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.
Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 121.12 points, or 0.7%, to 17,751.39. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 15.32 points, or 0.7%, to 2,108.57. The NASDAQ composite advanced 22.53 points, or 0.4%, to 5,111.73.
Benchmark U.S. crude rose 81 cents to close at $48.79 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, rose 8 cents to close at $53.38 in London. Wholesale gasoline rose 1.9 cents to close at $1.822 a gallon. Heating oil fell 0.6 cent to close at $1.598 a gallon. Natural gas rose 6.5 cents to close at $2.886 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Pet Club Poised for More Growth - Pet Club has experienced incredible growth since its founding in 1982. It began as a feed and tack store in Apache Junction and by 2010 had 12 locations—and there have been more than 45 transactions since, reaching outside of Arizona to Texas and Colorado. Pet Club is now one of the top ten pet food stores nationwide—and they’ve done it all in Petsmart’s backyard in an $80 billion industry. (Globe Street)
Fed holds steady on rates, seeks further economic gains - The Federal Reserve appears on track to raise interest rates later this year but signalled Wednesday that it wants to see further economic gains and higher inflation before doing so. A statement from the Fed after its latest policy meeting provided no timetable. Many analysts foresee the first hike in September, though Fed Chair Janet Yellen has stressed that any increase will be driven by the latest economic data. The statement noted that the job market, housing and consumer spending have all improved. The Fed still expects inflation to rise gradually toward its 2% target (Reuters)
Supervalu May Spin Off Save-a-Lot Division “Grocery distributor Supervalu said this morning that it is considering spinning off its Save-A-Lot stores into a standalone, public company. The Minneapolis-based distributor, which operates a warehouse in New Stanton and supplies the region’s Shop ‘n Save and Foodland stores, said the Save-A-Lot discount grocery operation might do better on its own.” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
A New Florida Mall Defies Retail’s Headwinds “It’s hard to conceive of a city that needs a new shopping mall in a country overpopulated with shopping sprawl. Yet about 10 years ago, the Taubman Centers, the national mall developer, teamed up with the Benderson Development Company, a real estate firm with headquarters in Sarasota, to build the 880,000-square-foot Mall at University Town Center east of Sarasota, close to Interstate 75.” (The New York Times)
U.S. Homeownership Rate Falls to Lowest Level Since the 1960s “The share of Americans who own their homes fell to the lowest level in almost five decades, extending a multiyear decline as families struggle to regain ground lost during the financial crisis and rentals gain favor. The U.S. homeownership rate was 63.4 percent in the second quarter, down from 63.7 percent in the previous three months, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday.” (Bloomberg)
REITS are a Very Bad Idea for Department Stores “In my opinion, most department stores units cannot successfully be packaged into Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). Many store locations have limited lifespans. Plus the retail business is cyclical and subject to any number of outside forces beyond management’s control. These are not the ingredients that make an attractive REIT.” (Forbes)
American Realty Capital Properties Rebrands to VEREIT “American Realty Capital Properties, the non-traded REIT sponsor mired by troubles last year related to a $23 million accounting error, has changed its name to VEREIT. The new name comes from the word ‘veritas’—the Latin word for “truth. Since the accounting errors were discovered last October, the ARCP name has seen its share of negative press.” (Wealthmanagement.com)
Chinese Buyers Feed New Energy Into Texas Real Estate “With investors nervously watching the Shanghai stock market, Chinese are the now biggest foreign buyers of American real estate, and they are setting their sights on the biggest state in the Lower 48. Texas is seeing a huge influx of Chinese buyers, both investors and owner occupants, thanks to more affordable housing.” (CNBC)
The U.S. Rental Market is On Fire “The US rental market is on fire. On Tuesday morning we got the latest report on rental and homeowner vacancies from the Census Bureau, which showed that rents are soaring and vacancies in the US have plummeted to their lowest level since the mid-'80s. And so it looks like the much-maligned millennial generation is moving out of their parents' basement and into apartments or rental homes as they look to get themselves settled before buying a home.” (Business Insider)
Seniors Housing Market’s ‘It’ Factor “Investors can’t get enough of the seniors housing market and Bridge Investment Group Partners L.L.C. has the proof. Bridge-IGP recently completed the raising of $735 million of equity capital for the acquisition of seniors housing and medical property assets through ROC Seniors Housing Fund Manager. The equity capital, when leveraged with debt, allows for buying power totaling $2.2 billion.” (Commercial Property Executive)
Netflix, On a Roll, Seeks to Double its L.A.-Area Office Space “The Los Gatos, Calif., company is eyeing a major move from Beverly Hills to the center of action in Hollywood that would boost its office space by at least 50%. The video streaming service signed a letter of intent to lease 150,000 square feet in a marquee high-rise office tower under construction on a studio lot on Sunset Boulevard, according to real estate industry observers who know about the deal but were not authorized to speak about it publicly.” (
The Donald is Riding High on Real Estate Once Again “Trump is benefiting immensely from the soaring prices of New York real estate. Case in point: a $21 million apartment sale announced just a few days ago. As New York City’s preeminent developer, Donald Trump has seen his fortune wax and wane and wax again with the undulating fortunes of the Big Apple’s property market.” (Fortune)