Month: September 2020

(iStock) August was a very strong month for the SoCal residential market. Home sales were up and so were the prices buyers paid. The median sales price across the six counties of Southern California was $600,000 last month, a 12 percent increase year-over-year and the largest jump since 2014, according to the Los Angeles Times.…

United Wholesale Mortgage Mat Ishbia and Gores Holdings IV CEO Alec Gores (Photos via United Wholesale Mortgage and Gores) United Wholesale Mortgage is merging with Gores Holdings IV, a special-purpose acquisition company, and preparing to go public in the biggest SPAC deal ever recorded. The deal will allow the lender to public at a valuation…

Jared Chupaila, CEO of Brookfield Properties’ retail group, with Florence Mall and Fashion Square (Brookfield, TripAdvisor, iStock) Some mall owners have given up trying to revive their struggling malls and pay off their debt payments and are now seeking to hand over the keys to their servicers. Brookfield Properties and Namdar Realty are separately requesting…

Donald Trump (Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images) Newly uncovered trademarks illustrate President Trump’s Cuba real estate ambitions, as well as those in other countries. The Trump name had legal protections for use in real estate investing, hotels, casinos and other commercial activities in Cuba from 2010 to 2018, when it expired, according to the Miami Herald.…

Joshua Greer and the home (Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images) A 9,000-square-foot home in the Beverly Hills Flats has sold for $40 million, The Real Deal has learned. The price is a record for the area, sources said. Sellers of the 78-year-old home are Joshua Greer, co-founder of a company that made 3-D movie glasses, and…

New York State Attorney General Letita James and Eric Trump (Getty; iStock) Eric Trump must participate in an investigation into potential fraud at the Trump Organization prior to the November election, a judge ruled Wednesday. The president’s son, who is executive vice president in charge of running the family business, will have to answer questions…

With about $23 billion of hotel-related CMBS loans in forbearance, more lenders are looking to offload those mortgages. (iStock) As hotels across the U.S. continue to suffer — average occupancy is just under 50 percent — an increasing number of lenders are scrambling to sell their mortgages. Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies has hired Cushman…

Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies’ Jonathan Pollack (Blackstone; iStock) PTA moms can look to Blackstone for fundraising inspiration. The giant firm gathered $8 billion for a property debt fund born last year and closed this month, making it the largest real estate credit fund ever raised. That’s thanks to low interest rates and the potential…

Companies are relying on surveys and other data points to determine who will come back to offices first. (iStock) Companies are starting to bring employees back to offices after months of working from home, but deciding who should come back first is tricky — so firms are relying on surveys, apps and other tech to…

Chris Cortazzo and the property (Credit: Google Maps) Compass’ Chris Cortazzo brokered the sale of another Malibu investment property on behalf of one of his most prolific and reliable clients — himself. Cortazzo sold the home at 5721 Bonsall Drive for $9.9 million, property records show. The agent bought the 5,500-square-foot home in 2017. The…