Bloomberg Blackstone Group LP, with real estate assets that have surpassed $100 billion, is considering tapping individual investors as it expands its push into owning high-quality buildings with steady income streams. “The prospects for growth in that business are huge,” Chairman and CEO Steve Schwarzman said on the company’s first-quarter earnings conference call. “At some point as we move ...

  Bloomberg The Australian state of Victoria will more than double a property tax for foreign buyers in a move that may undermine surging home prices in the nation’s second-largest city. The stamp duty surcharge will increase to 7 percent from 3 percent and will apply to contracts signed on or after July 1, according to a statement from state ...

Bloomberg Denys Laroche has been trying to sell his 18th century one-bedroom apartment just off the Champs-Elysees for six months. If the €3.75 million Paris home doesn’t attract a buyer soon, he may decide to wait for a new president next year. “We have a socialist president who’s increased taxes,” said Laroche, a business owner who’s about to retire and ...