Opaque structures such as LLCs sometimes make it difficult to pin down who’s behind them. But the stakes are high for commercial real estate professionals who knowingly or unknowingly violate sanctions against the Russian elite.

The pattern is unfolding across the Sun Belt but nowhere more than in the Phoenix area, where institutions represented a bigger share of home purchases last year than in any other major US market, according to real estate data firm SFR Analytics...

Blackstone has borne the brunt of capital outflows, but ripple effects continue to sweep through the broader sector.