Don Baker is a full-time staff reporter for RealtyWire, where he covers residential real estate, commercial real estate, multifamily housing, market trends, finance, construction, rental data, and regulatory issues affecting the real estate industry.
Before joining RealtyWire, Don worked as an investor relations director for a multifamily private equity fund, where he wrote investor updates and reporting materials on the performance, operations, and outlook of investment properties. That role gave him hands-on experience analyzing real estate trends, rental statistics, construction activity, financing issues, multifamily operations, compliance matters, and the legal and regulatory factors that shape property ownership and investment.
Don brings a broad understanding of both residential and commercial real estate to his reporting, with a particular focus on helping readers understand how market data, policy changes, capital markets, and local property trends affect buyers, sellers, investors, brokers, developers, and property owners.
He earned a Bachelor of Science in Business from Southern Illinois University and currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
Don Baker 
A BOMA International study released Sept. 16 puts the annual economic output of operating U.S. commercial buildings at $609.9 billion, supporting 3.9 million jobs. It also finds data centers made up nearly 46% of private office construction in 2025, up from under 5% a decade ago.
The Federal Open Market Committee voted 12-0 on Sept. 16 to raise the federal funds rate a quarter point to 3.75%-4.00%, the first increase since July 2023. New projections lifted the 2027 rate path by half a percentage point, and banks moved prime to 7.00% within the hour.
A $7.80 million home on Solana Road in Old Ponte Vedra was the highest-priced reported sale in the Jacksonville metro area for the week ending September 13, 2026.
A Tudor Revival home in Richmond’s Wilton area sold for $3.60 million, the highest reported home sale in the Richmond, Virginia metro area for the week ending September 13, 2026.
A Ross Bridge Glasscott home in Hoover sold for $2.20 million, the highest-priced reported home sale in the Birmingham, Alabama metro area for the week ending September 13, 2026.
A Catalina Foothills home designed by architect Kevin Howard sold for $2.30 million, the top reported sale in the Tucson metro area for the week ending September 13.
A 1915 house in Tulsa’s Maple Ridge sold for $1,055,000, the highest-priced home sale reported in the Tulsa metro area for the week ending September 13, 2026.
A newly built McDaniel Heights home sold for $3.73 million, the highest reported sale in the Greenville metro area for the week ending September 13, 2026.
The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index fell three points to 32 in September, its lowest reading since September 2025, as 38% of builders cut prices and 66% turned to sales incentives.
A 4.87-acre Sesuit Neck beachfront property held by one family for generations sold for $9.50 million, the highest reported sale of the week in the Barnstable Town, Massachusetts metro area.
An eight-bedroom brick Colonial in Squirrel Hill North sold for $3.40 million, the highest-priced home sale reported in the Pittsburgh metro area for the week ending September 6, 2026.
A newly built custom home anchoring an approximately 1,167-acre timberland estate in Sheridan sold for $5.50 million, the highest-priced home sale reported in the Portland, Oregon metro area for the week ending September 6, 2026.
A Northville estate sold for $3.60 million, leading the Detroit metro area’s five highest-priced home sales for the week ending September 6, 2026.
A 10-bedroom estate overlooking the golf course in Golden Oak at Walt Disney World Resort sold for $18.70 million, the highest-priced home sale reported in the Orlando metro area for the week ending September 6, 2026.
Associated Builders and Contractors said its Construction Backlog Indicator rose half a month to 8.5 months in August. Chief economist Anirban Basu said roughly one in six members is now under contract on a data center, the highest share on record.
A 1910 home in Atherton sold for $13 million, the highest-priced of five home sales reported in the San Francisco metro area for the week ending September 13, 2026.
A custom Rex Bost home on a golf-course homesite in Wake Forest’s Hasentree community sold for $3.56 million, leading the Raleigh metro area’s five highest-priced reported home sales for the week ending September 6, 2026.
Redfin’s analysis of Census microdata shows San Antonio led Gen Z net migration in 2024 and Houston led millennials, while New York and Los Angeles lost the most from both generations.
An Ocean Ridge home sold for $9.80 million, the highest reported sale in the Miami metro area for the week ending September 13, 2026.
A three-bedroom condominium at Riverfront Place sold for $1.07 million, topping the Omaha, Nebraska metro area’s five highest-priced reported home sales for the week ending September 6, 2026.
A five-bedroom Germantown home sold for $1.50 million to lead the Memphis metro area’s five highest-priced reported home sales for the week ending September 6, 2026.
A 1953 Gambrel Cape overlooking the Connecticut River sold for $4.10 million in Essex Village, the highest-priced home sale reported in the Hartford metro area for the week ending September 6, 2026.
SL Green said Sept. 14 that a new eight-year lease brought 245 Park Avenue to 100% leased and that its 2026 Manhattan office leasing has reached 1,760,649 square feet across 129 leases, signed 15.8% above prior escalated rents.
A Zillow analysis published Sept. 14 finds 1.42 million residential permits issued in the year through July 2026, down 1.7%, with detached single-family completions falling to about 817,000 and the steepest pullbacks in Austin and San Antonio.
A seven-bedroom home on four gated acres in Greenwich sold for $8.5 million, the highest-priced sale reported in the Bridgeport, Connecticut metro area for the week ending September 6, 2026.
A full-floor residence in the Gold Coast’s One Chicago tower sold for $8 million, the highest-priced home sale reported in the Chicago metro area for the week ending September 13, 2026.
Shelter inflation cooled while mortgage rates climbed to 6.76%, existing-home sales slipped below 4 million and an $8.1 billion apartment merger landed. The week that set up the Fed’s Sept. 16 decision.
A newly built estate at The Madison in La Quinta sold for $16.25 million, the highest-priced home sale reported in the Riverside, California metro area for the week ending September 6, 2026.
A bayfront property on Davis Island sold for $7.10 million, the highest-priced home sale reported in the Tampa metro area for the week ending September 6, 2026.
A newly built waterfront home in Daniel Island Park sold for $9.2 million, the highest-priced home sale reported in the Charleston metro area for the week ending September 6, 2026.
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