TNO Real Estate: July 29

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Even though the Federal Reserve hiked interest-rates three-quarters of a percent this week, several housing economists aren't expecting another big surge in mortgage rates.

Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, said in a mid-year forecast event by the association Wednesday, before the Fed's meeting, the mortgage market has already priced in additional rate hikes, including yesterday's increase. Plus, fixed mortgage rates are tied to the 10-year Treasury rate.

"It’s possible that we may be topping out in mortgage rates, independent of what the Fed may be doing in future months," Yun said.

Remember, the?30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.45% in January, before jumping to an average of 4.98% in April, then 5.52% in June, according to Freddie Mac data. More recently, that rate has hovered in the mid-5% range.

The big surges in mortgage rates seen earlier this year is a key reason for the recent slowdown in the national housing market.

Here are other top real estate stories from around the ACBJ network:

1. A Pennsylvania mortgage lender owned by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has agreed to pay $20 million to settle redlining accusations, purportedly the second-largest redlining settlement in the U.S. Department of Justice's history.
2. Lab conversions in Boston and other hot life-sciences may be getting a second look from lenders —?and there are plenty of conversion "horror stories" out in the market, said Joel Marcus, executive chairman of Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc., during the REIT's recent earnings call.
3. BG Capital and FreezPak Logistics plan to deploy $1 billion in a network of new cold-storage distribution centers across the country, starting with a project in Pennsylvania.
4. Caltrain, the commuter rail service that serves the San Francisco Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley, has proposed two towers with more than 1 million square feet of office space at what are now parking lots in San Jose, California.
5. The CEO of Prologis Inc. was robbed at gunpoint in late June outside his home in San Francisco (where his company is also based). In a wide-ranging interview with Mark Calvey at the San Francisco Business Times, Hamid Moghadam put the city on blast over public-safety concerns and how that factors in to future business decision-making.
6. Raleigh, North Carolina-based office REIT Highwoods Properties Inc. is using proceeds from selling its current properties in Pittsburgh to help finance an entrance into Dallas, where it'll joint venture with local developer Granite Properties Inc. on new office developments.
7. Kohl's Inc. is opening a 40,000-square-foot store in downtown Milwaukee, a departure from the department-store chain's typical format and location. Sean Ryan and Sari Lesk at the Milwaukee Business Journal dug into what this decision by the company says about its broader retail real estate strategy.
8. Can a new model of manufactured homes being built in Florida's Tampa Bay be an important solution to the nation's mounting affordability crisis?

Built by Ashley Fahey, editor of The National Observer: Real Estate. Reach me with tips, questions and feedback at?[email protected]