By Craig Karmin
This is an edition of the Real Estate newsletter, a weekly briefing of the biggest commercial deals, news, analysis and trends in office, multifamily, retail and other commercial sectors. If you're not subscribed, sign up here.
If you're looking for a home right now, we have some good news. Home buyers are enjoying the biggest discounts in years. Nearly two-thirds of buyers last year purchased a home below the original listing price, the highest proportion since 2019. The average discount for the homes that sold below their original listing price was around 8%, the largest since 2012. Buyers are also scoring cash concessions. Nicole Friedman explains that with so many buyers sidelined by high home prices and mortgage rates, those who are able to transact can choose from more homes and have more power to negotiate.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, says its aggressive deportation push is central to lower housing costs for Americans. "Want affordable housing? Help report illegal aliens in your area," the Department of Homeland Security said in a social-media post last week. While rents have been falling in some cities with significant deportations, Rebecca Picciotto reports, analysts see other factors having more sway on rent prices.
The Housing Market Is Swinging Toward Buyers
Many home shoppers have given up on the depressed housing market, where sales are stuck at a 30-year low. But those buying are enjoying discounts at the highest rate in years.
The average discount for homes that sold below their original listing price, the largest since 2012, according to real-estate brokerage Redfin. Falling demand from would-be buyers is giving those who are in the market to purchase a home more leverage in negotiations with sellers.
Do More Deportations Mean Lower Housing Costs?
The Trump administration says its aggressive deportation push is central to its plan to lower housing costs for Americans. So far, there is little evidence that it is working.
"Want affordable housing? Help report illegal aliens in your area," the Department of Homeland Security said in a social-media post last week.
Data Points
-- 47: The number of retail assets sold for $100 million or higher in 2025,
the highest number since 2016, according to real-estate firm Newmark. For
years retail-real estate was considered too risky for many investors, but
the sector's resiliency since the pandemic is now winning over
deep-pocketed buyers. Real-estate investment trusts and institutional
buyers accounted for more than half of last year's total big-ticket
volume.
-- $56 billion: Total office-sales volume last year, a more than 20%
year-over-year increase, according to CoStar. The office sector saw
commercial-real estate's strongest rise in sales volume in 2025, in large
part due to declining borrowing costs. But improved office leasing and a
significant decline in new construction has also made the sector more
attractive to investors.
-- 23%: Life sciences' vacancy rate in the fourth quarter, a slight decline
of 0.3%, according to CBRE. It is the first time vacancy has fallen at
life-sciences properties since the second quarter of 2022. After years of
overbuilding, space under construction has now fallen to the lowest level
since mid-2017 while leasing activity picked up to 2.5 million square
feet in the fourth quarter.
Beyond WSJ
-- Oceanfront Lahaina Property Owners May Get Buyout in Updated Disaster
Plan (AP)
-- Eddie Bauer Plans Third Bankruptcy, Closure of More Than 150 Stores
(Bisnow)
-- Rapper 50 Cent Wants to Boost This Louisiana City's Star Power (CoStar)
About Us
Craig Karmin is real-estate news bureau chief. Reach him on X @CraigKarmin or via email at Craig.Karmin@wsj.com. The newsletter is compiled and edited by Kate King and Rebecca Picciotto (rebecca.picciotto@wsj.com), WSJ real estate reporters. Reach them via email at kate.king@wsj.com and rebecca.picciotto@wsj.com. Got a tip for us? Here's how to submit.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 04, 2026 09:55 ET (14:55 GMT)
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