Press Release: Cushman & Wakefield: Usa Industrial Quarterly Net Absorption Up 10.5% While Vacancy Inches Higher By 20 Bps

Financial stocks fell in late Tuesday afternoon trading with the NYSE Financial Index easing and the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) both shedding 0.4%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index fell 1.4%, and the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLRE) dropped 0.9%.

Bitcoin (BTC/USD) declined 5.8% to $96,324, while the yield on 10-year US Treasuries advanced 4.8 basis points to 4.684%.

In economic news, US job openings rose to 8.098 million in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, above the 7.74 million openings expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

The Institute for Supply Management's US services index rose to 54.1 in December from 52.1 in November, compared with expectations for a smaller increase to a 53.5 in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

In corporate news, Cushman & Wakefield , Camden Property Trust and Blackstone's LivCor are among landlords facing a lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice for allegedly participating in an algorithmic pricing scheme. Cushman shares fell 4.1%, Camden dropped 2.5%, and Blackstone shed 2.2%.

Blackstone-managed private equity funds agreed to buy a stake in Citrin Cooperman Advisors from private equity firm New Mountain Capital for an undisclosed price.

GFL Environmental agreed to sell a majority stake in its environmental services business to funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management and BC Partners for 8 billion Canadian dollars ($5.59 billion). Apollo shares fell 4%, and GFL shed 1.3%.

Ryan Specialty Holdings agreed to buy Velocity Risk Underwriters from funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management for $525 million in upfront cash, subject to adjustments. Ryan shares declined 1.7%.

By Dean Seal

The Justice Department has added some of the biggest landlords in the U.S. to its antitrust lawsuit accusing the real-estate software company RealPage of using an algorithm that allowed landlords to illegally coordinate rent increases.

Camden Property Trust and Cushman & Wakefield were among the new co-defendants named Tuesday in a suit, first filed in August, that claims RealPage stifles competition with its rent-setting algorithm and maintains an illegal monopoly over rent-setting software.

The landlord defendants allegedly shared sensitive information about rental prices and used the algorithm to keep rent prices high, hurting millions of American renters, the DOJ said.

The other landlord defendants added to the suit on Tuesday were Greystar Real Estate Partners, Blackstone's LivCor, Cushman's Pinnacle Property Management Services, Willow Bridge Property Company and Cortland Management.

Cortland has reached a settlement with the Justice Department and agreed to cooperate with the government, stop using competitors' data to set rents and stop using the same algorithm as its competitors without a corporate monitor.

A representative for Cortland said the company was pleased to resolve the DOJ's civil investigation and added that the antitrust division has closed a criminal investigation into pricing practices within the multifamily rental industry, which in May prompted investigators to search Cortland's headquarters in Atlanta.

"We look forward to putting the federal government's investigations behind us in 2025," the representative said.

Representatives for the other defendants didn't respond to requests for comment.

According to the complaint, the landlords directly communicated with each other about rents, occupancy and other competitively sensitive topics. They also shared information with one another about the parameters of RealPage's software, the suit said.

The suit against RealPage is one of the most sweeping legal actions ever taken against a private company in the rental housing industry. Consumers are still feeling squeezed by steep rent increases that occurred during the pandemic and in the years since amid rising inflation.

RealPage is said to command 80% of the market for commercial revenue management software and allegedly deploys a price-setting algorithm that gathers confidential data on rents from competing landlords, helping them raise rents and collude on prices. RealPage has denied the allegations.

Write to Dean Seal at dean.seal@wsj.com

Financial stocks decreased in late Tuesday afternoon trading with the NYSE Financial Index easing 0.2% and the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) shedding 0.3%.

The Philadelphia Housing Index fell 1.2%, and the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLRE) was down 0.8%.

Bitcoin (BTC/USD) declined 5.8% to $96,324, while the yield on 10-year US Treasuries advanced 7 basis points to 4.68%.

In economic news, US job openings rose to 8.098 million in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, above the 7.74 million openings expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

The Institute for Supply Management's US services index rose to 54.1 in December from 52.1 in November, compared with expectations for a smaller increase to a 53.5 in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

In corporate news, Cushman & Wakefield , Camden Property Trust , and Blackstone's LivCor are among landlords facing a lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice Tuesday for allegedly participating in an algorithmic pricing scheme. Cushman shares fell 4.2%, Camden was down 2.2%, and Blackstone shed 2.3%.