On the heels of Starwood Capital Group’s agreement to acquire seven U.S. shopping malls for $1 billion from The Westfield Group and private equity group KKR Financial Holdings’ starting to acquire retail real estate, REITs across the country are gearing up for a surge in new retail properties to hit the market in the second half of this year. In some of those cases, the REITs themselves will be the ones putting the properties up for sale.

Starwood Capital is buying the majority interest in seven shopping malls with a combined 6.61 million square feet. Many of the centers are in mid- and small-sized markets, including such places as Lincoln, NE; Fairfield, CA; and Cleveland, OH.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. LP, in partnership with YTC Pacific, acquired Yorktown Center regional mall for $196 million — marking the global investment firm’s first retail real estate investment in the U.S.

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Low interest rates are creating a compelling argument for sale-leaseback financing. Sale-leasebacks are often viewed as an alternative financing source that is attractive to non-rated or below-investment-grade companies that are hungry for capital. Yet, sale-leasebacks are active across the board — from “A” rated public companies to smaller mid-size firms.

The low-interest-rate environment, coupled with strong investor demand for quality properties, is helping to fuel transactions. For example, New York-based W.P. Carey & Co. had a record year in 2011, completing $1.2 billion in sale-leaseback investments. The investor typically acquires office, industrial, and retail facilities both in the United States and around the globe. “We’re seeing tons of deals this year, and we think we’re going to have another big year,” says Gino Sabatini, managing director and co-head of Domestic Investments at W. P. Carey.

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Early reports show that the critical spring home buying season has gotten off to its best start in five years. Sales of new single-family homes totaled 83,000 units during the first quarter, up 16 percent from a year ago, while sales of existing single-family homes rose 7.2 percent, marking the best combined pace for first quarter home sales since 2007. The rise in existing home sales has generated a little excitement, as news is spreading that homes sold outside the foreclosure process are often receiving multiple bids and selling above the asking price.

The sudden prevalence of multiple bids around the country appears to be the result of unseasonably mild winter weather, which brought buyers back into the market to a much greater degree than sellers. The first quarter is typically the slowest quarter of the year, with March being the only busy month. Inventories of existing homes have fallen to just a 6.3-months’ supply, and the inventory of unsold vacant homes has fallen by 353,000 units over the past year. Inventories of new homes continue to decline and are now at a paltry 144,000 units nationwide. Only about one-third of those homes are actually completed. With inventories dwindling, home prices have improved a bit. The Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index rose 0.15 percent in February, and the year-over-year decline has moderated to just 3.5 percent. CoreLogic’s price index shows prices declining 2.0 percent over the past year, with prices excluding distressed properties down just 0.8 percent.