takeaway is clear: knowing how to spot fraud and educate clients on prevention can be a real value-add. Using advanced screening tools with ID verification, document authentication, and income validation not only safeguards landlords but also ensures legitimate renters aren’t wrongfully excluded. That’s why educational materials are essential to help agents learn all about the technology that can make their business better. Balancing thorough screening with fair access is also critical, especially for the 45 million “credit invisible” people in the U.S. who could qualify for housing if alternative data like utility and telecom payments were considered.

By staying informed, following best practices, and committing to ongoing education, agents can play a central role in making the SFR market more secure and fair. When agents take the lead on compliance and fraud prevention, they don’t just close deals but they help protect their clients’ investments, safeguard renters from scams, and strengthen trust across the rental industry.

Michael Lucarelli is the CEO of RentSpree.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners.

To contact the editor responsible for this piece: zeb@hwmedia.com.

Knock, a real estate technology company that helps homeowners to buy before they sell, on Tuesday announced the close of its inaugural $100 million securitization.

Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. served as the initial purchaser and bookrunner for the transaction, which closed on Aug. 14 and generated strong demand from well-established institutional investors in residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), including money managers and hedge funds.

The securitization was 75% prefunded. The 25% funded portion was composed of loans with a 766 weighted average FICO score, 35% loan-to-value ratio and 72% closed LTV.

As a result, the company confirmed that it is now profitable.

“The fact that this offering was oversubscribed is a powerful endorsement of the Knock Bridge Loan as a stable, reliable investment,” Sean Black, co-founder and CEO of Knock, said in a statement. “Accessing the bond market not only reinforces investor confidence in our model, but also opens up a new channel of capital we plan to continue tapping into as we expand capacity and make the Knock Bridge Loan available to more lenders nationwide.”

The $100 million bond issuance will be used exclusively to fund Knock’s bridge loan products. Given the short duration of the assets and the revolving nature of the transaction, the issuance will provide approximately $900 million in revolving capacity over two years and aid in the expansion of the Knock bridge loan.

The bridge loan gives homeowners access to the equity in their current home to make a non-contingent offer on their next one, while covering everything from a down payment to debt payoff, home prep and six months of mortgage payments on their current home.

Knock announced in June that its bridge loan product is being integrated into the borrower application process at Baltimore-based NFM Lending.

Knock also announced an increase of its maximum bridge loan amount to $1 million, up fro the previous limit of $750,000, which is designed to expand purchasing power for homebuyers in higher-priced markets like California and Washington.

Founded in 2015, Knock is currently available in 32 states and the District of Columbia. The company saw a 126% year-over-year increase in funded loans from July 2024 to July 2025, it reported Tuesday.

The number of new-home sales in July may have only fallen slightly from a month prior, but it is meaningfully lower than a year ago, according to data released Monday by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

New-home sales dropped to 652,000 units in July, down 0.6% from June and down 8.2% annually. 

Despite this decrease, economists like First American‘s Odeta Kushi, say that new-home sales exceeded expectations in July, which came after June’s numbers were revised upward.

As the pace of new-home sales slowed, inventory rose to 499,000 units at the end of July, up 7.3% compared to a year ago. On a monthly basis, however, inventory was down 0.6%. This supply represents 9.2 months of inventory at the current sales pace. 

With inventory rising and home sales slowing, the median sales price posted both monthly and yearly declines in July. The figure of $403,800 was down 0.8% month over month and 5.9% year over year. This is the largest annual price decline since November 2024. 

“Historically, new homes sell for more than existing homes, but that pattern has been upended in recent months as new home inventory has surged,” Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at Bright MLS, said in a statement. “The median price of a new home sold in July was nearly $20,000 lower than the median sold price of an existing home.”

Regionally, new-home sales were down year over year in three out of the four regions, dropping 23.5% in the Northeast (26,000 units), 4.0% in the South (388,000 units) and 19.9% in the West (153,000 units). In the Midwest, new-home sales were up 4.9% annually in July to a pace of 85,000 units. Month over month, new-home sales were flat in the Northeast, down 6.6% in the Midwest, down 3.5% in the South and up 11.7% in the West. 

“Builders have relied heavily on incentives, such as mortgage rate buydowns, upgrades, and even price reductions, to support demand and maintain an edge over the existing-home market,” said Kushi, First American’s deputy chief economist. “However, the recent pattern of sales — holding at relatively subdued levels — suggests these measures are becoming less effective amid strained affordability, rising resale inventory, and macroeconomic uncertainty.”

While new-home sales slowed in 2024, growth still remained positive, helping to offset the weaker existing-home sales pace, but economists are not so optimistic about 2025. 

“This year, however, with existing home sales tracking below last year and new home sales substantially weaker, the overall 2025 housing market is set up to fall below 2024,” Sturtevant said.

But Kushi notes that new-home sales remain above pre-pandemic levels in contrast with existing-home sales.

Sturtevant is concerned that this will cause the overall economy to slow as housing makes up between 15% and 18% of the annual GDP. 

“Tariff and immigration policies are making it harder for home builders to deliver more supply, but right now the constraint is on the demand side,” she said. “Builders are offering more incentives to entice home shoppers, but because the inventory of existing homes has grown and would-be buyers have more options and more negotiating power with sellers, they are less likely to be looking for new construction.”  

But there may be good news on the horizon, as new-home purchase mortgage demand continued to grow in July. 

New home sales followed the existing home sales market by beating sales estimates and having positive revisions in today’s report, which suggests that we are already seeing some benefits of lower mortgage rates.

While it’s not a spectacular number by any means, if mortgage rates can get toward 6% and just stay there for some time, the builders can get more confident about single-family permits again and then maybe housing starts can grow. However, for now, let’s take a look at the report.

New home sales

From Census: Sales of new single-family houses in July 2025 were at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 652,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 0.6 percent (±15.5 percent)* below the June 2025 rate of 656,000, and is 8.2 percent (±14.0 percent)* below the July 2024 rate of 710,000.

Due to the revision of last month’s data, which was adjusted upward, this report shows a slight month-to-month decline in new home sales. However, sales still exceeded estimates, which were predicted around 630,000. The reality of the new home sales market is that we have been operating within a narrow sales range for the past 10 years, especially when excluding the highs and lows caused by COVID-19.  

It’s challenging for both large and small builders to sell homes with mortgage rates hovering at 7% or higher. Larger builders have managed to maintain their profit margins to sustain sales, but smaller builders face greater difficulties in this environment. On the other hand, as mortgage rates approach 6%, even smaller builders feel more optimistic, as historically, their confidence has improved with lower rates.
In real terms, when we look at the new home sales data for 10 years, it’s really just been in a tight range, and once rates rise to 7% and higher, it’s harder to sell homes. When rates go toward 6%, it gets easier.

Completed units for sale Is key

The big publicly traded homebuilder stocks have been on fire recently and people are wondering why, given all the negative headlines about housing starts and supply. The simple answer is that the 10-year yield and mortgage rates heading toward 6% is good enough for them to sell more homes and it has less of an impact on their corporate profits. This isn’t the case for smaller builders, but for the big publicly traded builders it can work.

However, the bigger story is that the builders completed units for sale is at 121,000, which means they’re not going to be issuing a massive amount of permits here.

Why is this particular number so significant? Builders typically do not have more than 120,000 completed units available for sale as they continue constructing new homes. They treat homes as a commodity and cannot allow the inventory of completed units to accumulate. Here’s a different perspective on the stages of completed units, looking back over the decades to strengthen my point.

The builders have 9.2 months of supply, 2.2 months of which are completed units of sale, which is 121,000 units for sale. There is also 4.9 months of supply under construction, which means 267,000 units, which is a high number as well. There is 2.0 months of supply that hasn’t even been started yet — or 111,000 units, a historically all-time high level. So, you can see why the housing starts and permits are at recession levels.

Conclusion

It’s encouraging to see that new home sales have stabilized at the lower end of their range and that mortgage rates have dropped even further. Hopefully, it’s clear by now that new home sales could increase if mortgage rates approach 6% and remain there for a while. If that occurs and builders are able to sell some of their inventory, they will likely feel more confident about moving forward with new construction permits.

Realtor.com is welcoming a new executive to its C-suite. On Monday, the company announced that it had appointed Janakiraman Karthikeyan as its new chief technology officer.

This role will see Karthikeyan lead Realtor.com’s technology strategy as the company looks to achieve its long-term growth goals. 

“I’m excited to join Realtor.com at such an important moment,” Karthikeyan said in a statement. “Throughout my career, I’ve focused on building scalable platforms and using AI and machine learning to create impactful customer experiences.

“Realtor.com has a powerful mission to be the best open real estate marketplace, and I look forward to working with the team to accelerate innovation and deliver even greater value to consumers, agents, and partners.”

Prior to coming to Realtor.com, Karthikeyan served as vice president of technology at Chewy, and he has more than two decades of experience leading digital transformations at companies in the e-commerce, health care and finance sectors. 

Realtor.com and its parent company, Move Inc., are clearly focused on technology growth. Earlier this summer, Move acquired Zenlist, a real estate tech startup known for its agent-client collaboration tools. The company said this was designed to boost Realtor.com’s mobile-first capabilities. 

“Technology is at the heart of our mission to be the best open real estate marketplace,” Realtor.com CEO Damian Eales. said in a statement. “Janakiraman’s leadership will help us accelerate innovation, strengthen our platform, and deliver even more value to consumers and our industry partners.”