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.
The Dow Jones industrial average slid 119.09 points, or 0.7%, to 17,731.92. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 12 points, or 0.6%, to 2,102.15. The NASDAQ composite declined 25.36 points, or 0.5%, to 5,146.41.
Benchmark U.S. crude fell 74 cents to close at $48.45 a barrel in New York. Crude has fallen 21 per cent over the past month, from $61.01 on June 23. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, fell 86 cents Thursday to close at $55.27 in London. Wholesale gasoline fell 1.6 cents to close at $1.852 a gallon. Heating oil fell 1.7 cents to close at $1.655 a gallon. Natural gas fell 8.1 cents to close at $2.816 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Gauge of future health of economy up 0.6% in June - An index designed to predict the future health of the U.S. economy posted another solid increase in June, providing further hope that the economy will gain momentum in the second half of this year. The Conference Board said Thursday that its index of leading indicators rose 0.6% in June following healthy gains of 0.8% in May and 0.6% in April. Conference Board economists said the string of solid increases point to continued economic strength for the rest of this year. The June advance was supported by favorable interest rates and strength in applications for home building permits. (AP)
TruAmerica Expands in the Pacific Northwest “With its institutional partners DVO Real Estate and RCG Longview, TruAmerica Multifamily has wrapped up the acquisition of a $115 million five-property value-add portfolio from FPA Multifamily, TruAmerica announced Wednesday.” (Commercial Property Executive)
McDonald's Sales Are Still a Mess “On Thursday, the fast-food giant reported second-quarter results that beat analysts' forecasts on earnings and revenues, but sales continue to plunge.” (Business Insider)
KKR Profit Rises 65% to Record in Quarter as LBO Holdings Jump “KKR & Co., the private equity firm run by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, reported record second-quarter profit as its holdings jumped in value. The results surpassed all analysts’ estimates.” (Bloomberg)
Average US rate on 30-year mortgage falls to 4.04% - Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates fell this week, retreating from highs for the year and amplifying the incentive for prospective home buyers. Mortgage giant Freddie Mac said Thursday the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage declined to 4.04% from 4.09% a week earlier. The rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages slipped to 3.21% from 3.25%. (ABC)
Five Views of 2 World Trade Center “A look at Bjarke Ingels Group’s shape-shifting, stacked tower design for 2 World Trade Center, the final building overlooking the site where the twin towers were destroyed.” (New York Times)
Why Street Stores Still Matter in the Age of Online Shopping “Online shopping has increased in popularity with the advancement of technology, but a large number of shoppers prefer the traditional brick-and-mortar store because of the immediacy factor, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s Gene Spiegelman.” (Commercial Observer)
Brooklyn Hotel Boom May Exceed Demand “If you build a hotel in Brooklyn, will they come? A record number of hotel properties planned in Kings County are stirring concerns there may not be enough demand to fill them all.” (The Real Deal)
Orange County Economic Growth Finally Revving into High Gear “Off the 405 Freeway in Irvine, hundreds of workers are busy erecting a 20-story glass office tower, a stark symbol of Orange County's economic expansion.” (Los Angeles Times)
It Took Wal-Mart Four Years to Buy this Company “It took four years, but Wal-Mart has finally fully gobbled up Chinese e-commerce company Yihaodian.” (Fortune)
The Future of Fashion Retailing, Revisited: Part 2 - Zara “In late 2012, I wrote a three-part series on Uniqlo, Zara and H&M. In the last three years, these three global fashion retailers have experienced impressive growth, due in no small part to their success in the U.S. retail market. In my last post, I discussed Uniqlo’s strategy of ‘planned obsolescence,’ similar to the approach used by the auto and technology industries.” (Forbes)
Getting tested again: Municipal bond funds face more stress - Here we go again. One worry after another has hit the municipal bond market in recent years, from a high-profile 2010 prediction for a wave of defaults to Detroit’s 2013 bankruptcy filing, the largest in U.S. history. The latest concern is actually an old one: The governor of Puerto Rico said last month that the island, whose economy and population have been shrinking for years, may not be able to repay its $72 billion in debt. That’s significant because half of all muni-bond funds have some Puerto Rican bonds.(DBV News)