High-End Manhattan Apartment Sales Are Soft

Wall Street Journal, Sept. 6, 2017–Josh Barbanel (subscription)Stribling Private Brokerage said contracts signed on Manhattan listings of $5 million or more have been sliding since May compared with recent years, after showing signs of recovery earlier this year.

Vultures Begin to Circle Commercial Real Estate

Wall Street Journal, Aug. 29, 2017–Peter Grant (subscription)Investors are raising funds to take advantage of busted condominium projects and other distressed property as a correction shows signs of spreading in parts of the commercial real estate industry.

Sen. Chuck Schumer Wants Feds to Renew Flood Insurance Program

Newsday (N.Y.), Aug. 29, 2017–Zachary R. DowdySen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., will call on his fellow lawmakers in Congress on Tuesday to renew the National Flood Insurance Program as torrential rains and flooding from Tropical Storm Harvey pummel southern Texas.

Harvey Flooding Focuses Attention on Troubled Flood Insurance Program

Times-Picayune (New Orleans), Aug. 28, 2017–Drew BroachHurricane Harvey’s ghastly flooding in the Houston area is sure to focus political attention on the National Flood Insurance Program, a controversial government benefit that makes home ownership affordable to many in south Louisiana. It’s $24 billion in debt, and unless Congress acts in the next 34 days, it will expire.

Fed Can Be Patient About Lifting Interest Rates: Powell

Reuters, Aug. 25, 2017Low inflation and a strong labor market in the United States are allowing the Federal Reserve to be “patient” about when it next raises interest rates, Fed Governor Jerome Powell said Friday.

Famed Plaza Hotel Is On the Block

Wall Street Journal, Aug. 22, 2017–Craig Karmin (subscription)The Indian owners of the Plaza Hotel have hired a broker to sell the New York City landmark, a sign that a world-wide scramble among investors, celebrities and governments to acquire the property could be nearing an end.

Inside King of Prussia’s $1 Billion Transformation

Curbed.com, Aug. 22, 2017–Melissa RomeroThe King of Prussia, Pa., Business District has spent the past six years trying to turn King of Prussia’s reputation as a mega-mall into a place where people actually want to live.

2017 Top Brokers

National Real Estate Investor, Aug 15, 2017–David BodamerThe top commercial real estate brokers based on total global transaction volume in 2016.