NEW YORK CITY-Assets of real estate mutual funds slipped to $11.7 billion for the week ending August 1 and their 30-day average trading volume slipped 7.7% to 14.6 million shares. But although the Morgan Stanley REIT Index is off its all-time high, it's still beating the major equity indexes year-to-date.

NEW YORK CITY-A Manhattan-based Christian college that has outgrown its current facilities signed a 10-year lease yesterday on four floors of a 73,000-sf building. The space will be used for administrative offices and classrooms.

PHOENIX-The latest Cushman & Wakefield of Arizona report pegs office vacancy at 17.6%, up 4.5% from six months ago. By the fourth quarter close, most of the space will be absorbed, predict the experts in the region.

DENVER-Luxury apartment developer JPI says units at the 240-unit The Gateway will be priced so that a Downtown Denver worker making $31,000 could afford to live in the complex close to the Ballpark neighborhood.