In April of 2020 it surged to 33.8%, which compared with 8.8% over the course of 2019. It stayed elevated throughout 2020 and most of 2021, but last year it was just 3.5%. This year it has only been a bit better, averaging 4.3%.
Leveraged Loans
Nearly $270 billion of leveraged loans carry weak credit profiles and are potentially at risk of default. Conditions have deteriorated as the Fed has raised rates, beginning to show signs of stress not seen since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Excluding a 2020 spike, the default rate for the past 12 months is the highest since 2014.
Insurance Expense
Commercial real-estate insurance costs have risen 7.6% annually on average since 2017.
China v U.S.
Nearly 24% of the office-tower space in 18 major Chinese cities was unoccupied as of June. That is worse than the U.S., where office vacancy rates hit a 30-year-high of 18.2% in June.
Return to Office
TikTok introduced its MyRTO — or my return to office — app this month. It’s part of TikTok’s latest mandate requiring its U.S. workforce to commute to a physical office at least three times a week with some workers expected for a full five-day workweek.
Debt and Deficit
Federal debt held by the public now stands at 95% of gross domestic product, up from 80% at the start of 2020, and federal deficits are now 6% of GDP and projected to keep rising, from under 5% before the pandemic.
Biggest Home Buyers
Landlords with 1,000 properties or more accounted for 0.4% of U.S. home purchases during the second quarter, down from a peak of 2.4% in late 2021.
New York ADR
New York hotels charged $260 a night on average in August, roughly 17% more than the same month in 2019. That was New York’s highest rate for the month of August since 2008.
Shopping Malls
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield said last year that it planned to shed most of its American portfolio by the end of 2023. Now, the Paris-based company intends to hold some of its top-performing malls beyond that self-imposed deadline.
Record Capital
Blackstone recently disclosed that its Tactical Opportunities business closed the fourth flagship commingled fund, Blackstone Tactical Opportunities Fund IV (BTO IV), raising a record capital commitment of $5.2 billion.