NEW YORK CITY-The firm sheds its single-family home brokerage business to a pair of Ohio firms. The deal includes a performance-based earn-out of up to $3 million to be paid over the next two years.

ANNAPOLIS, MD-The Vitamin Shoppe continues its expansion with the opening of a 3,000-sf store in the Festival at Riva Shopping Center. The company has signed a five-year lease for the space.

BOSTON-Jim Thomson, formerly of Grubb & Ellis, switches to Cushman & Wakefield, bringing his team. The move is the latest in a series of local real estate defections.

AUSTIN-Tenants seize the opportunity to live in newer complexes as rents drop to fill properties. Overall, rents dipped 4.7% last year in a market that delivered 9,438 units and now has another 10,700 under construction.