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.
Cyberattacks
Caesars Entertainment paid roughly half of a $30 million ransom that hackers demanded after a cyberattack late this summer, another example of a major casino operator suffering from an attack as MGM Resorts grapples with the fallout of a recent incident.
Household Income
Americans’ inflation-adjusted median household income fell to $74,580 in 2022, declining 2.3% from the 2021 estimate of $76,330. The amount has dropped 4.7% since its peak in 2019.
Options Volume
Overall options activity has smashed records in each of the past three years. About 44 million options contracts have changed hands each day so far this year, on average, an 8% bump from last year and more than double the figure in 2018.
Miami Multi-Family
Since 2019, rental prices have increased more in Miami than in nearly any other major metro area, soaring 56.5%.