Due largely to occupancy costs, Dollar General, located mostly in rural areas plans expansion, while the more urban-focused Family Dollar will close hundreds of stores.
Senior Housing
Private-pay senior-housing communities average rate was at 85.1% in the 31 largest U.S. markets for the fourth quarter of 2023. While that is still 2 percentage points below the first quarter of 2020, it is up from its pandemic low point, 77.8% in the first half of 2021. Rent increases, meanwhile, have been outpacing inflation, with independent living costing an average initial rate of $4,126 a month in December and the more intensive assisted-living units costing $6,422.
CRE Values
Commercial property values have fallen 21% on average since the Fed began raising interest rates two years ago.
BX Hospitality
Blackstone has about $25 billion invested in U.S. hospitality assets, excluding its gaming business and plans to be more active this year, buying between $4 billion and $5 billion worth of hotel acquisitions in 2024. Blackstone is also focused on reinvesting about $2 billion into its existing hotel portfolio, including the Hotel Del Coronado and Grand Wailea Resort.
Office Delinquency
The office delinquency rate on mortgages that have been converted into securities has soared to 6.63%, more than triple the 1.87% rate in January 2020.
McDonalds Krispy Kreme
McDonald’s will start rolling out Krispy Kreme donuts in the second half of this year, and they will be available all over the country by the end of 2026.
CA Minimum Wage
A California state law is set to raise fast-food workers’ wages in April to $20 an hour. Some restaurants there are already laying off staff, halted hiring or are scaling back workers’ hours as they try to cut costs.
Compass Settlement
Real-estate firm Compass increase; green up pointing triangle said it reached a $57.5 million settlement over allegations that it was part of a conspiracy to keep real-estate commissions high, the first big brokerage to reach such an agreement since the National Association of Realtors’ landmark settlement last week.
Vitruvian Sale
Vitruvian Partners, an investment firm with $17.5 billion of assets under management, is exploring options including the sale of a minority stake. The firm has held discussions about a potential transaction with investors including Blue Owl Capital and Blackstone.
Hotel REIT Outlook
Executives of publicly traded hotel real estate investment trusts say they're actively engaging in opportunities to both buy and sell, and the second half of 2024 could bring increased competition for assets as investors have more conviction to participate in the market.