Alex Douglas is a business and real estate writer based in suburban Chicago, bringing together professional newsroom experience, firsthand brokerage knowledge, and a practical interest in property investing. He earned a BS from Arizona State University and went on to report for multiple newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, where he covered business and real estate.
Before focusing on real estate journalism, Alex spent five years as a Realtor in Phoenix, giving him direct insight into buyers, sellers, agents, negotiations, and the day-to-day realities of local housing markets. Today, his reporting draws on both his journalism background and his real estate experience to explain market trends, housing developments, and industry changes with clarity and authority. As a novice multifamily real estate investor, Alex also brings a hands-on perspective to coverage of property ownership, investment strategy, and long-term market opportunities.
Alex Douglas 
Real REMAX Group’s Real brokerage unveiled Leo Pro at its RISE conference, an AI platform that takes plain-language requests, runs more than three dozen task agents billed by token, and checks with agents before important actions.
OneKey MLS, which covers New York City, Long Island and the Hudson Valley, refused Compass’s demand to let brokerages publicly market homes without sharing them through the MLS, joining Unlock MLS and CRMLS.
A new Zillow connector puts for-sale and rental listings, home values and affordability tools inside Claude, with tours, agent connections and financing a click away.
Honolulu claimed three of the week’s top sales, including a pair of high-rise condominiums, while Kailua and Kaneohe added one each.
A lakefront Kirkland property led the week, followed by two Medina homes, a century-old Mercer Island Craftsman and a Queen Anne home with views of Puget Sound.
Four San Francisco homes, in Pacific Heights and Presidio Heights, and a ranch-style home in Atherton made up the week’s top sales, led by a contemporary design with views across the Bay.
Los Altos and Los Gatos each had two of the week’s top home sales, and the remaining one was in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Saratoga.
A bayfront home in Coronado led a week of sales that ran from the Mission Beach sand to the hills of Rancho Santa Fe and Santaluz.
A golf-view home in La Quinta, a French Country estate in Chino Hills and a modern desert compound in Joshua Tree are among the week’s five priciest sales.
A gated hilltop estate with city views, a rebuilt 1950s ranch with water rights and a Lake Tahoe home a short walk from the beach were among the week’s most expensive sales.
Two homes on the Willamette River, an acreage property in Hartung Farms, a Dogwood Park home built for recreation and a newly built home in Camas made up the top of the market.
Three Scottsdale homes, one in Paradise Valley and a newly built home in Phoenix’s Echo Canyon made up the week’s top five.
A landmark from the silent-film era, a ranch compound in Somis and two homes on the water were among the week’s highest-priced sales.
Oceanfront homes in Laguna Beach, Malibu and Manhattan Beach led the week, joined by a newly built modern home on Mulholland Drive.
Two newly built homes, a single-story custom home in The Ridges and a golf-course home in Southern Highlands are among the week’s top sales.
A golf-course chateau, a mountain-view home and a renovated contemporary were among the week’s top sales, which reached across four cities.
A Seven Oaks home sold for $2.5 million, and the other four sales ranged from $715,000 to $799,000, among them a property on the Kern River and a home on horse acreage in Bear Valley Springs.
The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index fell three points to 29 in October, its lowest since June 2012. NAHB blamed mortgage rates above 7%, and 43% of builders cut prices, the most since at least 2020.
The Memphis-based bank swung to a third-quarter loss on the sale, which it says will add about 4% to 2027 earnings and free its balance sheet for higher-yielding loans.
In an Oct. 15 letter to FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson, Sens. Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren asked the agency to extend its Zillow-Redfin rental scrutiny to the home-buying market.
Mortgagee Letter 2026-12 lets rental communities of detached houses, duplexes and triplexes qualify for FHA’s Section 221(d)(4) and 223(f) programs, with a five-unit floor, a 7% vacancy minimum and a narrow accessibility carve-out.
JLL appointed capital markets chief Mark Gibson to a newly created Country CEO, U.S. post effective immediately, and said Kevin MacKenzie will take over Capital Markets, Americas on Jan. 1, 2027.
Associated Builders and Contractors said its Construction Backlog Indicator reached 8.7 months in September on data center work, even as contractors’ sales expectations hit an 11-month low and margin pessimism rose to its highest since November 2025.
A remodeled ranch on more than an acre, a new home in River Islands and three family homes with pools and big backyards made up the week’s top sales.
Four homes in Spokane and one in Greenacres sold for between $875,000 and $900,300, a group whose construction spans nearly seven decades.
A hilltop farm with barns, a lake and a treehouse led the week, followed by a pair of River Oaks homes and newer homes in Collierville and Piperton.
Prices ran from $618,000 to $1.2 million, and every one of the five sales was inside the city of Little Rock.
Established homes with custom kitchens and outdoor living space led a week of single-family sales that stretched from Haggin Oaks to the mountains of Tehachapi.
Consumer prices rose 0.6% in September and 3.7% over 12 months, and the shelter index that carries housing costs into the CPI reaccelerated to a 3.2% annual pace just as the Fed leans toward another rate increase.
Baillie Gifford and funds managed by BlackRock co-led a $200 million Series D for ICON, which says the money will start production of Titan, its multi-story robotic printing system, in Austin, Texas.
Get expert insights, market updates, and new opportunities delivered to your inbox.