Despite a still tepid transaction market, commercial and multifamily mortgage loan originations increased in the second quarter—up 66 percent compared to a year ago, and up 48 percent from the first quarter of 2025, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. But what is the outlook for access to debt and equity capital in the second half of the year? Apart from interest rates, where are the biggest pain points in the market for commercial real estate financing?

President Donald Trump has said that his administration is working to privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and end the government-controlled conservatorship of the two that has been in place since the 2008 housing crash. The plan being floated involves taking the two entities public while retaining key U.S. government guarantees to backstop loans.

Documenting the legacy and contributions of African Americans both now and in the past in building the United States as it is known today.

Companies including Macy’s, Nordstrom, Kohl’s, and IKEA are rolling out small-format stores around the country, often in suburban areas, as they try other ways to connect with their customers.

A report released by Philadelphia’s Center City District (CCD) in October 2023 tracks the recovery of twenty-six of the largest downtowns in the United States, exploring four key variables that impact recovery.

Great uncertainty remains about how companies and their employees will use office buildings in the future. To examine this important topic, ULI and The Instant Group partnered on a research project in Spring 2023 to assess how changing occupier behavior and broader macrotrends are influencing demand for workspace.

ULI Boston/New England and other local partners of the CRE/DEI Collaborative—Builders of Color Coalition, CoreNet New England, CREW Boston, NAIOP Massachusetts, and all five divisions of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board as well as the Real Estate Executive Council (the national trade association for commercial real estate professionals of color)—recently gathered for the annual Boston CRE Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Summit to continue to share insights and strategies on how to advance DEI within commercial real estate meaningfully.

China’s attempts over the last three years to deflate its debt-ridden real estate bubble have had proportionately dire economic consequences, said panelists at the 2023 ULI Fall Meeting in Los Angeles.

Mariana Mazzucato, an Italian-American/British economist and academic, and author of The Big Con: How the Consulting Industry Weakens Our Businesses, Infantilizes Our Governments, and Warps Our Economies, says that the time has come for businesses and governments to take a new approach. To that end, according to Mazzucato, we must embrace taking risks as well as living with the uncertainty that “underpins all the collective investments” needed to handle crises in a proactive manner.

The Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach are the biggest such facilities in the United States. Together, the two make up the San Pedro Bay Port Complex. The current forecast for cargo indicates the San Pedro Bay Ports Complex will be handling nearly double the current amount by 2040. But rising emissions also need to be addressed.