Citing a report from Jones Lang LaSalle, the Boston Business Journal reports that the retail real estate sector continues to stabilize.  Although rents nationally continued to decline by 1.7 percent, this was an improvement of .5 percent in the second quarter.  In Boston, the retail market posted 1.3 percent growth.  Other markets, such as Washington D.C. (2.6 percent), Miami (13.2 percent) and Tampa (1.9 percent), are also seeing increased rents. 

The residential housing market is also improving.  According to Reuters, the National Association of Realtors, reports that “sales of previously owned homes rose 2.3 percent to an annual rate of 4.47 million units.”  The number of distressed sales continues to decline, and home prices rose in July.  “The median price for a home resale was $187,300 in July – 9.4 percent higher than in the same month a year earlier.” Citing another report from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Worcester Business Journal indicated that “sales of new, single family homes continued to rise in July, with national sales growing 25 percent over the same month last year.”  Experts expect continued, albeit slow and gradual, improvement, although significant concerns remain about the overall economic outlook.