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store closures
Andy Graiser, A&G Real Estate Partners Co-President (Credit: A&G Real Estate Partners)

Wave of store closures in the U.S. likely to continue into 2025

More store closures loom in the months ahead due to a still-underappreciated degree of distress in American retail, said A&G Real Estate Partners Co-President Andy Graiser in an online panel discussion. “Reduced discretionary spending is really becoming the biggest issue for retailers,” Graiser said, pointing to a “disconnect” between landlords’ positive perceptions of retail performance…

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Innovation Lead, Work Dynamics (Credit: JLL)

Consumers to seek higher-quality experiences from urban spaces

The rapid growth of cities and the urban middle class gives rise to a new “experience economy”, combining human-centric designs and community-based spaces. As a result, consumers will seek higher-quality experiences from the built environment anchored by people-first design that promotes community and connection, according to JLL’s 2024 Global Consumer Experience Survey. JLL has identified…

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Mark Palim, Fannie Mae Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist (Credit: Fannie Mae)

Home sales likely to remain weak through the rest of 2024

Despite the recent decline in mortgage rates, total U.S. home sales are expected to come in lower than previously forecast through the rest of the year and then not pick up meaningfully until further out in 2025, according to the August 2024 commentary from the Fannie Mae Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) Group. Mortgage rates…

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HFA architect Aksel Solberg (AIA, NCARB) (Credit: HFA Architecture + Engineering')

Multifamily developers to reap savings by using new methods

Industrialized construction could change the game for multifamily developers, US-based HFA architect Aksel Solberg (AIA, NCARB) argues. In a July 10 column for Multi-Housing News, the leader of HFA Architecture + Engineering’s development design studio in Franklin, MA, cites potential savings from rapidly evolving and more efficient approaches to construction and procurement. In the piece,…

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Richard Donnell, Executive Director - Research at Zoopla (Credit: Zoopla)

UK house prices overvaluation to disappear be the end of 2024

UK house prices are currently 8% “overvalued” but will be “fairly valued” by the end of the year due to rising incomes and longer mortgage terms, Zoopla said in its June 2024 house price index. House price inflation was flat at 0% in May 2024, up from a low of -1.3% in November 2023, and…

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Skylar Olsen, chief economist of Zillow (Credit: Zillow)

Home sellers cut prices as affordability challenges persist

Nearly one in four sellers in the U.S. are slashing their home asking prices amid growing inventory, according to the latest monthly report from Zillow, the most visited real estate website in the country. Homeowners compete to entice buyers as inventory rose in all but five major metropolitan areas in June (m-o-m) and new mortgages…

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(Oaktree Capital founder Howard Marks)

Investor frets real estate after SVB meltdown

Silicon Valley Bank’s (SVB) collapse is “an early step” towards a more rational market environment, according to Oaktree Capital founder Howard Marks. However, fresh problems might arise from bank exposure to commercial real estate, Marks writes in his latest memo, Lessons from Silicon Valley Bank. While the American investor and writer doesn’t expect the failures of…

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(Doug Brien co-founder and CEO of Mynd)

The way people perceive homeownership changes

Tech-enabled real estate company Mynd, engaged research firm Big Village to conduct an omnibus survey among 1,018 U.S.-based adults aged 18 years and older who rent or own their home. The 2022 Consumer Insights Report shines a light on shifting attitudes toward homeownership, property management, and generational differences in real estate investing. Younger generations are…

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(Redfin Deputy Chief Economist Taylor Marr)

Some Americans hesitant to sell homes as interest rates soar

Roughly six of every seven (85%) U.S. homeowners with mortgages have a mortgage interest rate far below today’s level of 6%, according to Redfin, the technology-powered real estate brokerage. With rates now at the highest since the 2008 financial crisis, some of those homeowners are discouraged from moving because selling their home and buying another…

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