Reuters is reporting, economic planners in China have been striving to manage the country’s transition from a manufacturing economy to one that is more dependent on consumption.

China’s Government is encouraging its larger cities to build more shopping centers this year to meet the growing consumption demands of local residents, according to new government guidelines.

The Ministry of Commerce said on Saturday that it would encourage cities with a permanent resident population of more than 10 million to each build at least 10 “multi-functional” shopping centers this year, which could include childcare, entertainment and restaurants.

Cities with a permanent resident population of five to 10 million might build five such centers or more, it said in a statement posted on its website.

Without providing details, the government said it would offer assistance to retailers and investors to help them build such centers for consumers lacking sufficient places to shop.

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 for the day will be.

On Thursday, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 109.82 points, or 0.7%, to 15,848.61. The NASDAQ composite jumped 71.69 points, or 1.8%, to 4,123.13. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 19.99 points, or 1.1%, to 1,794.19.  Benchmark U.S. crude for March gained 87 cents to finish the day at $98.23 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

SOLID GROWTH BRIGHTENS ECONOMIC OUTLOOK FOR 2014
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumers will spend more. Government will cut less. Businesses will invest more. And more companies will hire. Add it all up, and you can see why expectations are rising that 2014 will be the best year for the U.S. economy since the recession ended 4 1/2 years ago. That’s why the Federal Reserve is pressing ahead with a plan to scale back its economic stimulus. The optimists got a boost Thursday from a government report that showed consumers fueled solid economic growth in the final quarter of 2013. The report lifted hopes that the economy will be able to withstand turmoil in emerging economies, a pullback in the Fed’s stimulus and mounting risks to the U.S. stock market over the next 12 months.

GOOGLE’S 4Q EARNINGS RISE 17% BUT AD RATES FALL
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google’s fourth-quarter earnings rose 17% even though a long-running slump in its online ad prices deepened. The performance announced Thursday indicates that Google is still struggling to close the gap between the rates for ads shown on mobile devices and those on personal computers. Advertisers haven’t been willing to pay as much to reach prospective customers on the smaller screens of smartphones and tablets, but Google Inc. has been tweaking its digital marketing system so mobile and PC ad campaigns are bundled together. In doing so, Google Inc. is hoping advertisers eventually will recognize the advantages of reaching people on the go and gradually begin to pay higher prices for mobile marketing pitches.

BITING COLD PUTS A FREEZE ON RESTAURANT BUSINESS
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — The homemade matzo ball and beef barley soups are lost on customers walking into Rascals’ NY Deli — because there just aren’t very many of them. Across much of the eastern half of the country, bitter cold and snowstorms in recent weeks have put a chill on restaurants, bakeries and coffee shops, limiting the number of walk-in customers and shrinking tips. Some merchants report sales cut in half. And other businesses that rely on walk-ins and appointments are seeing a hit, including health care specialists and hair salons. They can expect to recoup some losses as people venture out in warmer weather, but for now, that’s cold comfort.

CHINA FACES OBSTACLES ON ROAD TO CONSUMER SOCIETY
BEIJING (AP) — Business should be picking up for Zhao Guoping, a Beijing shopkeeper, as Chinese leaders try to build a consumer society to replace a worn-out economic model based on trade and investment. But his financial struggle highlights the hurdles that ambitious effort faces. Squeezed by higher costs and weak sales to budget-minded shoppers, Zhao said the income from his neighborhood shop has fallen by half to 50,000 yuan ($6,000) a year. The reluctance of Zhao and his customers to open their wallets wider is one of a thicket of obstacles facing communist leaders as they try to rebalance China’s economy away from reliance on investment, a big share of which comes from the government and is losing its ability to boost growth. The government is walking a fine line, however, as an abrupt shift in the economy could hurt growth, with consequences not just for the country but the global economy. China’s economic importance was laid bare last week, when a report showing a drop in manufacturing activity caused turmoil on world markets.

TOYOTA TELLS DEALERS TO STOP SELLING 6 MODELS
DETROIT (AP) — Toyota has told North American dealers to stop selling six popular models with heated seats because the fabric doesn’t comply with U.S. safety codes and potentially could catch fire. The order affects 36,000 cars, trucks and minivans, about 13 per cent of the inventory on dealer lots in the U.S., spokesman John Hanson said. Also affected are additional vehicles in Canada, Mexico, Korea, Israel and other countries, but no total number was available. No fires or injuries have been reported, but Toyota can’t legally sell cars that don’t comply with U.S. safety codes, spokesman John Hanson said.

FROM MUPPETS TO PUPPIES, SUPER BOWL ADS GET CUTE
NEW YORK (AP) — Call it Cute Bowl. Adorable is the name of the game this year as Super Bowl advertisers try to grab your attention. That means lots of “cute” story lines, including a family that’s expecting a new baby and a horse that forms a long-lasting bond with a puppy. The saccharine spots are partly a result of more family-friendly brands like Cheerios and Heinz advertising this year. At the same time, fewer startups that tend to have more provocative commercials are in the advertising game this year.

AMAZON 4Q EARNINGS GROW BUT MISS EXPECTATIONS
SEATTLE (AP) — Amazon’s profit and revenue both grew in the latest quarter but its results fell below what Wall Street was expecting and shares of the world’s biggest online retailer tumbled. Amazon has long focused on spending the money it makes to grow its business and expand into new areas, from movie streaming to e-readers and even grocery delivery. Investors have largely forgiven thin profit margins and zeroed in on the company’s solid revenue growth and long-term prospects. It posted losses in two previous quarters due to rising operating costs.

MERCK JOINS COMPANIES ENDING CHIMPANZEE RESEARCH
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Drugmaker Merck & Co. is joining two dozen other pharmaceutical companies and contract laboratories in committing to not use chimpanzees for research. The growing trend could mean roughly 1,000 chimps in the U.S. used for research or warehoused for many years in laboratory cages could be “retired” to sanctuaries by around 2020. That’s according to Kathleen Conlee of the Humane Society of the United States, which seven years ago began urging companies to phase out all chimp research.

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 for the day will be.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 41.55 points, or 0.3%, to close at 16,458.56. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index slipped 7.19 points, or 0.4%, to 1,838.70. The NASDAQ composite fell 21.11 points, or 0.5%, to 4,197.58. Benchmark crude for February delivery rose 41 cents to close at $94.37 in New York.

ARIZONA TO LEAD RESTAURANT SALES AND JOB GROWTH THIS YEAR
Arizona is expected to lead the nation in restaurant sales growth this year and be among the top five for job growth within that industry, a national trade association has said. It is a return to form for Arizona, which had been among the fastest growing states for restaurants before the Great Recession, but was among the hardest hit during the downturn. The National Restaurant Association projects Arizona’s eateries will post 4.9 percent growth in sales in 2014, beating out North Dakota, Texas, Florida and Colorado in that category. “The top five states in terms of restaurant sales gains will also be the leaders in 2014 overall job growth,” the association noted in its annual industry forecast, released this week. It is a welcome change after the state lost about 500 restaurants during the recession and after many owners were saddled with pricey lease agreements that ate into profits.

STARTUP TUCSON AND THE HIVE COLAB MERG
Toole Avenue Hive, the downtown coworking space located within the Historic Warehouse Arts District, announced its merger with Startup Tucson and the newly launched CoLab Workspace. CoLab Workspace will provide space for all tenants of the Hive at 17 E. Pennington St. The move came about with the rapid growth of neighboring Sinfonia HealthCare. Sinfonia founder Fletcher McCusker also created the Hive. CoLab Workspace will celebrate with a launch party on Jan. 21 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Register for the event at www.startuptucson.com.

BOMA & IREM HOST CRE FORECAST BREAKFAST
Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) and Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) will present their 2014 Economic Forecast Breakfast from 9-11 a.m. Jan. 28 at the Viscount Suite Hotel, 4855 E. Broadway Blvd. Commercial real estate and multi-family housing professionals will present reports on industrial, office, retail, and apartment markets. John Buehler, Professor Emeritus from the University of Arizona, will discuss the national economic outlook. Keynote speaker will be Mike Varney, president and CEO of the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce. RSVP by noon on Jan. 24. Call 382-8791 (IREM members) or 299-4956 (BOMA members) for more information.

P.I.L.T. LEGISLATION LEFT OUT OF OMNIBUS FUNDING – REINTRODUCED
WASHINGTON (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, CD-1 Arizona, has introduced legislation to permanently authorize the Payment-in-Lieu-of-Taxes (PILT) program, which is critical to counties that suffer losses in property taxes due to nontaxable federal land within their jurisdictions. PILT was not included in the FY14 Omnibus Funding bill. The PILT program issues federal payments to local governments to help rural counties carry out vital services such as firefighting, law enforcement and construction of public schools and roads. Arizona received $32 million in PILT payments in FY 2013, with more than $13 million going to the First Congressional District.

$600 MILLION VA GRANTS FOR HOMELESS
WASHINGTON, D.C. (RealEstateRama) — Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva wants to highlight to the public a $600 million newly available grant being offered by the Department of Veterans Affairs to reduce and hopefully eliminate veteran homelessness across the country. The department is offering $300 million in fiscal year 2014 and $300 million in fiscal year 2015 in nationally competitive bid offers. The grants will be awarded to non-profit organizations and consumer cooperatives that serve very low-income veteran families occupying permanent housing through the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program. To learn more about that program, which focuses on reducing veteran homelessness, go to https://1.usa.gov/Khj34I. SSVF efforts center on providing homeless veterans with permanent housing quickly and then providing VA health care, benefits and services as needed.

FANNIE MAE LAUNCHES APPRAISER QUILTIY MONITORING WEBSITE
Fannie Mae launched a website Jan. 6 focused on its new Appraiser Quality Monitoring process, which evaluates appraisals for data accuracy and consistency. The site gives lenders access to a list of appraisers whose reports will be subject to 100 percent review or no longer accepted by Fannie. Sellers and servicers approved by the government-sponsored enterprise can access the review list of appraisers through the website’s Technology Manager. The list is protected content and will be updated monthly. In a Dec. 10 letter to lenders, Fannie reported that its weekly review of appraisals submitted through the Uniform Collateral Data Portal identified instances where lenders had delivered loans supported by appraisals that were completed by an appraiser whose license or certification had been suspended or revoked. The review list identifies appraisers with licensing or certification issues. All loans delivered to the GSE that include an appraisal completed by an appraiser on the review list will be selected for a post-acquisition quality control review. Affected lenders will need to confirm the validity of the appraiser licensing information and ensure compliance with Fannie’s policies described in the Selling Guide, B4-1.1-03, Appraiser Selection. Failure to comply with appraiser licensing requirements will result in a repurchase request. The GSE noted on its website that if there are patterns of egregious issues with an appraiser’s work, there is a high probability that loans delivered to Fannie with appraisals by that appraiser will be selected for additional review even if the appraiser has not been included on the review list. Lenders should not consider placement of an appraiser on the review list as the only trigger for further review of loans with appraisal concerns. Fannie will offer a formal rebuttal process for appraisers whose work has been identified on the review list and who wish to dispute their listing. Appraisers who are sent letters for reports that exhibit a pattern of minor inconsistencies, inaccuracies or data anomalies will not have a formal rebuttal process because the letter is intended for instructional purposes to provide them with an opportunity to improve their work; appraisers can, however, respond to the letter. Visit the new AQM website.

CHINA’S 2013 NEW HOME SALES HIT $1 TRILLION, RECORD HIGH
Bloomberg News is reporting that China’s new home sales last year exceeded $1 trillion for the first time as property prices in cities the government considers first tier surged in the absence of more nationwide property curbs. The value of new homes sold in 2013 rose 27 percent from 2012 to 6.8 trillion yuan ($1.1 trillion), National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement today. New-home prices in December climbed 20 percent in Guangzhou and Shenzhen from a year earlier, and jumped 18 percent in Shanghai and 16 percent in Beijing, the bureau of statistics said Jan. 18.  The value of new house sales was 5.4 trillion yuan in 2012, an 11% gain from the previous year, according to the government data. China’s economy rose 7.7% last year from 2012, the government said today, the same as the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 31 analysts. Investment in homes, office buildings, malls and other real estate gained 20% to 8.6 trillion yuan last year from a year earlier, according to the statistics bureau data. New property construction rose 14% to 2 billion square meters (21.5 billion square feet). The Shanghai Stock Exchange Property Index, which tracks 24 developers traded in the city, was little changed at the close of trading, while the benchmark fell 0.7%. New-home sales volume rose 18% to 1.2 billion square meters, the government data showed.

New and existing home sales in the U.S. were about $1.1 trillion last year, including $149 billion of new homes sold, broker Cushman & Wakefield Inc. estimated, based on U.S. Bureau of Census data. China’s existing-homes market is about one-third of new homes by sales, according to Centaline Property Agency Ltd., because the nation only allowed private home ownership in 1998. The government doesn’t release data on existing-home sales. Existing-home prices rose 20% in the capital Beijing last month from a year earlier and increased 14% in Shanghai, according to the Jan. 18 data.