Commercial real estate
* According to an analysis by Wells Fargo & Co.'s Jeffrey Donnelly and Dori Kesten, real estate investment trusts that have a higher-than-average ratio of female directors on their boards outperformed REITs with all-male boards by 2.33 percentage points over five years, Bloomberg News reported.
Average female representation on REIT boards stood at 15.5%, compared to 8% in the previous decade, but still lags the 22% average for the S&P 500, the news outlet noted, citing the study. The analysts said the purpose of the study was to highlight that "the performance benefits of inclusion" found in global companies apply to U.S. real estate companies as well.
* In the first half of 2017, New York City saw the apartment vacancy rate rise to 3.63%, reflecting the third highest rate since the U.S. Census Bureau conducted its first survey in 1965, The Wall Street Journal reported. The city also logged a record amount of housing stock with 117,000 units added since 2011. More than 35,000 rental apartments and 15,000 condominiums are slated to open in 2018 and 2019, the publication noted, citing Nancy Packes Data Services.
* Amazon.com Inc. plans to open its first fulfillment center in Missouri with a more than 800,000-square-foot facility at St. Peters, according to a release.
The St. Louis Business Journal reported, citing the online retail giant, that the facility will be at Duke Realty Corp.'s Premier 370 park and is expected to open in the first half of 2019.
* Bloomberg News featured an analysis of potential locations that could be chosen for Apple Inc.'s fourth U.S. campus. The technology giant announced the plans for a new campus in January and said it would not take a bidding route to select a site. Apple CEO Tim Cook said the campus is not likely to be in California or Texas.
Incorporating Moody's Analytics rankings of various regions, the report said Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, upstate New York, North Carolina, Florida, Illinois and Wisconsin are likely contenders for the campus.
* Isaac Kassirer closed the $116 million acquisition of a portfolio of four multifamily buildings on Manhattan, N.Y.'s Upper West Side, The Real Deal reported, citing unnamed sources. The properties, totaling 219 apartments across 230,000 square feet, were sold by the Orbach Group.
* Lincoln Property Co. will spend $100 million to revamp the former Exxon campus in Houston with plans to redevelop the exteriors, interiors, landscaping, and restaurant and retail offerings, the Houston Business Journal reported. The Greenspoint Place campus, in the North Houston District, has been renamed CityNorth, the report noted, citing Lincoln Property's Kevin Wyatt.
Lincoln Property acquired the six-building asset in partnership with H.I.G. Realty Partners in 2017.
* Ryan Cos. US Inc. and developer Luigi Bernardi plan to develop a 39-story condo tower near the Mill District in Minneapolis, the Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal reported. The project, dubbed Eleven, will rise at 1101 West River Parkway with 101 units.
The project is expected to commence by the end of 2018 with occupancy slated for 2020, the report noted, citing Ryan.
* MetLife Inc. filed plans for the first phase of a roughly nine-acre mixed-use project in Atlanta's Midtown, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported. The plans for 1295 Spring St. include a 350-unit apartment building and a roughly 25-story office tower spanning 500,000 square feet. The first phase would also include 87,000 square feet of retail and a proposed hotel.
MetLife refused to confirm if it was developing the office tower speculatively, or without pre-leasing, the report noted.
* The Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund plans to increase its real estate allocation to 9% from 8%, the fund confirmed to IPE Real Assets. The fund was below its previous target and had $2.2 billion invested in real estate at the end of 2017, reflecting 5.3% of its total assets. The report noted that the pension fund recently poured more than $600 million into real estate commitments and the figures may not have been included in its year-end figures.
Housing
* Real estate agents expect the coming spring season could be one of the weakest selling seasons in recent years, the Journal reported. The main reasons for the expected slowdown are the new tax law that reduces homeownership incentives, first-time buyers increasingly being priced out of the market and rising mortgage rates.
Citing the National Association of Realtors, the publication noted that roughly 2.06 million homes were sold between March and June in 2017, compared to roughly two million in the corresponding period in 2016.
* According to Attom Data Solutions, more than 207,000 U.S. single-family homes and condos were flipped in 2017, the highest volume since 2006, Bloomberg News reported.
* The Dallas-Fort Worth area saw a roughly 10% increase in median home prices in 2017 to a record $255,000, The Dallas Morning News reported, citing the Texas Association of Realtors. Sales of pre-owned single-family homes increased more than 3% year over year in 2017.
The day ahead
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a higher opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, the Hang Seng rose 1.52% to 30,654.52, and the Nikkei 225 gained 0.54% to 21,368.07.
In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 rose 0.07% to 7,162.67, and the Euronext 100 gained 0.51% to 1,017.82.
On the macro front
The EIA Natural Gas Report, Fed Balance Sheet, Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index, Quarterly Services Survey and the Jobless Claims are due out today.
The Daily Dose is updated as of 7:30 a.m. ET. Some external links may require a subscription. Articles and links are correct as of publication time.
