The combined entity will retain the Cousins name. The real estate investment trusts will engage in a $1.5 billion all-stock deal, wherein Cousins will issue 2.98 new common shares in exchange for each share of Tier REIT stock.The synergy is expected to bring in $18.5 million of annual net savings. If the deal gets finalized, Cousins shareholders will hold the majority stake – around 72% - in the combined company, and Tier shareholders will own the rest.

Sales of new U.S. homes in the U.S. dropped almost 7% in January, indicating the housing market got off to a slow start in early 2019 amid a partial government shutdown and patches of unusually harsh weather. Read more...

Despite the small dip, construction spending for all of 2018 reached record levels, though it was the smallest increase seven years. The December decline followed a 0.8% rise in November, the Commerce Department reported Monday.Nonresidential activity rose 0.4%, while spending on government projects fell 0.6%, with both federal and state and local activity falling.

home prices may rise this year at the slowest pace in more than half a decade, as the supply of single-family homes rises and higher mortgage rates restrain activity in an already-expensive market, a Reuters poll of housing analysts found. The latest survey of nearly 40 housing analysts and economists polled Feb. 13-25 suggests a Federal Reserve rate guidance - where rates look to remain on hold - has given no boost to the outlook.It is likely, therefore, that the housing market will make no major positive contribution to extending an economic expansion.

CyrusOne Inc. shares declined nearly -4% Monday,  following a downgrade on the firm's stock – the second time in a row in the last few days. Credit Suisse analyst Sami Badri downgraded CyrusOne to neutral from buy, while lowering his target price on the stock to $52.  Last week, the carrier-neutral data center real estate investment trust reported a net loss of -$1 per share in the fourth quarter of 2018, compared to a net income of 3 cents in the year-ago quarter.

home sales fell in January to their lowest level in more than three years and house prices rose only modestly. The National Association of Realtors said on Thursday existing home sales dropped 1.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.94 million units last month. That was the lowest level since November 2015 and well below analysts’ expectations of a rate of 5.0 million units.December’s sales pace was revised slightly higher. The drop in January came after months of weakness in the U.S. housing market.

This exceeded all forecasts, as lower mortgage rates and a strong labor market help stabilize demand. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index rose to 62 from 58 amid broad improvement on gauges of sales, expectations and buyer traffic, data released Tuesday showed. “Ongoing reduction in mortgage rates in recent weeks coupled with continued strength in the job market are helping to fuel builder sentiment,” NAHB Chairman Randy Noel, a custom-home builder from Louisiana, said in a statement.“In the aftermath of the fall slowdown, many builders are reporting positive expectations for the spring selling season.”

The fund says it will focus more on listed real estate companies a way of cutting costs and simplifying its approach after struggling to find properties to buy amid near record prices.It lowered its target for real estate in its portfolio to 3 to 5 percent from 7 percent. The management should be “cost-effective” and “fairly simple” which means having “an overall property strategy with somewhat greater emphasis on listed holdings,” Egil Matsen, the deputy governor at Norway’s central bank who’s in charge of oversight of the fund.

U.S.mortgage applications are down for a third week, despite 30-year home borrowing costs at their lowest levels since April 2018. The Mortgage Bankers Association says the adjusted index on mortgage activity fell 2.5% to 378.9 as of February 1. Three weeks earlier, it reached an 11-month high at 411.8. Interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with loan balances of $484,350 or less averaged 4.69 percent, which was the lowest since mid-April of last year. “Despite more favorable borrowing costs...(purchase applications) are now almost 2 percent lower than a year ago,” Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of industry surveys and forecasts said in a statement. “However, moderating price gains and the strong job market, including evidence of faster wage growth, should help purchase growth going forward,” Kan said.

Home sales in the U.S. fell in December to the lowest leave in more than six years. The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday that sales of existing homes plunged 6.4 per cent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.99 million last month, the worst pace in almost three years.For all of 2018, sales of existing homes fell 3.1 per cent from a year ago to 5.34 million units, the weakest total since 2015. The median sales price in December was $253,600, up just 2.9 per cent from last year. But there is a regional divide in price gains.