Foreign buyers from the U.S., Canada and Australia are snapping up Japan’s abandoned "akiya" homes as domestic housing costs soar. AkiyaMart, a platform founded by two early adopters, now serves over 60,000 users and has facilitated more than 150 transactions. With roughly nine million vacant houses and a weak yen, municipalities are even giving some properties away to prevent decay. However, buyers face renovation challenges, strict local rules and no automatic residency rights.
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Homeowners can tap the equity in their primary residence to fund a second‑home purchase through a lump‑sum home equity loan, provided their lender permits it. Such loans typically allow borrowing up to about 80% of the home’s value and carry...
Gunnar Branson, CEO of Afire, told Connect CRE’s new podcast that U.S. commercial real estate (CRE) remains the safest global investment despite rising geopolitical tensions. European investors, while frustrated by recent tariffs, continue to allocate capital to the United States....

U.S. home sales remain muted despite a sharp rise in inventory and a 2.2% drop in median prices, now at $415,450, the lowest since 2022. Mortgage rates have jumped to 6.46%, the highest in seven months, adding roughly $117 to...

February 2026 saw Palm Beach County home sales rise 9% year‑over‑year to 1,847 transactions, driven by strong demand in both single‑family and condo segments. The median price for single‑family homes climbed 4.3% to $675,000, while condo values dipped 0.6% to...

Proper Hospitality and Realberry have secured a $298 million financing package to redevelop the historic Cal Neva Hotel into the Lake Tahoe Proper Resort and Casino, slated to open in 2027. The capital stack includes a $223 million C‑PACE loan from Nuveen...

Hunter Advisors has brokered the sale of the 136‑room Aloft Hotel Las Colinas in Texas. Built in 2008, the property was part of a four‑hotel Aloft portfolio but was sold separately because its strong in‑place cash flow appealed to yield‑focused...

Manhattan office leasing rebounded in Q1 2026, reaching 11.8 million square feet—a 3.4% year‑over‑year gain and the strongest first quarter since 2014. Average asking rent rose to $77.55 per square foot, up 2% quarter‑over‑quarter and 4% year‑over‑year. The surge was anchored...
Rocket Mortgage edged United Wholesale Mortgage in loan count for 2025, originating 429,332 loans (6.33% market share) versus UWM’s 422,120 (6.25%). However, UWM kept a clear lead in dollar volume, with $164.32 billion compared with Rocket’s $116.16 billion. The split reflects differing...
Cushman & Wakefield’s latest Market Matters report links slowing U.S. population growth and modest job losses to softer demand for multifamily and office space, while noting that recent CRE transaction volume and debt liquidity remain resilient. Energy price volatility from...
The self‑storage sector remains resilient despite a sluggish housing market, maintaining national occupancy near 93% and modest rent growth of 2‑4% annually. New construction has sharply declined, falling to 59 million square feet in 2025 from a 2020 peak of 79.2 million,...
CBRE notes that the recent jump in Brent crude from about $70 to $115 per barrel has a modest direct effect on commercial real‑estate cap rates, but indirect pressures are mounting. Higher energy costs threaten tenant margins and could dampen...
Over the past three decades, Niseko in western Hokkaido has transformed from a quiet ski village into Japan’s premier luxury ski and property boomtown. A wave of domestic and foreign capital has driven the construction of high‑end resorts and villas,...

Wyoming is courting the AI data‑center boom by hosting a closed‑door Data x Power summit that brought together Google, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and energy firms. The state already operates 21 data centers and is promoting its abundant, low‑cost electricity, tax‑free environment and...

A bipartisan Senate bill (S.4182) would amend the 1971 Farm Credit Act to broaden the definition of rural areas from towns under 2,500 residents to those under 10,000. The change would make an additional 29.9 million homebuyers eligible for flexible Farm...