Retail sales increased 0.5% in July, with spending at auto dealerships and promotions offered by Amazon and Walmart helping drive the gain, according to the Commerce Department. In addition, June's numbers were revised upward to show a 0.9% gain.

Import prices gained 0.4% in July, with the cost of consumer goods driving the increase, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The increase followed a downwardly revised drop of 0.1% in June.

Investment in alternative property types is expected to accelerate, and demographic trends and leadership changes could affect the market in the future, according to Mark Wojteczko, national real estate funds co-leader at Deloitte. "We believe that the appetite for some of these younger executives to really continue to focus on the alternative property types as an investable universe is significant and something that we're certainly monitoring here," Wojteczko says.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage has reached 6.58%, down from 6.63% during the prior week and marking the lowest point since October 2024, according to a Freddie Mac survey.

Granite Properties and Highwoods Properties have opened 23Springs, a mixed-use development in the Uptown neighborhood of Dallas. The development includes an office tower as well as two freestanding restaurants, in addition to a park.

BXP's property at 100 Federal St. in Boston is now home to the headquarters of Redgate, a real estate advisory, owners' representation and investment firm. "Redgate has ambitious plans to double in size over the next decade, and our new space creates the catalyst for that growth," said Redgate's Kyle Warwick.

Final construction on Digital Realty's Athens-3 data center has concluded, according to a subsidiary of the contractor Metlen. The property initially opened in 2022 and now includes around 28,215 square feet.

Richmond, Va., has become the fastest-growing US market for data centers, adding about 700 megawatts of capacity this year, according to Avison Young. Projects in the region have benefited from available land and grid access, although power needs and other factors could emerge as headwinds. Still, secondary and tertiary markets are expected to drive growth in the months ahead, according to Avison Young's Howard Berry.

Major brokerages -- including JLL, CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield, Colliers and Newmark -- are pointing to positive signs for the commercial real estate market. JLL reported a 5.8% increase in active office space requirements, while CBRE forecasted a 10% rise in commercial real estate investment activity for this year.

Equinix is in multiple advanced nuclear energy deals. The company has entered an agreement to procure 500 megawatts from Oklo and has a preorder agreement with Radiant Nuclear for 20 microreactors. Equinix is also planning to purchase power from ULC-Energy and Stellaria in Europe. "Access to round-the-clock electricity is critical to support the infrastructure that powers everything from AI-driven drug discovery to cloud-based video streaming," said Equinix's Raouf Abdel.

Gaming REITs returned 9.7% through July 31 as the range of experiences these properties offer remained popular with consumers. Since the inception of the FTSE Nareit Gaming Index in June 2023, the sector has provided a compound annual total return of 6.2%.

Second quarter data from Nareit's quarterly active managers tracker shows that funds are allocating more to telecommunications (17%) than to residential (16%). This is the first time that residential has lost the top spot since 2017. The data also show that office is now equal to its index share for the first time post-pandemic.