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 
Two homes in the Washington Park area and three estates beyond the city made up the list, and one agent was the listing agent on both of the top two sales.
Contract signings fell 4% from August to their weakest level since spring 2014 outside the 2020 shutdown, Redfin reported Oct. 12, and declined year over year in all 50 of the largest U.S. metros for the first time in three years.
A presidential memorandum dated Oct. 7 names a three-member committee to recommend whether there is cause to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over mortgage-document allegations, and sets a four-hour closed hearing at the White House on Nov. 5.
Equus Capital Partners sold the 85-building, 1.25 million-square-foot Tucson Shallow Bay Industrial Portfolio to Catalyst Real Estate and Everview Partners, in what the brokerage called the market’s largest industrial sale by price on record.
A Redfin analysis published Oct. 8 models when the mortgage-payment-to-income ratio returns to August 2018 levels. Costs normalize soonest in San Jose, Austin, Oakland, Seattle and Portland, and not within a decade in 24 of the 46 metros studied.
Erez Asset Management and founder Bruce Schanzer disclosed a 5.8% stake in Empire State Realty Trust in an Oct. 5 Schedule 13D, saying they have pressed the board on capital allocation and a potential strategic review of some or all assets.
Minutes of the Sept. 15-16 FOMC meeting, released Oct. 7, say most participants expected another rate increase would likely be appropriate by year end. Only two meetings remain, and Fed staff called mortgage credit somewhat restrictive.
An order list issued Oct. 5 invited the United States to file briefs in three petitions asking whether the National Bank Act lets national banks ignore state laws requiring interest on mortgage escrow balances — a question the Court sent back unresolved in 2024.
Funds affiliated with the merchant bank BDT & MSD Partners signed a definitive agreement to acquire the McLean, Va., senior housing operator from Canada’s public pension manager, with Sunrise’s executives taking a minority stake. Terms were not disclosed.
A wooded estate in Bixby’s Eagle Rock led the week, ahead of four Tulsa homes that range from an English-style home in Frenchmans Creek to a single-story home in Park Terrace.
A 1959 ranch with pastures and a barn, a home on a private runway and a contemporary finished in 2025 head a week of sales that ran from the Catalina Foothills to Vail.
Farm acreage, a new home in a gated lake community and a custom-finished home in Manteca made up the week’s five most expensive sales across San Joaquin County.
The week’s top sales ran from a home built in 1951 to one finished in 2025, and every one of them is a single-story home.
A century-old home in Heritage Hills, a brand-new home in a gated Edmond neighborhood and a horse property on acreage in Newcastle show how wide the top of the market ran.
Four of the week’s top sales were in Memphis and one was in Collierville, and the homes span nearly seven decades of construction.
A mid-century modern in Robinwood, two Chenal Valley homes and a newly built home in the Mountain Brook community follow a 1934 brick Traditional at the top of the week’s list.
A Tuscan-style home at Copper River led a week that also took in a former builder’s model, a single-story custom home in a gated Woodward Park community and nearly five acres of horse property in Clovis.
Three homes on acreage share the list with a townhouse in a historic district and an Old Town home that dates to the 19th century.
Four Bentonville homes, from a downtown Craftsman to a wooded Woods Creek residence, joined a lakefront home in Bella Vista among the week’s top sales.
Homes built from 1958 to 2022 made up a week of Bakersfield sales, with the top five spread across the city’s custom enclaves and older neighborhoods.
California Regional MLS filed a declaratory-judgment complaint against Compass in Manhattan federal court on Oct. 5, asking a judge to rule that its cooperation rules are lawful before the brokerage can sue to overturn them.
Lake Tahoe dominated the week, with four of the five top sales in Incline Village and the fifth on a golf course in Reno.
Waterfront living, brand-new construction and a century of Portland-area architecture all made the week’s list of top sales.
A three-story home on the sand at Hollywood by the Sea tops a week that also brought an equestrian property in Thousand Oaks and a cluster of family homes in the Conejo Valley foothills.
Mountain homes near Palisades Tahoe and on Lake Tahoe’s West Shore led a week that also reached El Dorado Hills and the Sacramento River.
Two homes in the Kahala Area, a Waikiki penthouse, a canal-front home in Kailua and a North Shore property in Haleiwa made up the week’s top sales.
A 1950s Palo Alto home edged out a Los Altos home built in 2008 by $50,000, and Monte Sereno and Los Altos Hills completed a week of sales spread along the Peninsula foothills.
A remodeled La Jolla contemporary led a week that also brought oceanfront sales in Leucadia and South Oceanside and a Rancho Santa Fe horse farm.
Two Henderson estates on golf-course and hillside settings led the list, followed by a mid-century Huntridge home, a custom Tioga Estates home and a brand-new Summerlin South model.
A wooded Cathedral Pines estate, a lakeside home in Monument and a golf-course townhouse in Kissing Camels follow a horse property at the top of the list.
Get expert insights, market updates, and new opportunities delivered to your inbox.