Kroger closing its North Raleigh store in Wakefield Commons

Kroger said today that it will close its North Raleigh store in the Wakefield Commons shopping center this summer because the location failed to meet sales expectations.

The announcement comes a week after Wakefield Commons was sold by Centro Properties Group, a debt-laden Australian mall owner that is in the process of selling all of its U.S. assets.

The center’s new owner is Westdale Real Estate Investment and Management, a private firm based in Dallas. Westdale said in a release that it acquired the property from a distressed owner for a “significant discount” and plans to improve the tenant mix to better server the affluent customers in the area.

Wakefield Commons includes 160,949 square feet of retail. In ad

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NAI Hiffman negotiates two multifamily sales

NAI Hiffman’s William Montana has brokered the sale of two multifamily complexes, Dixon River Apartments and Kiwanis Manor, on behalf of AIMCO to a Milwaukee-based partnership for an undisclosed amount.

The apartment buildings, located at 624 Marclare Street in Dixon, Ill and at 3001 Loras Drive in Freeport, Ill, are each comprised of 72 apartments totaling 61,292 square feet.  Both complexes were constructed circa 1994 and feature balconies or patios for each unit, central heat and air, garages and laundry facilities.

Genworth provided funds to academic study on conforming loan limits

When academics at George Washington University released their study supporting a drop in the conforming loan limits, they failed to disclose Genworth Mortgage Insurance Corp. (GNW: 9.735 -0.56%) funded and provided the data on the project.

Genworth maintains it created no conflict in doing so and said the practice of private funding for public research is fairly common. Furthermore, HousingWire is told the omission of the Genworth disclosure was actually an unintentional oversight.

The study was conducted by Robert Van Order and Anthony Yezer, professors of finance and economics at GWU.

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U.S. mortgage rates fall after jobs report

Long-term U.S. mortgage rates fell this week on the heels of a weak jobs report.

Long-term U.S. mortgage rates dropped this week on the heels of a weak jobs report.

A one-year adjustable rate mortgage fell to an all-time low 2.95 percent.

“Long-term bond yields and mortgage rates fell this week following a weak employment report,” said Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft.

The report showed the economy added 18,000 jobs in June, below the market consensus forecast, and the unemployment rate rose to 9.2 percent, the highest since December 2010. In

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