CHICAGO—The seven loans cover multifamily assets across several upscale or sought-after neighborhoods.

CHICAGO—In this UPDATE to yesterday’s story, Avison Young’s Erik Foster says e-commerce investors will look beyond the top-tier assets.

Privately-owned housing starts in May 2013 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 914,000. This is 6.8 percent (+/- 10.1%)* above the revised April 2013 estimate of 856,000.

CHICAGO—The company has snapped up 19 major purchases in the past year, including several in the Fox River Valley.

CHICAGO—Investors will have two main options, Avison Young reports. Either buy in industrial markets like LA, Indianapolis or Dallas, or dense, urban infill areas like NYC or Chicago.

CHICAGO—The investor signs its third Chicago deal, this time on the upscale Northwest side.

DES PLAINES, IL—The new venture will help commercial real estate users increase efficiency, especially in deregulated energy markets like Illinois.

CHICAGO—This month’s MB Real Estate Index shows that direct vacancy rates in the CBD’s newest buildings has fallen to 10%, but overall direct vacancy in the CBD was stagnant.

OAK BROOK, IL—The company has recently purchased several high-quality, high traffic suburban locations with solid leases.

CHICAGO-Property & Building Co., a subsidiary of IDB Holding, is going to sell the Barneys building on Oak Street here for $154 million.

U.S. retail and food services sales for May reached $421.1 billion, an increase of 0.6 percent (+/- 0.5%) from the previous month.

CHICAGO—In this UPDATE to yesterday’s story, Bruce Miller from Jones Lang LaSalle says the suburbs-to-city migration, along with many other factors, will continue giving strength to the CBD’s office market.

CHICAGO—The developer has secured Fresh Market as an anchor tenant and says the grocer will attract shoppers looking for an alternative.

IRVINE, CA—The amount of available housing has plunged, but Midwestern homebuyers have the best chance of picking up cheap, bank-owned homes.

CHICAGO—At BOMA/Chicago’s market review luncheon, attendees heard that the CBD could see sinking vacancy rates trend back up if moves toward efficiency take hold across the market.

CHICAGO—In this UPDATE to yesterday's story, the investment firm says they can bring high-vacancy properties like Continental Towers back to life.

NEW YORK CITY-Ivanhoe Cambridge, which last week purchased the Wells Fargo Center in Seattle for $390 million, has along with a partner acquired a 49% stake in 1211 Avenue of the Americas here.

Manufacturing corporations' seasonally adjusted after-tax profits were $152.5 billion for the first quarter of 2013, up $14.4 (+/- 0.2) billion from fourth quarter of 2012.

Total construction activity for April 2013 ($860.8 billion) was 0.4 percent (+/-1.6%)* above the revised March 2013 ($857.7 billion).

Sales of new single-family houses in April 2013 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 454,000. This is 2.3 percent (+/- 12.8%)* above the revised March 2013 estimate of 444,000.

Homeownership Rate (HR)
The homeownership rate in the first quarter 2013 (65.0 percent) was lower than the first quarter 2012 rate (65.4 percent). The homeownership rate in the South was lower than the corresponding first quarter 2012 rate, while the rates in the Northeast, Midwest, and West were not statistically different from the rates a year ago.

Rental Vacancy Rate (RVR)
The rental vacancy rate in the first quarter 2013 (8.6 percent) was not statistically different from the first quarter 2012 rate (8.8 percent).

Homeowner Vacancy Rate (HVR)
The homeowner vacancy rate in the first quarter 2013 (2.1 percent) was not statistically different from the first quarter 2012 rate (2.2 percent).