WeWork, the floundering landlord that rents shared office space to gig workers and start-ups, nearly quadrupled its losses to $2.1 billion in this year’s first quarter, compared to $556 million vaporized during 2020’s first three months, the Financial Times reported. WeWork paid $494 million to cancel leases, escape unprofitable locations, and otherwise restructure its assortment of properties during the period....

Discovery Inc., a leader in unscripted television programs such as “Shark Tank” and “Fixer Upper,” has acquired a 29-percent share of AT&T’s WarnerMedia division in a deal valued at $43 billion, according to various reports. WarnerMedia will be merged into Discovery, with AT&T shareholders, not AT&T itself, owning the other 71 percent of the new company. With the purchase, Discovery...

Flush with government stimulus cash and payments for caring for COVID patients, major hospital chains are snapping up smaller rivals, independent hospitals, and physicians’ practices left weak by the coronavirus onslaught. The $178-billion federal Provider Relief Fund channeled government aid to hospitals during the crisis. However, the bulk of the aid went to the largest and richest hospital chains, put...

Home prices will continue to rise through 2023, although more slowly than 2020’s 11.4-percent peak pace, according to an Urban Land Institute (ULI) survey this month of 42 economists at 39 real estate organizations. Prices will inflate by 8.1 percent this year, 5 percent in 2022, and 4 percent in 2023, bringing the rate slightly below the 20-year U.S. average...

Half of U.S. hotel rooms are empty most nights, malls struggle to survive, and office buildings are still largely unused. Commercial real estate values, which slumped during the economic shutdown, seem, however, to have stabilized, and, in some cases, have begun to rise again. Market prices for the properties fell only 11 percent last year, according to data firm Green...

Sales of existing homes slipped 2.7 percent in April compared to March, the third consecutive month of sliding sales, the National Association of Realtors (NRA) reported. A continuing lack of available homes has pushed up prices. That increase, combined with rising mortgage interest rates, has left fewer potential buyers able to qualify for loans. April’s median U.S. home price was...

New claims for unemployment insurance totaled 444,000 in the most recent week, the U.S. Labor Department reported, the lowest number in 14 months. The number of people collecting jobless benefits from all state and federal programs fell to 16 million as of 1 May from 16.9 million the previous week, also the fewest since the crisis began in March 2020....