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 
A contemporary home in a gated Jenks community, two Broken Arrow properties on acreage and two Tulsa homes built 50 years apart made up the week’s top sales.
Contemporary homes with mountain and city views led the week from the Catalina Foothills to Oro Valley, while a Santa Fe-style home and a hilltop ranch in Vail completed the five.
Homes among the pines, a property in Black Forest and a remodeled ranch near Garden of the Gods made up a week of sales in Colorado Springs, Monument and Manitou Springs.
Acreage in Oklahoma City, a trail-lined community in Arcadia and an unfinished custom home in Nichols Hills all figure in a week of sales that stretched from Edmond to Crown Heights.
A renovated two-story home in Woodward Park led a week that also took in a newer Clovis ranch and two Fresno properties with acreage and workshops.
East Honolulu ridges and valleys supplied most of the week’s top sales, from a home finished in 2020 to a 1952 home a short walk from Kailua Beach.
El Dorado Hills had two of the week’s five top sales, and the rest were in Granite Bay, Newcastle and Sacramento.
A completely rebuilt modern home with Lake Tahoe views led the list, and two mountain-style homes tied for second at the same price.
A gated horse property in West Linn, three Lake Oswego homes and a country estate north of Battle Ground made up the week’s top sales.
A lakefront home in Westlake Village and a home on the main channel at Channel Islands Marina led the week, ahead of sales in Thousand Oaks and Camarillo.
Foothills acreage, a lakeside neighborhood and a Victorian built in 1901 set the pace for the week’s highest-priced sales.
Bentonville claimed three of the week’s top five places and Fayetteville the other two, with prices running from $1.22 million to $3.1 million.
Optimal Blue acquired Denver-based borrower engagement platform Usherpa and, the same day, connected its direct lock function to Fannie Mae’s PE – Whole Loan platform. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
The Loan Officer Productivity Suite, announced Oct. 12, puts six AI features inside nCino’s mortgage point of sale, from a guideline-answering assistant to automated pre-approvals and disclosures. Two of the six were released earlier this year.
Two homes on Mercer Island, two in Bellevue and an estate in Redmond made up the week’s top sales, with one newly built home among them.
Two century-old homes near the Presidio led the list, ahead of a new build in Menlo Park and a Mediterranean home in Alamo Square.
A remodeled 2018 home in Old Palo Alto, a 1926 property on more than an acre in Los Altos and a gated six-acre estate in Los Altos Hills were among the week’s top sales.
A Rancho Santa Fe estate led the week, and La Jolla, with three sales, had more of the top five than any other community.
Two sales in Indian Wells led the week, followed by homes in Palm Desert, Chino Hills and Indio.
Newly built homes, contemporary estates and a single Scottsdale sale made up a week in which single-story homes on large lots set the tone.
A hotel-serviced penthouse, a gated canyon estate, two homes north of Montana Avenue and a French Country estate in Calabasas made up the top of the market.
A new custom estate in Summerlin sold for more than the other four sales combined, in a week that ran from two brand-new homes to a 1978 property in Paradise.
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.
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