National Cheat Sheet: US house-flipping hits 12-year high, study shows that REITS with more female board members get higher returns … & more

Clockwise from top left: Century 21 CEO Nick Bailey, Boston Real Estate Collaborative's development with a roof top farm, Robert A.M. Stern Architects designed a 39-story building in Minneapolis, LA approved the Lake on Wilshire and JPMorgan is preparing to demolish its NYC home.
Clockwise from top left: Century 21 CEO Nick Bailey, Boston Real Estate Collaborative's development with a roof top farm, Robert A.M. Stern Architects designed a 39-story building in Minneapolis, LA approved the Lake on Wilshire and JPMorgan is preparing to demolish its NYC home.

Houses are flipping at the highest level since 2006
More than 207,000 condominiums and single-family house were flipped in 2017 — the most since 2006 — a report from Attom Data Solutions found. The average 2017 flip generated a 50 percent gross return compared to 28 percent during the housing bubble of the 2000s, Bloomberg reported. [TRD]

REITS with female board members get higher average prices and total returns
Real estate investment trusts with an above average number of female board members outperformed REITs with no female members, a new study from Wells Fargo found. The study looked at 165 equity REITs from 2006 to 2017 and found that an average company had 15.5 percent female board members. REITs with higher than average number of women had share prices about 2 percent higher, the Wall Street Journal reported. [TRD]

Number of ultra-rich growing around the world
For anyone selling luxury real estate, there are now more ultra-rich people to buy it. According to Knight Frank’s 2018 wealth report, there are 2.5 million people with $5 million or more in assets, 9 percent more than in 2016 and 20 percent more than five years ago. New York has the highest concentration of high-net-worth individuals in the U.S., followed by Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco. [TRD]

Century 21 CEO wants to double its business by 2022
Nick Bailey, the new CEO of Century 21, has plans for his company to make 832,000 transactions annually by 2022 — double the 417,000 it had in 2017. The company has overhauled its branding and is focusing on improving consumers’ experience, Bailey told Inman. Century 21 is a subsidiary of Realogy, the $6.1 billion parent company of Corcoran Group and Citi Habitats. [TRD]

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Here’s how you demolish a 52-story building in the middle of NYC
JPMorgan Chase plans to build a new, larger home on Park Avenue, but first it has to demolish its current 52-story home. In what will be the largest voluntary demolition in the world, contractors will need to remove harmful substances, enclose the building in netting, and then disassemble the building from the top down. [TRD]

Despite securing over 200 buyers, Miami condo towers switch to rentals
Despite having secured more than 200 buyers, University Bridge Residences, the 20-story tower near Florida International University, will become a rental building. University Developments cited a strong rental market and the new tax law as reasons for making the switch. Buyers will get their deposits back, and the building is expected to open for the 2020-to-2021 academic year. [TRD]

LA approves major Westlake development with provisions for affordable units
The Los Angeles City Council approved a major mixed-use development near Westlake with conditions that the developer donate more than $2 million to community organizations and that the project includes a minimum of 10 affordable apartments. The Lake on Wilshire will include a 41-story apartment tower, a 14-story hotel and a performing arts center. The project is being developed by the Walter and Aesha Jayasinghe family trust. [TRD]

Rooftop farm would cap proposed Boston residential development
Boston Real Estate Collaborative is proposing a unique amenity for its 54-unit residential development on North Beacon Street: a rooftop farm. Designed by Francke | French Architects, the farm would support a “hyper-local” agricultural program. Plans submitted to the Boston Planning & Development Agency include 16 condos, 38 apartments and an underground parking garage. [Boston Herald]

A.M. Stern-designed 39-story condo tower planned for Minneapolis waterfront
Local developer Luigi Bernardi and Ryan Companies are proposing to build a 39-story condo tower along the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. Robert A.M. Stern Architects designed the 101-unit building, which has been dubbed “Eleven.” The developers introduced their plans to the Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Association’s land-use committee and they hope to break ground before the end of the year. [Star Tribune]