Today's Real Estate Pulse
Berkshire Hathaway to Acquire U.S. Homebuilder in $6.8B Deal
Berkshire Hathaway, now led by CEO Greg Abel, announced a $6.8 billion acquisition of a U.S. homebuilder, marking the conglomerate’s first major entry into residential construction. The purchase is intended to add stable, long‑term cash flow from the housing sector to Berkshire’s portfolio.
Also developing:
Onity Group Adds a Former Truist Executive to C-Suite
Onity Group announced the appointment of Aulene Wessel, a former executive vice president at Truist, as its new chief accounting officer. Wessel replaces Francois Grunenwald, who will exit after a transition period. Her résumé includes senior roles at SoFi, Silicon Valley Bank, American Express, Barclays and BDO, covering accounting, SEC reporting and consumer finance across the US, UK and South Africa. The move signals Onity’s intent to bolster financial controls as it scales its fintech operations.
Closed Pharmacies Find New Life as Versatile Retail Hubs
Drugstores are shrinking fast, but their real estate is not becoming obsolete. Well-located former pharmacies are turning into some of the most versatile second-generation retail and healthcare sites in the market. ▫️Walgreens plans to close 1,200 stores (500 in 2025 alone). ▫️CVS...
The Typical First-Time Homebuyer Is 35 Years Old
Redfin reports the median age of first‑time homebuyers fell to 35 in 2025, down from 36 the year before and from a 2018 peak of 38. Repeat buyers now have a median age of 47, a drop from the 52‑year...
$4B Sherman Chip Fab Starts Production
GlobalWafers has launched Phase II production at its Sherman, Texas silicon‑wafer fab, a $4 billion expansion that brings total regional investment to $7.5 billion. The 12‑inch wafer line will supply Texas Instruments, TSMC and other partners producing chips for Apple. The project receives...
Tool Retailer ITS to Set up Shop at Dagenham Logistics Hub
Trade tool retailer ITS has signed an eight‑year lease for a 17,700 sq ft unit at Padrock’s Dagenham Logistics Hub, slated to open in April as London’s largest tool superstore. The hub comprises 14 industrial units ranging from 6,550 sq ft to 34,825 sq ft, all...
Cold Storage Market Working Off Oversupply
Lineage reported flat Q4 revenue of $1.34 billion and a modest $6 million net profit as the cold‑storage market works through a 10% oversupply. New refrigerated space expanded 14.5% from 2021‑2025, while demand rose only 5%, creating a capacity gap that is...
US Mortgage Rates Reach Lowest Since 2022, Spurs Refinancing
U.S. mortgage rates slipped last week to roughly 6.5%, the lowest level recorded since 2022, igniting a wave of refinancing activity. The decline aligns with the Federal Reserve’s recent pause on interest‑rate hikes and softer inflation readings that have eased...
UWM’s 2025 Loan Volume Jumps 17% on Refinance Surge
The nation's top mortgage lender (UWM) funded $163.4B in home loans during 2025. That was up ~17% from $139.4B in 2024. Interestingly, it was led by refis, which surged to $70.3B from $43.4B, while home purchase lending actually fell slightly YoY.
Jimmy John’s Opens First Saskatoon Location
Jimmy John’s opened its first Saskatchewan restaurant in Saskatoon on February 24, marking the brand’s entry into the province and extending its Canadian footprint. The location at 120‑225 Payne Bend offered the first 100 guests a free 6‑inch sandwich and drink,...
Data Center Supplier Eyeing FW for $80M Plant
Stellar Energy, a data‑center cooling equipment maker, is planning a 1.1‑million‑square‑foot plant in Fort Worth’s AllianceTexas development, with a total investment of roughly $80 million. The project includes $34 million in property improvements and $45.5 million in equipment, and could break ground this...
Columbus Planning $500M Affordable Housing Bond
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther unveiled a $500 million affordable‑housing bond framework dividing funds into four buckets: $150 million for new construction and preservation, $125 million for transitional shelters, homeowner upgrades and supportive housing, $175 million for land acquisition linked to transit‑oriented and mixed‑use development,...
Planet Fitness Plots Course For Almost 200 New Locations In 2026
Planet Fitness announced plans to open between 180 and 190 new clubs in 2026, mirroring its 2025 expansion of 181 locations. The chain ended 2025 with 2,896 clubs worldwide and expects most of the 2026 openings to occur in the...
Citi Commits $60 Billion to Affordable Housing Initiative
Citigroup announced its Blueprint for Housing Opportunity, a five‑year plan committing more than $60 billion to increase affordable housing supply in the United States. The initiative targets the creation or preservation of at least 250,000 units and includes $50 million in philanthropic...
Work Underway on 99K-SF McKinney Kroger Marketplace
Kroger is constructing a 99,000‑square‑foot Marketplace anchored store with a fuel station at the Custer Frontier site in McKinney, Texas. The development will be part of a 170,000‑square‑foot mixed‑use complex that adds 54,000 sq ft of small‑shop and freestanding retail space plus...
Walmart: Supply Chain Spending Set to ‘Peak’ Next 2 Years, CEO Says
Walmart’s CEO John Furner said the retailer’s supply‑chain capital spending will likely peak this year and next, as automation projects accelerate. Twenty‑three of its 42 U.S. distribution centers are being retrofitted with robotics, and similar initiatives are beginning abroad. About...
Housing Prices Slip Below 2022 Peaks After Inflation Adjustment
Inflation Adjusted House Prices 2.2% Below 2022 Peak Price-to-rent index is 9.5% below 2022 peak https://calculatedrisk.substack.com/p/inflation-adjusted-house-prices-22-75d
Rising Sales, Inventory, and Prices Co‑occurred Historically
The reason I draw these black lines in 1980's, 1990's, and 2000s It was common that we had rising sales, rising inventory, and rising prices together, a lot of people = rising inventory with pricing falling on this site (This...
Inflation Adjusted House Prices 2.2% Below 2022 Peak
The December Case‑Shiller report shows nominal house prices reaching fresh all‑time highs, while inflation‑adjusted (real) values sit slightly below their 2022 peak—2.2% for the national index and 2.4% for the composite 20. Despite the recent dip, real prices remain 10.3%...
Rapid Apartment Boom Hits Non‑Rent‑Controlled Metro Areas
What share of your metro area's apartment units were built since 2020? These numbers put into context the sheer size of this development boom. More than 4 of every 10 existing apartments in Huntsville AL were built just since 2020. More...
Richard Gibbens Is New CEO of Intermountain MLS
Intermountain MLS announced Richard Gibbens as its new chief executive officer. Gibbens comes from Bluegrass REALTORS®, where he drove strategic modernization, strengthened broker collaboration, and expanded data and technology capabilities. His appointment signals a push to sharpen operational focus and...
John Lewis Partnership Axes BTR Business
John Lewis Partnership announced it will abandon its build‑to‑rent (BTR) venture, which began in 2020 and includes four schemes in Reading, Bromley, Stratford and West Ealing. The decision stems from a “fundamental shift” in economic conditions – higher interest rates,...
Weekly Sales Dip Yet Up 12% YoY Amid Snow Melt
Purchase application data update -5% week to week +12% year over year So far this year, even with a higher bar to work with, every week has had positive year-over-year growth The last 2 weeks, our weekly pending sales data have...
Hope’s Windows Expands Ultra-Luxury Steel Window & Door Products
Hope’s Windows announced its Old World Suite ultra‑luxury steel and bronze windows and doors have achieved certification under the Florida Building Code, including the high‑velocity hurricane zone (HVHZ) standards. The products underwent rigorous testing for wind load, impact resistance, air...
UWMC Lifts 2025 Revenue but Trails Prior-Year Profit Peak
United Wholesale Mortgage’s parent, UWM Holdings, posted 2025 revenue of $3.16 billion, up from the prior year, driven by a record $163.4 billion in loan originations and higher gain‑on‑sale margins. Net income fell to $244 million, reflecting a $435 million mortgage‑servicing‑rights markdown and a...
Why Did Rents Soar in Miami and Stall in Austin?
Rents in Miami have surged 53% since 2019, while San Francisco’s increase is only 13%. The analysis shows that the share of workers operating from home is the strongest predictor of these divergent trends. Metros with high work‑from‑home (WFH) adoption (above...
Lipton Rogers and LaSalle Trim Down Barbican Office Scheme After Backlash
Lipton Rogers, on behalf of LaSalle, has submitted a revised plan for the 1 Silk Street office project at London’s Barbican Estate, trimming the western tower from 20 to 17 storeys after more than 1,000 objections. The redesign cuts total office space...
FHFA VantageScore Savings Sized up, FICO Expands in Mortgage
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) plans to adopt VantageScore 4.0 alongside FICO’s 10T score as part of a mandated modernization effort. A Deep Future Analytics study projects that competitive use of VantageScore could cut mortgage credit‑score fees by more than...
Achieve Review for 2026: Terms, Access and Customer Feedback
Achieve’s 2026 review highlights its hybrid lending model that blends unsecured personal loans with secured home‑equity products such as HELOCs and fixed‑rate home‑equity loans. The platform targets borrowers with mid‑600s credit scores, offering flexible credit requirements and a digital‑first application...
Purchase Index Falls Weekly, Still Up 12% YoY
MBA: "The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 5 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 1 percent compared with the previous week and was 12 percent higher than the same week one year ago."
Bay Area's Tech Boom Fuels Essex Growth Through 2026
Here are some highlights from Essex's (major West Coast apartment REIT) recent earnings call: 1) The Bay Area remains a bright spot for Essex, driven by tech jobs plus limited housing supply. Essex expecting same for 2026. https://t.co/bENUiyzAc3
Ohio Property Buyer Hit with $150,000 Judgment over Hidden Tenant
In June 2020 DQ Dream Properties purchased a Butler County commercial building after the seller asserted the property was vacant and free of tenant rights. A youth football league, the Lakota Tomahawks, had been leasing part of the site since...
Austin Rents Set to Rebound as Vacancy Dries
#Austin poised for another moment. Rents there w/probably rise in coming months after falling last 10 qtrs as trove of empty apts starts to run dry. #realestate #CRE #multifamily #tech #mortgage #investmentsales https://t.co/meHbZSFqVN via @WSJ https://t.co/T2gRvG2Sc2
DC Height Act Forces Windowless Bedrooms in Apartments
If you ever wondered why DC has so many apartments with windowless bedrooms … it’s the Height Act https://t.co/Axl6cvRgrf
Atenor Secures Planning Permission for Retrofit of 10 New Bridge Street Offices
Atenor has obtained planning permission for a deep‑retrofit of its Fleet House office at 10 New Bridge Street in the City of London. The scheme will preserve roughly 73% of the 1960s‑era structure while adding a ninth floor and a...
Mortgage Demand Hits 10‑month Low, Biggest Homebuyer Strike
Mortgage demand to buy houses just plummeted to its lowest level in 10 months. The MBA mortgage purchase index is now at 150. 57% crash from pandemic peak. 40% drop from 2018-2019 levels. It's the biggest homebuyer strike ever. https://t.co/FVB0HYY4bc
Look Beyond Median Sales Price to Understand Home Price Trends
What are home prices doing? It depends. Some thoughts today about interpreting price change. I think it's really important to think beyond the median sales price in 2026. I hope this helps. Any thoughts? https://t.co/KmyRaAIto8
6 Numbers You Need to Know Before Buying a Rental Property
The article outlines six essential numbers investors must calculate before purchasing a rental property: current market value, equity, after‑repair value (ARV), rent comparables, holding costs, and cash flow with cash‑on‑cash return. It explains how each metric is derived, from appraisals...
Amex Anchors 2WTC, Enabling Long‑delayed Spire Construction
Looks like #1WTC's "little" brother w/finally reach the sky, if a little late. #Amex agrees to be anchor tenant for #2WTC, clearing way for #Silverstein to erect long-stalled 55-story spire, almost 25 years after terror. #NYC #CRE #WTC https://t.co/5zFupdpk1N...
Rising Rents and Lower Rates Drive Renters Toward Buying
For renters, a strong nudge to think about buying a home often comes from a big renewal increase. As the rental market crawls out of its recession, and mortgage rates start with a 5 not a 6, expect more renters...
Summer Hot Spot Eyes Transfer Tax on $1 Million Sales To Fund Local Housing
Barnstable County’s Assembly of Delegates approved a home‑rule petition to impose a real‑estate transfer tax on sales exceeding $1 million, lowering the original $2 million threshold and allowing municipalities to set rates between 0.5% and 4% on the amount above the threshold....
Housing Inventory Down 2.6 M From 2008 Levels
For those asking about the gap in this chart today vs 2008 2008: 4,000,000 existing home sales 2008: 3.8 million active inventory Currently active inventory here is 1,220,000 roughly a 2.6 million gap Normal inventory levels are actually 2-2.5 million
Kali Chaudhuri Bets $470M to Revitalize LA Towers
#KaliChaudhuri looked at #LA's graffiti-scarred towers+saw potential. Poised to pay $470M for #OceanwidePlaza, storied for its #Chinese failure,+its 2 brethren. 'I'll try my very best to turn it around+make it a jewel' #realestate #multifamily #KPC https://t.co/CANYdyTniX
How Data Centers Are Adapting to Extreme Weather
U.S. data‑center operators are confronting a surge in extreme weather events, from floods and wildfires to record heat and cold spells. Scenario analyses from S&P Global and the World Economic Forum estimate climate‑driven costs could equal 9.5% of total data‑center...
Essential Guide to Private Real Estate Incentives
If you are just learning about the private real estate business, either as a prospective GP or LP, please read this short book. It’s a pretty balanced explanation of the game, including the incentives driving the different players. https://t.co/3pvXJikrV5
StayAssist Emerges as Nigeria’s Trusted Solution to Short-Let Fraud and Market Fragmentation
StayAssist, launched in 2025, is reshaping Nigeria’s short‑let market by offering a unified, tech‑driven platform that verifies listings, streamlines communication, and automates bookings. The service tackles chronic fraud, fragmented discovery channels, and informal payments that have plagued the sector. Rapid...
Tenants Using Bank Fraud Reports to Challenge Rent and Deposit Payments – Claim
Tenants are increasingly filing Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud reports to contest rent and holding‑deposit payments, treating the banking route as a quicker, less adversarial alternative to traditional tenancy dispute mechanisms. Letting agents are left to defend these claims through...
Korean Brands Are Moving Into a Mall Near You
Korean brands are rapidly entering Western retail spaces, with beauty giants like Laneige, COSRX and Amorepacific securing shelf space in Sephora, Boots and Douglas across Europe, while fashion labels such as Ader Error and Gentle Monster open flagship stores in...
‘Strong Rebound’ for UK Housing Market with 6% More Homes for Sale than a Year Ago
Zoopla reports a strong rebound in the UK housing market, with February listings on track for the highest level in a decade and 6% more homes for sale than a year ago. The surge is driven by the lowest mortgage...
How to Prep for an Appraisal: What Appraisers Look For (and What You Can Ignore)
The article breaks down exactly what appraisers focus on during a home appraisal and separates essential tasks from cosmetic concerns. Size, floor‑plan functionality, construction quality, visible repairs, recent updates, and site characteristics drive the valuation more than staging or a...
House GOP Meets Treasury on Large‑investor Home Ban
"House Republicans will travel to the Treasury Department on Wednesday morning to meet with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and discuss the large investor prohibition. Members will also discuss the Housing for the 21st Century Act" https://t.co/BwCRGysRG8