NAREE Announces Winners of the 75th Annual Real Estate Journalism Competition

PRESS RELEASE

NAREE's 75th Annual Journalism Competition Winners

New Orleans - (June 18, 2025) - The National Association of Real Estate Editors (NAREE) announced the winners of its 75th Annual Journalism Awards today. This prestigious competition recognizes excellence in reporting, writing, and editing stories about residential and commercial real estate.

The awards were announced at NAREE’s annual conference held at the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans, Louisiana. A panel of expert judges from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University selected all winners. Medill’s Karen Springen chaired the panel. Here are NAREE’s 2025 winners with judges’ comments:

Platinum Award - Best Overall Entry by an Individual - Real Estate

Cecilia Reyes, Business Insider

“Locked Out”: “When renters get locked out, they may never get back in,” “Unprotected at the margins of the rental market

Judges’ Comment: In her enterprising stories about illegal lockouts, Cecilia Reyes powerfully illustrates the toll of evictions on parents and children. She digs through data, including thousands of 911 calls, housing complaints and court records, to find evidence that suggests an increase in the number of people whose landlords throw them out or lock them out. Sometimes they even skirt laws by changing locks or shutting off utilities. Renters, who can’t get inside to get their work uniforms or cope with the pressure, can miss days on the job or even lose their employment. And their kids can end up skipping, or dropping out of, school. Reyes zooms in on individual people – and zooms out to show variations in state laws. In the process, she exposes an under-covered problem that potentially affects many Americans: Half of U.S. renters – more than 22 million households – face financial stress over housing costs.

President’s Award - Best Freelance Collection - Real Estate

Colette Coleman, Freelance Writer, The New York Times

“Beyond the Shortage: Stories of Different Groups’ Adaptations and Innovations Amid Housing Scarcity”: “Blaxit: Tired of Racism, Black Americans Try Life in Africa.” “For a Growing Number of Latinos, Home Buying Is a Family Affair.” “The Design Trend Taking Over Rural America.”

Judges’ Comment: The best reporters write articles that make readers say, “Wow. I didn’t know that.” In her real-estate stories for The New York Times, Colette Coleman tackles Black Americans finding new houses in Africa, Latino families combining incomes and making home-buying a multigenerational collaboration, and the popularity of “barndominiums” or “barndos” (a mashup of barns and condominiums). Coleman knows to just use quotes that are gems. For example, a project manager in the “barndo” world of open floor plans tells her, “People want to play basketball in their living room.” And a Black American who relocated from Harlem to Ghana says, “Here, we’re rich.” As she covers stories that matter, such as the “trans-Atlantic exodus,” she gives an expert class on how to surprise and delight readers.

Ruth Ryon Award - Best Young Journalist - Real Estate

Jack Flemming, Los Angeles Times

“The Chaos of California’s Housing Market”: “Out-squatted: Handyman Flash Shelton will squat with your squatters - until they leave,” “An ambulance, an empty lot and a loophole: One man’s fight for a place to live,” “In the Mojave Desert, a gold rush sparks a mini real-estate boom for old mines”

Judges’ Comment: In his quirky, but important, stories, including one about a vigilante-style handyman and YouTuber known as the “Squatter Hunter,” Jack Flemming captures how owners and renters are navigating California’s chaotic housing market. With the landlords’ blessings, squatter-for-hire James Shelton moves into homes to drive away occupants who won’t leave. He dirties the bathroom, blasts music, “commandeers” the TV remote control and wears a hat that says, “Get Out.” Flemming shows how this unorthodox technique does the trick and helps owners frustrated with the legal system go rogue if they feel they can’t boot trespassers in a more traditional way. Through old-fashioned shoe-leather reporting, Flemming gives the reader an on-scene look at how people live. His pieces, including a story about a hippy-esque 30-year-old who lives in an ambulance, are never boring and always thought provoking.

Category 1: Kenneth R. Harney Award for Best Real Estate Consumer Education Reporting

Harney Winner: James Rodriguez, Business Insider

“The Brave New World of Homebuying”: “The end of the Realtor monopoly,” “’The biggest change in 100 years’,” “Inside the battle of America’s hidden homes”

Judges’ Comment: James Rodriguez knows how to explain complicated situations – like the National Association of Realtors’ $418 million settlement to end class-action lawsuits over agent commissions – in a conversational, easy-to-understand way. He uses, but never overuses, numbers, explaining that commissions hovered between 5% and 6% of the sales price for decades. He always explains what something means. In this case, the recent deal could push more buyers to forgo hiring an agent or to work out an alternate payment structure. Also, this settlement may not prevent a showdown between the NAR and the Department of Justice. But the new rules will force buyers to think about how their agents get paid. Rodriguez’s deep knowledge of the industry and his excellent Rolodex make it possible for him to educate consumers in an understandable, engaging way.

Category 2: Best Collection of Work by an Individual Covering Residential Real Estate

Gold Winner (tie): Sarah Rappaport, Bloomberg News

Collection Includes: “Freddie Mercury’s London Residence Lists at £30 Million,” “Inside Wytham Abbey, the £15 Million Castle Effective Altruism Must Sell,” “London’s Luxury Real Estate Developers Up the Ante with Botox, Wegovy”

Judges’ Comment: Sarah Rappaport knows how to cover the lifestyles of the rich and famous by looking in great depth at their homes. One example: To woo the well-heeled - luxury housing builders are going beyond fancy pools by offering over-the-top amenities like vitamin drips, Botox and weight-loss drugs via the residents’ services app. In another story, Rappaport looks at singer-songwriter Freddie Mercury’s London house, listed for £38 million by his longtime friend Mary Austin, who inherited it following the Queen star’s 1991 death. She delivers - telling details about the place, with its eight bedrooms and its Japanese-inspired garden. Finally, she looks at 500-year-old Wytham Abbey – another lux home for sale. Armchair quarterback? Try armchair high-end realtor.

Gold Winner (tie): Jack Flemming, Los Angeles Times

Collection Includes: “An ambulance, an empty lot and a loophole: One man's fight for a place to live,” “Out-squatted: Handyman Flash Shelton will squat with your squatters - until they leave,” “In the Mojave Desert, a gold rush sparks a mini real-estate boom for old mines”

Judges’ Comment: Jack Flemming knows how to come up with offbeat story ideas – and then execute them with flair. He writes about a 30-year-old man who creatively gets around Southern California’s exorbitant housing prices by buying an ambulance and living in it, with a portable toilet stashed inside. He also reports on a guy who beats squatters at their game. And he heads to the Mojave Desert to look into a mini gold rush, fueled by the price of the precious metal soaring to an all-time high of $2,630 as of the story’s publication. Flemming finds compelling characters like Sean Tucker, who previously founded a deep-sea treasure hunting company that tried to find sunken treasures in shipwrecks off the coast of Colombia before switching to treasure buried in California. These pieces are thoroughly reported -- and thoroughly enjoyable to read.

Silver Winner: Aarthi Swaminathan, MarketWatch

Collection Includes: “The new battle in divorce: Who gets custody of the low mortgage rate?” “These sellers don’t want to pay 6% commissions – so they’re pushing back,” “They don’t make $1.8 million houses like they used to: Home inspectors use TikTok to reveal ‘shoddy’ new homes”

Judges’ Comment: Aarthi Swaminathan uses compelling examples, writing about how home inspectors are taking to TikTok to post videos of shoddy workmanship in hastily built new houses. Their fear-inducing clips show rotten wood, unanchored bathtubs and toilets not firmly rooted to the ground. Yikes. Another story explains how divorcing couples sometimes even stay in the same house, with one person in the basement, to keep their pandemic-era low interest rates. Using numbers, of course, Swaminathan shows that breaking up is hard to do -- especially when it means giving up rates of 2.8% and refinancing at 7%.

Bronze Winner: James Rodriguez, Business Inside

Collection Includes: “Our Zestimate Obsession,” “The Age of DumBro,” “Home Sellers Are Facing a Summer from Hell”

Honorable Mention (tie): Katherine Kallergis, The Real Deal

Collection Includes: “How Goldentayer’s game won her a top spot in Miami luxury real estate,” “‘Bloodbath of competition’: What could happen when Miami’s pipeline of condo-hotels is delivered,” “How David Martin plans to deliver the biggest project of his career”

Honorable Mention (tie): Julie Lasky, Freelance Writer, The New York Times

Collection Includes: “A Suitable Retreat in a Postwar Environment,” “A Finn’s Trove,” “Tucking Herself Into a Place That Has Everything”

Category 3: Best Collection of Work by an Individual Covering Commercial Real Estate

Gold Winner: Aaron Elstein, Crain’s New York Business

Collection Includes: “Helmsley Building heading to foreclosure,” “SL Green sees opportunity in office carnage,” “Midtown residents risk losing their homes as co-ops face ground lease renewal”

Judges’ Comment: Elstein’s work is an impressive collection of breaking news (he scooped the competition on the Helmsley Building foreclosure), as well as enterprise and contextual journalism. In “SL Green sees opportunity,” Elstein’s sources reveal the giant landlord’s aspirations in the troubled commercial sector, and he contextualizes it with critical numbers, such as the large number of short sellers in the stock. His story on the ground lease battle affecting Manhattan co-ops takes care to humanize those affected and does an excellent job explaining the byzantine ownership structure’s long history. Elstein’s writing is crisp and clear, and his sourcing is first-rate

Silver Winner: Natalie Wong, Bloomberg News

Collection Includes: "'Billionaire Stephen Ross Believes in South Florida – and is Spending Big to Transform It,” “There’s Finally Hope for the Office Real Estate Market,” “Adam Neumann’s Latest Project is a WeWork Competitor”

Judges' Comment: Wong’s collection demonstrates her range, from sharp analysis that puts her readers ahead of the curve in the highly competitive commercial real estate market to a deeply reported look at the motivations behind billionaire Stephen Ross’s massive projects in West Palm Beach. Wong finds the pandemic-era flood of New York transplants tapering, and octogenarian Ross angling for an outside boost (such as a Vanderbilt University outpost) for what is most likely his capstone project. An eye for detail and smooth prose round out this winning collection.

Bronze Winner: Keith Larsen, The Real Deal

Collection Includes: “Inside the turmoil at Columbia’s Master of Science in Real Estate Development program,” “Behind the unraveling of Nir Meir,” “Riverside Abstract’s dedication to client service may have gone too far”

Honorable Mention: Lidia Dinkova, The Real Deal

Collection Includes: “‘Day of reckoning’: South Florida multifamily investors feel sting of rising interest rates, insurance,” “‘A lot of square footage’: Six office buildings are on tap in Miami Beach. Will all get leased?” “‘Miami has jumped the shark’: Analyzing South Florida’s office sales slump”

Category 4: Best Regular or Syndicated Real Estate Colum

Gold Winner: Kirk Pinho, Crain's Detroit Business

“Skyscraper boom could have consequences for birds”

Judge’ Comment: Kirk Pinho calls attention to the threat posed by Detroit’s changing skyline to millions of birds whose migration paths cross the city. His column is a work of clarity and balance, weaving together explanations of birds’ seasonal movements, concerns of activists and environmentalists, and actionable practices that buildings can and should be taking to minimize bird collisions and deaths. He uses his column as a place to hold accountable specific buildings that pose the highest risks, calling on these members of the Detroit cityscape to help protect Detroit’s avian visitors.

Silver Winner: Julie Lasky, Freelance Writer, The New York Times

“Living Small” column - Collection Includes: “Maximizing Comfort in a Minimalist Space,” “They Found a Rare Species in the Catskills,” “Tucking Herself into a Place That Has Everything”

Judge’ Comment: Julie Lasky invites readers into the homes of people who have led lives as unique as their lodgings. With Lasky’s descriptive words woven with the use of quotes from the homeowners, there’s no need to imagine the look and feel of a 74-square-foot loft in Rotterdam, a 192-square-foot cabin in the Catskills and a 345-square-foot tiny house in North Carolina. But instead of simply holding us in voyeuristic awe of these people and their small patches of square footage, Lasky draws us in on what we all have in common: the search for a house that feels like home, no matter what that may look or feel like.

Bronze Winner: Robyn Friedman, Freelance Writer, The Wall Street Journal

“You Have Homeowners Insurance. Is It Enough to Rebuild Your House?”

Category 5: Best Economic Analysis - Real Estate

Gold Winner: Nicole Friedman, The Wall Street Journa
“Insurance and Taxes Now Cost More Than Mortgages for Many Homeowners”

Judges’ Comment: Friedman’s story, built on data analysis, reveals an alarming trend in home ownership: A growing number of people are paying more in taxes and insurance than for their mortgage. Miami and New Orleans are among the worst cities for this phenomenon, not surprisingly because of hurricanes and flooding, but so are Rochester, New York, and Syracuse, New York. Friedman’s storytelling is well-supported by data and experts, but her true gift is in the real people she finds, such as the Florida woman who wants out of her condo (and sky-high insurance premiums) but hasn’t been able to find a buyer. Friedman’s human touch demonstrates how an economic analysis can both inform and engage.

Silver Winner: Mike Wereschagin, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“Post-Gazette investigation: Pittsburgh’s budget on the brink in 2025”

Judges’ Comment: Wereschagin analyzes Pittsburgh’s worsening fiscal crisis through a comprehensive examination of city budget documents and tax records. What he finds is waning property tax revenue from troubled office high-rises and overly optimistic budget assumptions. Wereschagin breaks down the complex economic reality for readers in clear, well-written prose. He engages the reader right away by describing the impact of a proposed cut in police and emergency services overtime on popular parades and other city events. Strong visuals and graphics also help make this a winning story.

Bronze Winner: Paulina Cachero, Bloomberg News

“How Gen Z Ended Up in So Much Debt”

Honorable Mention: Matt Wasielewski, Bisnow

“Facing Billions in Budget Shortfalls, Cities Scramble for Solutions”

Category 6: Best Interior Design Story

Gold Winner: Sarah Paynter, The Wall Street Journal

“Champagne Bars, Tanning Booths and Revolving Shoe Racks: The $1 Million Closet Has Arrived”

Judges’ Comment: Yes, wealthy homeowners are dropping as much as $1 million on closets, including a two-story one with a spray-tan booth and an elevator. Sarah Paynter avoids passing judgment on anyone’s silk wallpaper or meditation areas. Instead, she uses her eyes and ears during interviews with people like Kimmie Turiansky, who hosts her girlfriends in her $120,000, 470-square-foot space – with amenities like a center island with a brass charging port for her Chanel handbag with an LED screen. She also tucks in details about guys, who apparently like leather finishes and places to store collections of 200 shoes (hip-hop promoter Damon Dash and singer Elton John). Like the best reporters, Paynter gets memorable quotes about everything from “closet-reveal parties” to metal mesh shelves that let shoes “breathe.”

Silver Winner: Amy Gamerman, Freelance Writer, Mansion, The Wall Street Journal

“He Didn’t Want to Move. So He Built a Small One in the Backyard.”

Judges’ Comment: Amy Gamerman knows a trend in the making. In this thoroughly reported piece, she showcases the latest luxury: an exquisite miniature house designed to complement the big one out front. Traditionally, homeowners built accessory dwelling units for aging parents or adult offspring. But now a growing number seem to be moving into the tiny houses, which are set on solid foundations and are equipped with plumbing, bathrooms, kitchens and washer-dryers. Full of anecdotes and real people, like the ADU-dwelling dad who gifted the big home to his 49-year-old daughter (“I said, ‘Do you want the house? You’re going to get it sooner or later.’”), this expertly crafted piece might make mansion builders think twice.

Bronze Winner: Emily Jensen, Business Insider

“Extreme Apartment Makeover”

Category 7: Best Architecture Story

Gold Winner: Amanda Abrams, Freelance Writer, The Intercept

“The Little-Known Reason Counties Keep Building Bigger Jails: Architecture Firms”

Judges’ Comment: Whoever heard of “justice architecture”? In this heartbreaking story, Amanda Abrams writes that architecture companies produce “feasibility studies” and “needs assessments” that inevitably assume a future with more inmates and recommend bigger jails – and then lobby to get the contracts to draw up the plans for them and use public funds to build them. They don’t seem to improve life for inmates. As she notes, the word “architect” might “conjure images of soaring ceilings and big windows.” But these firms are rarely creating innovative designs. So inmates, like a 41-year-old with a history of mental illness who went off his medication and quickly committed three robberies, wind up spending years behind bars in spaces ill-suited to help them.

Silver Winner: Anna Kodé, The New York Times

“The Fight to Save Googie, the Style of Postwar Optimism”

Judges’ Comment: This well-reported homage to old-school restaurants with huge, space-age neon signs designed to catch the attention of people driving by in cars captures why so many Americans are lamenting the loss of these wacky-looking places. The giant Arby’s cowboy hat exemplifies the style known as Googie, adopted by Southern California drive-ins, motels, donut shops and other roadside businesses during the 1940s through 1970s. She gives excellent historical context, noting height and size limits – and Lyndon Johnson’s 1965 “America the Beautiful” initiative that spread the idea that “commercial clutter” was taking over U.S. roads. Readers, are remaining Googie signs an eyesore -- or a nostalgic nod to a more fun, creative time?

Bronze Winner: James Rodriguez, Business Insider

“America Has a Serious Ugly Home Problem”

Honorable Mention (tie): Sarah Rappaport, Bloomberg News

“Party Barns Are the Hottest Amenity for UK’s Countryside Rich”

Honorable Mention (tie): Michele Lerner, Freelance Writer, Mansion Global

“Log Cabin Living – But Luxuriously”

Category 8: Best Residential Real Estate Story – Daily or Weekly Newspaper

Gold Winner: Debra Kamin, The New York Times

“The Homeowners Who Beat the National Association of Realtors”

Judges’ Comment: Medical reporters try to track down “patient zero” -- the first person to become infected with a disease. Debra Kamin finds the six ordinary home sellers in Missouri who took on the National Association of Realtors over its seemingly nonnegotiable rules on broker commissions, which they feel is unfair. One of them, a police officer, says his real estate agent quoted him a “law-enforcement special” of 5.5% and then charged him 6% anyway. Kamin knows the power of numbers and uses them effectively. One of the couples owed $107,000 on their mortgage, sold the house for $126,000, netted $18,000 – and then paid 40% of that amount to commissions for their agent and the buyer’s agent. As the owner says, “It was a hard pill to swallow that we were walking away with so little.” Solid reporting, and lots of it, pays off.

Silver Winner: Will Parker, The Wall Street Journal

“Dreading the Constable’s Knock in an Eviction Capital”

Judges’ Comment: In Phoenix, a popular, landlord-friendly city with high rents, constables for eviction courts remove people from their homes when they stop paying rent. Pandemic assistance programs are over, and local laws are on the side of owners who want to get their money promptly. As Will Parker notes, the time between late rent and an eviction filing in Arizona can be as few as five days. Evictions in the “Silicon Desert” make work for attorneys, locksmiths, moving and storage companies, and extended-stay hotels. Also effective: Parker’s use of one of the constables, a Republican who in a past life was evicted twice himself. It’s a haunting and riveting story.

Bronze Winner: Nicole Friedman, The Wall Street Journal

“The Hidden Costs of Homeownership Are Skyrocketing”

Honorable Mention (tie): Marissa Luck, Houston Chronicle

“Forget pools and home theaters. Whole-home generators are the new ‘must have’ for Houston mansions.”

Honorable Mention (tie): Robyn Friedman, Freelance Writer, The Boston Globe

“One Big, Happy Family: The Rise of Multigenerational Living in America”

Category 9: Best Residential Mortgage or Financial Real Estate Story – Daily or Weekly Newspaper

Gold Winner: Akiko Matsuda, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy, The Wall Street Journal

“Retirees’ Life Savings Can Vanish in Continuing Care Bankruptcies”

Judges’ Comment: When continuing care retirement communities fail financially, they put their residents and their heirs at risk of losing hefty, “fully refundable” entrance fee deposits. To illustrate how devastating this is, Akiko Matsuda zooms in on real seniors. One World War II veteran paid $145,000 to Henry Ford Village in suburban Detroit, which filed for bankruptcy, and his heirs learned they would recoup only $18,000 of it. His daughter calls it an “insult to the dignity and the integrity of a life well lived.” Matsuda also zooms out, explaining that 1,900 so-called continuing care or life-plan communities operate across the U.S. with 623,000 residents. After their retirement communities go belly up, seniors can lose their physical homes, their healthcare, and their life savings. Tragic.

Silver Winner: Jacob Geanous, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“‘Nobody Wants to Leave Their House’: Evictions jumped nearly 20% in Allegheny County in 2023”

Judges’ Comment: To show how the increase in evictions is devastating some Pittsburgh residents, Jacob Geanous turns to a reporter’s best tools: numbers and real people. The number of evictions filed in the county jumped nearly 20% in a year – from 11,115 in 2022 to 13,225 in 2023. Among them: a mom of five who found herself locked out of the federally subsidized apartment, where she lived for a decade, after she lost her job and failed to pay rent. As Geanous explains, unemployment and inflation intensified an already bad situation after the pandemic-era federal eviction moratorium ended in August 2021. Who suffers most? Communities of color.

Bronze Winner: Heather Senison, Freelance Writer, The New York Times

“One Family’s Road to Building a House Despite the Obstacles”

Honorable Mention: Richard Mize, The Oklahoman

“Homeowners Insurance Is Through the Roof in Oklahoma – and the Roof Might Not be Covered, Either”

Category 10: Best Commercial Real Estate Story - Daily or Weekly Newspaper

Gold Winner: Konrad Putzier, The Wall Street Journal
“The Real Estate Nightmare Unfolding in Downtown St. Louis”
Judges’ Comment: Putzier delves into the post-Covid remains of downtown St. Louis and writes compellingly about its self-perpetuating "doom loop." In a 15-block stretch, he meticulously mapped, there are two empty storefronts for every occupied one. He pulled cell phone data showing visits downtown are half what they were in 2019. Putzier knows what details will bring the story to life: An attorney complains his firm has no place to get lunch after the nearby Panera closed; signs warn visitors to “park in well-lit areas”; and a parking garage’s ceilings are crumbling, propped up by makeshift poles. The story’s beautiful photos and color-coded map help illustrate the decay.

Silver Winner: Oshrat Carmiel, Freelance Writer, New York Post

“How Canny Foreigners Are Investing Their Way Into a Green Card”

Judges’ Comment: Wealthy foreign investors have long used real estate investment as a fast track to getting a green card. But the $800,000 they used to invest in big city projects must now go to rural communities. Carmiel’s story is an intriguing look at some of the unexpected projects that have grown out of this change, including a religious Jewish community in Florida and a flour mill in Oregon. Carmiel talks to several developers who solicit funding for the ventures and finds it’s a booming area. The story is thoroughly reported, well-written and entertaining.

Bronze Winner: Brian J. Rogal, Chicago Tribune

“Financial crisis at Heartland Alliance leads to furloughs, program cuts and an attempt to sell hundreds of affordable housing units”

Honorable Mention: Daniel Geiger, Business Insider

“Luxury developer Michael Shvo has big plans. Bitter disputes and a soft real estate market threaten to thwart them”

Category 11: Best Residential Real Estate, Residential Mortgage or Financial Real Estate Magazine Story - General Circulation

Gold Winner: Robyn Friedman, Freelance Writer, Kiplinger Personal Finance

“Is a 55+ Community Right for You?”

Judges’ Comments: A big question for aging homeowners in an era of “active adult” communities: Should they stay, or should they go? Robyn Friedman lays out the pros and cons, using dollars and real seniors. One sixty-something couple, who sold their Silicon Valley house, bought into a North Carolina 55+ development and happily spends their days playing pickleball and going to happy hours and concerts. A couple who bought into a Washington state community love the on-site water aerobics and line dancing. It’s all low maintenance, with the homeowners’ association handling landscaping and snow removal. Always balanced, Friedman also spells out downsides, including rules that may limit how long grandkids can visit and HOA fees that may increase faster than expected. Her practical tips include considering a test drive known as a “stay and play weekend.”

Silver Winner: Prashant Gopal, Bloomberg Markets Magazine

“Empty Rentals Burn Vacation-Home Owners Near Florida’s Disney World”

Judges’ Comment: In this lively, richly reported story, Prashant Gopal looks at how investing in Mickey Mouse – in this case, properties near Walt Disney World -- isn’t always a sure bet. He zooms in on Kissimmee, the 21-square-mile Orlando suburb with over 30,000 Airbnbs and other short-term rentals, more than any other U.S. city. The old rock-bottom interest rates fueled a buying binge there. But now post-pandemic travel to places like Disney World is slowing, rental income is falling, and investors are questioning a strategy called BRRRR (for buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat). Gopal tracks down hope-springs-eternal types, like a guy who will “theme” a house with, say, a 10-foot “Transformers” robot replica. Enjoy.

Bronze Winner: Emily Landes, The Real Deal

“How Icon Emerged from the Ashes of Corcoran’s First Major Franchise, Global Living”

Category 12: Best Residential Real Estate Trade or B-to-B Magazine Story

Gold Winner: Kate Hinsche, The Real Deal

“The Last Piece of Paradise: Palm Beach Battles for Its Only Major Dev Site Left”

Judges’ Comment: In Palm Beach, “not in my backyard” takes on a whole new meaning. Kate Hinsche, a master of “show, don’t tell” storytelling, starts with the doomed tale of a 5.8-acre parcel – basically a parking lot --that would seem ripe for developing. Nope. Opponents to building an apparently well-conceived space with 37 residential units included Liza Pulitzer, the great-granddaughter of newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer. After all, as Hinsche captures in her tale, this is Palm Beach. Fewer than 2,500 homes sit on the 16-mile-long island, perhaps best known for its estates like Mar-a-Lago and for its status as home to the highest concentration of houses priced at $50 million or more. As Hinsche points out, neighboring West Palm Beach is happily embracing developers. Noted.

Silver Winner: Sheridan Wall, The Real Deal

“Can Ryan Serhant Scale a National Brokerage Built on His Personality?”

Judges’ Comment: Sheridan Wall captures the essence of Ryan Serhant, a TV star with an eponymous brokerage in New York and seven other states. How many brokers boast 2.2 million followers on Instagram or a reality show – in his case, “Owning Manhattan”? Wall details his legend, from his start as an AT&T hand model to his 19-episode run on “As the World Turns” to nine seasons on Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing New York.” His “eat-sleep-sell” mentality seems exhausting (he worries about “not doing enough”), but Wall simply lays it out there rather than celebrating it or passing judgment. First-rate reporting.

Bronze Winner: Moira Ritter, CoStar News

“Hurricane Fallout Tests North Carolina Agents Working Through Home Buying Season’s New Reality”

Category 13: Best Commercial Real Estate Trade or B-to-B Magazine Story

Gold Winner: Rich Bockmann, The Real Deal

“Inside the Family Feud of the Multibillion-Dollar Sol Goldman Empire”

Judges’ Comments: Family feuds can make compelling yarns, and Rich Bochmann more than delivers in this deeply reported, “Succession-esque” tale about the four children of real-estate investor Sol Goldman. He pieces through trial testimony and court documents and interviews the key players. Sol Goldman’s will named his youngest daughter, Jane, and his son, Allan, who recently died of Parkinson’s, as his co-executors. Four decades later the family is in court. At stake: control of a $4 billion to $16 billion empire that includes properties like 96 Fifth Avenue. And of course, it’s complicated. For example, Sol Goldman begged his wife not to divorce him and scrawled on a yellow legal notepad that she would get a third of his fortune when he died if she stayed. And Sol Goldman’s daughter Amy, perhaps the world’s premiere vegetable gardener, most strongly opposes her sister Jane these days. It's screenplay material.

Silver Winner: Emma Whalen, The Real Deal

“Inside Jay Shidler’s Ground Lease Kingdom”

Judges’ Comment: Hawaii-based Jay Shidler likes to own the land beneath buildings – a business model used by the king of the islands that later became an American state. Extensive reporting makes it possible for reporter Emma Whalen to convincingly draw that comparison and to tell an intriguing tale about how Shidler uses this real-estate strategy. He’s a compelling character who has contributed $238 million in cash and ground leases to his alma mater, the University of Hawaii. It’s a kingly amount.

Bronze Winner (tie): Evelyn Lee, PERE

“Ryan Cotton’s Outsider Perspective”

Bronze Winner (tie): Jeff Shaw, Seniors Housing Business

“Development Lessons from Abroad”

Category 14: Best Online Residential, Mortgage or Financial Real Estate Story

Gold Winner: Deborah Kearns, Freelance Writer, RISMedia

“Mortgage Industry Exodus: ‘Nearly Half’ of Producing Loan Officers Have Left the Business”

Judges’ Comment: Deborah Kearns shines a spotlight on mortgage loan officers as thousands have been laid off in the past few years. She balances data giving a macro look at the challenges facing the industry alongside personal anecdotes of loan officers trying to navigate the uncertainties of the real estate industry in terms of their own careers and livelihoods. She clearly shows how the overlapping pressures of higher interest rates, low housing industry and concentration of business in the hands of the top loan originators creates a “no-win situation” for those not at the top, who turn to multiple side gigs or exit the industry entirely.

Silver Winner: Kate Wood, NerdWallet

“What the Fed’s Rate Cutting Plans Mean for the Housing Market”

Judges’ Comment: Kate Wood clearly broke down for buyers and homeowners looking to refinance or sell how the Federal Reserve’s cuts could affect them, not just in the immediate aftermath of the cut but as the domino effects for the market play out. Wood brings in experts as well as takes data from recent historical trends to give those looking to buy, sell or refinance the information they need to decide the best path for them.

Bronze Winner: Libertina Brandt, The Wall Street Journal

“Public Beach or Private? Homeowners in Florida Draw a Line in the Sand”

Honorable Mention: Andrew Dehan, Bankrate

“How Generative AI Is Changing The Mortgage Process”

Category 15: Best Online Commercial Real Estate Story

Gold Winner: Ethan Rothstein, Maddy McCarty and Jarred Schenke, Bisnow

“A VC-Backed Startup Turned Houses into Stocks. Its Bets Are Failing, Leaving Its Tenants and Investors in Limbo”
Judges’ Comment: Rothstein, McCarty and Schenke were ahead of the curve on this exceptional story about fractional real estate company Landa, a start-up that sold investors small shares in properties and claimed it was “democratizing” home ownership. Later, many of those investors couldn’t access their money or get answers from Landa. The reporters visited properties and talked to tenants, who said the homes offered cheap rent but weren’t maintained. Schenke’s photos helped document the abandoned and neglected properties. Meticulously reported and well-written, the story proved prescient, as a judge later ordered Landa to divest more than 100 properties that were mismanaged and in default.

Silver Winner: Patrick Clark and Prashant Gopal, Bloomberg News
“Why NYC Apartment Buildings Are on Sale Now for 50% Off”

Judges’ Comment: Clark and Gopal detail the impact of new (2019) rent-control restrictions on New York City landlords in this deeply reported story. Their findings are dramatic: Rent-controlled buildings have lost an estimated $75 billion in value, a sharp reversal of their big gains under the old rules. Landlords, no longer rewarded for their efforts, have stopped upgrading the buildings. Some have sold their buildings, sometimes for half what they paid, while others have stopped renting out their units altogether. Clark and Gopal provide a nuanced analysis and history of rent control, and interview tenants who count on the reduced-rate digs.

Bronze Winner: Emily Wishingrad and Jon Banister, Bisnow

“’Shocking’ Plunge in Office Values Reveals Depth of D.C.’s Looming Economic Crisis”

Honorable Mention: Matt Wasielewski, Bisno

“The Average Appraiser is Aging Out of the Workforce. A Crippling Labor Shortage Looms”

Category 16: Best Real Estate E-Newsletter Editor

Gold Winner: Katharine Carlon, Maddy McCarty, and Billy Wadsack, Bisnow

The Texas Tea

Judges’ Comment: This conversational newsletter is like sitting down across from a friend or neighbor to discuss and dissect the latest neighborhood gossip. It tackles the biggest headline news of the area with nuanced commentary and shares the best of Bisnow with appetite-whetting, quick-hitting blurbs full of context that make readers want to click on the link and get the whole story. The calendar at the end of the newsletter is a nice touch that nods to the sense of community this newsletter is cultivating.

Silver Winner: Steph Kukuljan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Brick City

Judges’ Comment: Brick City offers St. Louis a consistent, reliable rundown of the most important stories affecting the local real estate market. Kukuljan’s news judgment shines through the selection of top stories, a sharp and surgical breakdown of an ongoing saga of reinvestment in north St. Louis and the handy “reporter’s notebook” highlighting interesting odds and ends. It has established itself as a must-read of STL real estate news.

BRONZE: Greg Dool, PERE

Blueprint

Category 17: Best Audio Real Estate Report – Online or Broadcast – Podcast or Radio – local, network, subscription or internet channels

Gold Winner: Stephanie Ricca, Hotel News Now

“Tell Me More: A Hospitality Data Podcast”
Judges’ Comment: The best podcasts make the listener feel like they’re part of the conversation. Ricca hits the mark in this deep dive into hotel and travel trends featuring three guests and lots of valuable insights. A guest from Expedia identifies trends for 2025, such as Gen Z’s booming affinity for all-inclusive resorts. Ricca’s engagement with her guests, easy banter and well-placed questions help to break up potentially dense material. Strong production values round out this winner.

Silver Winner: Jordana Rothberg, Multi-Housing News

“MHN: Top Marketers: The Psychology of Marketing”

Judges’ Comment: Rothberg is a skilled host who engages warmly with her guest, a respected multi-family marketer who is full of tips for getting desirable tenants to commit. From ending every email with a question (to encourage more communication) to urging potential tenants to touch everything during property tours, this podcast offers actionable advice for marketers, with a psychological twist. Rothberg knows what will keep the listener on the hook and delivers it with strong production values and professionalism.

Bronze Winner: Sarah Wheeler, Housing Wire Daily

“Logan Mohtashami on Mortgage Rates Under a Trump Presidency”

Honorable Mention: Paul Rosta, Commercial Property Executive

“Investment Matters: Forging Development Success”

Category 18: Best Video Real Estate Report Online or Broadcast – Streaming or Television – local, network, subscription or internet channel
Gold Winner: Jared Kofsky, Maia Rosenfeld, Steve Osunsami, Howard Tate, Steve Senn, Mike Ladisa, Stephen Mucci, Steve Widner, Sabrina Cedeno-Tobon, Cindy Galli, and Eric Ortega, ABC News and ABC Owned Television Stations

“Our Inheritance is Washing Away: Shiloh Revisited”

Judges’ Comment: ABC's prime-time video story follows up on their previous investigation into flooding on land in Alabama after a new state highway was built. The land, owned for the past 150 years by 12 Black families, floods repeatedly when it rains, but the state refuses to acknowledge the flooding has anything to do with the new highway just yards away. The news coverage prompts then-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to visit, and ABC tags along. The story’s compelling characters make viewers care about a far-flung community and root for a solution.

Silver Winner: Michelle Jarboe, News 5 Cleveland (WEWS)

“’Just providence.’ There’s a plan to save two historic mansions on Cleveland’s East Side”
Judges’ Comment: Two old mansions are the last survivors on a Cleveland street in a once-deemed “bad neighborhood.” The local preservation society is raising money to restore them. Jarboe tells that story, but it’s wrapped in the more poignant tale of how the owner, Frances May, fought hard to earn landmark status for the homes to ensure their survival after her death. One of May’s sons visits the house with Jarboe to reminisce and to view items May collected for a future museum in the home. The story is beautifully crafted and makes good use of historic photos, music and graphics.

Bronze Winner: Francisco Alvarado, Nicole Guillen, and Sydnee Bursik, The Real Deal

“How Wynwood became Miami’s hottest neighborhood”

Honorable Mention: Jesse Williams, RISMedia

“Brokers Expect Post-Election Sales Jump, With Rates Dependent on Outcome”

Category 19: Best Breaking Real Estate News Story

Gold Winner: Patrick Clark, Natalie Wong, and Diana Li, Bloomberg News

“A $560 Billion Property Warning Hits Banks From NY to Tokyo”

Judges’ Comment: This collaboration between reporters in the U.S. and Japan took overnight breaking news of New York Community Bancorp’s and Tokyo-based Aozora Bank’s stocks plunging and reported with an eye beyond just the immediate effects on the market. They showed how various factors such as increased regulation and fearful investors were keeping the commercial real estate market in a state of precarity that would have ramifications beyond just the troubled office market. Their work painted a picture of a complex web with no easy fix and warned of the possibility of long-reaching effects.

Silver Winner: Katherine Kallergis and Sheridan Wall, The Real Deal

“Lawsuits accuse top broker Oren Alexander, brother Alon of rape”

Judges’ Comment: This story broke the news of lawsuits accusing a top broker and his twin brother of rape. Katherine Kallergis and Sheridan Wall untangled the series of cases stacking up against Oren and Alon Alexander, giving context and nuance to the headlines and stories that have proliferated since on the Alexander brothers. The story broke down the lawsuits, explaining both the allegations and the legal implications in New York, where the suits were filed, showing sound news judgment on which details to include.

Bronze Winner: Maddy McCarty, Bisnow

“$384M In Houston Multifamily Properties Set For Auction Block Tuesday As Distress Mounts”

Honorable Mention: Kirk Pinho, Kurt Nagl, David Eggert, Crain's Detroit Business

“RenCen plan would demolish 2 towers — but it hinges on public money”

Category 20: Best Investigative Report or Investigative Series - Real Estate

Gold Winner: Lizzie Kane and Talia Soglin, The Chicago Tribune

“Verbal abuse, a ‘sex-driven’ culture: Ex-employees describe toxic environment at Guaranteed Rate”

Judges’ Comment: Lizzie Kane and Talia Soglin’s in-depth reporting on employees’ experiences working for residential mortgage company Guaranteed Rate uncovered a toxic culture characterized by verbal abuse and misogyny. Kane and Soglin interviewed dozens of former employees and reviewed court records, internal company emails, exit interviews and text messages, meticulously piecing together a picture of a workplace environment that affected employees’ mental health and led many to quit, despite a public-facing employee-wellness campaign toted by the company. Kane and Soglin make it easy to follow the many layers of their investigation, a showcase of masterful and meticulous reporting.

Silver Winner: Jason Hidalgo, Reno Gazette-Journal

Series Includes: “Families say misplaced headstones and poor upkeep at Mountain View Cemetery compounded their grief,” “Conflict over Reno’s only Muslim cemetery test the area’s Muslim community”

Judges’ Comment: Jason Hidalgo uncovers a pattern of mismanagement and conflict at a Reno cemetery that serves the local Muslim community. He shines a spotlight on problems, such as bodies being moved to different spots in the cemetery, poor upkeep, extra fees being charged and headstones being lost or misplaced — that is, placed on the wrong graves. Hidalgo contextualizes the significance to the community of having a dedicated Muslim cemetery, explaining the traditions of Muslim burials and increased ability of families to visit their loved ones. His reporting creates a multi-dimensional picture, highlighting both the personal and legal ramifications of this conflict.

Bronze Winner: Sydnee Chapman Gonzalez, Freelance Writer, The Utah Investigative Journalism Project

Series Includes: “Utah in danger of losing hundreds of affordable housing units in next few years” The Utah Investigative Journalism Project & KSL.com; “St.George complex among hundreds of affordable housing units expiring in the next few years” St George News; “Ogden complexes among hundreds of affordable housing units expiring in the next few years” The Standard-Examiner.

Honorable Mention: Alex Nitkin, A.D. Quig, and Cam Rodriguez - Chicago Tribune and Illinois Answers Project

Series Includes: “Luxury Home or Vacant Lot? Cook County Assessor Misclassifies Hundreds of Properties, Missing $444M in One Year Alone,” “How We Reported on Cook County Assessment Errors” Illinois Answers Project; “Misclassifications, missed millions,” “How much have county assessors back taxed?” “How we reported on assessment errors” Chicago Tribune.

Category 21: Best Multi-Platform Package or Series - Real Estate

Gold Winner (tie): Caroline Spivack, Crain’s New York Business

“Subway & Retail SOS”

Judges’ Comment: Spivack’s story is a visually stunning data-driven investigation of the mall spaces beneath the New York City subway in Manhattan. They’re 80% vacant, worse than the worst-performing shopping malls, Spivack finds, while transit ridership has mostly rebounded after Covid-19. She interviews transit experts who say the dark, empty spaces make riders feel unsafe. The story is layered with historical and international context alongside a vertical timeline dotted with text, numbers, video, photos and pull-quotes that add a wonderful sense of discovery to the reader’s experience. It’s an impressive piece of work.

Gold Winner (tie): Marissa Luck and Amelia Winger, The Houston Chronicle

Series Includes: “Houston is filled with empty office buildings no one wants. Why aren’t more turned into housing?” “How $100M turned a vacant downtown Houston highrise office into luxury apartments,” “Why converting offices to apartments won’t save a broken office market in Houston”

Judges’ Comment: Empty office buildings beg the question – what will become of them? Luck and Winger attempt to answer that question for Houston’s empty buildings in this outstanding series of stories. Costs are steep, but the city could provide tax incentives, developers tell them. One of the stories allows the reader to scroll over a floor plan of an office to see how it can transform into residential units. Another explores a recently converted property that’s succeeded. Luck and Winger leave few stones unturned in this deeply reported series, and their writing style is clear and accessible.

Silver Winner: Natalie Wong and Patrick Clark, Bloomberg News

“The Brutal Reality of Plunging Office Values is Here”

Judges’ Comment: Wong and Clark surveyed the state of the U.S. office building market as deals resumed post-Covid 19, and produced a compelling story that’s impressive in both scope and depth. With more than $1 trillion in commercial real estate loans coming due, property owners must either default or sell buildings for a fraction of what they paid. With nuance and context and plenty of detail, Wong and Clark write coherently about the reckoning. An explainer video further articulates the issue with high-quality production values, writing and interviews.

Bronze Winner: Jonathan LaMantia and Jasmine Anderson, Newsday

“Why Long Island homebuyers can’t catch a break in a market where prices are up 86% in 10 years

Honorable Mention: Erin Reynolds, The Philadelphia Inquirer

“Real estate social video stories”

Category 22: Best Real Estate Data Journalism Reporting

Gold Winner: Ronda Kaysen and Ethan Singer, The New York Times

“Millions of Movers Reveal American Polarization in Action”

Judges’ Comment: Ronda Kaysen, Ethan Singer and the graphics team literally show what happens when people who are Democrat and Republican relocate from more politically balanced neighborhoods to ones that are more red or more blue – that is, more ideologically homogenous. (Independents choose more balanced places.) Kaysen and Singer sift through extensive data, including voter-registration records, and interview many movers to show how partisanship plays a powerful role when Americans uproot and find a new home. This widens the gap between blue and red communities. In essence, as this fascinating story and its compelling visuals show, it seems Americans’ home is increasingly where both their hearts and the members of their political party are.

Silver Winner: Nicole Friedman and Alana Pipe, The Wall Street Journal

“Boomers Buying Houses Had It Bad in the ‘80s. Millennials Have It Worse.”

Judges’ Comment: It’s official: The environment for buying a home is even worse today than in the 1980s. Back then, mortgage rates were even higher. Yet the supply was bigger. Nicole Friedman and Alana Pipe show with numbers why millennials and Gen Zers feel frustrated as they cross their fingers for more home building. The Wall Street Journal team finds the data, crunches it, shows it in charts and clearly explains it in this thoroughly reported numbers-heavy story. Yes, it’s true that the median age of first-time and repeat buyers is getting older and older. And it’s true that the inventory of single-family homes for sale is down. Interestingly, the popularity of adjustable-rate mortgages is plummeting. Boomers who felt the pinch in the ‘80s may feel lucky after they see this story.

Bronze Winner (tie): Kate Hinsche and Adam Farence, The Real Deal

“The Miami Paradox”

Bronze Winner (tie): Carmen Arroyo, Natalie Wong, Aaron Gordon and Christopher Cannon, Bloomberg News

“The Commercial Real Estate Crash Is Battering Even the Safest Bonds”

Honorable Mention: Frank Kummer, Kevin Riordan, Jake Blumgart, Joseph N. DiStefano, and Erin McCarthy, The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“Millions of square feet of warehouses have dramatically altered the Philly area. Towns are starting to push back.”

Category 23: Best International Real Estate Story

Gold Winner: Colette Coleman, Freelance Writer, The New York Times

“Blaxit: Tired of Racism, Black Americans Try Life in Africa”

Judges’ Comment: Colette Coleman weaves together the stories of Black Americans who have relocated to Africa, building homes and living in places without the deep-rooted racism and discrimination they faced in the U.S. Coleman crafts, with care, a complex look at what changes for these families after their move - from their material situations, to the psychological effects, to navigating new tensions that arise. These unique perspectives add dimension to our understanding of the challenges still facing and remaining unaddressed in American society.

Silver Winner: Mark Faithfull and Mike Phillips, Bisnow

“The Green Building Certification System Is Worth Billions — But It Isn't Helping”

Judges’ Comment: Mark Faithfull and Mike Phillips explore the business behind green building certification as it experiences a “golden age.” Their reporting shows how the certification system, meant to award and encourage buildings and companies to aim for sustainability, is failing at helping the real estate industry cut carbon. A bloated system and varying standards for what constitutes a net-zero building have not helped the process. But Faithfull and Phillips don’t stop there — they identify ways to improve the system and make it more effective, shining a light on a possible path forward.

Bronze Winner: Michele Lerner, Freelance Writer, Green Builder Media

“Should I Expat to Own a Home?”

Category 24: Best Team Report - Real Estate

Gold Winner: Madeline Berg and Dan Latu, Business Insider

“Homes on billionaire hot spot Nantucket are falling into the ocean at an alarming rate – but the wealthy won’t stop buying”

Judges’ Comment: Berg and Latu set out to explain why Nantucket remains a magnet for the ultra-wealthy despite erosion that threatens its multimillion-dollar homes. The story is full of colorful anecdotes and quotes (“..once the septic falls in, it’s a pretty shitty situation”) from residents who gamely stay put. The story soars on such tidbits as a local golf club applying for a demolition permit “in case,” and a coastal home selling for $600,000 instead of the $2.3 million asking price. Meanwhile, a real estate agent worries the industry isn’t doing enough to warn potential buyers. Berg and Latu do a masterful job with this schadenfreude-esque story.

Silver Winner: Teri Errico Griffis and David Slade, The Post and Courier
“Charleston-area employers are buying property to house workers. Could this become a trend?”

Judges’ Comment: Responding to a tip, Griffis and Slade discovered a surprising trend in the Charleston area. A few employers, including the owner of a pharmacy, were buying homes and then renting them to employees at a reduced rate. The reporting duo drilled down on the area’s high cost of housing amid a shortage of affordable homes and found examples in other South Carolina communities, such as Hilton Head, where employer-subsidized housing was taking hold. The story is comprehensive, packed with examples and supporting data, and ahead of the curve.

Bronze Winner: Zachary Hansen and Drew Kann, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Georgia wanted to attract more data centers. Now it needs more power.”

Honorable Mention: Lillian Dickerson and Taylor Anderson, Inman News

“Jason Oppenheim identified as mystery broker in kickback plot”

Category 25: Best Design, Home or Shelter Magazine

Gold Winner: Pete Catapano, Mansion Global

Experience Luxury

Judges’ Comments: This high-end magazine covers lifestyles of the rich and famous with panache. Beautifully photographed, well-reported pieces about multimillion-dollar log cabins and mansions jutting off the side of a cliff are par for the course in this publication. It’s written and edited with panache and clever headlines, including, “Living Like Lincoln – But Luxuriously.” The ads are gorgeous as the editorial pages, and that’s part of the fun and charm of this coffee-table winner. Curl up with Mansion Global and browse through sale listings for properties such as the $37.8 million Sullivan Estate in Hawaii. And then flip back to a story about “wellness” travel to retreats in Bali and New Mexico. This guilty pleasure is decadent and delightful.

Category 26: Best Residential Real Estate - Trade Magazine

Gold Winner: Stuart Elliot, Editor-in-Chief; Cara Eisenpress, Features Editor; Sheridan Wall, Cover Story Reporter and the TRD Staff , The Real Deal

August 2024 issue

Judges’ Comments: The Real Deal knows how to both inform and entertain. It’s hard to resist flipping ahead to “Dirty Deeds: This month in real estate crime and punishment” and reading about an armed, tattooed investor fleeing arrest in Los Angeles. But all the sections are interesting and well named, including “Comings & Goings,“ “Obituaries,” and “In Their Words.” In this issue, TRD tackles “Which Side of the Aisle” – a look at the outspoken, big-spending political players in real estate. It's timely and intriguing. (Trump gets more real-estate donations than Harris.) Other strong pieces: a ranking of LA’s top brokers and a cover about TV star broker Ryan Serhant. It’s a high-quality, hard-to-stop-reading, dishy magazine.

Silver Winner: Paige Tepping, RISMedia Real Estate magazine

February 2024 issue

Judges’ Comments: This magazine gives agents and brokers what they need to know, under sections called “headliners,” “coaching,” “team talk,” “business builders” and “trends and issues.” It also highlights newsmakers, like CoStar founder and CEO Andy Florance, who recently started a big homes.com marketing campaign. The magazine runs a Q&A with a young woman realtor with a side gig as a “golf content creator” – and another Q&A with the president and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices’ New York Properties’ New York City brokerage. It also gives its readers good “news you can use.” For example, a Q&A called “Tips for Talking to Potential Buyer Clients About Commissions” talks about being open about not working for free and about bringing up and explaining the NAR lawsuits. The “hall of fame” profiles also seem like a must-read for people in the industry.

Bronze Winner: Matt Power and Alan Naditz, Green Builder magazine

May-June 2024 issue

Category 27: Best Commercial Real Estate - Trade Magazine

Gold Winner: Stuart Elliot, Editor-in-Chief; Cara Eisenpress, Features Editor; Keith Larsen, Cover Story Reporter and the TRD Staff, The Real Deal

April 2024 issue

Judges’ Comment: The arresting cover line, “Real Estate’s Rasputin,” is classic for The Real Deal, which zeroes in on colorful characters whose stories illustrate larger issues in the industry. (In this case, Nir Meir lived a life of luxury and chaos and wound up at Rikers Island.) TRD is irreverent, in the best way. A regular two-page spread called “In Their Words” shows photos of real-estate newsmakers along with pull quotes from them. As a good industry magazine should, it also includes explainers, including one on why the NAR settled its antitrust lawsuit and what it means. In classic fashion, it also looks at the winners and losers. TRD is never dull, which wonderfully extends to its headlines (“Big Bad Wolfe: Dallas Syndicator Kenny Wolfe may have blown his own house down when he took on office-to-resi conversion”). Read it cover to cover, learn a lot, and smile at the skillful reporting, writing and cleverness.

Silver Winner: Randall Shearin, Shopping Center Business

May 2024 issue

Judges’ Comments: This monthly may seem niche (it is, after all, focused on shopping centers), but it’s fascinating, well reported and well executed. A cover story on Ovation, a planned 80-acre, upscale, mixed-use center in Orlando for adult travelers and locals, explains plans for different themed “zones.” (Zone 5, for example, will be nightlife.) Another piece looks at lessons learned for urban areas from three mixed-use developments in Georgia. And yet another one peeks at that mall staple, Wetzel’s Pretzels, and its new concept, Twisted by Wetzel’s. And as it should, this industry publication includes nuts-and-bolts news about, for example, a new, 135,000-square-foot Target in Provo, Utah, in “Newsline,” and about, for example, a new Freddy’s Frozen Custard airport location in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in “Retail News.” A sign of this magazine’s vibrance: Its 133 pages, including ads.

Bronze Winner: Charlotte D’Souza, Evelyn Lee, Harrison Connery, Jonathan Brasse, Christie Ou, Stuart Watson, Sarah Marx, Lucy Scott, Guelda Voien, PERE

September 2024 issue

Category 28: Best Real Estate Newsletter Issue - Digital or Print

Gold Winner: Heather Stone and Glenn Demby, Fair Housing Coach

July 2024 issue

Judges’ Comment: In this newsletter, Fair Housing Coach tackled the discriminatory issues that come with using AI-based services to screen potential tenants. The pages are filled with explanations of how the tenant-screening industry has increasingly turned to artificial intelligence, how discrimination still seeps through AI and what landlords can do to ensure they are not falling into this pattern of discrimination. It is a robust guide full of detailed best practices and additional tips to help landlords navigate this murky and evolving landscape.

Silver Winner: Kathryn Brenzel, The Real Deal

“The Daily Dirt: Broker-fee bill, brought to you by TikTok”

November 2024 issue

Judges’ Comment: Kathryn Brenzel delivers a conversational and informative newsletter to subscribers’ inboxes. She combines the tone of columnist and reporter as she breaks down the influence of TikTok on the passage of a City Council bill. On one hand she’s the slightly befuddled Millennial who prefers Instagram, on the other she’s pressing council members for more context on how the bill came together and explaining the next hurdles it would need to clear to become law. The rest of the newsletter is a quick-hitting scroll through the more tidbits of New York real estate news, balancing importance with piquing interest.

Bronze Winner: Randy Plavajka, PERE Credit

“Term Sheet”

October 2024 issue

Category 29: Best Newspaper Real Estate or Home Section

Gold Winner: Nikita Stewart and the NYT Staff, The New York Times

“The Renters Issue”

Judges’ Comment: The New York Times’ Renters Issue is a wonderfully curated collection of stories bursting with information for the city’s renters and those contemplating buying. The pages hold a balance of practical advice, personal anecdotes and profiles, and features full of photos showing beautifully lived-in spaces — the place people call home. It is a rich archive of the breadth of renters’ experiences.

Silver Winner: Heather Halberstadt, The Wall Street Journal

“Mansion”

Judges’ Comment: The Wall Street Journal’s Mansion brings together a wide array of real estate stories from around the world, but they all feel at home in this gracefully laid-out section that manages to prioritize both the written words and stunning visuals. Where else can you stroll through Parisian neighborhoods, then turn a page and land in Texas? Take a tour through Tom Ford’s real estate portfolio, then learn about the effects of a landslide in Wyoming and Idaho?

Bronze Winner: Lois Weiss, Steve Cuozzo, Christopher Cameron, Christopher Bunting, and Anissa Lorenzi Boukourizia, New York Post

“October Commercial Real Estate Special”

Category 30: Best Real Estate Web Site

Gold Winner: Stuart Elliott, Jerry Sullivan, Ina Cordle, Ellen Cranley, Erik Engquist, Cara Eisenpress, Caysey Welton, Rachel Stone, Joel Russell, Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt, The Real Deal

Judges’ Comment: The Real Deal is a consistently rich repository of real estate news. It serves as a home for everything from quick hits to deep dives, covering all corners of the industry. The visually appealing site orders this deluge of information in clearly marked sections and labels, so users can either easily find what they’re looking for or scroll leisurely through to peruse all the offerings.

Silver Winner: Pete Catapano, Mansion Global

Judges’ Comment: Mansion Global is a destination real estate website that uses its space to highlight beautiful homes and locations to devastating effect. The clean, crisp design and enjoyable user experience makes navigating this website a pleasure. One must find the will to stop flipping through the gorgeous photos featured in the listings, but the creative columns and peeks into celebrity homes are up to the task.

Bronze Winner: Jennifer White Karp, Celia Young, and Evelyn Battaglia, Brick Underground

The cntry deadline for NAREE’s 76th Annual Real Estate Journalism Competition for work published aired, and posted in 2025 is March 1, 2026, 11:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time - entry portal opens Feb. 1.

Platinum and Hanrey award winners will receive $1000 cash prizes. The winner of the Best Freelance collection will receive $500. Best Young Journalist and Gold award wiinners will receive $250 cash awards.

Winners will be contacted in May in time to make travel plans to attend both the June conference and the awards’ ceremony.

Eligibility:

Entrants must be independent journalists working for the news division of independent news outlets — covering commercial and residential real estate. Submit stories on home building, green building, luxury homes, architecture, interior design, remodeling, home buying and selling, mortgage lending, housing policy. all aspects of commercial real estate from urban design, mixed-use, multifamily to real estate investing, the business of real estate, and many more topics in the broad field of real estate.

Bona fide digital, print and broadcast journalists — freelance or staff writers, reporters, editors, columnists and broadcast producers for work published in bona fide news outlets are eligible to enter.
A question to help you determine if this contest is for you: Are you producing journalistic content for a real estate company, a real estate-related association a real estate marketplace, or public relations /marketing firm? Is your site affiliated with a lobby group? If you can answer "yes" to the above questions, this is not the right competition for you. NAREE’s journalism competition is open to working journalists members and non members who qualify for NAREE membership. NAREE defines its media membership this way:

Active members shall have as their principal occupation the reporting, transmitting or editing of information about real estate and/or housing for a news media that is independent of a sponsoring organization or advertising control. (Principal occupation means more than 50 percent of their time.)

Contest Deadlines:

The work entered must have been published, posted, or aired between Jan. 1, 2024 and Dec. 31, 2024. Work must be written or broadcast in English. Work published, posted or aired outside the US may be entered.
Competition entry forms must be submitted online on or before March 1, 2024 by 11:59 PM EST on naree.org through the contest portal.

Submission Requirements:

Please have all PDF attached files, links and summaries ready before initiating the entry submission process. Files must not be larger than 100 MB. Accepted formats: PDF, MP3 and MP4. If you are entering a category that requires 3 pieces of work such as Categories #2 or #3 "Best Collection of Work" consolidate the three pieces into a single PDF and a single link.

Why judges need PDFs:

Link errors occur more frequently than you think and slow down the judging process. Sometimes passwords to links are also faulty. If the judges can’t open a link, they can’t judge it.

Faulty links may be due to entrant error or software developer changes on your site. Sometimes usernames and passwords to links expire after multiple clicks or before the contest judging is completed. Some links to websites take the user to the live site instead of the work entered in 2025 but produced in 2024. The judges understand that links may provide a fuller picture of the entry, but if they can’t open the links, then they have nothing to judge.

Entrants may submit only one (1) entry per category, but may enter as many categories as they choose after determining eligibility. Please choose a category that best suits your story. Please don’t enter the same entry in Best Story AND Best Column — it’s either a story or a column. Click here to see all categories.

Competition judges reserve the right to decide if an entry is in the proper category, and to move those they determine need reassignment. Judges also reserve the right not to give awards in a particular category.

Writers may enter their own work in any category. An entry entered in any of the individual categories may also be used as one of the three entries in the Best Collection of Work categories, but entrants must submit this piece both in the "Best Collection" category 2 or category 3 and submit that entry in the other category where multiple stories are required. In other words, every time you want to enter that same story, you need to send in a PDF (and include a link if you would like) of that story for that particular category.

Editors must enter the work of each individual staff reporter and/or freelancer with an individual byline by paying the processing fee (membership fee) for that staff member or freelancer associated with that byline. If an editor is entering work with a joint or multiple byline (and the editor’s name is not on that byline), the editor must pay the processing fee (membership fee) for at least one bylined member of the team.

Editors must enter their own bylined work in any eligible individual category under their own membership or processing fee.

Editors must enter a print or digital newspaper section, magazine, newsletter or Web site under their own membership or processing fee. Editors will be recognized on the award in those publication categories.

Each completed entry in each category must include:

1. Entry Fees

Paid 2025 NAREE Members: First entry is free. Second entry and each additional entry is $25.

Non members - $75 processing fee for the first entry. Second entry and each additional entry is $25. Processing fee includes 2025 membership.

2. Entry Form

Each line must be completed on the form. (Entry may be disqualified if lines are skipped.) Provide the email and phone number of the bylined journalist, not just the contest coordinator or editor who is entering the work. There is a spot for the contest coordinator’s contact information as well.

3. Summary

Attach a brief summary (no more than 150 words not including instructions, user name and passwords) describing the intended audience for the publication, Web site or broadcast. Explain why the entry serves the target audience, what is original about the story idea/content, why the reporting is innovative, and if applicable, how a creative risk was taken. If you researched, compiled and analyzed data and created your own graphics, rather than relying on other journalists or graphic designers, include that information in your narrative. If social media was used, please explain why it was significant. Note: judges request summaries be included for each entry because they rely on them for context. Please enter your paywall password at the end of the summary. Remember PDF s are more reliable than links..

4. Entry

Submit at least one PDF, MP3, MP4 or link.

Include passwords for all entry links behind a paywall in the summary field. Make sure the paywall password doesn't expire until December 1, 2025, and can be used multiple times, by the same user - judges and contest administrators. Remember, if the judges can’t open it, they can’t judge it. So if you have ever had paywall issues, or expect a code to change, it’s much safer to upload PDFs, and much more convenient for the judges.. Remember paywall passwords do not count as part of the 150 words in the summary.

Tip for uploading links: if you are experience trouble uploading links, please refresh your screen or close and re-start your browser and try again.

Categories 2, 3, and 21 require more than one work sample to be judged. Category 20 can include a single investigative report or all parts of an investigative series. Please make a single PDF for all of the work to be judged as a single entry. You may also upload a single link with all three samples, rather than 3 separate links which require three times the time to open.

Best Web site Entry - category #30, include a URL, username, and password for access to view in the summary. Judging criteria will include editorial content, design, and ease of use. Passwords to open all links must not expire until December 1, 2025 and must allow judges to use it multiple times.

Freelance journalists with one paid entry only, please note:

If you are a freelancer with a single entry for this contest in any of the categories requiring a single piece of work and you also want to enter that piece in the Best Freelance Collection (which does not require an extra fee):

Create a PDF containing ALL 3 (three) pieces of work required for Best Freelance Collection. Position the piece you want judged in the individual category first, then add the other two pieces.
Upload the PDF or specify the link in any one of these categories for individual journalists: 2-23. Work submitted in category 1, can only be submitted in category 1, not as a part of any other category (including a collection).
At the end of your summary, please confirm by headline that the first piece is the entry to be judged in the category and indicate by headlines that the second and third pieces of work are added to this category only to be judged as part of the "BEST Freelance Collection" – which requires THREE work samples. If you enter a category that requires three work samples such as Best Collection (catorgories 2 and 3) simply check the box indicating you want this entry judged for Best Freelance Collection. Please check the “consider for Best Freelance Collection box only once.

Judging

The competition will be judged by journalism faculty of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Judges will be the sole arbiters of the awards. Judges may choose not to bestow an award in a particular category. Judges will consider criteria appropriate to the category including, but not limited to:

clarity of writing
objectivity
originality
depth of reporting
design (if applicable)

"Best Section," "Best Magazine," "Best Web site," and "Best Newsletter" entries will be judged on overall graphics presentation and use of graphic elements to help communicate the message to the readers.

2025 Award Categories

OVERALL AWARDS

Note: Judges need PDF submissions. You can also submit links, but links sometimes break.

Platinum Award - Best Overall Individual Entry - Real Estate (Chosen from single-bylined entries in categories 2-23) $1,000 cash award

President’s Award - Best Freelance Collection - Real Estate (Chosen from 3 single-bylined pieces submitted by the same freelancer in categories 2-23) $500 cash award

Ruth Ryon Award - Best Young Journalist - Real Estate (Chosen from single-bylined entries in categories 2-23 submitted by journalists who were 30 years or younger on Dec. 31, 2024) $250 cash award

QUESTIONS AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Email: NAREEjcontest@gmail.com

Mary Doyle-KimbalNAREE Executive Director

PRESS RELEASE
NAREE's 74th Annual Journalism Competition Winners

National Association of Real Estate Editors Announces 2024 Journalism Competition Winners

Austin - (June 20, 2024) - The National Association of Real Estate Editors (NAREE) announced the winners of its 74th Annual Journalism Awards today. This prestigious competition recognizes excellence in reporting, writing, and editing stories about residential and commercial real estate.

The awards were announced at NAREE’s annual conference held at the Hyatt Regency in Austin, Texas. A panel of expert judges from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University selected all winners. Medill’s Karen Springen chaired the panel. Here are NAREE’s 2024 winners with judges’ comments:

Platinum Award - Best Overall Individual Entry: Debra Kamin, The New York Times,

Collection Includes: “Alone in an Empty House, Female Real Estate Agents Face Danger,” “President of Powerful Realtors’ Group Is Accused of Sexual Harassment,” “President of Powerful Realtors’ Group Resigns After Sexual Harassment Claims,” “Chief Executive of National Association of Realtors Resigns,” “Women at Fast-Growing Realty Firm Say They Were Drugged and Assaulted,” “Powerful Realtors Group Loses Its Grip on the Industry”

Judges’ Comment: Debra Kamin’s investigative series gives an in-depth, nuanced look at the effect — or, in-effect — of the #MeToo movement in the real estate industry. Her reporting gave voice to women who accused the president of a Realtors group of sexual harassment, women who said male agents at a realty firm drugged and sexually assaulted them, and female real estate agents who have been put in vulnerable situations by industry practices, leading to harassment and even murder. Earning the trust of victims and victims’ families to tell their stories is no small feat, and Kamin does it consistently throughout this series.

President’s Award - Best Freelance Collection: Mark Ellwood, Freelance Writer - Financial Times UK and Robb Report

Collection Includes: “Why Are These Apartments The Most Coveted In The World,” “Reinventing Utopia,” “Location sensation”

Judges’ Comment: Editors stress the importance of scenes, and Mark Ellwood seems to specialize in them. For the Robb Report, he covered the most coveted apartments in the world. For the Financial Times weekend magazine, he wrote about the location scouts who find luxurious homes for lavish movies and shows like “Succession.” He always finds the people, the

places and the prices that make his pieces memorable.

Ruth Ryon Award - Best Young Journalist: Libertina Brandt, The Wall Street Journal

Judges’ Comment: Libertina Brandt covers luxury real estate for The Wall Street Journal – but with a twist. She steers clear of the usual suspects and usual places. Instead of heading to Beverly Hills, she does old-fashioned shoe-leather reporting from places like Carmel, Indiana. With her creative ideas, her thorough reporting and her “show, don’t tell” writing, she owns her beat.

Category 1: Kenneth R. Harney Award for Best Real Estate Consumer Education Reporting - $1,000 Award

Harney Winner: Linda Robertson, Miami Herald

“They bought their dream homes from the ‘King of Coconut Grove.’ They still can’t move in.”

Judges’ Comment: Reporter Linda Robertson thoroughly investigates and exposes a real-estate developer who sold nearly completed townhouses in an upscale neighborhood (the oldest in Miami) to trusting buyers – and then resold these reserved properties to other unknowing buyers. As Robertson explains in the story, she spoke to 16 buyers and examined lawsuits, mortgages, purchase agreements, property records and Miami building department reports. The work paid off. Through old-fashioned shoe-leather reporting, she exposes a nightmare-inducing scheme. The quotes are gems: “Welcome to Miami! A sunny place for shady people.” The online version makes good use of graphics, maps and photos to add to an already impressive story.

Category 2: Best Collection of Work by an Individual Covering Residential Real Estate

Gold Winner: Libertina Brandt, The Wall Street Journal

Collection Includes: “The Houses Must Be White, and the Designs Preapproved. Everybody Wants In.” “‘How Did I End Up in Indiana?’ Welcome to the Internet’s Favorite Small City,” “Walmart Helped Put Northwest Arkansas on the Map. Now Everybody Wants a Piece of It.”

Judges’ Comment: Libertina Brandt knows how to come up with interesting ideas (who knew the houses in Alys Beach, Florida, are all white and seem like they belong on the Greek Islands?) and then execute richly reported stories (who knew Carmel, Indiana, was such a hot spot?). She never skimps on reporting. Alys Beach homeowners who want to rent out their properties must use cotton-sateen blend Garnier-Thiebaut linens and dinner and flatware from Fortessa. Strong quotes come from extensive, in-depth reporting, and Brandt gets them. A couple who sold their Los Angeles home and headed to Carmel, Indiana, explains the allure, among other things, of all the Christmas decorations: “It looks like something out of a Jimmy Stewart movie.”

Silver Winner: Mitchell Parton, The Dallas Morning News

Collection Includes: “Why some think Frisco’s mayor is the only one selling homes next to the PGA golf courses,” “Your next house could be 3D-printed by a giant robot,” “Investors from Mexico find opportunity, stability in North Texas homes. Will it last?”

Judges’ Comment: In his collection of residential real estate stories, Mitchell Parton picks fresh subjects like 3D-printed concrete homes. And he unearths the facts so readers can decide for themselves whether, for example, it’s fair for the mayor of Frisco to lead a real-estate brokerage that’s sold more than $1 billion worth of homes – or whether he gets an unfair competitive advantage. He lets the mayor weigh in and say he is “just a realtor like everyone else.” All in all, his compelling stories make readers say, “Wow! Who knew?”

Bronze Winner: James Rodriguez, Business Insider

Collection Includes: “Gen Z is coming for the housing market,” “The multibillion-dollar lawsuits that could radically reshape how we buy and sell homes forever,”
“The housing market’s Ice Age”

Honorable Mention : Jacob Adelman, Barron’s

Collection Includes: “Tellus Promised Big Returns, It Misled Many Along the Way,” “The U.S. Treasury Hoped to Aid Low-Income Home Buyers. The Help Went to Johnny Depp, Too.” “The Making of a Mortgage Giant”

Category 3: Best Collection of Work by an Individual Covering Commercial Real Estate

Gold Winner: Daniel Geiger, Business Insider

Collection Includes: “Rural America is the new hotbed in the AI race as tech giants spend billions to turn farms into data centers,” “Matt Onofrio made $35 million helping everyday people invest in real estate. Then he was indicted. Was it all a scam?” “Landlords who bought thousands of apartments are facing a reckoning”

Judges’ Comment: Geiger's trio of stories are both timely and important. They’re also meticulous, backed by precise examples and hard-to-get data. In “AI race,” Geiger describes the frenzied rush for farmland for data centers and utilities' struggle to supply energy, with one utility quantifying it as equivalent to powering 560,000 Arizona homes. Another piece delves into Matt Onofrio, a nurse who got unsuspecting people, including a famous MMA fighter, to buy commercial properties from him while cheating them in the process. Throughout, Geiger's writing shines.

Gold Winner: Brian Rogal, Chicago Tribune

Collection Includes: “‘Bring Chicago Home' proposal aims to boost funding for homeless services. But a similar measure in LA slowed real estate sales,” “2 years ago, Amazon opened distribution sites in Matteson, Markham. Could they help bring back the south suburbs?” “Willis Tower is no longer the tallest building in the world. But it’s still a trendsetter as it turns 50 this week”

Judges' Comment: Rogal skillfully tackles important local real estate issues in these thought- provoking stories. From examining the fallout of a failed 'mansion tax' in Los Angeles (Chicago proposed a similar tax,) to exploring solutions for homelessness funding, his reporting is thorough and insightful. Delving into the impact of new Amazon warehouses on struggling suburbs, Rogal goes beyond surface analysis to scrutinize promises of economic revitalization. Through the lens of an ironworker, he commemorates the Willis Tower's 50th anniversary, crafting a strong body of work that engages and informs.

Silver Winner: Lidia Dinkova, The Real Deal

Collection Includes: “Resilient office market? Not quite. South Florida sublease availability soars,” “Miami ‘Silicon Valley of the South’? Hardly, data shows,” “Reality check: Financial office leasing in South Florida tapers over past three years”

Judges’ Comment: In this refreshing trio of stories, Dinkova dismantles the narrative of a booming South Florida office market. Through comprehensive reporting and meticulous data analysis, she reveals a starkly different reality. The number of leases available is up by one-third. In “Miami 'Silicon Valley of the South?' Hardly,” Dinkova finds that only 29% of Florida’s office leases cater to tech firms, contrasting sharply with Silicon Valley's 50% rate. With deep sourcing and clear prose, the stories offer a much-needed reality check on real estate hype.

Bronze Winner: Neil Callanan, Bloomberg News

Collection Includes: "Wall Street's New Zombies May Well Be Regional Banks,” “Global Property Market Faces $175 Billion Debt Spiral,” “Asbestos, Bailouts and a Half-Built Mall Show UK Crisis in Cheap Rentals”

Honorable Mention: Kirk Pinho, Crain's Detroit Business
Collection Includes: "From Dream to Reality,” “Hidden Guardian,” “‘Golden Tower’ Goes

Green”

Category 4: Best Regular or Syndicated Real Estate Column Gold Winner: Tim McKeough, The New York Times
“On Location: Swapping Good Enough for Spectacular”

Judges’ Comment: For this “On Location” column, reporter Tim McKeough tucks in specific details about a husband and wife, originally from Ukraine, who buy an “ugly-duckling” 1930s home in Brooklyn and convert it into a gorgeous 2,700-square-foot home inspired by row-houses in the French Quarter of New Orleans. McKeough makes readers feel as though they’re on scene, touring the home and seeing the Lattice chandelier hanging in front of the carved Rojo Alicante marble fireplace.

Silver Winner: Robyn A. Friedman, Freelance Writer, Mansion, The Wall Street Journal

“Counting House: Age Is Just a Number – Except When You’re Applying for a Mortgage”

Judges’ Comment: Robyn A. Friedman knows how to come up with good story ideas – and how to execute them. It’s hard enough to get a mortgage when you’re young and employed. Try being a senior citizen and retired. Strong reporter that she is, she tracks down statistics. According to Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data provided to The Wall Street Journal by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 13% of all mortgages originated in 2021 were by people 65 and older. That’s 1.9 million mortgages. She gives her readers specific advice, including understanding that cosigning for a child’s or grandchild’s loan can hurt a credit score.

Bronze Winner: Jon Gorey, The Boston Globe Magazine

“Perspective: No One Should Have to Choose Between an Affordable Home and Longer Life”

Category 5: Best Economic Analysis - Real Estate
Gold Winner: Paulina Cachero, Bloomberg News
“NYC’s Rent Surge Defied by New Grads Pursuing a TikTok Lifestyle”

Judges’ Comment: Cachero’s engaging analysis of high rents in New York City delivers a twist: Young people rent exorbitantly expensive apartments they can’t afford and do “whatever it takes,” just so they can post TikTok videos depicting their glamorous lifestyles. One young transplant has four roommates, works overtime, and has side hustles to afford her penthouse apartment. Cachero’s characters make a dry subject accessible, and ample data underpins this well-written story.

Silver Winner: Olivia Lueckemeyer, Bisnow

“‘Not On Our Backs’: Risk of Displacement Grows As DFW Property Values Soar”

Judges’ Comment: Housing affordability is at the center of Lueckemeyer’s thoroughly reported story about soaring property values in even the most down-and-out neighborhoods in Dallas-Fort Worth. In one instance, an elderly woman who can no longer afford her long-time home is forced to move (and dies two weeks later). Excellent sourcing produces a nuanced story and key data underlines the scope of the problem. Lueckemeyer also explores solutions, including proposed

local government incentives.

Bronze Winner: Keith Larsen, The Real Deal

“Why real estate is so difficult to price right now”

Honorable Mention: James Rodriguez, Business Insider

“The housing market’s Ice Age”

Category 6: Best Interior Design Story
Gold Winner: Jessica Flint, Mansion, The Wall Street Journal “Designers Who Are Practically Family”

Judges’ Comment: It’s tricky to find the perfect “real people” to illustrate the point of a story. Jessica Flint pulls it off. Historic preservation buffs Candy and Andy Roberts restored eight Colorado homes during their 40-year marriage – all with the same interior designer. Flint knows to just directly quote gems. When she asks about the cost of the couple’s design projects, she gets this answer from a laughing Andy Roberts: “I quit counting, but Candy didn’t quit spending.”

Silver Winner: Andy Peters, CoStar News

“How Office Furniture Recyclers Divert a Growing Pile From Landfills”

Judges’ Comment: Andy Peters uses data (17 billion pounds of “office assets” go to landfills each year), examples (Twitter auctioned “surplus corporate office assets,” including designer furniture) and the reasons behind all the unwanted chairs (corporate America is upgrading office chairs to improve employee morale – hence, head and back support in the new chairs at Chase’s headquarters). The specific, not generic, details make the piece.

Bronze Winner: Michele Lerner, Freelance Writer, Green Builder

“Dumpster Diving for Home Décor”

Category 7: Best Architecture Story
Gold Winner: Nancy Keates, The Wall Street Journal
“Triple-Digit Heat, but No Electric Bill? For Passive Homeowners, ‘It’s Hard to Go Back’”

Judges’ Comment: Nancy Keates zooms in on the real people who make the complicated, technical, intriguing topic of “passive homes” – built using airtight construction, highly insulated windows, shades and untraditional heating and cooling systems - understandable and interesting.

She hooks the reader with a husband and wife who moved into a newly built house that was so energy efficient that the electric company owed them money. With effective use of numbers and real people, Keates takes a fresh, compelling look at a little-covered area of green home construction.

Silver Winner: Anna Kodé, The New York Times “America, the Bland”

Judges’ Comment: Given the lack of affordable housing in many parts of the country, does it matter that many new, reasonably priced apartments look boxy and bland? The interactive story shows a photo of a building and asks readers to guess which city it’s in – Nashville, Seattle, Denver? Anna Kodé visits all three places and interviews “real people” and experts. The creator of the “McMansion Hell” blog notes that getting housing built is more important than “nit- picking over aesthetics” but votes for improving aesthetics, too. The strong reporting in this piece leads to a strong story.

Bronze Winner: Andres Viglucci, Miami Herald

“’It’s a crime.’ Mogul aims to demolish famed architect’s Coral Gables masterpiece home.”

Honorable Mention: Mark Ellwood, Freelance Writer, Robb Report

“Why Are These Apartments The Most Coveted in the World?”

Category 8: Best Residential Real Estate Story – Daily or Weekly Newspaper

Gold Winner: Jack Flemming, Los Angeles Times

“’The tenant from hell’: She refused to pay for her luxury Airbnb for 540 days. She says she has a legal right to stay.”

Judges’ Comment: Flemming’s story untangles a complicated web of legalities amid a long- ranging he-said-she-said conflict. With all the bases such a story needs to cover, it would be easy to get bogged down in the details of the debate. But the lithe writing takes the reader through two sides of an emotional, exasperating debate and to a better understanding of how a larger system of ordinances and issues around affordable housing can create complex situations for renters and landlords.

Silver Winner: Rukmini Callimachi, The New York Times

“I Live in My Car”

Judges’ Comment: Callimachi’s reporting offers an intimate look into the lives of the “mobile homeless” to show a growing effect of the country’s housing crisis. The reporting weaves together the snapshots of these people’s lives to create a bigger picture of how, for some, the best

option is to live out of their cars when issues such as bad credit, high rent and other real estate hurdles have closed all other doors to them.

Bronze Winner: Mitchell Parton, The Dallas Morning News

“Why some think Frisco’s mayor is the only one selling homes next to the PGA golf courses”

Honorable Mention: Jarred Schenke, Bisnow

“How Renters Are Using TikTok, X To Defraud Landlords At Luxury Apartments”

Category 9: Best Residential Mortgage or Financial Real Estate Story - Daily or Weekly Newspaper

Gold Winner: Richard Mize, The Oklahoman

“Redlining continues in low minority Oklahoma home values. Should the appraisal process be changed?”

Judges’ Comment: Mize’s story on modern-day redlining digs into how systemic racism — from individual appraisers’ biases, all the way up to the nation’s biggest mortgage lenders — is directly affecting Black homeowners in Oklahoma City. It is a complex story with many players at many levels involved, but Mize agilely leads the reader through this maze and to efforts to effect change.

Silver Winner: Michaelle Bond, The Philadelphia Inquirer

“Manufactured-home communities aren’t just in rural Pa. Owners on rented land are often unprotected”

Judges’ Comment: Bond’s reporting on the vulnerable, understudied manufactured-home communities in Pennsylvania brings the difficulties they face to a wider audience. Bond nimbly educates the reader on the financial options that make living in manufactured homes on rented land both a more affordable route for some people while also limiting the types of loans and aid they can receive.

Bronze Winner: Ronda Kaysen, The New York Times

“Feeling Mortgage-Rate Envy? You’re Not Alone”

Honorable Mention: Cameron Sperance, Address, Boston Sunday Globe

“Wait until your father/mother gets home – with the check”

Category 10: Best Commercial Real Estate Story - Daily or Weekly Newspaper

Gold Winner: Kate King, The Wall Street Journal

“Owners Keep Zombie Malls Alive Even When Towns Want to Pull the Plug”

Judges’ Comment: King explains in this insightful story why zombie malls sit undeveloped for years. The owners make money by selling off pieces of the valuable property where they sit, often to the consternation of local communities. With deft writing and an eye for detail, King describes sinkholes in the parking lot of a Pennsylvania mall (where Taylor Swift shopped when she was a teen) and the helplessness of the local government to do anything other than issue fines.

Silver Winner: Steph Kukuljan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“'More than soccer': St. Louis businesses see CityPark luring more people, money downtown”

Judges’ Comment: This is an informative and well-written story about the influx of new businesses near a brand new $500 million soccer stadium in downtown St. Louis. Specific examples demonstrate the impact, such as an Irish bar undergoing a multimillion-dollar renovation, a tearoom expanding into new space, and the conversion of a historic building into 384 apartments. Kukuljan also knows how to use numbers without overwhelming the reader.

Bronze Winner: Brian Rogal, Chicago Tribune

"'Bring Chicago Home' proposal aims to boost funding for homeless services. But a similar measure in LA slowed real estate sales."

Honorable Mention: Jason Hidalgo, Reno Gazette-Journal

“Reno property owner says public agency took his driveway for roundabout. Agency says it’s public property”

Category 11: Best Residential Real Estate, Residential Mortgage or Financial Real Estate Magazine Story - General Circulation

Gold Winner: Mark Ellwood, Freelance Writer, FT Weekend magazine, Financial Times UK

“Location sensation”

Judges’ Comment: Location, location, location. It’s crucial in real estate – and in movies and shows like “Succession.” Enter location scouts, who find luxurious homes (like one that belonged to Henry Ford’s grandson) that seem suitable for fictional uber-rich characters. Mark Ellwood zooms in on these people and on the dollar figures. The fees for the fanciest houses can be $50,000 a day. And every year Americans can rent out their homes, tax free, for 14 days (but not more). It’s fascinating and fun – a winning combination.

Silver Winner: Michele Lerner, Freelance Writer, Washingtonian magazine
“More Older Americans Are Opting to Age in Their Homes. Here’s How They’re Doing It.”

Judges’ Comment: Michele Lerner hooks the reader with a 70-something retired PR executive who chooses to stay in his beloved DuPont neighborhood but switch homes because of an ah-ha moment over the age-unfriendliness of his spiral staircase. Like many seniors, he likes living there rather than in senior housing. This self-reflection-inducing story, which looks at options like support groups and roommates, should resonate with older readers and with younger ones who are thinking about both their parents’ futures and their own.

Bronze Winner: Robyn A. Friedman, Freelance Writer, Florida Trend

“Towering Uncertainty”

Honorable Mention: Molly Crabapple, The Nation

“The Renters’ Revolt”

Honorable Mention: Jacob Adelman, Barron’s

“Money Games: Tellus Promised Big Returns. It Misled Many Along the Way”

Category 12: Best Residential Real Estate Trade or B-to-B Magazine Story
Gold Winner: Kathryn Brenzel, The Real Deal
“Unfinished Business: How Fortis’ luxury high-rise became the leaning tower of FiDi”

Judges’ Comment: Kathryn Brenzel skillfully tells the tale of a luxury Manhattan high rise that “tilts three inches to the north.” That kind of specific detail (and good verb) illustrate the touches that help this piece stand out. The reporting is topnotch. Brenzel captures the many problems with the ill-fated project, including a father of five with a decade of construction experience who plummeted 29 stories to his death. The building remains unfinished, but this well-written article is complete.

Silver Winner: Sheridan Wall, The Real Deal

“Co-ops Under Countdown: For ground lease properties, expiration means possible decimation”

Judges’ Comment: It’s tricky to understand New York City’s complicated co-op arrangements, but Sheridan Wall gives readers a remarkably good tutorial. As she explains, shareholders in a “ground lease” co-op don’t own the land underneath their building. Instead, they pay the landowner rent. But that can go up. Uh-oh. Wall illustrates the problem with a real person who lives in Carnegie House and worries the real-estate investors who bought the land underneath his

co-op will oust his family and ruin him financially. It’s an excellent primer – and a cautionary tale.

Bronze Winner: Harrison Connery, The Real Deal

“Two years into going public, Compass still has issues with its books”

Honorable Mention: Jim Davis, Scotsman Guide

“Closings: A homebuilding boom should gain steam in the coming years”

Category 13: Best Commercial Real Estate Trade or B-to-B Magazine Story Gold Winner: Jane Adler, Seniors Housing Business,
“The Art of Turning Around Troubled Properties”

Judges’ Comment: With excellent sourcing and clear writing, Adler sheds light on troubled corners of the seniors housing market, and how rural areas are hardest hit. Numbers help tell the story of loan write-offs and defaults and properties with occupancy rates below 50%. Adler gets reluctant operators to talk about the arduous process of reviving a troubled property that needs major renovations, for example, or that can’t staff adequately. Relevant data and graphics add to this stand-out story.

Silver Winner: Jeff Shaw, Seniors Housing Business

“The Affordable Housing Gap”

Judges’ Comment: It’s a double whammy for affordable senior housing development: Inflation has raised construction costs more than 30%, while at the same time inflation is shrinking seniors’ savings. The result is more need for such housing, but less incentive to build at slim profit margins. Shaw does a great job explaining the emerging crisis for low-income seniors and laying out potential solutions. Shaw’s clear writing and comprehensive sourcing make this a compelling story.

Bronze Winner: Samantha Rowan, Real Estate Capital USA

“The great reset”

Honorable mention: Randy Plavajka, Real Estate Capital USA

“Change of relations”

Category 14: Best Online Residential, Mortgage or Financial Real Estate Story

Gold Winner: Roxana Popescu and Lori Weisberg, The San Diego Union-Tribune

“San Diego’s new short-term rental rules say no more than one license per person. So how did one owner get more than 100?”

Judges’ Comment: Roxana Popescu and Lori Weisberg’s reporting illustrates the workaround one San Diego property owner used to get around a new short-term rental law. To take readers through the web of legal loopholes that allow for this workaround, the reporters interviewed lawmakers, tenants and the owners who used the workaround, giving a nuanced look at the situation. The online presentation of the story also allows readers to see a map with the properties in question and a copy of a form the owner has short-term renters sign.

Silver Winner: Jordan Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“Lives derailed: Six months later, an unending nightmare continues in East Palestine”

Judges’ Comment: Anderson’s story revisits East Palestine, Ohio, half a year after a train carrying hazardous material derailed. The in-depth reporting takes readers into the town and into the lives of its residents, all still struggling in the aftermath amid health concerns, lawsuits and uncertainty for the future as people live in temporary housing or contemplate selling despite lack of interest from buyers. The online presentation of the story highlights photos of both the disaster and its aftermath, emphasizing the residents directly affected.

Bronze Winner: Rosalind Adams and Bianca Pallaro, The City

“How the Sale of Signature Bank’s Huge Mortgage Portfolio Could Change the Lives of NYC’s Tenants”

Honorable Mention: Dani Vanderboegh, Inman

“Top women real estate leaders spell out sexual harassment”

Category 15: Best Online Commercial Real Estate Story
Gold winner: John Gittelsohn, Bloomberg News
“Downtown LA’s Office Distress Shows the Pain Coming for Cities”

Judges’ Comment: Gittelsohn’s prose elevates this comprehensive story, as do data and helpful visualizations that drive home the severity of the downturn in L.A.’s downtown commercial real estate market. Statistics on rising vacancy and crime rates were artfully woven into a narrative with memorable, if devastating anecdotes, such as an executive leaving a fancy club in downtown L.A. to see a man with his pants down, defecating in the street.

Silver winner: Ciara Long, Mike Phillips and Jacob Wallace, Bisnow

“SPECIAL REPORT: Real Estate’s Global Emissions Are Getting Worse. Many In Industry Have No Plans To Improve”

Judges’ Comment: The reporters dug into the documents and public statements of 75 large real estate companies and institutional investors for this excellent example of accountability journalism. They found that despite a lot of talk about lowering emissions, fewer than half the companies even had a decarbonization target. The story is clearly and persuasively written, and an interactive graphic allows readers to visualize where the companies stand on a variety of metrics.

Bronze winner: James Rodriguez, Business Insider

“Gen Z is coming for the housing market”

Honorable mention: Olivia Lueckemeyer, Bisnow
“CRE Investor Admits To $150M Fraud After Laundering Cash Through Crypto, Fleeing

Country”

Category 16: Best Real Estate E-Newsletter
Gold Winner: Kerry Barger, The Wall Street Journal “WSJ: Real Estate”

Judges’ Comment: This newsletter is a joy to scroll through, from the personable introduction to the eye-catching photos, headlines and bits of trivia sprinkled throughout. There’s enough information contained within it to bring the busy reader up to speed on the latest real estate news, but also makes it easy for those with more time and interest to click through to the main articles.

Silver Winner: Steph Kukuljan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Brick City”

Judges’ Comment: Brick City sums up all the latest real estate news in capsule form, with the consistent voice of Kukuljan shining clearly throughout the newsletter. The offerings are varied in this tight package, including a quick Q-and-A and shorter blurbs in the “Reporter’s Notebook.” The callout to readers to stay in touch is another nice touch.

Bronze Winner: Katherine Kallergis, The Real Deal

“The Weekly Dirt”

Honorable Mention: Oshrat Carmiel, Highest & Best

“Highest and Best”

Category 17: Best Audio Real Estate Report – Online or Broadcast – Podcast or Radio – local, network, subscription or Internet channels

Gold Winner: Adhiti Bandlamudi, KQED News

“How the Bay Area’s Biggest City Wants to Overcome Its Sprawl”

Judges’ Comment: Host Bandlamudi navigates the landscape of urban planning, unraveling the narrative of a city's quest – San Jose -- to redefine “home.” Through exceptional storytelling, residents, planners, and commuters offer insights into the city’s ambitious endeavor to combat sprawl, make communities more walkable and reduce carbon emissions. However, progress is hindered by bureaucratic red tape and resistance to change, making the journey both enlightening and frustrating. Music and natural sound are woven into this beautifully written and produced piece.

Silver Winner: Miriam Hall, Bisnow

“BISNOW Reports PODCAST: BentallGreenOak Co-CEO Sonny Kalsi On The Banking Crisis’s Real Estate Impact”

Judges’ Comment: This podcast stands out with strong production values and an insightful conversation with the co-CEO of real estate investment firm BGO during the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank crisis. Host Miriam Hall's engaging style and thorough follow-ups elicit newsworthy tidbits, such as that BGO had exposure to Signature but pulled its money out before it failed. Focused on real estate impacts and emerging opportunities post-crisis, this podcast is essential listening for industry insiders.

Bronze Winner: Jordana Rothberg, Multi-Housing News

“MHN: Top Marketers: Integrating ESG, DEI & Philanthropy”

Honorable Mention: Laura Calugar, Multi-Housing News

“MHN: Mission Success: What On-Site Staff Must Know About Human Trafficking in MultiFamily”

Category 18: Best Video Real Estate Report Online or Broadcast – Streaming or Television – local, network, subscription or internet channels

Gold Winner: Jared Kofsky, Maia Rosenfeld, Caterina Barbera Kipreos, Stephanie Ramos, Brianti Downing, and Michelle Lada, ABC News

“ABC News Live, Prime Focus: Affordable Housing Crisis”

Judges’ Comment: Thoroughly researched, ABC's prime-time video story is gripping, revealing the human toll of housing shortages in the U.S. Using federal data, they identify counties with longest waits, consulting experts for solutions. Low-income residents sit on wait lists for years, including a mother who’s been on the wait list for a dozen years. The scope of the investigation is impressive. While data-driven, this long-form story humanizes the issue, intertwining emotional narratives with compelling visuals and emphasizing the people behind the statistics.

Silver Winner: Beckie Strum, Mansion Global, Barron’s

“Design Spotlight: Jersey City - Mansion or Art Gallery? This New Jersey Stunner is Both”

Judges’ Comment: Strum's video showcases the charm of a Jersey City factory turned into a breathtaking multi-level home and art gallery. The owners' hands-on renovation journey adds depth, with playful nods to its 'industrial harem' aesthetic featuring Turkish rugs. Strum's interviews provide insight into their creative process, while expertly guiding viewers through the property's captivating details. From hand-painted murals to a meticulously restored century-old elevator, the video's stunning visuals and seamless editing capture the essence of this unique space.,

Bronze Winner: Liz Lucking, Mansion Global, Barron’s

“Design Spotlight: Castles - These Castles Can Be Found in Unexpected Places Throughout the U.S.”

Honorable Mention: Jesse Williams, RISMedia

“Brokers Bullish on AI as BCI Holds Steady”

Category 19: Best Breaking Real Estate News Story – Commercial or residential; single or multiple bylines

Gold Winner: Jim Dalrymple II, Inman

“Real estate heroes come to rescue after suffering losses in Maui fires”

Judges’ Comment: Dalrymple’s story centers real estate agents who mobilized their professional and social networks to help relief efforts and organize their communities during and after the Maui fires, even when some of the agents were victims themselves. The reporting and writing highlight the personal experiences of the agents in Maui while also covering supports offered by larger real estate institutions, offering a unique angle for covering a national and international story.

Silver Winner: Dees Stribling, Bisnow
“What The Historic Collapses Of SVB, Signature Bank Mean For Commercial Real Estate

Investors”

Judges’ Comment: Silicon Valley Bank collapsed on a Friday. Signature Bank was overtaken by regulars on a Sunday and this story, published on that Monday, placed those two events into context for the real estate industry and the country’s financial history. The story includes both immediate follow-up actions by the federal government and longer-range looks at implications for the market, made possible by Stribling’s reporting among industry sources.

Bronze Winner: Marissa Luck, Houston Chronicle

“Tesla plans Houston-area expansion with large new industrial site in Brookshire” Honorable Mention: Miriam Hall and Ethan Rothstein, Bisnow
“11 Injured After Crane Partially Collapses Into Apartment Building Near Hudson Yards”

Category 20: Best Investigative Report or Investigative Series - Real Estate - Commercial or residential real estate

Gold Winner: Ciara Long, Mike Phillips, Jacob Wallace, and Miriam Hall, Bisnow

Collection Includes: Inside CRE’s Frustrating Battle To Reduce Its Carbon Emissions — And Save Humanity,” “Podcast: Inside Bisnow’s Investigation Into Big Real Estate’s Decarbonization Plans,” “Real Estate’s Global Emissions Are Getting Worse. Many In Industry Have No Plans To Improve,” “Real Estate’s Efforts to Cut Carbon Emissions ‘May As Well Be Doing Nothing’”

Judges’ Comment: This series on commercial real estate’s effect on climate change balances deep dives into data with solid reporting and writing, complemented by a podcast explaining how the investigation was done. In such a large, sweeping issue as climate change, it can be easy to get mired in information overload, but the series parses out the information in a well- organized three-part special report that ties the real estate industry to one of the most pressing issues facing our world today.

Silver Winner: Daniel Geiger, Ellen Thomas, Rebecca Ungarino, and Issie Lapowsky, Business Insider

Collection Includes: “Inside AI's giant land grab,” “Amazon built a data center empire in northern Virginia. Exclusive filings reveal it’s using as much energy as a major city.” “Data Centers are booming. Their need for power is causing utilities to retreat on green energy.” “Rural America is the new hotbed in the AI race as tech giants spend billions to turn farms into data centers.” “Blackstone’s data center gamble,” “Data centers have become an economic powerhouse. Now they’re throwing their weight around in Virginia politics”

Judges’ Comment: The issue of artificial intelligence has quickly become one of the hottest topics of today, but for most, it remains a phenomenon contained in the digital world. This team’s

reporting shows how AI is already a concrete reality in the form of data centers being built across the country and what these centers mean for the communities in which they are being built. This series of stories deftly illustrates how the AI race is influencing local economics, politics and the environment.

Bronze Winner: Colin Lecher and Maddy Varner, The Markup

Collection Includes: “L.A.’s Scoring System for Subsidized Housing Gives Black and Latino People Experiencing Homelessness Lower Priority Scores,” “How We Investigated L.A.’s Homelessness Scoring System,” “Journalists: Investigate Homeless Vulnerability Scoring in Your City”

Bronze Winner: Robin Urevich and Gabriel Sandoval, Capital & Main and ProPublica

Collection Includes: “Checked Out: How L.A. Failed to Stop Landlords From Turning Low- Cost Housing Into Tourist Hotels,” “Los Angeles Housing Department Will Investigate Residential Hotels,” “L.A. Promised to Preserve Low-Cost Housing. These Tenants’ Homes Were Turned Into Hotel Rooms Anyway.” “How We Found What the City of L.A. Didn’t: Landlords Renting Low-Cost. Housing to Tourists,” “L.A. Housing Department Proposes Increasing Residential Hotel Enforcement,” “Los Angeles Mayor Orders Residential Hotels to Be Opened for Temporary Shelter.” “Residential Hotels Got Contracts Under the Los Angeles Mayor’s Homelessness Program Despite Violations,” “Los Angeles Orders More Residential Hotels to Stop Renting to Tourists”

Honorable Mention: Jeff Gammage , Massarah Mikati, Jake Blumgart, and Sean Collins Walsh, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Collection Includes: “Downtown Dreams,” “The Sixers billion-dollar plan for a new arena could come down to one person. And it’s not the next mayor.” “Sixers say area around proposed City Center arena could handle thousands of cars on game days,” “Sixers will pay for Philadelphia’s impact studies of the team’s plan for a downtown arena,” “Sixers and Comcast Spectacor are battling publicly and privately over the team’s proposed downtown arena”

Category 21: Best Multi-Platform Package or Series - Real Estate

Gold Winner: Jonathan LaMantia, Rachel Weiss, Bart Jones, Beth Whitehouse, Sarina Trangle, and Arielle Dollinger, Newsday

Collection Includes: “Feeling the Squeeze series: ‘LI’s Cost of Living Crisis,’” “Facing LI’s Extreme Tax Burden,” “LI Homeownership Comes at a Price”

Judges’ Comment: With a wealth of documentation and clarity, the authors reveal the harsh realities of coping with soaring real estate costs and taxes on Long Island, showcasing the struggles of residents. Excellent sourcing and sidebar stories with real people pull the reader in and bring the story to life. Delving into nuanced topics like the impact of restrictive zoning, the

series offers valuable insights, complemented by helpful resources and advice in text boxes. It’s a meticulously produced package.

Silver Winner: Maddy McCarty, Miriam Hall, and Olivia Lueckemeyer, Bisnow

Collection Includes: “The Fraying Of The Texas Miracle: How The State’s Affordability Edge Is Coming Undone,” “The Nation’s Second-Worst Housing Shortage Is Crashing Into the ‘Texas Miracle,’” “Everything’s Bigger in Texas: Angry Neighbors, Aging Policies And Lack Of Will Are Digging A 10-Gallon Housing Hole,” “When Local Control Turns Into Local Out of Control’: The Battle Over Who Should Fix Texas’ Housing Woes,” “Podcast: Affording The ‘Texas Miracle,’ Featuring Former Gov. Rick Perry”

Judges' Comment: In the shadow of the "Texas Miracle," a harsh truth emerges: affordable housing may now be a relic. Packaged together with a podcast, this collection of deeply reported stories is a warning call to Texas stakeholders. Soaring housing costs have begun to stifle corporate relocations and population influx. The authors explore policy solutions and capture stories like Xander Roan's, a line cook who fled to Denver for affordable rent. Clear, strong writing and easy-to-use interactive graphics round out this excellent collection.

Bronze Winner: Ben Eisen, Nicole Friedman, Rachel Louise Ensign and Andrew Ackerman, The Wall Street Journal

Collection Includes: “The Mortgage Market Is So Bad Lenders Want Ex-Employees to Give Back Their Bonuses,” “Banks Don’t Love Rich Mortgage Borrowers as Much as They Used To,” “Zombie Mortgages Could Force Some Homeowners Into Foreclosure,” “Podcast: The Zombie Mortgages Stalking American Homeowners”

Honorable Mention: Anna Kodé, The New York Times

“Barbie, Her House and the American Dream”

Category 22: Best International Real Estate Story
Gold Winner: Ronda Kaysen, The New York Times “Americans Head to Europe for the Good Life on the Cheap”

Judges’ Comment: Why not move to Portugal? Ronda Kaysen explains – with real people to illustrate her points -- why many U.S. couples swapped their lives in the U.S. for more luxurious ones in Lisbon. As she makes clear, the newcomers snap up the housing and drive up prices for locals, who can no longer afford it. Figures help her explain the failure-to-launch consequences: 90% of southern Europeans under 35 still live at home. Kaysen gives context, explaining that Greece, Portugal and Spain courted deep-pocketed foreigners with “digital nomad” visas that allow foreigners to live in their countries for extended periods.

Silver Winner: Ari Altstedter, Bloomberg News

“A Nation’s Heavily Indebted Consumers Face a Painful Margin Call”

Judges’ Comment: Ari Altstedter tells the story of one Canadian delivery driver to explain how many Canadians got themselves into a pickle when interests rates were low. Deliver driver James Keber was earning plenty of overtime money at the height of the pandemic – so much that he leased a boat and an all-terrain vehicle and then maxed out his bigger line of credit. Unfortunately, it had a floating rate, so the cost of his debt now outpaces his take-home pay for $660 a month. Altstedter tucks in many good “who knew” details, including the tidbit that Canada’s debt-to-income ratio reached was the highest in the Group of Seven countries by the end of 2021. He knows how to make a complicated subject easy to understand and interesting to read.

Bronze Winner: Mike Phillips, Bisnow

“Hines To Exit $2.3B Russia Business As Real Estate Works Through Post-War Breakup”

Honorable Mention: Neil Callanan, Jack Sidders, Kyungji Cho and Daedo Kim, Bloomberg News

“In London, New York and Paris, a Giant Office Bet Is Going Wrong” Honorable Mention: Paul Norman and Julia Lee, CoStar News
“Coronation Special: How and When King Charles’s Real Estate Was Assembled”

Category 23: Best Team Report - Real Estate
Gold Winner: Michael Smith and Prashant Gopal, Bloomberg News “Ravaged Florida Town Becomes a Magnet for Risk-Taking Homebuyers”

Judges’ Comment: Hurricane Ian decimated Fort Myers Beach. Michael Smith and Prashant Gopal show how developers and the rich are swooping in and gentrifying a place where many pre-storm residents cannot afford to rebuild or live anymore. They explain the “whys.” Among them: Rebuilding even a modest house can cost $1 million. Like all good reporters, they use quotes from both experts and real people, including a husband and wife who figure out how to afford to stay. (In part, they do it by convincing friends in the construction business to work on their home at a discount.) In short, they follow the advice to let the people closest to the story – in this case, the ones who lost their houses and want to remain despite the financial obstacles -- do the talking.

Silver Winner: Will Parker, Konrad Putzier, and Shane Shifflett, The Wall Street Journal

“A Housing Bust Comes for Thousands of Small-Time Investors”

Judges’ Comment: Dozens of small investors believed Houston landlord Jay Gajavelli, who pitched double-your-money returns on YouTube and at conferences and owned $500 million worth of apartment buildings with more than 7,000 units. The reporters show how interest-rate increases drove up monthly loan payments, and inflation increased expenses. Uh-oh. They also help to illustrate a larger problem: thousands of real-estate entrepreneurs known as syndicators hold properties they can no longer afford. They tend to favor properties in the south and southwest, with fewer renter protections (which makes evictions and rent increases easier). They end with a haunting line about how Gajavelli offered his investors a “silver lining” by suggesting they contact their tax adviser to discuss how to recognize their investment loss on their tax filings.

Bronze Winner: Harrison Connery and Sheridan Wall, The Real Deal

“Black and white: A tale of two Hamptons brokers”

Honorable Mention: David Kaufman and Abigail Montanez, Robb Report

“Livin’ La Vida Logo”

Category 24: Best Design, Home or Shelter Magazine Gold Winner: Pete Catapano, Mansion Global, Barron’s

Judges’ Comment: This magazine shows what it’s like to live a life of luxury and gives tips on how to do it. It’s eye candy for real-estate lovers who want to read about multimillion-dollar homes and the lifestyles of the rich. A profile of a hot chef tucks in his gluten-free recipe – for a dark-chocolate tart with ganache, almond sable and olive oil gelato. The publication keeps a sense of fun, with headlines like “’Reel’ Inspiration” for a story about popular TV and movie sets influencing interior designs.

Category 25: Best Residential Real Estate - Trade Magazine Gold Winner: Stuart Elliott, The Real Deal, March 2023 Issue

Judges’ Comment: Always timely, this issue of The Real Deal explains the real-estate repercussions of AI, which could mean a leaner workforce and less need for office space. Stuart Elliott and his team know how to create an interesting and lively mix of content – from the colorful “In Their Words” page of snappy quotes to its list of the top New York City brokerages by closed sales.

Silver Winner: Paige Tepping, RISMedia Real Estate, December 2023 Issue

Judges’ Comment: Like a good meal, RISMedia’s Real Estate Magazine includes appetizers, main courses and desserts. Who could bypass Great Spaces, which this month looks at a

Connecticut mansion that sold for $138.83 million? And who could pass over a story about how to build a following on new platforms like Threads, an offshoot of Instagram, and BlueSky Social, the most recent project of Twitter co-founder and CEO emeritus Jack Dorsey? It also includes a timely piece on brokers being worried but not panicked over commission changes and needing to better describe the value the customer gets for the fee they’re paying.

Category 26: Best Commercial Real Estate Trade Magazine Gold Winner: Stuart Elliott, The Real Deal, May 2023 Issue

Judges’ Comment: This trade magazine looks and reads like a smart, high-end consumer magazine. It delivers with panache. The stories are thoroughly reported and stylishly written. Clever headlines include “The Thomas Crow Affair,” a play on “The Thomas Crown Affair,” about the “pricey friendship” between U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and Dallas real-estate legend Harlan Crowe. (His father: Trammell Crowe.) This cover tackles Texas real estate and Monty Bennett, a mogul with a Texas-size influence. Big players don’t get the kid- glove treatment. One story looks at Patrick Carroll, who allegedly spat in a restaurant manager’s face. Readers can curl up, learn and enjoy.

Silver Winner: Matt Valley, Seniors Housing Business and ASHA 50, August-September Issue

Judges’ Comment: It’s hard to imagine being in the senior housing business and not wanting to read about the 50 largest senior housing owners. Seniors Housing Business seems like a must- read for anyone in this business. It’s not just a mouthpiece for the industry. One piece talks about the need for pricing transparency. Another talks about rate increases. Vital news readers can use includes advice on how to retain staff.

Category 27: Best Real Estate Newsletter Digital or Print
Gold Winner: Glenn Demby and Heather Stone, Commercial Lease Law Insider, February

2023 Issue

Judges’ Comment: This newsletter gives people in the commercial property industry specific information they’re unlikely to easily find elsewhere. It leads with electric vehicle charging stations and explains the difference between level one chargers (the slowest and mostly meant for private residences) and level three chargers (the fastest) and the pros and cons to the “site host” owning and operating the stations vs. leasing them to a third party who installs them and takes care of them. This newsletter also looks at recent, relevant court rulings – also highly relevant to people in a litigious industry.

Silver Winner: Katherine Feser, Houston Chronicle Prime Property

Judges’ Comment: In her “tight and bright” newsletter, Katherine Feser wisely ditches real-estate industry jargon and avoids wordiness. Readers can easily click on links to find out more about

anything in her short write-ups, from rising rents to growing-larger apartment. An opening-page photo – in this case, of a luxury mobile-home community -- helps draw in readers.

Bronze Winner: Glenn Demby and Heather Stone, Fair Housing Coach, February 2023 Issue

Honorable Mention: Randy Plavajka, Real Estate Capital USA Term Sheet, October 2023 Issue

Category 28: Best Newspaper Real Estate or Home Section
Gold Winner: Nikita Stewart, Editor and the Staff of The New York Times, Real Estate: the

Hamptons, Montauk and more, The New York Times, May 2023 Issue

Judges’ Comment: This special section showcases the breadth and possibilities of real estate reporting. Focusing geographically on the Hamptons, the stories encompass a wide range of people, experiences and real estate issues that altogether help form an understanding of the complex ecosystem that people call “home.”

Silver Winner: Heather Halberstadt, Mansion, The Wall Street Journal, March 2023 Issue

Judges’ Comment: Mansion balances stunning visuals with solid reporting that gives readers the stories behind the pictures. The balancing act continues to readership, serving the needs of both those in the ultra-luxury real estate market and readers using the section as a way to open a window into that lifestyle.

Bronze Winner: Lois Weiss, Christopher Cameron, Christopher Bunting, Evelyn Cordon, and Anissa Lorenzi Boukourizia , Commercial Real Estate, New York Post, October 2023 Issue

Honorable Mention: Eileen McEleney Woods, Cameron Sperance, Robyn A. Friedman, Mark Philben, Vivi Smilgius, Marni Elyse Katz, Jim Morrison, John R. Ellement, Christina Poletto, and Megan Johnson, Address: Spring House Hunt, Boston Sunday Globe, April 2023 Issue

Category 29: Best Real Estate Web Site

Gold Winner: Stuart Elliott, The Real Deal

Judges’ Comment: The Real Deal website is a user-friendly platform tailored for the commercial real estate sector. Readers have immediate access to tabs highlighting trending and latest stories. The site serves as a go-to resource for major real estate markets, breaking deal news, podcasts, video content, and comprehensive data. Known for its trademark enterprise reporting and insider perspectives, TRD shines with features like “Meet NYC’s next generation of top office brokers”

and “Behind the syndicator machine targeting new investors,” and columns such as “The Weekly Dirt.”

Silver Winner: Pete Catapano, Mansion Global, Barron’s

Judges’ Comment: Mansion Global's visually captivating website entices with luxurious real estate imagery, but it offers far more depth than mere aesthetics. Behind the photos lie insightful narratives delving into property histories and market dynamics. Particularly compelling are the indulgent long-form stories, like “The Kentucky Town Where Affluent Home Buyers Find Pastoral Beauty and Large Lots,” showcasing envy-inducing estates such as a 22,369-square-foot mansion complete with a two-story wine cellar, wraparound terraces, a theater, and an outdoor spa—all for a mere $4.5 million.

Bronze Winner: Eileen McEleney Woods, Boston.com: Real Estate, Boston Globe Honorable Mention: Beth McGuire, RISMedia

Deadline to enter NAREE’s 74th Annual Real Estate Journalism Contest was Friday, March 1. Awards will be announced at the Hyatt Regency in Austin, Texas on Thursday, June 20th.

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