News Corporation operates as a global diversified media and information services company with businesses in information services and news, digital real estate services, and book publishing. Company updates commonly address earnings performance across Dow Jones, Digital Real Estate Services and HarperCollins, as well as advertising trends, subscription and professional information products, and capital allocation through share repurchases.
News from its operating businesses also includes Realtor.com housing-market research and platform collaborations, HarperCollins title and imprint activity, and content relationships tied to artificial intelligence. News Corp operates primarily in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom, while distributing its content, data products and publishing catalog worldwide.
The Wall Street Journal and Realtor.com named Appleton, Wisconsin, No. 1 in their Fall 2026 Housing Market Ranking. The ranking covers the 200 most populous U.S. metropolitan areas; 19 of the top 20 are in the Midwest and Northeast, with Lynchburg, Virginia, the exception.
Appleton's September median listing price was $404,950, up 1.3% year over year but below the national median of $419,250. Active listings more than doubled to 695 homes, while homes spent 40 days on the market. Its unemployment rate was 2.8%, versus 4.2% across ranked metros.
The national 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 7.40%, versus 6.27% a year earlier, increasing typical monthly principal-and-interest payments roughly 12% for the same loan amount. In 15 of the top 20 markets, typical payments based on September prices were below the national level of $2,863.
Realtor.com reported that Los Angeles County’s median asking rent fell 3.6% year over year in the third quarter of 2026. At $2,554, it was 11.7% below its 2022 peak. Asking rents for zero-to-two-bedroom homes declined 3.8% to $2,239, while rents for larger homes fell 1.9% to $3,571.
In the City of Los Angeles, median asking rent fell 3.3% to $2,708 but remained 5.5% above its pre-pandemic level. Countywide, the estimated monthly cost of buying a median-priced home was $7,270, or $4,716 more than renting. Realtor.com said newly completed accessory dwelling units may be contributing to pressure on smaller-unit rents.
Realtor.com (NWS) released its third-quarter 2026 New York City rental report, showing record median asking rent of $3,785. Rent increased 4.5% year over year and was 27.5% above its pre-pandemic level. Manhattan’s median reached $5,375, up 8.3%; Brooklyn’s rose 4.9% to $4,197; Queens’ increased 3.9% to $3,744; and the Bronx’s rose 2.7% to $3,233.
The estimated monthly cost of buying a median-priced home fell about 1% year over year to $10,737, still $6,952 above renting. The median listing price declined 2% to $1,409,792, outweighing an increase in the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate from 6.57% to 6.68%. Mortgage rates surpassed 7% in late September; at a 7% rate, estimated monthly buying costs would reach about $11,008. Average private-sector hourly earnings rose 4.2% year over year in August, below overall rent growth.
Realtor.com released a report examining how a federal manufactured-housing law could expand starter-home supply, depending on local zoning rules. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act removes the permanent steel-chassis requirement and requires equal treatment of chassis-free homes for financing, titling, insurance, taxes, transport and installation.
Realtor.com says the change could lower material costs and make manufactured homes look more like site-built homes. However, only about 17% of zoned land nationwide expressly allows mobile and/or manufactured housing parks, based on Land Use Labs data covering roughly two-thirds of national jurisdictions. Hartford-West Hartford, Connecticut, ranks first in the report's opportunity analysis, followed by Denver and Allentown-Bethlehem. The analysis emphasizes relatively affordable land, new-construction premiums and limited starter-home inventory.
News Corp (NWS) will release its fiscal 2027 first-quarter results on November 4, 2026, followed by a live audio webcast. Chief Executive Robert Thomson and Chief Financial Officer Lavanya Chandrashekar will discuss the results at 5:00 p.m. EST (November 5 at 9:00 a.m. AEDT in Sydney). The earnings release will be available on the investor website before the call, with a replay available shortly afterward.
Realtor.com reported that mortgage rate lock-in continued to constrain housing activity in its second-quarter 2026 outstanding mortgage analysis.
Loans originated from July 2019 through June 2022 accounted for a record 42.8% of outstanding mortgages, compared with 27.8% originated from July 2022 through June 2026. By origination rate, 49.1% of mortgages carried rates below 4%, while 22.5% carried rates of 6% or higher. Realtor.com expects the latter share could reach 27% to 28.5% by mid-2027 if mortgage rates remain above 6%.
The analysis describes a gradual shift as homeowners replace lower-rate mortgages or pay them off, rather than a broad recovery in housing activity. Its forecast models both new loans replacing lower-rate mortgages and new loans expanding the outstanding mortgage pool.
Realtor.com (NWS) released its 2026 Investor Report, showing smaller investors taking a larger share of housing purchases as institutional buying eased.
Investors accounted for 10.7% of home purchases in the first half of 2026, near recent shares, but purchase volume reached its lowest first-half level since 2020. Small investors represented 66.2% of investor purchases, their highest share in at least 15 years. Large and mega investors sold more homes than they bought; small and medium investors remained net buyers.
All-cash transactions represented 55.5% of investor purchases versus 30.0% marketwide, down from an investor peak of roughly 68% in 2021 and 2022. The typical investor purchase price was 22.4% below the non-investor median. Among the metros analyzed, Memphis had the highest investor purchase share at 20.5%, while Colorado Springs had the lowest at 3.6%.
Realtor.com (NWS) released its Market Clock report showing U.S. housing conditions shifting toward buyers while higher mortgage rates reduce purchasing power. The national reading moved to 4 o'clock, late balanced and loosening, from 3 o'clock last quarter. About two-thirds of metros favor buyers or are moving that way.
Mortgage rates rose from 6.66% in late August to 7.40% on October 8. For a buyer with a $2,000 monthly principal-and-interest budget, purchasing power fell 7.2%, equivalent to more than $22,000 less in home price. The readings combine inventory, recorded transactions and sales projections based on contract activity through September 2026.
Realtor.com (NWS) reported that September median asking rent across the 50 largest U.S. metropolitan areas fell to $1,694. Rents for studio, one- and two-bedroom properties declined 0.4% year over year, marking the 38th consecutive month of annual declines and the slowest decline in three years.
Regional trends diverged. San Jose rents rose 6.0% to $3,565, a new high, while San Francisco rents increased 4.8% to $3,057. Realtor.com attributes Bay Area demand growth to AI-related employment. St. Louis, Minneapolis, Virginia Beach, Riverside and Las Vegas shifted from annual declines to gains. Austin's annual decline narrowed from 7.8% in September 2025 to 2.3% in September 2026. Nearly 43.9% of rental listings offered concessions, up 1.3 percentage points from a year earlier. Realtor.com forecasts seasonal monthly rent softening, but potentially more limited additional relief.
Realtor.com (NWS) released its September 2026 luxury housing report, showing a national luxury entry threshold of $1,199,321.
The threshold, marking the top 10% of listing prices, fell 3.6% year over year, the 30th consecutive monthly annual decline. Entry prices for the top 5% and top 1% fell 3.5% and 5.3%, respectively. Luxury listings at all three thresholds spent three fewer days on the market than a year earlier; entry-level luxury listings spent a median 76 days.
Los Angeles had the highest luxury threshold at $3,949,634. Across 43 metropolitan areas, Naples led average public elementary school ratings for luxury listings at 9.3/10, while second-priciest Kahului-Wailuku ranked lowest at 5.0/10. Naples and Crestview were the only top 10 most expensive markets with annual price gains. Bridgeport's threshold fell 15.6% despite its third-place school rating. The price figures reflect listings, not completed sales.