Commercial real estate
* A Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC affiliate acquired the 12-story Sentinel Square I office building at 90 K St. NE in Washington, D.C., for $174.9 million, the Washington Business Journal reported.
Tenants at the 412,661-square-foot building include Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Parole Commission. An affiliate of Utah State Retirement Investment Fund sold the property.
* Preferred Apartment Communities Inc. unit Preferred Office Properties LLC partnered with Lincoln Harris LLC to purchase the Morrocroft Centre on Morrison Boulevard in Charlotte, N.C., for $107.6 million from Clarion Partners LLC, a source with knowledge of the deal told the Charlotte Business Journal. The 90%-leased park includes three buildings totaling 290,602 square feet.
* Big portfolio sales in New York dropped significantly in 2019 in the backdrop of rent stabilization laws, with the biggest five sales totaling $1.6 billion, compared to a total of $3.4 billion from the biggest five portfolio sales in 2018, The Real Deal reported. The sales in the year were driven mainly by big multifamily packages.
* Real estate deals in Seattle logged by King County totaled a record nearly $4.93 billion in December 2019, with experts predicting a fall in sales volume in 2020, the Puget Sound Business Journal reported, citing a tally by New Northwest Properties of Seattle. The previous monthly record was set in April 2007 at nearly $3.46 billion.
Sellers rushed to close deals ahead of an increased real estate excise tax taking effect in the state Jan. 1.
* Real estate investment interest in the student-housing sector is not showing signs of good health, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. About 3.9% of the debt backed by student housing that was converted into commercial mortgage securities was over 60 days late at the end of November 2019, up from 2.78% in 2018, the report noted, citing Fitch Ratings.
Loan delinquencies for student accommodations increased to about 56% in November 2019 from 42% in November 2018 of all apartment sector delinquencies.
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After the bell
* RW Holdings NNN REIT Inc. completed its merger with Rich Uncles REIT I on Dec. 31, 2019.
Housing
* Lennar Corp. is seeking to rezone 97.5 acres of agricultural land in the Goulds area of southern Miami-Dade County to build 982 homes, according to the South Florida Business Journal. The application includes a larger tract of 52.5 acres, including the farm at 13000 S.W. 232nd St. where the homebuilder plans to build 636 homes. The other tract totals 45 acres on six parcels including 12895 and 13005 S.W. 232nd St. and 13005 Land LLC, where Lennar intends to build 346 homes.
* Home prices in 20 U.S. cities rose at the fastest rate in five months in October 2019, helped by lower mortgage rates and a robust labor market, Bloomberg News reported. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index of property values increased 2.2% from October 2018, and prices rose 0.4% from a month earlier on a seasonally adjusted basis.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency recorded a 0.2% increase in October 2019 from the previous month. Contract signings to purchase previously owned U.S. homes increased in November for the third time in four months, the report said, citing data from the National Association of Realtors.
The day ahead
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a higher opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, the Hang Seng gained 1.25% to 28,543.52.
In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 was up 0.84%% to 7,606.17, and the Euronext 100 increased 1.17% to 1,157.83.
On the macro front
The jobless claims report, PMI manufacturing index, the Fed balance sheet and the money supply report are due out today.
Click here to read about today's financial markets, setting out the factors driving stocks, bonds and currencies around the world ahead of the New York open.
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