Real Estate Daily News Buzz is designed to give news snippets to readers that our (yet to be award winning) editors thought you could use to start your day. They come from various business perspectives, real estate, government, the Fed, local news, and the stock markets to save you time. Here you will find the headlines and what the news buzz of the day will be.
Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 530.94 points, or 3.1%, to 16,459.75. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index dropped 64.84 points, or 3.2%, to close at 1,970.89. The NASDAQ slid 171.45 points, or 3.5%, to 4,706.04.
U.S. crude fell 87 cents to close at $40.45 in New York. It fell as low as $39.86 in midday trading. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, fell $1.16 to close at $45.46 in London. Wholesale gasoline rose 1 cent to close at $1.545 a gallon. Heating oil fell 3.3 cents to close at $1.462 a gallon. Natural gas fell 7.9 cents to close at $2.676 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Growing concerns about a slowdown in China shook markets around the world on Friday, driving the U.S. stock market to its biggest drop in nearly four years. The rout started in Asia and quickly spread to Europe, battering major markets in Germany and France. In the U.S., the selling started early and never let up. Investors ditched beaten-down oil companies, as well as Netflix, Apple and other technology darlings. Oil plunged below $40 for the first time since the financial crisis, and government bonds rallied as investors raced into hiding spots. (SF Gate)
Barrel of US crude drops below $40 — A barrel of U.S. crude oil fell below $40 per barrel for the first time since the end of the global economic crisis. Friday’s fall, to $39.86, was just the latest indicator of a vast shift in the energy landscape over the past year. The price of oil has fallen for eight consecutive weeks, the longest streak since 1986. Oil is down 34 per cent from its high of $61.43 this year, and 62 per cent from its high of $107.26 last year. (Economic Times)
Developers Are Cashing Out of Projects Early as Land Values Surge “Manhattan property owners are cashing out ahead of schedule. With New York real estate values and rents surging, owners of commercial properties acquired as recently as a year ago are already seeking buyers. In the case of one midtown site, the developer scrapped construction plans to sell an empty plot.” (Crain’s New York Business)
Walker & Dunlop’s Whopper of a Deal “Walker & Dunlop Inc. expanded its senior housing lending and its relationship with one of the sector’s largest owners with its latest deal: the origination of 28 loans totaling $465 million, secured by independent living properties New Senior Investment Group Inc. purchased from affiliates of Holiday Retirement.” (Commercial Property Executive)
Nordstrom and Eataly Are Helping Century City's Mall Go Glam “Westfield Corp. plans to spend $800 million on a massive makeover of its Century City mall as it races to stave off local competitors and the rapid growth of online retailing.” (Los Angeles Times)
U.S. Developers Focus on Luxury Apartments Puts Added Pressure on Renters “According to CBRE Group, the continued delivery of high-end rental housing—along with a lack of newly constructed moderately-priced apartments—is contributing to strong overall rent growth. While this has left the budgets of many middle-class renters feeling tighter than ever, it presents above-market opportunities to multifamily investors.” (World Property Journal)
Nordstrom Enters Haute Couture Space “Nordstrom Inc. is entering the haute couture space with the introduction of SPACE, a new shop curated by Olivia Kim, director of creative projects. SPACE will offer products from emerging and advanced designers.” (Chain Store Age)
Walgreens To Open New Clinics Staffed, Owned By Hospital Partners “In a new twist on its retail health clinic model, Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) says it will open up to 25 new retail clinics in Oregon and Washington states that will be owned and operated by a Seattle-based health system.” (Forbes)
Retailers See Gains in Serving E-Commerce Supply Chains “Retailers may be figuring out the logistics of e-commerce. The largest U.S. retailers reported strong online sales in their second-quarter earnings reports this week, extending a trend that has seen e-commerce revenue expand far faster than store sales, and several said they are making strides in delivering goods to consumers more profitably.” (Wall Street Journal)
Fannie, Freddie Risk-Transfer Bonds Give Investors New Scare “A nascent corner of the market for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bonds is on a roller coaster ride despite what Morgan Stanley calls the “pristine performance” of the mortgages linked to the debt.” (Bloomberg)
The Big Business Behind the Local Food “Grocery chains and big box retailers are aggressively expanding their locally grown offerings. But there are real concerns about what consumers are getting when they buy ‘local.’” (Fortune)
Luxury Condos Start Charging $1M for a Parking Space “Would you pay $1 million for a parking space in your luxury condo building? At least two new developments in Manhattan are charging that price for a single spot, according to The Wall Street Journal. Developers are betting that parking spaces in the city have become so scarce that buyers will dole out the cash.” (Crain’s New York Business)