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The global flow of capital for commercial real estate investment reached $788 billion during the 12-month period ending June 30, 2014, a 17.2 percent increase over the prior year, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s annual Winning in Growth Cities report. The commercial real estate services firm unveiled the findings at EXPO REAL 2014 in Munich, an annual international trade fair for commercial real estate investors. For the report, Cushman & Wakefield tracked commercial property acquisitions of $5 million or more. According to the report, New York is the world’s largest real estate investment market for the fourth consecutive year. Investment volume in the city rose 10.9 percent to $55.4 billion in the trailing 12 months from the second quarter 2014. This equates to 7 percent of the global market share. Second-place London closes the gap on New York with a 40.5 percent increase in investment activity. London is also the largest global market for cross-border investors, which drove the market higher with a 39 percent increase compared to 11 percent growth among domestic buyers. Tokyo reclaims third position in the ranking from Los Angeles with a strong 30.4 percent investment increase. Los Angeles drops to fourth place with $33.1 billion, …

By Glen Tipton, FAIA In the early 1990s, I was giving a talk to a group of developers and operators of seniors housing facilities at a conference in Europe. During the question and answer session, a gentleman raised his hand and asked, “In America, why do you insist on putting your seniors in ghettos?” While the word “ghetto” is a strong term with negative connotations in American culture, it is less so in Europe. He simply wanted to know why we didn’t integrate our older adults with the rest of society, as many European cultures have done for generations. Even though I was asked the question 20 years ago, it still sticks with me and shows how even back then, there were rumblings that would drive major changes in the location and models for housing options for aging adults. As we all know, the situation remains far from static as the industry strives to meet the diverse needs, wants and budgets of multiple generations of aging Americans. Generational Differences Drive Change Generally speaking, the Greatest Generation — or the GI Generation — is comfortable doing things in groups. Throughout World War II and beyond, they worked together and continue to …

From Staff Reports Construction firms added jobs in 36 states between August 2013 and August 2014 while construction employment increased in 28 states between July and August, according to an analysis of Labor Department data by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials noted that construction activity continues to spread across most of the nation even as employment gains remain uneven by month and state. “The number of states with increases in construction employment over the last 12 months moderated in August but remained strongly positive as construction activity continues to spread across most of the nation,” says Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “While most states remain far below pre-recession peak employment levels, more states are approaching previous highs and more contractors have been reporting difficulty in hiring qualified workers. These trends are likely to intensify if the recovery in construction continues.” Florida added the most new construction jobs (43,500 jobs, 11.8 percent) between August 2013 and August 2014. Other states adding a high number of new construction jobs for the past 12 months included California (35,600 jobs, 5.6 percent), Texas (27,700 jobs, 4.5 percent), Illinois (11,100 jobs, 5.8 percent) and Pennsylvania (10,800 jobs, 4.8 percent). Nevada (12.8 …

By Jane Adler The outlook for seniors housing appears bright as a huge wave of aging baby boomers begins to fill the pool of potential new residents. But a closer analysis of recent demographic data suggests that the coming surge could be smaller than expected and also uneven with some metro areas experiencing great demand while others languish. The decline in geographic mobility is one trend that could impact seniors housing. According to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, the movement of people within the United States has declined over the past three decades. Between 1984 and 1985, about 20 percent of Americans moved, but between 2012 and 2013, the mover rate was 11.7 percent. Part of the decline is attributed to an aging U.S. population, which is projected to be almost 20 percent of the country’s population by 2030. Older people move less frequently than younger ones, notes Josh Miller, housing policy analyst at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) based in Washington, D.C. Miller writes for the popular “Eye on Housing” blog and pulls together statistics from various sources to gauge housing trends. Census figures show that only 3.7 percent of those ages 65 and older moved …

By Haisten Willis Kennesaw State University economics professor Roger Tutterow, who delivered the keynote economic overview at the InterFace Seniors Housing Southeast conference on Aug. 21, has good news to share about the future of the economy. Tutterow, who has made appearances on CNN and been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, opened up by saying consumer confidence will return to what he considers “normal” levels by the end of this year. He also predicted there will be a lot more movement in the housing industry — including seniors housing — in the near future. While many homeowners remain upside-down in their mortgages, Tutterow predicted a “great unlockening” later this year as housing prices recover and more people are able to make long-awaited moves. “For the vast majority of American households, a large percentage of their wealth was not in their 401(k), but in their house,” Tutterow said. “We at one time had $13.5 trillion in equity in our homes. That was the peak of the housing market. By the time we got to late 2008, early 2009, it was down 60 percent… The good news is we’ve been gradually amortizing these loans, and home prices have been rising.” Many …