Posted on: Saturday, October 26, 2002

Business briefs

Honolulu 50th in home prices

Honolulu ranks as about the 50th most-expensive market for homes, according to a survey by Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corp. released yesterday.

The 2002 Home Price Comparison Index, which looks at more than 300 markets nationwide, found the average Honolulu home sales price to be $449,250, based on a 2,200-square-foot, single-family home with four bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, a family room and a two-car garage.

Nationally, the index calculated the cumulative average sales price of the study's subject home in the United States is $291,097, up from $269,241 in 2001.

Seven of the 10 most expensive markets were in California; two were in Connecticut and one was in Massachusetts. Palo Alto again topped the list, where a comparable home cost $1.26 million. The least expensive market was Yankton, S.D., at $101,062.

Honolulu ranked 45th in the survey last year.

General Growth adds Calif. mall

General Growth Properties Inc. is buying the Glendale Galleria shopping mall near Los Angeles for $415 million, giving the second-largest U.S. mall owner a flagship California property, said people familiar with the situation.

The Galleria, whose tenants include Macy's, Nordstrom and J.C. Penney, generates retail sales per square foot of $525, about 60 percent above the industry average. It would be General Growth's 18th mall in the state.

Chicago-based General Growth has helped lead a consolidation in the U.S. mall business, as landlords jockey for the best properties to gain leverage in negotiating leases with retailers. The company bought $7 billion of malls in the 1990s, and has expended in the West this year.

Verizon reports $4.4B earned

Phone giant Verizon Communications Inc. said yesterday it earned $4.4 billion in the third quarter, largely from selling off assets and investments, and boasted that long-distance and wireless services were helping it overcome falling revenue from basic residential lines.

The $4.4 billion profit in the three-month period ending Sept. 30 amounted to $1.60 a share, more than twice the $1.9 billion, or 69 cents a share, last year. Revenue rose slightly, to $17.2 billion from $17.0 billion.

Taking one-time gains and losses out of the picture, Verizon's earnings would have been $2.1 billion, or 77 cents per share, matching the expectation of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.