In the News—Week of June 27, 2022

A Phoenix-based 1031 Exchange investor acquired a multi-tenant retail shopping center in Tempe, AZ in an all-cash transaction. The property was purchased from a Southern California-based investment firm. The deal was brokered by Jan Fincham, Mike Sutton, Steve Gonzales and Greg Guglielmino from Lee & Associates in Phoenix. The closing was handled by Vice President and Senior Commercial Escrow Officer, Sheila Hunter, in our Scottsdale office.

National median monthly rent reaches record $2,000

The median asking price for an apartment in the United States in May surpassed $2,000 for the first time, The Real Deal reports. Figures from Redfin show that the median price landlords set was $2,002 last month. That was up 2% from April, but a whopping 15.2% from the previous May. “Although we expect rent price growth to continue to slow in the coming months, it will likely remain high, causing ongoing affordability issues for renters,” Redfin’s deputy chief economist, Taylor Marr, says. The Austin area was the market with the biggest jump, 48% from a year earlier. Nashville was second with 32%.

Exxon Mobil CEO: All new passenger cars will be electric-powered by 2040

Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods thinks electric vehicles will replace gasoline-powered vehicles within two decades, CNBC reports. Woods says the oil giant’s modeling shows that by 2040 all new passenger vehicles sold worldwide will be electric. That will have a profound effect on the company that claims it is the largest “refiner and marketer of petroleum products.” But Woods says “that change will not make or break this business or this industry quite frankly” and that it will still be profitable through sales of its chemical products.

Pagewood breaks ground on industrial project in Waller

A Houston-based firm founded by Paul Coonrod has started building its first development in the booming U.S. 290 corridor in Waller, northwest of Houston, the Houston Chronicle reports. Dubbed The Great 290 Distribution Center, Pagewood expects the 500,000-square-foot building to be finished by March. Houston-based Aver bought 68 acres nearby for 290 Grand Logistics.  Hines purchased 78 acres in the Beacon Hill master-planned business park along U.S. 290. Figures from Cushman & Wakefield show almost 6 million square feet of industrial space is under construction in the northwest submarket of the Houston area.