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 slid 63.28 points, or 0.3 percent, to 19,891. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 4.88 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,270.44. The Nasdaq composite fell 16.16 points, or 0.3 percent, to 5,547.49.
Benchmark crude oil rose 76 cents, or 1.5 percent, to close at $53.01 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, which is used to price oil sold internationally, added 91 cents, or 1.7 percent, to close at $56.01 a barrel in London. In other energy trading, wholesale gasoline added 2 cents to $1.61 a gallon and heating oil rose 2 cents to $1.68 a gallon. Natural gas futures gained 16 cents, or 5 percent, to $3.39 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Average US 30-year mortgage rate falls to 4.12 percent — Long-term US mortgage rates fell this week, the second week of declines after snapping a nine-week run of increases. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday the rate on 30-year fixed-rate loans eased to an average 4.12 percent from 4.20 percent last week. That was still sharply higher than a 30-year rate that averaged 3.65 percent for all of 2016, the lowest level recorded from records going back to 1971. A year ago, the benchmark rate stood at 3.92 percent. The average for a 15-year mortgage declined to 3.37 percent from 3.44 percent last week.
Applications for US jobless aid rise to still-low 247,000 — More Americans sought unemployment benefits last week, but the increase was modest and overall applications remain low, a sign of a steady job market. Weekly applications for unemployment aid rose 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 247,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, slipped 1,750 to 256,500. And the number of people receiving aid fell 29,000 to 2.1 million. That's down 7.2 percent from a year ago. Applications, which are a proxy for layoffs, are at historic lows. That suggests businesses are confident enough in future demand to hold tightly onto their staffs.
Western States Enjoyed Best Sales Growth at Bricks-and-Mortar Stores This Holiday Season “The western U.S. states had the fastest growth in sales at brick-and-mortar stores this holiday season, according to research from First Data, a tech company that helps organizations with commerce and transactions. The western states experienced 4.8% year-over year sales growth during the holiday season. The southern states, in contrast, saw bricks-and-mortar sales decrease by 0.6%. First Data examined proprietary transaction data on payment cards for its analysis.” (MarketWatch)
Here’s How Donald Trump Plans to Separate Himself from His Business Empire “Trump is to resign from all positions he holds with Trump Organization entities, and his daughter, Ivanka, is to have no further involvement with management authority in the group. Ivanka Trump is the wife of Jared Kushner, who Trump has appointed to a senior advisory role in the White House. The Trump Organization will not enter any new deals while Trump is president, according to the lawyer.” (Fortune)
Ben Carson, Shaped by Poverty, Is Likely to Bring Tough Love to HUD “Mr. Carson has no experience running a large federal bureaucracy, and aside from a failed run for the presidency, has no background in government. But if confirmed by the Senate, he would enter public service with a background like few other cabinet officials in history, shaped profoundly by a childhood when public assistance meant survival and public housing was all around him.” (The New York Times)
CalPERS May Move Up to $30 Billion In-House as Pension Cuts Fees “The California Public Employees' Retirement System, the largest U.S. pension, is developing plans to shift as much as $30 billion from external to internal managers as it seeks to reduce fees. The $306 billion system now oversees about 70% of its assets internally, most in stocks and bonds, a share that can increase as CalPERS develops capacity to handle private equity, real estate and infrastructure, according to Chief Investment Officer Ted Eliopoulos.” (Pensions & Investments)
The Best Cities to Find a New Job “With the national unemployment rate down to 4.6%— the lowest since 2007, college graduates will likely see a boost in their job prospects and earning potential. A recent WalletHub study analyzed 150 of the most populated U.S. cities across 23 key indicators of job-market strength to find the best and worst cities for job hunters. The indicators include job opportunities, employment growth and median annual income. On the following pages are WalletHub’s 10 best cities for jobs.” (MarketWatch)
Ulta ‘Well-Positioned’ to Take Market Share from Macy’s “Many Ulta locations are within five miles of a Macy's (M) store slated for closure, putting the beauty retailer in a position to take market share, Oppenheimer analysts said in a note today. Last week, Macy's named 68 of the 100 stores that the department store operator said in August it would shutter. Oppenheimer mapped 66 of these stores, and determined that 35 of them are within five miles of a competing Ulta. Ten Macy's stores marked for closure appear to be in the same mall as an Ulta, according to the firm.” (The Street)
Worries Grow Over Chinese Insurers’ Financial Health “As China’s insurance giants grow and snap up properties in New York and elsewhere, observers and regulators are increasingly worried about the industry’s reliance on risky short-term deposits. ‘These strategies can seriously threaten the solvency of life insurance companies if the investment bets go the wrong way,’ Christie Lee, an analyst at A.M. Best, told the Wall Street Journal. The Chinese insurance industry’s income from premiums rose to $370 billion in 2015, and is expected to climb to $700 billion by 2020. Some of the industry’s capital has flowed into U.S. real estate.” (The Real Deal)
Walgreens Continues to Leverage Real Estate with New FedEx Deal “Kosiek told us Walgreens is looking for ways to further leverage the value of its real estate. Its stores are in prime neighborhood locations, which offer opportunity for partner businesses to get closer to their customers. The FedEx program will be rolled out slowly, but Kosiek expects FedEx in every store by the end of Walgreens' fiscal year. The strategic alliance isn’t the first for Walgreens.” (Forbes)
Is There Any Saving Macy’s? “John Brod, a partner at ABS Partners Real Estate, said that Macy’s announcements are ‘so reflective [of] what’s happening in retail today and its affect on real estate. When Macy’s signed their leases a number of years ago they never factored in the fact that the way people shop would change. The size format of bricks and mortar are set in stone and don’t provide flexibility in the event of retail decline.’ While Macy’s touted that the store closings would generate approximately $550 million in savings starting this year, its revenue appears to be on a downward trajectory.” (Commercial Observer)
Iconic Hollywood Address Commands $210M “Kilroy Realty Corp. has acquired The Sunset, an iconic, 179,000-square-foot, mixed-use development in West Hollywood, Calif., from Broadreach Capital Partners for $210 million. HFF represented the seller in the transaction. Once home to Playboy Entertainment, the 10-story building was acquired by Broadreach in 2007 for $105 million. Situated along the world famous Sunset Strip, the complex encompasses 2.2 acres along Sunset Boulevard and boasts a 10-story, approximately 72,000-square-foot office tower and a three-building retail plaza.” (Commercial Property Executive)