BUSINESS BRIEFS
Industrial space vacancies 2.16 percent
By Staff and news services
Honolulu maintained the lowest rate of vacant industrial real estate among 55 U.S. metropolitan markets in the third quarter, despite a slight increase in empty space, according to a report by Colliers International.
Colliers said 2.16 percent of Honolulu industrial space was vacant, up from 1.83 percent in the second quarter.
For both quarters, Honolulu's vacancy rate was the lowest of 55 markets surveyed, and was followed by Los Angeles, which saw its vacancy rate decline from 2.91 percent to 2.72 percent in the survey period.
The average rate declined from 8.31 percent to 8.24 percent from the second to third quarter.
HOME SALES DROP IN 38 STATES
NEW YORK — The feeble U.S. housing market showed more frailty when third-quarter home sales plummeted in 38 states, hitting Nevada, Arizona, Florida and California particularly hard, according to data released yesterday.
The National Association of Realtors reported that sales retreated to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.27 million units nationwide, down by 12.7 percent from the same period a year ago.
Home prices also dropped: The survey showed that the midpoint price for an existing home sold during the summer dipped 1.2 percent year over year to $224,900. Some 45 metropolitan areas saw home prices decline.
MIXED EARNINGS FOR JAPAN BANKS
TOKYO — Japan's two biggest megabanks reported mixed earnings yesterday, though both made progress in trimming bad loans.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., the biggest of Japan's "Big Three" banking groups, reported first fiscal half-year profit of $4.3 billion.
It was the first time the financial group, formed in October last year through the merger of Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group and UFJ Holdings, reported first-half earnings. The results marked a decline from a combined profit of $6.03 billion a year earlier if both companies' results are added.
Mizuho Financial Group Inc., Japan's second-largest bank by assets, said by contrast that its profit climbed 16 percent in the half year ending in September, helped in part by stock market gains and cost-cutting.
