The Lede

Wall Street Journal, Nov. 17, 2015--Lahart, Justin Prices of goods and services are taking divergent paths. So, too, are the fortunes of many companies.

Washington Post, Nov. 16, 2015--McGregor, Jena Monday evening, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to approve a bill that would suspend new annual target compensation of $4 million each for Freddie Mac CEO Donald Layton and Fannie Mae CEO Timothy Mayopoulos. If signed into law by President Obama, the bill would return the cap on their pay to $600,000.

National Mortgage News, Nov. 16, 2015--Peters, Andy The number of underperforming loans transferred to special-servicing status dropped in October, according to Fitch Ratings.

Wall Street Journal, Nov. 17, 2015--Pleven, Liam A spate of retailer bankruptcies this year has left owners of malls and shopping centers scrambling to fill empty stores and dented their financial results. The share prices of several real-estate investment trusts that focus on retail properties are lagging behind the overall market in 2015.

Wall Street Journal, Nov. 16, 2015--Grant, Peter Auction.com is launching a major push to develop stronger ties with brokers as part of a broader effort to expand its commercial-property business. The firm, which started online real-estate auctions in 2008, has been listing commercial property since 2009.

Business Insider, Nov. 16, 2015--Marino, Jonathan Blackstone, the biggest private equity firm on Wall Street, has seen even greater growth in its real estate division, which today manages nearly $100 billion worth of property. Steve Schwarzman is America's landlord and he's not afraid to acknowledge it.

Reuters Nov. 13, 2015 Blackstone Group LP, the world's largest alternative asset manager, has agreed to buy about $3 billion worth of stakes in real estate funds from Californian public pension fund Calpers, a boost to its so-called secondaries business.

Crain's Detroit Business, Nov. 14, 2015--Pinho, Kirk From Capitol Park to Merchants Row, from Paradise Valley to the financial district, downtown Detroit's roster of vacant and neglected historic buildings is dwindling.

Birmingham Business Journal, Nov. 12, 2015--Godwin, Brent A recent report from Mortgage Bankers Association shows that lending to real estate developers for multifamily apartment projects may begin to even out in the next two years.

World Property Journal, Nov. 10, 2015--Gerrity, Michael Based on the Mortgage Bankers Association's Quarterly Survey of Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Bankers Originations, third quarter commercial and multifamily mortgage loan originations were 12 percent higher than during the same period last year and three percent higher than the second quarter.

Multifamily rents took a break from their long upward march in October and stayed level at $1,166, consistent with patterns of the past two years, reported Yardi Matrix, Englewood, Colo.

Middle-market cities make up most of the top 10 markets where investors can affordably buy single-family rental properties, reported HomeUnion, Irvine, Calif.

Marriott International, Bethesda, Md., will purchase Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Stamford, Conn., for $12.2 billion in a deal that should close in mid-2016, the two firms reported.

Despite low delinquencies, steady increases in bank commercial real estate lending is beginning to spark questions about whether CRE could repeat the 1980s, said Wells Fargo Securities, Charlotte, N.C.

One key demographic group for future homeownership--young women--remain on the sidelines, said the Pew Research Center.  

Looking for that "tipping point" between renting and homeownership? A new Freddie Mac survey suggests we're not there yet. 

MBA Commercial/Multifamily NewsLink will not publish next Thursday, November 26, in observance of Thanksgiving.