Mike 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, Mike 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, Mike also brings a hands-on perspective to coverage of property ownership, investment strategy, and long-term market opportunities.
Mike Douglas 
A newly built house in Minnetonka’s Elevare enclave sold for $5.35 million to lead the five highest-priced home sales publicly reported in the Minneapolis, Minnesota metro area for the week ending August 9, 2026.
A 14-acre property with a stocked pond and horse pastures in west Carmel sold for $3.75 million to lead the five highest-priced home sales publicly reported in the Indianapolis, Indiana metro area for the week ending August 9, 2026.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the K-shaped economy is over, but Realtor.com transaction data shows entry-level home sales still declining faster than any other price tier while $1M-$2M sales keep growing.
Riot Platforms disclosed a 20-year, $9.1 billion data center lease for 191 MW of capacity at its Rockdale, Texas campus, a former Alcoa smelter site, with an AI lab tenant regional media have identified as Anthropic.
The Consumer Price Index rose 3.4% annually in July, an in-line reading that gives the Fed room to hold rates steady and eases near-term pressure on mortgage rates, which sit near 2026 highs.
A remodeled seven-bedroom house on a Cherry Hills Village cul-de-sac sold for $6.08 million to lead the five highest-priced home sales publicly reported in the Denver, Colorado metro area for the week ending August 9, 2026.
Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing acquired a newly built, 1.5 million-square-foot distribution facility leased to Ace Hardware in Kansas City for $158.5 million, in an off-market deal with developer Hunt Midwest.
ApartmentIQ raised a $25 million follow-on round from repeat investor Susquehanna Growth Equity as the apartment data and AI platform says its coverage now spans more than 8 million units nationwide.
WS Development and PSP Investments have secured a $660 million refinancing loan for One Boston Wharf, a fully leased, 708,590-square-foot office tower in Boston, Mass.’s Seaport District, retiring the project’s 2021 construction debt.
Real Capital Solutions has launched the RCS Contrarian Office Fund, targeting $350 million to buy distressed Class A and B office buildings, with CEO Marcel Arsenault anchoring the vehicle with a $50 million personal commitment.
A staff-level permit, not a City Council vote, cleared Amazon’s $2 billion data center campus in Gilroy, California. Decades-old industrial zoning meant no public hearing was legally required.
Mortgage rates could swing this week depending on Wednesday’s Consumer Price Index report, which Redfin economists say could decisively shift the odds ahead of the Federal Reserve’s Sept. 16 meeting.
Canyon Partners Real Estate closed its latest opportunistic fund at about $570 million, above its $500 million target, aiming at distressed, value-add and mid-construction real estate deals.
Medical Properties Trust narrowed its second-quarter net loss to $2.6 million and announced a $2.4 billion note offering to repay 2026 and 2027 debt as the hospital REIT continues rebuilding its balance sheet.
Ryman Hospitality Properties agreed to buy the 1,592-room Grande Lakes Orlando resort, including a JW Marriott and its first Ritz-Carlton, for $1.38 billion from Trinity Investments.
U.S. office net absorption reached a positive 16.9 million square feet in the second quarter, extending occupancy gains to seven consecutive quarters, according to Colliers. Cumulative positive absorption over the prior two years totaled 44.0 million square feet. Comparing those two figures reveals something the headline does not. Key facts The recovery is accelerating, not … Read more
First-half home sales in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos area rose 4.8% to 15,698 while the median price fell 2.4% to $425,000, according to Unlock MLS. June pending sales climbed 13.2%, and active listings within the city of Austin fell 22.1% to 4,665. Sales up, prices down, inventory sharply lower — that combination describes a market … Read more
CoStar Group forecasts a turning point for U.S. industrial real estate, with net absorption overtaking new supply by late 2027 as construction slows and rent growth firms.
Marcus & Millichap posted 17.8% revenue growth and a return to profitability in the second quarter as commercial real estate sales and financing activity picked up.
Realtors Property Resource, NAR’s data and technology subsidiary, elevated two longtime executives to newly created chief strategy officer and chief product officer roles.
Realtor.com identifies Milwaukee, Detroit and other older industrial cities as best positioned to benefit from a new law tying CDBG grants to local homebuilding.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren sent a nine-page letter to Compass CEO Robert Reffkin and MRED CEO Rebecca Jensen warning their private-listings partnership risks a ‘two-tiered housing market’ and civil rights violations, adding Senate scrutiny to an already bipartisan congressional probe.
Rocket Companies posted its most profitable quarter in four years even as its chief executive described the spring housing market as one of the toughest in years, the Detroit-based mortgage lender announced Aug. 6. The company reported second-quarter net revenue of $2.78 billion and adjusted revenue of $2.76 billion for the period ended June 30, … Read more
Altus Group has acquired Valos, a UK-based platform that automates the property valuation and lending workflow for commercial real estate, the Toronto-listed real estate intelligence firm announced Aug. 6. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Valos, founded in 2020 by CEO Alex Kountourides, connects valuation firms and mortgage lenders on a single platform … Read more
UWM Holdings raised $2.05 billion from Oaktree Capital and the Ishbia family after a $451.9 million second-quarter loss tied to its failed Two Harbors bid, and suspended its dividend to prioritize debt reduction.
Newmark Group acquired German real estate valuation firm L+P Immobilienbewertung, its fourth Valuation & Advisory acquisition in Europe this year following deals in France, Canada and Germany.
Five of the highest-priced publicly reported home sales in the Atlanta, Georgia metro area for the week ending Sunday, August 2, 2026 — $32.05 million combined, led by a $13.8 million newly built estate in Buckhead’s Tuxedo Park.
AGNT, Inc., the Bellingham, Wash.-based holding company that owns eXp Realty and was known as eXp World Holdings until rebranding earlier this year, reported record second-quarter 2026 revenue of $1.4 billion, up 11% from a year ago, according to an Aug. 4 earnings release. Executives credited rising agent productivity and new AI tools for the … Read more
Innovative Industrial Properties Inc., the real estate investment trust that owns cannabis cultivation and processing facilities, posted second-quarter 2026 profit that topped Wall Street estimates even as tenant defaults kept a lid on revenue growth, according to an Aug. 3 SEC filing. Total revenue was $63.3 million, roughly flat with $62.9 million a year earlier … Read more
Five of the highest-priced publicly reported home sales in the Chicago, Illinois metro area for the week ending Sunday, August 2, 2026 — $20.91 million combined, led by a $5.6 million Lincoln Park closing, with the week’s only over-ask bidding war at No. 3.
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