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 
The five highest-priced home sales reported in the Washington, D.C. metro area for the week ending August 16, 2026, led by a $4.4 million seven-bedroom house in Potomac, Maryland.
A Waterloo riverfront property of more than 100 acres sold for $2.75 million, leading the top five home sales reported in the Omaha metro area for the week ending August 16, 2026.
A six-bedroom house on 12 acres along Latah Creek in Latah Creek Valley sold for $1,550,000 to lead the five highest-priced home sales reported in the Spokane, Washington metro area for the week ending August 16, 2026.
A remodeled riverfront house in Melbourne Beach brought $4.12 million to lead the top five home sales reported in the Palm Bay, Florida metro area for the week ending August 16, 2026.
A five-bedroom house in the Pinnacle Country Club community in Rogers sold for $2,100,000 to lead the five highest-priced home sales reported in the Fayetteville, Arkansas metro area for the week ending August 16, 2026.
A lakefront estate with its own dock on Big Bear Lake sold for $5.52 million to lead the five highest-priced home sales reported in the Riverside, California metro area for the week ending August 16, 2026.
An oceanfront New Smyrna Beach house and an Ormond Beach estate tied at $2.10 million atop the Deltona metro area Top 5 home sales for the week ending August 16, 2026.
A custom home finished this year in Orlando’s Bay Hill area sold for $3.45 million, leading the metro area’s top five reported home sales for the week ending August 16, 2026.
A 2020 one-level house in Little Rock’s Chenal Valley Ensbury Place sold for $915,000 to lead the five highest-priced home sales reported in the Little Rock, Arkansas metro area for the week ending August 16, 2026.
The five highest-priced home sales publicly reported in the Pittsburgh metro area for the week ending August 16, 2026, led by a $2.4 million Ligonier estate on 16 acres.
A gated Lodi Wine Country estate with its own Zinfandel vineyard sold for $1.27 million, leading the five highest-priced home sales reported in the Stockton, California metro area for the week ending August 16, 2026, with three closings in Tracy.
A Bethlehem home in Saucon Valley Garden Houses sold for $3.65 million, leading the five highest-priced home sales reported in the Allentown, Pennsylvania metro area for the week ending August 16, 2026.
A four-bedroom home on Harborshore Drive in Boca Grande sold for $4.30 million, leading the five highest-priced home sales reported in the Cape Coral, Florida metro area for the week ending August 16, 2026.
A former St. Michael’s Church rectory in South of Broad sold for $7 million, leading the top five reported home sales in the Charleston metro area for the week ending August 16, 2026.
A newly built estate in The Reserve at The Oaks in Dublin sold for $3.90 million, leading the five highest-priced home sales reported in the Columbus metro area for the week ending August 16, 2026.
A waterfront home in the Noroton section of Darien sold for $8.20 million to lead the five highest-priced home sales reported in the Bridgeport, Connecticut metro area for the week ending August 16, 2026.
A custom estate on more than 6.6 acres in Wadsworth sold for $1.38 million, leading the five highest-priced home sales reported in the Cleveland, Ohio metro area for the week ending August 16, 2026.
A newly built brick house in Raleigh’s Hayes Barton neighborhood sold for $5.90 million to lead the five highest-priced home sales reported in the Raleigh metro area for the week ending August 16, 2026.
A custom-built house in Provence Place sold for $1.38 million to lead the five highest-priced home sales publicly reported in the Memphis, Tennessee metro area for the week ending August 16, 2026.
A mountain home above Shaver Lake sold for $1.43 million to lead the five highest-priced home sales publicly reported in the Fresno, California metro area for the week ending August 16, 2026.
A waterfront house at 41 Watrous Point Road in Old Saybrook sold for $3.75 million, leading the five highest-priced home sales reported in the Hartford, Connecticut metro area for the week ending August 16, 2026.
A custom South Lake Tahoe home sold for $3.6 million, the highest of five Sacramento metro area home sales totaling $12.79 million for the week ending August 16, 2026.
Five home sales in the Portland, Oregon metro area for the week ending August 16, 2026 combined for $12.39 million, led by a $3.15 million West Linn estate on a private four-acre peninsula.
A newly built bayfront home in the Venetian Isles community of Saint Petersburg sold for $5.60 million to lead the Tampa metro area’s top five reported home sales for the week ending August 16, 2026.
A newly built Commerce Township house sold for $2.24 million to lead the five highest-priced home sales reported in the Detroit metro area for the week ending August 16, 2026.
Trepp data shows domestic CMBS issuance reached $76.2 billion through July 2026, with office leading all sectors and data centers now large enough to track as a distinct securitized asset class.
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act could expand Florida’s manufactured-housing production, free up CDBG funding for new construction, and create a standing disaster-recovery program, according to a Florida Realtors analysis.
The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index rose one point to 35 in August, but builder sentiment has now held below the neutral 40 mark for 16 straight months as price cuts and elevated rates persist.
A Brooklyn appellate justice lifted a restraining order and let New York City resume its pied-a-terre tax rollout, days after a lower court halted it — but the underlying lawsuit over the rollout’s execution continues.
The U.S. Lumber Coalition praised the Trump administration’s Section 232 tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber, arguing they protect domestic forestry jobs, as separate data shows softwood lumber prices jumped 7.4% in July.
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