The Lede

Wall Street Journal, Apr. 26, 2016--Brown, Eliot Google parent Alphabet Inc. has legions of Web developers. Soon it might be in need of real-estate developers.

MarketWatch, Apr. 26, 2016--Riquier, Andrea As the housing market recovers, investors are taking another look at some of the investments derived from bets on mortgage credit. Real estate investment trusts that buy mortgage-backed securities and other income-producers may be ready for their moment.

Wall Street Journal, Apr. 25, 2016--Borak, Donna Large U.S. banks would have to prove they have enough cash to withstand severe market turmoil lasting as long as a year under a new rule set to be proposed Tuesday.

Commercial Observer, Apr. 25, 2016--Mandell, David Mandell said the economy is on the cusp of an economic downturn. "We're at a stage where the commercial real estate community has to make a choice: fall victim to the state of the market as we have in years past, or start planning for a down market and adopt unique strategies that will drive commercial sales regardless of the state of the economy."

Wall Street Journal, Apr. 24, 2016--Kapner, Susan Department stores need to close hundreds of locations if they want to regain the productivity they had a decade ago, according to new research from Green Street Advisors. The real-estate research firm estimates that the closures could include nearly 800 department stores, or about a fifth of all anchor space in U.S. malls.

Bloomberg News, Apr. 22, 2016--Clark, Patrick Developers have started to leverage adaptive reuse over the past three years, leading to creative conversions across the U.S., often from vacant or underutilized office buildings to full-service, lifestyle and select-service hotels.

The Real Deal (New York), Apr. 21, 2016--Putzier, Konrad The Blackstone Group's real estate division passed the $100 billion mark in assets under management in the first quarter, while its earnings recovered slightly from a dip at the end of 2015.

Housing Wire, Apr. 26, 2016--Stevens, David We are in a housing crisis. This statement is not meant to invoke a sense of shock; it's simply an expression of fact.

The hotel sector outperformed most asset classes through the current expansion, but its first quarter performance raises concern, analysts say.

Tenant demand for office space slowed in the first quarter, dragged down primarily by continued oil sector weakness and a tech sector pullback, reported Cushman & Wakefield, New York.

Commercial mortgage-backed securities' credit quality as measured by loan-to-value ratios improved during the first three months of this year, reported Moody's Investors Service, New York.

U.S. institutional investors such as pension funds, endowments and foundations plan to reduce their new capital commitments to real estate by 19 percent in 2016, a survey found.