In case you missed it: US housing starts make a comeback, IRS relaxes REIT rules, Detroit office property gets rare loan
Oct 19, 2012
The big story this week was U.S. housing starts. Construction on single-family homes in September rose 15 percent over August to the highest rate in more than four years, according to numbers released by the Department of Commerce this week. Record-low mortgage rates, steady home prices, and a lack of formerly occupied homes for sale have helped drive the surge in new construction.
But while housing starts dominated headlines, we were also watching a few other stories this week that might have slipped through the cracks. Take a look at them now:
Wall Street Journal: “Rare Debt Deal in Detroit”
For the first time in five years, a Detroit office building received a securitized loan. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. recently granted developer Redico Corp. a $27 million loan refinancing for its 245,000-square-foot office building at One Kennedy Square. The bank has included the loan in a group of more than $1 billion in commercial mortgage-backed securities, which are becoming increasingly popular on Wall Street. Click through to the Wall Street Journal for all the details.
GlobeSt.com: “Why REIT Returns Are Underperforming”
For the majority of 2012, REIT returns have remained on par with the rest of the stock market. In August and September, however, they underperformed. Brad Case, NAREIT’s senior vice president of research and industry, argues that this isn’t cause for worry. “People became optimistic about CRE before they became optimistic about other parts of the economy,” said Case. Now other markets are catching up. For more on this story, switch over to GlobeSt.com.
National Real Estate Investor: “IRS Welcomes New Assets into REIT Structure”
The Internal Revenue Service has been flexible in allowing new assets to qualify for REIT status, including less-traditional forms of real estate, such as floating game facilities, cell towers, electricity transmission lines, billboards and sign superstructures, and shelving for computer services and document storage. Head over to National Real Estate Investor for more information on the IRS’ rules for REIT status.
What have you been reading up on this week? Let us know in the comments.