Four NBA All-Stars are helping fund a new Harvard University real-estate development, joining more than 150 Black and Latino professionals in backing the roughly $1 billion project.

Between March and May last year, commercial real-estate prices fell 11%. Prices since July have increased 7%, erasing more than half their pandemic declines. That turnaround stands in sharp contrast to the 2008 financial crisis, when commercial real-estate prices in the U.S. fell 37%.

Last year was a banner one for the mortgage business. Lenders originated a record $3.83 trillion in home loans in 2020, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. This year, total originations are expected to fall to $3.3 trillion, a 14.2% decline. Still, at that level, 2021 would rank among the best years on record.

Energy-inefficient buildings will need to be upgraded if countries are to meet net-zero commitments. Although commercial real estate is less of a problem than residential, it will likely be targeted earlier as its ownership is less fragmented and less politically sensitive.

Foot traffic at a representative sample of 50 malls in March was up 86% from the same month last year. While that foot traffic was 24% lower than in March 2019, mall owners are hopeful that their business has turned a corner.

Median asking rent rose 1.1% on an annual basis in March to $1,463 a month across the country’s 50 largest markets. That marked the first month where the pace of rent growth had increased since last summer.

SmartRent.com Inc., which sells smart home-technology systems to apartment-building owners and developers, intends to go public through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company that values the property-tech startup at $2.2 billion.

Kimco Realty Corp. has agreed to acquire fellow grocery-anchored shopping-center owner Weingarten Realty Investors for nearly $3.9 billion in cash and stock.

The U.S. housing market is 3.8 million single-family homes short of what is needed to meet the country’s demand, according to a new analysis by mortgage-finance company Freddie Mac. The estimate represents a 52% rise in the nation’s home shortage compared with 2018, the first time Freddie Mac quantified the shortfall.

The Biden administration extended through June a federal moratorium on evicting individuals making up to $99,000 and couples making up to $198,000 annually who say they can’t pay rent because of coronavirus-related hardships.