Vacancies at U.S. shopping centers fell to 5.3% in the fourth quarter, the lowest level since tracking the metric in 2007. Average asking rents rose to $23.70 a square foot and are now nearly 17% above 2019 levels.

Businesses large and small acquired some 570,000 homes in 2023, down from 802,000 in 2022. Fourth-quarter investor purchases of 123,000 represented the lowest quarterly total in the last eight quarters with 2023 on track for the largest annual drop in investor buying activity in at least 20 years.

In the heart of Boston, the 02115 ZIP Code has catapulted into having the priciest median residential real estate as ranked by price per square foot in the U.S., at $2,663 in December 2023.

Sales of previously owned homes in 2023 dropped to the lowest level in 28 years, as home-buying affordability worsened and the supply of homes for sale remained low. Existing home sales, which make up most of the housing market, slid 19% in 2023 from the prior year to 4.09 million, the lowest full-year level since 1995.

In 2023, $541 billion in debt backed by office buildings, hotels, apartments and other types of commercial real estate came due, the highest amount ever for a single year. Commercial-debt maturities are expected to continue rising, with more than $2.2 trillion coming due between now and the end of 2027.

Foot traffic to U.S. indoor malls was down 4% on average in 2023 from the prior year, and about 12% lower than 2019 levels. Alternatively, increasing demand for open-air space has driven up shopping-center rents to nearly $24 a square foot, the highest level since tracking the metric in 2007.

BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, announced it is buying Global Infrastructure Partners for about $12 billion in cash and stock. The acquisition is part of the firm’s increased focus on infrastructure.

Rent inflation for studios to two-bedrooms in the top 50 metros declined for seven consecutive months, with the national median asking price falling to $1,717.

A staggering 19.6% of office space in major U.S. cities wasn’t leased as of the fourth quarter, up from 18.8% a year earlier. That is slightly above the previous records of 19.3% set in 1986 and 1991 and the highest number since at least 1979.

During the third quarter of 2023, big landlords that own anywhere from 100 to more than 1,000 housing units purchased just 1% of all the homes sold in the U.S. This is down from roughly 3% throughout 2022. America’s rental market remains dominated by mom-and-pop landlords, who buy nearly one-in-five of all the U.S. family homes that come up for sale.