Economy Watch reporter Dees Stribling offers insights into the top economic news of the week ending March 25 and what to watch out for in the coming week.

In response to a stronger than anticipated interest among the investment community, the healthcare real estate REIT just announced the pricing of its public offering of 30 million shares of common stock–a marked increase over the 24 million shares announced just a day earlier–at $36.90 per share.

Some of the proceeds from the offering will be directed toward the partial repayment of borrowings under BioMed Realty L.P.’s $720 million unsecured line of credit. As of the close of 2010, the outstanding debt totaled $392 million.

The only group whose workforce participation hasn’t dropped recently are workers over 55. The Congressional Budget Office cites the likes of better health overall for that age group and fewer jobs requiring physical strength.

The company purchased the 1,625-room Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego for $570 million and the 775-room New York Helmsley Hotel for $313.5 million.

Commercial real estate services firm Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P., charged with orchestrating the disposition of Granite Properties Inc.’s industrial assets, had marketed the properties as part of a larger 16-property portfolio with locations in Houston and Dallas.

New single-family home sales slid to an annualized rate of 250,000 in February, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, down 16.9 percent from January. That’s the lowest annual rate since the government first took an interest in tracking new home sales, which was during the last year of the Kennedy administration.

Though the credit markets have not defrosted completely, there is capital out there.

The business park came under lender control following the 2008 bankruptcy of Kobra Properties, but it is bank-owned no more.

The firm leased space at Two World Financial Center in Lower Manhattan, which is owned by Brookfield Office Properties.