Americans voluntarily left 3.8 million jobs in April. That marked a drop of 700,000 from 4.5 million in November 2021, the highest level on Labor Department records back to 2000.
Student Housing
Despite the rise in mortgage rates last year, sales of student housing property reached a record high of $22.9 billion in 2022.
PE Volume
The overall value of private-equity-backed deals is down over 50% in 2023 versus the prior period, at a three-year low of about $256.7 billion. But the number of transactions has fallen only 4% to 6,458. That is the third-highest year-to-date tally in data going back more than 30 years, showing a resurgence of smaller deals.
Home Price Decline
Home prices posted their first year-over-year price decline in 11 years in April, as higher mortgage rates made home purchases more expensive for buyers.
VIX
The Cboe Volatility Index, or the VIX, has fallen to around 14, near the lowest levels since February 2020.
Prologis Blackstone
Prologis has agreed to pay Blackstone $3.1 billion for a portfolio of U.S. warehouses and distribution properties. The portfolio includes nearly 14 million square feet in about 70 properties in major markets. The all-cash deal, which is one of the largest commercial real-estate transactions of 2023, is expected to close by the end of June.
WFH Days
A survey of 4,500 companies’ return-to-office policies found that nearly 300 require employees to come in on specific days. Of those, just under a quarter ask employees to come in on Mondays, with many more stipulating staff be in the office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Just 7% tell employees to come in on Fridays.
Return to Office
Office buildings are only about 50% as full, with public-transportation ridership at less than 70%, as before Covid-19 across 10 major metro areas.
Housing Starts
New building permits for private housing in the U.S. fell by a seasonally adjusted 21.1% in April compared with a year earlier, while construction starts were down 22.3%
S&P Outperforms
The S&P 500 has risen 14% this year, beating an 8.5% advance by the MSCI All Country World ex USA Index, which tracks developed and emerging-market stocks.