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.
Thursday, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 120.72, or 0.7%, to 17,419.75, the sixth day in a row the Dow has finished with a loss. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 16.28 points, or 0.8%, to 2,083.56. The NASDAQ composite shed 83.50, or 1.6%, to 5,056.44.
U.S. crude fell 49 cents to close at $44.66 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, fell 7 cents to close at $49.52 in London. Wholesale gasoline fell 2.3 cents to close at $1.648 a gallon. Heating oil rose 1.1 cents to close at $1.550 a gallon. Natural gas rose 1.5 cents to close at $2.813 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Average US rate on 30-year mortgage falls to 3.91% - Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates fell for a third straight week amid anxiety over developments in the U.S. economy that lifted bond prices. Mortgage giant Freddie Mac said Thursday the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dipped to 3.91% this week from 3.98% a week earlier. The rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages declined to 3.13% from 3.17%. Mortgage rates followed the yield on the key 10-year Treasury note, which fell. Bond yields for Treasurys were pushed lower by the increase in bond prices, as investors sought safety in U.S. Treasury bonds.
Applications for US jobless aid rise to still-low 270,000 - Slightly more Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, but their numbers remain near historic lows in a sign that the job market is healthy. The Labor Department said Thursday that applications for jobless aid rose 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 270,000. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, dropped 6,500 to 268,250. That average has fallen nearly 10 per cent over the past year, close to levels last seen in 2000.
Why Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz Won’t Run for President “Earlier this week, there were reports that friends of Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz were encouraging him to enter the 2016 race for president as a Democratic candidate.” (Fortune)
German Lenders Are Racing Back Into the U.S. Real Estate Market “If you think New York’s summer has been hot, take a look across the ocean. Along with European temperatures reaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit, investors and lenders throughout the continent have been sweating over the economic turmoil there, which started in Greece.” (Commercial Observer)
Stocks? Bonds? Gold? Most Americans Prefer Real Estate “With mortgage rates still near historic lows and rising home prices in the news nearly daily, more Americans are willing to forgo the stock market and invest in real estate.” (The Street)
VEREIT Seeking as Much as $2.2 Billion of Property Sales “VEREIT Inc., the U.S. real estate company formerly known as American Realty Capital Properties Inc., intends to reduce its holdings by as much as $2.2 billion by the end of next year." (Bloomberg)
Mapped: Harvard Says Rent’s Too Damn High “US renters can't afford to rent, a recent Harvard report reveals. Harvard researcher Dan McCue tell us newer construction is more costly to build and therefore built to a high-end segment. “In most markets, it’s near impossible to build new apartments at a level affordable for the typical renter,” he says. The report, highlighted by this cool interactive map, paints an ugly picture: 20.7 million households—49% of the entire rental market—feel burdened by rental costs.” (Bisnow)
Housing Flipping: It's Riskier But More Lucrative “Higher home prices are making house flipping harder, but more lucrative.” (CNBC)
A More Granular Analysis Of REIT Performance During Rising Rate Periods “Last week, I decided to put together an article to provide my thoughts on what I consider to be a misconception as it relates to the impact on REITs and rising interest rates. Over the course of the last few months, I have replied to a steady stream of comments in which some investors appear to be getting more fearful over the eventual rate liftoff. I'll reiterate my position as it relates to REIT investing today.” (Seeking Alpha)
U.S. Bank Lends Vornado a Hand in Manhattan “Vornado Realty Trust has completed a $580 million refinancing of 100 W. 33rd St. in New York City – the second refinancing in the last three years for the 1.1 million-square-foot office and retail property that features one of the few malls in Manhattan.” (Commercial Property Executive)
America's Top 10 College Towns of 2015 Revealed “According to Livability.com's newly released Top 10 Best College Towns of 2015, where you want to live as a student is becoming a growing influence to which college students want to attend as the subject matter they want to study.” (World Property Journal)
Helmut Jahn Designing Tower Planned for South Michigan Avenue “Chicago architect Helmut Jahn, whose local works include the United Airlines terminal at O'Hare and the Ogilvie Metra station downtown, could soon put his stamp on the South Loop.” (Crain’s Chicago Business)