Robert Frank
Robert Frank covers the intersection of wealth and property, tracking how the richest households buy, sell and invest in real estate and other assets. He is CNBC’s wealth editor, focusing on the lives, finances and markets of the American wealthy. His reporting follows how shifts in stock markets, taxes and global capital flows filter into luxury real estate and other stores of wealth.
Manhattan luxury real estate and rental markets
Frank devotes sustained attention to Manhattan’s high-end housing market, treating it as a bellwether for the fortunes of the wealthy.
He reports on luxury home sales in the city, including how proposed taxes on second homes and pied-à-terres shape buyer behavior and deal volume. His coverage tracks inventory and pricing in the $10 million to $20 million segment, highlighting how this part of the market responds to equity rallies, IPO activity and intergenerational wealth transfers. He follows Manhattan’s luxury rental market, reporting on units that command monthly rents around $100,000 and what those deals say about demand at the very top of the market.
He also covers broader shifts in Manhattan housing, including signs of the market turning into a buyer’s market when prices soften and negotiability increases. When Manhattan rents hit record highs, he explains how limited supply, strong wealth creation and continued preference for trophy addresses push leasing costs higher. Across these pieces, the focus stays on how affluent buyers and tenants navigate policy changes, market cycles and status-driven purchases.
Inside Wealth and coverage of the ultra-rich
Frank leads CNBC’s Inside Wealth franchise, which delivers news and analysis on family offices, high-net-worth investors and wealthy consumers. Through this platform he reports on how billionaires seek new nationalities, how family offices pursue private-company deals and how affluent households allocate capital across real estate and other assets.
His work examines the structure and strategy of family offices, including their push into direct deals and the risks that come with concentrated, illiquid investments. He profiles decision-makers at the top of global markets, conducting interviews with prominent investors and wealth managers to understand their outlook on property, equity markets and alternative assets. His broader beat encompasses wealth management, philanthropy, art, collectibles and tax planning, all viewed through the lens of how they shape and preserve fortunes.
He also draws on long experience covering wealth and Wall Street, having spent many years reporting on the culture and economy of the new rich before joining CNBC.
Family offices, young millionaires and alternative assets
Frank regularly analyzes how family offices and emerging wealthy cohorts approach real estate as part of their portfolios.
He reports on the herd-like move by family offices into direct private deals, explaining why these investments are attractive and where they may expose investors to greater risk. In his coverage of young millionaires, he highlights how Gen Z and millennial investors plan to increase their allocation to real estate, treating property as a core long-term asset rather than a peripheral diversification. He examines how these younger wealthy investors balance traditional holdings such as equities with real estate, private companies and other alternative assets.
His reporting connects these choices to broader themes of wealth transfer, with heirs deploying inherited capital into new investment strategies and geographies. Throughout, he focuses on how investment preferences and risk tolerance evolve as wealth moves from older generations to younger ones.
Commercial real estate stress and market dynamics
Frank’s beat also includes commercial real estate, especially in major office markets. He reports on record vacancy levels in Manhattan, detailing how millions of square feet of empty space and sharply higher vacancy rates signal structural challenges for the office sector.
His coverage explains how work-from-home trends, corporate downsizing and shifting tenant demand weigh on office valuations and neighborhood economies.
He tracks regulatory and industry changes in brokerage rules, including new policies that alter who pays buyer-agent fees and how those rules could reshape transaction costs and leverage between buyers and sellers. He also covers broad assessments of luxury real estate health, using global reports to show where high-end markets are cooling or remaining resilient. Across commercial and residential segments, Frank’s reporting emphasizes data, policy shifts and investor behavior, connecting real estate conditions back to the fortunes and strategies of the wealthy.
Frank has been with CNBC since 2012 and is described as an award-winning journalist and best-selling author focused on the American wealthy. His work combines market reporting with close observation of how affluent individuals, families and institutions buy homes, structure portfolios and respond to economic and political change.
4 more real estate journalists.
Aaron Elstein
Aaron Elstein brings a Wall Street reporter’s eye to commercial real estate. He is a senior reporter at Crain’s New York Business, where he covers large office towers, Midtown corridors, landlords, lenders, investors and regulators. His reporting shows how ownership decisions, bank balance sheets, capital markets and regulation shape property values and risk. He also covers banking, finance and Wall Street, including bank mergers and investment firms. Before joining Crain’s in 2003, he wrote Heard on the Street columns for The Wall Street Journal and covered bank mergers for American Banker. Elstein reports by closely reading footnotes, contracts, regulatory filings and legal documents. His investigative work has examined executive payments, pension funds, tax enforcement and tenant harassment. His coverage places deals, disputes and enforcement actions within broader financial and property cycles.
Aaron Moselle
Aaron Moselle covers housing and community development for WHYY’s PlanPhilly, filing for radio and the web. He stands out for connecting market data and government action to displacement, affordable homes, and the daily questions facing renters and homeowners. His core beat is housing affordability and market strain, including high mortgage rates, rising prices, tax assessments, and what they mean for buyers, sellers, and renters. He also reports on preserving and creating affordable housing, neighborhood rehab efforts, major real estate deals, and the effect of property sales on residents. His work often uses direct sourcing, plain language, and service journalism to make policy and finance clear.
Aarthi Swaminathan
Aarthi Swaminathan is a personal finance reporter at MarketWatch whose distinctive beat connects residential real estate with household budgets. She covers housing prices, affordability, mortgage rates, financing, insurance, remodeling and the costs of owning a home. Her reporting examines overvalued and fast-rising markets, ZIP-code trends, second-home sellers, builders, developers and buyers facing higher borrowing costs. She also follows Gen Z buyers, owners trapped in weakening condo markets and neighborhood conflicts over development. Her work pairs data-driven housing analysis with detailed case studies of buyers, owners and sellers. She explains complex market data in clear, accessible language and writes news features, personal-finance explainers, Economic Report stories, The Big Move and New American Playbook. She won a silver award for Best Collection of Work by an Individual Covering Residential Real Estate.
Abbey Ferguson
Abbey Ferguson stands out for reporting how major commercial moves and redevelopment plans reshape the built environment, especially the real estate deals that reveal what land and retail space are worth. She covers Central Texas commercial real estate and development for KWTX, with recent stories on land valuation, major transactions, retail redevelopment, and infrastructure planning. Her work has tracked an $80 million data center site offer in Hill County, a prospective Trader Joe’s location in Waco, and a planning project using artificial intelligence to predict traffic patterns. She writes as a news reporter, staying close to the numbers, public records, brokers, officials, and landowners. Her stories turn contract prices, appraisal data, and listing history into plain explanations of what buyers are betting on and how those deals affect surrounding property owners and nearby businesses.