- Janet Yellen Just Told Congress Why the Fed Has to Raise Interest Rates Soon “The Federal Reserve will likely need to raise interest rates at an upcoming meeting, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said on Tuesday, although she flagged considerable uncertainty over economic policy under the Trump administration. Yellen said delaying rate increases could leave the Fed's policymaking committee behind the curve and eventually lead it to hike rates quickly, which she said could cause a recession.” (Fortune)
- Fed Report Says Some Smaller Banks May Be Vulnerable to Drop in Commercial Real Estate Prices “Rising commercial real estate prices may leave some small banks vulnerable to a drop in the market, the Federal Reserve said Tuesday. In a report to Congress on financial stability, which accompanied Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen's testimony to the Senate Banking Committee, the central bank said that commercial real estate prices, which have been an area of growing concern at the central bank, rose further.” (MarketWatch)
- Walmart Is Undergoing a Significant Transformation—and That Should Terrify Amazon “Wal-Mart Stores Inc for the first time will combine its own buying for products sold at its stores with purchases it makes for its website, sources said, a significant move to stamp out duplicate efforts as it consolidates buying operations to better fight Amazon.com Inc. Vendors contacted by Wal-Mart about the change told Reuters the store and online buying teams of the world's largest retailer currently operate independently.” (Reuters)
- Nike and Coach Are Fighting Amazon by Creating Stores That Appeal to All the Senses “The Nike Inc. store in Soho is more than just a place to try on sneakers and workout gear. It’s a playground, equipped with a small soccer pitch, a basketball court and treadmills, so consumers can take potential purchases for a test drive. Even if a customer only wants to try on a few things, there’s someone to help with styling in the fitting room. ‘This is the future of retail,’ said Heidi O’Neill, president of direct-to-consumer at Nike. ‘Gone are the passive days of street traffic. It’s about connecting and welcoming back our customers.’” (MarketWatch)
- Commercial Real Estate Executives Cautiously Optimistic “The Real Estate Roundtable’s first quarter sentiment index, released Friday, registered at 55, up seven points from the pre-election fourth quarter. A recent report on trends in the U.S. property market in 2017 said it would be characterized by continued strong fundamentals, increased investor flows and high transaction volume. The Real Estate Roundtable’s overall sentiment index is scored on a scale of 1 to 100 by averaging current and future indexes; any score above 50 is considered positive.” (ThinkAdvisor)
- CMBS Market Remains Steady in Post Risk-Retention Era “January was the first complete month since new risk-retention laws for CMBS loans went into effect, and despite earlier concerns, CMBS activity remained steady. In January, there was a total of $61.8 billion on the New York CMBS market, down 1 percent from $62.4 billion in December, and the delinquency rate fell from .79 percent to .76 percent, according to data from Trepp. A total of $810 million in newly issued CMBS loans backed by New York properties entered the market in January in three separate deals.” (The Real Deal)
- High Line Creator Admits the Park is a Problem for Residents “The creator of the High Line admitted the design is no good for neighbors who have long griped about the constant parade of tourists marching just feet from their homes, a new report reveals. Designers cared more about the look of the of the elevated park than how it would effect the folks who live just feet from it, said co-founder Robert Hammond. The tourist attraction has drawn millions of visitors since it opened in 2009. But neighbors have complained about everything from loud crowds to obnoxious tourists snapping photos of their backyards, saying it destroys the neighborhood it cuts through.” (New York Post)
- Can Trump’s Immigration Rules Derail Miami’s Real Estate Market? “Miami is the undisputed crown jewel of south Florida. The properties going to foreigners are worth more than the median home sold in the area. The median listing price for a home in Miami is around $440,000. In Brickell, it's $391,400 as of December, according to the real estate trackers at Zillow. That's the price tag where Americans are living. The foreigners are living in another world. Those buyers are in the half a million to million dollar range, if not more.” (Forbes)
- Nashville Real Estate Market Can Handle Growth “The pace of commercial development in Nashville has been challenging to keep up with, as cranes and construction sites continue to pop up throughout the city. In addition, residential builders are constructing new homes at a break-neck pace to accommodate the steady flow of new Nashvillians moving to the market. Some worry the pace of development has outrun the momentum of demand. There is fear of an overheated real estate market hitting the wall as Nashville becomes overbuilt.” (The Tennessean)
- HASI Invests $144M in Land for Solar Projects “Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital Inc. has acquired, for $144 million, more than 4,000 acres of land that’s leased under long-term contracts to more than 20 individual solar projects with investment grade off-takers (customers that have contracted to buy power). The projects have an aggregate capacity exceeding 690 megawatts of direct current. Including this transaction, HASI has invested about $375 million in real estate and owns more than 20,000 acres of land leased under long-term agreements to over 45 renewable-energy projects.” (Commercial Property Executive)
0 comments
Hide comments