Business Briefing: Local home sales improving

The metro-east real estate market has made gains entering the fall with sales increases reported in three counties.

The latest sales numbers released by the Realtor Association of Southwestern Illinois reveals that homes sold throughout St. Clair County increased by 7.7 percent in October, while Clinton County witnessed a 22.7 percent jump in sales in that time and Monroe County recorded a 9 percent increase in homes sales in that span.

Home sales for Madison County were not immediately available.

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Kroger grocery stores’ third-quarter earnings report has exceeded Wall Street’s projects. The Cincinnati-based supermarket chain reported fiscal third-quarter earnings of $428 million, a profit of 43 cents per share. Read more here.

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Smartphones and other Internet-ready devices are significantly cutting into Americans’ TV-viewing habits. According to new data from Nielsen, 26 percent more 18-to-34-year-olds used a smartphone, tablet or TV-connected device last May, while the number of those in the same age group who watched TV, listened to radio or used a computer fell 8 percent in that time. Learn more here.

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Anheuser-Busch InBev may be selling some of its European brands before it completes a planned purchased of SABMiller. AB InBev has agreed to buy SABMiller for $107 billion. The new brewer would account for more than a quarter of the world’s beer market. Find out more here.

— Will Buss, BND business writer

This story was originally published December 3, 2015 at 9:30 AM with the headline "Business Briefing: Local home sales improving."